Ye Qin made up his mind, the thought solidifying in his heart. First, he would forge the eight small Divine Ability-grade flying swords to complete the Eight Trigrams Sword Array of the Purple Sword Art.

Even if he couldn't immediately deal with the Ghost Master, it would drastically boost his combat power in a short time, securing him a solid footing among Nascent Soul cultivators. He flipped through his storage pouch.

Over the years, he had actually collected quite a few rare minerals and materials, including those for refining artifacts based on the Five Elements and the Minor Three Oddities. He had been preparing them for sword forging.

The issue was that some of the materials were recent harvests or of lower grades. But that didn't matter.

His Golden Mansion possessed the effect of concentrating gold ore; vast quantities of low-grade raw ore could yield high-grade ore of the tenth grade or above, which was sufficient for him to forge the small Divine Ability-grade flying swords. Only ore materials of the tenth grade and higher could be used to forge tenth-grade flying swords.

Flying swords of the tenth grade and above were, in essence, the same tier as small Divine Ability-grade flying swords. Their fundamental difference lay in whether a Demon Spirit was sealed within the sword to become a Weapon Spirit, enabling the manifestation of the demon’s innate divine ability.

Artifacts without a sealed Demon Spirit were ordinary magic tools; those with a sealed Demon Spirit were classified as small Divine Ability artifacts. Ye Qin wasn't worried about the materials for forging the swords.

His only concern remained the Demon Spirits. To forge a top-tier small Divine Ability flying sword, the Demon Spirit played an almost decisive role.

Some Demon Spirits lacked any innate divine abilities, and sealing them into an artifact meant the artifact couldn't display any special powers, making it no different from a standard tenth-grade or higher flying sword. If a Demon Spirit’s ability was weak, the sword’s resulting ability would also be weak.

Only by finding a Demon Spirit possessing an extremely powerful divine ability could he forge a truly excellent small Divine Ability flying sword. His Spirit Capturing Bottle already held quite a number of Demon Spirits.

Many of these were killed by the Old Monster of Hatred Mountain, who traded the captured spirits to Ye Qin for some batches of Thousand Bloom Spirit Wine. A smaller portion of Demon Spirits he had personally slain.

These Demon Spirits were almost all of the Five Elements: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, allowing him to select suitable spirits to act as the Weapon Spirits for the Five Elements flying swords. However, he was missing Demon Spirits belonging to the Ice, Wind, and Thunder elements.

Demon Cultivators of these three elements were exceedingly rare and notoriously powerful. Ye Qin did not possess any spirits of these three elements yet.

“To complete the Eight Trigrams Sword Array, I must obtain the Demon Spirits of these three elements!” Ye Qin pondered how to gather the remaining spirits. There were essentially only a few methods available.

One was to purchase Demon Spirits directly at the market at high prices. Another was to venture to the Immortal-Demon Battlefield.

Since many Demon Cultivators gathered there, he might have a chance to encounter Ice, Wind, or Thunder element cultivators and hunt them down personally to seize their spirits. There was also seeking out individual demon-hunting missions.

If a cultivator spotted a Demon Cultivator but lacked the strength to confront them, they might invite fellow cultivators to join the hunt. However, the probability was low; by the time cultivators arrived, the target might already have vanished.

“Purchasing the Demon Spirits is, naturally, the fastest and most convenient method!” Ye Qin thought, exiting his seclusion chamber and leaving the small courtyard. He headed to the marketplace of Black Sand City to browse around, looking for low-grade ore materials and Demon Spirits.

At this time, the streets of Black Sand City were bustling with traffic, quite lively and noisy. Vendors setting up stalls along the roadside shouted loudly, hawking their wares.

Ye Qin casually inquired with a vendor and learned that during the month he spent in seclusion, the demon tribes and sea beasts outside Black Sand City had suffered a crushing defeat and retreated several days prior. With the battle between Immortals and Demons in the city won, the cultivators who had fought through the bloodshed were now returning to Black Sand City.

