535: Chapter 45 Golden Bell Grows Up

Inside the stone palace, Meng Li looked at the familiar-looking furnishings around him and turned to Jin Ling: "Have you been to the Dripping Blood Cave?"

Jin Ling nodded and replied truthfully: "After my cultivation recovered by seventy or eighty percent, I took the four of them there several times to gather some Materials to build this stone palace."

As she spoke, she pointed at the four figures standing in two rows behind her.

Following her gesture, Meng Li took a glance and discovered that the four figures were all Yin Spirits, each a woman of exceptional beauty, with distinct features ranging from slender to voluptuous. Most importantly, their perceived strength was not weak. He couldn't help but ask: "Who are they?"

Jin Ling answered: "They are the maidservants this concubine has nurtured over the years. Like this concubine, they are entirely at your command, Master."

"Oh? What are their names?" Meng Li asked.

Jin Ling introduced them in turn: "Spring Breeze, Summer Flower, Autumn Snow, Winter Moon."

"What about their strength?" Meng Li asked again.

Jin Ling carefully replied: "Their method of increasing strength is the same as this concubine's, both bestowed by you, Master: the Spirit Devouring Method and the Internal Alchemy Method. These two Miao Fa are vastly different from the many Cultivation Techniques this concubine knows of, so it is difficult for me to define their level precisely. I can only make a rough estimation through comparison."

"In this concubine's memory, the Cultivation Technique with the most complete Realm divisions is undoubtedly the Qingyun Sect's Taiji Xuanqing Dao."

"Using that as a standard, Spring Breeze, Summer Flower, and the other two can contend with the Shangqing Realm."

Comparable to the Shangqing Realm?

"And you?" Meng Li asked.

Jin Ling said: "This concubine is comparable to the Jin Ling Madam of the past, likely at the Late Stage of the Shangqing Realm."

Meng Li was slightly surprised.

He had let Jin Ling develop on her own for only a few years, yet she had managed to create four Shangqing Realm cultivators, and herself had reached the Late Stage of the Shangqing Realm.

Was this true or false?

Suspicious in his heart, Meng Li decided to test them personally: "Let's go outside. I'll spar with you all."

"Yes."

Once outside, Meng Li stood still and addressed Spring Breeze, Summer Flower, Autumn Snow, Winter Moon, and Jin Ling: "Take turns using your usual methods at full strength to attack me."

As he spoke, he pointed at Spring Breeze: "You first."

"Yes."

Spring Breeze responded softly, clasped her hands together, mobilized the spiritual power within her body, and made a slashing motion towards Meng Li from a distance.

In an instant, a semi-transparent blade aura condensed between her hands, growing with the wind until it was several meters long in a flash, cleaving towards Meng Li with a force that could split Mount Hua.

Spring Breeze's Blade Slash!

Looking at the several-meter-long blade aura, Meng Li's eye twitched.

Spring Breeze appeared slender and delicate, with a somewhat frail, willow-in-the-wind demeanor. Who would have thought her opening move would be a several-meter blade aura? It was truly fierce and violent.

This reminded him of Lin Daiyu uprooting a willow tree—the contrast was extreme.

It showed that one should not judge by appearances, and the same held true for Yin Spirits.

Sighing inwardly, Meng Li willed it, and a layer of protective spiritual light emanated from his body.

The several-meter blade aura struck it and shattered directly, not even causing a ripple, let alone shaking or breaching the defense.

Through perception and comparison, Meng Li quickly reached a judgment in his heart and voiced his conclusion: "Spring Breeze's strength is indeed comparable to the Shangqing Realm, but not at a high level, roughly around the second layer of the Shangqing Realm."

"Next."

Spring Breeze stepped back, and Summer Flower came forward.

Summer Flower lived up to her name, with a graceful figure and a vibrant, dazzling brilliance.

However, what she employed was an erosive, pale white ghostly fire.

This still failed to shake Meng Li's protective spiritual light, but the strength displayed was slightly higher than Spring Breeze's.

"Around the third layer of the Shangqing Realm."

"Next."

