Chapter 1358: The Effect of the Corpseflower Blood Amber

.....

After entering Xuanlu Stronghold, the Spiritual Infant cultivators observed the situation for another month.

Just as they had expected, the hurricanes and Spirit Tide within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield showed no signs of calming and had also turned into a storm belt.

Fortunately, whether because the lingering might of Ziwei Palace still remained or because of some other unknown reason, the storms in Ancient Immortal Battlefield were much weaker than the other storm belts, and they fluctuated with the tides, sometimes strong and sometimes weak.

With the various forces of Beichen Realm working together to defend the strongholds, the pressure was not as great as they had imagined.

When the tide was low, lower-level cultivators who were bold enough and had made sufficient preparations could also leave the strongholds and search for opportunities around the outer perimeter of Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

However, it was no longer possible for them to venture as deeply as they had in the past.

By comparison, Abyssal Ruin had suffered far more severe destruction. Even Spiritual Infant cultivators did not dare to enter anymore.

Endless Valley had not been spared.

Fortunately, only the inner valley had been destroyed. The outer valley had been struck by the impact, but part of it had survived. Jingyu’s cave dwelling had vanished together with Blood Lake, so from then on, she could only remain peacefully in Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea.

With this as the turning point, the establishment of the Beichen Alliance met almost no resistance.

Under such circumstances, Small Cold Domain no longer dared to harbor ambitions of monopolizing Ancient Immortal Battlefield and took the initiative to yield its interests in the seven strongholds.

Heavenly Demon Hill, Small Cold Domain, Tianxing Alliance, Sin Abyss, and Great Beichen Desert, the five great territories, formed a rare alliance to jointly guard a secret.

The trend of the world was that after a long division came unity. Because of the existence of the Beichen Alliance, Beichen Realm’s immortal cultivation world welcomed a long period of peace in the future.

"The Spirit Tide now exists permanently. There are disadvantages, but there are also benefits. Some ancient barriers that were hidden very deeply may be triggered by the Spirit Tide and reappear in the world. Perhaps there may be a celestial palace comparable to Ziwei Palace, and a reception platform may exist there..."

In a small courtyard, Qin Sang, Bing Han, and several other Spiritual Infant cultivators were drinking tea and discussing the Dao.

From time to time, they raised their heads to look high into the sky. The Spirit Tide was constantly crashing against the protective screen, causing it to flash without pause.

The one who spoke was Xiang Qing. He was a rising talent with a boundless future, so he regarded the reception platform with great importance.

In the future, the Spiritual Infant cultivators of the Beichen Alliance would often form groups to explore deep into Ancient Immortal Battlefield and search for opportunities.

When Bing Han heard this, her expression shifted slightly. She said, "Cultivation is already difficult for immortal cultivators of the present age. Now, the greatest treasure lands of Beichen Realm, Ancient Immortal Battlefield, Abyssal Ruin, and Endless Valley, have all met with disaster. It will be even harder for the disciples to search for opportunities. In my opinion, the Beichen Alliance should add another rule. Spiritual Infant cultivators may not wantonly plunder Ancient Immortal Battlefield. They must leave a path for the juniors."

"That is reasonable. The vast majority of treasures are already useless to us..."

Everyone spoke one after another.

After drinking a pot of tea, Qin Sang rose and took his leave.

"Where are you going, Daoist Qin?"

"To collect Cloud Beasts' souls," Qin Sang replied, then flew out of Xuanlu Stronghold.

He had refined another batch of Beast King Banners. Together with the ones he had seized from the Golden Core cultivators of the witch race, he had gathered eighty-one in total. After making slight modifications, he only needed to collect Cloud Beasts' souls.

The Cloud Beasts of Ancient Immortal Battlefield were special beings that had appeared because of the intermittent Spirit Tide. Now that the Spirit Tide no longer stopped, Cloud Beasts would also become increasingly rare.

Over the next ten years.

The Beichen Alliance was established, and the immortal cultivation worlds of the various territories could communicate freely. The estrangement between them gradually disappeared.

No one could command universal obedience.

The Beichen Alliance had no leader. Instead, it had a council of elders that jointly decided the major affairs of Beichen Realm and balanced the interests of all sides. Qin Sang was also one of its members.

After finishing the matters of the Beichen Alliance, Qin Sang began preparing to establish his sect.

