Prehistoric: The female saint Shiji, brilliant and talented

Aside from these items, the rest are just ordinary spirit stones and low-grade materials, completely worthless. If you don't like them, you can throw them away.

He deliberately described the treasures in the ring as ordinary in order to lower Gongsun Linglong's guard—the truly precious array-breaking runes, the Mountain and River Bracelet, and the Dragon Bone Fruits containing the power of the Dragon Vein were all hidden in the storage space deep within his soul. Unless he handed them over voluntarily, no one would be able to detect them.

However, Gongsun Linglong was instantly enraged after hearing these words.

She believed that Shi Ji was deliberately humiliating her, trying to fob her off with a pile of garbage, a powerful figure at the Emperor level.

With a sharp look in her eyes, she strode forward, raised her right foot, and kicked Shi Ji hard in the chest.

"boom--"

A dull thud echoed through the empty forbidden area. Shi Ji's body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the stone wall behind her with a "thud."

He fell to the ground with a thud.

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the ground in front of him red. He felt as if his internal organs had been violently churned, and a displaced pain spread throughout his body. His bones felt like they were about to shatter, and the pain made his vision go black, almost causing him to faint.

"Untouchables! Ants! Lowly creatures!"

Gongsun Linglong stood in front of Shi Ji, hands on her hips, her eyes filled with murderous intent, her voice like a poisoned knife, "How dare you insult this young lady with this trash? Believe me or not, I'll crush your throat right now and leave you with no trace of your body!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Shi Ji struggled to lift her head, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, and said with a bitter smile, "I didn't mean to insult you, I was just telling the truth."

My storage ring only contains these ordinary items. The truly precious treasures were entrusted to my companions for safekeeping, and there's no way I can retrieve them for you now.

He knew that the more he argued, the more likely he would anger Gongsun Linglong. He could only try to go along with her and buy time, waiting for the toxins in his body to gradually subside.

Gongsun Linglong didn't believe his nonsense at all. She sneered and said with icy eyes, "Don't give me this crap!"

I have absolutely no interest in those junk things; what I truly want is the imprint of your soul!

She leaned down, reached out, and gently traced her fingertips across Shi Ji's cheek, her tone tinged with cruelty, "Once I obtain your soul imprint, you will become my puppet. Then all your secrets, and the treasures your companions possess, will all belong to me."

Hearing "soul imprint"

Upon hearing those four words, Shi Ji's face instantly turned incredibly grim.

He knew very well that the soul imprint was the core of a cultivator's soul. Once it was controlled by someone, the cultivator would completely lose their freedom, and their life and death would be entirely at the mercy of that person's will, making them a hundred times more painful than death.

"My soul imprint will never be given to you!"

Shi Ji's voice trembled slightly, but was unusually firm, "Just give up on that idea!"
Even if I'm shattered to pieces and my soul is scattered, I won't let you succeed!

Gongsun Linglong's smile vanished completely, her eyes turning as cold as winter. She straightened up, her tone carrying an undeniable authority: "I see you're really asking for trouble!"
Since you refuse to cooperate, I'll have no choice but to extract it by force!

As soon as she finished speaking, Gongsun Linglong no longer hesitated and strode towards Shiji.

She raised her right hand, and a ball of pale purple spiritual energy condensed in her palm. The spiritual energy contained a rich soul power, like a dancing flame, radiating a chilling aura.

With her movements, a powerful pressure enveloped Shi Ji, making it difficult for him to even breathe, as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest.

As Shi Ji watched Gongsun Linglong approach, his heart filled with fear. He couldn't help but shout, "Don't come any closer!"
Even if I die, I will never let you obtain my soul imprint!

He desperately tried to circulate the remaining spiritual energy in his body to break through the paralysis, but no matter how hard he tried, his body was as if nailed to the ground, unable to move an inch. He could only watch helplessly as Gongsun Linglong's palm struck towards his brow.

Gongsun Linglong moved extremely fast, arriving in front of Shiji in the blink of an eye.

Without hesitation, she slapped the pale purple spiritual energy in her palm toward Shi Ji's brow. The spiritual energy, like a venomous snake, instantly burrowed into Shi Ji's sea of ​​consciousness.

