770: Why am I still here?

"Junior Martial Brother, stop daydreaming and hurry up and master the Spirit Communication Array. Master is about to return. If you don't work harder, I really won't be able to help you this time. Last time I pleaded on your behalf, Master said I hadn't taught you properly and punished me by sending me to the Abyss Prison. That hellhole is not pleasant, and you don't want your Senior Martial Brother to suffer again, do you?"

While Lin Yang was stunned, the young man who called himself Senior Martial Brother kept talking, even reaching out to pat his shoulder and urging him to work hard.

Lin Yang's body stiffened instantly.

Because he felt a tangible sensation!

The other person's hand was truly and realistically patting his body.

It wasn't an illusion?!

Lin Yang felt a bit unnerved.

What on earth is going on here?

"Could it be that some expert ambushed me on the return journey, and I've fallen under an illusion?"

A thought flashed through Lin Yang's mind.

But immediately afterwards, he felt it was unlikely.

With his cultivation, it was impossible for him to be dragged into an illusion without noticing anything at all.

Furthermore, if the other party truly possessed such means, it meant their strength and cultivation far exceeded his, and there would be no need to go through so much trouble to deal with him; they could just kill him directly.

Everything was too bizarre.

He was still pondering.

The young man in front of him who called himself Senior Martial Brother, seeing that Lin Yang still hadn't replied, waved his hand in front of his eyes: "Junior Martial Brother, what's wrong with you? Are you alright?"

Lin Yang moved his lips, unsure whether he should speak or not.

But in the end, he decided to give it a try: "Senior Martial Brother, I... I'm fine, I just suddenly thought of some things and got distracted."

He wanted to see what exactly was going on!

Hearing him answer this way, the Senior Martial Brother seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: "It's good that you're fine. I thought that I had been pushing you too hard lately, causing you too much pressure and making you too tired."

Lin Yang didn't speak.

The Senior Martial Brother didn't mind and continued: "Since you're fine, hurry up and finish setting up the Spirit Communication Array. You've already mastered most of it; it's just the last bit of work left. Master is about to return, so take this time to put in some extra effort. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me."

"..." Lin Yang was speechless, then looked at the partially set-up formation diagram in front of him.

He was a Formation Master, and at a glance, he could tell that the formation diagram was indeed almost finished.

But he couldn't figure out how to set up the final node.

"Spirit Communication Array..."

Lin Yang muttered to himself.

The name didn't sound like a high-level Formation Array, but with his attainments in the path of formations, he was actually unsure for a moment.

"Sen... Senior Martial Brother, please guide me!" Lin Yang asked for advice.

This Senior Martial Brother had just said that he could ask if he didn't understand.

It would be a waste not to ask.

Lin Yang wanted to see what trick this guy was up to.

Upon hearing this, the Senior Martial Brother revealed a look of surprise: "Eh, Junior Martial Brother, you're actually asking me for advice?"

Lin Yang: "..."

This guy is sick!

Wasn't it him who said he could ask for advice?

What is he trying to say now?

"Ahem, Junior Martial Brother, don't look at me with such a strange expression. You've always insisted on completing the Spirit Communication Array yourself and refused to ask me no matter what. I'm just a bit surprised that you've actually come to your senses and stopped being so stubborn."

The Senior Martial Brother gave a dry cough, both surprised and gratified.

Then, without waiting for Lin Yang to speak, he pointed to two positions and said:

"Junior Martial Brother, here, the reason you've been unable to finish constructing the Spirit Communication Array is because there's a problem here, which has prevented you from completely activating the Spirit Communication Array. You need to adjust the orientation of these two formation bases and swap their order, and that will do it."

Lin Yang looked where he pointed, and in an instant, he intuitively completed the swap, and the part that had left him unsure just now suddenly became clear.

Almost as if possessed, he picked up a formation base from his side and placed it onto the formation diagram.

Hum.

With a soft sound, the entire formation diagram lit up instantly.

"It's activated! Haha, Junior Martial Brother, you're truly amazing!" The Senior Martial Brother clapped his hands happily.

"..." Lin Yang was speechless.

Just by changing the positions and order of two formation bases, the entire formation was activated.

And it was only completed under the guidance of this Senior Martial Brother.

He can even praise himself as amazing for this?

This activation didn't seem to have anything to do with him...

However, as the Spirit Communication Array was activated, Lin Yang's eyes became a little more serious.

This Spirit Communication Array was somewhat unusual.

After activation, he seemed to feel something very indescribable from it.

It was as if something wanted to link with his soul.

Immediately following that, waves of cold, sinister aura gradually surged out from the formation and attacked his body.

