A hundredfold return! My unfilial disciples are all reincarnations of the Empress.

Lin Feng walked in front, with the rogue cultivator surnamed Bai following three steps behind.

At the end of the passageway is a stone door with only a shallow groove on its surface.

"Do you have a Wind Spirit Orb?" Lin Feng asked.

The rogue cultivator surnamed Bai shook his head: "No, but I brought something else."

He took out a thumb-sized blue crystal from his sleeve and inserted it into the groove.

The stone door immediately made a muffled sound and slowly opened inward.

The space behind the door has a dome about five zhang high, and the four walls are covered with wind-related runes.

A jade slip, entirely blue in color, floated in the center of the hall, with three runes on its surface.

The rogue cultivator surnamed Bai's eyes lit up: "That's it."

He took two steps forward, then stopped, turned to look at Lin Feng: "As agreed, I'll take this jade slip, and the rest is yours."

Lin Feng nodded.

The rogue cultivator surnamed Bai then stepped forward and put the jade slip into his sleeve.

"Thank you." He turned around. "Now that this matter is settled, I'll take my leave."

After saying that, he walked out the way he came.

Lin Feng stayed in the stone chamber and walked around the hall.

The walls were covered with dense runes, some of which were incantations for cultivation techniques, and others were insights gained from practice.

He spent more than two hours memorizing everything he could.

We set off early the next morning to fly back, arriving at Xiaozhufeng in the afternoon.

"Boss, where have you been again?" Wang Xiao leaned out halfway. "The sect leader came by twice."

"What is it?"

"Those people from the Western Regions, it's said, have gathered near the border of Chu, seemingly searching for some kind of ancient ruin. The sect leader has summoned you back to go there."

Lin Feng went to the main hall.

Master Xuanqing was looking at a map when he saw him come in and beckoned him in.

"The rogue cultivators in the Western Regions have been quite active lately." Master Xuanqing pointed to a mark on the map, "Look here, about three hundred miles west of the border, someone is buying up large quantities of wind-elemental spirit stones and array base materials."

"Are they going to set up a formation?"

"Unlike ordinary arrays. According to our scouts, they've acquired enough to build a medium-sized teleportation array."

Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat when he heard the words "teleportation array".

"If they build a teleportation array at the border, where will it connect to?"

"I don't know," Master Xuanqing shook his head, "but you know about the movements of the demons in the Western Wilderness. If they are connected with the demons, this teleportation array cannot be left."

Lin Feng was silent for a few seconds: "I'll go take a look."

"Yes, having too many people will only alert them."

"Okay, be careful. Send me a message immediately if anything unexpected happens."

The next day, Lin Feng rode his sword alone westward.

Three hundred miles west of the border, following the location marked on the map, we indeed found traces of cultivator activity in a desolate valley.

He landed on a ridge three miles away and slowly approached.

There were about twenty people at the bottom of the valley, building a circular stone platform.

The base of the stone platform has been completed, with a diameter of about three zhang (approximately 10 meters).

It was made of bluish-gray rock, the surface of which was engraved with runes.

He squatted on the ridge and observed for half an hour, memorizing most of the runes on the stone platform, before quietly retreating.

As soon as he returned to his cave, he used paper and pen to draw down the runes he had written down.

He took out the bronze mirror.

In the reflection of the bronze mirror, the rune lines suddenly revealed a very faint blue halo, with some lines being brighter than others.

He circled the bright spots and found that they resembled a guiding path.

"The teleportation path of the teleportation array?"

Lin Feng put down the bronze mirror, having a better understanding of the situation.

The following evening he went to that desolate valley again.

Under the cover of night, they quietly made their way to the edge of the valley.

He stopped about thirty feet away from the stone platform, condensed a wisp of extremely fine wind spiritual energy at his fingertips, and then drew a small interference array on the ground.

After doing all this, he quietly retreated back to the ridge.

That afternoon, he returned to Qingyun Palace and went directly to see Master Xuanqing.

"This teleportation array is a one-way teleportation array, and the teleportation distance is extremely long. With it, the demon race can directly enter the heart of the Great Chu."

Master Xuanqing's face turned ashen after hearing this.

"Can it be destroyed?"

"Yes," Lin Feng said. "I need a team."

three days later.

Lin Feng led the team, followed by fourteen elite disciples.

Under the cover of night, they approached the valley floor from three directions simultaneously.

Lin Feng walked at the front, and raised his hand to signal when he reached the edge of the valley.

Several beams of light instantly lit up the valley floor!

Fourteen elite disciples attacked simultaneously, unleashing a barrage of spells upon the stone platform.

The rogue cultivators at the bottom of the valley were caught off guard by the surprise attack and were instantly thrown into disarray.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Lin Feng cut in from the side and headed straight for the center of the stone platform.

Several rogue cultivators who tried to stop him were forced back by his sword.

