Chapter 727: Black Cloud Island, Searching the Cave Abode (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Seeing that Song Qingming had already agreed to help, Chen Yuting’s face immediately looked happy, and she hurriedly stepped forward and bowed.

Chen Yuting’s current cultivation is only at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, which is exactly when she lacks cultivation resources. The Chen family is only an average Foundation Establishment family, and the help it provides for her cultivation is very limited.

If she wants to go further in her cultivation and reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment early to fight for the chance of Core Formation, Chen Yuting must find a way to raise cultivation resources herself. Otherwise, she can 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 opportunity of a senior’s cave abode placed in front of her but always unable to obtain it, Chen Yuting has also been troubled by this matter for many years.

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

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

Anyway, since he has nothing to do here, helping Chen Yuting explore a Core Formation cultivator’s cave abode is not a big deal for the current Song Qingming. At most, it is just returning to the Floating Cloud Mountain Range two days later.

Moreover, a cave abode left by a Core Formation cultivator has things hidden inside that are somewhat attractive to Song Qingming, which is already worth his trip.

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

"Sister Chen, I also want to go and see this time."

"Sister, don’t worry, I won’t steal your opportunity. If I get any treasures there, I will definitely hand them over to you and Senior Song. I just want to go with you to broaden my horizons!"

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

Seeing this, Chen Yuting hurriedly tapped her forehead and said: "Without you this time, how would I have the chance to get Senior Song to help? Don’t worry, this opportunity will definitely not be without your share."

"Hehe! Sister is still the best to me." Luo Li smiled upon hearing this, then turned to Song Qingming at 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 go together. It is just exploring a Core Formation cultivator’s cave abode, which is not a very difficult thing for him now, and having one more person go will not have any major impact.

After the three of them agreed on the time, Chen Yuting took the initiative to say goodbye to Song Qingming and the other, and left "White Sand Island" alone. —— The next day, at the port on the west side of "White Sand Island," a white spiritual light suddenly flew up and rushed into the sky, heading 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.

Behind him, Chen Yuting and Luo Li sat cross-legged, looking at the sea surface under the clouds, both of them still carrying a hint of excitement on their faces.

The location of the Core Formation cultivator’s cave abode that Chen Yuting discovered is on a relatively barren volcanic island in the northwest of the "Red Star Sea Area," which is still some distance from White Sand Island where the "Profound Heaven Sect" is located.

Because there is an active volcano that erupts from time to time, the entire island is often filled with various unpleasant volcanic ash and dust, and the environment is somewhat harsh compared to other islands.

Although there is a decent second-rank mid-grade spiritual vein on this island, no one has lived on it all year round, and only some demonic beasts that like fire-attribute spiritual energy inhabit the island.

After Song Qingming and the three of them set off from "White Sand Island," they flew on the flying boat for nearly three days before finally arriving near this island.

Still separated by a distance of tens of miles, the three of them 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 happily to Song Qingming and the other: "Senior Song, the Black Cloud Island where the cave abode is located is ahead."

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

"I came here to try my luck looking for a spiritual herb back then. Unexpectedly, while looking for the spiritual herb, I bumped into a three-eyed fire fox and chased it all the way, which is how I accidentally discovered that cave abode."

"There are many coincidences in the world. If it is meant to be your opportunity, you will never miss it. However, it is still too early to say these things. What kind of opportunity this place is will only be known after we go in and figure it out."

Song Qingming looked at the black cloud in front of him, his face still calm, unlike Chen Yuting and Luo Li, who were already 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 ash 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" is more than double that of "White Sand Island" where the Profound Heaven Sect is located, and the spiritual energy on the island is also relatively rich. It is just that the whole mountain is covered with thick dust, and only a small area on the east side has green trees, flowers, and plants.

After the three of them landed on the island, under the guidance 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 Foundation Establishment cultivators would find it difficult to stay here for a long time without special magic treasures to protect them.

However, the three of them were all cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage and could use their protective escape light to block the high temperature outside, so they did not feel too uncomfortable.

After arriving at a groove in the crater, Chen Yuting turned to Song Qingming and the other and said: "Senior Song, the cave abode is down here. The entrance has been covered by my formation. It should be that no one can easily find this place."

