Qin Sheng, a disciple of Shaking Light Holy Land who had recently risen to fame, cut out an Ancient Insect Source and a piece of Divine Source at the Four Symbols Stone Workshop!
The news was quickly spread by the bystanders present, causing quite a stir in Holy City.
The Ancient Insect Source was one thing, but Divine Source was a truly rare treasure. Forget the Four Extremes Secret Realm—even those in Dragon Transformation and the Immortal Platform would covet it.
If it had been outside Holy City, a piece of Divine Source the size of a broad bean would surely have sparked a bloody struggle.
"Qin Sheng chose three stones, and two yielded great treasures. The Green Rain Stone wasn't even cut open on-site. Not even the geniuses of the Source Arts Families can compare to him. Just how profound is his Source Technique?"
"Maybe it was luck."
"Go buy three Source Stones and see whether your luck can reach that level."
"Could Qin Sheng have obtained the inheritance of the legendary Source Heavenly Master?"
"Big news! The Source Arts Families have publicly challenged Qin Sheng and want to compete with him again!"
"Good, good, good! The livelier, the better. What did Qin Sheng say? Did he accept the challenge?"
"Qin Sheng... seems to have left the Northern Territory."
That was right. On the very day he cut out the Divine Source, Qin Sheng returned to the Southern Territory through a Domain Gate. The turmoil in Holy City no longer had anything to do with him.
He flicked his sleeve and departed, taking not a single cloud with him, yet leaving behind a legend and raising his reputation another step.
"After causing such a huge commotion, did you think I'd stay in Holy City and wait for you to come knocking? Do you take me for an idiot?"
"Don't be obsessed with me. I'm only a legend."
After returning to the Southern Territory, Qin Sheng did not linger at Shaking Light and immediately left the holy land.
He had hurried back not because he feared trouble from the Source Arts Families. He was, after all, Shaking Light's Candidate Saint Son, not some nobody without backing.
It was because he truly had an urgent matter to attend to. Qin Sheng was heading to the Fire Domain in the Jin Kingdom to refine his coffin.
The Fire Domain was mysterious. No one knew its origins, and it had stood there from the Archaic Era until now.
This region was extremely wondrous. Its flames seemed to burn without fuel, remaining eternal and unextinguished without grass, wood, or any other combustible material.
For powerful cultivators, the Fire Domain was the ideal place to refine artifacts, because its flames contained mysterious power capable of imprinting Dao and principles upon objects.
Qin Sheng flew all the way there.
Flames surged into the heavens, blazing fiercely and dyeing even the sky.
But he did not enter immediately. Instead, he took out the Green Rain Stone.
"This stone is inauspicious, but there should be something inside. It may even be worth more than that piece of Divine Source."
Qin Sheng examined it for a moment, then personally cut the stone open.
"Woo woo woo!"
A sound like weeping and lamenting, like a woman crying, came from within the stone. Resentment soared into the sky as a ghastly green radiance illuminated the surroundings.
Qin Sheng frowned and summoned the Imitation Dragon-patterned Black Gold Cauldron to suppress the resentment. When he looked closely, he was startled.
"This is... a Stone Fairy?"
Inside the stone was a piece of green Variant Source, within which a phantom-like miniature woman was sealed.
She was in a miserable state. Her face was withered, and her body and limbs were covered in bite marks. She wept without ceasing.
Stone Fairies were recorded in the Origin Emperor's Source Technique. They were a special kind of elf, born within Source and never exposed to the outside world throughout their lives, making them exceptionally pure.
Such elves were exceedingly precious. They could take residence within an artifact and become its divine spirit.
Whether an artifact possessed a divine spirit or not was an entirely different matter. Only artifacts with divine spirits could endure forever and revive on their own.
But for a weapon to nurture a divine spirit, the requirements were far too demanding. Even weapons of Great Abilities were not qualified.
"What a pity." Qin Sheng sighed.
This Stone Fairy had been targeted by some unknown existence and gnawed alive. She had already become a Grudge Immortal and was no longer suitable to inhabit a normal artifact.
Of course, even if she had remained intact, Qin Sheng would not have allowed the Stone Fairy to enter his coffin.
