31: Chapter 31 Breaking the Core Formation, Ancestral Master's Secrets

The gap in the passage was cleared just enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

The cold, sinister aura surging from the gap had almost solidified, carrying an intensely sweet and fishy odor that was sickening.

It was as if aged blood pools had mixed and fermented with ten thousand years of rotten earth, making people want to vomit and causing their spiritual power to stagnate.

Lin Yue raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop. From his Storage Pouch at his waist, he took out several pre-prepared pieces of companion spirit iron raw ore, which were the most abundant in Spiritual Qi, and distributed them to the guards.

"Grasp this stone, circulate your Cultivation Technique, and guide the warm Spiritual Qi within it to protect your heart pulse and Dantian. It can slightly counteract the corrosion of the Spirit-Eroding Evil Power here."

Once the raw ore was in hand, a stable and continuous warmth indeed spread out, like a bonfire on a cold night.

It seeped into the Meridians through the Laogong Acupoint in the palm, slowly circulating and dispelling some of the bone-chilling cold.

Lin Cang held the longsword, which was inscribed with Evil-Breaking Runes, horizontally across his chest. The sword body faintly glowed with a green light, and his Sword Qi was contained but ready.

"I will scout ahead first. Follow sequentially after an interval of three breaths. Keep your Spiritual Senses fully open and do not get distracted."

With that, he crouched down and slipped into the pitch-black gap like a swimming fish. The Protective Spiritual Light of the Foundation Establishment Stage flashed faintly before disappearing into the dense darkness.

Lin Yue followed closely behind.

As soon as he entered the gap, the pressure around him suddenly increased!

It wasn't just the omnipresent cold, Evil Qi; a heavy, filthy "Momentum" also descended, as if the malice of the entire mountain range had settled here.

The light from the special mining lamp in his hand was now compressed to a range of only three feet in front of him, its edges constantly being eroded and twisted by the darkness.

Looking through the dim light, the silver-white luster of bansheng spirit iron was completely absent from the rock walls on both sides.

Instead, there were dense, layered spirit-eroding stones!

These black stones were not embedded like inanimate objects; rather, they seemed to "grow" out of the rock wall like malignant tumors.

The raised, pitch-black patterns on the surface resembled the veins and nerves of a living creature.

Faintly visible within them was a dark red liquid, viscous like plasma, slowly flowing and swelling, emitting strange, evil fluctuations that disturbed the Divine Soul.

"Clan Chief... this rock wall... it seems to be breathing..." Lin Shi's voice came from behind, filled with unconcealed terror.

The beam from the mining lamp in his hand swept across an area dense with spirit-eroding stones, and the raised patterns actually seemed to contract and expand slightly with the movement of the light and shadow!

"Focus your mind and calm your Qi! Do not be disturbed by external evil!" Lin Yue roared in a deep voice, which contained a trace of spirit power capable of clearing the mind and suppressing the Soul, dispelling the illusions of fear growing in everyone's hearts.

The Foundation Establishment spiritual power gathered at his fingertips maintained a stable output, forming a layer of pale golden spiritual shield on his body surface, isolating the cold, Evil Qi attempting to attach and corrode him.

Deep within the passage, besides the suppressed breathing and footsteps of the group, a rhythmic "drip... drip..." sound could be heard.

The sound was not crisp; instead, it was dull and viscous, like thick liquid dripping into a deep pool.

It also resembled the slow, heavy heartbeat and breathing of some massive creature, each beat pounding against the mental defenses of the group.

After carefully advancing about a hundred steps, the narrow, oppressive passage suddenly vanished!

The view suddenly opened up, revealing a natural karst cave that was several times larger than the outer stone chamber they had encountered before!

Countless pitch-black stalactites hung from the ceiling of the cave, dripping dark red Spirit-Eroding Fluid.

In the center of the cavern, a gigantic pitch-Black Stone Pillar, standing over ten zhang tall and resembling a small mountain peak, stood majestically!

The entire stone pillar seemed to be condensed from the purest Spirit-Eroding Evil Power, a terrifying black, and its surface was etched with countless complex, twisted, and nested Evil Runes.

These runes were not static; they slowly writhed and circulated, like the black Meridians of a living creature, and were closely connected to an enormous Formation Plate on the ground.

That Formation Plate was over ten zhang in diameter, deeply carved into the hard rock floor of the cave. The grooves were filled not with ordinary liquid.

