"When she wakes up, let her decide for herself." Qin Sang glanced at Su Nu, who remained unconscious.

In truth, he had only met her a few times. Each time he saved her, it was for other reasons. They had little real connection.

Qin Sang crushed the ghostly seal in his hand. He had never intended to truly treat Su Nu as a soul slave. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Firstly, he owed her for surviving this ordeal. Secondly, after the incident with the Two-Headed Hou, Qin Sang understood that forcing others to submit was never a lasting path. It only bred resentment.

The Two-Headed Hou had followed him for so many years, yet even the temptation of the Tyrant Blood Fruit could not make it abandon its yearning for freedom. It would rather serve as bait than live under control. If even a beast was like that, what more could be said for a person?

Su Nu would never willingly accept being someone’s soul slave. She would surely have left safeguards to protect herself. Keeping a woman, who was ruthless enough to refine herself into a soul slave, by his side would only leave him sleepless.

It was better to simply let her go and leave a trace of goodwill. After bidding farewell to the Bao Siblings, Qin Sang followed Qingzhu into the distance. Lingzhuzi and the elder did not try to stop them.

Qingzhu led Qin Sang out of the collapsing space, across the river channel, and back to Yitian Peak, flying silently toward the summit. All of a sudden, Qingzhu’s body went limp, nearly collapsing to the ground.

"Senior!" Startled, Qin Sang hurried to catch him, only to smell a sharp metallic tang of blood. He then realized that Qingzhu’s entire body was soaked in it.

Earlier, Qingzhu had been forcing himself to stand tall in front of Lingzhuzi and the others, hiding his condition.

"It’s nothing." Qingzhu held onto Qin Sang’s arm. Though his voice was weak, his tone remained calm and steady. "Take me to Nether Valley."

"Senior, your body..." Qin Sang’s face was filled with concern. Qingzhu’s aura was extremely frail, and his life was fading rapidly.

He immediately took out the Jade Liquid of Three Radiances to help him recover, but Qingzhu stopped him. "My origin is already shattered beyond repair... Don’t waste this divine medicine on me."

Even so, he could not resist Qin Sang’s insistence. With a faint sigh, Qingzhu said, "Fine. There’s one last wish I have left to fulfill, and it concerns you."

Qin Sang then took out the Soul-Cleansing Liquid and the Soul-Nourishing Wood tablet. "Senior, try this as well..."

Qingzhu only accepted the wooden tablet. Surprise flickered across his face before he let out a small laugh. "You’re quite the treasure hoarder, Daoist. I remember your life-bound spiritual sword was attuned to the wood element. No wonder you managed to cultivate to this level; so you had the Soul-Nourishing Wood. You really have great fortune."

Qin Sang noticed that Qingzhu misunderstood him, thinking his cultivation of the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment was made possible by the Soul-Nourishing Wood. However, Qin Sang did not correct him.

"I drew the sword will into my body. Both my devilish soul and the ancient devil’s split soul were destroyed. My own soul was severed by the sword qi. My soul is about to extinguish, and only the spiritual sword fragment keeps me barely alive. There is no saving me. The Soul-Nourishing Wood cannot change that, it can only delay the inevitable for a little while."

The Jade Liquid of Three Radiances nourished his body, and the soul light of the Soul-Nourishing Wood warmed what remained of his fragmented spirit. Qingzhu’s complexion improved slightly, but as he said, it was only a final flicker before death.

When Qingzhu had willingly drawn the sword will into himself, Qin Sang had a feeling that this would be the outcome. Still, Qin Sang did not expect that even the Soul-Nourishing Wood could not save him. He quietly sought Bai’s opinion, but Bai had no solution either.

"He is different from me. Back then, I had setups that allowed a wisp of my soul to endure. But his origin was completely destroyed by the sword will, shattered beyond recognition. Even his remnant soul cannot be condensed. Without that fragment, he would have perished on the spot..." said Bai.

Bai himself had been affected by the devil’s roar but managed to shield Mute Girl in time. The two only needed rest to recover.

