Starting at the Nascent Soul stage, a rogue cultivator is incredibly poor.

Qingyouzi pointed his fingers like a sword, and a small blue sword pierced out sharply, aiming straight at Elder Yang's dantian and nascent soul!

This attack was perfectly timed, angled, and executed with the utmost precision. It aimed to kill the opponent instantly when he was stunned by the Soul-Shaking Bell, lost his composure, suffered physical injuries, and had his magical power dissipate.

however.

Just as the small cyan sword was about to pierce his dantian at the critical moment!

A subtle hint of ferocity and heartache flashed across Elder Yang's blood-stained and despair-stricken face!

On his chest, a seemingly ordinary gray-white stone pendant that hung close to his body suddenly burst out with dazzling light!

"Buzz—!"

The light did not burst outward, but instantly contracted inward, enveloping Elder Yang's entire body as if it were a living thing!

The dark blue sword pierced fiercely into the suddenly lit gray-white light shield!

The anticipated penetration and explosion did not occur.

"Click...click..."

A tooth-grinding sound, like rocks rapidly growing and solidifying, rang out!

Under the gray-white light shield, Elder Yang's physical body transformed in the blink of an eye from flesh and blood into a lifelike gray-white stone statue, with even the expression of shock and anger on his face frozen in time!

The stone is dense and hard, with a luster similar to that of a magical artifact.

The cyan sword pierced half an inch into the stone statue's dantian, but was blocked by its strange, petrified hardness. The ancient cyan demon fire attached to the sword burned wildly, but only caused black cracks to appear on the surface of the stone statue, and failed to penetrate it instantly!

Just that brief moment of obstruction!

call out!

A tiny Nascent Soul figure, about an inch tall and very similar to Elder Yang, but with a face full of resentment and terror, suddenly emerged from the top of the stone statue's head!

The little figure clutched a small storage bag and a tortoise shell with a dim glow in its arms.

The moment the nascent soul left the body, before it could even glance at the battlefield below or the substitute stone statue's physical body, it unhesitatingly crushed a silver talisman that it had been holding in the nascent soul's small hand!

"Sizzle—!"

A slight sound of space tearing was heard.

The space where the nascent soul figure was located rippled like water.

The next moment, the nascent soul, along with the items in its arms, vanished without a trace!

Only a faint, yet unique, spatial fluctuation remained, quickly dissipating from the spot.

Qingyouzi's figure flashed, and he arrived at the place where the spatial fluctuations remained.

He reached out, his five fingers grasping at the ripples that were rapidly fading away, and his face suddenly darkened.

"Minor Teleportation Scroll!"

He gritted his teeth, his voice filled with rare frustration and murderous intent.

Who would have thought that this old fox had such a hidden escape item on him!

"Damn it...that was supposed to be mine!"

Qingyouzi cursed under his breath. With his wealth, he was quite tempted by such treasures, but now he could only watch helplessly as his enemy escaped with one just before his fatal blow. How could he not be furious?

His cold gaze swept over the stone statue, which had been completely turned into a lifeless object, and then looked at the remains of Elder Long, which were wrapped in the Hundred Demon Net and were being devoured by the Crimson Fire Demon Insects.

"You're lucky you're alive. Just don't let me run into you again."

He spoke coldly in the direction where Elder Yang's nascent soul had disappeared, his killing intent still lingering.

Now that things have come to this, there's no point in pursuing them. The teleportation talisman can be used to move at any time, and Elder Yang's nascent soul is probably already thousands of miles away, still in shock, searching for a place to hide or fleeing far away.

He composed himself and raised his hand in a gesture.

The blue silk thread rolled over and took the storage bag from the waist of Elder Yang's fossilized statue, and then deftly rolled over the storage bag next to Elder Long's remains as well.

Qingyouzi weighed it in his hand for a moment, then roughly erased the remaining mark on it with his divine sense. After a brief examination, the coldness in his eyes eased slightly, and he finally gained something.

Without lingering, he swept his sleeves clean, erasing all traces of the battle, and with a flicker, disappeared into the shadows of the cave.

Several months later.

On the edge of the northern plains, deep in the eastern range of mountains.

A naturally formed cave.

The cave entrance was cleverly concealed by vines and illusion arrays, while the interior was completely shrouded by several layers of concealment, protection, and early warning arrays, making it extremely difficult for ordinary cultivators to detect even if they flew by nearby.

Inside the cave, Qingyouzi sat cross-legged.

He had removed his straw hat, revealing his true face.

At this moment, his complexion was ruddy, his eyes were bright, and his breath was deep and long, showing more composure and strength than a few months ago.

The Boiling Blood Fruit had already been refined.