Instead, it was a substance called "Spirit-Eroding Marrow," dark red bordering on black, viscous like mercury, and emitting monstrous blood stench and pure Yin Evil!

This Spirit-Eroding Marrow flowed slowly, its radiance restrained, yet it caused every Cultivator who saw it to tremble with deep revulsion in their Soul.

What was most eye-catching and spine-chilling was the stone platform directly in front of the giant black pillar, carved from a single block of Yin-attribute "Cold Nether Stone."

On the platform, an ancient Bronze Coffin lay quietly, covered in verdigris, yet still emitting a heavy pressure and an ominous aura.

The surface of the coffin was covered with the Green Wood Sect's unique evil markings, symbolizing devouring and decay. From the gaps in the coffin lid, wisps of pure, ink-like Yin Evil Black Qi continuously seeped out.

This interwove and resonated with the aura of the Spirit-Eroding Marrow in the Formation Plate below, creating a suffocating atmosphere.

Lin Cang stood several zhang away from the coffin, his expression grim as iron. The longsword in his hand was lowered, but the tip trembled slightly as it pointed toward the coffin, clearly sensing an immense threat.

"Grand Elder, what have you found?" Lin Yue quickly stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the coffin and the Formation Plate, finally resting on the giant Black Stone Pillar, his heart heavy.

"See for yourself." Lin Cang's voice was low. He used the tip of his sword to point vaguely at an inscription on the side wall of the coffin.

Lin Yue focused his gaze and saw that the inscription was carved in ancient Burial Script: "The third Sect Leader of the Green Wood Sect, Mysterious Yin Master, sleeps here."

The residual Yin Soul Power in the handwriting was so potent that even after the passage of time, people dared not look at it for long.

"It seems the Loose Cultivator was not lying; the Green Wood Sect Leader is indeed buried here. But I fear it's not as simple as just 'burial.'" Lin Cang then pointed toward the slowly flowing Spirit-Eroding Marrow.

"This substance is formed after a hundred years of refining by Evil Methods, using massive amounts of spirit-eroding stones and the essence of bansheng spirit iron as a base, supplemented by Yin Evil Earth Veins and the Vital Essence of Living Beings. It's not just the energy source for the Formation; it is 'nourishing' the object inside the coffin, attempting to awaken or transform something!"

Lin Yue approached the edge of the Formation Plate. Even with the companion spirit iron raw ore and his own Spiritual Shield protecting him, he could still feel the terrifying evil power emanating from the Spirit-Eroding Marrow, powerful enough to freeze the Divine Soul and corrode the Spiritual Root.

"No wonder the outer spirit-eroding stones multiply like gangrene. This core formation eye is essentially a massive 'Evil Power Conversion and Breeding Furnace'!"

Before he finished speaking... "Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The sound of rocks cracking, enough to set teeth on edge, suddenly erupted densely from the rock walls all around the cavern!

The next moment, countless black shadows, nearly twice as tall and far more solid than the previous Spirit-Corroding Shadows, broke through the spirit-eroding stone layer covering the rock walls and stepped out!

They were nearly a zhang tall, with clear outlines, and remnants of broken armor and twisted humanoid shapes were faintly visible.

In their hands, they wielded bone-spur-like weapons, several feet long, polished from Spirit-Eroding Black Stones, their tips flashing with a faint green venomous light!

In their hollow eye sockets, two cold clusters of Soul Flames flickered, locking onto the intruders.

More terrifyingly, the evil power fluctuations radiating from their bodies were condensed and violent, and their movements were accompanied by dull, heavy footsteps, clearly indicating they possessed partial physical bodies!

"Spirit-Eroding Guards! They are War Puppets refined by the Green Wood Sect, using Cultivator corpses as embryos, spirit-eroding stones as bone and flesh, and Yin Evil Power as the Soul!"

Lin Cang's expression changed drastically, and his longsword hummed in warning.

"Ancient records state that these creatures possess boundless strength, bodies harder than Refined Iron, and are protected by Spirit-Eroding Evil Power. Ordinary Magical Artifacts can barely harm them, and they feel no pain and will fight endlessly! Everyone, be careful!"

As if to confirm his words, the three Spirit-Eroding Guards in the front let out hoarse, low growls from their throats.

The Soul Flames in their eye sockets flared brightly. They suddenly exerted force, transforming into three black afterimages, rushing forward fiercely, accompanied by a foul wind!

