Chapter 727: Black Cloud Island, searching the cave dwelling (Seeking monthly votes)

Seeing that Song Qingming had already agreed to help, Chen Yuting's face immediately turned happy, and she hurriedly stepped forward to bow.

Chen Yuting's cultivation was only at the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment, which was the time when she was lacking cultivation resources. The Chen family was only an ordinary Foundation Establishment family, and the help it could provide for her cultivation was very limited.

If she wanted to go further in her cultivation and advance to the late stage of Foundation Establishment early to fight for the chance of Core Formation, then Chen Yuting had to find a way to raise cultivation resources herself, otherwise, she could only be like other elders in the family, trapped in the Foundation Establishment realm for a lifetime.

Having studied that restriction for many years without finding a way in, and seeing such a great stroke of fate as a senior's cave dwelling placed before her eyes without being able to obtain it, Chen Yuting had also been troubled by this matter in her heart all these years.

Now that there was Song Qingming, a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, willing to help, she could finally obtain this stroke of fate. Chen Yuting also let out a long sigh of relief at this moment, and her heart was full of gratitude toward Song Qingming.

As for Song Qingming, because Huang Siyuan was at home, he was not in such a hurry to go back, and he wanted to stay in the "Profound Heaven Sect" for a few more days.

Anyway, he was idle here, and helping Chen Yuting explore a Core Formation cultivator's cave dwelling was not a big deal for Song Qingming now; at most, it would just be returning to the Floating Cloud Mountain Range two days later.

Moreover, a cave dwelling left behind by a Core Formation cultivator had some attraction to Song Qingming, and it was already worth his effort to make a trip.

If he could find some things useful to him inside, it could also bring some unexpected surprises to his trip to the "Profound Heaven Sect" this time.

"Sister Chen, I want to go see it this time too."

"Sister, rest assured, I won't snatch your stroke of fate. If I obtain any treasures there, I will definitely hand them over to you and Senior Song. I just want to follow you and see the world!"

Just as Song Qingming nodded and agreed, Luo Li on the side took the initiative to step forward and hold Chen Yuting's hand, indicating that she also wanted to follow and see.

Seeing this, Chen Yuting hurriedly tapped her forehead and said: "Without you this time, where would I have the chance to get Senior Song to help? Rest assured, this stroke of fate will definitely not be missing your share."

"Haha! Sister is still the best to me." Luo Li heard this and immediately spread a smile, then turned to Song Qingming on the side and asked: "Senior, Sister Chen has already agreed to me, you won't refuse Luo Li to go together, right!"

"I am just going to help with this matter; you two can discuss the rest."

Song Qingming had no opinion on Luo Li wanting to follow along. It was just exploring a Core Formation cultivator's cave dwelling, which was not a very difficult thing for him now, and having one more person would not have any major impact.

After the three agreed on the time, Chen Yuting took the initiative to say goodbye to Song Qingming and the two, and left "Baishadao" alone. — The next day, at the port on the west side of "Baishadao," a beam of white spiritual light suddenly flew up and went straight into the sky toward the northwest.

In the middle of the white escape light, on a white flying boat, Song Qingming was looking at a sea chart in his hand, adjusting the direction of the flying boat's advance.

Behind him, Chen Yuting and Luo Li sat cross-legged, looking at the sea under the clouds, both with a look of excitement on their faces.

The location of the Core Formation cultivator's cave dwelling discovered by Chen Yuting was on a relatively barren volcanic island in the northwest direction of the "Red Star Sea area," which was still some distance from Baishadao where the "Profound Heaven Sect" was located.

Because of an active volcano that erupted frequently, the entire island was often filled with various unpleasant volcanic ash and dust, and the environment was somewhat harsh compared to other islands.

Although there was a fairly good second-tier mid-grade spirit vein on this island, no one lived there all year round, and only some spirit beasts that liked fire-attribute spiritual energy occupied the island.

