"Yu Zikuan is also not in serious condition. It's just that you two have suffered excessive damage and need to rest quietly for a few months."

Shi Jingzhi withdrew his hand after checking their pulses and said to Yan Zheng who was leaning against the bed.

Yin Ci discovered Yu Zikuan and Yan Zheng by the mountainside. The Ku Mountain Sect found an empty house at the foot of the mountain and settled the two down. After being in contact with the Deity Summoning Formation for too long, Yan Zheng's head of white hair was dull and lackluster, and he had become emaciated, but at least he still had the strength to speak. Yu Zikuan was older and his energy was not as good as a young man's. He was still unconscious.

Yin Ci made some simple medicinal meals and slowly fed them, barely feeding back some vitality.

"Thank you Sect Leader Shi... How are things outside now?" After hearing the whole story, Yan Zheng let out a long breath, as if trying to spit out the oppression of these years in one breath.

"They're all managing their people. Those small sects have mostly left." Shi Jingzhi replied gently, "According to Shen Zhu, a few lone warriors were lost this time, plus one or two small sects that ran too far. Except for the Ling Sect, the major sects basically suffered no damage."

"...Mm." Yan Zheng rubbed his brow, his face showing little joy. "Innocent people still got implicated, we didn't consider thoroughly enough."

"Think positively, if not for this series of coincidences, the casualties would only be greater. With the current number of casualties, the jianghu will not fall into chaos."

Yin Ci brought in another bowl of sweet rice soup and handed Shi Jingzhi a bun in passing. As their fingertips brushed past each other, both paused. Yin Ci withdrew his hand, the sensation of warm numbness still lingering on his fingertips.

He composed himself and changed the subject to divert his attention, "Yan Zheng, what are your plans for the future? With something like this happening, the righteous faction will certainly come to investigate. When that time comes, if you and Yu Zikuan stay here, you probably won't have peace. Why not take this opportunity to change your names and live stably."

Yan Zheng sipped the rice soup, sneaking a glance at the unconscious Yu Zikuan.

Right now, Sect Master Yan had white hair and ghost eyes, looking even less human than before, but with just that one glance, the worldly air about him was thicker than ever.

"Before that, I still have some things to do... With the main altar destroyed, those lunatics from the branch altars will either establish themselves as kings or join other demonic sects. When that time comes, the chaos will be no small matter, Taiheng may not be able to suppress it."

Yan Zheng gazed at the peeling mud walls of the empty house. His eyes were still determined, but the heavy aura of death was completely gone.

"The position of 'Ling Sect Leader' is not yet ready to be vacated. The way of humanity is to eliminate evil to the end. I will properly tie up these loose ends. But the life-saving grace of today, I, Yan Zheng, will definitely remember in my heart. If the Ku Mountain Sect encounters danger in the future--"

Shi Jingzhi, biting on a bun, spoke with utmost sincerity, "Rest assured, I will definitely openly seek help."

They waited three or four days before the Deity Summoning Formation stopped operating. By then, the jianghu people gathered here had nearly all left. The Ling Sect's main altar was almost completely wiped out with no one to maintain the formation, so the Fog Tomb Formation gradually dissipated. Without the rolling demonic fog and coming and going of people, the vast Zongwu Mountain seemed even more desolate than before.

Yan Zheng and Yu Zikuan were genuine experts. After a few days, although their qi was still weak, the two were able to get out of bed and move around. At their strong request, the Ku Mountain Sect temporarily allowed them to follow along - Su Si was still searching for Master Bai, Shen Zhu was gathering information outside the mountain, so they could make up the manpower.

"I've stayed at Zongwu Mountain for six years after all, I'm very familiar with the surrounding terrain. The two of us will help you find the clues, it won't be too late for us to leave after that." Yu Zikuan grinned, "Maybe by the time you find the Shi Rou, we'll have cleared out the remnants of the Ling Sect. Sect Leader Shi, the next time we meet, we might be on the same side. Hmm, seems like we should prepare a flag in advance..."

As he spoke, he affectionately patted the back of Yan Zheng's head. The latter smiled, a hint of shyness mixed in his smile. Yan Zheng's head of white hair was tied up high, and there was much more color in his face. The murderous aura around him had completely dissipated, leaving only steadiness and gentleness.

However, the journey on Zongwu Mountain was still not easy.

Even with the Buddhist records provided by Jianchen Temple, plus the information from various sects for reference, clues were still extremely difficult to find. Although Yu Zikuan saved everyone a lot of detours, they still wandered around the mountain for nearly five days. In the end, it was Yin Ci who recognized the general location and found that lonely stone chessboard.

The stone chessboard was made of local mountain rock. It was originally inconspicuous, and now it was covered with a thin layer of soil and green moss, looking not much different from the scattered rocks. Compared to that gray chessboard, there was a more eye-catching marker--

Near the chessboard, several apricot trees were in full bloom. The flowers were small and snow-white, and a faint fragrance wafted in the damp air. The gentle spring sunlight shone, making the place tranquil and secluded. Although it was a burial site, Yin Ci did not feel the slightest chill.

