The spiritual power of the stealth talisman on her body was about to run out, so Gu Ningyun slapped another one on.
Without entering the cave dwelling, she couldn't get the Yimu spirit marrow.
But if she went, she might be possessed, her soul devoured, losing even the chance of reincarnation.
The chance was right before her eyes. To go, or not to go?
The dense forest was silent.
Through the thick underground soil, she couldn't put the Yimu spirit marrow into her storage ring. But what about her space?
As soon as the thought appeared, Gu Ningyun's divine sense quickly wrapped around the two pieces of Yimu spirit marrow. "Collect into space," she thought.
The moment those words crossed her mind, the spirit energy and divine sense in her entire body were drained in an instant.
A void appeared silently beside the Yimu spirit marrow, sucking away the two pieces of marrow and all the Yimu spirit liquid in the pit, placing them on the grass inside the space.
It actually worked!
Just what rank of artifact was this space?
A sudden feeling of palpitation arose. Gu Ningyun's breath hitched, and she vanished into the space.
Her sea of consciousness throbbed with pain from the exhausted divine sense. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she opened the light screen on the stone pillar within the space.
Through the screen, Gu Ningyun saw a black ball of light—a soul—appearing right where she had been standing while cloaked.
There really was a cultivator's soul hiding in the shadows!
Seeing the soul wandering outside the space, Gu Ningyun couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.
Judging by the soul's solidity, its cultivation was definitely beyond the Foundation Establishment stage.
She was just a minor Qi Refining cultivator. Facing a Foundation Establishment level soul—or rather, an ancient cultivator's soul that had lived for ten thousand years with unknown tricks—she would have had no way to survive.
Just then, the wooden sheep that had been quietly surrounding the stump grew restless.
“So you're all here. You certainly made me look for you.”
Gu Ningyun looked toward the sound and saw a young man in his twenties, with a cultivation around Qi Refining level twelve, walking out from the inner perimeter of the dense forest, carrying an axe.
When the wooden sheep saw the youth, they went into a frenzy as if they had seen a mortal enemy, charging at him all at once.
“Hey, hey, hey! I'm your creator! Don't go biting the hand that feeds you!”
The youth put away his axe and took out several large nets, trapping the wooden sheep one by one.
“I'll tie you up separately this time. Let's see how you run then.”
As soon as the nets touched the wooden sheep, they tightened quickly, bundling the sheep into balls. No matter how they struggled, they couldn't break free.
After controlling the wooden sheep, the youth produced a red flag. Black smoke swirled around it, and resentment billowed forth. It was actually a Ten-Thousand Soul Banner!
Gu Ningyun furrowed her brows, watching the youth's movements without blinking.
The youth chanted an incantation and performed hand seals.
Black demonic qi churned. After the resentment inside the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner boiled for a while, a soul's head emerged.
Judging by the soul's solidity, it had a cultivation of around Qi Refining level nine. It was unknown when it had encountered this demon cultivator, only to be killed and imprisoned in the banner.
The youth's movements became more cautious. Under his control, the soul left the banner and drifted onto a rank one late-stage wooden sheep.
“After searching for so many years, I finally found an ancient tree with such rich vitality in Yunzhou.”
“If I can't succeed even with this, why bother with demon cultivation? I might as well switch to the righteous path.”
The youth chuckled, his face full of confidence.
Once the soul was fully inside the wooden sheep, the youth's hand seals changed to a more complex pattern.
Demonic qi fell onto the wooden sheep like a silken net, gradually condensing into a demonic pattern.
The youth stopped his seals and removed the net from that wooden sheep.
With a wave of his hand, the wooden sheep trotted over and rubbed its head against his palm.
“Hmph. With this puppet army, this long journey was worth the risk of being discovered by Xiaoyao.”
The youth let go and activated the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner again, drawing out another soul.
Meanwhile, the ancient cultivator's soul had moved from a distance to hide behind a large tree closest to the youth.
It was unclear what method the ancient cultivator used to keep the youth from noticing his presence.
Gu Ningyun rubbed her chin. She sat cross-legged before the stone pillar in her space, recovering her spirit energy with her cultivation technique while watching the show.
Just as the youth stuffed the second soul into a wooden sheep and was forming the seals for the demonic pattern, the ancient cultivator's soul shot in front of him and dived into his brow.
“Ah! What is this?!”
The youth let out a roar, his body collapsing to the ground as if he had instantly lost control.
Immediately after, his body began to emit alternating black and blue light, as if two sides were fighting inside him.
Having recovered her spirit energy, Gu Ningyun took out a teapot and utensils to quietly brew a cup of Moisturizing Meridian Tea for herself.
Let's try the new tea with a new fire; make the most of youth with poetry and wine.
She watched the black light overpower the blue light, then the blue light overpower the black, as she leisurely raised her tea and took a sip.
The completed puppet sheep stood idly by, having lost its master's control.
After finishing her tea, her depleted sea of consciousness gradually refilled as time passed.
The headache caused by the exhaustion of her divine sense vanished completely.
The two figures on the ground seemed to be nearing a conclusion; the blue light was gradually overpowering the black, occupying most of the body.
Just as the blue light was about to completely suppress the black, the black light quickly condensed into a ball and rushed into the dantian.
The youth's voice was hoarse and resentful. “What I hate most are you righteous cultivators. Your mouths are full of benevolence and morality, yet you do these vicious things like possession!”
“I'm telling you, by trying to possess me, you've kicked a steel plate!”
As the youth spoke, the black qi in his dantian churned restlessly, quickly spreading throughout his entire body.
Veins bulged on the youth's neck, and blood seeped from his ears and the corners of his eyes.
He would rather detonate his dantian than be possessed.
The blue light, like a furious beast, lunged into the dantian.
“It's useless. Once a self-detonation starts, it cannot be stopped.”
“A cultivator can only possess once in their life, and those who have been possessed have no reincarnation.”
The youth's voice was strained. “What, are you regretting it now?”
“You... deserve to die.”
This voice also came from the youth's throat, but it was bone-chillingly cold, like a corpse pulled from an ancient river—ruthless and indifferent.
The youth seemed to have gained some of the ancient cultivator's memories during the struggle and sneered, “I deserve to die?”
“No matter what I've done, I'm not as insidious as you.”
“No, you're not just insidious; you're stupid.”
“Betrayed and poisoned to the marrow, you brought out Yimu spirit marrow on your deathbed to set a trap, hoping to lure someone in for possession.”
“But the array you set up in your cave dwelling was too powerful, and it ended up trapping your own soul inside.”
“You waited tens of thousands of years without anyone coming. To preserve your soul longer, you fell into a deep sleep.”
“As a result, while you slept, someone stole the Yimu spirit marrow, and you can't even find the thief.”
“Is there anyone in this world more stupid or insidious than you?”
“You... shut up!”
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