The entry for cultivating immortality states that after dying a hundred times, I attained immortalit

When Jiang Bai rushed out of the deadwood forest, the camp was already in chaos.

Jiang Yurou slumped down by the stream, dropping the water bag in her hand to the ground.

Her face was deathly pale, and her finger trembled as she pointed forward.

"There..."

Following the direction she pointed, Jiang Bai saw a strange stream of light.

To be precise, it was a butterfly, or at least it looked like one.

But ordinary butterflies would never have such a transparent body, as if sculpted from crystal.

Its wings are as thin as cicada wings, refracting a mesmerizing seven-colored halo in the light filtering through the tree canopy.

Most remarkably, its form appears and disappears intermittently, as if it might merge into the air at any moment.

"This is a mirage!"

Jiang Shan said excitedly.

He rushed to the stream, his eyes fixed on the poisonous insect that was slowly flapping its wings.

The Phantom Mirage is a rare, first-tier poisonous insect.

The phosphorus powder that falls off its wings can be used to refine high-level hallucinogenic pills; even a tiny pinch the size of a fingernail can be worth hundreds of spirit stones.

A complete, living mirage is worth as much as ten Heart-Eating Grasses.

Jiang Bai had only seen this thing in ancient books, and had never heard of anyone seeing it in Ping'an County in the past hundred years.

Jiang Shan's words made the entire Jiang family team tense.

The phantom mirage seemed to sense the danger, gently flapped its wings, and flew towards the cliff.

Its flight path was very strange; it was not a straight line, but rather a series of intermittent flashes.

With each flap of its wings, its form would blur for a moment, and the next time it would appear three zhang in front of it.

"Chase!"

Jiang Shan practically roared, "This stuff is enough to secure our victory! Jiang Li, Jiang Bai, and Jiang Yurou, come with me. The rest of you stay and look after the wounded!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already rushed out first.

Jiang Bai followed closely behind, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a strange expression flashing across Jiang Li's face.

The phantom mirage isn't actually very fast, but its blinking movement makes it extremely difficult to catch.

Several times, Jiang Bai thought he had lost track of the light, but the next second the light would reappear in the bushes ahead.

"It's flying higher."

Jiang Shan analyzed as he pursued the matter.

"Judging from the direction, it's towards the Cliff of Broken Souls. The terrain there is treacherous, and very few people usually go there."

Indeed, as you venture deeper into the mountains, the trees become increasingly sparse, replaced by jagged rocks and steep cliffs.

After a short while, the group arrived at the foot of a cliff that was hundreds of feet high.

The cliff face is almost vertical, and its surface is covered with moss and vines.

The phantom mirage circled once in front of the cliff face, then went straight into a crevice in the rock.

The crevice in the rock was very narrow, less than half a foot wide, and its depth was unfathomable.

The group stopped in their tracks.

"I've crawled inside," Jiang Yurou said, panting.

Jiang Shan walked to the crevice in the rock and reached out to touch it.

The rocks were cold, and a faint breeze was seeping out from the crevices, indicating that the path ahead was not a dead end.

"Separately search."

He decisively ordered, "There must be other entrances on this cliff face. Jiang Bai, you go left; Jiang Yurou, you and I go right; Jiang Li…"

He paused, then gave Jiang Li a meaningful look: "You and the other two disciples inspect the front rock face."

Jiang Li's expression darkened slightly, but he didn't say much, only nodding in agreement.

Jiang Bai walked to the left along the cliff face, with loose pebbles under his feet.

The vegetation here is much denser, with ancient vines as thick as an arm hanging down from the cliff top like green curtains.

He walked slowly, his fingers occasionally brushing against the surface of the rock wall.

[Killing Intent Perception] There was no warning.

There was no malice, nor any intent to kill.

But as he walked, Jiang Bai suddenly stopped.

The rock face in front of him looked no different from the others, covered with moss and ferns.

