Qin Sang understood that searching for Senior Qingzhu would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Whether he succeeded depended entirely on luck, and he couldn’t afford to expend too much effort on it. His top priority now was to cultivate earnestly.

Suppressing his wandering thoughts, Qin Sang walked to the pool. Seeing the clear spring water and the blossoms in full bloom, he took out the tree root and placed it on the spring’s mouth, allowing it to be bathed in the spiritual spring. Whether it would work was uncertain, so he could only wait for the results.

Even if the root could accelerate the spiritual spring, it wouldn’t show immediate results. Qin Sang re-sealed the barrier around the pool and left it alone.

He then sat cross-legged on the stone bed and brought out a piece of Golden Thread Cedar Wood.

When fusing Golden Thread Cedar Wood with the ebony sword, Qin Sang’s help was only required while it absorbed the spiritual wood. The subsequent refining could be conducted by the ebony sword itself through its power of primordial spirit and intent of slaughter; Qin Sang merely needed to anchor it within his primordial spirit.

The time required for this process depended on Qin Sang’s cultivation level and the quality of the spiritual wood. As his cultivation improved, the process would become increasingly faster.

The higher the quality of the spiritual wood, the longer the refinement would take.

Naturally, once the spiritual sword took form, its power would be significantly stronger.

However, until it was fully refined, it was best not to use the spiritual sword in battle. In its incomplete state, the sword’s power would be greatly reduced, and any serious damage could lead to its destruction, wasting all of his hard work.

Golden Thread Cedar Wood was considered low-grade spiritual wood in the world of immortal cultivation, so it could be fully refined within a month. If it were one of the ten legendary divine woods, the process might take decades, and would be far more intricate.

With all external matters settled, Qin Sang decided to remain in seclusion during this period and complete the refinement of the Golden Thread Cedar Wood.

A glimmer of sword light flashed.

Qin Sang summoned the ebony sword, which hovered before him. Holding the Golden Thread Cedar Wood in his hand, he examined its grain, and his spiritual consciousness enveloped the piece of spiritual wood, analyzing the distribution of its wood-elemental energy.

This was a meticulous process that required precision and no margin for error.

Such tasks were second nature to artifact refiners and alchemists. Qin Sang had also read some notes on artifact refinement borrowed from Shopkeeper Wu, making the task fairly approachable. He quickly became adept at it.

An hour later, Qin Sang had thoroughly understood the Golden Thread Cedar Wood. At his command, the ebony sword trembled slightly, rising above the Golden Thread Cedar Wood. The sword talisman engraved on the blade suddenly shone, releasing a surge of sword qi that enveloped the cedar wood.

Under Qin Sang’s spiritual control, the sword qi split into countless threads, some thick, some thin, forming an intricate web that, like a spider’s web, entered the spiritual wood under Qin Sang’s guidance.

The sword qi intensified, eventually slicing the Golden Thread Cedar Wood into countless fragments. Yet, each piece of wood retained its wood-elemental energy, completely pure and untainted.

The useless wood shavings were purged, drifting down as green luminescent specks floated in the air like fireflies.

Qin Sang nodded in satisfaction and lightly tapped the ebony sword.

Swoosh!

The ebony sword instantly emitted a powerful suction, drawing all the green luminescent specks into its blade. As the specks were absorbed, the slender ebony sword began to expand and contract, its shape fluctuating erratically. ř𝔞𐌽Ọ𐌱Ès

Qin Sang immediately infused spiritual power into the blade, activating the sword talisman to help the ebony sword absorb the wood-elemental energy.

In no time, the ebony sword gradually stabilized. Qin Sang smiled and returned it to his primordial spirit for nourishment. With the full refinement of the Golden Thread Cedar Wood, the sword would soon regain its complete form.

With that task completed, Qin Sang meditated briefly to restore his spiritual consciousness and spiritual power. Then, he lightly brushed his fingers over his Mustard Seed Pouch. One item after another floated out, arranging themselves neatly before him.

Hermit Baiyun's body was sealed in an ice coffin, with strands of silver hair still gleaming as if he had just died.

On his chest was a wound left by the Five-Elemental Breaking Sword. Even more horrifying was his complexion; before his death, he had been struck by a poisoned needle, and the snake venom coursed through him, giving his entire body an eerie shade of dark green.

However, as long as the dantian area remained undamaged and the body was intact, it wouldn’t affect the refinement of the malevolent corpse.

In the Lesser Yin Magnetic Bottles, the energy of Earth Malevolent Qi was stored, and this was Qin Sang’s first attempt at refining a malevolent corpse, so he prepared two bottles as a backup.

Next came the five-elemental yin objects.

There was the Nine-Orifice Stone, a porous stone.

A small piece of Blue Nether Gold, shimmering in blue.

Yin Spirit Water, contained in a jade vial.

Pure as the bright moonlight, a segment of Moon Pagoda Tree's core about the length of a forearm exuded a calming aura.

The last item was the Ghost Feather, with the yin fire within it burning fiercely and radiating a chill.

Then, Qin Sang took out a mass of grayish-white aura from the Corpse Puppet Pouch. This was the collected souls of demonic beasts, gathered into a single ball.

With all the materials required for refining the malevolent corpse ready, Qin Sang didn’t rush to begin. He calmed his mind and carefully recalled the

Heavenly Yin Corpse Art

several times, ensuring that no details were overlooked. He then reached out toward the ice coffin.

Bang!

The ice coffin shattered into pieces, and Hermit Baiyun’s body tilted and stood upright before Qin Sang.

Qin Sang's expression darkened slightly as his spiritual consciousness spread out, enveloping Hermit Baiyun’s body. The two faced each other, and an eerie silence fell over the cave dwelling.

After a long while, Qin Sang suddenly raised his hands. His handprints shifted as his spiritual consciousness intertwined with his spiritual power, forming a peculiar barrier rapidly in his palms, which he then directed at Hermit Baiyun’s left arm.

The barrier sank into the corpse and vanished, yet Hermit Baiyun showed no sign of change.

On the other hand, Qin Sang’s movements grew increasingly swift. His fingers flickered rapidly, creating a series of illusions difficult to discern with the naked eye. Barriers formed quickly in his hands and flew into various parts of Hermit Baiyun’s body.

As time passed, the number of barriers increased, and Hermit Baiyun's body finally began to transform. The qi and blood within him was condensed by the barriers, turning into the corpse qi, causing him to appear significantly emaciated.

Next, his features slowly sank, revealing two fangs that began to grow from his exposed gums. His fingernails also grew rapidly, becoming sharp as knives.

During this process, a dense corpse qi emanated from Hermit Baiyun. The fangs and nails, influenced by the corpse qi, were suffused with a dark green venomous qi.

Simultaneously, as the barriers sank into his body, Hermit Baiyun’s bones and skin began to change rapidly, hardening as if they were being forged into artifacts.

While his appearance still bore some resemblance to Hermit Baiyun, he looked more like a mummified corpse than a living human.

Hermit Baiyun was slowly transforming into a zombie. If he were placed in a location rich in yin energy, he could absorb it over the years, gaining intelligence and eventually evolving into a malevolent corpse.

Within the demonic sect, there were methods for corpse refinement that could accelerate this process.

However, according to the steps outlined in the

Heavenly Yin Corpse Art

, this was merely the beginning.