Chapter 95: Sword Qi

The Mortal Realm

The instant the Cloud Banner revealed his presence, Qin Sang immediately shook the Purple Soul Bell.

Ding-a-ling-ling...

The crisp sound of the bell echoed through the grotto. Qin Sang was about to seize the moment to condense his Yin Thunder, kill Zhao Yan, and seize the Four Cloud Divine Prohibition, when a strong sense of unease suddenly welled up in his heart.

His brows furrowed deeply. His gaze swept over Zhao Yan, finally settling on his left hand.

Zhao Yan's right hand was clutching a jade box containing a mysterious orchid, and a transparent spiritual gem floated before his chest. But his left hand stealthily reached for his mustard seed pouch, and a black bead was faintly visible in his palm.

Qin Sang had never seen this inconspicuous bead before, yet it gave him an incredibly dangerous feeling. The moment he saw the bead, the hairs on his entire body stood on end, and an unspeakable terror churned relentlessly within him!

“This is bad!” Qin Sang was greatly alarmed. Unwilling to gamble with his life, he immediately dispelled the Gui Water Yin Thunder Spell without hesitation, transformed into a gust of wind, and fled with all his might towards the Three Calamities Heart-Devouring Array.

Immediately after, he heard Zhao Yan's furious roar, and something 'whooshed' directly towards him.

Qin Sang's scalp tingled with dread. He desperately channeled his spiritual power to control the Wind-Riding Technique. Just as he was about to collide with the grand array, he hastily activated the cyan gauze tent artifact he had obtained in the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Zone and threw it behind him. Simultaneously, he activated the Ice Silkworm Armor on his body.

Boom!

A thunderous roar erupted behind him, deafening Qin Sang. He felt a terrifying force slam violently into his back. The ice armor formed by the Ice Silkworm Armor emitted a crisp 'crackling' sound before instantly shattering. The Ice Silkworm Armor itself was destroyed, and the cyan gauze tent artifact was utterly vaporized.

Qin Sang was directly propelled by the immense force into the Three Calamities Heart-Devouring Array. His back was a bloody mess, with bone visible.

The grotto shook violently. The dazzling white light lingered for a long time before finally dissipating.

Zhao Yan tightly clutched the jade box containing the mysterious orchid to his chest. He braced himself with one hand on the ground, barely managing to stabilize himself as he was almost thrown off balance by the violent aftershock rushing towards him.

The anger on his face had not yet subsided. He glared fiercely at the large crater that had suddenly appeared on the ground; the bodies of Ruan Nanfeng and the other two had been blasted into dust along with the ground.

Zhao Yan spat fiercely, then cursed in a hoarse voice, “Wasting one of my Profound Yin Thunders!”

Next, a deep look of confusion appeared on Zhao Yan's face. He couldn't understand why the Heart-Eating Worms, which had always been effective, had failed on Qin Sang. He activated the Cloud Banner to stir up a strong wind, blowing away the stone debris in the large crater, revealing nothing underneath.

The mustard seed pouches of the group had also been shattered by the Profound Yin Thunder.

Zhao Yan silently made a mental note, deciding to ask the Sect Master about it upon his return.

“Phew!” Zhao Yan let out a long breath. He picked up the jade box from his chest, glanced at it, and let out two bursts of wild laughter before carefully putting it into his mustard seed pouch. He then immediately sat down cross-legged to restore his spiritual power.

This unexpected turn of events was something Zhao Yan hadn't anticipated. His greatest fear now was alarming the Golden Core Perfected Lords of the Yuanzhao Sect. Against a Golden Core Perfected Lord, even more Profound Yin Thunders wouldn't be enough to save his life.

It seemed now that the cultivators of the Yuanzhao Sect were already thoroughly engaged by the sect's masters.

However, Zhao Yan didn't know the situation outside, so he still decided it was best to leave this troubled place quickly. The mission given to him by his Martial Uncle, the Sect Master, had been successfully completed this time. He would surely receive generous rewards upon his return, and breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage would be just around the corner!