After the fighting stopped, thousands of Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators were urgently in need of all sorts of supplies, as well as repairs for damaged artifacts. As soon as the fighting ceased, many merchants rushed in from various Immortal Cities around the East Sea, bringing large quantities of elixirs, talismans, spirit wine, magic artifacts, healing agents, and more to sell in Black Sand City.

Simultaneously, the demonic beast materials cultivators acquired on the battlefield would be sold to merchants or displayed for sale. Consequently, the city was now filled with various demonic pills, Demon Spirits, beast skins, ivory and bone materials, and even the remains of monstrous beasts whose names he couldn't even recognize.

This came as a somewhat unexpected, pleasant surprise to Ye Qin. After this substantial Immortal-Demon War, perhaps a Nascent Soul cultivator might have hunted an Ice, Wind, or Thunder Demon Spirit and put it up for sale in the marketplace.

He could search around and try his luck. While Ye Qin was frantically pushing through to the fourth layer of the Nascent Soul stage, searching the city for Demon Spirits to refine the Eight Trigrams Sword Array, the Desolate Spirit Ghost Master had also been relentlessly searching for Ye Qin’s whereabouts.

The Ice Lotus Seed in Ye Qin's possession was crucial for the Ghost Master to resist the Tribulation of the Spirit Transformation stage; letting it go easily and departing was absolutely impossible. That day, Ye Qin had used the chaotic atmosphere of the Immortal-Demon War to escape the Ghost Master's tracking, infuriating the entity immensely.

It had searched the battlefield for a very long time but had failed to pinpoint Ye Qin’s location. The Ghost Master's suspicious gaze settled upon Black Sand City, which lay a hundred miles from the battlefield.

For Ye Qin to shake off its pursuit, the best route would undoubtedly be to enter an Immortal City rather than heading to other sea regions. Immortal Cities housed teleportation arrays that could send one directly to other cities.

Even if it put itself in Ye Qin’s shoes, it would likely choose to enter a safe Immortal City. It offered convenience for both hiding and escaping.

Whoosh! The Ghost Master’s gray robe swept, vanishing in a flash, leaving behind a shadow accompanied by vast, swirling ghost mist, appearing a few miles outside the Black Sand Immortal City.

It hovered in the air, its sinister, icy gaze fixed upon the considerable Immortal City before it. The city’s protective barrier had been retracted and was currently not active.

The barrier consumed spirit stones and was never deployed unless the demon clans launched a full-scale assault. Thus, its divine sense could sweep directly across the entire city, probing the situation within.

Although the chance of finding Ye Qin amidst tens of thousands of cultivators gathered in the city was extremely slim, it still attempted to search with its divine sense. The Ghost Master lingered outside the city.

Its sinister gaze and the unrestrained probing of its divine sense immediately alerted the city's guard cultivators. “Ghost Cultivators are forbidden from entering Immortal Cities!

Which Ghost Cultivator are you, and why are you loitering outside the city, disregarding the rules!? The two great Immortal Alliances of the East Sea, out of respect for the fact that you were once East Sea cultivators yourselves, have not issued a decree to subdue the Ghost Cultivators.

Please depart immediately, or we won't be polite!” The elderly Nascent Soul cultivator in charge of guarding the city shouted sternly at the Desolate Spirit Ghost Master. “Hey, you ghost scum, what are you doing?

Get lost, now!” “Damn it, still looking? If you look again, I’ll chop you down!

Are you trying to test the power of the artifact in this Daoist’s hand!” The Golden Core guards stationed at the gate released their flying swords, magic blades, and other artifacts, cursing loudly. As East Sea cultivators, they always held Ghost Cultivators in contempt.

Even facing a Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivator, they felt little awe. This was an Immortal City, after all; the leader of the guards was a Nascent Soul cultivator, and Nascent Soul cultivators were common sights in the city.

Who would fear a mere Ghost Cultivator! While the Golden Core guards didn't dare charge forward actively, they possessed enough courage to verbally assault it at the city gate.

Opportunities to curse a Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivator like this were rare, making it a perfect chance to vent their frustration. “Oh?

