Immortality and Cultivation: This old man seeks enlightenment through mere survival.

A light, whispered message reached Lin Feng's ears, yet it stirred up a thousand waves in his heart.

His expression suddenly darkened, and his previously playful demeanor instantly turned into a fierce stare at Lu Zaian.

Do you know what you're saying? Can you take responsibility for your words?

The disciples of Lingyao Valley standing nearby were all taken aback, as they had not deliberately tried to listen to the content of the telepathic message.

Therefore, only Lin Feng knew what Lu Zaian had said.

"Senior Brother Lin Feng, what did he say?" another female disciple asked.

"Really? What exactly did that old man say?" Jiang Qiuyue asked curiously.

Lin Feng glanced at Jiang Qiuyue but didn't answer, still staring intently at Lu Zaian.

"answer me!"

Faced with Lin Feng's questioning, Lu Zaian simply nodded calmly and answered with composure.

"of course."

"So what exactly did he say?!"

Seeing her senior brother and the other party playing coy, Jiang Qiuyue couldn't help but pout and press for an answer.

Lin Feng remained silent for a moment, without answering his junior sister's question.

Lu Zaian had only sent him a few words via telepathy.

"Elder Xiao is in trouble, Refining Fire Sect."

There is only one Elder Xiao in Lingyao Valley, who is Jiang Qiuyue's master—Xiao Fenlin.

If what the old man said is true, then my junior sister...

Lin Feng shook his head, clearing his mind of all distractions, and stared at Lu Zaian, speaking each word clearly.

"If what you're saying is true, I hope it's false; if what you're saying is false, I'll make you understand the consequences of deception!"

"Alas, what I say is absolutely true. Please, senior brother, take me to see the Valley Master."

Lu Zaian was able to understand Lin Feng's feelings.

Xiao Fenlin's death is a huge loss to Lingyao Valley, especially since he was framed by the outer sect.

Such news could potentially cause a major earthquake in the valley.

This is also why Lu Zaian chose to only tell Lin Feng through telepathy; he should know the implications.

Sure enough, after a moment of silence, Lin Feng pondered for a long time before raising his head and staring at Lu Zaian slowly.

"...Follow me."

The remaining disciples looked at each other in bewilderment. Senior Brother Lin Feng... actually believed the old man's words?

Although they still don't know what the old man said.

……

With the guidance of disciples from the Valley of Spiritual Herbs,

Lu Zaian successfully saved a Qi-concealing talisman and passed through the Strange Stone Forest without any major incidents.

A massive array of light shields came into view ahead.

Strange and intricate array patterns would occasionally appear on the surface of that invisible, transparent light shield.

Only then can we glimpse its full picture.

Like an overturned bowl descended from the heavens, it stretched for nearly a hundred miles, enveloping the entire Valley of Spirit Medicine.

"A formation? What level of formation is this?" Lu Zaian was shocked.

He inherited the "True Explanation of Talisman Arrays, Volume 1" from the Blood Spirit Orb space, but after three years of dedicated study, he could only barely grasp the basics.

Seeing such a massive and awe-inspiring formation, Lu Zaian couldn't help but marvel at it.

How much spiritual material would that require?

How many spirit stones would it take to activate it?

"The third-tier sect-protecting formation—the Yi Wood Azure Nether Formation—is mainly used to isolate the external cold poison."

Lin Feng answered proudly, but then sighed:

"However, the cold poison is getting more and more intense now, and it has already seeped into the ground. Even the array is becoming somewhat ineffective."

In order to isolate themselves from the cold poison, the major cultivation sects in the Black Soil Mountains were forced to activate their sect-protecting formations, which were only activated in times of crisis.

Maintaining the formation as long as it can barely hold back the cold poison is enough.

Otherwise, if this sect-protecting formation were to operate at full capacity continuously...

Before the major cultivation sects were even afflicted by the cold poison, they ran out of spirit stones and announced their disbandment.

However, as the cold poison continued to deepen and spread, the power of the formation also continued to increase.