After Song Qingming and the three set off from "Baishadao," they took the flying boat for nearly three days before finally arriving near this island.

Still separated by a distance of dozens of miles, Song Qingming and the three saw a cloud of black smoke rising into the high sky from afar.

Chen Yuting, who had been here many times, saw this huge black cloud and immediately said to Song Qingming and the two with some joy: "Senior Song, the Black Cloud Island where the cave dwelling is located is ahead."

"The environment here is somewhat harsh, and there are many second-tier spirit beasts appearing. Except for some people who want to collect fire-attribute spirit herbs, very few cultivators will come here."

"I came here to try my luck looking for a spirit herb back then, but I didn't expect to run into a three-eyed fire fox while looking for the spirit herb, and it was only after chasing it all the way that I accidentally discovered that cave dwelling."

"There are many coincidences in the world. It is your stroke of fate that you will never miss, but it is still too early to say these things now. What kind of stroke of fate this place is, we will only know after we go in and figure it out."

Song Qingming looked at the black cloud before him, his expression always remaining calm, but Chen Yuting and Luo Li were so excited that they couldn't sit still and stood up directly.

After approaching this "Black Cloud Island," Song Qingming waved his hand and released a protective shield in front of the flying boat, blocking the volcanic dust constantly falling from the sky, and landed directly on a flat ground on the east side of the island.

The area of this "Black Cloud Island" was more than double that of "Baishadao" where the Profound Heaven Sect was located, and the spiritual energy on the island was also relatively rich, but the whole mountain was covered with thick dust, and only a small area on the east side still had green trees and flowers.

After the three landed on the island, under the lead of Chen Yuting, who was familiar with the road, they soon arrived above the crater in the middle of the island.

Thick smoke was constantly gushing out, and the sound of boiling magma could be heard below. The temperature here had far exceeded what ordinary people could bear, and even Qi Refining cultivators would find it difficult to stay here for a long time without the protection of special magic treasures.

However, all three were cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage and could use protective escape light to block the high temperature outside, so they didn't feel too uncomfortable.

After arriving at a groove position of the crater, Chen Yuting turned to Song Qingming and the two and said: "Senior Song, the cave dwelling is down here. The entrance has already been covered by me with a formation, so it shouldn't be easy for anyone to find this place."

Song Qingming nodded slightly when he heard this: "Hmm! This place is so hidden that basically no one would come here without reason except for your accidental discovery. This fellow Daoist built the cave dwelling in such a hidden place; to tell you the truth, if it weren't for your accidental discovery, it would really be hard for people to find it. It seems he was also very careful about this."

Seeing that the surroundings of the cave dwelling were all shrouded in volcanic smoke, and ordinary Qi Refining cultivators could not get close at all, Song Qingming also secretly admired the ingenuity of the owner.

If it weren't for Chen Yuting chasing spirit beasts and accidentally entering here, I really don't know when this cave dwelling would have been discovered.

After explaining, Chen Yuting waved her hand and took out her flying sword, directly flying with the sword and plunging into the crater below, soon arriving at a stone platform that could only accommodate two or three people about dozens of feet below.

Seeing this, Song Qingming immediately picked up Luo Li on the side and followed Chen Yuting directly. In order not to affect Chen Yuting's spellcasting, Song Qingming stopped directly in mid-air and did not land on the platform below.

After arriving on the stone platform, Chen Yuting's magic power moved, and she immediately took out two formation flags from her storage bag and inserted them directly into the mountain wall in front of her.

Afterward, Chen Yuting cast spells with both hands quickly, directly dispersing the thick smoke gathered around, and soon a cave entrance with a radius of seven or eight feet appeared on the mountain wall.

"Senior Song! It's right inside here. This junior will lead you in first!"

After saying this to Song Qingming and the two in mid-air, Chen Yuting took out a white round bead magic tool emitting a trace of cold air and placed it on top of her head, then took the lead and walked into the cave entrance ahead.

