The Yanli Sword’s blazing red sword qi, compressed by Qin Sang to a mere zhang in length, initially appeared somewhat illusory, flickering with a restless quality. Yet, under Qin Sang's meticulous control, it grew increasingly solid.

Once the sword qi stabilized, Qin Sang’s gaze sharpened, focusing on the Yanli Sword for a long moment before he finally called out in a low voice, "Open!"

The sword hummed in response, resonating with a high-pitched sound. The Yanli Sword suddenly trembled, and its sword qi surged turbulently, like clouds caught in a fierce wind.

A crack emerged within the sword qi, widening progressively. The sword qi then began to peel away from the spiritual sword, transforming into a dense, fiery aura that burned like an intense flame, only to dissipate at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Qin Sang acted quickly, knowing he couldn’t afford to let his guard down. Following the techniques laid out in the

Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array

, he poured his full spiritual consciousness and spiritual power into containing the detached sword qi, preventing it from scattering completely.

Once he managed to stabilize the sword qi, he inserted a strand of his spiritual consciousness into it, attempting to refine it according to the sword art's teachings.

As Qin Sang’s refining progressed, the sword qi fluctuated wildly, alternately compressing and stretching, slowly molding itself into the shape of a spiritual sword.

Though it could barely maintain this shape, it was still far from meeting the

Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array’s

exacting standards. The moment Qin Sang released his restraint, the sword qi would dissipate instantly. Only by refining it to a level where it could retain the sword’s form independently could he consider it a success.

This was the primary challenge of the

Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array

.

Just as Qin Sang was about to press on—

Pop!

Without warning, the sword qi exploded, with needle-like fragments shooting outward in all directions, threatening to riddle the cave dwelling like a beehive.

Qin Sang’s expression darkened. He swiftly withdrew his spiritual consciousness from the sword qi, dispersing it with a wave of his hand. After pondering for a moment with furrowed brows, he stood up.

The cave dwelling was too small. If he lost control of the sword qi again, a resulting explosion could lead to a cave collapse, and damaging the spirit vein would be disastrous. With that thought, Qin Sang stowed away the Yanli Sword, tidied up the few items lying around, sealed the cave, and soared toward Xianglong Mountain on his sword.

At Huilong Temple, everything was as before. Since Qin Sang took residence, he’d sealed it with a veil of mist, keeping his presence hidden from view. The mortals at the foot of the mountain gradually grew accustomed to the mystery.

Inside, a Sound Transmission Talisman awaited him from Senior Brother Wen, who reported that he had yet to find any dried-up spiritual spring objects. Qin Sang realized he had forgotten to follow up on this matter last time and quickly sent a reply, also raising a few additional questions.

The Huilong Temple, which Gu Tiannan and his disciple had used as their cave dwelling, held sufficient spiritual power, and cultivating sword art here didn’t demand an excessive amount of spiritual energy.

Settling cross-legged in the courtyard, Qin Sang decided not to use the Yanli Sword this time. Instead, he summoned his ebony sword.

After a month of nurturing, the ebony sword had fully merged with the Golden Thread Cedar Wood, its blade now carrying a hint of purity and a delicate green tint. Whether it could withstand a second killing symbol remained uncertain, but Qin Sang knew he had to gather as much spiritual wood as possible to enhance the ebony sword’s strength, ensuring it wouldn’t limit his cultivation progress.

Being his life-bound spiritual sword, the ebony sword was far more responsive to his control than the Yanli Sword. Qin Sang easily advanced to the previous critical stage, analyzing his earlier failure.

…

The scorching summer days had finally passed, giving way to the harvest season. As the villagers below Xianglong Mountain worked, they couldn’t resist glancing up at the mountain’s mysterious peak, speaking excitedly whenever they mentioned it, unable to stop. Ɍäɴộ𝖇ĚṦ

Shrouded in mist that never dispersed, the mountain held a solitary Daoist temple rumored to house immortals.

In just a few short years, countless people seeking immortality had come in admiration of the legend.

Some even set up humble huts outside the mist, kneeling daily without ever receiving a response, yet refusing to give up, believing that the immortal was testing their sincerity and commitment to the Dao.

Others risked their lives to venture into the mist, wandering dazedly for days, only to awaken at the base of the mountain, stomachs growling with hunger.

Among them were high-ranking officials, aristocrats, and renowned martial artists.

As more immortality seekers gathered, housing prices in the village surged, and it gradually developed into a small town, thriving with prosperity.

The villagers profited, many seizing the opportunity to explore new livelihoods beyond farming. They revered the immortal on the mountain, worshiping even more fervently than the seekers.

Unbeknownst to them, there was no immortal in the mountain temple—only a lone cultivator on the arduous path to immortality.

Qin Sang sat alone in the courtyard, motionless for two months, his silhouette exuding a deep solitude. He was oblivious to the happenings below, his body blanketed with fallen leaves and dust, his mind entirely absorbed in the spiritual sword.

Swoosh!

A streak of blood-red light shot into the sky, then returned, hovering alongside the ebony sword. It was a small, blood-colored sword that, upon closer inspection, seemed slightly illusory—surprisingly formed entirely of sword qi.

Qin Sang opened his eyes, looking at the blood-colored sword with a spark of excitement. After three months of grueling practice, he had finally mastered this sword art!

However, a single sword qi carried very limited power and was insufficient to form a sword array.

He immediately sank his focus back into the blood-colored sword.

Ten days later, the small sword trembled lightly and then split into two strands of sword qi, both faint and barely able to hold their shape. Qin Sang tensed, concentrating all his strength to keep the sword qi from collapsing.

Before long, the two strands of sword qi solidified into a small sword.

Qin Sang smiled slightly, raising the ebony sword alongside it. The three small swords pointed toward the center in a triangular formation. With more divided strands of sword qi, it would eventually form a circular disc like the one Wu Yuesheng had used in battle.

At its peak, the

Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array

could produce sixty-four strands of sword qi, combining with the ebony sword to form an array. However, the more strands one created, the greater the challenge for the cultivator.

Qin Sang could feel the intricate energy linkage between the ebony sword and the sword qi, requiring only his focused control of the ebony sword to command the entire array.

What thrilled Qin Sang the most was that the intent of slaughter imbued in the sword qi within the array grew in intensity, delivering an even more powerful impact on his enemies' spirits.

Swoosh!

The sword qi retracted, and the ebony sword returned to Qin Sang’s forehead.

Two strands of sword qi would suffice for now. He could refine more over time. He had spent over three months at Huilong Temple; he wondered how the cave dwelling was faring, and whether the piece of tree root had indeed accelerated the growth of the spiritual spring.

Qin Sang stood up, a flash of light dusting away the leaves and dirt on his robe. He glanced around and summoned the Sound Transmission Talisman from Senior Brother Wen. After reviewing its contents, he pondered for a moment before flying directly to the cave dwelling.

The entire time, he did not cast a single glance toward the foot of the mountain.

He slipped quietly into the water, activated the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Array, and quickly made his way into the cave dwelling. As he stepped inside, his face broke into an expression of sheer delight—the spiritual power in the cave was now twice as dense as it had been when he left!

Qin Sang immediately moved to the edge of the pool, setting his gaze upon the spiritual spring.