129: A spirit stone vein has been discovered! A powerful illusion has been created! Infiltrate with ease!

Chapter 129: Discovering a Spirit Stone Vein! A Powerful Illusion! Easy Infiltration!

Two days later, above the vast expanse of the “Withered Wind Wasteland”.

The green wind boat flew steadily beneath sparse clouds, with an endless stretch of grayish-yellow land below. Vegetation was sparse, dotted only by scattered, drought-resistant low shrubs.

Strong winds whipped up sand and dust, forming moving, earthy-yellow columns of smoke, creating a desolate and remote scene.

Occasionally, some first-level low-grade Yao Beasts could be seen scurrying or lurking on the sand, further adding to the primitive and dangerous atmosphere of the place.

Lu Qiu stood at the bow of the boat, his green robe unmoving in the fierce wind.

He closed his eyes slightly, then suddenly opened them. In the depths of his pupils, a faint golden starlight and a trace of deep blue chill simultaneously flowed.

Xuanji Pupil — Delusion-Breaking Golden Light, fully activated!

The world before his eyes suddenly became “clear” and “layered” in his vision.

The wasteland, which appeared empty to ordinary Cultivators, now revealed subtle traces of spiritual energy flow.

Especially about a few miles ahead, a stretch of undulating hills that looked no different from its surroundings, under the insight of the Delusion-Breaking Golden Light, was subtly enveloped by an extremely faint, almost completely integrated with the surrounding light and spiritual energy environment, wave-like hazy light shield.

This light shield covered an extremely wide area, quietly “erasing” or “distorting” a region from ordinary perception.

And beneath the light shield, Lu Qiu’s “gaze” penetrated this disguise, clearly “seeing” a deep rift valley resembling a scar on the earth — the Ghost’s Lament Grand Canyon.

“Indeed, it is here.” Lu Qiu’s heart settled, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

Having read the original work, he knew very well that the small Spirit Stone vein, and the ancient teleportation array possibly hidden deep within the vein, were located at the bottom of this rarely visited canyon.

He manipulated the flying boat to slowly descend behind a leeward rock hill.

Zhao Wen and his Incarnation, Heisha, immediately leaped off the flying boat.

“Master, where are we…?” Zhao Wen looked at the desolate surroundings, somewhat puzzled.

“There’s something unusual in the canyon ahead; I need to infiltrate and investigate alone.”

Lu Qiu spoke concisely, taking out a Storage Pouch containing several Talismans and handing it to Zhao Wen: “You and Heisha find another hidden and safe place nearby to set up a temporary Immortal Cave and lie in wait. Although this place is remote, you still need to guard against Yao Beasts or other accidents. Without my message, do not approach the canyon area ahead.”

“Yes! Master, rest assured!” Zhao Wen took it without hesitation, bowing in response.

He knew his cultivation was limited, and following along might become a burden.

Heisha merely nodded silently, his hollow eyes gazing in the direction of the canyon, seemingly instinctively sensing the concealed area, but he completely obeyed all of Lu Qiu’s commands.

With arrangements made, Lu Qiu no longer delayed.

He circulated the Myriad Transformations Hidden Origin Art, converging his aura to almost nothing, and his figure transformed into a faint green shadow. Using the rugged strange rocks and undulating terrain of the wasteland, he stealthily approached the hidden light shield at the outer edge of the canyon like a ghost.

The closer he got, the clearer the light shield appeared in the vision of his Xuanji Pupil.

It was not a Formation of a single attribute, but rather several Formations of various functions cleverly nested and combined. The outermost layer consisted of powerful “Illusion Formations” and “Concealment Formations,” distorting light and Divine Sense detection, perfectly hiding the canyon’s existence.

The inner layer combined “Confinement Formations” with early warning functions, which would activate to trap enemies or sound an alarm if any living creature touched it.

“The person who set up this Formation is highly skilled; this combined Formation is quite ingenious. Even if an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator stumbled upon it by chance, they would likely struggle to understand its principles, let alone break in.” Lu Qiu hid behind a giant rock, carefully observing the trajectory of the Formation’s spiritual energy flow, the distribution of its nodes, and the patterns of interwoven Formation runes of different attributes.

Thanks to the daily discussions and unreserved teachings from Xin Ruyin, this Formation Dao prodigy, Lu Qiu had gained a significant understanding of both the Heavenly Derivation Array Codex and the profound mechanism array canon.

At this moment, he pushed the insight of his Xuanji Pupil to the extreme, combining it with his knowledge, and rapidly deduced the weak points of this composite Formation and possible methods for breaking it.

“There’s a tiny, almost imperceptible stagnation in spiritual energy fluctuations at the junction of the Illusion Formation and the Concealment Formation… One of the basic runes of the Confinement Formation seems to have shifted slightly due to age or minor geological changes, causing the regional spiritual energy circulation to be less smooth than in other areas…”

Lu Qiu’s eyes gleamed, like the most patient hunter, dissecting the prey’s structure piece by piece: “Starting from this point, using the ‘Reverse Spirit Needle’ technique recorded in the Heavenly Derivation Array Codex, combined with the ‘Node Resonance’ theory from the profound mechanism array canon, I should be able to open a temporary gap just wide enough for one person to pass through without alarming the entire Formation… It will probably take two days of careful refinement.”

He had considerable confidence in his Formation Dao attainments.

Although not as exceptionally gifted or prone to astonishing ideas as Xin Ruyin, with a solid theoretical foundation, the assistance of his Xuanji Pupil, and the influence of numerous high-grade Formation codices, he had a good chance of breaking through this unattended, dilapidated guardian Formation… The next day, at first light.