Lin Yang's expression changed, and he was about to act to disperse it, but before he could, he saw the Senior Martial Brother beside him wave his hand, and those cold, sinister auras instantly dissipated. At the same time, the feeling that wanted to link with Lin Yang's soul also vanished without a trace.

"Junior Martial Brother, don't panic. After the Spirit Communication Array is activated, it can link to some Yin Souls. It's normal to not be used to it when you successfully set up the formation for the first time. You'll be fine after a few more times," the Senior Martial Brother laughed.

Lin Yang was shocked.

What did this Senior Martial Brother say?

Link to Yin Souls??

This...

For a moment, Lin Yang was a bit confused.

But before he could think carefully, the Senior Martial Brother said again: "Junior Martial Brother, set it up again, completely independently this time."

As he spoke, the Senior Martial Brother waved his hand, and the Spirit Communication Array in front of them was dispersed.

Lin Yang's eyes flickered, and under this person's gaze, he started setting it up from the beginning again.

Fortunately, he had looked at the entire formation diagram once and remembered it, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to set it up again.

As he finished setting up the formation for the second time, the feeling of wanting to link with his soul, as well as the cold, sinister aura, appeared again.

This time, the Senior Martial Brother did not immediately help him disperse it, but said: "Junior Martial Brother, you need to gradually adapt to this feeling, then try to communicate with the Yin Souls and use their power to increase the power of the formation."

"Understood, Senior Martial Brother." Lin Yang replied, but still dared not lower his guard to accept this cold, sinister power.

Before figuring out exactly what the situation was, he could not relax.

Seeing that he was still very guarded, the Senior Martial Brother just smiled, didn't say much, waved his hand lightly again, dispersed all the power, and broke up the Spirit Communication Array.

"Junior Martial Brother, you have completely mastered the Spirit Communication Array. Master will surely be very happy when he finds out. If you had been willing to let me teach you earlier, I wouldn't have had to go to the Abyss Prison to suffer," the Senior Martial Brother said helplessly.

Lin Yang's eyes flickered slightly.

From this Senior Martial Brother's words, he could tell that the so-called Junior Martial Brother must have been stubborn, insisting on figuring out the Spirit Communication Array independently, and thus had never proactively asked for advice.

It was clearly a simple matter to solve, yet he refused to ask!

And because he had proactively asked just now, this Senior Martial Brother was very surprised.

"That... Senior Martial Brother, it's all my fault for being so focused on figuring it out independently, causing you to be punished." Lin Yang didn't know what was going on, but he suddenly said this.

After the words left his mouth, he realized that he hadn't originally intended to respond.

"This... is there some power affecting my thinking?" Lin Yang felt even more vigilant.

Hearing this, the Senior Martial Brother laughed instead: "Junior Martial Brother, I know you have always been strong-willed. The Spirit Communication Array isn't a high-level formation, so it's normal for you to want to figure it out independently. However, sometimes it's good to appropriately use external help. I hope you will learn to make good use of external help in the future."

"Understood, Senior Martial Brother." Lin Yang couldn't help but reply again.

"Alright, Junior Martial Brother, this task ends here. You've been tired for many days, so you can go back and rest. Before Master returns, you are free to move about, but you must not neglect your daily cultivation!" the Senior Martial Brother urged.

Lin Yang replied again, followed behind the Senior Martial Brother, and walked out of the room.

Outside the room, the scenery was picturesque.

In the distance, there were green mountains layered upon each other, and unknown birds chirped and played in the mountains.

Mists rose among the mountains, creating a scene of clouds and rosy light.

Nearby were pavilions and towers, carved beams and painted pillars, and a complex of antique-style buildings arranged in an orderly manner.

One could also see some figures moving about.

Lin Yang scanned with his eyes and roughly saw at least twenty or thirty people.

Some seemed to be practicing, some were chatting, and some were walking.

It looked very harmonious.

"Junior Martial Brother, you go back and rest first," the Senior Martial Brother said, his figure flashed, and he disappeared.

Lin Yang stood in place, feeling a bit lost.

He still hadn't figured out what exactly was going on.

Naturally, he also didn't know where to go back to rest.

However, just at this moment, a thought in the dark guided him to walk slowly in one direction.

"This power that affects me has appeared again," Lin Yang thought to himself.

Following the guidance, he arrived in front of a small courtyard.

On the way, he also met some of those people he had seen earlier.

They all greeted him one after another, smiling and calling him "Junior Martial Brother".

Lin Yang responded to them in a daze, and arrived at the gate of the small courtyard.

Then he pushed the door open and entered, walked into the bedroom, and lay down on the couch.

"It's still comfortable to lie down."

