Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

The wind in the deep valley was like a knife, stinging my face.

Li Ping tightened his collar and looked at the pile of rocks covered in snow.

"Sir, it's down here."

Tie Tou wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve and pointed to a narrow crevice in the pile of rocks, barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

"The Bai family's steward used to think this place was prone to collapse and forbade us from getting close."

"But one night when I got up in the middle of the night, I saw a light inside, as bright as day."

Li Ping dismounted from the gray donkey and handed the reins to Dazhuang.

"Dazhuang, take a few men and keep watch outside. If there's any movement, blow the whistle as a signal."

Dazhuang gripped his hunting rifle tightly and nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, sir, not even a mouse will get past."

Li Ping crouched low and followed Tie Tou into the crevice.

The cracks in the rocks were dark, but the further you went in, the wider it became, and the ground under your feet changed from dirt to smooth bluestone slabs.

After walking about a hundred paces, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a stone gate that had mostly collapsed.

Two stone pillars stand on either side of the stone gate, their surfaces covered with intricate carvings, though most of them are now obscured by moss and soil.

"Sir, this is it."

Tie Tou pointed at the stone gate, shrinking back slightly in fear.

"When I came here last time, I felt a chill run through my body, as if countless needles were pricking me, and I didn't dare to go any further."

Li Ping walked to the stone gate, wiped away the dirt on the stone pillar with his fingers, revealing dark red grooves.

This is the channel for the flow of spiritual energy.

Although he was only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, his strong divine sense as a transmigrator made him extremely sensitive to fluctuations in spiritual energy.

"This is the incomplete solution to the Five Elements Locking Key Array."

Li Ping stroked his chin and muttered to himself.

He had seen an introduction to this kind of formation in the appendix of the "Small Heavenly Qi Guiding Technique," which was a simple formation used by ancient immortal sects to seal their storerooms.

If one were to force their way through, the recoil from the stone gate would be enough to shatter the bones of a Qi Refining cultivator.

"Sir, shall I take a hammer and smash it open?"

Iron Head offered suggestions from the side.

"Smash it? Go ahead and smash it if you want to die."

Li Ping glanced at him sideways.

"Although this formation is damaged, the earth's spiritual energy is still there. If you hit it with your hammer, the stone door will be fine, but you yourself will probably be turned into a pile of mud."

Tie Tou shrank back in fright and dared not utter another word.

Li Ping crouched down and carefully examined the five stone grooves below the stone gate.

The stone trough was empty, but there were signs of burning and water damage along its edges.

The five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—generate and restrain each other.

Li Ping took out several spirit sands from his pocket, along with a water-repelling talisman and a fire-attracting talisman.

He crushed the spirit sand, transforming it into pure spiritual energy, and guided it to be poured into the corresponding stone troughs.

"Fire overcomes metal, water overcomes fire."

Li Ping muttered to himself as his fingers flew across the stone troughs.

The formation was severely damaged; many of the spiritual energy channels were broken.

He had to use his spiritual energy to forcibly construct several temporary passages.

This is extremely demanding on self-control.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Li Ping's forehead, and the spiritual energy vortex within his body spun rapidly.

Divine senses, like fine threads, carefully combed through the turbulent spiritual energy.

"Buzz"

The stone door suddenly made a soft sound.

Immediately afterwards, the dark red patterns on the stone pillar lit up, emitting a faint red glow.

"Back off!"

Li Ping gave a low shout and pulled Tie Tou back three steps.

"Boom!"

The heavy stone door slowly slid open to the sides, revealing a spacious stone chamber.

The stone chamber reeked of decay, but the spiritual energy within was several times denser than outside.

Li Ping stepped inside.

In the center of the stone chamber lay a long-weathered skeleton.

He was wearing a tattered Taoist robe, and several fragments of magical artifacts, now devoid of their spiritual power, lay scattered around him.

In the withered hand, a yellowed leather scroll was being held.

Li Ping walked over and bowed respectfully.

"Senior, please excuse me for borrowing this space."

He carefully removed the scroll, unfolded it, and saw that it was covered with densely packed small characters.

Fragments of the "Earthly Element Qi-Guiding Technique" and several strange elixir formulas.

"nice one"

Li Ping's eyes lit up

The Qi-guiding method recorded in this fragment is far more profound than the "Small Heavenly Circuit Qi-guiding Technique" he is currently practicing, making it perfect for him to break through his bottleneck.

He tucked the scroll into his pocket and then circled the stone chamber once more.

In the corner of the stone chamber, there were a dozen or so boxes of unmined ore, emitting a faint blue glow.

That's top-grade spirit sand ore.

"Sir, we've struck it rich this time!"

Iron Head stared at the glittering ores, his mouth practically watering.

Li Ping didn't laugh. He walked to the side of the stone wall in the stone chamber and looked at a fresh carving on it.

It was a design of two fish playing in water, the engravings were very deep, and there was a faint trace of spiritual energy.

"The Bai family's mark"

Li Ping's face darkened.

"Sir, what did you say?"

Tie Tou was somewhat puzzled.

"The Bai family has been here, but they couldn't open this stone door."

"So we left a mark, preparing to wait for the clan's experts to force their way in."

Li Ping sneered and used his short knife to scrape off the Pisces mark.

"These local bullies have quite the appetite; they want to take all the good stuff."

He turned around, looked at Tie Tou, and his voice became extremely serious.

"Iron Head, what happened today must not be known to a third party besides you and me."

Iron Head knelt down with a thud

"Rest assured, sir, if I were to leak this information, may I be struck by lightning!"

"Being struck by lightning is too slow; I'll bury you in the back mountain first."

Li Ping patted him on the shoulder and helped him up.

"From this day forward, you will take a few of your most trusted brothers and guard this crevice in the rock."

"Tell everyone there's been a landslide here, and nobody is allowed to come near."

"As for the Bai family, if anyone asks, just say that a monster is roaming the mountains and has destroyed this place."

Tie Tou readily agreed.

Li Ping stepped out of the stone chamber and looked at the sky gradually darkening outside.

Since the Bai family has already set their sights on this place, they will send someone to investigate sooner or later.

He had to remove all the spirit sand from the abandoned mine before the Bai family could react, and also refine the incomplete scroll.

"Dazhuang, return to the city."