Chapter 621: Can Be Crushed with Just a Finger!
BOOM!
「Several days later.」
A tremendous roar erupted from beneath the island, making the entire landmass tremble slightly and sending countless nearby creatures fleeing in panic.
Deep within the island, dust billowed everywhere.
Lin Mu waved a hand, looking slightly disheveled.
I didn’t expect this Formation to take up so much of my time.
Lin Mu felt rather helpless. The Formation before him truly wasn’t very difficult for him, but he hadn’t anticipated that it was a series of interconnected arrays. Not only was there a formation within a formation, but they were also linked one after another, totaling dozens of them.
If it weren’t for the Spirit Vein supporting this place, these Formations would have lost their effect long ago, Lin Mu thought with a look of admiration. It seems the person who set up the Formations anticipated this, which is why so many were laid out.
BUZZ!
The moment the Formation opened, the Mountain and River Cauldron whistled and shot inside.
You little rascal.
Feeling a bit helpless, Lin Mu walked in right after it.
Inside the Formation was a passage carved alongside the Spirit Vein, just tall enough for one person to stand. Walking further in, he entered a small hall with several rooms branching off its sides. In the hall stood a stone table with three boxes on it.
Lin Mu ignored the boxes, his attention drawn to a skeleton beside the table. The skeleton clearly belonged to the master of this cave dwelling, who had been dead for many years. However, faint traces of Spiritual Energy still circulated around the bones, indicating that this person must have had a high Cultivation Level in life. In Lin Mu’s eyes, however, this person had likely only reached the Golden Core Stage at best.
To cultivate to the Golden Core Stage during the Last Dharma Age on Earth, this person’s talent must have been truly astonishing.
Just as Lin Mu was about to look away, he noticed the skeleton’s palm was covering something. With a thought, he used his Divine Sense to command the Yulong Sword to gently pry the hand away, revealing a few lines of tiny, fly-headed characters.
"I am Chu Kuangren, who laughed at the teachings of Confucius!"
The very first sentence revealed the man’s extraordinary origins, its prideful aura still resonating from the script after all these years.
"I cultivated for three hundred years and, knowing my own dull aptitude would prevent a breakthrough, I imprisoned myself here. In my life, I did not excel in combat arts but took joy in the study of mechanisms and Formations, compiling my findings into a book. Should a fated one find this place, you may receive my legacy and carry on my will."
Lin Mu then turned his gaze to the three boxes. The first was already cracked open and empty.
Inside the second box lay a special iron plate. Lin Mu recognized it at a glance as a piece of Nine Heavens Mysterious Iron. Nine Heavens Mysterious Iron, refined from meteorites, is countless times harder than ordinary steel. The iron plate itself was covered in innumerable inscribed characters.
With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Lin Mu committed the entire text to memory.
Qimen Eight Trigrams Formation! Is this the Formation Chu Kuangren left behind?
Lin Mu shook his head slightly. While these Formations could be considered ingenious, they weren’t of much use to him. He was proficient in many arts, including alchemy, array-setting, and talisman crafting. By his standards, while the Qimen Eight Trigrams Formation was certainly creative, its practical applications were limited.
Lin Mu addressed the skeleton, "However, since I’ve acquired this Formation, if I encounter a suitable person, I will be sure to pass on your legacy."
Lin Mu’s standards were extremely high; for him to consider it creative meant it certainly had some merit. When he eventually found the right person, he would teach them this Formation, thus fulfilling his promise to Chu Kuangren.
When Lin Mu opened the third box, however, he froze for a moment. Inside was only a painting.
The painting depicted a woman dressed in the style of the Qing dynasty, with a gentle appearance and a charming demeanor. For it to be placed alongside Chu Kuangren’s most treasured possessions, the woman in this painting must have held extraordinary significance to him.
"In my life, I have loved only one person."
This sentence was faintly visible on the portrait. Behind it were two even smaller characters: Su Xi.
This must be the person Chu Kuangren loved.
"Ah." With a light sigh, Lin Mu muttered to himself, "Since you have already passed on, the one you loved is presumably no longer in this world either. I’m afraid I cannot help you with this. However, you were clearly a person who valued love and righteousness. I’ll leave this here with you as a memento."
Lin Mu did not touch the portrait, heading deeper into the cave dwelling instead. He was here for the Spirit Vein. This Spirit Vein wasn’t very large, but to Lin Mu, it was still a tremendous surprise.
Deep within the cave dwelling was the place where Chu Kuangren usually cultivated. The room contained only a single meditation cushion.
Lin Mu waved his hand lightly, and the cushion instantly disintegrated into dust. The line of characters revealed underneath, however, made Lin Mu’s eyebrows twitch slightly.
"Su Xi, why did you harm me?!"
That short sentence was filled with an extremely intense resentment. It seemed Chu Kuangren’s death was not as simple as it appeared.
However, that no longer mattered. Lin Mu’s only thought was to absorb Spiritual Energy as quickly as possible and break through to the Golden Core Stage.
Sitting cross-legged, Lin Mu began to frantically absorb the Spiritual Energy from the Spirit Vein.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Within the cave dwelling, the aura around Lin Mu grew increasingly powerful. However, he was still a long way from breaking through to the Golden Core Stage.
...
Meanwhile, a yacht was speeding across the ocean’s surface. Aboard were seven or eight people. One of them was Wan Xiong. Aside from an elderly woman, the others were all relatively young.
"Hongmen President, is what you said true? Does that place really have what I’m looking for?" a young woman asked casually, gazing toward a distant island.
"Miss Guo, I would never dare deceive you. Everything I told you is the absolute truth," Wan Xiong said, glancing at the elderly woman with a grave expression. This old woman appeared to be an ordinary granny, but her strength surpassed that of the young man from a month ago.
"It had better be." Guo Ying chuckled. "If you’ve told a single lie, my granny won’t let you off."
"Of course not, of course not!" Wan Xiong wiped cold sweat from his brow, his heart pounding with anxiety.
"Hongmen President, rest assured. As long as you do your part, no one will dare to touch your position as Hongmen President," the old lady said with a smile that squeezed the wrinkles on her face together. She had only a few teeth left. Yet, a sharp, needle-like glint flashed through her murky eyes.
"Thank you, Senior," Wan Xiong said, bowing hastily.
This Granny Guo’s strength was unfathomable. When she had first sought him out, she had defeated him in a single move.
"By the way, you mentioned that a young man also came here a month ago?" Granny Guo suddenly asked.
"Yes, but he already perished in the belly of a Sea Beast," Wan Xiong replied, shaking his head at the memory of that night a month ago.
"Lucky for him. Otherwise, if he had fallen into my hands, I would have shown him a fate worse than death!" Granny Guo cackled, her laugh harsh and grating.
Another young man scoffed, "Even if he were still alive, there would be no need for Granny to act. I could crush him with a single finger!"