An inexplicable feeling of emotion emerged from the bottom of his heart, and Lin Yang couldn't help but close his eyes.

In a hazy state, he seemed to have slept for a while.

When he woke up again, Lin Yang felt as if he had forgotten some things.

"Strange, I always feel like I have something very important to do, but why can't I remember it?"

Lin Yang muttered to himself, and a knock came from outside the door again: "Junior Martial Brother, get up and practice. You're such a big person, why are you still so lazy? If Master sees you like this, he will punish you again."

"Senior Martial Brother, I'm getting up now," Lin Yang replied in a daze, quickly got up, and pushed the door open.

Outside the door, the Senior Martial Brother looked at him with a beaming smile: "Sigh, Junior Martial Brother, your talent is good, but you are just a bit too lazy. It would be good if you worked harder. Master has high hopes for you, so don't let him down."

"Understood, Senior Martial Brother, I just find practicing all day too boring," Lin Yang scratched his head.

"Practicing is a bit boring, but as the saying goes, 'No pain, no gain'."

The Senior Martial Brother said earnestly, and then, as if by magic, took out two steaming meat buns and handed them over:

"I know you love this the most. You've been staying in the formation room learning the Spirit Communication Array all this time, you must be starving, right? Eat quickly and go practice."

"Wow, thank you, Senior Martial Brother, you are so kind!" Lin Yang's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took them.

"You're really a little glutton. You're already at the cultivation level of entering the Dao, yet you still like to eat these mortal foods," the Senior Martial Brother shook his head with a smile.

Lin Yang was eating happily, and while eating, said vaguely: "Senior Martial Brother, the bun... is delicious..."

The Senior Martial Brother sighed helplessly, didn't say anything else, and turned to leave.

But before leaving, he didn't forget to urge him to practice hard after eating the bun.

Lin Yang nodded repeatedly.

Afterwards, he went to the practice room with satisfaction.

Dao Rhythm swirled, causing him to be immersed in it for a while.

Just like this, day after day.

Every day, besides practicing, Lin Yang learned new Formation Arrays under the guidance of the Senior Martial Brother.

Every once in a while, the Senior Martial Brother would give him two buns as a reward.

Slowly, Lin Yang felt that he was forgetting more and more things, and he was more focused on the life in front of him.

Only sometimes, he would occasionally be distracted, always feeling that he didn't seem to belong here.

Time passed, he didn't know how long.

Lin Yang's cultivation improved by leaps and bounds, increasing very quickly.

His attainments in the path of Formation Arrays also advanced by leaps and bounds, growing at an even more astonishing speed.

The Senior Martial Brother's praise was endless.

He highly praised him as the most talented disciple in the history of the sect, who would surely inherit Master's mantle in the future and lead the sect to flourish.

Whenever he heard this, Lin Yang would earnestly express that he would definitely not disappoint Master's expectations!

Therefore, he worked even harder and more diligently.

However, Master, who had always said he was about to return, was still late in returning.

Instead, Lin Yang's cultivation was almost catching up to the Senior Martial Brother.

He also regarded himself as the pillar of the sect, wanting to shoulder the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the sect.

It was another morning.

"Junior Martial Brother, get up quickly."

A voice came from outside the door, but it was not the Senior Martial Brother's voice.

Lin Yang opened the courtyard gate and was stunned for a moment.

He didn't seem to have seen the person in front of him, but he felt familiar.

"Who... which Senior Martial Brother are you?" Lin Yang couldn't help but ask.

The person in front of him smiled slightly: "Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, it seems you really have no experience, having fallen into the 'Ancient Ruins'."

As he spoke, under Lin Yang's puzzled gaze, he lightly shouted:

"Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, why haven't you woken up yet!"

The two words "woken up", in an instant, were like a thunderclap, exploding in Lin Yang's mind.

"Wake up!"

"Wake up!"

"Wake up!"

"..."

Several times in a row, Lin Yang only felt his mind roaring, and his eyes slowly lost focus.

But quickly, it returned to clarity.

"Are you... Fellow Daoist Yu Qing?"

Lin Yang looked at the person in front of him.

It was indeed Yu Qing.

Yu Qing smiled slightly: "Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, it's me. Fortunately, you didn't sink too deeply, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to save you."

Lin Yang also remembered everything at this moment.

He was on his way back from Bi Xia City to Xiwu City, trapped by a suddenly appearing mist, and inexplicably arrived at a strange place.

Then, he inexplicably forgot everything.

Now, he was inexplicably awakened by Yu Qing suddenly.

Before he could thank Yu Qing, he hurriedly looked around, and then his expression changed again:

"Why am I still here?"

... (End of chapter)