Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

Several hours later.

Deep in a deserted valley.

Yan Feng lay motionless on the ground, his body covered in various restrictive talismans.

Lin Zui withdrew the mantra talisman, recalling the information obtained from the interrogation, his brows furrowed, his expression a mixture of joy and worry.

"I didn't expect that man in black was actually from the Ghost Spirit Sect. Has the demonic path started infiltrating various factions in Yue Kingdom so early on?"

"If this person can infiltrate Yan Family Fortress as a spy, there must be quite a few traitors within the Seven Factions as well. With such extensive infiltration, it's no wonder the Seven Factions suffered such a crushing defeat in the great war a few years later."

Lin Zui shook his head; he wouldn't worry about the Seven Sects.

Although he was about to enter Huangfeng Valley, given Huangfeng Valley's reputation, if even a talent like Han Li was abandoned, then he himself would be even less likely to be.

What truly piqued his interest was, to put it bluntly, the genius girl with the Heavenly Spiritual Root from Yan Family Fortress, Yan Ruyan.

no way.

Now that I have already cultivated the "Five Elements Transformation Technique", it is unavoidable to find a person with a heavenly spiritual root to temper my spiritual root.

Heavenly spirits are extremely rare. Once you miss this one, who knows when you'll meet another one?

Fortunately, although Yanjiabao had kept this person's information extremely secret, thanks to the tireless efforts of this traitor, some specific details were still uncovered.

It is said that this Miss Yan Ruyan is about thirteen or fourteen years old now, and was originally just the daughter of a mortal member of the Yan family.

Several years ago, by chance, he was discovered to possess a rare celestial spiritual root, which immediately caused a stir among the higher-ups of the Yan Family Fortress.

The Nascent Soul ancestor of the Yan family immediately emerged from seclusion and took him under his wing, while also keeping this news strictly confidential.

Lin Zui understood this perfectly. In the cruel world of cultivation, a Heavenly Spiritual Root is both a blessing and a source of trouble that attracts covetousness. Once targeted by someone with ill intentions, it is not impossible for them to capture and control it to make it a death squad, a furnace, or even a vessel for possession.

Although Yan Family Fortress has considerable strength, it lacks the presence of a Nascent Soul cultivator, which ultimately diminishes its confidence.

Unfortunately, secrets don't stay hidden forever, and before long, the news leaked out through some clandestine channels.

Yan Feng's meeting with the envoy from the Ghost Spirit Sect was to deliver the latest information about this woman.

It is said that since half a year ago, experts from the Hidden Moon Sect have been frequently visiting Yan Family Fortress, seemingly trying to recruit this girl into the sect. Although the Yan family's higher-ups have not made any statement, it seems that they have already reached some agreements in secret.

Lin Zui recalled that it seemed to have been mentioned in the original work that not long after Han Li entered Huangfeng Valley, the seven sects opened their gates. Although Huangfeng Valley was lucky enough to take in a group of talented disciples such as the Murong brothers, the Yanyue Sect was even luckier, as they actually took in a girl with a Heavenly Spirit Root, which directly shocked everyone in Huangfeng Valley.

It seems that the so-called girl with the Heavenly Spiritual Root is most likely this girl.

Calculating the time, it's still about ten years before the Battle of Yan Family Fortress and the official invasion of the demonic path. With Yan Ruyan's Heavenly Spiritual Root aptitude, she would probably have already reached the Foundation Establishment stage by then. On the other hand, for me to break through from the fourth level of Qi Refining to the Foundation Establishment stage in ten years is pure wishful thinking.

Therefore, if he wants to capture her to help him refine his spiritual root, he needs to hurry up, otherwise it will be too difficult for him to use his Qi Refining cultivation to scheme against someone who has just reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, upon further reflection, Yan Ruyan was currently staying by her Core Formation Ancestor's side, and it seemed that once she entered the Hidden Moon Sect, she would inevitably attract the attention of high-level cultivators, so there was little chance for her to make a move.

In comparison, it might be better to take advantage of the situation while Wang Chan is turning against the Yan family and slaughtering the cultivators of the seven sects, as this could offer a better chance of success.

Moreover, if they succeed, it's unlikely that Yan Family Fort will be able to withstand the seven factions' pursuit and extermination for a long time. No matter how unwilling they are, they will have to swallow this bitter pill and withdraw from Yue Kingdom.

As for whether Wang Chan and Yanjiabao will fight each other after suffering such a huge setback, that's none of his business.

Lin Zui thought about it more and more and felt that this matter had great potential, but the most urgent task was to improve his own strength.

