Cinnabar Pool Cave

The sea was rough. An old man dressed in a yellow-gray casual clothes stood on a small boat, two sword pellets swirling on his left and right, his body shimmering with sword light, as he fought a Monster wearing armor.

The Monster had already been struck by his sword several times; its carapace was cracked, and a bloody green liquid seeped from the cracks. Its mouth opened and closed, and it roared, "I am the 99,999th generation descendant of General Crab, under the command of the Flood Dragon Palace! How dare you kill me!"

Upon hearing this, the old man chuckled, his white beard and hair dancing wildly in the sea breeze. "A bastard is a bastard, yet you dare to use the name of the Flood Dragon Palace."

He flipped his hand and took out the third Silver-White sword pellet. With Law Power, several sword lights rose like silver rainbows and slashed down in a crisscross pattern.

The Monster let out a half-scream before being cleaved into several pieces. The old man didn't even look at it, grabbed the demon's body, and rode away on the wind.

As for the Monster's repeated claims of being "under the command of the Flood Dragon Palace," he paid it no heed.

In the Northern Sea region, any Monster wearing armor dares to claim to be a member of the Flood Dragon Palace. If it had a Storage Bag, Zhang Yuanqing would believe it.

After leaving that sea area, he fled at breakneck speed, finally landing on a deserted island half a month later. He found a secluded underground cave abode, set up several Restriction, and immediately took out the demon body of the Monster he had killed. He then spat out a yellowish-gray magic flame from his palm and began to refine the demon body.

He then took out a palm-sized Pill Furnace from his Storage Bag, Hand Seals to ignite it, and began refining pills on the spot.

He was actually an alchemist.

Another ten days or so passed.

The restless energy within the Pill Furnace finally calmed down. Zhang Yuanqing let out a long breath, wiped the sweat from his brow, and muttered to himself, "Only one last Spirit Object is needed." The last Spirit Object wasn't particularly rare, but it never grew Overseas.

He unleashed several beams of Spell Light to protect the Pill Furnace completely before straightening up and looking out at the dark sky outside the cave abode.

"It's time to make a trip to the Secret Seal, replenish two sword pellets, and exchange for the Spirit Object."

With that thought in mind, he opened a portal, and his consciousness stepped into the Secret Seal.

The Secret Seal he inhabited was called Cinnabar Pool Cave, and to conceal his identity, he called himself Rogue Person of Cinnabar Pool).

After Zhang Yuanqing entered the Secret Seal, the cave abode entrance opened.

Soon, many consciousnesses flooded in.

"Rogue Person of Cinnabar Pool, where are the Pill I requested?"

Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand and said, "It's still early, let's wait and see."

He ignored the consciousnesses surging towards Cinnabar Pool Cave and Secret Seal chamber not far away.

These Secret Seal may seem close at hand, but in reality, they are probably hundreds or even thousands of miles apart.

Because the folds were created by an object falling from the Unseen, they possessed a certain the Unseen quality, allowing for such miraculous communication across vast distances. Upon arriving at the Secret Seal, he waited only a short while before the portal within opened wide, and a consciousness transmitted. "Would you like to exchange the sword pellet?"

"He always arrives so quickly. It seems this person isn't a cultivator traveling outside; he must have Lineage or sect's legacy and is in seclusion in one place."

Zhang Yuanqing made a guess in his mind, then nodded and said, "Besides the sword pellet, I also need ten Snow Toad Skin."

"The Toad Skin of the Snow Toad is not easy to obtain; you will have to wait a few days."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing calculated the time it would take to start the Pill process and, realizing he could wait a few more months, nodded in agreement.

Actually, it's best not to delay alchemy. He can also seek out other masters of Secret Seal, preferably those located in South of the Yangtze.

However, although these Secret Seal can connect to the consciousness of the master of the Secret Seal, they are not legitimate trading places for him. If he blindly trusts others, he may suffer great losses. This is due to his excessive caution.

However, Zhang Yuanqing did not think there was anything wrong with his caution.

This caution may have caused him to miss many fortuitous opportunity, but it has allowed him to survive from a Rogue Cultivator at the Aperture Opening level to the present day.

After agreeing on a time with the master of the Secret Seal, he took two sword pellets and left.

The sword pellet was a wisp of gray mist in his hand, but it transformed into two Silver-White sword pellets only after he re-entered the Cinnabar Pool Cave.

This is the wonder of the Secret Seal; items can be traded even through consciousness. Once the items are returned to their original location within the Secret Seal, they can reappear in their true form. The only drawback is that one must pray that no Purple Mansion Lord passes by during the Unseen. When the Purple Mansion Lord enters the Unseen on his journey, it causes extreme instability and can easily destroy the Spirit Object being traded.

Zhang Yuanqing carefully put away the two sword pellets and prepared to leave this Secret Seal place.

After communicating through the portal, it slowly stepped inside.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze sharpened, and he was stunned.

What we are seeing is not the underground cave abode on that deserted island.

Where is this?

Alarm bells rang in his mind, and his gaze swept across this perpetually gloomy and sunless landscape, a chill suddenly running down his spine.

"Oh no, could it be that while my mind was immersed in the Secret Seal, my physical body was found and captured here?"

Without a second thought or a word, he knelt down with a thud, dumped everything out of his Storage Bag, and begged, "Senior, spare my life! Spare my Life Force!"

Li Fuchan, watching this scene from afar, couldn't help but chuckle.

"What a cautious person."

A cautious person is not necessarily timid, but a timid person is always cautious and often imagines many dangers to frighten themselves. The person before us is such a person.

Having briefly entered the Flying Earthworm Cave Secret Seal before, he knew that trade was possible between the Secret Seal. So, taking advantage of the moment when Zhang Yuanqing stepped out of the Secret Seal's portal, he brought his consciousness up.

However, Li Fuchan had no intention of meeting him.

Although he had done his best to conceal it, and the old man seemed to be just a Rogue Cultivator with some lineage and no powerful backing, and with his limited knowledge he would never recognize the Grotto Heaven, it was still best not to be careless until he was sure he had absolute control over the consciousness that had been drawn up.

He regained his composure, guided his Dao Fruit back to its source, and released his Inner Vision realm-level spiritual sense to scan the area. He discovered that the old man was actually an alchemist, with all sorts of strange and unusual items on his person, but none of them caught his eye.

Only the two sword pellets were passable; they must have been crafted by a Sword Cultivator who had mastered Sword Essence.

"These things are really useless; they're not of much use to me. Oh well."

Li Fuchan kicked the old man away and then searched for other Secret Seal to extract his consciousness.

However, he kept the distance very far. This time, he brought in cultivators from Overseas, and next time, they would come from even more distant places. He would never leave any loopholes easily.

He set a limit for himself: to only extract the consciousness of ten Secret Seal Lords.

After all, there are many Secret Seal in the world, but those who can possess these Secret Seal become the masters of them are either those who inherit a legacy or those with great power. If ten masters of Secret Seal in a row cannot give him what he wants, then there is no need to continue searching.

When Zhang Yuanqing awoke from his daze, he found himself back in the underground cave abode.

Upon checking his Storage Bag again, he found that nothing was missing.

He quickly focused his mind, trying his best to forget his previous memories, and dared not even recall them.