Chapter 177: CH. 177 | The Ruins of Yin Palace
Hearing the resolve in Lin Tian’s words brought a small smile to Ling Weixi’s face.
She glanced over, studying the man’s back from behind, the faint golden qi aura radiating from his body reminding her of the way she used to look at Yun Feng’s back.
You really do have a knack for finding your successors, Yun Feng.
Ling Weixi felt a wave of relief and energy. She got back to her feet and stepped closer to Lin Tian.
"You’ve broken through to Soul Formation. Your primordial soul has fully formed. You can now draw on the power of heaven and earth."
"Seems like you don’t need my guidance anymore," Ling Weixi said. "All I have left to do is wait until I find a successor for my resolve."
Lin Tian turned and realized the woman was standing right beside him. His eyes drifted up to the clear, cloudless sky, full of hope.
"I came to this valley with a woman. She’s also planning to break through to Soul Formation," Lin Tian answered.
"Maybe... you could take a look at her."
"No need to rush. I already know who she is. But I don’t sense any connection between her and me," Ling Weixi replied.
The woman shifted her stance, turning her head and her full attention toward Lin Tian.
"I can sense everyone who enters my valley’s dimension. Right now, there are only seven people left in my valley, and you’re one of them," she explained.
Seven people? Wasn’t this place supposed to be a hideout for the Yuanmo Sect?
"Are the rest of them from the Yuanmo Sect?" Lin Tian asked.
Surprisingly, Ling Weixi shook her head. She knew their qi signature well, and the six people Lin Tian was asking about weren’t members of that demonic sect.
If not them, then where did the sect members go?
"How long have I been in closed cultivation?"
"I don’t know."
"Time doesn’t run steady here. I can’t say for sure."
"But I’m certain you spent a long time in that little pavilion."
Breaking through to Soul Formation is different from breaking through to Nascent Soul. I’m sure I’ve left way too much time behind.
I have no idea if Zhu Zirong and Zhu Xian are even still alive. I just hope they’re among those six people.
Ling Weixi glanced over briefly and noticed the change in Lin Tian’s expression, different from before. She realized Lin Tian had other matters he needed to attend to.
"Are you heading out, Lin Tian?"
"That’s right, Senior Ling."
"Besides breaking through, the reason I came to this valley was to save someone."
"I figured as much," Ling Weixi said.
She stretched both hands forward, a token appearing in her left hand and an ice blue lotus flower in her right. She handed both over to Lin Tian.
"Since you’re the successor to my husband’s resolve, I’ll help you this once," Ling Weixi said, "That token holds the locations of those six people. Whoever you’re trying to save might be among them."
"And this blue lotus... please give it to whoever you think is worthy of receiving my inheritance. It’s simple, just channel that person’s qi into the flower."
"If the lotus lights up, then they’re a match for me. You can send them straight here," Ling Weixi added.
Lin Tian accepted both items and thanked Ling Weixi for her help. The woman also mentioned a few more things about the valley’s dimension and the ancient gate used to enter this place.
Since so much of her primordial energy had been drained, she couldn’t just open the gate whenever she pleased. There was only one way, bring the lotus flower to the clear lake up in the northern plains.
Once the lotus flower was dropped into the lake, the gate would open specifically for that person.
Lin Tian listened carefully to everything Ling Weixi told him. He also promised he wouldn’t let her down.
Hearing that promise from Lin Tian made Ling Weixi happy.
The two of them said their goodbyes and parted ways, Ling Weixi returning to her spring pool to wait, while Lin Tian immediately activated the location token for the six people.
His soul awareness was pulled straight toward those locations. He could see three places marked by the location token.
Two of the three were the Yang Sun Ring Ruins and the Yin Moon Mirror Ruins. His eyes narrowed sharply as he took in both places clearly.
Two people were trapped in the Yang ruins, while three were in the Yin ruins.
Lin Tian didn’t know what Zhu Zhirong and Zhu Xian looked like, but seeing only one woman in the Yin ruins convinced him that woman had to be Zhu Xian.
