Gateway of Immortality

When Qin Sang flipped to the last page of the complete Netherworld Scripture, he found the carefully selected spells that the fat shopkeeper had mentioned.

Mind Clearing Spell, Qi Perception Technique, Object Manipulation Technique, Dust Repelling Spell, Secret Voice Transmission, Breath Concealing Technique, Windwalking Mantra, Airborne Technique…

The so-called Qi Perception Technique was like opening a third eye in the center of the forehead. Once activated, it allowed one to not only perceive the general cultivation level of other cultivators but also to discern the grade of artifacts. It could also observe the spiritual qi of mountains, rivers, and lakes, and pierce through illusions, making it an extremely versatile technique.

There were more than a dozen such auxiliary spells similar to the Qi Perception Technique.

Qin Sang quickly skimmed through them, his gaze finally settling on the last five spells: Water Barrier, Cloud Evasion, Shapeshift, River-Locking Fog, and Thousand Li Ice Seal.

The Water Barrier was the same as the talisman he had purchased earlier. The scripture explained that after mastering this spell, one could manipulate spiritual power to condense a barrier of water around oneself, providing defensive protection.

When fully mastered, the water barrier could be shaped into a shield, moving according to one's will, becoming even more robust.

Cloud Evasion was one of the Five Elemental Evading Methods.

As for the last three, though their names sounded intimidating, they were essentially similar. Qin Sang strongly suspected that the fat shopkeeper had privately altered the spell names to increase their value.

After mastering Shapeshift, one could use spiritual power to create a clone that was almost identical to the original body, resembling a living person. However, it possessed no abilities and could only be used to confuse enemies.

The River-Locking Fog created a dense fog to envelop the enemy, obscuring their vision. When fully mastered, it could even block spiritual consciousness.

The Thousand Li Ice Seal was actually a spell to condense mystic ice. If a cultivator's spiritual power was strong enough, they could indeed seal thousands of li with ice. At the right moment, it could directly trap the enemy within the mystic ice, and then... make a quick escape.

Qin Sang pondered over these spells for a while before suddenly realizing that all five of them were related to escape and self-preservation. No wonder he had found it strange that there wasn't a single offensive spell among them.

The Thousand Li Ice Seal was the only one that Qin Sang felt had potential for development. It didn’t necessarily have to be used to imprison enemies; it could also be adapted to form ice spikes or blades, which could be just as lethal.

Qin Sang was speechless. Just how fearful is that fat shopkeeper to have collected only escape-related spells?

However, Qin Sang couldn’t say that the shopkeeper's choices were wrong. As the saying goes, "The overly rigid break easily."

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Immortal cultivators were different from mortals. Mortals only had a few decades at the peak of their lives, so if they wished to achieve anything, they had to be bold and give it their all, lest they waste their prime years. Once dead, it was all over.

Moreover, even mortals said, "A man's revenge is never too late, even after ten years."[1]

Applied to immortal cultivators, this would be, "A man's revenge is never too late, even after a hundred years."

Qin Sang had learned that after the Qi Refining Realm and the Foundation Building Realm, there was the Golden Core Realm, also known as the Core Formation Realm. Above the Golden Core Realm was the Spiritual Infant Realm, where the most powerful elders resided.

Cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm could live for more than a hundred years. Those in the Foundation Building Realm could live for over two hundred years without much difficulty. As for the Golden Core Realm masters and Spiritual Infant Realm grandmasters, their lifespans were even more astonishing.

In his past life, it was said that Peng Zu lived for eight hundred years. In this world, Spiritual Infant cultivators could definitely achieve that.

With such a long lifespan, if one encountered an unbeatable enemy, there was no need to fight to the death. One could simply flee, then live incognito and train diligently. Once their cultivation surpassed that of their enemy, they could return for revenge.

This survival philosophy of the fat shopkeeper resonated deeply with Qin Sang. In the world of immortal cultivation, as long as one survived, anything was possible.

After reviewing the spells, Qin Sang focused on the basic spells like Qi Perception Technique. Cultivating spells wasn’t something that could be done in one go. Initially, one would be clumsy, and only through diligent practice could they fully unleash the spell's power.