Today, the grand ceremony was about to happen!

.....

Qin Sang recalled all the events that had happened over the past ten years, then gradually gathered his thoughts.

Whoosh! Whoosh! The Thousand-Jin Ring flashed, and two items flew out.

One was the eighty-one Beast King Banners. The other was a mat-shaped astra.

The meditation mat was another sect-guarding treasure Qin Sang had prepared for Qingyang Temple, the Heartlight Mat.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the material used to weave the Heartlight Mat was not grass or wood. It shimmered with a faint blue light, as though it had been refined from a kind of crystal.

Its main material was a rare spiritual object called Illusory Light Crystal, which Qin Sang had obtained in exchange from a Spiritual Infant cultivator in the desert.

The Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet’s ability to seal soul shadows was due to the Dao Manifestation Tree.

Later, Bai had provided Qin Sang with an idea. After careful consideration and several attempts, Qin Sang had used Illusory Light Crystal to refine the Heartlight Mat, which possessed a similar effect of sealing soul shadows.

However, the Heartlight Mat was far inferior to the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet.

First, the Heartlight Mat could not devour soul shadows on its own. Qin Sang had to transfer them into it from the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet.

Second, the number of soul shadows the Heartlight Mat could seal was limited. Moreover, as time passed, they would grow weaker and weaker until they completely dissipated. They could not exist for a long time like they could inside the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet, and Qin Sang had no better solution.

This was enough to prove that the Dao Manifestation Tree was indeed extraordinary and impossible to replicate.

Qin Sang had already transferred two soul shadows into it, both at the early stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm.

He activated his spiritual consciousness and probed into the Heartlight Mat. The soul shadows inside were very stable. Adding one more would be the limit.

Qin Sang summoned the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet.

A blood-red teardrop-shaped mark had appeared between the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet’s eyebrows. This had also been taught to Qin Sang by Bai. It could conceal the fluctuations of the Dao Manifestation Tree and prevent people with ulterior motives from seeing through the material of the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet.

Although it was immature and had already been contaminated, the Dao Manifestation Tree was still a rare treasure in the world. Caution was best.

Qin Sang placed the Beast King Banners to the side, guided a soul shadow out of the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet, and merged it into the Heartlight Mat.

The Heartlight Mat trembled a few times, then returned to calm.

Creak! Qin Sang pushed the door open and went outside. When he discovered Jingyu, he flashed into the pavilion.

The white cat tactfully withdrew.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Daoist," Qin Sang said with an apologetic expression.

Jingyu sized Qin Sang up and down. "Your cultivation has improved very noticeably after this seclusion. It seems you have already refined one Corpseflower Blood Amber?"

"That’s right!" Qin Sang nodded.

He took out a pot of peach blossom brew and poured a cup for Jingyu and himself. There was not much peach blossom brew personally brewed by his senior sister left. He was only willing to take it out when an honored guest visited.

"I must also thank you for that secret technique to purify the Corpseflower Blood Amber. After the blood poison was driven out, the Corpseflower Blood Amber could be directly refined by immortal cultivators like us. The process went quite smoothly, and its improvement to me far exceeded my expectations!" Qin Sang’s face lit up, and his tone carried a trace of joy. "If no accidents happen, once I refine all three Corpseflower Blood Ambers, I should be able to reach the bottleneck of the middle stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm!"

Jingyu knew very well the miraculous effects of the Corpseflower Blood Amber, so she was not surprised. She smiled, raised her cup, and said, "Then let me congratulate you in advance and wish you an early breakthrough to the middle stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm, shocking the world!"

If one could break through to the middle stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm within a hundred years of forming the Spiritual Infant, it would be extremely rare even throughout the history of the immortal cultivation world. Such a person could be called a peerless genius!

Qin Sang thanked her, raised his cup, and drank with her. He did not offer any modest words. There was no pride in his heart either.

Only with three Corpseflower Blood Ambers, together with the assistance of the Dao Manifestation Tree’s soul shadows, did he have the possibility of breaking through to the middle stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm. If he had cultivated step by step, who knew how long it would have taken?

The two put down their cups and began speaking of other matters.

Just then, the white cat returned. "Mr. Qin, Tan Yi’en sent someone to deliver an urgent letter. He also said that an old friend of yours has come to visit and is waiting for you at the mountain gate."