There was no more peaceful destination than this.

Shi Jingzhi had roughly explained the matter of Yan Budu and Kongshi on the way. At this moment, no one spoke, just quietly looking at the few apricot trees laden with flowers.

Yin Ci was about to step forward when his wrist was grabbed by Shi Jingzhi. Shi Jingzhi's expression was solemn as he gently shook his head, "This place doesn't seem to have any mechanisms, but this is Yan Budu's arrangement... Yan Qing, take the Compassion Stone Sword and go take a look, remember to move slowly."

Below the Ghost Tomb, Yan Budu had already shown concern for his descendants. Yan Qing took the Compassion Stone Sword, put on double insurance, and could be said to be the safest among everyone.

Yan Qing nodded solemnly and slowly inched towards the chessboard with the sword in hand. As he walked, he paid extra attention to his steps, afraid of stepping on remains or the like. Just like this, moving as slow as a snail for half an hour, Yan Qing finally got to the edge of the stone chessboard, his forehead already glistening with obvious sweat.

Nothing happened.

"I see it, the 'key' is still there!" Yan Qing let out a sigh of relief and raised his voice. "It looks like a jade bead... Should I take it out now?"

Shi Jingzhi silently sensed the surrounding atmosphere for a moment and did not detect anything unusual, "Give it a try. Remember, don't let go of the Compassion Stone Sword. If anything feels off, stop immediately, you hear me?"

"Yes." Yan Qing took a deep breath, took out the thin hook he had prepared in advance, and began to pry out the "jade bead" embedded in the chessboard.

The moment the thin hook touched the jade bead, a sudden change occurred.

The protective technique left by Yan Budu on the Compassion Stone Sword was immediately activated. The stone sword trembled slightly and emitted an extremely gentle light. The light gradually took shape, forming a thick light shield that tightly enveloped Yan Qing.

The next moment, the faint light of the protective shield flickered like a dying candle in the wind, looking dangerously like it would shatter at any second.

In the past, the group would not have been able to react instantly. But just recently, they had encountered a similar scene - something was absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy.

The Compassion Stone Sword was made of Muyan stone. Muyan stone was the most sturdy stone material in the world, formed from the corpses of ancient monsters, and was itself a material for magic. The magic words carved on the empty stone remained as effective as when they were first carved a hundred years ago, a testament to its strength.

Yin Ci remained silent. The method he used to rescue Yu Zikuan and Yan Zheng, Yan Budu had used a hundred years ago. Without the Compassion Stone Sword, touching the jade bead directly would have made it difficult to say if a whole corpse could be left behind.

But previously it was the Deity Summoning Formation that absorbed the spiritual energy, so what was absorbing the spiritual energy now? The Ling Sect was skilled in preparing tomb chambers. If they only wanted to put visitors to death, there were countless mechanisms and magic techniques that could be used. Why did Yan Budu bother using such an obscure and complicated method?

Yan Qing gripped the Compassion Stone Sword in his left hand and continued to pry the jade bead with his right hand. He worked for nearly half an hour before the jade bead was slightly exposed from the stone hole, touching sunlight for the first time in a hundred years.

The moment he saw the jade bead clearly, Yan Qing's hand trembled and he nearly let go of the Compassion Stone Sword. At the same time, the protective shield of the Compassion Stone Sword finally stopped flickering, but compared to when it first started, it had dimmed to almost nothing.

The absorption of spiritual energy seemed to have stopped, and a warm glow appeared on the surface of the jade bead. Yan Qing was frozen in front of the jade bead, not knowing whether to pick it up or not.

Yin Ci took a step forward, "What's going on?"

"...It's an eyeball." Yan Qing swallowed, "This thing is an eyeball."

He moved slightly to the side so that everyone could see it clearly.

The eyeball was translucent and had a jade-like luster. The entire jade eyeball was extremely delicate and was definitely not artificially carved. Upon closer inspection, there were many intricate patterns engraved on the surface of the eyeball, which had nothing to do with the word "key" no matter how one looked at it.

This was the key to the Shi Rou?

"There is no such thing within the Ling Sect." Yan Zheng frowned and took the initiative to speak. "I have never seen this type of technique, nor have I heard of anyone using it."

Let alone Yan Zheng, Yin Ci himself had never seen such a thing. In any case, the absorption of spiritual energy had stopped. He walked straight to the front of the chessboard and took the jade eye into his hand.

The jade eyeball lay quietly in his palm, and there was no unusual movement around it. Yin Ci also did not feel the slightest discomfort. He looked at the patterns on the jade eye for a while and discerned two magic formations.

One of them was used to absorb spiritual energy. The magic formation was so complex that he couldn't see through its mystery at a glance. No matter how he looked at it, it was not something that Yan Budu, a novice in magic techniques, could create.