The foremost one thrust its Spirit-Eroding Bone Spur rapidly toward Lin Yue's face. The bone spur tore through the air, bringing with it the sharp sound of a ghostly wail.

The tip of the spur pulsed with a faint glow, drawing in the surrounding Yin Evil to form a spiral Black Energy Force that possessed astonishing power!

Lin Yue dared not meet it head-on. He swiftly executed the Flowing Cloud Steps, his body drifting backward and to the side like willow catkins in the wind.

At the same time, the silver-patterned dagger in his hand traced a sharp silver arc, aiming directly for the wrist joint holding the spur.

“Clang—!”

A deafening explosion of metal and stone colliding rang out!

The silver-patterned dagger precisely struck the black pattern at the Spirit-Eroding Guard's wrist connection, sending up a shower of sparks.

The black pattern dimmed slightly but did not break. Instead, the recoil force left Lin Yue's wrist feeling slightly numb.

The defense of this Spirit-Eroding Guard was indeed far superior to that of the Spirit-Corroding Shadow!

"Attack the weak points where the joints and runes connect! They are not seamless!"

Lin Cang was experienced. He saw the key instantly. The green light emanating from his longsword surged, and his Sword Aegis condensed into substance, executing the move "Green Pine Welcoming Guest."

The sword light split into three points, stabbing with extreme precision toward the three black pattern nodes on another Spirit-Eroding Guard: the knee, the elbow, and the neck!

“Pfft! Crack!”

The knee and elbow were pierced by the Sword Qi as expected, black Qi dissipated, and the Spirit-Eroding Guard's movements instantly froze.

However, the thickest black pattern at the neck was exceptionally tough, and the Sword Qi was stuck after penetrating only half an inch.

Injured, the Spirit-Eroding Guard became even more ferocious. Ignoring the damage to its joints, it swung its bone spur horizontally, forcing Lin Cang to retreat and block with his sword.

The cavern instantly devolved into a chaotic battle!

Dozens of Spirit-Eroding Guards surged in from all directions. Their coordination was not precise, but they excelled in great strength, high defense, and fearlessness of death.

Furthermore, the Spirit-Eroding Bone Spurs in their hands carried potent Spirit-Eroding Evil Poison. Just scratching the Protective Spiritual Light was enough to quickly corrode the Physical Body and spiritual power.

The guards formed a Battle Array, using the companion spirit iron raw ore to stabilize their minds and cooperating with their silver-patterned daggers and spirit river water to defend against the enemy. They could hold on temporarily, but their spiritual power consumption rate was extremely fast.

“Tear!”

A guard was too slow to dodge, and a bone spur grazed his shoulder. His Protective Spiritual Light shattered like paper, and his shoulder immediately burst open, the flesh in the wound rapidly turning black, rotting, and spreading upward!

“Ah!” The guard cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

“Lin Shi! Quickly use the spirit river water to cleanse it, and feed him a heart-clearing pill!” Lin Yue brandished his silver-patterned dagger, forcing back a Spirit-Eroding Guard, and shouted urgently.

Lin Shi rushed over and poured a full half-pouch of spirit river water onto the wound. White smoke hissed up, and the rotten flesh peeled away, but the guard's face was already black, and his aura was weak.

“Clan Chief! There are too many of them! Our spiritual power is being depleted too quickly! We must destroy the core of the formation eye!” Lin Hu swung his saber, knocking down a Spirit-Eroding Guard, but he was also panting heavily, his hand bleeding from the split webbing between his thumb and index finger.

Lin Yue's mind raced as his gaze swept across the battlefield.

He noticed that although these Spirit-Eroding Guards were fierce, their range of activity seemed subtly centered around the gigantic Black Stone Pillar and the Formation Plate.

The closer they got to the Formation Plate, the brighter the black markings on their bodies became, and the faster and stronger their movements were.

“Their power comes from the Formation Plate and that Black Stone Pillar! Lead them away from the Formation Plate's range, or... make the Formation Plate's power backfire on them!” A fierce light flashed in Lin Yue's eyes as he sent a voice transmission to Lin Cang.

Lin Cang understood instantly and announced loudly: “Everyone, heed my command! Fight while retreating, and move toward the southeast corner of the Formation Plate! Lin Hu, keep the injured brothers in the center!”

Following the order, the group consciously began to shift the battle cluster.

