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Chen Ye opened his palm, and there lay the warm and smooth spirit-gathering jade pendant, with the nine-tailed light fox inside slowly swimming around, radiating a gentle yet powerful life force.

He let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes showing both excitement and a hint of solemnity.

"It's done... but the commotion is too great, and the trouble may have only just begun." He looked at the Light Spirit Orb and said in a low voice, "I need to help it stabilize its origin and establish an initial connection as soon as possible."

This trip to Lingxu Cave was incredibly rewarding, but it also brought about unforeseen and unpredictable complications.

Chen Ye ran his fingertips along the smooth surface of the Spirit-Gathering Jade Pendant, the nine-tailed fox mark gleaming warmly in his palm.

Each movement of the illusory fox emanated wisps of pale golden life force, seeping into the depths of his meridians like the warm spring sun melting snow.

The hidden injuries left by the forceful breaking of the Lingxu Cave's restrictions are healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Such pure primordial power..." Chen Ye's heart stirred.

This is no ordinary healing aura, but the breath of creation that touches upon the laws of life!

No wonder when the Light Spirit Pearl floated above the jade pendant, fine, thirsty lines appeared on its surface, like parched land yearning for rain.

The signs of trouble came sooner than expected.

Just as Chen Ye was concentrating on activating his spiritual power, attempting to probe a wisp of his divine sense into the jade pendant to communicate with the light fox mark, the rock walls on all sides of the desolate valley suddenly emitted a buzzing sound!

Countless poisonous insects and demonic ants lurking in the crevices of the rocks surged out wildly, yet dared not approach within ten feet of him, only circling and screeching anxiously; above his head, a flock of demonic birds gathered in the dark sky, their sharp cries tearing through the clouds.

The entire desolate valley was suddenly stirred to life like boiling oil dripping from a trace of life leaking from the Light Spirit Orb!
"Damn it!" Chen Ye gripped the Light Spirit Pearl tightly, instantly pushing the Flowing Light Escape Technique to its limit. "I didn't expect capturing this nine-tailed fox to cause such a commotion. This is really troublesome!"

The life fluctuations unconsciously emitted by the Light Fox Mark were like a blessing from heaven to the dying land.

As Chen Ye sped along, he witnessed firsthand the sprouting of green shoots from the cracked, scorched earth, and the new branches emerging from ancient trees that had been dead for a hundred years. This was a miracle, yet it became the most striking guiding light.

Chen Ye pointed his fingers like a sword, and a black iron array plate at his waist suddenly exploded.

"Buzz!"

The soft light spread out like ripples.

Chen Ye stroked the smooth surface of the Spirit-Gathering Jade Pendant with his fingertips. The wandering nine-tailed fox mark emanated a reassuring warmth, dispelling the lingering chill deep within the Spirit Void Cave.

It is like a concentrated burst of starlight, slowly flowing within the jade disc. Every subtle ripple exudes a gentle yet powerful vitality, like the ocean tide.

This power silently seeped into his weary meridians, repairing the subtle, hidden injuries left when he forcibly broke through the cave's restrictions, like spring rain nourishing parched land.

“It’s done…” Chen Ye repeated in a low voice, his gaze falling on the light spirit orb floating in his other hand.

The bead's radiance was now restrained, yet it resonated inexplicably with the luminous fox mark within the jade pendant, emanating a similar, soul-stirring primal aura.

This gain far exceeded expectations—the Light Spirit Pearl was the original target, but the Nine-Tailed Light Fox Mark that was unexpectedly captured in the Jade Pendant contained such pure and rich essence of life that it was simply unheard of.

However, the excitement lasted only a moment before being replaced by a deep sense of solemnity.

"But if we make too much noise, the trouble may have only just begun."

Chen Ye looked around.

The core area of ​​Lingxu Cave was originally a desolate and cold ancient ice cave. Now, on the hard ice surface, green moss is silently growing and spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The tips of the icicles hanging from the cave ceiling condense into dewdrops full of vitality. When they fall to the ground, they spread out in a small circle of lush greenery.

This is no ordinary phenomenon created by spiritual power; it is the unconscious leakage of the power of the origin of life that forcibly altered the rules of this place!
What made him even more uneasy was that his keen divine sense detected countless probing divine thoughts of varying strengths emanating from the outer restrictions of the cave.

Like a bright light suddenly illuminating a dark forest, it attracted the attention of all lurking predators.

A strange change suddenly occurred in Lingxu Cave!
That burst of life force, which then subsided and lingered for a long time, was like a boulder thrown into a still lake, the ripples spreading to an unimaginable extent.

An ancient cave dwelling has emerged? A world-shaking treasure has been born?
Regardless of the speculation, it's enough to make cultivators within a radius of tens of thousands of miles flock to it, resorting to any means necessary.

