Jun Luo put away the map. "Let's go."
Before they even reached the mass grave, Gu Ningyun and the others sensed the sounds of battle from a distance.
Countless flashes of spiritual light from cultivators clashed violently with thick yin energy, producing crisp, clashing sounds.
There seemed to be something hidden within the yin energy.
Gu Ningyun quickly pulled out a stack of Stealth Talismans and stuffed several into everyone’s hands. She transmitted her voice, saying, "Hide your forms and auras first. We'll sneak over and see what the situation is before deciding anything."
The four of them didn't waste any words and immediately slapped the Stealth Talismans onto themselves.
As they drew closer, Gu Ningyun's divine sense was already able to scan the situation at the mass grave.
Amidst the yin energy permeating the mass grave, the one fighting the group of cultivators was actually a skeleton!
The skeleton's cultivation seemed to have just broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage and was not yet stable.
Although the forty or fifty cultivators surrounding it were all at the Qi Refining stage, the gap between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment wasn't insurmountable. With dozens of people ganging up on it, they actually held a slight advantage.
At the skeleton's feet, Gu Ningyun's sharp eyes spotted a cave, inside of which grew two Soul-Nourishing Flowers.
One of the Soul-Nourishing Flowers had already withered and produced two seeds.
The other was in full bloom, looking as though it would reach maturity within the next day or two.
Soul-Nourishing Flowers had the effect of healing the primordial spirit and were extremely precious. They only grew in places with dense yin energy; therefore, most people would not bother to deliberately cultivate Soul-Nourishing Flower seeds.
Furthermore, Soul-Nourishing Flowers were rare and hard to find, making them priceless. If a cultivator encountered one, they would generally wait for the flower to bloom and harvest it directly.
With a ready-made Soul-Nourishing Flower right there, why wait for it to wither and cultivate two seeds that might not even survive?
Gu Ningyun's divine sense swept over the Soul-Nourishing Flower that was about to fully open. Once these cultivators finished fighting the skeleton, they would likely fight to the death over this flower.
After clearly seeing the situation at the mass grave, Gu Ningyun explained it to her companions via divine sense and then explained the effect of the Stealth Talismans. "Aside from a skeleton that just broke through to Foundation Establishment, everyone on the field is at the Qi Refining stage."
"These yellow-rank top-grade Stealth Talismans can shield us from the divine sense of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. As long as we move carefully, it won't be easy for them to find us."
The five of them quietly crept to the edge of the mass grave, hiding behind an old tree that wouldn't be affected by the fallout of the battle.
"It seems the tragedy in that village was caused by this skeleton."
Jiang Yao's brow furrowed. "This skeleton has already cultivated to the Foundation Establishment stage, yet the cultivators of Border City didn't notice. They really are irresponsible."
"Skeletons are born from the gathering of cultivator bones, lingering souls, yin energy, and death qi. They cultivate by absorbing yin energy, the residual soul energy in corpses, and the essence, blood, and flesh of the living."
"Presumably, this skeleton had been hiding in the mass grave, concealed within the yin energy and bones."
"This time, in order to break through to Foundation Establishment, it devoured the essence and flesh of an entire village. That's why the cultivators noticed something was wrong and came looking for it."
Gu Ningyun rubbed her chin. "Since this skeleton knew how to hide itself in the early stages, it likely has a fairly strong consciousness."
"Do you think he deliberately left those Soul-Nourishing Flower seeds?"
"After all, with the density of yin energy and the rate of new corpses in this mass grave, it is indeed very suitable for cultivating Soul-Nourishing Flowers."
"And besides being useful to cultivators, Soul-Nourishing Flowers are also beneficial for a skeleton to condense its consciousness and nourish its soul fire."
Wen Xuan said, "Ningyun, are you interested in that Soul-Nourishing Flower?"
"A little."
Gu Ningyun weighed the strength of the three parties. "Should we sneak over and pluck the flower while they're busy hacking at the skeleton?"
"Since the flower still belongs to the skeleton for now, it's finders keepers—whoever is strongest takes it. It's only right for me to butt in."