However, when he got closer, the [Killing Intent Perception] produced a faint reaction to the rock wall itself.

That wasn't malicious, but rather a feeling of "abnormality".

Like an undercurrent hidden beneath a calm surface, invisible to the ordinary eye, but your intuition will tell you that something is wrong.

Jiang Bai reached out and parted a clump of hanging vines.

Behind the vines was a crack.

It was much wider than the gap the phantom mirage had slipped through, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

The crack was pitch black, yet air currents gushed out, carrying with them soil and damp air.

Jiang Bai hesitated for a moment.

He glanced back; everyone else was searching in the distance, and no one was paying attention to this side.

"Since we've come all this way, there's no reason for us to leave empty-handed."

He muttered to himself and squeezed into the crack.

---

The passage inside the crack was much longer than expected.

Jiang Bai moved slowly along the slippery rock wall. The passage was initially flat, but then began to slope downwards, becoming increasingly steep. After walking about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), the view suddenly opened up before him.

It was a natural cave.

The cave ceiling is three or four zhang above the ground, and it is densely covered with some kind of fluorescent moss that emits a pale blue cold light, illuminating the entire space.

The cave walls are undulating in a wave-like pattern, clearly formed by long-term erosion by water.

The cave is not large, about half the size of a martial arts training ground.

But Jiang Bai's gaze was immediately drawn to something in the center of the cave.

It was a stone platform.

The circular stone platform, three zhang in diameter, was covered with dense array patterns on its surface. The lines were so intricate that Jiang Bai felt dizzy after just one glance.

Although most of the array patterns were broken and incomplete, a few still emitted a faint spiritual light.

At the center of the stone platform, at the key point of the formation, sat a skeleton.

The gray robe on the skeleton had long since decayed into fragments, hanging lightly on the frame.

But the bones themselves have a warm, jade-like luster, and under the reflection of the fluorescent moss, they shimmer with a faint halo.

"At least he's at the early stage of the Golden Core realm..." Jiang Bai murmured.

It is said that only cultivators at the Golden Core stage will have their bones turn into jade after they pass away.

The skeleton was in a serene posture, its right hand hanging naturally on its knee, with a bronze ring on its index finger.

There were also seven or eight storage bags scattered around the stone platform.

Even from a few steps away, Jiang Bai could see that the fabric was so rotten that it would crumble at the slightest touch.

He did not rush forward.

First, I examined the entire stone platform. It was covered with a uniform layer of dust, about half a finger thick. There were no footprints, not even the paw prints of small animals.

This indicates that no one has set foot here for a long time.

Jiang Bai took out an ordinary pebble from his pocket, weighed it in his hand, and tossed it toward the stone platform.

The pebble traced an arc through the air—whoosh!

Just as it was about to land on the stone platform, the array patterns on the surface suddenly lit up!

A beam of cyan light shot out from the array patterns and struck the pebble.

The pebbles turned to dust in the air.

Jiang Bai felt a chill run down his spine; thankfully, he hadn't gone straight up.

Despite its dilapidated state and the fact that most of the array patterns have become ineffective, this ancient array still retains its most basic defensive mechanisms.

He walked around the stone platform, carefully observing every detail of the array patterns.

Suddenly, I noticed a clear fracture in the northwest corner, as if it had been forcibly broken by some external force.

The array patterns near the gap all went out, forming a "hole" about two feet in diameter.

"Perhaps we can start from here..."

boom! boom! boom!

A sound suddenly came from outside the cave.

It sounded like fighting, followed by shouts.

Jiang Bai's expression changed.

Could it be that Jiang Shan and his group have been fighting with someone outside?

Should I rush out to provide support immediately, or... take advantage of the chaos outside and try to quickly seize the treasure?

support?

The situation outside is unclear; the number and strength of the enemy are unknown.

To retrieve the treasure?

Although this ancient formation is now in ruins, the power of that azure light was enough to instantly kill a Qi Refining stage cultivator.