"We cannot stay here any longer!"

Chen Ye made a decisive decision.

He carefully brought the Light Spirit Orb close to the Spirit-Gathering Jade Pendant.

The bead flashed with light, actively drawing upon the light fox imprint within the jade pendant. The connection between the two seemed to strengthen, and the leaking life force subsided considerably, causing the rampant moss on the ground to cease its expansion.

This confirmed his idea.

The Light Spirit Orb is indeed the key to stabilizing and guiding this primordial power.

He quickly put away the two treasures, his figure transforming into a streak of light that almost blended into the shadows, and fled towards the most hidden abandoned mine tunnel in Lingxu Cave.

This passage is mostly collapsed, filled with broken ancient restrictions, and its chaotic and mixed aura makes it the best path to confuse tracking.

He dared not linger for a moment, his sword pointing rapidly, the Gengjin sword energy slicing and shredding the withered vines and poisonous insects blocking his way, while simultaneously summoning an ancient "concealment talisman" obtained from the cave.

The talisman burned, emitting fluctuations that confused space and aura, temporarily concealing his movements and allowing him to squeeze out with difficulty from a crack that was almost blocked by rubble.

Resurrected, but fraught with danger.

Finally, we left the oppressive mine tunnel and were greeted by a desolate valley of rubble.

However, this openness did not bring any sense of security.

In the sky, several streaks of light streaked across like shooting stars, falling straight towards the entrance of Lingxu Cave, their powerful divine senses sweeping across every inch of the land below without restraint.

Further away, even more streaks of light were converging on this place. The entire Lingxu Cave area had become the eye of the storm!
Chen Ye suppressed his aura to the lowest level, moving like an ordinary rock, close to the shadow of the rock wall.

He must get away from the center of the vortex and find an absolutely safe place that can isolate him from all detection in order to proceed with the next crucial step: "stabilizing the source."

Just then, a sense of foreboding suddenly arose in his mind!

Without hesitation, he suddenly lunged to the side.

laugh--!
A nearly transparent, dark green water arrow silently grazed the spot where he had just stood and struck the massive rock behind him. The hard rock instantly hissed and melted at a visible speed, collapsing and leaving a deep crater emitting blue smoke!
"The reaction wasn't slow." A cold, hoarse voice came from above. On the cliff face on one side of the valley, a huge, green-eyed poisonous toad was coiled up.

Its entire body is a rock-like grayish-brown, blending perfectly with the environment. Its two emerald green eyes gleam with greed and cruelty as they stare intently at Chen Ye—or rather, at the Spirit-Gathering Jade Pendant in his arms, which cannot completely isolate its primordial aura.

"Hand over the Light Spirit Pearl, and I might spare you!" The poisonous toad spoke in a human voice, its tone like sandpaper scraping, carrying a nauseating stench. Its bumpy back writhed, and with a series of "puff puff puff," three thicker, faster jets of venomous water shot out, covering all of Chen Ye's dodging space!

At the same time, a long tongue covered in mucus and barbs shot out like lightning and coiled towards his waist and abdomen!
It wasn't attracted by the treasures in the cave, but by the pure life force that Chen Ye was constantly emanating from!

For this monster that has lived in a place of extreme poison and filth for many years, this pure source of life is a unique opportunity for it to break through its shackles and transform from mortal to spiritual!

A fierce glint flashed in Chen Ye's eyes.

He knew that any violent spiritual fluctuations at this moment would reveal his location and attract those even more terrifying beings in the sky.

He suddenly slapped his storage bag at his waist, and a palm-sized bronze round shield covered with cracks flew out, instantly expanding to block in front of him.

puff!puff!puff!
Three muffled thuds followed as three poison water arrows slammed into the shield.

The powerful corrosive force caused the bronze shield's aura to dim rapidly, emitting a painful wail, clearly indicating that it couldn't withstand much longer.

And that disgusting long tongue had already bypassed the shield, bringing a stench to his chest!

At the critical moment, Chen Ye made an extremely bold decision!

He didn't activate any offensive magic weapons or unleash any powerful spells. Instead, he thrust a wisp of his divine sense into the Spirit-Gathering Jade Pendant in his robes, attempting to communicate with that gentle yet vast life essence imprint!

"Help me!" he cried out in his heart.

As if sensing the imminent threat and his strong will, the nine-tailed fox mark in the jade pendant suddenly lit up!
A pure, gentle, yet overwhelming life energy surged forth from the meridians in his arm!

Chen Ye pointed his fingers like a sword, a faint, almost transparent golden halo surrounding his fingertips, and fearlessly pointed at the venomous tongue that was swirling towards him!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling brilliance.

