Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 477: Experimentation

In fact, even the existence of that beloved companion of Qingzhu had only come to light after he defected from his sect and completed his revenge.

Qin Sang stared intently at the crystal, sensing the connection between it, the stone pillars beneath his feet, and the platform itself.

There was no doubt. This crystal was the key.

Without it, the gate couldn’t be opened. And without the gate, there was no way to enter Zhitian Peak!

A flicker of light passed through Qin Sang’s eyes. He leapt off the platform and hurried to the great hall’s exit, only to halt abruptly, his expression turning grave as he dared not take another step.

Outside the hall, a spatial rift stretched across the sky.

There was only one visible rift, but the entire surrounding void was chaotic, the dim and murky aura within it carrying subtle yet unstable fluctuations.

His cultivation was currently restricted to the Qi Refining Realm. He didn’t dare rush in recklessly.

Recalling Granny Jing’s warning, Qin Sang slowly retreated and gradually calmed down. Once his thoughts cleared, he couldn’t help but let out a self-deprecating laugh.

He had no need to overthink things in the first place.

No matter what sort of relationship Granny Jing and Qingzhu had, it had nothing to do with him.

All he needed to know was this. The closer Granny Jing was to Qingzhu, the more reliable her information became. That, for him, was a good thing.

Since Granny Jing was unwilling to bring up the matter herself, it would be unwise for him to dig deeper. If he accidentally touched a taboo subject, he might only make things worse and end up offending her.

With this thought in mind, Qin Sang let go of his worries. He glanced at the crystal, mentally counting down the time, then shifted his gaze toward the handsome young man.

Qin Sang removed the Mustard Seed Pouch from the youth’s body and opened it, taking out everything inside.

For a moment, the entire hall was filled with a dazzling glow, nearly blinding Qin Sang with the glitter of treasures.

Just the spirit stones alone easily numbered over ten thousand. Qin Sang didn’t bother counting and swept them all up into his own pouch, pushing the less valuable junk off to the side.

What remained were spirit pills, artifacts, talisman astras, and two sets of highly potent forbidden artifacts.

The handsome youth had already used one talisman astra during battle, and yet two more remained in the pouch. Both were unusually intricate and likely inherited from the Yuanshen Sect. Qin Sang didn’t dare keep them; he planned to destroy them once he reached Zhitian Peak.

The same went for the artifacts.

He intended to follow Granny Jing’s advice to the letter, taking none back whether they were good or bad. The best items had already been destroyed in the earlier fight, and the rest weren’t exceptional enough to tempt him.

With his ebony sword and the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions in hand, even high-grade artifacts failed to impress him.

As for the two forbidden artifact sets, they were completely out of the question. They were clearly refined by senior cultivators of the Yuanshen Sect with painstaking effort.

If he was an ordinary disciple of the Yuanshen Sect, Qin Sang might’ve pocketed everything without hesitation, but this youth’s identity was anything but ordinary. He was also linked to two elders of the sect. The matter was too serious; extreme caution was more than justified.

Even combined, the total value of these spoils didn’t equal a single Xutian Thunder. Qin Sang didn’t feel too much regret.

He pushed all the items aside, lumping them together with the “trash,” then shifted his gaze to the collection of jade bottles and began carefully inspecting them.

To his disappointment, none of the pills were meant to assist with Core Formation.

Which made sense. The youth was in the Fake Core Realm himself. If he had any such pills, he would’ve used them long ago. Why would he leave them behind for someone else?

Fortunately, a few of the bottles contained spirit pills for nourishing and reinforcing the foundation. One bottle’s efficacy was on par with the Lilong Pill, likely something the youth had half-finished.

Even the leftovers were this high-grade. He must’ve been extremely well-connected!

These spirit pills would help him reach the Fake Core Realm more quickly. Qin Sang was quite pleased as he took them out and transferred them into new jade bottles.

As for the other pills, most were used for healing and recovery. Qin Sang didn’t hold back and swallowed them all on the spot.