And how exactly won't you be polite?” The Ghost Master hadn't moved, its gaze sweeping over the group of cultivators who clearly didn't value their lives, letting out a contemptuous cold snort. It had dominated Desolate Spirit Ghost Island for several hundred years, gathering numerous Ghost Cultivators, styling itself the 'Desolate Spirit Ghost Master,' possessing Spirit Transformation-grade Nether Flame potent enough to dominate vast tracts of sea in the Blood Sea.

It was far beyond what ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators could compare to. In this Blood Sea region, it had only ever feared the Imperial Hegemony Divine Ability of the Sacred Emperor, which its Nether Flame couldn't even penetrate, causing it minor setbacks.

And then there was the Old Monster of Hatred Mountain, whom it held in some apprehension. As for other ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators?

It never held them in its sight. It simply didn't wish to cause unnecessary trouble, nor was it certain Ye Qin was inside the city, which was why it paused outside to probe the interior with its divine sense.

If it had confirmed Ye Qin was within, it would have stormed in to pursue and capture him long ago; it wouldn't waste time on these mere Immortal City guards! In its eyes, only cultivators as useless as Nascent Soul experts would arrange guards like this.

It surmised that the guarding Nascent Soul elder wasn't much stronger than a Golden Core cultivator. “Are you perhaps trying to provoke the cultivators of Black Sand City!?” The elder shouted again.

“Oh… So this city is called Black Sand City!” The Ghost Master’s tone suggested a slight surprise; it had only just noticed the Immortal City's name. Having been here for nearly half a day, it had truly overlooked such a minor detail as the city's name.

“How audacious! How utterly audacious!” The Nascent Soul elder clearly sensed the Ghost Master's disdain and dismissal, immediately becoming fiercely enraged.

He had never witnessed such an arrogant Ghost Cultivator daring to openly approach an Immortal City and look down upon East Sea Nascent Soul cultivators. However, despite his anger, the Nascent Soul elder didn't dare rashly charge out.

He also perceived the terrifying ghostly aura emanating from the Ghost Cultivator; it was likely a late-stage Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivator, possessing formidable strength. It was almost universally acknowledged that the strength of a Ghost Cultivator often surpassed that of a cultivator of the same rank.

He was only at the initial stage of Nascent Soul, a gap of several tiers. Rushing out would be tantamount to suicide; he wouldn't survive the encounter.

As for the other Golden Core guards, they only dared to curse and cheer the elder on. Asking them to step forward and drive the Ghost Master away was out of the question.

The elder trembled with rage. He dared not use force to teach the Ghost Master a lesson, yet he couldn't allow the entity to probe the city wantonly outside the gates.

Under the gaze of so many onlookers, caught between advancing and retreating, his face flushed crimson with embarrassment. Whoosh, whoosh!

Soon, twenty to thirty figures of Nascent Soul cultivators, wearing distinct robes, arrived one after another. These were Nascent Soul cultivators guarding the other city gates and walls, along with others from within the city who had sensed the malicious divine sense indiscriminately scanning their stronghold.

They arrived within mere blinks of an eye, as Black Sand City was not overly large. “Why is it a Ghost Cultivator?” Some cultivators frowned.

“Is this Ghost Cultivator mad? What is it trying to do?

Doesn't it know this is an Immortal City under the jurisdiction of the Southeast Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, with hundreds, if not thousands, of cultivators inside?” “Kill it!” “Wouldn’t that be unwise? The Immortal Alliance has orders not to clash with the Ghost Cultivators of the Blood Sea, to prevent them from defecting to the Demon Race and interfering with the war!” “Hmph, why worry about that!

Although the Immortal Alliance ordered no subjugation of the Blood Sea Ghost Cultivators, if the Ghost Cultivator actively provokes us, are we supposed to cower like turtles! If it rushes to its own death, we can hardly be blamed!

Come, fellow Daoists, who among you will join this poor Daoist in killing it!” The guarding Nascent Soul elder was overjoyed to see so many fellow cultivators arrive to offer support.