9: Core Formation cultivator, Yu Ruoli

Dozens of breaths later, Su Ling lay on a shattered rock, gasping for air.

Despite the great effort he spent to make the Giant-Faced Owl fight the four Bloodfang Ghost Bats and heavily wound two of them...

...he still had to sacrifice a dark light mirror, two explosion talismans, and a Vajra Talisman to finally slay all four Bloodfang Ghost Bats.

"It's a good thing I chose the Flowing Wind Technique back then, otherwise I would've fallen to my death just now."

Su Ling struggled to his feet and let out a soft sigh.

He had used a sneak attack to nearly insta-kill one Bloodfang Ghost Bat, which provoked the other three into a frenzied assault.

By the end of the battle, the last Bloodfang Ghost Bat had launched a suicidal charge, knocking him straight off the cliff top.

The already damaged dark light mirror was bitten to pieces by the Bloodfang Ghost Bat at that very moment.

The Ghost Soul Arrow he condensed in mid-air also shot the final bat dead.

With the Flowing Wind Technique acting as a buffer and the Vajra Talisman protecting his body, Su Ling managed to save his life at the critical moment.

Even so, his internal organs were throbbing with pain.

Falling from a cliff hundreds of meters high and only suffering minor internal injuries was already the best possible outcome.

"Another day of envying Foundation Establishment Cultivators; being able to fly is so nice!"

Swallowing a Medicinal Pill, Su Ling hurriedly adjusted his breathing.

After a moment, he activated the Phantom Shadow Technique, moving nimbly across the cliff face to carefully collect the two ink jade spirit mushrooms.

There was still a Bloodfang Ghost Bat corpse pinned to the cliff wall; he couldn't let it go to waste.

It was, after all, a first-grade Yao Beast comparable to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. The fangs in its mouth could be taken to the Artifact Refining Hall, where he could pay some Spirit Stones to have them crafted into arrowheads.

Their lethality would certainly not be inferior to the mentally taxing Ghost Soul Arrows.

Just as Su Ling stepped on a protruding rock and lunged upward, intending to grab a crevice and leap toward the Bloodfang Ghost Bat's corpse...

...his hand suddenly grabbed empty air, and he couldn't help but fall downward.

In a panic, Su Ling reflexively reached for the cliff wall again.

As his body came to a halt, he looked at his palm with a face full of shock.

His entire right hand seemed to be embedded in the cliff rock; his fingers were completely invisible.

"An illusion formation?"

In his astonishment, Su Ling uncertainly raised his left hand and reached toward that part of the cliff.

As a result, his palm vanished completely into the rock as if it had disappeared.

Su Ling's heart stirred. Using both hands to exert force, he slowly climbed into the rock.

What met his eyes was a naturally formed, dim cave.

Standing up, Su Ling drew a long sword and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

The cave was roughly the height of a person; if he stood up straight, he would touch the ceiling.

Listening intently, there wasn't a single sound from within.

Looking back, he could still see the scene outside.

"Why is there a residual illusion formation here? Could it be the temporary Immortal Cave of some Foundation Establishment Cultivator?"

Su Ling didn't understand Formations, but he still possessed some relevant knowledge.

When Foundation Establishment Cultivators went out for long periods, they would set up temporary Immortal Caves using illusion formations and defense formations for rest and recovery.

Formations required Spirit Stones for energy; Qi Refining Cultivators weren't wealthy enough for such extravagance.

"This Junior has accidentally entered Senior's Immortal Cave and will leave immediately. I hope Senior can forgive me..."

At this thought, Su Ling took a deep breath, gripped a Freezing Talisman in his hand, and bowed respectfully.

After a dozen breaths, there was still no reaction from inside the cave.

Only then did Su Ling slowly straighten up, his heart slightly more at ease.

With a flick of his finger, he released a lighting Spell, and a light orb the size of a fist floated into the cave.

