The Wheel-Turning Master.

Chapter 119 The mantis stalks the cicada
This cave is about five meters high and covered with a dome, like a tomb.

The walls of the cave are dark brown dry loess, neat and smooth, not looking artificially made, but rather as if they were gnawed out bit by bit by cicada pupae.

There are nine caves, and no one knows where they lead to except the way they came from.

Everything you see here is earth yellow, and the fluorite is also a light yellow light. There is no sense of depth at all, but it adds a bit of weirdness.

"We have entered the formation." Lin Bai said.

Qu Ruyi circulated his spiritual power slightly, and indeed felt a sense of astringency.

When she heard the cicada chirping just now, she hurriedly stepped back, and there was nothing unusual with her body at that time.

But after only a few breaths, there were changes, which meant that the formation had just been activated, perhaps with the cicada's cry as the signal.

Qu Ruyi frowned and urged her spiritual power to touch the jade cicada. But when the spiritual power was five meters away from the jade cicada, it disappeared like a drop in the ocean.

He used his spiritual sense to probe again, but there was no obstruction, but he couldn't find any clues either. He just felt that the jade cicada was an ordinary thing.

I glanced at the corpse on the ground again and found that there was indeed no sound at all. I didn't know how long he had been dead.

"Take the jade cicada on the stake as the center of the circle, and don't go within five meters."

Qu Ruyi was very cautious and asked, "But where did this formation come from? We can't get within five feet of Yuchan, so why did Senior Mu Yao leave a formation behind?"

"It wasn't left by the wood demon." Lin Bai deduced, "Besides us, there are other people here. This must have been arranged hastily by the other party." As he spoke, he looked at the other eight deep caves.

"Then should we retreat?" Qu Ruyi immediately became alert, holding the small green jade Ruyi and taking a defensive posture.

"How do you know there's no one behind you?" Lin Bai stared at the jade cicada and whispered, "Protect me."

After saying that, Lin Bai closed his eyes and walked to the stone plate.

The fog was wrapped in a thick layer of dry dark yellow color, as if covered by thick bark.

This is not meant to be deductive, but it has the effect of isolation.

"The reason why I lost my ability to seek good fortune and avoid disaster is because of this."

As soon as he thought of it, the mist surged and tore a small crack in the dark yellow color.

Lin Bai immediately felt a faint feeling in his heart that he was about to face a fatal crisis.

"It's not that the stone plate is not good, it's me. If my cultivation was higher and I had more control over this place, this dark yellow color wouldn't have any effect of isolating me."

"But when we were on the ground just now, the stone plate didn't feel anything unusual. Why didn't you feel anything in your heart? Is it because entering the cave triggered some kind of change?"

Lin Bai pondered for a while but came to no avail, so he opened his eyes.

There was still nothing unusual around, and the circulation of spiritual energy became increasingly sluggish.

The Ruyi in Qu Ruyi's hand emitted a faint green light, and with the other hand she pinched out a piece of talisman paper and threw it out.

The talisman paper burned up quickly in the air, and Lin Bai immediately felt his mind calm, but the effect of the formation was still there.

"We are just passing by here and have no ill intentions. Please come and see us, fellow Taoist!" Lin Bai shouted loudly.

The voice lingered in the cave for a long time, and the lingering sound did not fade away.

Soon, three people walked out of a cave.

The leader was in his forties, and had reached the foundation-building stage; the other two were practicing Qigong and were quite young.

"Whose family are you from? What are you doing here?" the middle-aged foundation-building cultivator asked in a cold voice.

Before Qu Ruyi could answer, someone else spoke up: "Why are you talking to them so long-winded?"

The voice was rough and dry. No one knew where the person was hiding in a cave. Only the echo echoed in the cave.

"This girl must have come here with a revelation! Force them to get close to Yuchan first! They have no reinforcements!" Na's voice spoke again.

Lin Bai and Qu Ruyi immediately understood that the other party also wanted to take the jade cicada, but did not know the method and wanted to force others to try.

In this case, there is no room for negotiation. The secret treasure is in front of us, and it concerns the great way. There is absolutely no reason to compromise.

The person who has not shown up must also be building a foundation and has already blocked his retreat.

At least two of the opponents were in the Foundation Establishment stage, and they did not underestimate Lin Bai and Qu Ruyi just because they were practicing Qi. Instead, they set up a formation and cut off their retreat.

So stable!
Lin Baiqing knew that this was a life-and-death situation, so he didn't waste any words. The Fire Scale Sword flew out, and its red color became stronger, driving the power of earth fire, and went towards the middle-aged man who was building his foundation.

