Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

A chilling wind, carrying a biting cold, blew out from the depths of the abandoned mine, rustling the weeds at the entrance.

Xia Dong stopped and turned to Qin Wan beside him, earnestly instructing her, "Wan'er, I'm going to cultivate inside now. I'll leave the rest to you."

Qin Wan nodded slightly, her beautiful face full of solemnity: "Brother Xia, please rest assured."

She has issued a strict order in her capacity as the manager of the Yinling Mine to seal off this area.

"Thank you for your trouble." Xia Dong cupped his hands in greeting, turned his back to Qin Wan, and then turned around without hesitation, stepping into the dark and deep abandoned mine.

As soon as you step into the cave, the light is quickly swallowed by darkness, and wisps of cold, damp vapor seep from the surrounding pitted rock walls.

Xia Dong's main purpose for this trip was to condense the rune seed, but he did not rush to begin his seclusion.

He slowed down at the beginning of the mine tunnel and carefully explored the area. Soon he arrived at a relatively dry, slightly elevated rock depression not far from the entrance.

He had already scouted this location beforehand, but he still needed to confirm the surrounding environment once more.

This location not only offers a wide view of the mine tunnels ahead and behind, but also has a solid, dead-end rock wall behind it, making it an excellent defensive stronghold.

After pinpointing the location, Xia Dong took out a gray porcelain bottle from his storage bag.

He uncorked the cork and, along the edge of the rock's depression, evenly sprinkled a pungent, grayish-white powder, circling it into a closed ring. This was his specially made insect repellent powder.

In these dark and damp underground abandoned mines, there may often be various venomous insects and miasma that prefer shade. With this layer of targeted spiritual powder protection, one can be free from the worry of being disturbed by venomous insects when practicing martial arts.

After setting up the outer defenses, Xia Dong closed his eyes and let his powerful spiritual sense, at the fifth level of Qi Refining, spread like ripples along the winding mine tunnel into the depths.

He held his breath and focused intently, carefully observing every unusual detail in the environment.

After a full incense stick's time had passed, the information fed back by the divine sense showed that, apart from the increasingly dense Yin energy as one went deeper, the mine was eerily quiet, with no strange noises whatsoever.

Those legendary, extremely ferocious ghosts and spirits seem to be lying dormant deep within the source of the Yin energy, showing no signs of emerging.

Having confirmed that the danger deep inside would not affect this place for the time being, Xia Dong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He unfastened his outer robe and carefully examined the black serpent inner armor he wore close to his skin.

This piece of armor, crafted by the artificer Madam Xu herself, gleamed with an unbreakable, cold light in the dim light.

He tentatively injected a wisp of the same Xuan Yin magic power into it, and a layer of ever-flowing protective light immediately appeared on the surface of the inner armor, blocking all the cold Yin energy that tried to invade the body.

After confirming that the protective gear was intact and that several life-saving talismans were placed in the most convenient position, Xia Dong sat down cross-legged in the center of the circle formed by the insect repellent powder.

He closed his eyes slowly and began to circulate the magic power within his body.

With his chest rising and falling rhythmically, he gradually regulated his breathing, suppressing his blood and heartbeat to the most stable and tranquil state.

With everything prepared, Xia Dong remained calm and patiently awaited the arrival of midnight.

That was the moment when the yang energy in the world had almost completely dissipated and the yin energy had reached its peak. It was also the best opportunity for him to take advantage of this location to condense the seed of the Taiping Yin Fu Jing in one fell swoop.

...

...

As night fell, the Yinling Mine was utterly silent, save for the occasional gusts of eerie wind that seemed to howl.

Holding her magic sword, Qin Wan cautiously patrolled the perimeter of the abandoned mine, her divine sense constantly monitoring the surrounding activity.

Just then, three ghostly black figures silently crept up to the vicinity of the mine.

One of them took out a palm-sized array plate from his sleeve, quickly pressed it to the ground, and cast a spell.

hum.

A layer of transparent ripples instantly spread out, like an inverted large bowl, covering the area within a radius of several dozen feet around the mine entrance.

This is a special illusion array plate used to isolate auras. Once successfully set up, as long as outsiders do not get close, from a distance, this place will still appear as a desolate ruin, and no one will be able to detect the spiritual energy fluctuations and sounds of battle that are about to erupt inside.

They planned to trap them like turtles in a jar.

As soon as the formation was completed, the two dark figures no longer concealed themselves and pounced on Qin Wan from the left and right like arrows released from a bow.

Two poisoned magical artifacts, glowing with a faint green light, aimed straight for her vital points, releasing their spiritual pressure without reservation—both were at the mid-stage of Qi Refining!

Faced with the sudden life-or-death assassination attempt, Qin Wan was terrified, but the evil energy she had been tempered in the Yinling Mine during this period had made her much more perceptive. She immediately reacted almost instinctively, patting the jade pendant at her waist.

A thick, light blue shield instantly lit up, accompanied by two muffled clangs, steadily blocking the two people's magical weapon thrusts.

At the same time, Qin Wan quickly formed hand seals with her left hand, instantly revealing the domineering power of her lightning magic.

Crack!

Several blinding blue arcs of electricity leaped in her palm, then transformed into two swift bolts of lightning that struck the attacker.

The power of lightning is naturally effective against Yin Sha and demonic cultivators. The two assassins' expressions changed drastically, and they hurriedly withdrew their attacks and retreated, but they were still grazed by the lightning, which made half of their bodies numb and their blood surge.

After forcing the two back, Qin Wan did not press her advantage. Instead, she quickly retreated half a step and blocked the entrance to the abandoned mine.

She knew very well that Xia Dong was in seclusion inside, cultivating martial arts techniques. If he were interrupted by the fighting, he would very likely suffer a qi deviation.

She must guard the entrance to the cave.

Qin Wan fought against two opponents alone, and with her fierce lightning magic and exquisite sword moves, she temporarily stabilized her position.

The flashes of electricity illuminated the dimly lit exterior of the mine.

However, the assassin was clearly prepared, and the real killing move was hidden in the shadows.

In the fierce battle, Qin Wan unleashed a powerful "Lightning Strike" spell that consumed a great deal of magical energy in order to completely force the two back.

The thick bolt of lightning blasted the two people in front of them back several feet again.

Just as her old strength was exhausted and her new strength had not yet been generated, and her chest rose and fell slightly as she took a breath, she was in a vulnerable moment!

The third assassin, who had been lurking in the shadows of the rocks on the right, finally revealed his fangs.

This assassin, skilled in stealth, slithered out silently like a venomous snake. With a flick of his wrist, a jet-black "Demon-Binding Rope" shot out from an extremely tricky blind spot, like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair.

Snapped!

Because the angle was too tricky and the timing too ruthless, Qin Wan's protective aura, which had already been greatly depleted in the previous battle and was dim in light, was instantly shattered by this specially made magical rope.

The Shadow Binding Rope, as if it were alive, tightly wrapped around Qin Wan's waist and right arm.

The spikes on the rope not only pierced her robes, but the potent paralyzing poison applied to them also immediately seeped into her body through her bloodstream.

Qin Wan felt half of her body suddenly stiffen, and the magical power that was surging in her meridians instantly stagnated. Even the hand that was raising the magic sword felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

The lightning flickered twice in her palm before extinguishing weakly.

Her body went limp, and she collapsed to her knees on one knee, only able to support herself with her sword.

"Father, Mother, I'm going to die."

Qin Wan felt a wave of despair wash over her.