Qin Sang’s gaze dimmed. This was only his second encounter with Qingzhu in person, yet since joining Shaohua Mountain, he had already admired him deeply.

Seeing Qingzhu sacrifice himself so decisively, Qin Sang knew his judgment of the man had been right. If there were any way to save him, he would do everything in his power.

"You must still have many questions," Qingzhu said.

They flew side by side toward the summit of Yitian Peak.

Qingzhu looked up at the great hall wreathed in sword qi beneath the colorful radiance. His mind wandered as he began recounting everything, from how he was transported from Ziwei Palace to Seven-Kill Hall to the things he later faced in Canglang Sea.

Many of those experiences were connected to Qin Sang, and his words unraveled many of the mysteries that had long troubled him.

"The time I was transported to Seven-Kill Hall was considered its first emergence. The second time was when you arrived here. The third is this one now." Qingzhu gazed into the glowing distance, his tone wistful. [1]

"Back then, I sought revenge for my senior sister and planned to ambush Leng Yuntian in Ziwei Palace. But Leng Qian saw through my scheme. I managed only to severely wound Leng Yuntian before Leng Qian pursued me relentlessly. I was afraid of implicating my junior sister, so after being gravely injured, I activated the teleportation array and ended up here." Qingzhu pointed toward the celestial barrier above.

"The ancient teleportation array lies atop the celestial barrier, at the junction between the inner and outer halls. I followed the white jade corridor and found the exit below. I made some changes to conceal the true passage. Remember this route. With this talismanic seal, you can return."[2]

He passed both the route and the talismanic seal to Qin Sang. Qin Sang quickly memorized them, relief flooding his heart. He finally knew where the ancient teleportation array was, and he could return to Small Cold Domain.

"Thank you, Senior, for granting me this." Qingzhu smiled faintly. "No need to thank me. If I hadn’t arrived first, you would have been the one to uncover the secrets of this place, and you might have avoided all these hardships."

Qin Sang listened respectfully.

"When I first arrived here, I traveled from the celestial barrier to Nether Valley..." Qingzhu paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you know the origin of the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment and that sword fragment?"

"I heard the art originated from Ziwei Palace, but I knew nothing about any fragments," Qin Sang replied after some thought. He truly had never heard of such a thing.

So the spiritual sword fragment was indeed connected to the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment.

That surprised Qingzhu. "You’re probably the one who cultivated that art to the highest level after me, and without leaving behind any trace of killing intent. When did Dongyang Bo’s judgment become so clouded?"

"Uhh..." Qin Sang felt a pang of guilt. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided not to hide anything. He briefly recounted his entanglement with Chenyan and how Dongyang Bo had schemed around him.

Qingzhu chuckled softly. "I never bore any resentment toward Dongyang Bo. Back then, Leng Qian’s influence was at its peak, while my own path of cultivation was fraught with difficulty. Had it been someone else in his place, they too would not have risked offending Yuanshen Sect for the sake of a single disciple. Still, Dongyang Bo always regarded the revival of Shaohua Mountain as his personal duty. If he were to find out that he had driven away a disciple with the potential to reach the Spiritual Infant Realm, I wonder what expression he would make..."

Hearing that, Qin Sang immediately felt embarrassed and hurriedly said he dared not accept such praise.

If he could be considered a genius, then every other cultivator in the world would be a heavenly being.

"Do not belittle yourself. I can see that your essence, qi, and spirit are all abundant. You have cultivated both body and spells, and you possess the Soul-Nourishing Wood as well as having taken the Soul-Cleansing Liquid. Compared to others, your chances of forming a Spiritual Infant are far greater. One day, you will certainly stand before Dongyang Bo with pride." He seemed quite amused by the thought of such a scene.

"Cultivating both body and spells helps with forming the Spiritual Infant Realm?" Qin Sang’s eyes suddenly lit up at those words, and he eagerly asked Qingzhu for guidance.

This was the first time he had ever received personal instruction from a Spiritual Infant grandmaster.

1. This refers to its natural emergence, not when the races forcefully opened it. ☜

2. Talismanic seal is a type of seal that has talismanic writings imprinted. ☜