The other magic formation was even more complex, and Yin Ci couldn't even identify its purpose.

Many monsters had innate magic formations, and these formations were often as exquisite as the patterns on butterfly wings, difficult for mortals to design. Thinking about it this way, this magic formation was more like something that originally existed within the eyeball and was directly used after being materialized.

Yin Ci held the eyeball for a good while, making sure it was not dangerous, before tossing it to Shi Jingzhi.

"Just now, all the spiritual energy was absorbed by this thing. There are two quite interesting magic formations on it, take a look."

Shi Jingzhi picked up the jade eye and played with it for a while under the sun, "This thing is definitely more than just a 'key'... Damn, it's making me dizzy. I'll send a thread of true qi in to sort it out first."

Sect Leader Shi's idea was simple. Yin Ci had no internal strength and couldn't use magic techniques. He, on the other hand, could split out a tiny bit of spiritual energy and travel along the formation patterns to explore the nature of the formation - the formation that absorbed spiritual energy still had a bit of killing intent, while this unknown formation was quite peaceful and shouldn't cause any problems.

If they could figure out the function of the key, it might also provide some insight into finding the Shi Rou. This place was desolate and uninhabited, with no need to worry about eavesdroppers, making it suitable for experimentation.

Shi Jingzhi specifically compressed a very small thread of true qi and tried to activate the unknown formation. He had intended to take a shallow taste and stop when it was good. However, the moment the formation was activated, the surrounding air shook, and a fine numbness instantly spread through Shi Jingzhi's arm.

The unknown formation automatically utilized the stored spiritual energy and formally started operating.

As the formation started, Shi Jingzhi hissed and shivered violently. This formation did not carry any malice and did not bring any pain, but it gave him an extremely strange feeling.

It was as if he had been soaking in warm and comfortable water all his life, and at this moment, he poked his head out of the water for the first time. Heaviness and coldness came crashing down, and he almost couldn't breathe.

...But that wasn't the point.

He knew the true function of this magic formation now.

Shi Jingzhi saw Yan Zheng and Yu Zikuan looking at him with concern, and Yan Qing leaning on the Compassion Stone Sword in a daze. And beside them, countless "bare branches" shot straight into the sky, swaying in the wind like a not-so-dense forest.

This scene was like the Buddha's Heart Formation, yet unlike it.

If the bare branches in the Buddha's Heart Formation were like seeing a fish's shadow in murky water, then now it was equivalent to holding the fish right in front of his face, able to see even the finest scales clearly - there were countless dark red fine roots growing on the gray-red "bare branches", floating and dancing in the air like algae in water. The surface of the bare branches had an uncomfortable sheen and folds, and the hyperplasia at the scar tissue looked just like diseased tumors, making one's stomach churn with nausea.

"What's wrong?"

It was Ah Ci's voice. Shi Jingzhi's entire body had suddenly frozen, and Yin Ci must have noticed something.

"I'm not..." Shi Jingzhi turned to Yin Ci, the words of reassurance stuck in his throat, nearly cutting his throat and drawing blood.

The scene in front of him instantly froze all the blood in his body. All the schemes and plots were thrown to the back of Shi Jingzhi's mind, and shock and worry surged up at the same time, making him feel like he had fallen into an icy abyss.

The magic formation was extremely complex, and the spiritual energy it had just absorbed from the Compassion Stone Sword was used up in an instant. From activation to termination, the jade eyeball only lasted for a fleeting moment, a few heartbeats.

But Shi Jingzhi saw it clearly enough.

Yin Ci was standing right in front of him, but not in the immortal-like appearance he was familiar with.

A "bare branch" was stretched extremely thin and long, mixed with those dark red fine roots, together twisting and turning to form the shape of a person. In the gaps between those fine roots, one could still see living flesh and blood - those flesh and blood were broken and fragmented, attached to the bare branches and fine roots like broken mud stuck in a vine net. At a rough glance, the Yin Ci in front of him was like a strange deity statue that had not yet been gilded.

He had seen a similar scene before, Shi Jingzhi thought to himself.

He had seen it in the forbidden area of Yuanxian Village. The "Yin Ci" in front of him was exactly the same as that huge deity statue formed by the twisting and turning of tree roots.

The familiar fair skin and beautiful features were absent from the face before him, replaced by a blend of flesh and root-like structures. They intricately formed the facial features, showing no traces of deliberate intervention.

As the spiritual energy depleted, the formation ceased. In that brief instant, Shi Jingzhi felt as if he had struggled within it for a year. The bare branches dissolved and vanished, and the person he had been longing for seemed to miraculously emerge with an immortal's body. Skin like snow, hair like ink, flawless as always.

"What's wrong with you?" Yin Ci asked again, his eyes revealing evident concern.

... This time, Shi Jingzhi didn't know how to respond.

Author's Note:

Hehe (?)

But I feel that up until now, this story... can't be said to be identical to cultivation novels, only that it's completely unrelated (...)