This fruit truly lives up to its reputation as a precious medicine for replenishing essence and blood. Not only did it replenish eight or nine tenths of his lost essence and blood, but the remaining deficiency of his original essence has also been slowly repaired over the past few months of recuperation, and his current state is almost perfect.

He was holding a set of array flags that shimmered with spiritual light, the very "Nine-Lock Linked Array" that he had obtained from Elder Yang that day.

For months, aside from healing and recovering, he had devoted most of his time to studying this formation.

The more he studied it, the more he felt that the formation was ingeniously arranged and profoundly designed, far surpassing ordinary Nascent Soul formations. In particular, the nine array flags gave him a vague sense of familiarity.

"This formation... seems familiar."

He muttered to himself, his brows slightly furrowed.

Suddenly, a glint flashed in his eyes, as if he had thought of something.

He quickly took out an ancient book from the depths of his storage bag; it was the ancient book on formations that Chen Ziche had given him years ago.

He flipped through the pages quickly, the paper rustling, until he finally stopped at a particular page.

The top of the page is written in ancient seal script: Nine Palaces Locking Spirit.

Qingyouzi's gaze swept rapidly over the dense annotations and array diagrams below, then he looked up at the nine array flags in his hand, and a look of realization and joy gradually appeared on his face.

"Just as I expected!"

"This 'Nine-Lock Linked Array' is actually a simplified and modified version of the ancient and wondrous 'Nine Palaces Spirit Locking Array'! Moreover, the modification is quite ingenious. Although its power is far inferior, it is easier to refine and set up, and the required materials are much more readily available!"

He was thrilled.

The true "Nine Palaces Spirit Locking Array" is incredibly profound. Once set up, it forms its own space, locking away spiritual energy. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator trapped within it will have their magical power and divine sense severely suppressed, resulting in a significant reduction in their strength.

As for Nascent Soul cultivators, entering the formation is like being trapped in a quagmire, where they can only unleash five or six tenths of their full strength.

The "Nine Locks Linked Array" in his hand only had a superficial understanding of its essence, suppressing about 30% of the mana of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and only about 10% of the mana of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

"But with this simplified version as a foundation, if suitable high-quality materials can be found in the future to gradually replace the array flags and complete the restrictions, it may not be impossible to slowly repair and strengthen it!"

A hint of eagerness flashed in Qingyouzi's eyes.

"If we can restore two or three tenths of its original power, we can trap a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and suppress three or four tenths of their magical power... Hehe, what a treasure!"

He carefully put away the array flags and the original book. This array had great potential and was worth the effort.

Then, his gaze fell on something else.

With a thought, a dark red jade slip, neither gold nor jade, flew out of the storage bag and hovered in front of him.

It is the "Thousand Flames Technique"!

Qingyouzi took a deep breath, stretched out her left hand, palm facing up.

With a whoosh.

A ball of ice-blue, flickering flame instantly appeared.

The moment the flames appeared, the temperature inside the cave plummeted, and a thin layer of white frost quickly condensed on the stone walls and the ground, as if the air itself were about to freeze.

He raised his right hand, palm facing upwards as well.

"laugh……"

Ancient Azure Demon Flame rose up.

The cold and desolate atmosphere casts two distinct shades of blue and green upon the cave, creating a sense of danger in both places.

If, as described in the "Thousand Flames Manual," these two spiritual flames with completely different attributes could be fused into one, what kind of new flame would be born? And what unexpected supernatural powers would be gained?

Qingyouzi was filled with anticipation.

The only regret was that Yang and Long did not find the promised "Spiritual Fruit" in their storage bags.

He wasn't particularly surprised by this.

Those two were already harboring malicious intentions, planning to use his power to break the formation and then turn on him to kill him. Why would they really carry such a precious spiritual fruit on their person, increasing the risk? It was most likely just an empty promise, or even if the treasure vault actually contained such a thing, it was unknown.

He had briefly considered whether to "explore" the Snow Wolf Tribe's treasure vault. But after careful consideration, he dismissed the idea.

Currently, the Boiling Blood Fruit has been consumed, replenishing the essence and blood; with the Thousand Flame Technique in hand, the fusion with spiritual fire is promising; and with the unexpected gain of the Nine Locks Linked Array, this trip can be considered complete.

Don't bite off more than you can chew; know when to stop.

Qingyouzi suppressed his distracting thoughts and focused his gaze back on the jade slip containing the "Thousand Flames Technique" and the two balls of spiritual fire in his palm.

Inside the cave, the blue flames flickered, casting an uncertain glow on his serene face.

He began to concentrate, his consciousness sinking into the jade slip, trying to comprehend the secret method of fusing spiritual fire, word by word.

Outside the cave, the mountain wind howled and the forest rustled.

The layers of array light flickered, firmly locking all auras and movements within this small space.