A mortal cultivating immortality can nurture spirit beasts.

Lin He and his two companions made no attempt to conceal their presence. The three Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators in front of them immediately felt like they were being pricked by thorns. Just as Lin He had predicted, they began to use various methods and secret techniques to sense the location of their fellow disciples.

Soon, three teams of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators arrived to provide support, bringing the total to thirteen people including these three.

With the help of these ten people, the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator finally breathed a sigh of relief. He stopped running away and instead gathered everyone together, looking at Lin He.

"Kid, you can't use your Core Formation clone or your Core Formation puppet here. How are you going to fight against more than a dozen of us?"

Lin He and his two companions stopped. Seeing the overwhelming numbers of the other side, Yan Ruyan was somewhat worried. Yin Xue'er, however, had witnessed Lin He's abilities and wasn't as concerned. She looked at Lin He and asked...

"Senior Brother Lin, it seems the other side anticipated this situation. What are your plans?"

"What do you want to do?" Lin He snorted coldly, casually taking out a spirit beast pouch. Ape One immediately appeared in front of everyone.

"Kill them!"

"Yes, Master!"

Seeing the ape charging towards them, the leading late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator quickly warned them.

"Everyone be careful, that's a level four spirit beast!"

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than Yuan Yi appeared in front of him, wielding the Panlong Staff and unleashing an astonishing force.

The late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was taken aback and quickly took out a tortoise shell magic artifact to defend himself. This was a top-grade magic artifact of excellent quality that had saved him many times in the past and was the source of his confidence.

However, the next moment, the Panlong Staff struck the tortoise shell artifact, and it was as if it were made of paper. The iron staff smashed a large hole in it, and the iron staff continued to smash down from the hole. The cultivator screamed and was hit on the top of his head by the staff, and died on the spot.

Ape One's ferocious performance terrified the other Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators, and some of the more astute ones even began to consider fleeing.

However, at that moment, more than a dozen giant ape puppets surrounded them, emitting beams of energy of various colors, forcing them all back.

With the assistance of more than a dozen giant ape puppets, Yuan Yi was like a war god. Its physical strength was so great that it could even fight against early-stage Core Formation cultivators. Against this group of Foundation Establishment cultivators, it was a one-sided massacre. Soon, all twelve cultivators fell, leaving only one mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. With Lin He deliberately holding back, he broke through the giant ape puppets' defenses and fled in panic.

Yan Ruyan looked at Yuan Yi with some surprise. She had seen Yuan Yi during the battle of Yan Family Fortress. She did not expect that after several years, Yuan Yi's strength had reached such a terrifying level. He was probably not much weaker than an ordinary level 5 demon beast.

Yin Xue'er wasn't surprised, after all, the previous thirty-odd beauty trees had been dealt with by Yuan Yi, so killing these dozen or so Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators was naturally a piece of cake.

Lin He examined the twelve storage bags, shook his head, and said, "No tokens. It seems they're in the hands of other Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators. We'll continue to follow him."

Yin Xue'er was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, while Yan Ruyan was completely confused. However, Lin He didn't offer any explanation. Instead, he asked a question that seemed unintentional.

"Miss Yan, you possess a Heavenly Spiritual Root, so you should have no bottleneck in forming your Core. Why risk coming here?"

"I..." Yan Ruyan sighed, and as she walked, she recounted the story of the Yan family.

It turns out that since the battle of Yan Family Fortress, the Yan family has completely offended the Ghost Spirit Sect. Many of their businesses, such as restaurants, casinos, and shops, have been attacked by Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators, resulting in a sharp decline in profits. Several of Yan Ruyan's uncles and aunts have died as a result.

When the Yan family moved, they entered the territory of the Hidden Moon Sect. The resources there had already been divided up by various families. The Yan family's sudden arrival, wanting a share of the pie, caused conflicts with several local cultivation families. Instead of increasing their profits, they lost a lot of money.

The Yan family is the number one cultivation family in the Yue Kingdom. They are used to a life of wealth, but because their profits have declined sharply, the Yan family patriarch decided to cut spending and reduce the supply of cultivation resources. This has become unbearable for the Yan family cultivators.

Some people began to believe that if Yan Ruyan hadn't killed Wang Chan, they wouldn't be in this situation now. Moreover, although the Yan family patriarch reduced everyone's benefits, Yan Ruyan's benefits not only didn't decrease but actually increased. This incident became the fuse that almost triggered an internal strife, ultimately forcing the Yan family patriarch to reduce Yan Ruyan's benefits in order to quell the matter.

However, the internal conflicts did not resolve themselves; instead, they deepened. Yan Ruyan had no choice but to request a reduction in her treatment and retreat to the Hidden Moon Sect for secluded cultivation.

After hearing all this, Lin He thought of a question and then asked,

"It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality! By the way, I heard that you later became a disciple of Senior Nangong. Didn't she intervene?"

Yan Ruyan quickly replied, "My master is very good to me. If it weren't for her mediation, our Yan family would have had a hard time gaining a foothold there. Those other cultivation families only agreed to give up a piece of land to our Yan family because of my master."

Lin He nodded, then asked another question.

"Miss Yan, you've said so much, but you still haven't told me why you came here?"

"This... it was the Ancestor who told me that there were Spirit Ascension Pills here, which is why I risked coming here."

Yan Ruyan thought about it and finally decided to speak up, since it would probably be difficult for her to obtain the Spirit Ascension Pill on her own.

"A Spirit Ascension Pill?" Lin He asked in surprise, "The one that can instantly increase a Foundation Establishment cultivator's cultivation level by a small realm?"

Yan Ruyan nodded, while Yin Xueer on the other side frowned, as if she had encountered something troubling her.

Her expression, of course, did not escape Lin He's notice. He subconsciously asked, "You said you wanted me to find something, it wasn't this Spirit Ascension Pill, was it?"

Yin Xue'er sighed, finally nodded, and added, "It's not that I need it. Even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator cannot advance to the Core Formation stage by taking the Spirit Ascension Pill. It's that Miss Xuan'er needs it."

Lin He felt a headache upon hearing this. One was Yan Ruyan, Nangong Wan's apprentice, and the other was Dong Xuan'er, the daughter of his senior uncle Hong Fu, who had been very kind to him. If there was only one Spirit Ascension Pill, who should he give it to?

Yan Ruyan had also heard about Dong Xuan'er's situation, and upon hearing this, she frowned.

The atmosphere was somewhat somber, and none of them spoke again as they arrived at a cave.

The mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator immediately cried for help upon arriving at the scene.

"Senior Brother Zhong, please save me!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yuan Yi drew his Panlong Staff and swung it down, finishing the task in one blow.

Without hesitation, Lin He and his companions entered the cave and soon encountered a group of twelve Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators in an open area.

All twelve people were kept outside the door, where a puppet dressed as a samurai stood guard.

The Ghost Spirit Sect members were greatly surprised to see Lin He, and their faces turned wary. The leader, a man surnamed Zhong, exclaimed, "It's you!"

Lin He glanced at him casually, then his gaze fell on the warrior puppet, his eyes burning with desire.

"A puppet in the early stage of Core Formation!"