Jiang Bai stared at the bronze ring on the stone platform, and listened to the increasingly intense fighting outside. He gritted his teeth.

"Let's take a gamble!"

He took the poisoned dagger from his storage bag and approached the broken part of the array pattern.

I first tried touching the broken edge with a dagger, but there was no reaction.

He took a deep breath, turned sideways, and squeezed little by little into the array's range through the gap.

Step in with your left foot first, placing it on the edge of the stone platform.

The array patterns did not react at all.

He then followed with his right foot, stepping completely into the array's range.

The surroundings remained calm.

Jiang Bai's back was covered in cold sweat, but his movements did not stop at all.

He crouched low and rushed toward the skeleton in the center of the stone platform at top speed.

Five steps, four steps, three steps...

The skeletons were right before my eyes.

Jiang Bai stretched out his right hand, his fingertips only half an inch away from the ring.

At this very moment—

"Tap, tap, tap..."

The sound of hurried footsteps came from the cave entrance.

Jiang Bai suddenly turned around.

Seven or eight figures filed in through the crack, the leader being a woman dressed in a light yellow outfit. She was beautiful, but her brows held an arrogant air.

Li Yueyao, a leading figure among the younger generation of the Li family, is at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

She was followed by five members of the Li family, each of whom possessed considerable strength.

Standing next to her was Jiang Li.

At this moment, Jiang Li's face was no longer gloomy, but instead had a smug smile.

He looked at Jiang Bai on the stone platform with the same eyes he would give a prey that had fallen into a trap.

The last person in the group was Chen Yuwei, the leader of the Chen family this time.

"Jiang Bai".

Li Yueyao's voice carried the composure of a victor:

"Thank you for helping us find this ancient cave dwelling."

Jiang Li said with a smile.

"The plan to track the Phantom Mirage went smoothly, didn't it? Too bad, you're the fish that got caught."

Jiang Bai slowly straightened up.

He didn't touch the ring, but stood quietly beside the skeleton, his gaze sweeping over the group of people in front of him.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly smiled.

"The mirage was actually bait."

His voice was calm. "Jiang Li, when did you get involved with the Li and Chen families? Does the Grand Elder know you're so good at business?"

Jiang Li's face stiffened, then he coldly snorted, "Still being stubborn even when death is imminent. Miss Li, according to the agreement, we will divide the contents of the cave equally. As for Jiang Bai..."

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes: "He knows too much."

Li Yueyao nodded slightly, but her gaze remained fixed on the skeletons behind Jiang Bai. When she saw the bronze ring, a glint of greed flashed in her eyes.

"Jiang Bai, come down here yourself, and I'll give you a quick death," she said calmly. "If you resist, I won't hesitate to let you experience the Li family's 'Ten Thousand Insects Devouring the Heart' technique."

Seven people formed a fan shape around the stone platform.

Jiang Bai stood on the platform, with menacing enemies below and withered bones behind him that could trigger a killing formation.

There was no way forward or backward.

He looked down at his right hand, then at the ring so close to his face, and suddenly whispered:

"You say..."

"This formation is incomplete, but what would happen if I fully activated it?"

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his right foot, as if to step on a complete array node on the surface of the stone platform!

"stop!"

Li Yueyao and Jiang Li both changed color at the same time!

Jiang Bai's foot ultimately did not land.

He was just feinting; in the instant everyone's attention was drawn, his left hand shot out like lightning and grabbed the ring.

"Click."

A slight cracking sound was heard.

The cracks on the surface of the skeleton suddenly spread under this grip.

Almost simultaneously, at the broken point of the array pattern in the northwest corner of the stone platform, the remaining array pattern seemed to have been triggered by some mechanism, and suddenly burst out with a dazzling blue light!

The entire cave was instantly illuminated by a bluish light.

Jiang Bai's figure became blurred in the light.