He shattered the spirit stone in one swift motion.

The runes on the stone platform dimmed almost instantly, and the entire teleportation array emitted a low hum.

"withdraw!"

He roared and turned to rush outside.

The people from Qingyun Palace retreated into the night.

Master Xuanqing waited for news in the main hall. After hearing Lin Feng's words, he breathed a sigh of relief: "The teleportation array's hub has been dismantled; it will take them a lot of effort to rebuild it."

That afternoon, Liu Yushu came to find him carrying a sword.

"Master, I've recently hit a roadblock in my sword practice."

"What bottleneck?"

"I feel that the power and speed of my sword strike are sufficient, but I still feel like something is missing."

"Practice it once and let me see."

Liu Yushu practiced the sword moves from beginning to end in the bamboo forest, each move clean and crisp.

"Your swordsmanship is too conventional; every move follows a standard pattern. Your opponent can predict the third move just by seeing the second one."

Liu Yushu was taken aback: "Then what should we do?"

"Leave room for variation," Lin Feng said. "For example, in this move, your second strike should be a leftward chop, but what if you deviate three inches to the right?"

Chi Yao tried it as he suggested and found that the transitions after changing the moves were actually smoother.

"Disciple understands."

"Practice some more, and feel free to ask me any questions."

Liu Yushu nodded and returned to the bamboo forest with her sword.

half a month later.

Lin Feng and Liu Yushu flew to the extremely cold glacier on their swords.

The further west you go, the drier the weather becomes, and the outlines of snow-capped mountains appear on the distant horizon.

Liu Yushu, with her sharp eyes, pointed ahead and said, "Master, we've arrived at the glacier."

As Lin Feng looked around, all he could see was a vast expanse of white ice.

They landed on a sheltered ice rock.

Liu Yushu squatted down, placed her hand on the ice, closed her eyes, and sensed for a moment: "The Yin spiritual energy is much more active here."

After walking about two miles, Liu Yushu stopped in front of an ice crevasse.

There's something down there.

The crack was about two feet wide, and it was pitch black looking down, but one could vaguely sense spiritual energy surging upwards.

Lin Feng threw a luminous pearl into the cave. The pearl fell to a depth of twenty or thirty feet, and the light revealed that there was an ice cave below.

Lin Feng was the first to crawl inside.

The two descended one after the other from the crevice to the bottom of the cave.

It was indeed an ice cave, with transparent blue ice on all four sides, and tiny white crystals growing on the ice walls.

Liu Yushu approached and examined it closely: "This is a by-product of the Cold Marrow, but its purity is not high. There should be a main vein of higher purity nearby."

She tapped and hammered on the cave wall for a while, and finally chose an ice wall.

Lin Feng told her to retreat first, then summoned the Glass Shield and slashed at her with his sword.

It forcefully cleaved open a crack as wide as a person, and the aura emanating from inside was several times stronger than that outside.

The master and apprentice walked forward slowly.

In the center lay a white mineral.

"It's Cold Marrow!" Liu Yushu exclaimed in surprise.

"I'll keep this for you; be careful not to get frostbite."

The two stayed on the glacier for another three days, searching through several ice caves in the surrounding area.

The collected cold marrow filled about half a storage bag, enough for Liu Yushu to cultivate for quite some time.

On the way back, Liu Yushu spoke much less, but she was noticeably more energetic than when she arrived.

The day after returning to Xiaozhu Peak, she began cultivating with the Cold Marrow.

The aura of the Cold Marrow resonated with the Yin spiritual power within her body, and her cultivation speed indeed increased significantly compared to before.

Two weeks later, Liu Yushu emerged from seclusion.

"Master, I have mastered the second level of the Taiyin Profound Water Technique, and my spiritual soul is much more solid than before."

"What changes can you sense?"

"The disciple's spiritual sense range has doubled," Liu Yushu said. "She can also sense even more subtle flows of spiritual energy."

Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction.

That afternoon, Li Qingxuan sent a telepathic message.

They said they had heard of a ruin located in the mountains on the southwestern border of the Great Chu Kingdom.

Lin Feng then set off with several of his apprentices.

Li Qian waited for them at the foot of the mountain, holding a rubbing of a map in his hand.

Lin Feng and his group circled around the hillside and arrived near a waterfall.

"Based on the fluctuations of spiritual energy I sensed, this should be it."

The waterfall isn't very big, and a stone gate can be vaguely seen behind the curtain of water.

Liu Yushu stepped forward and pushed open the stone door. Inside was a dry passageway, a completely different world from the damp waterfall outside.

After walking about fifty steps, at the end of the passageway was a spacious stone hall.

In the very center stands a stone statue, carved as a human figure sitting cross-legged with his hands resting on his knees.

"What does this look like?" Lin Feng walked closer to examine it.

Two lines of text are inscribed beneath the stone statue: "Only with an empty mind can one contain all things."

