Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

Lin Zui's words were a bit convoluted, but Yan Ruyan was perceptive and intelligent, and quickly grasped them.

"You mean, because the other party hasn't been marked with any spiritual energy, even if they have methods to detect or remove the mark, there's no way to prevent tracking?"

"clever!"

Lin Zui praised her, and it was indeed true. If Yan Yan hadn't placed a spiritual mark on Yan Ruyan, but instead used this Thousand-Mile Sensing Talisman to record Yan Ruyan's spiritual energy fluctuations, she would never have lost track of Lin Zui that day.

"In that case, this talisman is actually quite useful. In the future, if you want to plot against someone or do something like tracking and ambushing, it will definitely be very useful."

Yan Ruyan spoke earnestly, leaving Lin Zui speechless.

In the first few days of their relationship, Lin Zui thought the other person was aloof and arrogant. However, after using the mind-reading technique and their hearts became connected, Lin Zui discovered that the other person's true nature was actually quite unconventional.

And as time went on, she lost her fear of him and dared to say anything.

"Go away, don't think I can't tell you're being sarcastic."

"whee……"

Yan Ruyan smiled and did not deny it.

Lin Zui shook his head.

"Alright, I'll keep an eye on things here myself. Go to Qingli Swamp and assist Fellow Daoist Xin and the others. Their cultivation is still low. Although they have the talismans I gave them for protection, if they encounter any trouble, you can help them resolve it."

Hearing Lin Zui bring up serious matters, Yan Ruyan stopped joking, nodded, and turned to leave.

Lin Zui then went into the inner secret room, sat down cross-legged, and enveloped the Thousand-Mile Sensing Talisman in his hand with his divine sense, beginning to condense the talisman seal.

……

Six months later.

The Qingli Marshland, located on the western side of the Yuanwu Kingdom, covers an area of ​​several thousand miles and is surrounded by mountains.

The swamp is characterized by a complex terrain with low hills, forests, and water features interspersed throughout.

Although it contains spiritual energy, it is extremely thin and cannot supply cultivators with enough energy. Instead, it breeds a large number of poisonous insects and rodents, making it difficult for mortals to approach.

There are no spiritual materials or medicines inside, so this place has always been a deserted place, with no towns or cultivators coming and going.

However, on this day, several figures arrived at a low hill in the center of the swamp.

"Young master, this will be our cave dwelling from now on."

Standing on the flying boat, Yan Ruyan pointed to the small mountain below that was shrouded in an array and said excitedly.

"Thanks a lot."

Lin Zui smiled, looking at the hazy array below, and felt a sense of familiarity.

"What kind of formation is set up outside the cave? It looks extraordinary, but why does it seem like I've seen it somewhere before?"

Xin Ruyin covered her mouth and laughed.

"Brother Lin is naturally familiar with this. This is the Inverted Five Elements Formation. However, this is not the simplified version that was modified into a formation flag and formation plate. It is the real, complete version of the Inverted Five Elements Formation, with no reduction in power."

"What!?"

Lin Zui was truly shocked. This was a forbidden array of the true sect's protective mountain array level, and it was actually set up outside his cave.

"How powerful is this formation?"

"Unless a Nascent Soul cultivator intervenes, no one can break this formation."

Xin Ruyin spoke with absolute certainty, demonstrating her unwavering confidence.

Lin Zui had no doubt about this; after all, the reputation was there, and it would be strange if it didn't have that kind of power.

"Come on, let's take a look at our cave!"

Lin Zui was in high spirits. With a wave of his hand, the four of them fell down together.

As you walk into the cave through the passage, you are immediately greeted by a rich spiritual energy, several times richer than the low-level disciple area in Huangfeng Valley.

Driven by the formation, the Five Elements Vortex within Lin Zui's body rapidly absorbed and refined the surrounding spiritual energy, allowing him to quickly experience a long-lost sense of comfort.

"Such a rich spiritual energy."

"Yes, this spirit-gathering array gathers all the spiritual energy within a 500-mile radius here, which is why it has this effect."

Qi Yunxiao laughed.

"It's a pity that the spiritual energy around here is still too thin. If it were in another place, the spiritual energy would probably be several times denser."