Song Qingming nodded slightly upon hearing this and said: "Hmm! This place is so hidden that except for your accidental discovery, basically no one will come here for no reason. This fellow Daoist built the cave abode in such a hidden place. To be honest, if it weren’t for your accidental discovery, it would really be hard for people to find. It seems he was also very careful about this."

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

If Chen Yuting hadn’t chased a demonic beast and entered here by mistake, I really don’t know when this cave abode would have been discovered.

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

Seeing this, Song Qingming immediately picked up Luo Li at the side and followed Chen Yuting. 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 moved her spiritual power with both hands and immediately took out two formation flags from her storage bag, inserting them directly into the mountain wall in front of her.

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

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

After saying this to Song Qingming and the other in mid-air, Chen Yuting took out a white round bead magic tool that was emitting a hint 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 other did not delay, immediately released their protective spiritual light, flew over, and followed Chen Yuting into the cave.

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

Seeing this, Song Qingming at the side immediately increased his spiritual power, enlarged the protective spiritual light on his body that resisted the heat by a factor of two, and covered Luo Li beside him, which made her complexion gradually look better.

The three of them walked less than a hundred feet into the cave, and the terrain ahead suddenly began to tilt downward. After moving down for another few 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 this, it was not difficult to judge that it must have been done by a high-rank cultivator here.

Because it was located deep in the volcano, besides the scorching flames around, there were many places in the cave that would occasionally emit a hint of crimson magma, giving the entire cave a hint of light in the dark underground.

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

"Senior Song, this is it. The magic treasure I took out was found in the stone room over there."

"The restrictions on this stone door are very powerful. I spent many years only destroying the masking formation on the surface, but I have been helpless against the real restrictions inside and have not been able to open them."

"However, after trying for so many years, I have also researched some ways to deal with this restriction. This time, with Senior Song coming together, if there are no accidents, we should be able to break this restriction."

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 deserted 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 management, the inside had long been turned upside down by demonic beasts that had entered here by mistake, and the bottles and jars on it were already empty, with nothing left.

Because no one had cleaned it for a long time, the stone room was full of dust. Song Qingming stood at the door and scanned the room, 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 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. Song Qingming, who arrived in front of the stone pile, ignored Chen Yuting at the side and moved his spiritual light to take a copper plate full of dust from this pile of inconspicuous rubble into his hand.

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

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

Song Qingming, holding the copper plate, looked at it carefully, then shook his head directly and said: "This item is already damaged and I can’t see its specific origin. I just feel that there is some corpse aura on it, it seems to be a magic tool used for corpse refining or something similar."

"A magic tool for corpse refining?"

Seeing that Song Qingming found something as soon as he arrived, and thinking it was another precious spiritual object like a magic treasure, Chen Yuting and Luo Li immediately showed a trace of disappointment on their faces after hearing Song Qingming’s answer.

An ordinary magic tool for corpse refining, even if it were intact, would be worth at most a few hundred spirit stones. Not to mention that this item was severely damaged, it couldn’t be exchanged for any spirit stones at all, and the two of them had a wasted joy.

"Senior Song, since we can’t find any good things here, why don’t we hurry up and break the formation? If we enter the cave abode early and get what we need, we can return to White Sand Island early."

Hearing Chen Yuting’s reminder, Song Qingming did not continue to delay. After nodding thoughtfully, he put away the copper plate in his hand and then took them together to leave the stone room.

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

"You two 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-rank formation flags and told her the answer with his actions.

Seeing Song Qingming casting spells with both hands, these formation flags immediately flashed with light and, under Song Qingming’s control, 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 a somewhat embarrassed smile, Chen Yuting’s eyes immediately focused on Song Qingming.

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

The restriction placed on the stone door is a third-rank mid-grade great formation. Although it has been unattended for many years, the power of the formation has weakened a lot.

However, it is still a third-rank mid-grade formation after all. Even if its power is not at its peak, it is not something that Chen Yuting, a second-rank formation master, can break at will.

If Song Qingming didn’t take action 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-rank mid-grade great formation whose power had been greatly reduced, Song Qingming’s current formation level did not take much effort. 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 at the side, immediately stepped forward and bowed: "I didn’t expect Senior’s formation level to be so profound. My little skill today was acting smart, which really made Senior laugh."

Song Qingming waved his hand immediately upon hearing this: "I have been cultivating the way of formations for more than two hundred years and can be considered to have achieved a little success. Luo Li doesn’t even know about this, so how can I blame you?"

