98: Chapter 98 Foundation Establishment Killing Tribulation

Deep within Baiyin Mountain, in a hidden underground cavern.

Extremely Yin Qi, like tangible, thick fog, flowed slowly within the cavern.

Gu Shen was like a ghostly shadow, pressing against the cold rock wall, sliding silently to the edge of the cavern.

He did not release his Divine Sense, but instead pushed his five senses to the limit after achieving Major Achievement in the Bone Refining Art.

"Master, thirty zhang ahead. Fifteen targets without life signs, in a circular defensive formation. The high-energy living heat source in the center has vital signs that are continuously decaying."

A weak, single-unit vibration frequency came from the Crab on his collar.

Gu Shen looked through the Yin fog.

In the center of the cavern, fifteen "Cultivators" clad in heavy armor stood silently.

They had no breath, no heartbeat; only faint spiritual light flickered in their hollow eye sockets.

"So they really are Puppets." Gu Shen's heart sank slightly.

In the center of these fifteen Puppets, on a flat black stone platform, sat a young man in tattered brocade robes, cross-legged.

His face was as pale as paper, and there was a terrifyingly concave palm print on his chest, with wisps of black Qi continuously eroding his vitality through the wound.

He had his eyes closed, and his aura was withered to the extreme.

It was none other than the mysterious Sword Cultivator who had killed a Late-Stage Qi Refining demon Cultivator with one sword on the dry riverbed, Wei Lingfeng!

Gu Shen stood in the shadows, his right hand slowly resting on the hilt of the blade at his waist.

Just at this moment.

"Friend outside, the Evil Qi of Baiyin Mountain is hard to endure. Since you've come, why not show yourself and have a chat?"

Wei Lingfeng on the stone platform suddenly opened his eyes.

Those originally clear eyes were now bloodshot, yet they held a sharpness like a piercing sword, looking straight at the shadow where Gu Shen was hiding.

He had been discovered.

A strange glint flashed in Gu Shen's eyes, but he was not panicked.

Although his Thousand Faces disguise was exquisite, the intuition honed by Cultivators on the edge of life and death could often perceive extremely weak killing intent.

He decided not to hide anymore and stepped out of the shadows.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, how have you been?"

Gu Shen did not change his appearance; he still looked like the ordinary-looking gray-clad Loose Cultivator.

But when he spoke, he naturally reverted to the hoarse voice he used that night on the dry riverbed when he called himself "Alias".

Wei Lingfeng was stunned for a moment, then, looking at Gu Shen's completely different face, he suddenly started coughing violently, laughing as he coughed.

"Cough, cough... So it is Fellow Daoist Chen! What a brilliant disguise technique; even my eyes were almost deceived by you."

Wei Lingfeng wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth, a playful look in his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, you aren't hiding in peace in Yunze Immortal City, but ran to this godforsaken Baiyin Mountain. Could it be that you are also here for the Opportunity in this place of extreme Yin?"

"Opportunity is ordained by heaven, everyone relies on their own ability."

Gu Shen stood three zhang away from the Puppet formation, his gaze sweeping over those cold Iron Corpses, his tone flat.

"It is Fellow Daoist Wei, who threw out that fragment of the blood lotus at the Blood River Dark Assembly, causing chaos in both sects. Such an earth-shattering move, Chen admires it."

Wei Lingfeng's smile deepened upon hearing this.

"Fellow Daoist Chen is a smart man. Since you've seen through it, I won't hide it from you."

"That one who used the Incomplete Manual of Soul-Pulling Threads as collateral at the Blood River Dark Assembly, was me. The one who crushed the mud seal on the auction stage and threw out the fragment was also me."

Wei Lingfeng's voice echoed in the cavern, carrying an arrogance that treated the world as his plaything.

"The core thread-control secret technique of the Qianji Pavilion was just bait. I spread the news, gathering all kinds of monsters and demons at the Blood River Dark Assembly, just to show that fragment to those old dogs of the Danding Sect and the Blood Fiend Sect under the eyes of everyone!"

Gu Shen listened quietly, but his heart was surging with turbulent waves.

"Luring the tiger away from the mountain." Gu Shen spat out four words coldly.

"Correct!"

Wei Lingfeng's eyes burst with fanatical brilliance.

"The main forces of both sects were all lured by me to the underground of Yunze Immortal City. The defense of the Blood Sacrifice Array in the White Bone Forest must be empty! I escaped from the Immortal City via the underground water veins, made a counter-attack, and sneaked into the core of the array during the chaos!"

"That blood marrow lotus, irrigated with the essence and blood of thousands of Loose Cultivators—they had planned for it for several years, but in the end, it fell into my hands!"

Wei Lingfeng patted the Storage Pouch at his waist, laughing wildly, but it triggered his injury, and he spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood.

Gu Shen looked at his dying, heavily injured state, his brows slightly furrowed: "What about the Master of Qingmu Cliff? It is rumored that his True Disciple snatched the fragment and fled with the treasure."

"Master of Qingmu Cliff?"

