I am cautiously cultivating immortals in a strange world

The pitch-black arrow, carrying a terrifying aura, arrived in an instant.

Chen Lin remained calm and composed under pressure.

Having experienced countless battles, he immediately recognized that the arrow was not a physical object, but rather formed from intricate spirit-transforming runes. Therefore, he neither dodged nor evaded, directly overdrawing his soul's essence.

Soul-Destroying Finger strike with all its might!
The faint light released by this finger had runes flickering, but the energy did not leak out at all; all the power was concentrated at one point.

The fingertips and the arrows met by a hair's breadth.

Then the arrow seemed to be frozen in place, starting from the arrowhead, it gradually disintegrated, turning into countless fine runes and disappearing into the void.

"Haw!"

The rune doll on the beetle monster's head let out a strange cry.

Its body twisted and swayed, as if it had suffered a severe backlash. It immediately flew into a rage and pounced on Chang Wu in a flash.

"Go to hell!"

Chang Wu was desperately resisting the rune-infested flying insects on his body. Seeing this, he looked desperate and spat out a mouthful of blood, which landed on the gem on his belt.

The gemstone shone brightly, transforming into a five-colored light sword that slashed down at the rune doll.

However, focusing on one thing leads to neglecting another.

As a result, the energy of the protective shield around his body was affected, and the rune flying insects broke through it, burrowing into his body all at once.

It was instantly swallowed up and turned into dust.

The lightsaber then struck, splitting the rune doll in two.

But the rune doll did not die; instead, it merged with the rune flying insect that had devoured Chang Wu and reformed into its original form.

In a flash, it will return to the beetle monster.

at this time.

A ball of fire rose from the giant cave, engulfing the beetle monster and burning fiercely within it.

As the flames burned, the rune doll's body flickered, its eyes revealing terror, and it flew rapidly toward the beetle monster.

However, beams of eerie light appeared, blocking its path back to the beetle's body.

The rune doll was extremely wary of the ghostly light and could only dodge back and forth. However, as time dragged on, its body became increasingly unstable and eventually disintegrated, turning into runes that surged toward the beetle.

Dozens of large runes were continuously annihilated by the ghostly light.

In the end, only the largest one remained, breaking through the barrier and reaching the beetle.

But it was a step too late.

When the flames died down, the giant beetle monster vanished, leaving only a palm-sized piece of bone; the rest of its body was burned to ashes.

The large rune flashed and burrowed into the bone fragment.

The bone fragment trembled slightly.

It flew deeper into the giant cave.

At this moment, Chen Lin's figure appeared out of thin air, conjuring a giant soul hand that grabbed the bone fragment back.

Then he struck several times with the Soul-Destroying Finger.

However, the bone fragments did not react at all, as if no spirit remained.

"This thing is very strange. It doesn't look like a rune crystal, nor is it the monster's own carapace. Could it be some kind of treasure?"

Tie Zhu leaned forward and looked at the bone fragments.

Chen Lin shook his head.

"I can't tell either, but the beetle monster's ability to resist the Soul-Destroying Finger must be due to this thing. However, it doesn't look like it has been refined; it looks more like the remains of some powerful creature."

"Can that be activated?"

Tie Zhu asked, somewhat disappointed.

Chen Lin gave it a try.

He nodded and said, "It can be activated by energy, but it needs to be refined first before it can be used, which is difficult to do in a short time."

"As long as it works, it's fine. Otherwise, it's a waste of effort."

Tie Zhu felt a little better.

Then she stopped talking and wrapped her arms around Chen Lin's wrist.

"It wasn't a complete waste of effort, since there's still a treasure here."

Chen Lin beckoned and took Chang Wu's belt into his hand, examining it carefully.

Then he activated the Myriad Manifestations Technique.

The gems on it immediately shone brightly, their light reflecting off each other, while the image of runes appeared on the belt.

This made Chen Lin's eyes light up.

Immediately use the methods recorded in the Myriad Manifestations Manual to refine the belt.

This treasure combines offense and defense; if it can be refined and used immediately, it will greatly benefit his safety.

Chen Lin was also worried that the refining process might fail, since it was during a period of bad luck and misfortune, and things not going well was the norm.

Surprisingly, it went very smoothly.

He easily erased Chang Wu's mark and imprinted his own 'divine power' mark on him.

At the same time, I understood the function of the belt.

The five gems belong to the five elements. When activated, they can combine the power of the five elements into one, or they can be used separately.

Each one possesses immense power.

This is still second.

What surprised Chen Lin the most was that inside the belt, which served as the carrier, there was a small storage space. Although it was only three feet square and could not hold any living beings, it still solved a major problem.