Besides the pills, the item that caught his attention the most was a jade slip titled Fragmented Records of Taixuan Array. It contained several spiritual arrays. Just a rough glance was enough for Qin Sang to sense their exquisite craftsmanship.

The content was highly advanced and couldn’t be fully comprehended in a short time. For now, Qin Sang could only memorize it roughly, taking it all in at once.

After sorting through everything, Qin Sang calmly turned to examine the unconscious youth. This was the second expert at the Fake Core Realm he had captured alive, following Yu Hua.

In his view, among all the spoils, the youth’s value was no less than a Xutian Thunder.

Refining a living corpse was a difficult process with a low success rate. Qin Sang couldn’t guarantee a smooth result when attempting it on Yu Hua.

Since he couldn’t bring this youth out with him, he would make for the perfect practice subject.

The youth had not yet awakened.

Qin Sang took out a Heavenly Corpse Talisman and, after some effort, injected it into the youth’s primordial spirit space, fully suppressing his spiritual consciousness, then paused.

His cultivation was currently restricted to the Qi Refining Realm. He couldn’t unleash his full strength, and it would have a considerable impact on the corpse-refining process.

Standing atop the stone platform, Qin Sang waited in silence.

Finally, fifteen minutes had passed.

Qin Sang activated the crystal using the method Granny Jing had taught him.

The door on the stone platform slowly opened, revealing the familiar scene of chaotic space. Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Sang grabbed the handsome youth and leapt into the gate.

Another wave of dizziness struck, the world spinning wildly around him. Then, soon after, his feet once again touched solid ground.

He let out a silent breath of relief and quickly opened his eyes, only to find that the plaza had changed beyond recognition. The stone pillars had all disintegrated into fine ash, and the massive stone slabs were shattered into multiple pieces, covered in web-like cracks.

Fortunately, the stones hadn’t been completely reduced to rubble. The original shape of the plaza could still be faintly discerned.

The void around him had stabilized. The devouring darkness that had once threatened to consume everything had vanished completely, not a single trace remaining. The space had returned to normal.

What an incredibly powerful array!

Qin Sang was inwardly astonished. To suppress even shattered space, just how powerful has it been at full strength?

There was no time to lose. After scanning his surroundings and confirming nothing was amiss, Qin Sang immediately began the corpse refinement process.

He had long since prepared ample quantities of yin-natured materials from the five elements. The Lesser Yin Magnetic Bottles still held a great deal of Earth Malevolent Qi.

He laid the handsome youth flat on the ground, then reached out to trace several points in the air above the body, forming a complete set of barriers. Once the barriers were in place, he took hold of a piece of Blue Nether Gold...

Time ticked away.

Qin Sang stared unblinkingly at the youth, carrying out every step with meticulous precision, closely observing every subtle change.

This was far from his first time refining a living corpse—his technique was already highly proficient. But it didn’t take long for him to realize that the Fake Core Realm was indeed vastly different from the late-stage Foundation Building Realm.

...

Boom!

Suddenly, a muffled explosion erupted from the youth’s dantian, followed by a violent detonation.

A surge of Earth Malevolent Qi burst out, while the youth’s flesh and blood tore apart instantly. Not even a single groan escaped his lips. His life ended in that very moment, his corpse completely obliterated.

The Earth Malevolent Qi continued to rage outward in all directions.

Qin Sang dodged with remarkable agility, though his expression grew noticeably grim.

As expected, the refinement had failed.

What surprised him, however, was how quickly it failed. He had only just infused a single stream of Earth Malevolent Qi into the youth’s body, and as he attempted to infuse the second, a violent reaction had erupted.

Though he had tried his best to stabilize the process, it was all in vain. The result was an explosion.

Reviewing the entire process in his mind, Qin Sang concluded that the primary reason for the failure was his own insufficient cultivation. If he had been at the Fake Core Realm himself, his control over the process would have been far greater, and he likely could have suppressed the reaction.

Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnovel(.)com