"Forget it, it's already good enough to have reached this level. We're not strong enough right now, so let's keep a low profile and not attract attention too early."

"Yes, Brother Lin is right. This place is enough for us to cultivate now. When we are strong enough in the future, we can go and try to find a better place."

Xin Ruyin echoed this.

"Hehe, I was just thinking about it, of course I won't actually do it."

Qi Yunxiao scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed, then seemed to remember something.

"However, if we really need to move it to another place in the future, it will be very simple. After the modifications made by me and Ruyin, this giant spirit gathering array can be dismantled and stored at any time, whether it is the array eye in the center or the auxiliary nodes around the array that amplify the range of the array. We can just set it up again in the original way when we arrive at the new place."

"Oh, that's certainly very convenient."

Lin Zui nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

The group continued walking and soon arrived at a huge hollow stone cave.

"Wow, this is huge! Did you hollow out this whole mountain?"

Lin Zui gasped. The cave before him was over a thousand feet wide, with a circular stone platform in the center, over a hundred feet in diameter, surrounded by dozens of stone chambers. The layout was simple and grand, yet there were some ingenious touches in the details, making people feel very comfortable.

"Did you design all of this?"

Lin Zui looked at Yan Ruyan. For the past six months, he had completely ignored the place and left the cave dwelling design to Yan Ruyan. He didn't care about the living environment anyway.

Unexpectedly, the other party gave him a rather pleasant surprise.

"How is it? Not bad, right?"

Yan Ruyan tilted her head back, looking like she was waiting for praise.

"Great, I'm very satisfied."

"Hehe, it's not entirely my doing. Sister Xin also gave me a lot of ideas, and there are many different kinds of magic arrays in this cave, all of which were made by Sister Xin."

Yan Ruyan smiled.

"Oh, what kind of magic arrays are there?"

Lin Zui glanced at them, somewhat curious about when they had started calling each other sisters, but didn't bother to find out.

"The stone platform in the middle is made of black-veined stone, which is extremely hard. It can be used to practice martial arts or to spar and fight. I also specially added some defensive formations around it, just in case."

"Those stone chambers have different functions. Some are for cultivation, some are for alchemy and weapon crafting, and some can be used to tame spirit beasts or cultivate spirit plants. I have set up some auxiliary formations according to the needs. Brother Lin will understand when he takes a look."

Xin Ruyin led Lin Zui on a tour, explaining all the features. Lin Zui became more and more satisfied with what he saw, and for a moment he even felt like he was looking at houses with a real estate agent in his previous life.

The difference is that this property already belongs to him, and he no longer needs to take on any mortgage. Moreover, as his strength grows, he will only own more and more things in the future.

After reading through everything, Lin Zui couldn't find any faults and was extremely satisfied.

"Since there are so many stone chambers, Fellow Daoist Xin and Brother Yunxiao, please choose one as your cultivation place. Also, please ask Fellow Daoist Xin to build a teleportation array between Wanfu Residence and here. If you two need to return to your original residence, it would be best to use the teleportation array to minimize the possibility of this place being exposed."

"yes!"

Xin Ruyin agreed, and Lin Zui nodded.

With everything arranged, it's time to begin the cultivation.

Lin Zui looked at Yan Ruyan, who seemed to realize what was about to happen as well, her fingers intertwined and her ears turning red involuntarily.

……

Two days later.

Inside the stone chamber.

Two figures overlapped.

Yan Ruyan frowned, her body drenched in sweat, controlling the pure spiritual energy within her body, channeling it through the point where the two met, into Lin Zui's body, and enveloping Lin Zui's fire-attribute spiritual root vortex.

Lin Zui felt that as the vortex continued to spin, wisps of spiritual energy were absorbed by it, and some even purer spiritual root energy was also incorporated into the vortex.

As the spiritual energy continued to flow in, Lin Zui clearly felt that the fire-attribute spiritual root vortex was changing. It began to be purified and nourished, and then, without him even realizing it, it began to grow again.

Indeed, the spiritual root that was originally divided into five parts has the potential to grow and strengthen again after being nourished by the incomparably pure Heavenly Spiritual Root Qi.

If it grows to its fullest potential, it can possess qualities comparable to a Heavenly Spiritual Root, which is far more effective than any Heaven-Mending Pill.