Song Qingming and the two did not delay, immediately released their protective spiritual light, and flew over to follow Chen Yuting into the cave.

This cave was also extremely hot. Luo Li, who had come here for the first time, was still somewhat unaccustomed to it and immediately felt the rolling heat waves coming from the surrounding air, and her face couldn't help but look somewhat uncomfortable.

Seeing this, Song Qingming on the side immediately increased his magic power, magnified the protective spiritual light on his body that resisted the heat by double, and covered Luo Li beside him, which made her complexion gradually look better.

The three walked less than a hundred feet into the cave, the terrain ahead suddenly began to tilt downward, and after advancing for several hundred feet, they finally arrived in a relatively wide cave.

This cave was about five or six feet wide, and there were obvious traces of artificial excavation and processing around it, from which it was not difficult to judge that it was definitely done by a high-tier cultivator here.

Because it was located deep in the volcano, in addition to the scorching flames, there were also many places here that would occasionally emit a trace of crimson magma, making the entire cave carry a trace of light in the dark underground.

Chen Yuting led the two through the cave to the front of a stone door in the deepest part before taking the initiative to stop her steps.

"Senior Song, it's right here. The magic treasure I brought out was found in the stone room over there."

"The restrictions on this stone door are very powerful. I spent many years and only destroyed the first layer of the covering formation on the surface. The true restrictions inside have always been helpless and could not be opened."

"However, after many years of attempts, I have also researched some ways of this restriction. This time with Senior Song coming together, it should be possible to break this restriction without accident."

Hearing Chen Yuting's words, Song Qingming nodded to her with a calm expression, then turned and walked into a stone room that had been abandoned for a long time, which she had just pointed to.

As Chen Yuting had said before, there were only two ordinary stone shelves in the stone room, on which were placed some relatively large stone jars and some small porcelain bottles.

After many years of no one managing it, the inside had long been turned upside down by spirit beasts that had broken in, and the bottles and jars on it were already empty, with nothing left.

Because no one had cleaned it for a long time, there was dust everywhere in the stone room. Song Qingming stood at the door and scanned around, his eyes suddenly turned to a pile of rubble in the corner, and then he walked over with a calm expression.

"Senior Song, I have already searched this place several times before and found no other useful things." Seeing that Song Qingming seemed to have discovered something, Chen Yuting said somewhat puzzled, and then followed over. Song Qingming, who arrived in front of the stone pile, ignored Chen Yuting on the side, and with a move of spiritual light in his hand, he took a copper plate covered with dust from this pile of inconspicuous rubble into his hand.

This copper plate had been in the rubble for many years, and it had already lost its color, and after being covered with dust, it had merged with the ground.

"Eh! Senior Song, what is this thing?" Seeing that Song Qingming had really found a copper plate from inside, Chen Yuting and Luo Li on the side immediately surrounded him and asked somewhat puzzled.

Song Qingming, holding the copper plate, looked at it carefully, then shook his head directly: "This thing is already damaged and its specific origin cannot be seen. I only feel that there is some corpse energy on it, it seems to be a magic tool used for things like refining corpses."

"A magic tool for refining corpses?"

Seeing that Song Qingming found something as soon as he came, and thinking it was another precious spirit item like a magic treasure, after hearing Song Qingming's answer, a trace of disappointment immediately appeared on the faces of Chen Yuting and Luo Li.

An ordinary magic tool for refining corpses, even if it were intact, would be worth at most a few hundred spirit stones, not to mention that this thing was severely damaged and couldn't be exchanged for any spirit stones when taken out. The two were also happy for nothing.

"Senior Song, since we can't find any good things here, why don't we hurry up and break the formation? By getting the things we need early after entering the cave dwelling, we can also return to Baishadao early."

Hearing Chen Yuting's reminder, Song Qingming did not continue to delay, nodded thoughtfully, then put away the copper plate in his hand, and then led them to leave the stone room together.