I don't seek success, but I do seek to know the other party's strength.

"Yi Mu Qing Gang! Rise!" The middle-aged man who was building his foundation did not show any flaws, but was very steady. A green shadow even covered the two younger generations who were practicing Qi behind him.

The Fire Scale Sword slammed into the green wooden shadow with decisive force, leaving only a black mark.

Lin Bai recalled his flying sword and thought to himself, if all independent cultivators were as steady as you guys, I would never go out again!

"You have understood the meaning of earth fire after practicing Qi for such a short time. You are indeed quite capable." After the middle-aged man who had built his foundation easily blocked the attack, he did not forget to teach the two younger generations behind him, "You two should watch carefully. Don't underestimate the people in the world! If it was your turn just now, could you block his attack?"

"There is absolutely no way to stop them!" The man in hiding spoke again, saying sinisterly, "This kid has already gained some of the endless burning power of the earth fire. Your two nephews have no chance of winning!"

The two young men who were practicing Qigong were gritting their teeth, obviously angry.

The person in hiding laughed twice and said, "If it weren't for the dead wood cicada, I would have wanted to take this kid in as my heirloom!"

The sound came from nowhere, but it lingered.

"Don't be so arrogant!" Qu Ruyi stepped forward and shouted in a delicate voice, "Let me do it!"

She walked past Lin Bai and stepped forward. The jade ruyi in her hand emitted a soft light, and there was a cool and quiet feeling around her.

Then a green flying sword flew towards the middle-aged foundation-building person, but her momentum was much weaker than Lin Bai's. She was clearly not proficient in swordsmanship and rarely fought.

"This girl must be a sect disciple. It's rare to see blood."

The shadow of Qingmu appeared in front of the middle-aged man who was building his foundation. "So weak, just like a three-year-old child!" He stepped forward and pushed out with one hand, "Watch me capture..."

Before he could finish his words, a look of horror suddenly appeared on his face. He turned around and tried to retreat, but it was too late.

The overwhelming sword intent surged forward, as if to cut through the heaven and earth.

The middle-aged foundation-building cultivator took out a green wood branch and held it in front of him, but it was completely useless. The green wood turned into dust in an instant.

But the sword's power did not diminish in the slightest.

There was a loud rumbling sound. The cave shook and thick dust was stirred up.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Qu Ruyi was extremely decisive. He threw out a powerful talisman right at the start, as if he had no intention of holding back at all!
Lin Bai was shocked by the rich lady's fighting style. He threw out a talisman, and water appeared in the cave, and the smoke and dust quickly dissipated.

The middle-aged foundation-building practitioner and the two Qi-cultivating juniors had disappeared without a trace.

The remaining bloodstains on the ground were also covered by dust.

Not even a complete body was left of the three of them, not even a trace of flesh and blood could be found.

A large section of the cave collapsed, covering a cave.

The dead tree stump in the middle stood still, and the jade cicada on it was not stained by dust. The corpse and mole next to it were also motionless, as if they were not affected by the talisman.

Lin Bai found that his spiritual power was no longer stagnant, and it seemed that the formation had been broken.

Qu Ruyi leaned against the cave wall, her face pale, and took out a handful of pills with trembling hands, stuffing them all into her mouth. When she saw Lin Bai looking at her, she even managed a smile, as if to say: Were you frightened by the golden pill's sword?

Lin Bai was not scared. The sword just now was indeed powerful, but he had seen it on Golden Turtle Island.

That was the attack of the Jindan sword cultivator Po Yunzi!
The man in hiding did not make a sound, and it was unclear whether he was intimidated or for some other reason.

Qu Ruyi held the green jade ruyi in his hand, his face gradually turned red, but he was still gasping for breath.

Lin Bai held the Fire Scale Sword in his hand, keeping an eye on his surroundings.

Soon, a hot and dry air suddenly rose in the cave. An angry roar was heard, and a red-haired man broke out of the collapsed cave.

The man had a rough look, was about forty or fifty years old, had his upper body naked, and had strong muscles.

There were flames burning on his body, and his aura was clearly that of a person in the late stage of foundation building!
That’s not all. When the red-haired man stood firm on his base, two more people flew out from behind him.

An old woman who was building a foundation, and a young man who was practicing Qigong. They were Zhu Jianshui and Zhu Yushu.

When the aunt and nephew saw Lin Bai, they didn't say anything, as if they didn't know him.

Lin Bai did the same, just standing in front of Qu Ruyi.

"Fellow Daoist Zhu, why don't we deal with these two first, and then we can talk about your younger generation!" The red-haired foundation-building man looked at Zhu Jianshui.