Wei Lingfeng sneered, his eyes filled with coldness.

"In this world, there has long been no Master of Qingmu Cliff. That old thing was secretly slaughtered by me three years ago. I used the secret method of the Qianji Pavilion to refine his corpse into a Foundation Establishment Stage armored puppet!"

"I controlled him and performed a good show at Qingmu Cliff. Let everyone think that the Master of Qingmu Cliff snatched the treasure, and I was just a scapegoat. This allowed me to calmly set up this earth-shattering scheme in Yunze Immortal City from the shadows!"

Gu Shen's breathing paused for a moment at this moment.

He was Puppeteer He Zichuan, he was Wei Lingfeng, and even the high and mighty Foundation Establishment Stage Master of Qingmu Cliff was just a marionette in his hands!

This person's deep schemes and ruthless methods were simply appalling!

"Fellow Daoist Chen."

Wei Lingfeng panted, staring fixedly at Gu Shen.

"Although I snatched the blood marrow lotus, I also took a 'Heart-Destroying Blood Palm' from an Elder of the Blood Fiend Sect. Now my magic power is exhausted, Evil Qi is attacking my heart, and I am at the end of my rope."

"We have known each other. If you are willing to act as my Protector for three days and help me refine the blood marrow lotus to achieve Foundation Establishment, these fifteen Late-Stage Qi Refining Iron Corpse Puppets, along with the complete secret technique of the Soul-Pulling Threads, I will offer with both hands. How about it?"

Wei Lingfeng's voice was full of temptation, like the last entrustment of a dying person.

Gu Shen stood in place without speaking.

His gaze swept extremely slowly over Wei Lingfeng's collapsed chest and his paper-pale face.

"Heavily injured and dying. Magic power exhausted."

Gu Shen's right hand silently gripped the hilt of the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade at his waist.

The dark gold iron bone in his body made a very faint metallic sound.

His Qi Refining Level 7 magic power was like a volcano about to erupt, gathering frantically in his Meridians.

Take advantage of his illness to take his life!

As long as he cut off Wei Lingfeng's head with one strike, the blood marrow lotus, the Soul-Pulling Threads, and the fifteen Puppets would all be his!

Such an earth-shattering Opportunity would save him decades of hard cultivation!

Killing intent condensed in the depths of Gu Shen's eyes.

However.

Just as Gu Shen was about to draw his blade and strike, he caught a glimpse of Wei Lingfeng's eyes.

In those bloodshot eyes, there was not a trace of fear.

Instead, there was a playful, mocking look!

He was confident and fearless!

Drip.

At this moment, Gu Shen's sharp hearing finally captured a trace of blood dripping from the dark stalactite reflection on the upper right.

Gu Shen's back instantly oozed cold sweat.

Every hair on his body stood up at this moment!

The life-and-death intuition bestowed upon him after achieving Major Achievement in the Bone Refining Art was frantically warning him!

Accompanying the drop of blood was an extremely difficult-to-detect Foundation Establishment Stage pressure that was deliberately suppressed!

"Master of Qingmu Cliff! That Foundation Establishment Stage Puppet was not destroyed in the White Bone Forest at all! It is hiding in the shadows!"

Gu Shen's thoughts turned like lightning.

As long as he dared to draw his blade, that Foundation Establishment Puppet lurking in the dark would definitely snap his neck in an instant!

"He is testing me!"

Between life and death.

The killing intent in Gu Shen's eyes faded like a tide, replaced by a gentle smile with a touch of concern.

The right hand holding the hilt released naturally, and he lightly brushed the Storage Ring at his waist.

"Fellow Daoist Wei is joking."

Gu Shen laughed, his voice full of sincerity.

"You and I once fought side by side; we are friends of life and death. How could Chen be such a despicable villain who takes advantage of others in their precarious state?"

"As for being a Protector, it is my duty. However, with your injuries, Daoist, if you don't have Spirit Medicine for healing, I'm afraid you won't last three days."

Gu Shen flipped his wrist.

A glass bottle filled with potent purified water from the Wasteland and a mass of red blood essence glue exuding majestic vitality were steadily held in his palm.

"In my early years, I once obtained this Evil-Cleansing Purified Water and Vitality Blood Glue in a desperate land. They are specifically for treating the corrosive wounds of the Evil Qi of demon Cultivators. If you trust me, Daoist, I will gift these medicines to you for healing."

Gu Shen threw the two Spirit Medicines toward Wei Lingfeng on the stone platform with great openness.

Wei Lingfeng reached out to catch the medicine bottle and the essence glue.

His Divine Sense swept over them, and the mocking coldness in his eyes paused slightly, flashing a trace of obvious astonishment.

He looked deeply at Gu Shen.

The Foundation Establishment Puppet that was constantly on guard in the dark also relaxed slightly at this moment.

"Fellow Daoist Chen is righteous."

Wei Lingfeng hooked his mouth into a meaningful smile.

"I will remember this favor, Wei will keep it in mind."

Gu Shen stood in place, smiling.

But beneath that calm face, his back was already completely soaked with cold sweat.