Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 474: Self-Created Art

The Xutian Thunder floated toward Qin Sang, supported by spiritual power.

Qin Sang looked at the Xutian Thunder, suppressing the urge to take it, and instead turned his gaze toward Granny Jing, silently seeking her permission.

"I had no intention of dragging you into this," Granny Jing said calmly. "But fate is unpredictable, and it just so happened they entered at that moment..."

Her eyes passed over the Xutian Thunder. "This is your spoils of war. It rightfully belongs to you. The Xutian Thunder is indeed a fine artifact, immensely powerful. It can seriously injure a middle-stage Golden Core expert, and even those in the late stage must treat it with extreme caution. Of course, that’s assuming you can land a hit. Its range isn’t very wide..."

Qin Sang lowered his head to glance at the stone platform beneath his feet.

The runes inscribed upon it were identical to those on the other platform, except that this one was inverted. At present, the door on the platform had closed, and the runes had gone silent.

Everything appeared normal again, but he wasn’t sure if the path back was still accessible.

After a moment of hesitation, Qin Sang said, "If not for Senior’s intervention, I would’ve already been devoured by the spatial storm triggered by the Star-Controlling Elder. And you paid such a heavy price. Even the divine beast Luan perished..."

Granny Jing suddenly let out a soft laugh. freewebnσvel.cøm

It was the first time Qin Sang had seen her smile. Far from ruining her imposing presence, it added a touch of warmth and softened the aloof air that once made her seem unreachable.

Before he could finish, Granny Jing extended her right hand, palm up.

Spiritual power surged from her palm like waves of flowing water.

Once the current settled, a wooden carving of Luan emerged, identical to the one from before.

As a phoenix-like cry rang out, the wooden Luan came to life. She began to dance gracefully in the air around Granny Jing, chirping affectionately.

Then, with a twist of her slender neck, the Luan spread her wings and glided down to land on Qin Sang’s shoulder. She preened her feathers for a moment and then nuzzled his face gently with her cheek.

Her feathers were fine and soft, like the highest-grade silk.

Qin Sang didn’t dare move. After Luan left his shoulder, a faint, cool sensation lingered on his cheek.

Noticing the shock in Qin Sang’s eyes, Granny Jing smiled and gently tapped Luan’s head with a jade-white finger. "She likes you very much..."

Qin Sang was now certain that the Luan from before had indeed been swallowed by the spatial storm.

And yet here it was again, another Luan, identical in every way.

"It really is a puppet?"

Qin Sang couldn’t help but marvel. "Senior, your puppet technique is so lifelike it’s indistinguishable from the real thing. I’ve never seen anything like it!"

"It’s not that my puppet technique is particularly exquisite," Granny Jing said, gently stroking Luan’s elegant wings. "I once had the fortune of witnessing a true Luan and personally experiencing its aura. Though it wasn’t the real divine beast, it left a deep impression."

Then, her lips parted slightly as she whispered, "Go."

Though Luan’s aura had been suppressed to the level of an Ordinary Demon Realm creature, just like Qin Sang, its speed remained incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it soared toward the exit of the great hall.

Watching Luan disappear, Qin Sang finally reached out and grasped the Xutian Thunder, cupping his hands in salute. "Then I shall accept it respectfully."

"I told you, it’s your war trophy."

Granny Jing replied nonchalantly, giving a small nod. But her gaze suddenly sharpened, and she said mildly, "That was Blood Defilement Divine Light you used earlier, wasn’t it? Given the characteristics of the art you cultivate, fusing the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood into your life-bound spiritual sword would be enough to elevate it to the level of an astra. You were lucky to obtain one of the Ten Divine Woods. No wonder you were so reluctant to use your spiritual sword. Were you afraid I’d steal your astra?"

As she spoke, a faint smile played at the corners of her lips, as if teasing Qin Sang for being overly cautious.

Qin Sang had mentally prepared for a confrontation, but hearing Granny Jing mention the ebony sword still made his heart tense.

What he hadn’t expected, however, was what she said next.

Qin Sang couldn’t help but ask in quick succession, "Senior, you know about the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment?"

Granny Jing clasped her hands behind her back and gazed outside the hall. Her expression turned distant, as though lost in some old memory. After a moment of silence, she said quietly, "I not only know the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment that Shaohua Mountain keeps in its archives, I also know that it’s incomplete. It only contains the first five stages, and can, at most, be cultivated to the early stage of Core Formation."

The Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment was a sword art preserved by Shaohua Mountain. Though the sect didn’t prohibit its disciples from studying it, outsiders typically only knew the most superficial parts unless they had personally cultivated it.

But from Granny Jing’s words, it was clear her understanding of the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment was no less than Qin Sang’s. In fact, it might have even surpassed his. Only someone who had practiced the art extensively and to great depth could speak with such clarity.

Who exactly is Granny Jing? Is she connected to Shaohua Mountain? Has she perhaps even cultivated the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment herself?

As Qin Sang reeled from the implications, Granny Jing’s gaze fell upon his face. "Do you want the continuation of the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment?"

Even someone as resolute as Qin Sang couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart upon hearing those words.

How could he not want the continuation of the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment?

This cultivation art had completely transformed him. It was the very key that allowed him to glimpse the path of the Great Dao. Qin Sang couldn’t imagine an art more suited to him. Unfortunately, it was incomplete.

Once he cultivated to the fifth stage, the path came to an abrupt end. At that point, Qin Sang had only two options. Either continue along the path of the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment and try to create the rest of the art on his own, stumbling blindly ahead, or abandon it and switch to another cultivation art altogether.

But the odds of creating his own art were slim. Qin Sang knew his limits. The reason he had even managed to cultivate the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment so smoothly was entirely thanks to the Jade Buddha.

Even when comprehending the killing symbol, it was the Jade Buddha that had helped him stabilize his mind, suppress the invading killing intent, and follow the art's path step by step.

His understanding of cultivation arts and of the Dao of Slaughter was far from the level needed to create an art from scratch. That road was simply too difficult.

On the other hand, switching to a different art would mean abandoning everything he had built so far. He would lose not only his life-bound spiritual sword, but also the acceleration in cultivation that came from fusing the killing symbol.

Unless he could find another art that worked the same way.

To Qin Sang, this choice was a trial no less daunting than forming his core.

It was just that core formation had consumed all of his focus. He hadn’t had the energy to dwell on what lay beyond.

"Senior, do you mean you possess the second half of the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment?" Qin Sang asked urgently, though his heart remained cautious and doubtful.

He silently speculated about Granny Jing’s origins, quickly sifting through the notable figures in Shaohua Mountain’s history, wondering if any of them could be connected to her.

With Granny Jing’s beauty and bearing, she certainly wouldn’t have been a nameless figure.

"It’s not the second half," Granny Jing said, correcting him with a serious look. "It’s a continuation, a follow-up cultivation art."

She looked Qin Sang in the eye. "Created by someone else who once cultivated the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment."

A self-created art.

Qin Sang froze upon hearing that.

Over the generations, many disciples of Shaohua Mountain had attempted to cultivate the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment.

Most had given up early on. The pain of sword qi devouring the soul and the torment of being eroded by killing intent were not things others could easily endure. Those people certainly wouldn’t have been capable of creating a new art.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