Chapter 106

Wu Xing first had an ugly look, then a frightened look, finally he felt anger, the anger of being ignored.

But in the end, he suppressed this anger; the person is already dead, does he still need to avenge them?

Moreover, Wu Xing's gaze fell on three people flying toward him from ahead: two Foundation Establishment cultivators and one second-stage body refiner.

The one on the ground whom he knew was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator near great completion; such cultivators all thought they would die here, so what use could his mid-stage Foundation Establishment be?

After taking a deep look at Wang Ping and the others, Wu Xing turned and left.

The remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators glanced at the fallen Xigong Xun on the ground, all fled in fear; late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators are rarely seen in the Xichui cultivation world!

Whatever method used to kill them, no Foundation Establishment cultivator would dare try such means.

Watching the Foundation Establishment cultivators gradually depart, Tie Lanshan wore a happy expression; at least for a considerable time, none would dare provoke them.

Several people stood silently in place, watching the departing Foundation Establishment cultivators; they knew that today's slaying of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator by them would soon spread throughout Xichui.

By then, they too would have deterrent power; the longer the delay, the stronger their strength, especially Daoist Fellow Lan Ming, whose combat ability and talent are extraordinarily heaven-defying, not to mention his stunning artifact-crafting skill.

"Let's go! Next, we'll find a mountain peak to contemplate the formation patterns; this might be one of the easiest opportunities to obtain in this ruin!" Tie Lanshan looked at the core area and said calmly.

Wang Ping glanced at the core area and said:

"You go find a mountain peak to contemplate first; I need to go somewhere to figure things out!"

Tie Lanshan glanced at Wang Ping, knowing this must be some secret matter.

So he gave him a positioning plate again—this is a newly refined sound-transmission plate that is unaffected within a thousand li.

The same holds true within this ruin!

Wang Ping took it, then set off toward the depths, following his spiritual link with the Soul-devouring Butterfly.

After two hours, Wang Ping stopped before an extremely tall mountain peak; by then he had completely changed his appearance!

He could sense the Soul-devouring Butterfly right above him.

However, Wang Ping still couldn't go up, nor dare to probe with his spiritual sense; if there truly were Soul Refining Hall members above, using his spiritual sense would likely be detected by them.

But he has his own method; after looking around, he found a secluded spot, activated the Qingdi Changsheng Gong, and instantly an undetectable fluctuation that only plants could feel emanated from Wang Ping's body.

At the same time, Wang Ping's aura was nearly void; if scanned with spiritual sense, one would only feel a blade of grass swaying in the wind.

This is Wang Ping's method; the Qingdi Changsheng Gong, relying on a wood-spirit body, spontaneously communicates with surrounding flora to serve as a scouting technique for eyes and ears.

This method is extremely concealed; it cannot be discovered merely by having strong spiritual sense.

As the fluctuation continued to spread, the spiritual medicines and herbs on the whole mountain peak seemed to have received an order, each emitting a fluctuation perceptible only to the plant clan.

Soon, Wang Ping's sea of consciousness began to display one image after another.

Those were the scenes of the entire mountain peak; this probing technique was Wang Ping's first use, and its effect left him somewhat shaken.

Threads of images flickered in his sea of consciousness, and he actually found a safe climbing route among them.

Suppressing the urge to climb immediately, Wang Ping continued watching; the images in his sea of consciousness rose higher and higher until a human figure appeared, at which point he stopped emitting the fluctuation.

In this image, the four people he had met outside the ruin were all present here.

Unfortunately, there was only the image, no sound.

At the mountain's base, Wang Ping opened his eyes; since he had found them, he naturally needed to climb the mountain.

Using the safe route just discovered, Wang Ping staggered his way up toward the summit.

After half an hour, he stopped a hundred meters from those people.

At that distance, he could already hear their voices.

Silently sitting cross-legged behind a tree as thick as two persons, Wang Ping's ears perked up as he carefully listened to their conversation.

"Xiao Ge! You say that Golden Soul Lingzhi is really that miraculous? After taking it, one can truly cultivate dao arts during Foundation Establishment without needing a natal magic treasure as aid!"

Initially, one of the four, a person named Zhang He, secretly sent a sound transmission to Xiao Ge.

