I am cautiously cultivating immortals in a strange world

Chen Lin squeezed through the side gate and proceeded along the confirmed location. Before long, he felt the spiritual energy around him becoming more and more abundant, and the soil turned into hard rock.

He stopped.

Upon closer inspection, it was immediately discovered that this was actually a spirit crystal mine!

"I see."

Chen Lin suddenly realized.

No wonder there are innate spirit infants here; it turns out this is a mineral vein, and a top-grade spirit crystal mine at that.

However, the conditions for the gestation of innate spirit infants are extremely demanding. Even in top-grade spirit crystal veins, the probability of gestating one is extremely low, and other reasons cannot be ruled out.

Following the senses of varying strengths of spiritual energy, Chen Lin continued forward.

"what?"

After traveling for a while, they felt the surrounding space becoming increasingly tight. Although it was still the same crystal mine, it became difficult to move around.

resignedly.

Chen Lin had no choice but to change his route and first check the area outside.

After circling around for a while, he arrived at the top of this area and saw a giant cyan sword hanging down from above, with its tip just visible.

Below the sword tip is a hexagonal altar.

On each side of the altar, there is a uniquely shaped statue, holding different treasures in its hands, constantly drawing energy from the crystal ore to keep the altar running.

Chen Lin observed for a while.

Having confirmed that there were no living beings on the altar, I felt relieved.

I made a guess.

He thought there were two possible reasons for setting up the altar.

One method is to extract the energy of the suppressed demon through sacrifice to prevent it from slowly reviving. However, since it is a sacrifice, there must be someone who receives the energy, but it is unknown where that person is.

There is another kind.

That is to draw spiritual energy from the mineral veins through the altar to provide energy to the demon, allowing it to remain alive.

Although this idea is outrageous, there are countless outrageous things in the cultivation world, so it's not impossible.

While thinking.

Chen Lin's gaze shifted to the position corresponding to the altar and the tip of the sword, where there was an inconspicuous crack from which a strange aura emanated.

He thought about it.

Let's get a little closer and unleash the full power of the Heavenly Eye.

But before he could do any further observation...

A flash of light appeared at the crevice, and a glowing phantom emerged from within. It quickly circled around, then, upon spotting Chen Lin, shrank back and tried to disappear back into the crevice.

Innate spiritual infant!

A word came to Chen Lin's mind.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately released his Soul Master aura, causing the illusory figure to pause.

He seized the opportunity, flicked his wrist, and the spirit-catching net that he had been keeping in his sleeve flew out and caught the other party.

The phantom immediately began to struggle violently.

However, the spirit-catching net is just right to restrain innate spirits. The more they struggle, the tighter the binding becomes. Soon the phantom loses its strength, and the light dims little by little.

It eventually turned into a round crystal the size of a fist.

Chen Lin's eyes lit up.

It was a pleasant surprise that we were able to capture this creature so easily. According to the information we had previously obtained, this creature was not an ordinary spirit and had very strong attack methods.

Moreover, the innate light released can deplete one's true lifespan; Qin Yueying serves as a cautionary tale.

Sure enough, one thing comes down to another.

Chen Lin retrieved the spirit-catching net and observed the crystal with great interest.

The crystals showed no abnormalities.

It has no patterns, runes, or special aura; it is just pure crystal without any impurities.

However, there was a faint point of light inside, and within that point of light was a hazy shadow, like an infant. This is the origin of the name "Innate Spirit Infant".

Chen Lin tried to make contact.

Instantly, a surge of pure energy entered his body, making him feel refreshed, as if spring rain had fallen on parched earth for millennia, activating everything within him.

nice one!
Chen Lin was secretly delighted.

No wonder so many people were scrambling to get their hands on it as soon as they heard about the Innate Spiritual Infant. In terms of improving one's innate cultivation, it is probably several times stronger than the Variegated Crystal.

Moreover, it can transform a person, allowing them to acquire an innate spiritual body.

of course.

Although it is said to be an innate spiritual body, it is ultimately a product of acquired transformation. It is probably not as good as innate deities like Hittina who can be infused with it. The extent to which it can be transformed can only be determined after it has been used.

There is another point.

He now possesses the original owner's body, not his own. Even if he were to transform into a naturally born body, he might not be able to take it with him.

Even so.

Chen Lin was still very happy.

With this innate spiritual infant and two pieces of colorful crystal, it won't take him long to enter the cage realm, which will greatly help him complete his life mission.

They took out a specially made container and carefully sealed the innate spiritual infant inside.

Continue watching the crack.

Chen Lin felt that since the innate spiritual infant had emerged from the crack, there must be an independent space below. He wanted to go in and see if there were any evil spirits inside.