Shi Ji felt a heart-wrenching pain between his eyebrows, as if his soul was being torn apart. Then, Gongsun Linglong's fingers gripped his neck tightly, her nails almost digging into his flesh, making it impossible for him to breathe.

"what--"

Shi Ji let out a shrill scream, her voice filled with pain and despair.

His body thrashed violently, his limbs flailing wildly, trying to break free from Gongsun Linglong's restraints.

However, his power was far too insignificant in front of Gongsun Linglong, who was at the Emperor level. No matter how much he struggled, he could not shake her in the slightest.

Despair washed over her like a tidal wave, and Shi Ji could only slowly close her eyes, awaiting death.

He could clearly feel the force on his neck increasing, and his breathing becoming more and more difficult. His consciousness was like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

Just when he thought he was going to die, the restraints around his neck suddenly disappeared, and the suffocating pressure subsided.

Shi Ji suddenly opened her eyes, panting heavily as she greedily inhaled the fresh air.

He looked up and saw Gongsun Linglong squatting in front of him, poking his chest with her finger, her brows furrowed slightly, muttering, "Huh, this guy seems to be completely dead? How come he doesn't have a breath left?"

It turned out that when Gongsun Linglong saw that Shiji had stopped struggling and was no longer breathing, she thought that she had really strangled him to death.

She stood up and tried to use her soul power to call upon Shi Ji's soul imprint—she had left a faint imprint in Shi Ji's soul when she seized the storage ring, intending to use it to control Shi Ji, but now no matter how she called, she received no response.

"Strange, why did his soul imprint disappear?"

Gongsun Linglong looked puzzled. She squatted down again and probed Shi Ji's corpse with her soul power, searching carefully.

No matter how she searched, she couldn't find any trace of Shi Ji's soul imprint, as if the imprint had never existed. "Where did this guy's soul imprint go?"

Gongsun Linglong stood up and paced back and forth, her brows furrowed as she fell into deep thought. "That's not right. I clearly sensed that his soul imprint was already imprinted on the storage ring, so how could it suddenly disappear? Could I have made a mistake somewhere?"

She suddenly remembered the storage ring on her finger and quickly raised her hand to check it.

But when she scanned the inside of the ring with her divine sense, her expression instantly turned ugly—the ring was empty. The Concentration Pearl, the Xuan Iron Armor, the Qingfeng Longsword, and other items that Shiji had previously stored inside had all vanished without a trace.

"How can this be?"

Gongsun Linglong's face was filled with disbelief. She checked the ring several times to make sure there was nothing inside. "Shiji's storage ring was clearly in my hands. How could the contents have disappeared? Did he use some special method to transfer them?"

Just when she was completely baffled, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her, and a thought crossed her mind: "I understand!"
It must be that mysterious golden bead!

I saw a golden bead in the ring before, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Now that I think about it, that bead was probably no ordinary object. Maybe it was the one that devoured Shiji's soul imprint and transferred the treasures in the ring!

She immediately circulated her spiritual energy to carefully examine her body—since the golden bead could devour soul imprints, it might have already entered her body.

She checked several times from beginning to end, but found nothing unusual about her meridians, dantian, or sea of ​​consciousness. The mysterious golden bead seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving not even a trace of its aura.

Gongsun Linglong frowned, her doubts growing: "What exactly is going on? Was everything that just happened an illusion? Could this be the legendary Nightmare Cave?"

She had seen records in the clan's ancient books that the Nightmare Cave could create extremely realistic illusions, making it impossible for people to distinguish between reality and illusion, and even causing them to lose themselves in the illusion.

Do you know this place?

Just as Gongsun Linglong was feeling depressed and confused, a weak voice suddenly came from the ground.

Gongsun Linglong was startled and turned around to look at Shiji. She saw that Shiji had slowly opened her eyes. Although her face was still pale and her breath was very weak, her eyes had regained their clarity, and she was obviously not really dead.

She was still troubled by the golden pearl and the storage ring when she suddenly heard Shi Ji speak, and she couldn't help but show a surprised expression: "You...you're not dead? And you even know about the Nightmare Ghost Cave?"

Shi Ji struggled to sit up from the ground, leaned against the stone wall, took a breath, and said with a bitter smile, "I never thought I would survive."