After the few returned to the outside of the stone door, Chen Yuting was about to step forward to prepare for the formation-breaking matters, but was directly stopped by Song Qingming.

"You all step back first, I know how to break this formation."

Hearing what Song Qingming said, Chen Yuting couldn't help but ask somewhat unexpectedly: "Oh! Could it be that Senior Song is also a formation master?"

Hearing Chen Yuting's inquiry, Song Qingming did not answer directly, but took out five high-tier formation flags and told her the answer with his actions.

I saw Song Qingming casting spells with both hands, these few formation flags immediately flashed with light, and under Song Qingming's control, they were inserted into the formation eyes around the stone door.

Seeing this scene, Chen Yuting, who still had some doubts in her heart, immediately knew that Song Qingming's formation level was far above her own. After smiling somewhat awkwardly, Chen Yuting's eyes immediately focused on Song Qingming.

Being able to see a high-tier formation master demonstrate the method of breaking the formation with his own hands at such a close distance, this was a rare stroke of fate for a formation master. Chen Yuting naturally did not want to miss such a good learning opportunity.

The restriction arranged on the stone door was a third-tier mid-grade great formation. Although it had been unattended for many years, the power of the formation had weakened a lot.

However, it was still a third-tier mid-grade formation. Even if the power was not at its peak, it was not something that Chen Yuting, a second-tier formation master, could break at will.

If Song Qingming did not make a move directly, relying on Chen Yuting's formation level, even if it went smoothly, it would take at least three or four days to find a way to break this formation.

Facing a third-tier mid-grade great formation that had already greatly reduced in power, Song Qingming's current formation level did not take much effort, and it only took less than an hour to easily remove all the restrictions above the stone door.

Seeing Song Qingming put away the formation flags around the stone door, Chen Yuting, who was standing on the side, immediately stepped forward and cupped her hands: "I didn't expect Senior's formation level to be so profound. This junior's little skill today was acting smart, which really made Senior laugh."

Song Qingming heard this and immediately waved his hand: "I have been cultivating the path of formations for more than two hundred years and can be considered to have achieved a little. Luo Li didn't even know about this, how could I blame you."

"Your judgment earlier was not bad. This formation is indeed a third-tier mid-grade formation, which is not something that ordinary cultivators can arrange. The person who arranged the formation had a cultivation at least at the Core Formation stage or above."

"After going in later, you two must be careful and don't touch the things inside casually, so as not to suffer any restriction traps."

"Senior, rest assured, this junior knows!" Hearing Song Qingming's instructions, Chen Yuting and Luo Li immediately cupped their hands and responded.

Confirming that the owner of the cave dwelling before them was at least a Core Formation cultivator, the two women were also full of excitement in their hearts at this moment, full of expectations for the spirit items at the door.

After instructing Luo Li and the two, Song Qingming nodded slightly, then cast a spell to summon "Jin Feng" and commanded him to step forward and push open the stone door in front of him directly.

As soon as the stone door opened, a burst of dust rolled up inside. Song Qingming gently waved his hand to release a breeze to blow it away, then stepped forward to "Jin Feng's" side and looked carefully at the cave dwelling in front of them.

The area of this cave dwelling was not large, about the same as the cave outside, only five or six feet wide.

However, although it was small inside, it was packed with things. In addition to some visible daily necessities, the wooden shelves around were filled with various bottles and jars, and magic tools, spirit talismans, cultivation classics, and other spirit items could be seen almost everywhere.

On the right side of the cave dwelling, there were dozens of unopened wooden boxes stacked higher than a person, and various materials and ores piled in the corner were also like small mountains.

Having cultivated for so many years, Song Qingming had also gone out to explore other high-tier cultivators' cave dwellings with others before and had some psychological preparation. Seeing the scene that came into view, he still couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise.

If it weren't for confirming that this place should be a cultivator's cave dwelling, Song Qingming would have thought that he had accidentally entered someone's treasury.