If there is.

That demon is neither Qiu Yebai, nor the Red-Eyed Monster, nor the Phoenix Crown Woman. He can try to contact those two again and seek a way to leave the secret place.

Actually, the solution is quite simple.

As long as the sect leader's seal can be activated, the sealing formation can be broken.

He can finish the rest on his own.

But if there are no evil spirits inside, he needs to be careful. Whether it's Qiu Yebai or the woman in the phoenix crown, they could both be the main entities being suppressed. If he rashly tries to contact them again, he might fall into danger.

They studied the altar for a long time.

Not sensing any intense danger, Chen Lin flashed and separated his true soul from his main body.

In such unknown areas, regardless of whether there is a sense of danger, one should remain cautious. It would be better to let the true soul body test it first. If there really is a demon, then at least there will be a chance to save one's life.

The true soul slowly approached the altar.

But as soon as it touched the edge, the giant sword above began to vibrate and hum.

As the sword rang out, a terrifying aura emanated from the greatsword. Then, a flash of light appeared at the tip of the sword, and a sword aura struck the True Soul's body directly!
Chen Lin was shocked.

He discovered that from the moment the sword energy began to condense, his true soul body was locked on, and no matter how he dodged, he would inevitably be hit.

This is the power of rules.

Without hesitation, he activated the bone fragment, and the runes on it flew up, transforming into a shield to meet the attack.

The two intersect.

The shield trembled and then crumbled, but it still managed to block the sword energy.

Chen Lin felt a slight sense of relief.

Although the runes on this bone fragment are mysterious, their power is not particularly strong because there is no corresponding method to control them. When the beetle monster used it, even Chang Wu's belt could defend against it, so he was really afraid that he wouldn't be able to block it.

Now it seems.

This item is much more powerful in his hands than it was in the beetle monster's.

After all, he had obtained the cultivation path of the Nine Aperture Black Ginseng, and the energy level of the Myriad Manifestations Technique was sufficient to activate the dantian runes according to the cultivation path.

It has a stronger stimulating effect on bone fragments.

However, Chen Lin also noticed that with this one strike, the runes on the bone fragment had dimmed considerably.

We need to be more careful with our spending in the future.

But now that things have come to this, the energy cannot be wasted; we must continue exploring.

The true soul body flashed.

Chen Lin flew to the altar.

Then, without stopping, he plunged directly into the crevice.

Then my field of vision widened.

A spacious area appeared before them, filled with fluorescent crystals that made the entire space very bright.

In the very center of the space floated a rat-like creature, less than a foot in size, its entire body bright red, staring at him with two bean-sized eyes.

Chen Lin felt a chill run down his spine.

There really were living beings here, and they weren't bound or particularly weak. He stepped back, ready to slip out of the crevice at any moment.

"It's finally here. It's been taking too long."

The red-haired rat stared at Chen Lin for a while, stretched, and seemed quite displeased in his tone.

Then it reached out with its claws.

A spirit crystal was grabbed from one side of the wall, tossed high into the air, and caught with its pointed beak, crunching it like an ice cube.

After swallowing.

He shook his head and said, "A spirit just ran away. Did you catch it? Give it to me quickly, or I won't have any strength left."

"Damn it."

"I was only asleep for a short while when the spirit crystals started to materialize. I didn't manage to catch a single one. Luckily, I set up a defensive barrier, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to see me."

Chen Lin listened to the red-haired rat's words, but he couldn't understand the situation for a moment, so he didn't give a random answer.

of course.

It's even more impossible for someone to give their innate spiritual infant to the other party.

"You didn't catch him?"

The red-haired mouse glared with its two beady eyes.

"You can't even catch a nascent spirit infant, what are you doing here? I don't care about useless trash!"

Chen Lin's heart skipped a beat.

The other person must have thought he was someone important, which is why they said such nonsensical things.

ponder for a moment.

He decided to play along and said, "Something happened outside. The innate spiritual infant was snatched away by a red-eyed demon. I was a step too late, so please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

"Red-eyed demon?"

The red-haired mouse grinned.

"Hmm, that guy was not easy to deal with. I didn't expect it to still be alive. Well, let's just let it go."

After saying that, it hooked its front paw.

"Give me what I want. Let's make this clear beforehand: without the Yunming Flower, I won't light up the zodiac sign for you. This is a transaction."

Chen Lin's eyes flashed.

The fact that the other party requires the Flower of Yunming indicates that their true lifespan is insufficient.

It is highly likely that this was caused by the innate light of the innate spirit infant. The other party was suppressed here, probably because they wanted to use the special ability of the innate spirit infant to slowly wear down the other party to death.

"I do not have Yunming's Flower."