"Your judgment earlier was correct. This formation is already a third-rank mid-grade formation, which is indeed not something that ordinary cultivators can set up. The person who set up the formation must have had a cultivation base of at least the Core Formation stage."

"After we go in later, you two must be careful and don’t touch things inside casually, so as not to be calculated by any restrictions."

"Senior, please rest assured, this junior understands!" Hearing Song Qingming’s instructions, Chen Yuting and Luo Li immediately bowed and responded.

Confirming that the owner of the cave abode in front of them was at least a Core Formation cultivator, the two women were also filled with excitement and full of expectations for the spiritual objects at the door.

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

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

The area of this cave abode is not large, only about five or six feet wide, similar to the cave outside.

However, although it is small inside, it is packed with things. In addition to some visible daily necessities, the wooden shelves around are filled with various bottles and jars, and various spiritual objects such as magic tools, spiritual talismans, and cultivation classics can be seen almost everywhere.

On the right side of the cave abode, there are dozens of unopened wooden boxes piled up higher than a person, and various materials and ores are piled up in the corner like a small mountain.

Having cultivated for so many years, Song Qingming had also explored the cave abodes of other high-rank cultivators with others before. Even with his psychological preparation, he couldn’t help but show a look of surprise when he saw the scene in front of him.

If it weren’t for confirming that this place should be a cultivator’s cave abode, Song Qingming would have thought he had broken into someone’s treasury by mistake.

"Wow! So many things. Senior, it seems we have really made a fortune this time." Before Song Qingming could speak, Luo Li, who was standing at the side, shouted excitedly first.

However, because of Song Qingming’s previous warning, even though Luo Li couldn’t hold back from checking, she didn’t move her feet forward. She just looked at Song Qingming happily, 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 spiritual objects back would be enough for her to make a fortune and successfully cultivate to the ninth level of Foundation Establishment.

If she could find the storage bag of the cave abode’s owner and get a few third-rank spiritual objects from it, then she would have the opportunity to exchange for Core Formation spiritual objects in the future, and she would also have the opportunity 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 inner excitement and carefully stepped forward to ask: "Senior, is there anything wrong inside? 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 abode, they immediately began to carefully scrape the spiritual objects on the wooden shelves and collected all the useful things they could take away.

Although the grade of these things on the shelves is not high, they win in quantity. Taking them out, they can be exchanged for ten or twenty thousand spirit stones, which is already a considerable wealth for their Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Because some spiritual objects were damaged due to time, Chen Yuting and Luo Li did not let them go either. Both of them were cultivators who were used to living frugally. Having finally made a fortune, they completely let themselves go this time.

Song Qingming scanned and found that most of them were low-rank spiritual objects of the first and second rank, and there was nothing he could use, so he lost interest and walked to the other side of the cave abode.

This cave abode is full of things, unlike a place that has been abandoned. Song Qingming scanned the surroundings but did not see the remains of the cave abode’s owner, and couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

The cave abode of a Core Formation cultivator is generally not set up too simply. Although the outside is filled with various spiritual objects, according to Song Qingming’s experience, these things should just be a cover, and the location of the cave abode’s owner is the real treasure trove.

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

Just as he was looking for mechanisms and news, trying to find the hiding place of the cave abode’s owner, he suddenly heard a cry of surprise from Luo Li behind him. Song Qingming hurriedly turned around and came to her side.

Song Qingming did not open 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 was not 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 wooden box. After Song Qingming opened the other wooden boxes, he found that they were all filled with cultivators’ remains that had been dead for many years.

Most of them could no longer be recognized and had turned into white bones. Only two or three who had higher cultivation bases before their death and had reached the Foundation Establishment stage were still relatively intact.

"Senior, the owner of this cave abode put so many corpses here. Is he a demonic cultivator who practices some evil arts?"

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

"I don’t feel much demonic energy here, so it shouldn’t be the work of a demonic cultivator. I guess he is a cultivator who practices the way of corpse puppets like me. It’s just that ordinary cultivators only need one or two corpse puppets. It is indeed a bit strange that this person put so many cultivators’ corpses here."

"The cave abode of a Core Formation cultivator will certainly not have only these low-rank spiritual objects. Don’t be in a hurry. When we find the owner of the cave abode, we should know everything."