"I'm here to look for someone, not to kill someone!" Zhu Jianshui snorted coldly, "Kill your own people, what does it have to do with me?"

She and Zhu Yushu stood in the corner and looked at the corpse in the middle of the cave.

"Okay, okay!" The red-haired foundation-building cultivator laughed wildly twice, his eyes sinister as he looked at Qu Ruyi and asked coldly, "Are you Po Yunzi's disciple?"

"Exactly!" Qu Ruyi sneered, "Do you want to try the golden elixir attack?"

The red-haired foundation-building warrior's eyes reflected fire, his naked upper body was dark red, and he shouted, "Just about to give it a try!"

As he spoke, the shadow of a fire unicorn appeared behind him.

The cave suddenly became extremely hot, as if it was about to burn out of thin air.

"Go!" The red-haired man who was building his foundation made a move like a tiger, his blood and energy increased suddenly, and he pressed his hands forward.

A phantom of a fire unicorn roared and ran towards Lin Qu and the others.

It was obvious that this red-haired foundation-building lion was fighting a rabbit with all his strength.

Lin Bai had no way to resist. Although he had understood a little bit of the meaning of earth and fire, the other party was also of the fire element. Moreover, the purity of the fire meaning and the level of his realm were both better than his own.

Being targeted!

Just as he was about to take out the protective talisman given by Sister Zhen, he was pushed away by Qu Ruyi. She held the green jade Ruyi in one hand and threw out another talisman with the other.

In an instant, water in the cave rose and a phantom of a black tortoise appeared, bringing with it endless water.

The shadow of the Fire Kirin hit the Black Turtle, then dimmed and disappeared without a trace.

The Black Turtle's momentum did not stop, and there was a strange light in its eyes.

The red-haired foundation-building cultivator did not flee. His naked body became increasingly red, and the shadow of the Fire Kirin behind him became more powerful.

The Black Turtle Talisman was originally designed for defense, but it still had the power of a golden elixir.

"Qu Chengjia! Ah, ah, ah! Look at me, Qilin, versus Black Turtle!" Flames rose from the body of the red-haired foundation-building warrior, and fine blood beads burst out. He pushed out his hands fiercely, and the fire Qilin behind him struggled forward, and actually resisted the momentum of Black Turtle. The mist in the field rose, and the heat became stronger.

This man was truly fierce, and everyone in the field looked horrified.

Zhu Jianshui and his nephew looked at each other, then took a few steps back and stood next to a cave, as if ready to escape.

“Po Yunzi, you can form a armor, attack and defend at the same time, it’s really rare!” The red-haired Taoist robe was disheveled, his upper body was covered in blood, and red flames emerged from time to time.

He laughed and took out a fist-sized stone statue.

The stone statue is in the shape of a Qilin, blood red in color, and exudes an extremely strong and scorching fire.

"The black tortoise is gone, how much ability do you still have?"

The red-haired foundation-building man laughed wildly, "Disciple of the Yunxia Sect, do you have any backup plan?"

Qu Ruyi collapsed to the ground, her face completely pale. She had used the magic twice, and her Qi Sea was already empty, and she couldn't even stand steadily.

Lin Bai stood in front of her, thinking about how to escape.

"Get up!" The red-haired foundation-building man held up the Qilin stone statue with one hand and pointed at the stone statue with the other hand.

The eyes of the Qilin Stone Statue were dark red, showing a fire intent. Behind him, the shadow of a fire Qilin appeared.

"out!"

The red-haired foundation-building man shouted loudly, and the stone statue in his hand trembled continuously. The Qilin phantom behind him rushed forward and held the stone statue in its mouth.

The Fire Kylin borrowed the power of the Stone Statue and suddenly grew larger. Its power became more prominent and its fire became more intense.

"A mere trifle!" Qu Ruyi forced herself to sit up. She held the green jade Ruyi tightly in both hands and extended it forward, shouting, "Ruyi, Ruyi, follow my wishes! Set!"

In an instant, the phantom of the Qilin that contained infinite fire energy actually stopped moving and then disappeared without a trace.

Only a Qilin-shaped stone statue fell to the ground.

At the same time, the Fire Scale Sword in Lin Bai's hand hummed and turned into a flame and flew towards the red-haired foundation-building figure.

The red-haired foundation-building man seemed unable to move, and he did not evade. However, his eyes were extremely red, and countless blood beads burst out of his body. Then, a scorching fire ignited on his body, turning the blood beads into blood energy.

His hair and beard were all standing up, his upper body was covered in blood and fire, and his eyes were reflecting the color of fire, making him look like a demon.

