Junior Sister must ascend this time!

Si Mingche spoke first: "You think the elder did this behind the alliance leader's back, and the alliance leader's cultivation level increased after consuming it, but they haven't discovered it yet?"

Su Han: "…………"

Yun Qing said calmly, "Putting aside whether it's reasonable to refine people into pills, which elder do you think has such extensive connections? If he can keep it from the Alliance Leader, then he wouldn't need to curry favor with the Alliance Leader; he could lead the Immortal Alliance himself."

The alliance leader didn't investigate because he had tacitly approved of it, or even instructed him to do so.

Su Han: "…………Okay, I won't argue anymore."

The three arrived near the underground palace late at night.

Su Han pointed ahead, "This is the underground palace. Don't be fooled by the fact that there are no guards; it is definitely the safest place in the Immortal Alliance."

The entrance alone is protected by more than ten layers of defensive formations, not to mention the interior of the underground palace; not even a small flying insect could get in.

He sighed and said, "So it's extremely difficult for us to get in. One wrong step and we could be dead..."

A crisp "click" sound rang out.

Si Mingche turned around with a look of disgust and said, "What are you babbling about? Hurry up and go, the invisibility talisman is about to expire."

Su Han suddenly looked up at the entrance of the underground palace and saw Yun Qing squatting on the ground doing something. Then the lights of the arrays dimmed.

He stammered in shock, "You...you deciphered so many formations in such a short time?"

"What a pervert!"

Si Mingche chuckled lightly, "Is this the first day you've met my junior sister?"

Su Han: I don't know. This person redefines my understanding of perverts every day.

Su Han finally felt a little comforted. He knew that such a high-level formation was still too difficult for her with her current cultivation level.

"This formation is indeed too difficult. Perhaps we should try again another day..."

"Alright," Yun Qing said, standing up and clapping her hands.

Su Han: "Huh? What's done?"

He let out a sharp, explosive sound, "You just broke such a high-level formation like that?!"

Si Mingche: "Young people just can't keep their composure."

As they spoke, the three walked to the center of the underground palace and saw a figure wrapped in a thin membrane floating inside the spirit pillar, as well as a corpse whose spiritual energy had been drained by the formation.

The three people on top of the pile of corpses were not even recognizable as human, but Su Han recognized them at a glance as his closest junior brothers.

He walked shakily toward the three of them, nearly losing his footing several times. Just as his hand was about to touch Yu Zi'an, Yun Qing grabbed his arm.

"Don't go over there! That formation is draining people's life essence; you'll die if you go in!"

Su Han could no longer control her emotions. "But they're already dead! I failed to protect them. They shouldn't have died like this..."

"Let me go! I..."

Yun Qing released his hand. "Then go ahead, so I don't have to bother breaking the formation. It's better if you go in and die with them; that way, no one will take care of their funeral arrangements, and no one will avenge them."

Su Han hadn't expected Yun Qing to actually let go, and he almost stumbled and fell inside. He used all his strength to stop himself. "Then I'll leave it to Junior Sister Yun Qing!"

Just as they finished trying to dissuade him, Si Mingche let out another scream, "That...that's Ye Xuan! The one wrapped in the membrane is Ye Xuan!"

Perhaps because Elder Hu had added a few more disciples this time, an excessive amount of essence and spiritual energy was continuously poured into the spiritual liquid through the array. Ye Xuan, who was soaking in it, seemed unable to withstand it, his brows furrowed and his body trembling incessantly.

"She's not dead... but she seems to be in a lot of pain." Si Mingche looked at Yun Qing, "Junior Sister, we must save her!"

As he spoke, he pulled a large sledgehammer from his storage ring. "Can this smash that broken pillar?"

Yun Qing quickly took two steps and stopped Si Mingche. "Third Senior Brother, don't worry, I'll think of a way."

She sighed deeply; she was really tired...

Seeing Yun Qing like this, even though Su Han and Si Mingche were very emotional, they didn't dare to move an inch and obediently waited to help.

Yun Qing called out Xue Tuan, patted its head, and asked, "What kind of formation is this?"

After circling the spirit pillar and the array twice, the snowball jumped onto Yun Qing's shoulder. "This is an ancient evil array that uses the essence and spiritual energy of other cultivators to nourish the host's spiritual root, thereby forcibly increasing the purity of the spiritual root."

"However, this formation was lost a thousand years ago because the host often cannot survive the feeding process. Too much essence and spiritual energy will cause the cultivator's meridians to rupture and his body to explode and die."

It licked its paws and continued, "Does this host have a death wish? Although her spiritual root has been nourished well, she will surely die if she soaks in this concentrated spiritual liquid for another two days."

Yun Qing sneered: "Because the person who actually set up this formation never intended for her to live; he only wanted the spiritual root within her."

Snowball: "He's really ruthless. So many lives for a single pure spiritual root."

"He must have done more than that," Yun Qing continued, "Is there any way to merge someone else's spiritual root into one's own body?"

Xue Tuan thought for a moment and said, "Under conditions where the spiritual energy is sufficiently rich, we can use the spirit transfer array as a medium to separate the spiritual root from the original host and then implant it into the new host."

However, the success rate is extremely low; only those who want to replace their spiritual root with one that is significantly better than the original would be willing to take the risk.

Su Han couldn't help but interject, "But the Alliance Leader's spiritual root aptitude is much better than Ye Xuan's. Why would he go to such lengths to change to a spiritual root that's inferior to his own?"

Yun Qing: "When you're doing something that could determine your life or death, do you test its success beforehand or do you test it on yourself first?"

Su Han remained silent. The answer was obvious: no one would gamble their life on an uncertain outcome.

Therefore, the alliance leader needs test subjects. Ye Xuan is the test subject, Yu Zi'an and the others are materials, and those disciples who disappeared in the secret realm are consumables used to verify whether this path is feasible. Only after this path is proven to be feasible will he use it on himself.

Si Mingche: "So... Ye Xuan was just a test subject? He turned Ye Xuan into this just to test whether his idea could be realized?"

Yun Qing nodded. "He probably cultivated more than just this one spiritual root. In fact, his target wasn't just ordinary disciples or Ye Xuan, but all cultivators with high spiritual root purity."

Si Mingche shuddered. "That's why he tested our spiritual roots as soon as we entered the Immortal Alliance! He didn't want to understand our aptitude at all; he wanted to see whose spiritual roots were 'qualified'."

He looked at Yun Qing, "Then you and Senior Brother... No way! No way..."