649: Chapter 649 We have to jump out before this pot of water boils.

As the wooden door closed once more, the tree hollow fell back into silence.

Nightfall arrived quietly inside this ten-thousand-year-old Light Banyan. The glowing vines gradually adjusted their brightness, emitting a soft, deep blue hue reminiscent of starlight.

Su Ming did not light any Magical Artifact for illumination; he stood alone before the half-open window at the deepest part of the tree hollow.

Ying had eaten its fill of Origin Spirit Fruits and was curled up in the corner of the windowsill, dozing off and occasionally letting out a satisfied murmur in its sleep.

Within Su Ming's eyes, a deep blue light swirled like ripples in water.

"Guanwei Technique, activate."

Su Ming's gaze pierced through the layers of glowing leaves, looking out toward the endless darkness on the periphery of Qingmu Court.

In the direction of the distant Youguang Forest, a faint, extreme violet light would occasionally flicker across the night sky. The light was extremely brief and weak; if it were an ordinary Cultivator, they would only mistake it for the trail of some glowing spirit insect.

But Su Ming knew very well that this was the Dark Current Sect's Chain Life-Draining Evil Formation, undergoing high-intensity Formation resetting and energy transfer.

Closer by, above the Fluorescent Swamp, massive shadows would occasionally sweep past. Those were large Spirit Beasts unique to the Spirit Realm; they seemed to sense some kind of unease and were circling the edge of the swamp anxiously.

Su Ming slowly lowered his gaze, looking toward the deep underground.

In the extreme vision of the Guanwei Technique, those dark purple veins belonging to the Life-Devouring Mycelium were flickering in and out of sight within the cracks of the earth's veins. They were like a vast, invisible net, tightening bit by bit at a suffocatingly slow speed.

"The superficial peace is merely an illusion forcibly propped up by this old tree." Lin Yu's soul body floated on Su Ming's shoulder, his voice low and cold.

"The Dark Current Sect's encirclement is about to close." Su Ming looked at those purple veins with cold eyes. "They are like brewing a pot of meat soup to boil a frog; by the time the water boils, Qingmu Court won't even have the strength to struggle."

"Therefore, before this pot of water boils, we must find the crack in the lid and jump out." Lin Yu sneered.

At this moment, in the deep night of this alien world, the master and disciple formally began their ultimate plan for taking root and breaking the deadlock through Divine Thought.

"Priorities must be clear." Su Ming raised a finger in his Sea of Consciousness.

"First, utilizing this layer of protective cloak given by Elder Muxin, combined with the unreasonable extraction speed of the Lesser Void Spirit Guiding Formation, I must charge toward the Golden Core Middle Stage at all costs within the shortest possible time! Only when my cultivation level rises can the Ruoshui Art deduce more methods to conceal my aura."

Lin Yu nodded in agreement: "Correct. Without strength, you don't even have the qualifications to research information. What about the second point?"

"Second." Su Ming raised a second finger. "Using the convenience of my position assisting Elder Genxu in maintaining the root defense Formation, I will continuously acquire the Spirit Race's Formation knowledge like an ant moving house, and figure out the incredibly vast layout of the earth's veins beneath Qingmu Court. I want to know exactly how many secrets this ten-thousand-year-old tree has hidden underground."

Lin Yu's soul body glowed slightly: "This is called knowing yourself and your enemy. As long as you master the earth's veins, even if the Dark Current Sect truly attacks, this old man can take you and escape using the earth's veins. The third point is the most crucial one, isn't it?"

"Yes." Su Ming took a deep breath, his eyes becoming profound. "Third, cautiously explore the activation conditions for the coordinates within the Qiming Jade Tablet and find that door to leave this realm."

Recalling the details he saw while organizing the Jade Slips during the day, Su Ming said word by word: "According to Qing Yan's memory, the activation of the realm gate coordinates requires Human Race Spiritual Qi and Spirit Race life essence to resonate at the same node. This means..."

"This means you must find a special location in this vast Spirit Realm where the Laws of both races intersect!" Lin Yu took over the conversation, his tone filled with a trace of excitement and trembling. "Such a place could never be formed naturally. Either it is an ancient battlefield, or..."

"Or, it is the true ruins left behind by the Star River Shen Family in this Spirit Realm back then!" Two beams of brilliant light erupted in Su Ming's eyes, directly revealing the guess that Lin Yu had not spoken aloud.

The two looked at each other in the Sea of Consciousness, both seeing in the other's eyes that trace of madness belonging to someone of The Way of Cautious Survival seeking a path to life in a desperate situation.

"The road must be walked one step at a time, and meals must be eaten one bite at a time." Lin Yu yawned, the gold patterns on his soul body flickering. "This old man is full and needs to return to the ring to refine those source essence. You handle it yourself."

With a flash of dark light, Lin Yu returned to the xuantian ring.

Inside the tree hollow, only Su Ming remained, along with a snoring crow.

Su Ming slowly closed his eyes.

He sat cross-legged before the window, hands forming seals, and the deep blue Spiritual Qi of the Ruoshui Art flowed calmly within his body.

On one side was the faint Void Realm Spiritual Qi remaining in his body, and on the other was the life essence of the Origin Spirit Fruit slowly transforming in his stomach.

Su Ming's breathing gradually became long and slow, achieving a marvelous resonance with the rhythm of this ten-thousand-year-old Light Banyan.

...

The next morning. The deep green halo inside the Light Banyan gradually brightened, dispelling the lingering night chill in the tree hollow passage, signaling the arrival of a new day in the Spirit Realm.

Su Ming rose from the stone couch, took off the old clothes stained with a little swamp mud, and put on a clean, bluish-grey robe. This robe had been sent by Ye Qing last night; the material was woven from the fibers of some unknown vine, feeling ice-cold to the touch and exceptionally tough. He carefully folded and tightened the wide cuffs, and after confirming that there were no extra ornaments on his body that would hinder the precise operation of the Formation, he slowly pushed open the wooden door.

Outside the door, Ye Qing was already waiting.

"Su Ming, did you rest well?" The green soft tendrils on top of Ye Qing's head wiggled happily; he was clearly in a great mood because of Elder Genxu's decision last night.

"Passable." Su Ming nodded slightly, his demeanor calm and composed. "I will have to trouble Brother Ye to lead the way."

The two walked outward along the intricate corridors of tree trunks. On the periphery of Qingmu Court was a relatively open buffer zone, distributed with many large and small spirit springs and defense Formation nodes.

Along the way, they passed several Light Trees emitting a soft golden glow. These Light Trees were the most common illumination and life essence regulation hubs within Qingmu Court.

Just as they passed one of the thickest Light Trees, the left cuff of Su Ming's sleeve suddenly moved slightly.

"Chirp..."

A very faint call came, and Ying's fist-sized body obediently poked a small head out from the sleeve. Its pair of golden pupils stared intently at that Light Tree, its sharp bird beak slightly open.

The next breath, Su Ming clearly felt that the life essence Laws drifting in the surrounding air were being pulled by a weak yet domineering suction force, turning into a strand of pale golden flow invisible to the naked eye, and drilling directly into Ying's mouth.

Ying shivered in satisfaction, then retracted its head back into the sleeve.