Gateway of Immortality

After refining the malevolent corpse, its face turned greenish-blue, its fangs elongated, and an overwhelming aura of malevolent qi rolled off its body. It was unmistakably a refined corpse and best avoided in front of righteous cultivators. Once Qin Sang mastered controlling the malevolent corpse, he stored it in the Corpse Puppet Pouch to let it cultivate autonomously, then returned to his cave dwelling.

Though corpse refinement seemed complicated, it actually took less than five days. Glancing at the unchanged pool, Qin Sang dismissed it and sat cross-legged.

After a moment’s thought, he took out the spoils he’d acquired from the Heavenly Corpse Sect’s branch, organizing them while also assessing his own state to prepare for his journey to the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

First was the talisman astra given to him by Senior Sister Qingting. Although a crack marred its surface, it still retained considerable power and could be used a few more times if not wasted—a valuable trump card to safeguard carefully.

The cracked iron stake had been examined by Shopkeeper Wu, who couldn’t discern much about it but speculated it might be some kind of array artifact, crafted from premium spiritual.

Qin Sang recalled the scene when he first encountered the skeleton: shattered spirit stones littered around the cracked iron stake, and the items on the skeleton hadn’t been scavenged. Shopkeeper Wu’s assessment was likely correct—the stake was probably used for setting up a hidden spiritual array, but the owner, gravely injured, couldn’t avoid death in the end.

As the stake was already damaged, it was essentially useless.

Then there was Hermit Baiyun’s Dragon-Subduing Staff and the spiritual sword he’d acquired from Wu Yuesheng, named the Yanli Sword.

Though not as refined as the Crimson Flame Sword, these two artifacts were both high-grade and some of the finest beyond their primary wielders’ main artifacts. The Yanli Sword spoke for itself, and the Dragon-Subduing Staff had numerous ingenious uses for handling complex situations.

When he entered the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, Qin Sang intended to rely on these two artifacts, with the ebony sword for covert strikes and the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions or the talisman astra for added support as needed.

Combined with the malevolent corpse, Profound Yin Thunderbolts, and two Essence-Devouring Spikes, Qin Sang found he had a decent set of defensive means. As long as he didn’t court death, he should be able to preserve his life.

It was a pity that his most effective artifact, the Falling Cloud Wings, was a malevolent artifact and couldn’t be used indefinitely.

Initially, he had taken a liking to Wu Yuesheng’s evasion technique, but neither his Mustard Seed Pouch nor the Treasure Tower Peak contained a similar spell. It was likely a supernatural ability tied to Wu Yuesheng’s cultivation art and inaccessible to those without that specific training.

Though he hadn’t found an evasion technique, Qin Sang did come across the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array.

After breaking through to the Foundation Building Realm, the Zhixuan Sword Art had started to feel limited, and Qin Sang had intended to upgrade his sword art. However, the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment took precedence, leaving him unable to focus on both.

The Treasure Tower Peak held countless sword arts—dozens accessible even to Foundation Building cultivators—varying in strength and each with its unique features. The top five sword arts, however, not only required difficult training but were also so expensive they nearly equaled a top-grade artifact in cost!

Without a master or sufficient resources, few Foundation Building disciples would choose these five arts; a handy artifact was often a more practical investment.

Moreover, without guidance from a master, achieving high mastery in the Sword Dao[1] would demand an immense amount of time and energy, inevitably conflicting with other aspects of cultivation.

Qin Sang directed his spiritual consciousness into the jade slip, examining the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array in depth. His eyes gleamed with excitement. Though it didn’t match the top five arts, the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array had its unique strengths.

The core of this art lay in splitting sword qi, causing the sword qi strands to draw on each other to form the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array, maximizing the power of each strand of sword qi.

Sword qi splitting and sword light division were entirely different. Sword light division was a far more advanced realm of the Sword Dao, said to require at least the Golden Core Realm and exceptional talent in the sword path to comprehend.

The Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment confirmed this: upon reaching its fifth stage, corresponding to the Golden Core Realm, the talent-derived supernatural ability granted was sword light division, allowing the life-bound spiritual sword to split off a strand of sword light.

Sword light division has boundless utility, with its greatest advantage being its connection to the wielder’s intent, allowing for the formation of exquisitely intricate sword arrays. However, just splitting off a few strands of sword light doesn’t make one invincible—otherwise, everyone would be using spiritual swords as their artifacts.

Unfortunately, the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment lacks further stages, so it’s unclear what supernatural abilities the later phases of this art might unlock in terms of sword arrays. Furthermore, merely two strands of sword light are far from sufficient to form an array.

The creator of the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array drew inspiration from the technique of sword light division, developing this art by splitting sword qi into an array, unrestricted by one’s cultivation level. Any cultivator who can channel sword qi is capable of practicing it.

The higher a cultivator’s level and the stronger their spiritual consciousness, the more sword qi they can control.

The sword qi split by the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array each inherits only a small fraction of the spiritual sword’s power, making each individual strand seem weak. Yet, once they form a sword array, the combined linkage of all sword qi strands becomes formidable, surpassing the power of the original spiritual sword.

As one’s expertise in swordsmanship grows, so too does the might of the sword array.

In the cavern, Qin Sang had not witnessed Wu Yuesheng fully deploying the sword array, but from the aura when the array began to form, he knew it was anything but weak.

Had the three of them not harbored their own agendas, they could have easily slain the living corpse.

Additionally, cultivating this sword art isn’t as demanding as the five sword arts from Shaohua Mountain. By splitting off two strands of sword qi to combine with the spiritual sword itself, one can create a small-scale sword array. With time, the cultivator can further comprehend the art, where each new strand of sword qi becomes a visible enhancement.

After seeing the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array, Qin Sang decided almost instantly to adopt it as his main sword art, not merely to save the spirit stones needed to exchange for a sword art.

Whoosh!

The Yanli Sword flew from Qin Sang’s palm, releasing sharp sword qi as it circled around him.

With the ebony sword still nurtured in his primordial spirit, he would use the Yanli Sword to practice his understanding of the sword art.

After refining it for a while, Qin Sang claimed the Yanli Sword as his own, then closed his eyes and immersed his spiritual consciousness into the jade slip, wholly focused on comprehending the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array.

The Yanli Sword’s glow softened as it rested horizontally on Qin Sang’s lap, casting the cave dwelling into stillness.

The spring water remained clear, orchids bloomed in silence, while the exotic fragrance of the divine flowers was tightly sealed above the pool by a barrier—a pity, truly.

Days passed, and Qin Sang seemed like a statue.

In the blink of an eye, a month had flown by.

On this day, a prolonged sword hum suddenly resonated through the cave dwelling.

The Yanli Sword, which had rested motionless on Qin Sang’s lap, without warning, flew up to hover above his head!

Qin Sang’s eyes shot open, a sharp gleam in his gaze as he focused intently on the Yanli Sword.

The insights he had gained from the Thousand-Mechanism Sword Array flashed through his mind, and he felt ready to attempt splitting sword qi. Without hesitation, he channeled his spiritual power into the Yanli Sword.

Hum!

The Yanli Sword radiated intense sword qi!

1. This refers to the way of the sword. ☜

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