463: 4th Anomaly

After returning to the Immortal Cave at Star Gazing Cliff, Su Ming immediately began the concoction.

He went to the corner where he meticulously cultivated spiritual plants and carefully plucked a few leaves of the mutated silver-spotted heart-clearing orchid that were in the most perfect condition.

He took out a jade mortar specifically for grinding medicinal herbs and placed the clear heart orchid, calming grass, and a pinch of sunken yin wood shavings he had picked up from the Logistics Hall into it.

Without any violent interference of Spiritual Qi, Su Ming relied entirely on the precise control of his Physical Body, grinding patiently, stroke by stroke. Until all the medicinal herbs had turned into the finest powder, he then added rootless water and kneaded it into a long, thin stick of incense.

He utilized a sliver of Spiritual Qi from the Ruoshui Art to forcibly evaporate the moisture and dry it.

After the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, a Soul-nurturing incense stick emitting a faint, fresh herbal fragrance was completed.

Su Ming walked to the front of the secret chamber, placed a small jade incense burner next to the dim, lusterless xuantian ring, and inserted the Soul-nurturing incense into it.

He curled his fingertip, and a faint flicker of flame flashed by.

The tip of the incense was lit, and a wisp of deep blue smoke rose curlingly, slowly diffusing within the sealed Immortal Cave.

The scent was extremely tranquil. Su Ming only took a breath, and he felt the fatigue in his Sea of Consciousness, caused by days of deducing the Formation, instantly dissipate by more than half, and his spirit was invigorated.

What made him feel even more gratified was that when this wisp of blue smoke drifted toward the xuantian ring, the ancient-looking ring seemed to possess a breath of its own, actively absorbing those mists into the surface of the ring. With the continuous nourishment of the fragrance, the fluctuation of Soul Power belonging to Lin Yu deep within the ring seemed to become more stable and peaceful.

"Sleep well, Master."

Su Ming sat cross-legged beside the incense burner, glanced at the Mysterious Shadow Egg that was still breathing in starlight within the Formation, and then glanced at the xuantian ring that was greedily absorbing the fragrance.

He silently calculated an account in his heart.

Spirit-connecting jade marrow and star-patterned silk cost one thousand one hundred contribution points; the Soul-nurturing incense formula cost thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

The change in his total assets was negligible.

All the spiritual materials for recognition of ownership had been prepared, and Master's recovery was on the right track.

Everything was ready, only waiting for the shell to break.

...

The thick stone door completely isolated the outside mountain wind and sea of clouds. No moonstones were lit inside the Immortal Cave; all light sources came from the Mysterious Shadow Egg in the center of the Formation that was gently breathing in starlight, and the sparks drifting from that small jade incense burner.

What was burning in the incense burner was precisely the Soul-nurturing incense that Su Ming had concocted himself.

This fragrance was different from the pungent sandalwood found in ordinary Taoist temples; instead, it carried the unique, crisp chill of the polar ice fields, which was the essence of vegetation nurtured by the silver-spotted heart-clearing orchid under the interweaving of extreme cold and starlight. The fragrance rose curlingly, turning into a wispy, deep blue smoke that hovered in mid-air for a moment before, as if possessing spirituality, threading its way into the xuantian ring quietly placed in front of the meditation cushion.

Su Ming sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, his hands folded over his Dantian, his breathing so long and drawn out that it almost came to a halt.

He had been doing this for six whole days.

He could clearly feel that the Soul Power deep inside the ring, which had originally fallen into a deathly silence due to devouring the soul nurturing wood marrow, was like an undercurrent beneath the ice in early spring, becoming more active and resilient with each passing day.

Tonight, this pulsation reached its peak.

The scent of the Soul-nurturing incense permeating the air seemed to become somewhat viscous, and the dark golden patterns flowing on the Mysterious Shadow Egg also slowed down at this moment.

Su Ming's eyelids trembled slightly.

He felt that the xuantian ring, which he was holding lightly above his palm, had suddenly changed.

It was not the lukewarm temperature from before, but a sudden, scorching heat.

Su Ming suddenly opened his eyes, his deep pupils reflecting the strange change at his fingertips.

The originally gray and rough surface of the xuantian ring was now glowing with a layer of deep blue light like the deep sea. The light was not dazzling at all; instead, it exuded an indescribable, gentle, and moist texture, just like moonlight pouring onto a windless, deep pool—tranquil, yet bottomless.

The deep blue light grew brighter and brighter, gradually detaching from the surface of the ring, and in the Void Realm three inches above the ring, it slowly condensed into a fist-sized ball of light.

The ball of light rotated silently, and with every rotation, it caused a visible ripple of the Soul to spread through the air. It was an extremely condensed fluctuation of Soul Power, without any Impurities of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi mixed in.

"Hum—"

A subtle fluctuation rippled out from the ball of light, extremely gently touching Su Ming's extended Divine Sense.

Su Ming's whole body stiffened, and the muscles that had been tense due to nervousness completely relaxed in this instant. The touch was too familiar, carrying a hint of playfulness, yet also a kind of composure that understood everything; it was the aura unique to Lin Yu.

He held his breath, staring at that rotating deep blue, his eyes bloodshot from excessive focus.

"Boom!"

There was no sound, but within Su Ming's Divine Sense, it felt as if a dull thunderclap had sounded.

An unprecedentedly powerful fluctuation of Soul Power, like a breached flood, surged wildly from that small ball of light. This Soul Power swept across the entire Immortal Cave like a tidal wave, crushing over the hard bluestone floor, crushing over the Spirit Stones at the edge of the Formation, and even penetrating through the thick defensive Array Patterns outside the Immortal Cave.

Su Ming only felt a roar in his mind; in the face of this vast Soul Power, his own Divine Sense was like a lone boat in a stormy sea, instantly lifted high and drifting toward the boundless heights.

It was an extremely wonderful feeling; his whole person seemed to have lost the weight of his Physical Body, and all fatigue and gravity were stripped away at this moment. He could even, through the perspective of this Soul Power, clearly "see" the subtle stone vein textures on the stone walls of the Immortal Cave that were invisible to the naked eye.

But this god-like overlooking sensation only lasted for a fleeting moment.

Just like the tide receding, the extended Soul Power, after reaching its peak, instantly flowed back inward at a terrifying speed.

The ball of light began to undergo drastic changes.

It was stretched, contracted, and twisted in mid-air, and the originally hazy halo began to rapidly solidify in a way that defied common sense.

Su Ming widened his eyes; he saw a blurry human silhouette first emerge from the top of the light ball. First was the shape of the head, then the broad shoulders, followed by the torso, and finally the limbs hanging down.

This was not the kind of phantom from before that would twist and dissipate at the slightest breeze.

In Su Ming's shocked gaze, that deep blue human silhouette became clearer and clearer, and its color gradually shifted from deep blue to a jade-like, translucent white.

He saw the familiar hem of a long robe, saw the fine cloud patterns outlined with Soul Power on the corner of the robe, and saw the pair of hands naturally hanging at the sides, with long and powerful fingers.

Finally, all the light gathered upward, outlining a face that Su Ming could not be more familiar with.

It was Master.