For a moment, the red-haired man's foundation-building aura suddenly rose, and he suddenly stretched out his hand to block the Fire Scale Sword!
"Fellow Daoist Liu! I'm here to help you!" Zhu Jianshui saw a sense of water around him, and a green sword flew out, driving endless water waves, heading towards Lin Bai!

"Old thing, why do you need to come out..." Before he could finish his words, he felt his body go cold, a long sword pierced through his body, and vines entangled his knees.

The sword had the meaning of endless waves, and the vines borrowed the meaning of water, becoming even more entangled.

At the same time, the green sword that was attacking Lin Bai turned and went towards the red-haired man's foundation.

"How dare you?" The red-haired foundation-building cultivator was extremely angry. He blocked the Fire Scale Sword with one hand and caught the green flying sword with the other.

The bloody hole in his chest was sizzling, but he seemed to feel no pain, and the fire on his body became even stronger. The vines on his legs were ignited by the fire and disappeared without a trace.

Throwing the sword to the ground, the red-haired foundation-building warrior went crazy, turned into flames, and rushed towards Zhu Jianshui.

Zhu Jianshui did not run away, but took out a huge alchemy furnace and placed it in front of him.

The red-haired foundation-building cultivator's entire body was ablaze with dazzling flames, and the alchemy furnace was instantly enveloped by the raging flames, which immediately burned Zhu Jianshui.

Zhu Jianshui was not good at fighting and was old. Although there was a lot of water in his body, it could not cover up the fire.

"How long can you hold on after you activate your life fire?" Zhu Jianshui shouted angrily.

“How many of us casual cultivators can have a good end? My life is about to end. I am about to burn the sky and the earth, and burn to the end!”

The red-haired foundation-building man laughed wildly, stretched out his palm and pressed down, knocking Zhu Jianshui to the ground. He saw Zhu Yushu making a gesture, and shouted, "And you!" He waved his hand, and a fine stream of fire hit his forehead. "Don't you know that wood increases the intensity of fire? How dare you trap me with vines?"

A flame appeared between Zhu Yushu's eyebrows, and then disappeared without a trace. However, he felt a great burning sensation in his body, as if he was on fire.

The red-haired man who was building his foundation was like a madman. Seeing that the aunt and nephew of the Zhu family had all fallen to the ground, the fire in his body became even stronger and he actually laughed wildly.

Lin Bai had no injuries on his body. He waved his hand to take the Fire Scale Sword, combined his body and sword, and went towards the Red Haired One to build his foundation.

"Your realm is too low. Even with the earth fire, you can't withstand a single blow!" The red-haired foundation-building cultivator was desperate. His whole body was covered in blood and fire. He allowed the Fire Scale Sword to pierce through his body, and then he slapped Lin Bai with his palm.

For a moment, Lin Bai's whole body was on fire, he hit the wall of the cave and fell to the ground.

The red-haired man continued to build his foundation, with two bloody holes on his chest emitting fire. He walked forward and looked at Qu Ruyi.

Qu Ruyi collapsed to the ground, the green jade Ruyi in her hand had lost its luster.

"You are only here to seek a chance to build your foundation. You have talismans and secret treasures. Why don't you bring your Yunxia Sect's Nascent Soul as well?"

The red-haired foundation-building master did not kill her. He just grabbed Qu Ruyi's hair and said, "So what if you have a lot of treasures? Can you still cry to your mother now?" He pulled Qu Ruyi's hair and went to the center of the cave.

Qu Ruyi had no strength to resist and couldn't even speak.

The red-haired foundation-building warrior gasped for air, spurting out blood from time to time, but was immediately ignited by anger. The sword wound on his chest was also on fire, but the water had not yet subsided and he could not stop the bleeding.

For a moment, everyone in the field was shocked.

Most of Lin Bai's hair was burnt off, and his Taoist robe was torn, revealing skin that was alternating between charcoal black and blood red.

However, although he looked seriously injured, he was not seriously injured. He cultivated the earth fire, and although it was difficult to hurt the opponent, he himself had also been tempered by the fire spirit, so it was difficult for the fire spirit to hurt him.

It was just that his cultivation was too shallow, and the opponent had burned out all his life fire in one powerful attack, so he was in such an embarrassing state.

Zhu Jianshui sat cross-legged on the ground, the flames on her body had disappeared, but she was still in a state of disgrace. Even so, she still stretched out her hand and pressed on Zhu Yushu's crown, as if to drive away the fire.

"go with!"

The red-haired man dragged Qu Ruyi along and did not stop until they were five feet away from the dead tree stump.

