Chapter 1150: The Azure Luan’s Consciousness
Putting himself in her shoes, Qin Sang thought it through.
If he discovered that his own child had been forcibly taken and made into someone’s mount, what would he feel?
Qin Sang had never intended to become enemies with the Lightning-Devouring Falcon.
After returning, he would be preparing to form his Spiritual Infant. Starting now, he also had to think about his situation after he entered the Spiritual Infant Realm.
No matter what he did, he had to account for the threat from Dongyang Bo.
Compared to Dongyang Bo, who had managed the Small Cold Domain for years, Qin Sang only had Senior Sister Qingjun at his side as an ally. But Senior Sister Qingjun had already made her stance clear. She would not help him deal with Dongyang Bo.
The more allies he drew in, the more paths he had.
Especially with a being like the Lightning-Devouring Falcon, who kept to herself and had no entanglements with the major powers. If he could form a friendly bond through that fat chicken, it would naturally be a good thing.
Though he had clashed with the fat chicken before, for the demon race, the Azure Luan’s lightning power could improve aptitude. It was far more valuable than an external object like Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood, no matter how rare.
If the Lightning-Devouring Falcon could not see reason, Qin Sang might not necessarily fear her.
"Before you undergo transformation, you will stay by my side as a guardian spirit beast. After you transform, I will no longer restrain you. You will only need to do one thing for me. I haven’t decided what it is yet, and it certainly won’t exceed your capabilities. If you agree to these conditions, I can consider giving you some of the Azure Luan’s lightning power." Qin Sang thought for a moment before speaking.
Hearing this, the fat chicken was overjoyed. Without the slightest hesitation, he feared Qin Sang would regret it. He immediately swore an oath. "Greetings, Master! Forget about what I said just now. If my mother learns that I gained such a great opportunity, she will thank you on my behalf as well!"
Qin Sang did not know whether to laugh or cry. He truly could not understand how the awe-inspiring Lightning-Devouring Falcon had raised a descendant like this.
The way this fellow agreed so readily, does he really have confidence he can transform within a hundred years?
"You’re sure your mother will thank me?" Qin Sang chuckled. He removed the mask from his face, smiling but not smiling. "Long time no see. You’re still so greedy you’d sell yourself for a bite. That nickname, fat chicken, wasn’t wrong after all..."
The fat chicken's eyes bulged, as if he had seen a ghost. He would never forget that face.
It was not that he cared about Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood. His mother had left him plenty of treasures. What he cared about was the emotional trauma!
Back then, right after he had hatched, someone had beaten him black and blue, made him cry, and even slapped an embarrassing nickname onto him.
After he broke through to the Demonic Core Realm, he had infiltrated human territory again and again, trying to drag that guy out. He had sworn he would strike him with lightning once a day, give him a thousand nicknames, and only then would he relieve the hatred in his heart.
For years, he had never found the culprit. He had even assumed the man was dead, and he had felt regret about it.
"It's you!" The fat chicken ground his teeth.
"What, still not convinced?" Qin Sang said coldly. "If you can’t even let go of a petty grudge from over a hundred years ago, I won’t force you. Consider your oath never spoken. Without me, you could have obtained the stone slab, but you still wouldn’t have been able to absorb the Azure Luan’s lightning power. Back then, I took the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood from your cave dwelling. Now I’m letting you leave. That makes us even."
"You call that taking?" The fat chicken wanted to cry.
Only now did he realize his enemy was not dead and was even stronger than him. Not only could he not take revenge, he was being held firmly in his enemy’s grasp, forced to acknowledge a thief as his master.
In the end, the fat chicken decided to swallow his anger and accept his fate.
Qin Sang activated his cultivation art. The fat chicken stayed by Qin Sang’s side, absorbing the Azure Luan’s lightning power that leaked from Qin Sang.
At dawn the next morning, Qin Sang stopped. The Azure Luan's blood and essence within him had finally been sorted out completely, all of it merged into his phoenix wings.
Whoosh! With a thought, his phoenix wings flared and beat.
He reached out and touched them. These were real wings, reshaped by the Azure Luan’s blood and essence.