Otherwise, carrying everything on your back is really inconvenient and makes you an easy target.

After checking the contents, Chen Lin put his own belongings inside.

Everything else was stored away smoothly, except for the bone fragment I had just acquired, which I couldn't fit into the box.

The most common reasons why items cannot be stored in the storage space are twofold: one is the life limit, and the other is the level limit.

Chen Linci observed for a while.

I couldn't sense any life force from it.

His eyes lit up.

Under normal circumstances, the spirit of the artifact that is combined with the treasure, as well as the unformed life embryo, are not restricted by the life barrier. The fact that this item cannot be contained should not be due to the spirit of the rune.

That's the level.

Chang Wu's belt is also of a very high grade. It is a divine artifact produced in the temple. The fact that it exceeds its storage limit shows the level of the bone fragment.

It's truly a treasure!
Chen Lin was in a great mood.

This was an unexpected surprise; he even wondered if the backlash from the misfortune had ended.

However, just to be on the safe side, he used the Soul-Destroying Finger technique on the bone fragments a few more times before carefully putting them away.

At last.

Chen Lin looked down into the giant hole.

Viewed from above, this giant hole resembles the mouth of a monstrous beast, giving one a strange sense of unease.

But when I try to use my senses to probe, I can't detect anything.

"Do you think we should go down?"

Seeing that Tie Zhu didn't say anything, Chen Lin took the initiative to ask.

"I do not know either."

Tie Zhu hesitated.

"I feel there's something... gentle down there, but I can't tell if it's dangerous, so it's best if you decide whether Dad goes or not."

"Oh?"

Chen Lin was taken aback upon hearing this.

I strained my eyes to look around again, but still couldn't see anything.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Since that beetle monster lives inside, there probably isn't anything else there, at most its minions or eggs. Let's go down and take a look."

Chen Lin could sense that Tie Zhu wanted to go down.

Then the other party's wish will be fulfilled.

"Good Le!"

Tie Zhu immediately became excited.

It bounced off its wrist and flew downwards first.

Chen Lin immediately followed.

The father and son carefully sank deeper and deeper into the ground.

The deeper he went, the more concentrated the energy became, making it difficult for Chen Lin to hold on. His soul had been greatly depleted before, and he could no longer rely on his soul to resist, so he had to enter the Spirit Empowerment Realm.

The effect is very good.

Upon entering the spirit-infused state, I immediately felt the pressure ease.

However, in this state, all other abilities are limited. If Jian Wu hadn't drawn out his sword heart and allowed him to master a higher level of sword intent, he wouldn't even have been able to maintain his levitation.

"Dad, stay close to me."

Upon seeing Chen Lin enter the Spirit Empowerment Realm, Tie Zhu understood the situation and immediately slowed down to prevent any sudden danger from arising.

Chen Lin felt a warmth in his heart. It was still his own son he had raised; although not his biological son, he was more reliable than a biological child.

Apart from Chen Ling'er, his children only cared about his cultivation resources and showed no affection whatsoever.

Time passes slowly.

In the pitch-black underground space, it was impossible to accurately judge how much time had passed. Chen Lin estimated that it had been about half an hour before he finally landed on the ground.

He immediately withdrew from his spirit-enhancing state and activated his Heavenly Eye to check the situation.

The place they found was very narrow, only the size of one large hall. There was a pit in front of it, which, judging from its shape, was probably where the beetle monster often lay.

On the opposite side of the pit was a gigantic, dark door!

Even in the dark, the black sheen on the door is very noticeable, but it is not a light generated by energy, but rather a result of the material itself.

A door?

Chen Lin was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

He stepped back, keeping close to the wall, before continuing to observe.

This door is over two zhang tall and over one zhang wide. Its material is unknown, and there is no building behind it; it just stands there alone.

"Tiezhu?"

As Chen Lin was observing, he noticed that Tie Zhu's small body leaped over the pit and floated little by little toward the giant gate, but it didn't seem like it was going there on its own. He immediately used his mind to summon it.

But there was no response.

"what happened to you?"

Chen Lin switched to speaking directly.

He then entered the Spirit-Enchanting Realm again and flew after them.

"I'm fine, Dad, don't come over. There might be danger here. Let me check first."

The iron pillar emitted a faint sound.

His tone was somewhat strange.

Chen Lin's eyes flickered slightly as he glanced at the other party, then stopped at the edge of the giant pit and stared intently at it.

Then he suddenly realized.

At the very bottom edge of that giant gate, the gap seemed larger than elsewhere, and there were some torn plant roots.

He suddenly realized something and immediately looked up along the wall.

really,

On one side of the wall of the giant gate, there were also some broken roots, as well as many large tubular depressions, which clearly indicated that something had been taken out from them.

