Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 786: Seeded Devil Embryo
A stone door emerged from the cliff wall. When pushed open, it revealed a pitch-black entrance.
Qin Sang silently activated the Golden Jade Lock for protection and flashed to the doorway.
What he saw inside, however, was nothing like the scene within Ziwei Palace. There was no grand hall filled with embedded stone swords, but rather a bluestone-brick corridor that felt strangely familiar.
The floor of the corridor was also paved with bluestones, smooth and flat.
The broad corridor stretched straight into the darkness. Inside, there were no sculptures, no puppets, no altars, no markings or symbols at all.
Standing at the threshold, Qin Sang scanned the interior carefully. Once he confirmed there were no abnormalities, he stepped inside.
Thud!
His footsteps echoed along the empty corridor.
Just as he entered, Qin Sang caught a glimpse of something from the corner of his eye. He turned sharply and saw, in the corner of the passage, a lone jade slip placed upright and precisely.
It stood there alone. On the ground beside it, a few simple lines had been written:
"This is the remnant of an artI once cultivated. I can no longer continue it.
"The world is unpredictable. Human effort cannot overcome fate.
"Alas!"
"Alas!"
"Alas!"
At the end, four characters were signed. "Linggui Island Master."
Qin Sang was visibly startled. He steadied himself and examined the writing more closely.
The name left behind was not Qingzhu, but Linggui Island Master, which surprised him. He guessed this was likely an alias used by Senior Qingzhu.
Leaving behind cultivation arts for later generations and guiding those who come after, so that one’s life’s work would not go to waste was exactly in line with Senior Qingzhu’s character.
Back in Ziwei Palace, even while being hunted by powerful enemies, Senior Qingzhu had not forgotten to leave behind the fruits of his lifetime, engraving two killing symbols next to the teleportation array.
Moreover, the handwriting here and that on the stone pillar at the teleportation array clearly came from the same hand. The one who left this behind was none other than Senior Qingzhu.
This time, however, he likely hadn’t been fleeing pursuit. The writing was incredibly neat, composed with steady strokes, filled with gravity and care.
The three large characters for "Alas" each carried a weight that seemed to resonate deep in the heart, filled with helpless sorrow.
Qin Sang’s expression grew solemn, touched by the words that had been left behind.
Back when he saw the sword mark in the valley, he suspected the guidance had been meant specifically for him. But he had no choice. On his own, his chance of finding the teleportation array had been almost nonexistent, so he had gambled on it.
Qin Sang had heard many rumors about Senior Qingzhu and had formed an impression of him. He was a true sword cultivator, one who repaid kindness and vengeance alike.
But now, upon reading this inscription, he realized he might have misunderstood. The guidance and message left behind by Senior Qingzhu might not have been meant for him at all.
Or rather, not for any specific person.
Anyone who had cultivated the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment and was teleported here would see the killing symbols he left behind and thus be led to this place.
Senior Qingzhu had hoped that someone would one day continue walking the path he started.
"Linggui Island Master..."
It seemed Senior Qingzhu had once taken control of an island and taken this title as an alias.
Qin Sang carefully recalled the names of well-known Spiritual Infant grandmasters, but none matched this title. He had once been certain that Senior Qingzhu had already formed a Spiritual Infant, but now he was no longer sure.
The mystery only deepened.
His gaze shifted to the jade slip beside the writing. After a moment’s thought, he summoned a malevolent corpse and backed up to the entrance.
The malevolent corpse walked over and easily picked up the jade slip, handing it to Qin Sang without triggering any traps.
There was no hidden barrier near the jade slip.
Qin Sang gave a self-deprecating chuckle, took the jade slip, hesitated briefly, and then activated his spiritual consciousness to examine it.
As he read through the contents, Qin Sang’s expression shifted repeatedly—at times excited, at times disappointed. Eventually, he opened his eyes and stood silently, deep in thought.
Within the jade slip was the first half of the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment, along with two of Senior Qingzhu’s self-created killing symbols.
Unlike what he had found in Ziwei Palace, these two killing symbols were complete!
Senior Qingzhu had once left a message stating that, during his tempering in the Sword Dao, he gained a new insight that allowed him to complete the seventh killing symbol. Now, it was clear that this was no empty boast. He had indeed completed it.
But that was it.
Even with Senior Qingzhu’s extraordinary talent, he had only managed to push the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment to the seventh stage before he could go no further. Hence the discouraging words he had left behind.
"This path... has come to an end?" Qin Sang murmured to himself with a sense of melancholy.
The unique sword will within the teleportation hall was something Senior Qingzhu could not possibly have missed. He must have searched thoroughly. Judging from this, he had most likely failed.
Has Senior Qingzhu advanced to the Spiritual Infant Realm?
What did he mean by "Human effort cannot overcome fate"? If he was merely unable to continue refining the art, such a lament would seem excessive. Did Senior Qingzhu encounter something else entirely?
Qin Sang felt his head pounding.
After reading the jade slip, not only had his questions remained unanswered, they had only multiplied.
Aside from the cultivation art, the jade slip also contained a secret technique for crafting an external clone, which Senior Qingzhu had derived from the devilish art Seeded Devil Embryo and adapted into a unique clone technique.
While obtaining these techniques was indeed worth rejoicing over, Qin Sang felt more disappointed than pleased.
Because aside from this, there were no further messages.
He tried searching for any hidden markings or coded messages but found nothing.
"Seeded Devil Embryo..."
Qin Sang cleared his thoughts and began carefully studying this clone technique.
At first, he had wondered whether Senior Qingzhu had fallen into the devilish path, but after reading through it, he suddenly understood and thought to himself that it made perfect sense why Senior Qingzhu had chosen to leave this particular secret technique here.
Seeded Devil Embryo was, without a doubt, a devilish and evil technique. Its cultivator had to split off a portion of their own divine soul to forge a devil seed. The seed was extremely fragile and had to be planted inside a low-level cultivator, where it would gestate.
Once the seed hatched and the devil embryo began to form, the host would gradually be consumed, little by little. Afterward, through blood feeding and various secret techniques, the embryo would be refined into an external clone.
The success rate of this evil technique was extremely low.
Forging a devil seed was not as simple as splitting one’s soul, it demanded immense pain and would severely damage one’s vital energy. Moreover, during incubation, the seed was prone to failure.
Even after the clone was successfully refined, there remained the constant risk of backlash.
If the external clone broke free of control, it could manipulate or even devour the original body.
Yet the benefits were undeniable. Once the clone was complete, its cultivation could rapidly rise to match that of the original body. It could train independently, act autonomously, and behave no differently from a real person.
The reason Senior Qingzhu had been able to cultivate and even modify this devilish technique was due to the Sword Light Division granted by the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment.
According to Senior Qingzhu’s own writings, after forming his Golden Core, he reflected on his supernatural abilities. His Sword Dao cultivation advanced rapidly, and before long, he naturally comprehended the Sword Light Division.
But as his understanding of the Sword Dao grew deeper, he began to sense something unusual.
The sword light split by the cultivation art seemed subtly different from those he had split on his own.
This puzzled Senior Qingzhu for a long time.
After years of contemplation, he finally uncovered the secret.
The sword light produced by the art contained the power of the divine soul. It appeared to carry a fragment of his own soul.
Yet before this realization, he had felt absolutely nothing.
