375: Chapter 385 Reforging the Shattered Jade

The Immortal Cave was terrifyingly quiet, save for the occasional chirp of an insect from some unknown corner.

Su Ming slowly raised his left hand, looking at the inconspicuous xuantian ring on his index finger.

After a long while, he took the ring off, wiped it in his palm, and then solemnly put it back on.

The movement was slow and meticulous.

"Master."

Su Ming looked up, the trace of hesitation and fear in his eyes suppressed by a certain resoluteness at this moment. "If I really can't hold on and my consciousness dissipates... don't worry about me. Using the power of the Formation, you should be able to protect the ring and break out."

Lin Yu was stunned for a moment.

Immediately, he raised his hand, wanting to give the kid a flick on the forehead, but his palm passed through Su Ming's forehead, only stirring up a cool breeze.

"Bullshit."

Lin Yu cursed, "I've worked so hard to raise you this big, and I haven't even waited for you to take care of me in my old age. You want to die? Not a chance."

He floated a bit higher, looking down at Su Ming with an extremely arrogant tone—the pride of a modern Soul and the confidence of a 'hidden expert.'

"You even survived the Soul-searching of that old hag in the Heart-Questioning Formation, and you even crawled out of the pile of corpses at Iron Wall Pass. A mere Foundation Establishment is nothing more than going through the motions!"

"Put your heart back in your chest."

Lin Yu pointed at the flickering runes around them. "I modified this Formation, and I set this process. If things still go south, how am I supposed to survive in the ring world in the future?"

Looking at his Master's 'I am number one' cocky attitude, the tension at the corners of Su Ming's mouth finally loosened slightly.

"Yes."

Su Ming took a deep breath, his hands forming Seals as he adjusted his breathing rhythm.

"It's time."

Lin Yu glanced out the skylight.

It was now late at night, and the hour of Zi was approaching.

The Yin and Yang Qi of heaven and earth were alternating; it was the time of day when the earth vein Spiritual Qi was most active and easiest to guide.

Su Ming said no more.

He took out the Cold Jade Box he had exchanged from the Logistics Hall from his robes.

As soon as the box was brought out, the surrounding temperature instantly dropped several degrees. The seven golden Talismans pasted on the surface of the box shimmered with a faint golden glow under the starlight.

Su Ming placed the box on the prayer mat in front of his knees.

He closed his eyes, mentally reviewing the three hundred and sixty variations of spiritual power guidance from the Basic Rune Deconstruction Essence one last time.

Then, he opened his eyes.

There were no more distracting thoughts in his eyes, only a pool of dead silence like a deep abyss.

He raised his hand, a speck of deep blue Water Spiritual Energy flickering at his fingertips.

His fingertip touched the first Talisman on the Cold Jade Box.

That was the 'Spirit-Sealing Talisman,' used to lock in the immense vitality of the earth vein spiritual milk.

*Sss—*

A slight tearing sound seemed exceptionally piercing in the silent Immortal Cave.

As the first Talisman was peeled off, a visible white cold mist instantly surged out from the gap.

The mist was not scattered but acted like a sentient little snake, circling once in the air before suddenly expanding outward.

Su Ming only felt an extremely pure yet somewhat domineering Spiritual Pressure rushing at him, the skin on his face stinging from the blast.

"Steady."

Lin Yu's voice rang out in the Sea of Consciousness, as calm as a machine. "This is the first wave of pressure release. Don't panic. Continue, there are six more."

Su Ming's fingers did not tremble in the slightest.

He stared at the churning white mist as if staring at a dangerous item that could explode at any moment.

The second one.

The third one.

As the Talismans fell one by one, the air pressure in the cave grew lower and lower, the air seemingly solidifying into physical mercury.

*Snap.*

The first fluorescent stone couldn't withstand the pressure and exploded into powder.

Then the second, and the third.

Darkness began to spread through the cave, swallowing the already scarce light.

By the time the fifth Talisman was peeled off, the last fluorescent stone had completely gone out.

The entire Immortal Cave fell into absolute darkness.

Only the seven skylights overhead remained open.

Starlight fell like pillars, penetrating the darkness and accurately enveloping Su Ming.

The light was not warm; instead, it carried a sense of coldness and loneliness.

Su Ming sat cross-legged in the center of the light pillars, his shadow stretched long and projected onto the uneven rock walls like a lonely silhouette, or like a sharp sword about to be unsheathed.

He looked at the jade box with only two Talismans remaining, his gaze terrifyingly calm.

This was not just a box.

This was the 'future' he had traded his life for.

'Master,' Su Ming murmured in his heart, 'I'm starting.'

"Go for it,"

Lin Yu replied.

Su Ming's finger hooked onto the sixth Talisman.

The moment the sixth Talisman fluttered down, the pressure in the cave suddenly became heavy, as if a thousand-pound boulder had appeared out of thin air on his chest. The originally wisp-like white mist now became thick and viscous; every breath required mobilizing the muscles of his entire body to pull with force to suck that sluggish Spiritual Qi into his lungs.

Su Ming's finger rested on the last Talisman—the 'Essence-Locking Talisman' that sealed the core spiritual charm.

Under his fingertip, the Talisman paper was warm, and the power suppressed beneath it was like a prehistoric beast about to wake up, transmitting that heart-palpitating pulse through the thin paper to his knuckles, traveling up his arm and straight into his Sea of Consciousness.

"Open."

A short syllable escaped Su Ming's mouth, and his finger flicked upward abruptly.

The golden Talisman paper fell away.

There was no world-shaking boom as imagined, nor was there a brilliant explosion. The earthy-yellow light ball suspended in the Cold Jade Box only trembled slightly, then flowed out silently like mercury that had lost its restraint. It did not scatter but was compressed into a longan-sized, nearly solid amber bead under the heavy pressure of the interwoven starlight and some invisible guidance.

"Swallow!"

Lin Yu's voice exploded in the Sea of Consciousness, short and sharp.

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Ming opened his mouth and inhaled. The incredibly heavy amber bead turned into a yellow line and instantly vanished into his mouth.

The moment it entered his mouth, there was no fragrance of a Medicinal Pill, only a heavy sense filled with the smell of earth and metallic rust. Immediately after, this power did not slide down the esophagus but felt like swallowing a red-hot iron, carrying scorching high temperatures and unmatched weight, directly 'smashing' through his throat and arrogantly crashing toward his Dantian.

"Hmph!"

Su Ming gave a muffled groan, his whole body arching forward violently, the bones in his back letting out a series of cracking sounds like popping beans.

Pain.

It wasn't a sharp, stabbing pain, but a feeling of being bloated and splitting as if someone had forcibly stuffed a mountain into his stomach. His internal organs wailed under the pressure of this power, and veins bulged crazily under his skin like wriggling earthworms.

Under internal inspection, the spiritual power vortex that was already teetering on the edge of collapse under the extreme compression of the Ruoshui Art was hit hard by this mass of earth vein spiritual milk, instantly losing its balance.

*Crack.*

A crisp sound that only Su Ming could hear.

Spiritual Qi poured out wildly.