The basic spells weren’t particularly difficult to cast. The incantations were short, just a few lines, and after a few tries, Qin Sang managed to barely cast them. The first spell he practiced was naturally the Object Manipulation Technique. Once he had learned it, he immediately took out the colorful pouch.

Clatter!

The room was suddenly filled with a heap of miscellaneous items. Qin Sang felt embarrassed; he wasn’t yet skilled at casting the spell and had accidentally dumped everything from the colorful pouch all at once.

Qin Sang had already examined the contents of the pouch countless times before, so he immediately grabbed a spirit stone, feeling the abundant and pure spiritual power within it, unable to put it down.

In the cultivation world, spirit stones were highly valuable. They could be used as currency, directly absorbed for cultivation, arranged into spirit-gathering arrays to aid in training, or even quickly replenish spiritual power during combat. And these were just low-grade spirit stones; the effects of higher-grade spirit stones were even greater.

After carefully storing the spirit stones, Qin Sang glanced around. Only the gold and silver might be of some use in the future, so he collected those as well.

As for the other miscellaneous items, Qin Sang inspected them one by one, confirming that there was nothing particularly special about them, before kicking them aside. Finally, he found the three books he had been yearning to read.

As expected, the Profound Yin Book was similar to the Netherworld Scripture in that it was also a foundational cultivation art, but it was aligned with the earth element, requiring an earth-based spiritual root to cultivate.

Each person only needed to cultivate one foundational art; cultivating more would be useless unless there was no progress for a long time or no follow-up arts available, in which case one might choose to switch to a different art.

The Profound Yin Book also included some spells, such as the Earth Evasion and the Mystic Earth Shield. Qin Sang wasn’t sure if he could cultivate them, given that the Netherworld Scripture and the Profound Yin Book belonged to different elements.

After skimming through the Profound Yin Book, Qin Sang set it aside and picked up the Song Family genealogy.

The genealogy started by introducing the origins of the Song Family ancestor. After reading it, Qin Sang was surprised and quickly flipped through the following pages. The Song Family wasn’t very populous; from the ancestor down through more than ten generations, only two direct descendants remained.

One was named Song Hua, and the other was Song Ying.

Song Hua was male, while Song Ying was a girl. The one who perished alongside the black-robed demon by the Chenshui River should have been Song Hua.

Throughout the entire Song Family genealogy, only a few members had their life stories recorded, and without exception, they were all immortal cultivators. However, all of them had perished during the Qi Refining Realm, most of them missing or meeting with accidents, with very few dying peacefully of old age.

The entire Song Family genealogy was a microcosm of the harsh reality of the cultivation world, giving Qin Sang a true sense of its brutality.

Qin Sang was amazed that a single family could produce so many descendants with spiritual roots, and he carefully read through the life stories of these individuals.

He was trying to confirm one thing: whether the descendants of the Song Family had retrieved the sword will decree from the ancestor's tomb.

The Song Family ancestor had an extraordinary background. According to the genealogy, he had once trained in a sect called Shaohua Mountain, a powerful righteous sect. The ancestor had originally been an inconspicuous disciple of Shaohua Mountain, cultivating to the thirteenth stage of the Qi Refining Realm. However, due to his lack of talent, he was unable to break through to the Foundation Building Realm.

Eventually, disheartened, he left the sect and settled in a market at the foot of the mountain, where he married and had children. However, during his time at Shaohua Mountain, he had rendered a great service, and as a reward, Shaohua Mountain had granted him a sword intent decree upon his departure, stating that if any of his descendants possessed outstanding talent, they could present the decree to enter Shaohua Mountain and cultivate there.

This sword intent decree was a reward Shaohua Mountain bestowed upon disciples who had rendered great service to the sect, and its value was immeasurable.

After founding the Song Family, the ancestor took the sword intent decree to his grave, warning his descendants that it should only be retrieved when a highly talented descendant with the potential to break through to the Foundation Building Realm appeared, so they could enter Shaohua Mountain and restore the family's former glory.

1. This is a Chinese proverb, meaning it's never too late to have revenge for someone who is determined. ☜