Lin Cang and Lin Yue proactively took responsibility for covering the rear and luring the enemies.

Lin Cang changed his sword technique; instead of aiming for kills, he focused on entanglement, luring, and deflecting, his Sword Qi resembling a dense, green net.

He diverted the attacks of several Spirit-Eroding Guards, leading them stumbling toward a groove on the edge of the Formation Plate where the Spirit-Eroding Marrow was relatively turbulent.

One Spirit-Eroding Guard couldn't stop its momentum and stepped violently into the Spirit-Eroding Marrow!

“Hiss—Aooo!!!”

A sharp, non-human shriek suddenly rang out!

The viscous Spirit-Eroding Marrow seemed to possess life and extreme corrosiveness, instantly enveloping the Spirit-Eroding Guard's stone foot. A violent reaction occurred, and black smoke billowed out!

The Spirit-Eroding Guard struggled frantically, trying to pull free, but the Spirit-Eroding Marrow was like a maggot attached to bone, rapidly spreading up its leg and consuming it!

In just two or three breaths, most of the Spirit-Eroding Guard's body melted into the Spirit-Eroding Marrow, and even its flicker of Soul Fire was extinguished, leaving only a wisp of pure Yin Evil to be absorbed by the Formation Plate.

“It works!” Everyone's morale was greatly boosted.

“Force them into the Spirit-Eroding Marrow! Attack the Formation Plate, disrupt the energy, and let them reap what they sow!” Lin Yue ordered, while his own figure moved like lightning, avoiding the main battlefield and rushing straight toward the slowly flowing Formation Plate!

He infused nearly eighty percent of his total spiritual power into the silver-patterned dagger in his hand, causing the blade to burst forth with blinding silver-white brilliance.

Furthermore, a layer of incomparably sharp, pale gold Edge Qi coiled around it. He aimed for a rune node where the Spirit-Eroding Marrow converged and stabbed down fiercely!

“Evil Break!”

“Puff—Boom!!!”

The instant the dagger tip pierced the Spirit-Eroding Marrow, it was as if a volcano had been detonated!

The entire Formation Plate shook violently, and all the runes simultaneously erupted in dazzling, ghastly red evil light!

The Spirit-Eroding Marrow in the groove boiled madly and sputtered like burning asphalt! Hot and sinister Qi waves swept outward!

“Watch out for the spray!” Lin Cang raised a sheet of Sword Aegis to protect the nearby guards.

As for the Spirit-Eroding Guards near the Formation Plate, they suffered greatly.

The boiling, sputtering Spirit-Eroding Marrow fell indiscriminately onto their bodies, immediately resulting in a wave of even more intense and terrifying shrieks and corrosive sounds!

Black smoke rolled, and one Spirit-Eroding Guard after another rapidly melted and disintegrated under the Spirit-Eroding Marrow's backlash, turning into nourishment for the Formation Plate.

However, new Spirit-Eroding Guards were still slowly “birthing” from within the rock wall, struggling to emerge, though their speed was much slower.

“Attack that Black Stone Pillar! It is the formation eye core, and the source of power for these evil Puppets!” Lin Cang pointed toward the towering, enormous stone pillar.

Lin Yue looked up and saw that the wicked runes on the surface of the stone pillar were flickering erratically and circulating poorly because the Formation Plate had been disturbed.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his surging Qi and blood, and poured all the remaining spiritual power in his Dantian, without reservation, into the silver-patterned dagger!

The dagger emitted an overwhelmed hum, and the silver-white light was compressed to the extreme, transforming into an intensely condensed light shuttle, only about a foot long, yet seemingly capable of piercing anything!

He sharply tapped his toes on the ground, his figure soaring into the sky. He pushed the Flowing Cloud Steps to the limit, transforming into a nearly linear phantom image.

He stabbed directly at the thickest, most central rune nexus on the surface of the Black Stone Pillar, which pulsed like a heart!

“Break—Now!!!”

“Ding—Crack!!!”

It wasn't the clang of metal, but a crisp, shattering roar that burst forth, as if the Laws of Heaven and Earth themselves had broken!

Centered on the point where Lin Yue's dagger pierced, thick cracks instantly spread like a spiderweb across the entire massive Black Stone Pillar!

All the circulating wicked runes on the pillar body abruptly extinguished and disintegrated!

“Rumble rumble rumble—!”

