402: Chapter 412 A person of the Way of the Dead will never allow himself to set out exhausted!

Su Ming stepped off the stone chair and carefully picked up the Mysterious Shadow Egg, placing it at the core of the Formation Eye directly beneath the pillar of light.

The silver pillar of light accurately enveloped the eggshell.

A wondrous scene unfolded.

Under the starlight, the dark gold patterns on the surface of the eggshell shone brilliantly.

It no longer looked lifeless as before. The golden patterns began to flicker rhythmically, breathing in and out like a sleeping infant finally drinking sweet milk.

Su Ming looked at the slightly glowing eggshell, a trace of a smile appearing on his weary face.

"This way, even if this Disciple is not here, it can continue to steadily absorb Star Power."

Lin Yu's Divine Sense swept over the Formation and he gave a satisfied hum.

"Not bad. The Formation structure is very stable, the Star Power conversion rate is extremely high, and there's no leakage of spiritual energy at all."

Lin Yu made an assessment.

"As long as the stars in the sky don't fall, this Formation can last at least half a year. If you aren't back by then, we'll figure something else out."

Su Ming nodded.

With his biggest worry resolved, he could finally prepare to head down the mountain with peace of mind.

He sat cross-legged on the stone bed, swallowed a Qi Recovery Pill, and began to restore his consumed spiritual energy.

With a great battle imminent, every bit of strength had to be maintained at its Peak state. A practitioner of The Way of Cautious Survival never allows themselves to set out while fatigued.

...

Time passed extremely quickly.

Over the next three days...

Su Ming stayed behind closed doors.

He finished refining all the final batches of slag sent by the Repair Hall.

They were transformed into hundreds of Water-refined Rifled Steel Needles.

He coated these steel needles with the venom of the Earth Fire Scorpion.

He hid them in the wide cuffs of his purple robe, his belt, and even the edges of his boots.

He also used the mutated Spiritual Plants cultivated in Qingxi Valley to brew a large quantity of Detoxification Pills and Aura-Concealing Powder, categorizing them all into dozens of identical jade bottles.

Never put all your eggs in one basket.

This was an iron Law Lin Yu had taught him.

...

On the morning of the fourth day.

Outside Star Gazing Cliff, a thick fog permeated the air.

The rising sun had yet to pierce through the heavy clouds, and the entire cliff was shrouded in a grayish-white silence.

Su Ming was meditating with his eyes closed inside the Immortal Cave. The liquid spiritual energy of the Ruoshui Art surged through his Meridians like the Yangtze River.

Suddenly...

"Zheng—"

The warning Formation Plate on the periphery of the Immortal Cave emitted an extremely short and sharp chime.

Someone had tripped the outermost detection Formation!

Su Ming's eyes snapped open, a terrifying glint flashing in the depths of his gaze.

He didn't stand up; instead, he flicked his fingers slightly.

Seven venomous steel needles instantly slid into his palm from his sleeve.

Simultaneously, his left hand pressed against the central control hub of the Formation at the edge of the stone bed, ready to activate the defensive form of the "Earth Vein Dual-Cycle Concealment Grand Formation" at any moment.

The Law of The Way of Cautious Survival: Prepare for the worst before even seeing the person.

"Don't panic."

Lin Yu's voice echoed in his Sea of Consciousness, carrying an unusual gravity.

"The newcomer's cultivation... I can't see through it. But he has no hostility. He avoided all the killing Formations and deliberately stepped on the outermost warning Array Patterns. He's knocking on the door."

Su Ming was slightly stunned.

Can't see through it?

Su Ming put away the steel needles, stood up, and straightened his somewhat wrinkled purple robe.

He walked quickly toward the stone door of the Immortal Cave.

He pressed the mechanism to open it.

Accompanied by a dull grinding sound, the heavy stone door slowly rose.

The cold morning wind, mixed with thick fog, instantly rushed into the Immortal Cave.

Su Ming stepped out of the stone door.

His gaze was like lightning as he scanned the edge of the Formation.

A grey figure stood silently on the bluestone of Star Gazing Cliff.

It was a Deacon wearing the lowest-level grey robe of the Sect.

His appearance was extremely ordinary—the kind of face that would absolutely not stand out in a crowd.

There were no fluctuations of spiritual energy on his body.

His aura was restrained to the extreme.

He was like a stone covered in moss.

He blended perfectly with the surrounding morning mist.

If not for seeing him with his own eyes, Su Ming's Divine Sense wouldn't even have been able to lock onto this person's existence.

Terrifying control.

Seeing Su Ming come out, the grey-robed Deacon did not bow, nor did he show any extra expression.

He walked slowly to the stone table outside the Immortal Cave.

A withered palm extended from his sleeve.

With a soft "pa" sound...

A lusterless black Storage Ring was casually placed on the stone table by him.

Then, without even looking at Su Ming, he turned around and walked directly into the depths of the thick fog.

His movements were smooth and fluid, without the slightest hesitation.

Su Ming was stunned for a moment. He subconsciously took a step forward.

"This—"

He opened his mouth to ask.

The grey-robed Deacon didn't look back, and his pace didn't falter.

A hoarse, emotionless voice floated over from the thick fog.

"The items have been delivered. Just keep them safe."

Before his voice had even faded, the grey figure had completely merged into the white morning mist.

There was no longer a single trace, as if he had never appeared.

Su Ming stood where he was.

His brow was furrowed.

He released his Divine Sense.

He searched the area within a five-hundred-zhang radius.

It was empty.

That person had truly vanished into thin air.

"Stop searching," Lin Yu's voice said with a hint of emotion.

"He's already far away. That was true Shrinking Ground to an Inch, a scaled-down version of Teleportation. This grey-clothed man is at least at the Late Stage of the Nascent Soul, and might even have half a foot in Soul Transformation."

Su Ming sucked in a breath of cold air.

Late Stage of the Nascent Soul? Running errands in a grey robe?

"It's that person," Lin Yu gave a definitive answer.

Besides Grand Elder Supreme Elder Hao Yuan, who else could command a secret force of this level?

Su Ming approached the stone table.

He didn't rashly reach out to take the black Storage Ring.

First, he used his fingertip to force out a drop of liquid spiritual energy, suspending it three inches above the ring, carefully sensing for any toxins or tracking marks.

After confirming it was safe, he carefully picked up the ring.

The ring felt cold to the touch, its material neither metal nor wood.

Su Ming took a deep breath and probed it with his Divine Sense.

" boom!"

The moment his Divine Sense entered the ring's space, Su Ming felt a roar in his mind.

The space within the ring wasn't large.

It was only about a zhang square.

But the items inside made Su Ming, a True Disciple who considered himself to have seen much of the world, skip a heartbeat.