Chapter 602: The Green Copper Fragment

Qin Sang walked up to the edge of the Southern Sun Fire and summoned the ebony sword, preparing himself as he watched Wandering Man’s every move.

Wandering Man sat cross-legged at the center of the spiritual array, solemn in expression. His palm held the bird puppet, arms extended straight toward the Southern Sun Fire.

Under his control, the azure radiance within the array converged upon the bird puppet, eventually merging into its body.

At the same time, the bird puppet spread its wings and leapt about on Wandering Man’s palm. Its beak opened wide as it began to devour the aura of the Southern Sun Fire in great gulps.

Throughout this process, the puppet's bones and feathers grew increasingly crimson, as if actual flames were burning inside it. The fire gradually spread outward until it engulfed its entire body.

With one final cry, the bird puppet vanished, transformed completely into a mass of flame!

Having absorbed the aura of the Southern Sun Fire and now assimilated into it, the flame covering the bird puppet had become nearly indistinguishable from the real Southern Sun Fire.

"Go," Wandering Man whispered, his palm shaking gently.

The bird puppet spread its wings and shot out like an arrow released from the bowstring, plunging straight into the fire. It dove into the blaze right along the wall of the tunnel at the very outermost edge of the Southern Sun Fire.

Puff!

Even after piercing through the flame, the bird puppet had not been instantly reduced to ashes.

Deep within the fire, a small avian silhouette emerged.

The Southern Sun Fire aura it had absorbed over the years now showed its use. As it was released, it helped the puppet meld into the Southern Sun Fire. But this fusion could not last long; the aura within its body was being consumed at an alarming rate.

Even after all these years of accumulation, it could not withstand the Southern Sun Fire’s incineration for long. Once its aura ran dry, the bird puppet would perish.

Its body was visibly shrinking by the second. At most, it could last ten breaths.

The instant the bird puppet entered the Southern Sun Fire, Qin Sang moved as well. With Formless Sword Merger, he flew forward with a burst of speed, like a moth drawn to flame.

At that same moment, Wandering Man clenched his fist and gave a low shout. "Open!"

The bird puppet flapped its wings wildly, dancing amidst the inferno.

Its movements were elegant, almost mesmerizing. But there was no birdsong, only silence. In that silence lay a strange sorrow, as though this were the puppet’s final performance before it vanished from the world.

Wandering Man used it as a lure, achieving much with little.

The edge of the Southern Sun Fire, which not even Spiritual Infant grandmasters dared approach, trembled under the strain. A narrow gap opened up between the flame and the wall.

Qin Sang arrived just in time and darted through the crevice, successfully reaching the far side of the Southern Sun Fire.

As he brushed past the flame, before he could even feel the terrifying heat of the demon fire, a blast of frigid, malevolent wind surged up and engulfed him.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

In an instant, he was plunged into a world of ice and fire.

A violent shiver coursed through him as his vision turned stark white. The icy wind appeared to carry shards of frozen debris. It mingled with the Southern Sun Fire here, creating a bizarre spectacle of fire and frost coexisting.

It was bitterly cold, but still bearable. The defensive artifacts he had prepared to ward off the cold turned out to be unnecessary.

Just from the scene before him, Qin Sang could tell that the sword-qi-induced wind here was even stronger than the Malevolent Frost Wind. This strange balance likely resulted from the scorching heat of the Southern Sun Fire partially offsetting the icy chill.

Even so, that extreme coldness still lingered, undiminished and distinct. It reached straight to the primordial spirit. Anyone else stepping into this area would see their primordial spirit shatter in moments, frozen to death without resistance.

The farther he advanced, the closer he came to the sword mark and the origin of the sword qi, and the colder it grew.

Compared to what lay here, the Malevolent Frost Wind was insignificant. Even Spiritual Infant grandmasters could move freely through that frost, but they would never dare step into this sword-qi-laden mark.

Time was tight. Qin Sang surveyed his surroundings briefly, then widened his eyes and looked ahead.

Just as expected, the tunnel broke off not far ahead, forming a cliff-like drop. At the end of the tunnel, across from where he now stood, was a stone chamber about the same size as the one that held the Southern Sun Fire.

If Wandering Man’s information was accurate, the fragment of the pill cauldron would be inside that stone chamber.

The chamber, too, was filled with sword qi and malevolent winds, but Qin Sang was unfazed. With a leap, he darted toward it.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The winds howled, exerting tremendous pressure.

Qin Sang gritted his teeth and pushed forward through the storm, eventually reaching the chamber’s entrance. He peered inside.

The sword-qi-filled wind slashed through the chamber like countless blades. It was clear that ancient protective barriers still lingered, or the chamber would have long been reduced to rubble.

It was mostly empty inside. Anything that had once been there had likely already been swept away by the wind. However, at the center of the room, the winds had formed a swirling vortex. Within that vortex, a glimmer of green light flickered faintly.

Qin Sang narrowed his gaze, staring through the green glow. There lay a fist-sized chunk of green copper.

It was nothing more than a simple piece of copper, covered in rust, without any inscriptions or ancient markings. Its edges were razor-sharp, as though it had once belonged to a copper artifact that had been shattered and discarded here.

Though only the size of a fist, the green copper fragment appeared unbelievably heavy. It rested immovably on the ground, completely unaffected by the raging wind.

Only against the backdrop of that destructive sword qi wind could one truly sense the extraordinary nature of this object—ancient, solemn, and magnificent in its aura.

Qin Sang took a glance at it but sensed no aura of a divine artifact coming from the green copper fragment. He could only hope this hadn’t all been a wasted effort.

Clang!

A sharp ring of sword cry echoed as the ebony sword flared with intense sword qi, slashing fiercely toward the vortex of malevolent wind.

Qin Sang stomped hard against the ground, seizing the moment when the vortex was thrown into disarray. He charged straight into its center and reached out to grab the green copper fragment.

Though remaining alert, he was surprised to find that the green copper fragment offered no resistance whatsoever. His palm closed around it easily, and a wave of warmth flowed through his touch.

Eroded by sword qi and malevolent wind for countless years, yet entirely unscathed. This was exactly how a divine artifact fragment ought to be!

Qin Sang silently marveled at it, acknowledging that this seemingly broken piece of copper was anything but ordinary.

He tightened his grip and tried to lift it. To his shock, his body suddenly sank, and not only did he fail to lift the green copper fragment, he nearly toppled over with the effort.

Why is it so heavy?

Cursing inwardly, Qin Sang hastily channeled more true essence into his palm. Only then did he finally manage to raise the green copper fragment.

By this point, only three breaths had passed.

Retrieving the fragment had gone far more smoothly than Wandering Man had anticipated. Qin Sang even had time to sweep the chamber with his gaze and examine the green copper closely.

From this vantage point, he could see more clearly. The stone chamber had been stripped bare, everything long since swept away by the sword qi and malevolent winds. Aside from the green copper fragment, nothing else remained.

Moreover, regardless of whether he probed it with spiritual consciousness or infused it with true essence, the green copper responded as if it were a stone sinking into the ocean, completely unreactive.

Apart from its abnormal weight, the green copper fragment showed no other unusual qualities.