Seeking immortality begins with daily intelligence reports.

This jade slip contains a map.

The distribution of many spiritual plants and monsters is marked above.

Li Shen glanced at it only once, and his heart stirred slightly.

This map was personally drawn by Mo Shouyi after he entered the secret realm. The brushstrokes are delicate and the markings are detailed, showing that he put a lot of effort into it.

But when he thought about the current state of this secret realm, his initial interest vanished instantly.

These days, this map is no different from a piece of waste paper.

Even if those spiritual plants were still there, they would most likely be withered grass now.

The risks are high and the returns are low; it's simply not worth the effort to verify everything.

As for the demonic beasts, if any of them survive, they must be beings that I cannot afford to offend.

We would rather avoid them than provoke them.

Li Shen withdrew his divine sense, put away the jade slip, and got up to head to the next map node.

They traveled cautiously, groping their way forward for seven days.

He found a flat-topped boulder with a wide view.

He sat cross-legged, replenishing his physical and spiritual energy while referring to the map to determine if he was heading in the right direction and how far he still had to go.

After gazing into the distance, Li Shen made up his mind.

At that moment, lines of text automatically appeared before my eyes.

[Fifty miles ahead, in the stone forest, lies a maze formation called the Mist-Concealed Mind Formation. This formation has the effect of bewitching the mind. Although its effectiveness has diminished over time, once trapped, breaking free is extremely difficult. The core of the formation lies beneath the third boulder on the left.]

After Li Shen finished reading, his heart skipped a beat, and his gaze instinctively drifted forward.

Because he was standing high enough, Li Shen could still see a stone forest of similar height.

This should be the stone forest mentioned in the intelligence, and this stone forest is the third node on my journey.

"The 'Mist Concealing Mind Formation'—the intelligence didn't specify its level, but judging from the name and its imposing presence, it's probably quite powerful. Although the method to break it has been provided, and it's not particularly dangerous, there's always a chance of something going wrong. Should we consider another approach?"

Li Shen pondered in a low voice.

After sitting cross-legged and pondering for a long time, he finally decided to keep things as they were.

This route was the fastest way to reach Xuanshan, which he determined after careful consideration.

Changing routes midway will inevitably waste a lot of time.

Moreover, we've encountered quite a few things along the way.

Even if you bypass this place, the other roads may not be much safer.

Besides, since he already knew the location of the array's core, he could break the array by releasing the Soul-Devouring Ants without having to risk his life.

Furthermore, this formation is inherently a trapping formation, and those who set it up were mostly trying to prevent others from approaching the suspended mountain. In that case, anyone or any demon beast that gets close could become a target.

The only thing to do right now is to avoid entering the fray.

After thinking it over, Li Shen got up, dusted off his backside, smiled slightly, and continued to move forward methodically with a glint in his eyes.

After two and a half hours of careful travel, the stone forest came into view.

Li Shen stopped and looked up, slightly startled.

Previously, when looking out from the flat-topped boulder, the stone forest looked like a cluster of gray-white stone pillars, densely packed on the ground. Although it was not small, it was not particularly amazing.

But when you actually get up close, you'll feel the awe.

The fog made it difficult for Li Shen to see the top for a while.

However, this one huge rock alone is so large that it would probably take ten or more people to encircle it.

After reflecting on his feelings, Li Shen got down to business.

Walk slowly around the edge of the stone forest, observing as you go, and silently counting the boulders on your left.

Before long, he arrived at the location of the array's core, as indicated by the intelligence.

This boulder is not much different in height from the previous one, only a bit narrower.

Li Shen maintained a safe distance and had no intention of getting closer. Instead, a flash of blue light appeared at his fingertips, and he released the Soul-Devouring Ant swarm.

The dense swarm of spirit-devouring ants swiftly burrowed into the ground with a thought.

Li Shen put two fingers together and moved his lips.

Underground, following the guidance, the antennae of these jet-black ants trembled wildly as they surged forward in a frenzy.

They are naturally quite sensitive to things containing spiritual energy, and in less than a quarter of an hour, they had climbed to the center of the formation.

With his eyes slightly closed, Li Shen quickly formed a rough outline of the array's core in his mind, relying on the connection he had established with the Soul-Devouring Ants.