Lu Qiu finished his brief meditation in his hiding spot and routinely reviewed the Opportunity intelligence he had reorganized for the day.

He skimmed over a piece of white information about a possible low-grade Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator’s Remains (relic) nearby.

Immediately after, two new pieces of intelligence invigorated him:

【silver information】: In the core area of the Spirit Stone vein, there is a rare Fourth-level Monster Beast, the Blood Jade Spider, and this Blood Jade Spider has already laid two spider eggs, which have not yet hatched and are currently in a relatively weak post-partum guarding period.

【gold intelligence】: In the deepest part of the Spirit Stone vein, there is a remnant, incomplete ancient teleportation array. On the stone platform beside the Formation, a “great teleportation token” is left behind.

“ancient teleportation array! great teleportation token!”

Even though Lu Qiu had been mentally prepared, seeing the confirmation from the gold intelligence still stirred ripples in his heart.

This was the most important objective of his trip!

And the eggs of the Fourth-level Monster Beast, the Blood Jade Spider, were an unexpected bonus. If he could acquire them, their value would be considerable, whether for hatching and rearing or for other uses.

With his objectives increasingly clear, Lu Qiu’s drive to research and break the Formation intensified.

He composed himself and fully immersed himself in the task of breaking the Formation before him.

Pure and subtle magical power condensed on his fingertips, like the most agile carving knife, guided by his Divine Sense, meticulously “adjusting” and “shifting” specific nodes within the complex spiritual energy structure of the Formation’s outer layer.

Time flew by in his concentration. The sunrises and sunsets, the rising and settling of sand on the wasteland, seemed to have nothing to do with him… A full two days and two nights of sleepless, meticulous calculation and careful operation.

As the dawn of the third day once again illuminated the wasteland, the Formation’s light shield before Lu Qiu finally produced a subtle, ripple-like disturbance at the spot he had been continuously “sculpting”.

At the center of the ripples, a pinprick-sized “hole” quietly appeared, and with Lu Qiu’s continuous infusion of magical power, it slowly expanded to about a foot in diameter, just enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

The gap was open!

Moreover, because it was a “micro-surgical” adjustment from within the Formation’s structure, it did not trigger the overall early warning mechanism!

Lu Qiu did not hesitate for a moment. The instant the gap stabilized, his thoughts raced!

Inside the gray spatial bead, over a thousand Illusion Spirit Butterflies had long been ready. Now, like a breached dam of colorful light, they silently poured out!

They made no sound of flapping wings, and the flowing light on their wings was dimmed to the extreme under Lu Qiu’s deliberate control, transforming into a hazy, almost invisible mist that swiftly surged into the canyon through the newly opened Formation gap!

Lu Qiu followed closely, his figure flashing as he passed through the momentarily existing gap.

Within two breaths after his entry, the gap behind him quickly closed like healing water, and the light shield returned to its original state, as if it had never been breached.

Entering the canyon, the light suddenly dimmed.

On both sides were towering, dark rock walls, over a hundred zhang high, as if carved by knives and axes, allowing only a narrow sliver of sky to be seen overhead.

The canyon floor was strewn with jagged rocks, and there was a faintly discernible, long-dried ancient riverbed.

The air was slightly more humid than outside, but also colder, permeated with a faint scent of dust mixed with old Spirit Stones.

Lu Qiu landed at a relatively open corner in the middle section of the canyon.

His gaze quickly swept to not far ahead—there, leaning against the rock wall, were several crude stone huts, with simple wooden fences and watchtowers outside the huts. This was the Tianque Fortress Cultivator camp guarding this mine.

At this moment, the camp was eerily silent.

At the entrance of a stone hut, an old man dressed in Tianque Fortress attire, with temples streaked with white, a sorrowful expression, and a cultivation in the Early Foundation Establishment Stage, remained frozen in a posture as if about to leave, his eyes hollow, a trace of unvanished bewilderment on his face.

In the open space next to him, five or six young Cultivators, also wearing Tianque Fortress attire and with cultivation in the Mid to Late Qi Refinement Stage, were either sitting or standing, some wiping their Magical Artifacts, others conversing in low voices. Now, they were all motionless like clay figures, their expressions frozen, their eyes unfocused and blank.

In the center of the camp, the iron pot on the campfire still emitted faint steam, but the flames, which should have been crackling, now seemed suppressed by an invisible force, burning unusually slowly and quietly.

Over a thousand Illusion Spirit Butterflies had, before Lu Qiu’s entry, completely enveloped this small camp in the powerful and hidden collective illusion they had woven.

This illusion did not crudely strip the five senses but skillfully guided and amplified certain fleeting thoughts in their minds, or created the illusion that everything was normal, allowing these guards to sink into it unknowingly.

The old man in the Early Foundation Establishment Stage, as the leader of the guards and the highest cultivated, might have been alerted the moment the illusion struck, but against the concentrated illusionary power released by over a thousand Illusion Spirit Butterflies, reinforced by the transformed Golden-Patterned Mother Butterfly, his meager Divine Sense defense was like a candle flame in a gale, instantly overwhelmed.

Not to mention those Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators, who had no power to resist the illusion.

“Indeed, against this level of guards, the Illusion Spirit Butterfly Swarm’s collective illusion is truly invincible.” Lu Qiu glanced at the dazed guards, his heart completely at ease.

With the old man’s Early Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, if no one forcefully awakened him from outside or if the Illusion Spirit Butterflies did not actively withdraw the illusion, he would likely struggle to break free on his own for several days.

He no longer delayed, his figure swift as wind, silently sweeping past the stone hut camp, and hastened along the dilapidated but still clearly artificially excavated mining path in the canyon, towards the depths of the Spirit Stone vein.