While Zhao Yan was circulating his cultivation technique to restore his spiritual power, within the Three Calamities Heart-Devouring Array...

Qin Sang lay motionless on the ground. The injuries on his back were horrifying to behold; a mortal would likely be dead already.

Suddenly, a faint groan escaped him. Qin Sang gripped the ground with both hands, enduring the intense pain in his back, and managed to sit up with difficulty. As his wounds stretched, he couldn't help but gasp for air.

Qin Sang hurriedly took out some spiritual pills from his mustard seed pouch. He had previously learned from Senior Brother Meng in Xingyun Valley that the spiritual pills he had obtained from the hooded man were all healing elixirs. However, their potency varied; some were high-grade, like Waterdew Pills, while others were merely common remedies for mortals. Qin Sang, without much thought, took out two and swallowed them.

A cool sensation immediately spread across his back. Some smaller wounds began to scab over, and the pain significantly subsided.

His two defensive artifacts hadn't been destroyed in vain; he couldn't help but feel secretly relieved.

Recalling the perilous situation just now, Qin Sang still couldn't help but feel fear and horror.

What exactly was that bead? The mere aftershock of the explosion had destroyed his two defensive artifacts and left him severely injured. Fortunately, his reaction was swift; upon realizing the danger, he immediately used the Wind-Riding Technique to escape for his life. Otherwise, he would likely have been directly vaporized, just like the cyan gauze tent.

Without waiting for his injuries to stabilize, Qin Sang began looking around to ascertain his location.

The ground was cold, and the surroundings were filled with grayish-white mist, limiting his vision to a very short distance.

Even though he was already within the Three Calamities Heart-Devouring Array, his consciousness remained clear. He felt no mental confusion nor any so-called heart demons, which showed that the Jade Buddha had securely protected his primordial spirit.

However, Qin Sang was now very worried that he might be trapped and die within the array.

Without the Four Cloud Divine Prohibition, it would be impossible for him to pass through the three calamities ahead with his current cultivation. To escape from this place, he absolutely had to seize the Four Cloud Divine Prohibition, and his only reliance was the Ebony Sword.

Thinking of this, Qin Sang could no longer rest peacefully to heal his injuries. He endured the pain and struggled to his feet, cautiously taking a step back. The surrounding grayish-white mist did not change at all, nor did any danger appear.

Qin Sang took a few more steps when the grayish-white mist before him suddenly thinned. He immediately stopped, to avoid being discovered by Zhao Yan and risking another bead being thrown.

Activating his Cloudfall Wings to conceal his presence, Qin Sang quietly stepped out and immediately saw Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan was currently sitting cross-legged, restoring his spiritual power. He clearly hadn't expected Qin Sang to still be alive, and had no protective measures around him.

Qin Sang quietly retreated back into the Three Calamities Heart-Devouring Array. He felt the injury on his back, determining it wasn't too serious, then sat down cross-legged on the ground. He summoned the Ebony Sword, took out the medium-grade spirit stone he had kept for a long time from his mustard seed pouch, gripped it with both hands, took a deep breath, and entered a meditative state.

The Ebony Sword floated in front of Qin Sang, a dark glow flickering on its blade, making it seem very unremarkable.

Qin Sang connected with the spiritual sword using his divine sense and frantically absorbed the spiritual power from the spirit stone. As this spiritual power surged into his Dantian, his normally stable Qi Sea immediately became turbulent, and a tearing pain spread through his meridians.

“As expected of a medium-grade spirit stone,” Qin Sang mused inwardly.

If it had been a year ago, when he was at the sixth level of Qi Condensation, Qin Sang estimated he would have been on the verge of collapse. If he had continued to absorb forcibly, he wouldn't have killed Zhao Yan, but would have self-detonated and died first.

As time passed, the luster on the spirit stone grew dimmer. At this point, a hint of green sword qi appeared on the Ebony Sword, pulsing at the tip of the blade, and a faint hum of the sword could be heard.

Sword qi is a manifestation of the spiritual sword's inherent material, and the Ebony Sword was refined from spiritual wood.

Gradually, the sword qi almost completely enveloped the Ebony Sword.