Without releasing his spiritual sense, Wang Ping would originally have been unable to hear their sound transmission, but the Soul-devouring Butterfly was lurking in Xiao Ge's mind; even Wang Ping didn't know the butterfly could hide in another's sea of consciousness and still intercept sound transmissions.

At the same time hearing the voices, he couldn't help but find it amusing—relying on your Qi Refining cultivation, you dare to send sound transmissions in front of Soul Refining Hall cultivators; I'm afraid your chat has already been heard loud and clear by that whatever Hunyue Gongzi.

Sure enough, the next moment, a young cultivator sitting cross-legged beside a golden-red lingzhi‑shaped plant slowly spoke:

"Let me answer this for you: Golden Soul Lingzhi indeed allows a cultivator to cultivate dao arts during Foundation Establishment, but there is a precondition—the soul's essence must be strong!"

Hunyue Gongzi's sudden words made Xiao Ge and Zhang He's faces turn pale; although they hadn't said anything disrespectful, the vast gap in their realms and his status left them inevitably uneasy.

Hunyue Gongzi glanced at them lightly; his unusually bright eyes, like night‑sky stars, left an unforgettable impression at a glance.

Wang Ping, aided by the plants, also saw Hunyue Gongzi's eyes; even without facing him directly, he could feel a heavy pressure.

As Hunyue Gongzi's gaze swept over Xiao Ge, the Soul-devouring Butterfly hidden in his sea of consciousness lay there lazily, motionless.

Feeling the feedback, Wang Ping couldn't help but exclaim—indeed it is the ninth‑ranked strange insect on the Strange Insect List.

"This is also because your family discovered the efficacy of Golden Soul Lingzhi this time, so I'm telling you some things!"

Hunyue Gongzi's light words made the two immediately bow in gratitude!

Hunyue Gongzi, clad in a black splendid robe, sat cross‑legged on the grass and said in a deep, cold voice:

"However, to consume it, a wood‑spirit‑root cultivator must use wood‑spirit power to dissolve it! The purer the wood‑spirit power, the better!"

Xiao Ge suddenly realized: "So the lord sought Lan Ming precisely to use his pure wood‑spirit power to dissolve the Golden Soul Lingzhi! But what if he refuses to cooperate?"

As soon as Xiao Ge said that, the black‑clad Foundation Establishment cultivators around them all let out cold laughs.

Xiao Ge didn't understand and didn't dare to ask; Hunyue Gongzi obviously had no intention to explain, instead changing the subject and asking:

"Actually, I sought Lan Ming not only to have him dissolve the Golden Soul Lingzhi, but more importantly to borrow his pure wood‑spirit power from the Qingdi Changsheng Gong to nourish the Golden Soul Lingzhi, so it may regain its ancient glory!"

Xiao Ge and Zhang He each glanced at the other; finally Xiao Ge plucked up his courage to ask: "Hunyue Shao, was the Golden Soul Lingzhi really famous in ancient times?"

Hunyue Gongzi stared at the Golden Soul Lingzhi for a long time, then sighed regretfully and said:

"Indeed, in ancient times it was a renowned lingzhi in the cultivation world, called Golden Jade Lingzhi; because it was too precious, it had already disappeared in antiquity, and should be extinct in this realm—but I never expected your Xiao family to actually find a stalk. However, due to the deficient spiritual qi of heaven and earth, it is now only Golden Soul Lingzhi and has not yet fully turned the jade‑like color."

Wang Ping, hiding in the dark, initially felt nothing upon hearing Golden Soul Lingzhi; but when he heard Golden Jade Lingzhi, he felt he had heard of it somewhere, and soon recalled—wasn't that a spiritual medicine listed on that prescription written in spirit‑world script?

If he hadn't heard the name Golden Jade Lingzhi today, he would almost have forgotten that prescription entirely, since the name on it was unknown to every shop he checked in the market; the only place he found a match was Huang Tai at the Deyun Pavilion in Juobao Fang, where he obtained something called Purple Primordial Filament.

Because these medicinal herbs were too hard to find, he set them aside first, and later, over time, he almost forgot about them.

Wang Ping's face showed a bitter smile; he realized he had almost forgotten a divine ability!