Qin Sang could not say whether the phoenix wings counted as an astra or a supernatural ability.
He was human. The Azure Luan blood and essence within the wings could not be refined into his own body, so it could not truly be considered part of him. In the future, he could only use it to perform Lightning Evasion.
But that was enough.
After forming his Spiritual Infant, with Lightning Evasion paired with sword evasion, Qin Sang estimated his evasion technique would be at least on par with a middle-stage Spiritual Infant expert. He would not need to fear facing Dongyang Bo head-on.
He turned his head and glanced at the fat chicken. He was sleeping, and Qin Sang had no idea how much benefit he had gained.
Qin Sang rose to his feet and felt the power of his strengthened body.
His heart beat with force, and explosive strength filled him from head to toe. If Demon King Qianji appeared before him now, Qin Sang would dare to swing his fist and charge!
"You’re awake?" Bai had kept watch all night and walked in from outside.
"Brother Bai, thank you for your trouble," Qin Sang said, clasping his fists.
Bai waved him off, then said eagerly, "Quick, call out the Sky-Eyed Butterfly and let me take a look!"
Qin Sang did as asked and summoned the Sky-Eyed Butterfly. The Sky-Eyed Butterfly was also asleep, its body having shrunk back to its previous size.
Qin Sang held it carefully. Over the course of one night, it had brought him far too many surprises.
"Capturing tribulation lightning!" Bai exclaimed. "In my memory, that’s unheard of. It’s downright heaven-defying! You must nurture it well. If it truly gains the ability to devour tribulation lightning, heavenly tribulations will become far less threatening to you. That means you’ll have more time and more chances. Your odds of advancing to the Mahayana Realm will far surpass everyone else’s!"
Bai looked at Qin Sang with a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment. This was the first time Qin Sang had seen Bai so worked up. He had not even had time to think that far.
"That it broke through to the fourth metamorphosis was sheer luck. I still don’t know how to help it continue advancing, so it’s too early to talk about the future. As for me, it’s even more distant. In this era, the Divine Transformation Realm no longer exists. The Mahayana Realm is even more illusory." Qin Sang did not let joy cloud his mind.
Bai shook his head without speaking, staring at the Sky-Eyed Butterfly as if he could not bear to look away. Then he suddenly thought of something and lifted his head. "I have a feeling the stone slab contained more than just the Azure Luan’s true blood..."
"What do you mean, Brother Bai?"
"The Azure Luan’s true blood was sealed in the slab for such an unimaginably long time, yet its power did not fully fade. Could there be another reason?" Bai hinted.
Qin Sang was startled.
"Brother Bai, you suspect that the blood and essence might still contain remnants of the Azure Luan’s consciousness?" he asked solemnly.
Bai nodded. "When you said the Azure Luan phantom threw itself into your body, I became uneasy. You cultivate demon race arts and visualize the Azure Luan. If the Azure Luan’s consciousness mistook you for a descendant and tried to use your body to be reborn... That sort of thing has happened before. Since neither you nor the Sky-Eyed Butterfly sensed anything abnormal, I’m likely overthinking it. Perhaps the remnant consciousness has already been worn away by time. Or perhaps this is the opportunity it left for its descendants. You're lucky!"
Qin Sang fell into silence.
If the Azure Luan’s consciousness had been sealed within the slab since ancient times, preserved to the present, and could still use a host body to be reborn, it was terrifying.
But when he remembered that Bai himself had lived from ancient times until now, Qin Sang felt it might not be impossible.
What Qin Sang did not tell Bai was that when he turned his inner vision inward to his upper dantian, he noticed that the Yin-Yang Armor on his primordial spirit had somehow shattered. The Jade Buddha phantom had emerged, glowing with golden light.
Under the impact of the Azure Luan's blood and essence, Qin Sang had been wracked with agony and had nearly self-detonated. He had focused entirely on activating his cultivation art and had not even noticed when the change occurred.
Fortunately, after a careful check, aside from that, neither he nor the Sky-Eyed Butterfly showed any other abnormalities.