No need to guess.

It must be the rootstock of that spirit flower.

Chen Lin was about to tell Tie Zhu about his discovery when he found that Tie Zhu had already reached the door and landed right at the gap he had seen.

Then they kept climbing up and down there.

They actually managed to crawl inside!
"Don't be reckless!"

Chen Lin quickly stopped him.

This giant gate is so strange that it's impossible to guess what it leads to, and once you go inside, your life or death is uncertain.

Tie Zhu still didn't answer.

However, it didn't actually go in; after wriggling a few times, it withdrew from the gap.

A broken whisker was also pulled out.

Throw it hard.

The severed beard flew right in front of Chen Lin, who caught it.

Without waiting for him to check.

The severed beard flashed with a faint light and transformed into a complete, jet-black ginseng.

Its physical characteristics were exactly the same as the rune doll, also a chubby humanoid shape, but it had nine light spots on it, giving it an extremely mysterious feel.

Nine-orifice Black Ginseng!

Its shape and features are too obvious; it must be the Nine-Aperture Black Ginseng that Chang Wu mentioned.

And this should be the essence.

"here you go!"

Chen Lin praised loudly.

He thought he was destined to never have this treasure, but unexpectedly, it ended up in his hands after all the twists and turns.

Even if the beetle monster ate part of a treasure of this caliber, it would still be far superior to ordinary rare and precious materials, and might even greatly increase his strength.

This Linglong Sect is truly full of treasures.

After putting away the ginseng, Chen Lin looked at Tie Zhu, only to find that the other was floating in front of the door, quietly watching him.

"Alright, this is enough. There's no need to take any more risks. Come back."

Chen Lin greeted him.

Tie Zhu still did not respond; his small body trembled and emanated a sense of sadness.

It looked like she was crying.

"what happened?"

Chen Lin had a bad feeling, and his heart couldn't help but jump.

"I'm leaving."

The iron pillar was changed to a spiritual exchange.

His voice choked with emotion.

"Why? Has your memory returned?"

Chen Lin's mood immediately became depressed, but he didn't show it. Instead, he calmly inquired about the situation.

"Ah."

Tie Zhu gave a soft "hmm".

"I've recovered a little bit. My origins must be related to the world beyond this door, so I'm going to go and see it, but I can't bear to leave you."

"hehe."

Chen Lin smiled.

“A real man shouldn’t be so hesitant. It’s good that you found out where I came from. Go on, don’t worry about me. We’ll meet again in the Star Ruins.”

"Behind the door is neither Star Ruins nor an interface related to Star Ruins."

Tie Zhu's tone grew increasingly somber.

"I don't know exactly where it is, but the aura feels very familiar to me. It's as if something is calling to me, and I can't refuse it. But if I'm not there, I'm afraid my father won't be able to leave this secret place safely."

"You underestimate me too."

Chen Lin pursed his lips.

"Your father has cultivated for thousands of years and experienced countless dangers. Every time, I have the last laugh. I am the real protagonist."

"Oh."

Tie Zhu responded with an "oh".

After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "Then I'll be going. I'll come back to you after I figure out the truth."

"let's go."

Chen Lin waved his hand, looking impatient.

Tie Zhu opened his mouth and spat out a grain of light the size of a grain of rice, which floated in front of Chen Lin.

"This is my original crystallization. I used up a lot of the energy of the variegated crystal, and this is all I could condense. I'm leaving it for you, Dad, to protect yourself. You must get out of here alive."

After saying that, he turned around and slipped through the crack in the door.

"Dad, you absolutely mustn't try to go through this door, at least not now. The atmosphere behind it is very dangerous..."

As the body completely disappeared, the sound also ceased.

Chen Lin opened his mouth but didn't make a sound; he just stood there in a daze.

He let out a long sigh after a full incense stick had burned.

All good things must come to an end. He had expected Tie Zhu to leave, and he hadn't planned to keep him by his side forever, but he didn't expect him to leave so quickly and so suddenly.

I wonder if it was due to the backlash of bad luck.

Think of this.

Chen Lin was even more depressed.

He would rather go through hundreds of battles than waste his misfortune in this way. Tie Zhu was not only his helper, but also his emotional support.

He truly raised the other person as his son.

"Ugh!"

Chen Lin sighed again, then suppressed his frustration and found a place to sit down.

He doesn't plan to go out for the time being.

Firstly, he wanted to wait for Tie Zhu, as he could come out quickly if he didn't find the right target. Secondly, there were no monsters in this giant cave, and the energy suppression was so strong that ordinary creatures couldn't withstand it, making it safer for him than outside.

Let's recover here for a while first. (End of Chapter)