Chapter 997: Soul Light

Several days later.

Qin Sang’s eyelids quivered slightly before he slowly opened his eyes, awakening from meditation. With a flicker of thought, sword light flashed between his brows and shot outward.

The ebony sword had completed its metamorphosis. Its power far surpassed what it once had, now advanced into a high-grade astra.

Qin Sang, wishing to quickly engrave the killing symbol and raise his cultivation, had used only part of the Soul-Nourishing Wood.

Though the ebony sword looked almost unchanged on the surface, as its master, Qin Sang could distinctly sense the improvement.

Sword shadows flickered and flowing lights danced as he guided the sword through a series of sword arts. The blade moved with perfect ease, without the slightest pause or resistance.

Then he drew the ebony sword back and let it hover before him. Gazing at the spiritual sword, Qin Sang’s expression turned thoughtful.

After refining the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood last time, he had gained the Blood Defilement Divine Light ability, which had proven immensely useful. He now wondered what kind of benefit the Soul-Nourishing Wood might bring.

He pondered for a while. The Blood Defilement Divine Light had not been unique to the ebony sword. Any astra forged from Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood would gain a similar ability; it was a power inherent to that divine wood itself.

The Soul-Nourishing Wood, however, seemed to possess only the ability to nourish the soul, with no record of any special divine ability. Qin Sang had never seen such a description in any ancient text.

After all, the Ten Divine Woods were exceedingly rare even in the ancient immortal cultivation era.

Originally, the spiritual wood emitted a blue soul light that was untamable. As Qin Sang studied the sword’s body, his eyes flashed with surprise. A faint layer of soul light now glimmered along the blade, softening its aura and concealing its sharpness. It no longer exuded killing intent, appearing less like a weapon of slaughter.

Could it be...

A thought stirred in his heart. Qin Sang recalled the ebony sword into his primordial spirit and began to examine it carefully.

Before long, he sensed something unusual. His primordial spirit and his life-bound spiritual sword now felt completely merged, blending together seamlessly. That layer of soul light was as gentle as water, as though it could soothe any wound.

Even more to his delight, though his cultivation realm remained unchanged, his spiritual consciousness had subtly transformed.

"The Soul-Nourishing Wood truly strengthens spiritual consciousness. Wait, no..." Focusing intently, Qin Sang finally discovered the true change. "It’s not simply an enhancement of spiritual consciousness. The soul light has refined my primordial spirit, making it denser and purer, as though it has been tempered anew."

The change was faint and not immediately visible in effect. But given time, the gradual accumulation would surely yield an extraordinary result. Confirming this, Qin Sang smiled in satisfaction. "Body refinement, true essence, and spiritual consciousness... Am I now cultivating all three together?"

As he continued to sense it, new insights arose. "If I had possessed a life-bound spiritual sword forged with Soul-Nourishing Wood when I first began cultivating the

Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment

, the pain would have been far less. I could have trained even without the Jade Buddha."

Realizing this additional benefit, Qin Sang sighed. "I wonder how the cultivators of the past managed to overcome this art's flaw. They couldn’t possibly have handed out Soul-Nourishing Wood to everyone."

Unable to part with it, he kept the sword close, remaining in seclusion for an entire day before stepping out.

Bai’s cave dwelling was nearby. After arriving in the city, Bai had immediately gone into seclusion with the spiritual herbs and likely would not emerge for quite some time. Since then, Qin Sang had stayed in the city as well.

His shop served only as a front; he opened it occasionally. His true focus lay in two tasks: investigating Heavenly Dao Sect and advancing his cultivation.

Unknowingly, three years passed in this manner. Inside the cave dwelling, Qin Sang sat cross-legged, a single Tyrant Blood Fruit resting at his side. For three years he had cultivated without pause.

Now that the ebony sword had ascended to a high-grade astra, it bore the killing symbol easily. With decades of accumulation behind him, his progress in engraving the killing symbol was astonishingly fast, and his cultivation advanced at a breathtaking rate.

Qin Sang could sense that a breakthrough was near. He believed that within a few short years, he would reach the late stage of the Core Formation Realm. He planned to visit Heavenly Dao Sect only after both his cultivation and body had advanced further, when his strength reached a higher level.

Originally, he had intended to find and secretly contact the sword cultivator surnamed Ning. Heavenly Dao Sect had many Core Formation disciples, but information on them was not difficult to find. Qin Sang had deliberately befriended a few fellow cultivators to inquire about it, yet he discovered no disciple with the surname Ning.

Either the man was deeply hidden, or he was not a Core Formation cultivator at all, but a Spiritual Infant grandmaster.

Because of the ancient teleportation array, Qin Sang had to meet him no matter what. If he could not find him quietly, he would visit the sect in person.

This made Qin Sang wary. Though he did not believe Senior Qingzhu meant him harm, he saw no fault in caution.

Once he achieved dual breakthroughs in cultivation and body refinement, his evasion techniques would rival even those of a Spiritual Infant grandmaster. If things turned dangerous, he would at least have a chance to escape.

With this settled, Qin Sang devoted himself entirely to cultivation. As his cultivation grew, his physical body also strengthened.

The medicinal power of the previous Tyrant Blood Fruit had been fully absorbed, and now he prepared to refine the last one to break through to the late third stage of the

Heavenly Demon Body Refinement.

Calming his heart and mind, Qin Sang entered deep meditation, adjusting his state. Though his thin robe appeared ordinary, his body contained terrifying strength.

He now possessed the body of a demonic beast; Qin Sang himself was like a humanoid beast. His blood was thick as mercury, and his vital energy surged like fire.

Suddenly, his muscles tensed, bones cracking audibly. Reaching toward the jade box, he retrieved the Tyrant Blood Fruit and swallowed it without hesitation.

Once the spiritual fruit entered his stomach, it dissolved into a wave of heat. The medicinal energy erupted violently.

Having twice consumed the Tyrant Blood Fruit before, Qin Sang remained calm, stabilizing his body as he endured the searing pain and refined the energy through the agony of tempering muscle and bone.

His flesh trembled, and his entire skin turned crimson, as though blood would soon seep through his pores. Sweat poured from him like rain, yet he sat motionless, refining the medicinal power with unwavering focus.

Time passed slowly. The floor around him became drenched in sweat, and a faint glossy sheen appeared over his skin. The effect of body purification still remained, though less pronounced than in lower realms.

Soon, his body calmed, and the redness faded from his skin. He had not broken through as instantly as the Two-Headed Hou did after consuming the fruit, but he knew the breakthrough was imminent. Once he refined enough of the medicinal power, it would come naturally.

For now, Qin Sang stopped thinking of anything else and focused solely on channeling star power through his body to strengthen it further.

Two months later...

Over a sea near Heavenly Dao Sect, a figure appeared. After circling in the sky and confirming that no one was around, a burst of azure light shimmered behind him, and a magnificent pair of phoenix wings unfurled.

The figure was none other than Qin Sang. After two months of arduous cultivation, he had successfully advanced to the late third stage of the

Heavenly Demon Body Refinement.

Looking over his twin wings, Qin Sang noticed they had grown denser and more defined with each advancement. What had once been mere illusions now looked increasingly real, almost like the wings of a true phoenix.