Like a massive pillar supporting the heavens collapsing, the Black Stone Pillar, over ten zhang tall, emitted an earth-shattering noise and slowly began to tilt and crack!

Large chunks of black stone, deprived of the evil power supporting them, peeled off and fell to the ground, kicking up dust everywhere.

The Formation Plate on the ground let out a final mournful sound, all its brilliance completely dimmed, and the boiling Spirit-Eroding Marrow lost its vitality, quickly solidifying and drying up, turning into lifeless black hard lumps.

And those Spirit-Eroding Guards still struggling in the rock wall, or those remaining, instantly froze, like Puppets whose strings had been cut.

The Soul Fire in their eye sockets went out, and they fell to the ground one after another, completely turning into true stubborn rock and rotten bone.

Inside the cavern, a deathly silence fell, broken only by the rustling sound of falling gravel and the heavy, weary breathing of the group.

“Suc... successful?” A guard leaned on his saber and muttered in disbelief.

Lin Yue landed back on the ground, stumbled before standing firm, his face as pale as paper. His body was nearly empty of spiritual power, and his Meridians sent waves of stinging pain.

Lin Cang stepped forward to support him and handed him a Qi Recovery Pill, his face showing the relief of having survived a catastrophe, mixed with deep exhaustion: “The core formation eye is broken, this evil Formation... wait?!”

Before he finished speaking, another anomaly occurred!

The Bronze Coffin on the stone platform let out an extremely muffled “clang” without any warning!

The tightly closed coffin lid slid backward by more than a foot on its own!

A wave of cold Evil Qi, ten times denser, purer, and older than before, surged out from the gap in the coffin, as if a ten-thousand-year ice prison had been opened!

“Crack... crack crack...”

The four walls of the cavern, and even the ground, instantly condensed thick frost that shimmered with a faint blue light!

The temperature plummeted; breath turned to ice, and even the circulation of spiritual power became extremely difficult!

Lin Yue and Lin Cang suddenly turned their heads, staring intently at the gap in the coffin.

The beam of the mining lamp struggled to penetrate the ink-like dense Evil Qi and shone into the coffin... There was no expected corpse.

At the bottom of the coffin, only a crystal, roughly the size of a fist, perfectly round, and pitch black like the deepest night sky, quietly floated!

Inside the crystal, countless stars seemed to be born and die, and countless resentful Souls seemed to be wailing. It slowly rotated, emitting a strange force field that devoured all light, Spiritual Qi, and even Life Qi.

It was precisely the spirit-eroding pearl mentioned by the Loose Cultivator!

At this moment, the spirit-eroding pearl seemed to be activated by the violent external changes and the abundant Life Qi of living people, and the light flowing across its surface suddenly accelerated.

“Buzz...”

A low hum, acting directly on the Divine Soul level, sounded.

The spirit-eroding pearl suddenly burst into brilliant light, and a black light pillar, condensed as if solid, shot out from the pearl body, but did not attack anyone.

Instead, it projected a clear, chilling phantom image scroll in the middle of the cavern!

In the scroll, the phantom image of an old man slowly materialized. He wore a decayed green robe, his face was withered like a thousand-year-old corpse, and only two faint green flames flickered where his eyes should be.

His appearance was identical to the “Mysterious Yin Master” recorded in the coffin inscription!

The phantom's gaze, like a cold venomous snake, slowly swept over everyone in the cavern before finally settling on Lin Yue, whose spiritual power fluctuations were the most obvious and who was currently struggling to regulate his breath.

“Hoh... hoh hoh... A hundred years of planning, Gathering Yin and Nurturing the Pearl... ruined by you juniors...”

The phantom emitted a hoarse, dry sound, like a broken bellows. Every syllable carried the sinister malice and resentment soaked through the ages.

Its two points of green fire suddenly intensified!

“Fine... so be it...”

“Your Physical Body... possesses pure spiritual power, a solid Foundation... and moreover, a strange aura that even I feel desire for...”

“Perfect... I shall take it... to be the first vessel... for This Venerable One's return to the world!”

The moment the voice fell!

The spirit-eroding pearl floating in the coffin violently shook without warning, transforming into a streak of pitch-black flowing light moving at extreme speed. It tore through the air, carrying an ear-piercing Soul scream, and shot straight toward Lin Yue's Sea of Consciousness in his glabella!

This was not a physical attack, but the most malicious and direct Divine Soul Possession and Origin erosion!