I was just pretending to faint to see what you were up to, but I never expected you to actually try to kill me.

As for the Nightmare Cave, I only saw a record of it by chance in an ancient book; I never imagined it actually existed.

Gongsun Linglong stared at Shi Ji for a long time, seemingly trying to confirm whether what he said was true or false.

After a moment, she slowly spoke, her tone tinged with complexity: "This is indeed not the Nightmare Ghost Cave, but the ancestral land of our Nightmare Demon Butterfly clan."

This ancestral land was created by our clan leader with his life's work; outsiders are strictly forbidden from entering except for core members of the clan.

"What? This is the ancestral home of the Nightmare Butterfly Clan?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Ji was stunned into silence. He never imagined that he would accidentally enter the ancestral land of the Nightmare Butterfly Clan.

It should be noted that the Nightmare Butterfly Clan is a powerful clan that existed in ancient times, possessing terrifying strength. Ordinary cultivators do not even have the courage to approach their clan's territory.

He looked down at his body. Although he was seriously injured and his chest was still aching, at least he hadn't lost his life.

Thinking of this, Shi Ji secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and a sense of relief rose in her heart—if she had fallen into the hands of other powerful figures, she would probably have been torn to pieces long ago. Being able to enter the ancestral land of the Nightmare Demon Butterfly Clan could be considered a blessing in disguise.

Seeing Shi Ji's shocked expression, Gongsun Linglong smiled smugly and said with a hint of arrogance, "Not bad!"
This is indeed the ancestral home of our Nightmare Butterfly clan.

It's your luck that you've come this far; otherwise, you would have perished long ago, and my soul imprint would have been completely erased.

Now, you'd better cooperate and take out the real treasures from your storage ring. Those things are enough to make up for your previous disrespect!

Shi Ji's heart skipped a beat, realizing that Gongsun Linglong must have discovered that the items in the storage ring were missing, which was why she said that.

He hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "I can give you some things as compensation, but the rest are very important to me, and I hope you can return them to me."

He knew that he was currently outmatched and could only compromise for the time being, waiting for the opportunity to reclaim what belonged to him in the future.

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Linglong curled her lip in disdain. She stretched out her arms, slightly raised her chin, and adopted an arrogant demeanor, her tone carrying an undeniable authority: "Do you think you have the right to bargain? Quickly take out all your treasures, or I won't hesitate to take action against you again!"

This woman had a completely arrogant and domineering attitude, and didn't take Shi Ji seriously at all.

Shi Ji clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost dug into his palms. He suppressed his anger and said through gritted teeth, "Fine, fine, I'll give it to you!"

After saying that, he closed his eyes, circulated his soul power, and took out one treasure after another from the storage space deep in his soul—these treasures were precious items he had collected over the years, but now he had to reluctantly part with them.

The first treasure was a palm-sized bronze mirror with a faint silver sheen and intricate runes engraved on it. It was a top-tier innate treasure, the "Demon-Revealing Mirror," capable of revealing the true forms of all evil spirits.

When Gongsun Linglong saw the demon-revealing mirror, her eyes lit up instantly, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

Immediately afterwards, Shi Ji took out a long spear that was entirely crimson, with raging flames swirling around its body and radiating a scorching aura; it was the innate treasure "Burning Heaven Spear"; a golden jade pendant that could automatically protect its owner; it was the innate treasure "Diamond Pendant"; and a pair of black boots that could increase speed; they were the innate treasure "Wind Chasing Boots"...

With each treasure she took out, Gongsun Linglong's expression changed, from initial surprise to shock, and finally to disbelief.

When Shi Ji took out the tenth treasure, Gongsun Linglong was completely stunned—seven of these ten treasures were top-tier innate treasures, and the other three were rare immortal weapons!
It should be noted that Gongsun Linglong, as a core member of the Nightmare Butterfly Clan, only had eight immortal weapons in her storage ring, and their quality was far inferior to the three that Shiji had taken out.

These celestial weapons possessed terrifying power; even a powerhouse at the Emperor level would need to expend tremendous effort to activate them. Gongsun Linglong gazed at these weapons with eyes full of greed and desire, wishing she could immediately possess them. (End of Chapter)