Chapter 72

Gazing intently at the silent, dense forest below, Qin Sang pondered for a moment and did not choose to go down directly. Instead, he pretended to look around, searching for a way down the mountain.

Then, as he passed a spot where a rock protruded, he instantly condensed a clone using his spiritual power, hiding his true self at the mountaintop. He cast the aerial technique on the clone and controlled it to glide down the cliff.

Qin Sang's clone quickly leaped between the protruding rocks and trees on the cliff. Just as it landed on a branch of an ancient tree, a sudden change occurred.

Without any warning, a beam of green light erupted from the forest, and within the green light was a bright green vine.

The vine twisted like a snake, bending and stretching, and in an instant, it shot towards Qin Sang's clone, quickly entangling it and binding it tightly.

"Ha ha!"

A mad laugh echoed from the forest. The unkempt Taoist, with disheveled hair, flew to the treetops, his body covered in blood, leaves, and broken grass. His arms and legs were pierced with several broken ice spikes, looking very disheveled, but his injuries were not as severe as Qin Sang had imagined.

The unkempt Taoist glared angrily at the 'Qin Sang' bound by the vine and said viciously, "Daring to sneak attack me, let you taste the power of the Spirit Lock Technique!"

Then, he looked up at the mountaintop, muttering incantations. Suddenly, a sound of breaking air echoed from the mountaintop, and three black lights shot out, which turned out to be three fragments of the Ruyi Shield.

At this moment, Qin Sang, hiding at the mountaintop, was filled with shock and anger.

If he had not been so cautious and had boldly gone down to loot the body or greedily picked up the shield first, he might have fallen into the unkempt Taoist's trap, leading to a disastrous outcome.

"Transform into a sword!"

The unkempt Taoist roared. With two 'bangs,' the fragments of the Ruyi Shield radiated with momentum, transforming into three sharp blades in mid-air.

The Ruyi Shield was no longer in the form of a shield but had transformed into three strange black swords, each with a fierce blood groove that made one's heart chill. The tips glinted with a cold light, like sword edges, showing no signs of damage and instead bursting with power far exceeding that of a mid-grade magical artifact.

Looking at the transformed Ruyi Shield, the unkempt Taoist's face was filled with pain, and his gaze towards 'Qin Sang' was even more hateful. He raised his hand, and the black swords immediately changed direction, piercing into 'Qin Sang' at lightning speed.

'Swish...'

The black spear pierced through, drilling into the trunk of the ancient tree, splashing water.

The unkempt Taoist's pupils suddenly constricted, his face changing drastically. Suddenly, he felt a chill and hurriedly looked up, only to see a dazzling bolt of lightning like a thunderclap.

The unkempt Taoist was terrified, trying to flee, but his speed was no match for the lightning. Just as he took half a step, he was struck by the Yin Thunder.

'Boom!'

The power of the Yin Thunder erupted, severing the massive tree branch under the unkempt Taoist. After a loud explosion, a large pit appeared on the ground, with a charred body lying inside.

Qin Sang was still not reassured and condensed several ice spikes, piercing into the pit. Seeing that the unkempt Taoist showed no signs of movement, he finally felt relieved and leaped down the cliff.

When he landed at the edge of the pit, Qin Sang suddenly paused, his face showing surprise. Despite the unkempt Taoist's condition, he still had a faint breath.

After some thought, Qin Sang put away the spirit stones in his hand, took out the Yama Banner, and summoned Yama to devour the unkempt Taoist's soul.

He was very curious about the unkempt Taoist's ability to control beasts. The yellow oriole had fled when Qin Sang first attacked, and he didn't know where it had gone. Although it had no combat power, it could be used for reconnaissance.

Yama could not get close to cultivators without being noticed and was timid and ineffective in battles with cultivators.

If the unkempt Taoist had not been on the verge of death, Yama would not have dared to devour his soul.

Qin Sang couldn't understand where the confidence Yama had shown when it had backfired on him had gone.

Unexpectedly, when Yama flew out of the unkempt Taoist's body, it did not bring out his soul but only a bit of green light.

Qin Sang was greatly surprised. Upon closer inspection, it was just a strand of primordial spirit power.

After some thought, Qin Sang suddenly remembered that when Yama had extracted the soul of the monk Yuanjue, it had only lasted half the expected time. Yuanjue was a先天 (innate) expert, and his soul should have been more substantial than that of an ordinary person. For a cultivator who had refined their soul into a primordial spirit, the soul was even more powerful.

Unexpectedly, Yama was useless against cultivators, and Qin Sang felt disappointed. He scanned the area and saw the unkempt Taoist's storage bag still hanging from his waist. He summoned the storage bag and cast a flame to burn the body.

Without rushing to examine the contents of the storage bag, Qin Sang flashed to an ancient tree, dug out the transformed Ruyi Shield, and flew to the treetops, scanning the surroundings cautiously.

The commotion from his battle with the unkempt Taoist had been significant, and he didn't know if anyone had been attracted. He had used several spells and magical artifacts, depleting most of his spiritual power. If he encountered a strong enemy again, he would definitely not be a match.

Seeing no signs of anyone approaching, Qin Sang used the escape technique, choosing a direction and fleeing far away, finding a hidden spot to hide.

When he placed the two jade tokens together, there was no change. After examining them for a while, he put them back into the storage bag.

Apart from a basic wood cultivation technique and several martial arts from the mortal world, the unkempt Taoist's storage bag contained nothing useful, no beast control techniques, and not even a single spirit stone.

What caught Qin Sang's attention the most were several large bags of blood, stored in what seemed to be animal bladders. The bladders were clean and odorless.

Blood bags...

Looking at these items, Qin Sang was speechless for a long time.

In his previous life, his family was not well-off, and he had worked very hard to complete his education. His first job was very demanding, and he worked diligently without any slack. When he was about to break, he would watch a movie with intense action scenes to clear his mind, which was one of his few ways to relax.

Now, seeing these props that were only used in movies, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

There was also a jade slip containing information about the Ruyi Shield. After reading it, Qin Sang's expression changed, and he cursed inwardly for a while.

He had thought that apart from the jade tokens, the Ruyi Shield would be his greatest gain, but he never expected it to be destroyed!

It turned out that the Ruyi Shield, apart from automatically protecting its owner, had another function: it could change shape into a flying sword, concentrating the power of the three fragments to burst with the might of a high-grade magical artifact, incredibly sharp.

This transformation could be completed instantly, catching enemies off guard, making it very bizarre.

However, this ability could only be used once. After transforming into a sword, the three fragments of the Ruyi Shield would collapse.

Qin Sang examined the three black shields, which were indeed covered in cracks and unusable.