Even for a resource-rich place like Spirit Medicine Valley, the daily expenditure of spirit stones was somewhat painful...

As they approached the mountain gate, the disciples on duty clearly recognized Lin Feng and greeted him.

"Senior Brother Lin, Junior Sister Jiang, you're back?"

"How was the harvest? Did you get the gallbladder of the silver-blooded snake?"

Lin Feng nodded, but he had no time for small talk with them at the moment. He simply pointed to Lu Zaian beside him and explained.

“This person is a rogue cultivator I met in the Strange Stone Forest. He has important matters to report to the valley, so I will personally escort him there.”

"This……"

The disciple on duty was taken aback. Looking at Lu Zaian, who was covered in dust and dirt, he pondered for a moment and then smiled at Lin Feng:

"With Senior Brother Lin as guarantor, of course it's possible."

However... Senior Brother Lin needs to ensure that he stays by this... fellow Daoist's side the whole time.

Otherwise, one of our enforcement team members will lead the team; that's the rule, Brother Lin, you know that.”

"Of course I know."

Lin Feng nodded immediately.

Although Lu Zaian had been very well-behaved throughout the journey, he was still cautious about bringing strangers into the valley.

Therefore, Lin Feng used his Qi to lock onto Lu Zai'an throughout the entire process.

If this person truly harbors malicious intentions, Lin Feng is absolutely confident that he can suppress him with swift and decisive action immediately.

Seeing that Lin Feng didn't say anything, the disciple on duty took out a jade token shaped like a green leaf from his pocket and tossed it to Lu Zaian.

"Keep this safe. It's a temporary array token for entering the valley. Don't lose it, or you'll be suppressed by the valley's array."

Lu Zai'an quickly nodded and accepted it...

Stepping through the sect's protective formation, we finally entered the valley.

An incredibly rich spiritual energy suddenly surged forth, overwhelming everything.

Lu Zaian's meridians and acupoints expanded involuntarily, greedily devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth like a starving ghost.

Lu Zaian almost let out a groan of pleasure.

"Pfft, look at you, you country bumpkin. You've been cultivating for so long, you probably haven't even seen a second-tier top-grade spiritual vein."

Jiang Qiuyue chuckled when she saw Lu Zaian's satisfied figure.

The other disciples also looked at Lu Zaian with disdain.

At this moment, their sense of superiority as disciples of the sect was greatly satisfied by this old man.

"Alright, you can all go back now. I'll take this guy to the Medicine God Temple," Lin Feng instructed.

The other disciples were curious about what Lu Zaian was talking about, but they had no choice but to follow their senior brother's instructions.

"Yes."

They clasped their hands in response, and then each rode away on their magical artifacts.

"You go back too, junior sister."

Lin Feng glanced at Jiang Qiuyue, who was still standing there gracefully, and then reminded her.

"No, Senior Brother, what's wrong? Please let me come along!"

Jiang Qiuyue clung to Lin Feng's arm, blinking her beautiful eyelashes and acting coquettishly.

"No means no." Lin Feng shook his head.

"Okay, okay!"

"...No means no."

"Hmph, ahhh, you stinky senior brother, you rotten senior brother, if you don't want to talk, fine, I'm ignoring you!"

Jiang Qiuyue released Lin Feng's arm, put her hands on her hips, puffed out her cheeks, and said angrily.

She made up her mind to ignore Senior Brother Lin for three days, and then complain to him bitterly when her master returned.

The thought of her senior brother Lin being punished by her master filled her with anticipation.

He then hummed a little tune and left without looking back.

Lin Feng stared at his junior sister's departing figure until it turned into a black dot before he came back to his senses.

Lin Feng glanced at Lu Zaian, who remained silent beside him, his expression cold.

If this guy dared to meet the Valley Master with me without any fear, then what he just said was most likely true...

Lin Feng couldn't imagine how heartbroken his junior sister would be after hearing the devastating news...

"Let's go. The Valley Master usually stays in the Medicine God Hall. I'll take you there."