Wen Xuan pulled out her mace. "After we grab it, give me a few petals so I can refine some Soul-Nourishing Pills."
"That’s certainly no problem."
Just as Gu Ningyun and Wen Xuan were rubbing their hands together, preparing to tell their companions and make their move, Mu Chenze suddenly sent a transmission.
"Beneath this mass grave, there is a Yin-Gathering Array and a Concealment Array."
Mu Chenze pressed his palm to the ground. "Do you think there might be something good behind that Concealment Array?"
Gu Ningyun and Wen Xuan paused.
"It wouldn't be some thousand-year-old jiangshi, would it?" Jiang Yao also crouched down on the ground.
"A Concealment Array wouldn't stop a thousand-year-old jiangshi. If there were really a jiangshi down there, with all this fighting going on above, it would have been startled awake and come out long ago."
Mu Chenze's tone was somewhat excited. "Want to go down and take a look?"
Gu Ningyun replied, "If you're confident you can break the array."
Wen Xuan added, "A treasure hidden in the dark..."
Gu Ningyun finished, "...is naturally more attractive than a Soul-Nourishing Flower out in the open."
"It's an earth-rank low-grade Concealment Array; it can block the divine sense of those at the Golden Core stage."
"If I weren't a Natural Array Body, I really wouldn't have been able to discover it."
Mu Chenze winked. "Don't worry. As a Natural Array Body, while my ability to set arrays is limited by my cultivation, breaking them isn't affected."
Gu Ningyun quickly finalized the plan. "It looks like they'll be fighting for a while longer. Let's head down first. After we're done exploring behind the array, if the Soul-Nourishing Flower is still there, we'll just quietly snatch it and run."
The four of them transmitted back in unison, "Feasible."
After deciding to head down first, Gu Ningyun pulled out a stack of yellow-rank top-grade Earth-Tunneling Talismans and stuffed several into each person's hands.
"Use these in conjunction with the Stealth Talismans."
Mu Chenze slapped an Earth-Tunneling Talisman onto himself and split his divine sense into four strands, attaching one to each of the others. "Follow me closely."
After tunneling about a hundred zhang underground, Gu Ningyun finally felt that slanting downward divine sense turn horizontal.
It seemed they had reached the location.
Without knowing what Mu Chenze had done, the divine sense soon led them into motion.
Gu Ningyun and the others followed Mu Chenze as he turned left and right, tunneling up and down through the earth.
Soon, the pressure around them lightened. Looking around, they found themselves in a hollow cavern.
"A Soul-Nourishing Wood is actually growing behind this Concealment Array!"
Jiang Yao's transmission sounded a bit excited. "This is an excellent material for refining artifacts related to divine sense."
"Even without refining, just a palm-length piece can serve to nourish the soul."
"Is that thing above the Soul-Nourishing Wood a Yin-Gathering Pearl?"
Mu Chenze led them slowly forward. "A Yin-Gathering Pearl is a treasure born of heaven and earth. It can filter out impurities and store the purest yin energy; it's a treasure that ghost cultivators scramble for."
"For spirit cultivators, it has the effect of stabilizing the soul. If a Yin-Gathering Pearl is present, it's also possible to cultivate Soul-Nourishing Wood and Soul-Nourishing Flowers."
When they were within five steps of the Soul-Nourishing Wood, the Yin-Gathering Pearl suddenly trembled and shot toward the five of them like a bolt of lightning.
"Watch out!"
Mu Chenze only had time to use his folding fan to block the Yin-Gathering Pearl for a moment, but the pearl bypassed the fan and hovered directly in front of Gu Ningyun.
The five of them had never removed their Stealth Talismans. To maintain communication and know each other's positions, their divine senses remained linked.
Naturally, the other four knew that the Yin-Gathering Pearl had stopped right in front of Gu Ningyun.
"Spiritual treasures of heaven and earth will all choose their own masters."
Mu Chenze said, "Ningyun, looking at the way this Yin-Gathering Pearl is acting, I'm afraid it is destined for you."
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