After walking through the winding entrance for a while, Su Ling discovered that while the cave's entrance was narrow and cramped, the interior was a whole different world.

As the light orb slowly floated upward, a chamber measuring ten zhang across was revealed.

On a large rock in the center, a skeletal remains suddenly appeared.

"It seems this is the place where some Foundation Establishment Cultivator passed away."

Even if he hadn't experienced it firsthand, he had heard enough to know how it worked.

When transitioning from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, the Divine Sense would transform into a Divine Soul, manifesting even greater power.

Even after death, a remnant soul could survive for a period of time.

Although the person before him had turned to bone, who knew if his remnant soul was still around.

Su Ling wasn't confident that his Divine Sense could withstand the other's erosion.

To be safe, he quickly swapped the Freezing Talisman in his hand for a Thunder-falling Talisman.

With a casual toss, his sharp sword turned into a cold light, shooting straight toward the skeleton.

Clatter...

The sword pierced the skull, causing the skeleton that had been sitting cross-legged to scatter across the ground.

After a long while, there was still no change.

Su Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at himself. "If he didn't come out after that, he must be dead through and through."

Stepping forward slowly, Su Ling carefully examined the scattered bones, then beckoned with his hand, causing a Storage Pouch to float up from the remains.

Holding the Storage Pouch, Su Ling remained vigilant. Fortunately, after dozens of breaths, the legendary remnant soul did not appear.

Su Ling finally felt relieved and carefully checked the items inside the Storage Pouch.

The first thing that caught his eye was a Jade Slip floating in the center of the space, emitting a faint luster.

Next was an ancient-looking token with cloud patterns.

And two jade medicine bottles.

After thinking for a moment, Su Ling decided to take out the Jade Slip first.

[communication jade slip]

Su Ling's heart stirred as he pressed the Jade Slip to his forehead. The moment his Divine Sense entered, a message quickly surfaced in his mind.

[I am Yu Ruoli, an outer Disciple of the Cangyun Sect at the Core Formation stage. By order of the Sect, I was investigating the theft of Spirit Seeds...]

"Cangyun Sect, a Core Formation Cultivator..."

After a moment, Su Ling put down the Jade Slip and sighed softly.

He hadn't expected it to be a Core Formation Cultivator.

And this long-deceased Yu Ruoli actually had some connection to him.

The Cangyun Sect was the most powerful Sect within the Great Jade Dynasty. It could be said that the entire Great Jade Dynasty was the Cangyun Sect's garden for nurturing Spirit Seeds.

Spirit Seeds within the borders had been hijacked several times, and Foundation Establishment Disciples had died tragically.

Fifteen years ago, Yu Ruoli received the mission, disguised himself among the Spirit Seeds, and was eventually abducted to the Xuanming Sect.

His original plan was to find the location of the Xuanming Sect and then notify his Sect to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, the first time he entered the Sect's territory, he was discovered by a Xuanming Sect Nascent Soul Elder.

He only managed to escape by self-destructing all his Magic Treasures and using a blood essence escape technique.

Unfortunately, he had already been hit by a soul secret technique and was doomed to die.

The cross-realm communication talisman he sent out in haste was also intercepted.

Otherwise, the Xuanming Sect Elder wouldn't have let him leave.

Even so, Yu Ruoli could not sustain himself after fleeing less than two hundred li.

He could only hurriedly leave a message before passing away in this cave.

"What a pity. If you had succeeded back then, I would have had to call you 'Junior Martial Uncle'."

Su Ling's predecessor was originally a Spirit Seed selected by the Cangyun Sect from Changlin Province in the Great Jade Dynasty.

If the Xuanming Sect hadn't intervened, he would currently be cultivating in the resource-rich Cangyun Sect and would likely have already reached Foundation Establishment.

Addressing this Core Formation Cultivator named Yu Ruoli as 'Junior Martial Uncle' was, in fact, not inappropriate.