Moreover, in order to keep abreast of the movements of Yanjiabao, he also needed to keep an eye on things there.

Lin Zui looked at Yan Feng, who was still unable to move. Although he had not yet mastered many of the control-type secret techniques in the Five Elements Transformation Technique, after obtaining the Blood Soul Banner of the man in black, he could use the Yin Soul in the banner to perform a soul-possessing technique to control the man.

"That's right, Brother Yan will have to bear with it again."

Lin Zui sneered and, under Yan Feng's horrified gaze, took out the Blood Soul Banner.

Soon, heart-wrenching screams echoed through the valley...

Several days later.

Having largely recovered from his injuries, Yan Feng left the nameless valley.

Compared to when he arrived, he was missing a defensive magic artifact, but his primordial spirit now contained seven wisps of blood-red ghostly phantoms.

This was naturally Lin Zui's masterpiece, achieved using a secret technique from the "Five Elements Transformation Technique." As long as Lin Zui activated the spell, these illusory spirits would materialize and devour the primordial spirit of the person being targeted.

When the primordial spirit is destroyed, the person naturally dies.

However, since it was Lin Zui's first time using this secret technique, he was inevitably not proficient enough. It took him several attempts to barely integrate the seven ghosts into Yan Feng's primordial spirit.

Under such brutal treatment, Yan Feng inevitably suffered a lot of torment, but that was not something he needed to worry about.

He's just a pawn, is it really necessary to care about his thoughts?

Lin Zui smiled dismissively.

Having dealt with these matters, Lin Zui did not linger. He once again applied numerous speed-enhancing and concealment talismans to himself, then turned and headed towards Huangfeng Valley.

Lin Zui became even more cautious in his subsequent journey, and at the same time, he began to have various ideas about how to take advantage of the chaos to his advantage.

However, he rejected most of these ideas. Perhaps after he made talismans of intermediate or higher level, he could suppress Yan Ruyan, who was in the Foundation Establishment stage, with the talismans. But to successfully abduct her from Yan Family Fortress, which was full of experts, it would be difficult to do it with talismans alone, unless he could set up some formations in advance, such as short-distance teleportation arrays.

So on the way, Lin Zui studied the formations in the jade book while traveling, but since Lin Zui didn't have much of a foundation, he found it extremely difficult to understand.

After traveling and stopping for more than two months, Lin Zui finally arrived at the entrance of Huangfeng Valley in the Taiyue Mountains.

After presenting the Ascension Order and undergoing a brief interrogation, he was quickly taken to the council hall.

In front of a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators, Sect Leader Zhong Ling Daoist did not make things difficult for Lin Zui. He spoke a few words of concern and encouragement, and then gave Lin Zui a Foundation Establishment Pill according to the rules.

As soon as the Foundation Establishment Pill appeared, some of the Foundation Establishment cultivators around changed their expressions, and their gazes toward Lin Zui became hostile.

Lin Zui had anticipated this and was not surprised at all. He already had a plan in mind. After a moment's thought, he cupped his hands and said, "Sect Leader, please forgive me. I know that my aptitude is inferior. It would be a waste for me to take such a divine medicine as the Foundation Establishment Pill. Therefore, I have a request that I hope the Sect Leader will grant."

"Oh, tell me about it."

Zhongling Daoist understood the meaning behind his words and became interested.

"This junior is of inferior talent and dares not aspire to the Great Dao. However, I am quite interested in miscellaneous subjects such as talismans and formations. Therefore, I dare to ask to exchange this Foundation Establishment Pill with my senior uncles and elder brothers for some formation manuals."

As soon as Lin Zui said this, the surrounding area stirred up. Even those who had no interest in the Foundation Establishment Pill became interested.

Every family has younger generations. If you can have an extra Foundation Establishment Pill, you might be able to add a Foundation Establishment cultivator to your family in the future. Why not?

As for the classics on formations, that's even easier to say. Even those who don't study formations have all reached the Foundation Establishment stage. After so many years of exploring ruins and killing opponents, who wouldn't be able to get their hands on a few books on formations?

Given that he's only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he probably doesn't have a high level of expertise in formations. Why not try our luck and see if it works?

Having figured this out, someone immediately stopped hesitating, took out a thin book, and tossed it to Lin Zui.

"Hahaha, Junior Nephew Lin is indeed a clever person. That's right, although this Foundation Establishment Pill is precious, its value is greatly reduced if it can't help you advance to the Foundation Establishment stage. It's better to exchange it for something that's truly suitable for you. My book, 'Five Elements Formation,' is the foundation of all formation techniques, perfect for a novice like you who's just starting out in formation techniques. What do you say?"