The images of Autumn Snow and Winter Moon who followed were both of the mature type—the former gently mature and slightly plump, the latter fully ripe and voluptuous. Correspondingly, their cultivation was also a notch higher than Spring Breeze and Summer Flower's, comparable to the fourth or fifth layer of the Shangqing Realm.

Finally came Jin Ling, around the seventh layer of the Shangqing Realm.

In just a few short years, such a lineup had been assembled.

It must be said that combining Restraining Spirits and Dispatching Generals with the Internal Alchemy Method indeed yielded astonishing results.

Of course, the most important factor was still the countless Yin Spirits in the Dead Spirit Abyss.

After the testing was complete, the one human and five Yin Spirits returned to the stone palace.

Meng Li suddenly thought of the Blackwater Xuan Snake and couldn't help but ask Jin Ling: "Since you've been to the Dripping Blood Cave, did you encounter the Blackwater Xuan Snake?"

Spring Breeze, Summer Flower, and the other two shook their heads.

Jin Ling explained: "Master, when we went, we took the secret passage left by the Black-Hearted Old Man, which leads directly to the Dripping Blood Cave without needing to pass through the Ruthless Sea."

Meng Li was slightly taken aback.

A secret passage left by the Black-Hearted Old Man?

There was such a thing?

In an instant, he understood.

The Dripping Blood Cave was the Black-Hearted Old Man's stronghold. The multiple layers of defenses he set up were to keep outsiders out, not to trouble himself. It made sense that he would leave a shortcut for his own convenience and for close associates like Jin Ling Madam.

After all, entering and exiting from the front required passing through four places: the Ten-Thousand Bat Cave, the Dead Spirit Abyss, the Bubble Illusion Realm, and the Ruthless Sea. Even if one knew the ins and outs and there was no danger, it was still quite troublesome.

Jin Ling Madam, as the Black-Hearted Old Man's lover and ultimately the one who was buried with him in the Dripping Blood Cave, knowing the secret passage was normal.

Jin Ling possessed Jin Ling Madam's memories, so knowing the secret passage was not strange either.

Thinking of this, Meng Li asked Jin Ling curiously: "Have your memories fully recovered?"

Jin Ling shook her head: "After all, it's only a remnant soul. Even though my cultivation has recovered, my memories are difficult to complete. Only about eighty or ninety percent have been restored."

"I see." Meng Li stroked his chin and smiled: "Then why not go out for a walk?"

Understanding his meaning, Jin Ling said: "Please wait a moment, Master."

With that, she extended her hand and summoned the Spirit General Command Banner Meng Li had refined back then, softly commanding: "By my order, all spirits return swiftly, come!"

As soon as the summoning order was issued, the Spirit General Command Banner shone with brilliant golden light.

Spring Breeze, Summer Flower, Autumn Snow, and Winter Moon all transformed into streams of light and flew into the command banner.

Next were the Yin Spirits standing guard and patrolling outside.

However, perhaps because their cultivation wasn't sufficient, they transformed into streams of black Qi.

Confirming that all her subordinate Yin Spirits had returned, Jin Ling put away the Spirit General Command Banner and looked at Meng Li.

Meng Li asked: "Where is the secret passage leading outside from here?"

"Please follow me, Master." Jin Ling said softly, then walked towards the interior of the stone palace.

Meng Li followed.

Soon, the one human and one Yin Spirit arrived at the innermost room of the stone palace, which was Jin Ling's bedroom.

Jin Ling flipped open her bed, pointed at the revealed passage, and explained to Meng Li: "Descending from here to the bottom leads into the secret passage that runs through the entire underground palace. Then, going left and upward all the way leads to the ground exit. Going right and downward leads to the space where the Dripping Blood Cave is located."

Meng Li understood and waved his hand: "Let's go down."

"Yes."

Jin Ling assented, then leaped into the passage.

Meng Li followed, jumping down and using his Divine Thought to restore the bed to its original state.

Upon reaching the bottom, the one human and one Yin Spirit briefly oriented themselves, then transformed into streams of light and sped towards the direction of the ground exit.

However, just as they were about to reach the exit, they encountered an obstacle...