The two of them entered within five feet, and it seemed as if they had cut a little water ripple. The cicadas began to chirp again, and the fire on the red-haired foundation-building man's body became even stronger.

Qu Ruyi's hair was pulled by him, and most of it had been burned, but the remaining hair actually showed gray.

The red-haired man's steps slowed down, his body hunched. His life fire had burned out, revealing his true appearance.

However, wrinkles soon appeared on his face, and he looked exhausted. "Even if you carry countless secret treasures, you can't escape death."

After saying this, he staggered to the ground, flames reflected in his eyes, and his wrinkled hands like chicken claws reached out to Yuchan.

His eyes were extremely cloudy and he shed a few tears of blood because he couldn't get what he wanted.

Qu Ruyi was also lying on the ground, his hair was snow-white, his face was covered with wrinkles, and his hands were dry.

"My destiny is to be as I wish, how can I not be as I wish?" Qu Ruyi's voice sounded extremely old. He grabbed the ground with both hands and struggled forward.

Soon, blood was rubbed out of both hands, and then bones appeared.

She ignored the pain in her flesh and blood and continued to move forward, using her chin to exert force.

“I can’t ask for it…” A sneer appeared on the old face of the red-haired master.

Qu Ruyi ignored it. She struggled for a long time and finally came to the dead tree stump.

He stretched out his left hand, with only the flesh and bones exposed, and placed it on the tree stump, but it seemed as if he could no longer exert any strength.

“Your spiritual orifice has closed, your face has aged, and you have long lost the opportunity to build your foundation. You are just waiting to die.” The man who was building his foundation took his last breath and laughed out loud.

"How did you know?"

Qu Ruyi tried her best and finally pressed down the black jade cicada. She seemed to have gained strength. "Before I came here, my junior sister had told me a fortune."

She looked at the red-haired man who was building his foundation, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. The wrinkles on his face slowly faded away, and his white hair turned black. "Nine merge into one, and he will live towards death."

Qu Ruyi picked up the jade cicada and sat cross-legged on the spot, no longer looking old.

She bent down slightly, looked at the foundation, and said, "There are nine caves here, and nine people, which should make a total of nine. You and I are old and frail, so we should be living towards death." A naive smile of a young girl appeared on her face, but she was still as pale as before, and it was obvious that her spiritual power had not recovered.

The red-haired master stretched out his arms, his eyes were cloudy and lifeless, "Live towards death, live towards death..." he muttered a few words, and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

After he finished speaking, tears and blood welled up in his eyes, and he died.

This person's domineering and strong character was seen by everyone on the field. Now that he died, everyone felt relieved.

Qu Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.

Lin Bai was seen covered in dirt and rips, with his flesh and blood scorched, but he seemed to be fine.

The Zhu family's aunt and nephew sat cross-legged on the spot, not moving at all.

"What a way to live in the face of death."

A dry sound was heard, and the corpse on the ground moved and slowly sat up.

Qu Ruyi's face was filled with horror. She held the black cicada and staggered towards Lin Bai.

Lin Bai was also extremely shocked: when he scanned this person with his spiritual sense before, he had clearly been dead for a long time!
The Zhu family's aunt and nephew widened their eyes.

The corpse sat up, its hair was snow-white, its face was dry and rotten.

"Yuyan?" Zhu Yushu stood up, his voice trembling.

"He is not Yuyan." Zhu Jianshui's old face was also filled with shock.

"Zhu Yuyan is very good. He is diligent and honest. I like him very much."

The corpse laughed dryly, "If it weren't for him, I would have been killed by the dead tree cicada." As he spoke, he tore open his clothes with his hands and opened his belly.

Then a hand covered in yellow and turbid corpse water stretched out.

Swish, swish, another hand. Then a man squeezed out. He was very thin, like a child, but his face was old, with a beard on his chin.

His body was covered in dirty corpse water and his hair was dripping wet. He licked the corner of his mouth and smiled.

"What kind of evil method is this?" Qu Ruyi's voice was trembling.

"This is not an evil method." The man laughed, "This is my innate magical power."

"Never heard of it." Qu Ruyi frowned.

"It's just a way for casual cultivators to survive, and it's not presentable. You, a descendant of a noble family, naturally don't know it." The man laughed and took out a few pills and swallowed them.

"Your real name is Amber?" Zhu Jianshui suddenly asked.

"There are some who know the value of this." The man looked at Zhu Jianshui and nodded politely, "If it weren't for the amber, how could it have avoided the secret technique of the dead wood cicada?"

(End of this chapter)