Cultivating immortality relies on spatial abilities; defying fate to become the protagonist.

Chapter 15 Adventure in the cave
Xie Zimo immediately began to cultivate according to the cultivation method's route map. Before long, he felt the difference and was overjoyed. Now that he had made progress in his cultivation, would he still be afraid of those people's schemes?

"Young Master, where is Young Master Gu?" Ying Qi asked when she returned and did not see Gu Shihan.

"I'm leaving!" Xie Ziming suppressed his joy and said calmly.

“Your Highness, how could you let him go? If you keep him by your side, your safety will be much more guaranteed. Today, I seemed to see people following you outside again. They probably haven't given up on the assassination attempt.”

"I understand, Shadow Seven. You and Shadow One keep a close watch on the outside. I'm going to find a secluded room to retreat to for a while. Don't disturb me in any way!" Xie Ziming said before heading to the secluded room. This house was also Xie Ziming's property.

While Xie Ziming was in seclusion cultivating, Gu Shihan left Huazhen and headed straight for the border, intending to smuggle herself across the Canaan Mountains to Western Jin.

In fact, the Canaan Mountains are a boundary separating the Western Jin and Dong'an. The Western Jin and Dong'an share a border of more than 3,000 li, and the Canaan Mountains occupy half of it.

However, the inner perimeter of the Canaan Mountains is quite complex, and basically no one can cross it from Dong'an, nor can anyone cross it from Xijin. This is a natural barrier between the two countries.

Upon entering the Canaan Mountains, Gu Shihan sensed something different; there seemed to be extremely thin spiritual energy present.

"Xingbai, don't you think this Canaan Mountain Range is a bit different?"

"Perhaps. I haven't felt too much difference yet, Hanhan. In sparsely populated mountain forests, there is indeed some spiritual energy. It's not surprising," Xingbai said after sensing it.

The man and his beast traversed the jungle, finding it increasingly difficult as they ventured deeper, encountering wolves, venomous snakes, and poisonous insects from time to time.

Before entering the mountain, Gu Shihan changed into the magic robes and boots from her spatial storage, and also wore a veil on her head to protect herself from snakes and insects.

Now that Gu Shihan is a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining, some ordinary beasts pose no threat to her at all.

"Hanhan, have we reached the central area? This place is really strange; there are actually a few spiritual herbs here." Xingbai looked around.

"Xingbai, since there are cultivators in this world, it's not surprising that there are special things about it. Should we stay for a while and take a look?"

"Okay! Hanhan, look, there's a cave over there, let's stay there."

The human and the beast settled down. They arrived at the cave entrance. "Hanhan, this cave seems a bit different."

"Hmm? What do you mean? I don't see any difference!"

"Your cultivation level is still low, and your understanding of formations is too shallow. Look, there are traces of a formation here, but over time, the formation has lost its luster and is now useless!"

“Traces of an array? Does that mean there are traces left by cultivators in this cave? Xingbai, I’ll go investigate quickly.”

"Hanhan, you're right, let's go in now!" Xingbai said, and started to run into the cave.

Shi Han grabbed Xing Bai and said, "Xing Bai, don't be too reckless. Since the formation in this cave is broken, there's no guarantee that there aren't any wild animals hiding inside. It's better to be careful."

“That’s true. I was so happy that I forgot. Hanhan, I don’t sense any danger. Please check with your divine sense.”

Gu Shihan smiled and nodded, probing the cave with her divine sense. "Hmm, something is blocking my exploration. It seems there's something blocking my divine sense. It looks like there's something strange about this cave."

Shi Han suddenly became interested and led Xing Bai into the cave. After walking for about fifteen minutes, they were blocked by a stone door.

"This is what stopped my divine sense from probing. Xingbai, do you know what's on this stone door?" "Let me see!"

Xingbai arrived at the stone gate and pushed it with her little paws. "Hanhan, there's an array on the gate that blocks divine sense from probing. How strange, how come this array is still intact?"

"Can it be broken?" Shi Han also came over. "It seems that learning formations is a must."

"Sure, but it will take some time!"

"If we can break it, that's fine. We have plenty of time, no need to rush." ​​The human and the fox began to study carefully, searching for a way to break the formation.

Three days passed, the formation was broken, and Shi Han gently pushed open the stone door.

Behind the stone gate is a simple structure: a stone house, a stone table, a stone chair, and a stone bed.

A skeleton sat upright on the stone bed. The moment the stone door opened, the skeleton quickly turned into a pile of dust and scattered on the stone door.

With two soft "clinking" sounds, a black bead and a storage ring rolled out.

Gu Shihan did not step forward. She had seen records of people being reborn through possession, and she thought she might be one of them.

Now that I'm alive, I don't want to be possessed by anyone else. Wouldn't that be a huge loss for me?
"Hanhan, I'll go pick it up. You take care of yourself!" Xingbai walked towards the black bead and the storage ring.

The black bead rolled a few times, and a wisp of white floated out from it, slowly gathering into a very faint human figure.

The illusory figure said somewhat helplessly, "Young friend, you are cautious enough. Don't worry, I will not possess you, because my soul power is too low. It will dissipate as soon as I exert any force."

Your presence here indicates that we are destined to meet. I am the second son of the Gu family in the spirit world. After my parents' death, my elder brother should have taken over as the clan leader.

Unexpectedly, our clansmen rebelled, and my brother and I were besieged. We had no choice but to escape. Little did we know that our two closest relatives not only wanted the position of clan chief, but also our lives.

There was no other way; my brother and I had to use forbidden techniques to escape. Unfortunately, I fell into this mortal realm. Without spiritual energy to heal, I struggled for decades, but ultimately died from my injuries.

"Are you from the spirit realm? Is this place really the mortal realm? Is there a way to the spirit realm?" Gu Shihan asked, intrigued.

"Yes, there is a Heavenly Ladder in the center of Wushan. Only native cultivators can climb this Heavenly Ladder, and there are also restrictions on cultivation level. Only cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage have a chance to climb the Heavenly Ladder to the Spirit Realm."

Alas, I had intended to go and check on things, but my injuries were too severe to leave this mountain range…

"Senior, you said you fell with your brother, do you know where he is?" Shi Han asked, a glint in her eyes.

"I don't know. I only know that he should still be alive at the time, but later he became increasingly weak and became even more undetectable." The phantom's eyes were filled with pain, which did not seem fake.

"Young friend, your presence here suggests we are destined to meet. I sense a certain connection in your heart. Your surname is Gu; may I examine your bloodline?"

"Test bloodline? Senior, I'm sure we're not related by blood." Shi Han was taken aback and quickly denied it.

“Young friend, there’s no harm in testing it. There’s a bloodline testing disc in the storage ring. Just put a drop of blood into it. If there’s a reaction, you have a bloodline connection; otherwise, you don’t.”

(End of this chapter)