Chen Lin spoke calmly.

"No, what are you doing here? Get out of here!"

The red-haired rat's expression immediately changed, and it glared angrily at Chen Lin.

Chen Lin didn't care.

Raised eyebrows.

He added, "Although I don't have the Flower of Yunming, I have a way to restore your innate lifespan. However, if you want me to help you, you not only have to help me light up the Zodiac Chart, but you also have to tell me all the secrets about the Zodiac Chart."

"Can you restore your innate lifespan?"

The red-haired mouse's eyes darted around, looking completely unconvinced.

But immediately.

Then he remembered something.

He exclaimed in surprise, "You obtained the Mirror of Immortality, didn't you?"

Chen Lin suddenly realized.

It turns out that the mirror was called the Mirror of Longevity. The name was quite fitting. Only by increasing one's true lifespan indefinitely can one be considered to have achieved longevity. No matter how long one's lifespan is acquired, if one's true lifespan is insufficient, one will still die when one's lifespan ends.

In contrast, techniques like the Yin-Yang Lotus Secret Realm and Gu Siming's Life-Counting Secret Technique can target and attack one's true lifespan.

"Did you get it or not? Tell me now!"

The red-haired rat was extremely anxious and yelled at Chen Lin.

Chen Lin nodded.

He replied with a platitude, "Indeed, the Mirror of Longevity is in my hands. If Your Majesty wishes to use it, please explain the secrets of the Zodiac Chart in detail first."

"Hahaha!"

Upon hearing Chen Lin's answer, the red-haired mouse jumped up and down excitedly.

"Heaven truly has eyes! The fact that you were able to obtain the Longevity Mirror means that my life is not meant to end. The Linglong Sect has been destroyed for nearly ten thousand years, and the time mark on the Longevity Mirror has long since reached the hundred-year limit. Quickly, bring it here for me to use!"

Chen Lin remained expressionless.

He was secretly delighted.

Whether it was because this red-haired rat had been trapped for too long or was simply simple-minded, it could glean a lot of useful information from just a few words of conversation.

The pits and dents on the mirror of immortality are called time spots, which need time to accumulate.

As for the 100-year upper limit.

It should only increase the user's actual lifespan by a maximum of one hundred years.

In that case, the energy he absorbed before should have increased his lifespan by twenty to thirty years. The rest was absorbed by Qin Yueying, which explains why she looks so much younger.

"What are you doing? Didn't you hear what I said?!"

Seeing that Chen Lin remained motionless, the red-haired rat's tone turned cold, and a dangerous aura emanated from his body.

Chen Lin didn't care.

He still held the bone fragment in his hand, looking at the other person calmly.

He is currently only in the form of a true soul, so even if he is destroyed, he will not truly die.

At most, the soul will be severely damaged.

Furthermore, even in his soul form, he can still activate the dantian runes and bone fragments, as well as divine abilities such as the Soul-Destroying Finger. If it really comes down to a fight, he is not afraid of his opponent.

"Humph!"

The red-haired rat snorted and dissipated its aura.

He gave Chen Lin a deep look.

He said calmly, "Weren't you sent by that woman? How come you don't know the zodiac chart? Aren't you one of her people?"

"No."

Chen Lin only replied with two words.

Actually, he wasn't interested in any zodiac animal charts. Knowing them was fine, not knowing them didn't matter. What he was more concerned about was whether there would be any more innate spirit infants here.

If we could capture one or two more innate spirit infants, we might be able to glimpse the mysteries of the Wheel Realm.

The chances of completing the mission have greatly increased.

"Not that woman?"

The red-haired rat sized up Chen Lin.

He asked in confusion, "Your body is very strange. It has no flesh and blood, only a soul. Are you a soul cultivator? But why is there an energy in it that even I can't see through?"

Chen Lin's heart skipped a beat.

The energy the other party was referring to should be the dantian runes.

This provided him with another piece of information.

The dantian runes are of an extremely high level, and cannot be seen through unless one has a method of the same level.

"My situation is unimportant and irrelevant to our transaction. If you want to use the Longevity Mirror, tell me the secret of the Zodiac Chart. I'll see if it's worth it before deciding whether to let you use it."

"Ok."

The red-haired mouse stretched again.

He said nonchalantly, "The zodiac chart is actually just a map. By following this map, you can enter a peculiar place and obtain unimaginable opportunities."

"What chance?"

Chen Lin immediately pressed for more information.

"It's hard to say."

The red-haired rat shook its head: "Who can explain the nature of chance? But there was a person who went there once, and not long after he came out, he became a legendary figure."

"What was his name again?"

"correct."

"Call him Shadow Scholar." (End of Chapter)