There was only a soft "sizzle" sound, like a hot iron being pressed onto grease.

The incredibly tough, highly venomous toad tongue, upon contact with the golden halo, was like ice and snow thrown into the blazing sun; the point of contact quickly turned black, withered, and decayed!
A thick aura of death spread rapidly upwards along the tongue!
"Croak—!!!"

The green-eyed poisonous toad let out an extremely shrill scream, its whole body trembled violently, and its eyes were filled with unbelievable fear!
It made a decisive move and cut off its own tongue!

The severed half of the tongue had completely turned to ashes before it hit the ground.

After repelling the poisonous toad, the golden life energy did not spread wildly. Instead, it flowed back with extreme precision, enveloping Chen Ye's arm meridians, which had been burning from the forced activation, quickly soothing the discomfort and restoring much of the spiritual energy he had consumed during his escape.

A warning about the miraculous effects and the costs!

The attack was effective, forcing back the late-stage Golden Core demon beast, but the cost was negligible!

The power displayed by this life-originating force far exceeded Chen Ye's expectations—it was not destructive destruction, but absolute control over "life force"!

It can give life to all things, but it can also instantly strip away life, turning everything into death!

This transformation between life and death is an application of the essence of the laws of life, unpredictable and impossible to guard against.

However, a strong sense of weakness followed, not from the depletion of spiritual energy, but from a kind of "deficit" deep in his soul, as if the guidance just now had not only consumed the power of the Light Fox Mark, but also slightly damaged something fundamental about him.

"I see!"

"Forcibly guiding the power of origin consumes... life force and lifespan?" Chen Ye's heart skipped a beat as he understood the profound meaning behind the description of forbidden power in the secret manual.

This power is like a double-edged sword, incredibly powerful, yet it can also devour its master!
The pitiful howls of the blue-eyed poisonous toad undoubtedly revealed its location.

Chen Ye keenly sensed that several powerful divine senses instantly locked onto this inconspicuous valley!

Damn it!

He could no longer care about hiding. He activated his escape light with all his might and fled desperately towards the legendary "Spirit-Severing Wasteland," a place with chaotic space and barren spiritual energy, far away from Lingxu Cave and the gathering of cultivators!
Behind them, a sharp sound of air being torn apart rang out. At least two Golden Core cultivators had been attracted by the Poison Toad's unusual movements and were giving chase!

Further away, it seemed that a Nascent Soul level aura hesitated for a moment before also sending out a wisp of divine sense to probe from afar.

A lone figure in the desolate wilderness seeks refuge.

The desolate wasteland truly lives up to its name.

The land was a barren, dark red gravel, with sparse, charred thorns growing on it. The air was thick with the smell of sulfur and dust, and the spiritual energy was so scarce that it was almost impossible to absorb.

This place is a nightmare for the Sky City, but it has become Chen Ye's only hope at this moment—the harsh environment and chaotic space can interfere with the tracker's consciousness and magic to the greatest extent.

He crashed into a rugged canyon like a falling meteor.

The moment he landed, he quickly set up several layers of concealment arrays and warning restrictions before sliding down to sit with his back against a cold, huge rock, panting heavily.

The Spirit-Gathering Jade Pendant was pressed against his chest. The Light Fox Mark seemed to sense his intense exhaustion and unstable state, and actively emitted gentle life energy to nourish him.

However, Chen Ye could sense that the mark's light was slightly dimmer than it had been in the Spirit Void Cave, and its movement was also somewhat sluggish. Clearly, both the previous leakage and his forced guidance to defend against the enemy had taken a toll on this already unstable primordial mark.

He carefully placed the Light Spirit Orb in front of him, held the Spirit-Gathering Jade in his hands, and slowly closed his eyes.

The powerful divine sense, like the softest silk thread, carefully probed into the jade wall, attempting to touch that gentle source of life.

This time, it wasn't a hasty cry for help, but rather an expression of reassurance and communication:

"Don't be afraid...we'll help you solidify your foundation..."

The moment the divine sense touched the mark of the Light Fox, a vast, warm, yet somewhat confused and helpless feeling returned to it. It was no longer pure energy, but a faint yet real...spirituality!
At the same time, the dormant Light Spirit Pearl seemed to be awakened, suddenly emitting a soft, milky-white halo that enveloped the jade pendant.

Countless runes seemed to be flowing within the bead, creating a strange resonance with some ancient restriction contained within the jade pendant itself.

Chen Ye's divine sense became the bridge connecting the two. He began to try to unravel the vast yet somewhat chaotic life force within the Light Fox Mark, following the extremely obscure and incomplete guidance method transmitted by the Light Spirit Pearl. (End of Chapter)