It was a grayish-white stone, about half a meter wide.

"Click, click..."

Amidst the dense, drizzling sounds of the Soul-Eating Ants gnawing away, the light on the array's eye stone began to flicker violently, its brightness uncertain, as if it were making a final struggle.

But it was ultimately no match for the ant swarm's onslaught, and in just a dozen breaths, the array eye stone completely dimmed.

Almost at the same instant, the previously calm mist around the stone forest suddenly stopped.

Then, as if gripped by an invisible hand, it rolled violently a few times before visibly dissipating.

First, the fog thinned at the edges, and then large swaths of it receded, like the receding tide, revealing the long-hidden true face of the Stone Forest.

The Fog-Concealed Mind Formation is broken!

Li Shen stood beside the boulder, looking at the suddenly open stone forest, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Seemingly thanks to breaking the formation, the mist that had been obstructing divine senses also dissipated.

Since entering the secret realm, the long-lost range of my divine sense has once again become expansive.

The interior of the stone forest appears more spacious than the outside. There are enough passageways between the stone pillars for three or four people to walk side by side.

He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped.

There were about a dozen corpses lying in front of them, some of them from demonic beasts and others from humans.

Judging from its appearance, it had been dead for many years; its soul and flesh were long gone, leaving only bare white bones.

Li Shen cautiously approached, examined the area, and then shook his head.

The essence within the bones had long since dissipated, leaving only wisps of remnant, making them of little value even for refining weapons.

"What a pity."

Li Shen sighed softly. Although it couldn't be used for refining weapons, it was still barely usable for feeding insects.

Adhering to the principle of making the most of everything, Li Shen released the Soul-Devouring Ants, which swept away all the corpses in the area.

As the ant swarm devoured the prey, Li Shen used his divine sense to probe inside.

Suddenly, he frowned slightly and scoffed inwardly:

"That demoness and the other two black-robed female cultivators are actually here too. Did we save their lives by some twist of fate?"

Just as Li Shen was pondering, he clearly sensed that the other party must have also noticed him and was moving rapidly in his direction.

With his mind racing, Li Shen had no intention of leaving.

We cannot let this life-saving grace of breaking through the formation go to waste.

Once we reach the Hanging Mountain, we might be able to get a few more shares of the treasures.

However, this demoness had previously claimed to be well aware of the dangers within the secret realm. Now, Li Shen couldn't help but wonder whether her statement was true or false, and how much of it was exaggerated.

In a short while, the three figures gradually came into view.

Just as the Soul-Devouring Ants finished devouring their prey, Li Shen recalled the flying ant swarm and then guided the remaining Soul-Devouring Ants to lurk underground in the surrounding area as a precaution.

"Fellow Daoist Luo, I didn't expect to see you here. Did you break this formation?"

Yun Yan's voice remained soft, with a hint of surprise in her tone, as if trying to conceal the probing intent deep within her alluring eyes.

The moment the mist dissipated, she sensed the formation had been broken. When she saw Li Shen standing beside the boulder at the center of the formation, she knew perfectly well that it was him who had done it.

The sword-wielding female cultivator, Qingluo, followed behind, her face still pale, with a faint bloodstain on her neck, her expression complex.

Just now, trapped in the Misty Mind Array, she was almost deceived by the illusion and swung her sword to harm herself. If Yun Yan had not awakened her in time with a secret technique, she would have already become a skeleton in the array.

However, she could never bring herself to thank a rogue cultivator she looked down upon. She could only snort coldly, turn her face away, and still grip her long sword tightly, her defensiveness undiminished.

Although the female cultivator with the gun, Yue Zhu, was also injured and her clothes were covered in dust, her complexion was much better than the former.

Her hand holding the gun drooped slightly, and her beautiful eyes looked Li Shen up and down, as if trying to find out his true cultivation level.

Li Shen took in the three people's reactions, his expression unchanged, as if he had only done a trivial matter, and said in a calm tone:

"I have some knowledge of the Dao of Combat. I passed by this place and saw a large array, so I decided to give it a try. Fortunately, the array has weakened over time and I managed to break it. I never expected that Fellow Daoist Yun and his companions would be trapped inside."