"Wow! So many things, Senior, it seems we have truly made a fortune this time." Before Song Qingming could speak, Luo Li, standing on the side, was the first to shout with excitement.

However, because of Song Qingming's previous warning, even though Luo Li couldn't hold back her urge to step forward and check, she still didn't move her steps, just looked at Song Qingming with a happy face, waiting for his next arrangement.

Chen Yuting was also very excited in her heart at this moment. Even if she couldn't find other good things, just taking these spirit items back would be enough for her to make a fortune and successfully cultivate to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.

If she could find the cave dwelling owner's storage bag later and obtain a few third-tier spirit items from it, then she would have the chance to exchange for Core Formation spirit items in the future, and she would also have the chance to become a high-and-mighty Core Formation cultivator like Song Qingming.

However, in front of Song Qingming, Chen Yuting still tried her best to hide her excitement and carefully stepped forward to ask: "Senior, is there anything wrong in here? Can we go in now?"

"Hmm! Go in first."

Song Qingming, standing at the door, scanned the surroundings carefully and found nothing unusual, so he nodded slightly to the two and took "Jin Feng" to walk in first.

After the three entered the cave dwelling, they immediately began to carefully scrape the spirit items on the wooden shelves, collecting all the useful things they could take away.

Although the grade of these things on the shelves was not high, they were numerous, and any of them could be exchanged for ten or twenty thousand spirit stones when taken out. For them, Foundation Establishment cultivators, this was already a wealth that could not be underestimated.

Some spirit items were somewhat damaged because of the long time, but Chen Yuting and Luo Li did not let them go. Both were cultivators who were used to being frugal. Having finally made a fortune, this time they also completely let themselves go.

Song Qingming scanned around and found that most of them were low-tier spirit items of the first and second tier, and there was nothing he could use, so he lost interest and walked to the other side of the cave dwelling.

The things in this cave dwelling were dazzling, not like a place that had been abandoned. Song Qingming scanned around but did not see the remains of the cave dwelling owner, and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

A Core Formation cultivator's cave dwelling would generally not be set up too simply. Although the outside was filled with various spirit items, judging from Song Qingming's experience, these things should just be to confuse people, and the location of the cave dwelling owner was the real place where treasures were hidden.

"Senior, why are there so many cultivators' remains here!"

Just as he was searching for mechanisms and news everywhere, wanting to find the place where the cave dwelling owner was hiding, he suddenly heard a cry of surprise from Luo Li behind him. Song Qingming hurriedly turned around and came to her side.

Song Qingming had not opened the large wooden boxes piled in the corner to check, thinking that they were all filled with mineral materials like the ones next to them.

It wasn't until Luo Li came over and opened one of them just now that she discovered that what was inside was actually a cultivator's remains that had already decayed.

It was not just this one wooden box. After Song Qingming opened the other wooden boxes, he found that all of them were cultivators' remains that had been dead for many years.

Most of them could no longer recognize their faces and had turned into white bones. Only two or three whose cultivation was higher and had reached the Foundation Establishment stage were still relatively complete.

"Senior, this cave dwelling owner put so many remains here, could it be that he is a demonic cultivator who cultivates some evil method?"

Seeing the cultivators' remains piled up like a mountain in front of him, Chen Yuting immediately felt a trace of strangeness in her heart and hurriedly asked Song Qingming.

"There is not much demonic energy felt in this place, it shouldn't be the work of a demonic cultivator. It is estimated that he is a cultivator who, like me, cultivates the path of corpse puppets. It's just that ordinary cultivators only need one or two to refine corpse puppets, but it is indeed somewhat strange for this person to put so many cultivators' corpses here."

"A Core Formation cultivator's cave dwelling will definitely not have only these low-tier spirit items. Don't be in a hurry, wait until we find the cave dwelling owner, and we should know everything." (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 728 =====