"This must be the guidance left by the owner of the ruins."

Chi Yao had already searched around and found a jade scroll in a stone niche in the corner of the hall.

"Master, there's something!"

She handed the jade slip to Lin Feng.

Lin Feng unfolded the jade slip and glanced at it; it contained a set of alchemy methods.

"This trip was worthwhile." He handed the jade slip to Chu Lingyan. "Keep it and study it later."

There were also several well-preserved magical artifacts in the hall, and Lin Feng let his disciples each pick one that suited them.

By the time we emerged from the waterfall, it was already dark.

Lin Feng didn't linger any longer and led his disciples directly back to Xiaozhu Peak.

A few days later, Chu Lingyan was urging a batch of spiritual herbs to mature on the peak. Thanks to the blessing of the Yi Wood Longevity Body, they matured much earlier than expected.

"Master, this batch of spiritual herbs is of very high quality. I would like to use the alchemy methods in that jade slip to refine several batches of pills."

"Yes, just go ahead and try it."

three days later.

Chu Lingyan ran over excitedly, carrying two bottles of pills: "Master! Your disciple has successfully refined one batch of Qi-Nourishing Pills and one batch of Rejuvenating Pills."

Lin Feng took the bottle and examined it; it was in good condition.

"Good~ From now on, the supply of pills for the peak will be entrusted to you."

Chu Lingyan nodded repeatedly and ran back to the alchemy room.

About half a month passed peacefully.

Late that night, a slight fluctuation suddenly came from the protective formation of Xiaozhu Peak.

Lin Feng was meditating when he suddenly opened his eyes.

He used his divine sense to scan the area, but found nothing unusual.

Early the next morning.

Liu Yushu said, "Last night, the birds in the bamboo forest behind the mountain chirped for a while, which lasted for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

"Someone is testing our formation."

Liu Yushu frowned: "People of the Demon Clan?"

"Not necessarily, but it definitely wasn't just passing by."

Two days later, Lin Feng discovered some extremely subtle traces of spiritual energy on several key routes around Xiaozhu Peak.

The owner of the remaining spiritual energy was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

He followed the trail of residual spiritual energy and discovered that the other party had circled around most of Xiaozhu Peak before disappearing in a mountain hollow on the north side of the peak.

Lin Feng squatted in the ravine for a while and found several shallow footprints on the ground.

Back on the peak, he gathered his disciples together: "Someone's eyeing Little Bamboo Peak. They're at the Nascent Soul stage, and they circled the outer perimeter of the peak two days ago."

Liu Yushu's expression turned serious: "Should we report this to the sect leader?"

"Don't report it yet; it would only alert the enemy before we have solid evidence."

He turned to Chi Yao: "These next few days, you'll rest during the day and keep watch at night, keeping an eye on the barrier on the peak. Call me immediately if there's any movement."

"This disciple understands."

For the next three days, everything seemed normal on the surface at Xiaozhu Peak.

Lin Feng cultivated on the peak during the day, and at night he concealed his presence and patrolled outside the peak.

On the fourth night, he was staking out on the mountain path on the north side of the peak when he suddenly detected a very subtle fluctuation of spiritual energy—coming from the south.

He immediately turned back, and when he arrived at the south peak, Chi Yao had already jumped out from the shadows, holding her sword and aiming it at a black figure.

The man was tall and slender, dressed in black and masked. He was blocked by Chi Yao and had to stop.

But he moved quickly, ducking low to the ground and skimming past the Crimson Jade Sword, heading towards the mountain path.

Just as he was about to cross the mountain path, a white figure cut in from the side and blocked his way with a sword.

"Since you're here, why not stay and have a cup of tea before you leave?"

The man in black reacted extremely quickly. Seeing that his retreat was blocked, he immediately flicked his wrist and released a cloud of black mist.

Lin Feng dodged to the side, then turned his sword and aimed it at the man in black's face again.

After exchanging more than ten blows, the man in black was forced to retreat steadily by Lin Feng's pressure.

He suddenly stopped his attack, took a step back two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), and then said to Lin Feng, "You can stop me once, but you can't stop me a second time."

After saying that, he turned and disappeared into the night with astonishing speed.

Lin Feng did not chase after him, watching the figure in black disappear into the darkness.

"Early Nascent Soul stage." Lin Feng sheathed his sword. "And he's using authentic Eastern Region techniques, not the methods of demonic cultivators."

Chi Yao sheathed her sword: "Are you from a major sect?"

"Unsure." Lin Feng shook his head.

He didn't make a fuss about it, but he doubled the frequency of Xiaozhufeng's shifts.

A few days later, news came from the Western Regions that people were active again on the ruins of the destroyed teleportation array.

After reading the message, Lin Feng went to the main hall.

After reading the letter, Master Xuanqing asked, "It seems they don't intend to give up. What do you plan to do?"