The last remaining person was on an island out in the desert plains, cultivating to recover their condition.
I’ve found their locations, it shouldn’t be hard to get there, especially with my current cultivation base.
Between the Yang ruins and the Yin ruins, the Yin ruins are closer to where I am.
Lin Tian had already memorized the route to that place. He tucked the location token into his bag of holding and hurried off, leaving the spring valley island behind.
He moved at high speed, a streak of fast lightning shooting straight ahead. Unlike the travel speed of a typical Nascent Soul cultivator, Lin Tian was confident he could reach the Yin ruins much faster.
He kept moving, passing by several islands along the way, occasionally glancing over at them, all quiet and empty, with only guardian beasts wandering around.
From a distance, he spotted a fairly large island, though not as big as the spring valley island. Based on what he remembered from the location token, that island was his destination.
He studied the state of the place, dark clouds hung in the sky, dropping icy snow down onto the island nonstop, nearly burying part of it under thick drifts.
Off to another side, the ruins of a palace stood out clearly, decorated with crescent moon ornaments and tinted a dark, blackish color.
A place dominated by Yin energy, powerful enough to freeze someone’s meridians and shatter their sea of dantian.
Using his cultivator’s eyes, Lin Tian scanned the entire island and spotted the three people right at the center of the ruined palace.
Two men and one woman, all wearing red clan robes, and all three showing significant injuries.
The reason they hadn’t been able to leave was because of an active array trapping them.
Inside that array, they were clearly suffering as the dominant Yin energy began damaging their bodies and meridians.
Still, they’d gotten lucky, since two of the people with Zhu Xian were array masters.
Even though they were stuck inside the Yin array, the two array masters had managed to modify it and reduce the intensity of the Yin influence.
That let them hold on longer, but not forever.
Moving fast, Lin Tian pushed into the Yin dominated area, wrapping his body in his primordial qi power, successfully keeping the Yin energy from affecting him.
One of the Zhu clan members turned, still channeling spiritual qi into the array. "We’re almost done."
Zhu Xian nodded. She formed a hand seal and activated an essence recovery array to help the two clan members.
They needed a massive amount of spiritual qi to break down the array that had been holding them for so long.
"I’ll use the essence recovery formation to help you both."
"Understood, Young Lady Zhu."
Right as they were focused on breaking the array, they started noticing the situation around them shifting.
Thundering clouds began pulling in a massive, roaring bolt of lightning, the snow stopped falling, and it left all of them confused.
They paused what they were doing, worried this sudden change might somehow be connected to what they were doing.
"What’s happening?" Zhu Xian asked.
"Lightning striking from the sky, the Yin snow stopped falling. Whatever this is... it’s definitely not normal."
Their attention shifted back up to the sky, where they saw a golden sealing flag streaking down from above, heading straight for their Yin array.
Seven sealing flags shot down and planted themselves at each point of the formation, forcing the runes to stop spinning for a moment and cracking the walls of the containment array.
"A sealing flag? The qi power coming off that flag is incredibly strong."
In an instant, the containment array’s walls shattered into falling shards of glass, then faded away completely.
Zhu Xian watched it happen, shock written plainly across her face.
The dark Yin clouds above began splitting apart forcefully, a powerful wind swept through the area carrying overwhelming qi.
A man in a black robe hovered in the sky, the seven sealing flags circling around his body, a strong golden qi light radiating off him.
His black robe billowed in the wind, his long black hair loose and flowing, his gaze calm but filled with intensity.
"That kind of qi momentum? Could it be... a Soul Formation cultivator?"
"He’s... not an ordinary Soul Formation cultivator," one of the clan members said.
Zhu Xian gathered her courage. The black haired woman in the red dress stepped forward, pressing her hands together and bowing her head gracefully.
"I am Zhu Xian, Young Lady of the Zhu Clan, and I thank you, Senior, for your help."
"We will repay this kindness."
Lin Tian looked over at her, "Zhu Xian?"
"Seems like I got here a little late."