For the divine spirit of a life-bound artifact, the best outcome was for the artifact to gradually grow and gain sentience, eventually nurturing its own True God.
"Such a fine elf was eaten alive into this state. Damn it, who could commit such a sinful deed?"
Qin Sheng shook his head and put the Stone Fairy away.
He stepped into the Fire Domain and continued deeper. The flames changed color continuously, from red to blue, then milky white, and finally black.
The Fire Domain had nine layers in total, and the flames grew more terrifying with every layer one entered.
The black Netherfire was the fourth layer. Ordinary cultivators of the Four Extremes Secret Realm could not endure here for long, but Qin Sheng found it manageable.
The fifth layer contained golden Divine Fire, incomparably blazing and enough to burn those in the Transformation into Dragon Secret Realm to death.
The sixth layer of the Fire Domain was called Purple Qi Comes from the East. What burned within did not resemble flames, but rather purple mist, though it was even more terrifying.
This fire was already horrifying enough. After thinking it over, Qin Sheng chose to refine his artifact on this layer of Purple Qi Comes from the East.
With the Swallowing Heaven Devil Canopy protecting him, he could continue deeper, but the artifact had to be refined within his body, requiring him to draw the flames into himself. It was better to remain cautious.
"First, I'll use the purple qi to melt the Dao-Life Mother Stone and merge it with the coffin, initially forging the artifact embryo. Then I'll consider whether to go to the seventh layer or even deeper to refine it further."
Qin Sheng sat cross-legged and carefully guided the purple qi into his body, sending it into his Sea of Bitterness.
He was extremely cautious throughout the process and did not dare be careless in the slightest. Any mistake would leave him severely injured.
Strands of purple fire were drawn in and wrapped around the Dao-Life Mother Stone. This immortal treasure suddenly began to glow, showing signs of changing from a solid into a liquid.
Life force so pure it was beyond imagination flowed from it and spread through Qin Sheng's limbs and bones, making him feel as though he could live forever.
"As expected of the source of life, the beginning of all spirits." Qin Sheng was delighted and immediately used the Devil Canopy to suppress himself, not allowing even a trace of life source power to leak out.
Then Qin Sheng discovered that under the influence of this life source power, even the purple fire had been soothed. It became tranquil and no longer violent.
"Good, good, good." He said it three times in succession. This would undoubtedly be of immense help to his artifact refinement.
Next, Qin Sheng drew in more purple fire, and the Dao-Life Mother Stone melted.
At once, Qin Sheng guided the Chaotic Ruin Dust from the other side of his Sea of Bitterness over and fused it with the liquid Dao-Life Mother Stone.
The two immortal treasures merged into a strange black substance. Life was boundless, death was endless, and together they formed a cycle of life and death, a great harmony, a great unity.
It was too profound, as though it exhausted the true meaning of life and death and expounded all laws and principles.
One was the source of life, the beginning of all spirits in the universe.
One was Myriad Spirits' Destination, the end of all living beings in the world.
Combined, the two immortal treasures underwent an astonishing and almost great sublimation.
The flames blazed as the black substance wrapped around Qin Sheng's coffin and began tempering it.
The sound of clanging metal came from within Qin Sheng's body, as though he were truly forging an Immortal Weapon. It was extraordinarily miraculous.
After a long while, all the purple fire within his body had been exhausted. Looking at the immortal treasures, which had already changed, Qin Sheng felt joy in his heart.
"Very good. I can see hope of success. Once this coffin is forged, who in the world can stop an artifact refined from the union of two treasures at the level of Immortal Metal?"
"It shall be unparalleled beneath the heavens!"
Of course, the future was bright, but he still had to work hard in the present.
Artifact refinement was painstaking work that could not be rushed. Qin Sheng was prepared to remain in the Fire Domain for several months.
He possessed the Heaven Devouring Demonic Art, and all things in the world could serve as his nourishment. While refining his artifact, he could also absorb the purest essence of heavenly and earthly fire in the Fire Domain to cultivate, without hindering his progress.
Drawing purple fire into his body once more, Qin Sheng began a new round of tempering.
But plans could not keep up with changes. Three days later, Qin Sheng suddenly sensed a disturbance in the Infinite Land, and he was immediately overjoyed.
Did another me die?
Before you continue