Ghost Spirit Sect

Three years later.

Near Qingliang City in Linzhou.

Lin Yun rode the Taiyi Five-Smoke Gauze, flying through the air and gazing into the distance at Yanliang Mountain. That was where Yanling Fort, the estate of the Yan Family, the top immortal cultivation clan in the Yue Kingdom, was located.

However, his trip this time was not for Yanling Fort.

Over the past three years, Lin Yun had traveled across most of the regions of the Thirteen Provinces in the Yue Kingdom. Relying on the Qi-Observing Art, he had managed to find most of the Spirit Stone Mines in these places, and even discovered a Medium Spirit Stone Mine that had never been found by anyone before, making a small fortune.

Yet his search for the ancient teleportation formation still yielded nothing.

Until a few days ago, when he passed through Linzhou once again, he suddenly remembered that Han Li was precisely the one who had been conscripted and sent to garrison a Spirit Stone Mine while escaping from Yanling Fort.

Clinging to the mindset of giving it a try, Lin Yun decided to take Yanling Fort as the center and search once more.

Linzhou, where Yanling Fort was situated, was merely an inconspicuous lower-tier province in the Yue Kingdom and possessed nothing special. When Lin Yun first searched for the ancient teleportation formation, he had actually come to this place to look, but back then he found nothing.

I only searched roughly back then. Even if I turn Linzhou upside down this time, I refuse to believe I cannot find it! Lin Yun silently resolved in his heart.

Three months later, under the moonlight.

Lin Yun used the Clearvoid Invisible Sword to conceal his form, standing upon a cliff edge. Below him lay a massive canyon a hundred zhang deep.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the concealment formation set up in the canyon below, rendering him utterly speechless.

Sigh! That damn Linzhou wasted three months of my time!

Lin Yun was no longer in Linzhou, but rather within the borders of neighboring Jianzhou. Two days ago, when he was at the border between Linzhou and Jianzhou, a sudden impulse struck him, and he drove his sword light to fly for two days, coincidentally arriving at this very spot.

Looking at the mining tunnel concealed by the formation in the canyon below, he knew he must have found his target.

According to his experience in finding Spirit Stone Mines over the past few years, in a region like this, it was impossible for two large Spirit Stone Mines to exist simultaneously in the same area.

Near Linzhou, this Large Spirit Stone Mine should be the only one.

Just as Lin Yun was about to cast the Formless Sword Escape to slip into the mining tunnel, his expression suddenly tightened, and his gaze shifted to the cliff on the opposite side of the canyon.

Within his divine sense, a middle-aged man wearing a cyan-green robe, with gray eyes, yellow hair, and a haggard face, was shrouded in a mass of black mist. Concealed among the rocks of the opposing cliff, he stared fixedly at the canyon below with torch-like eyes.

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Ghost Spirit Sect." Lin Yun's expression remained unchanged as he softly identified the middle-aged man's affiliation.

Just as the Yellow Maple Valley had yellow shirts and the Covering Moon Sect wore white robes, the robes of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators were precisely cyan-green, coupled with the gray eyes and yellow hair that were practically the hallmark of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.

This allowed Lin Yun to be certain that this person was definitely a cultivator of the Ghost Spirit Sect.

A thought stirred in his heart, and Lin Yun immediately cast the Formless Sword Escape to melt into the void, quietly flying to the side of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator.

The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator remained completely oblivious, solely focused on a team of Blade Transformation Fort cultivators down in the canyon who were entering and exiting the formation, presumably transporting spiritual stones.

A moment later, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator took out a map and began making marks upon it.

Standing right beside the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator, Lin Yun saw it clearly. This was a map of Jianzhou. Aside from various mortal cities, what the map marked were immortal cultivation resource points located in Jianzhou, as well as the estates of several immortal cultivation clans.

In addition to the Spirit Stone Mine he had just finished marking, the map also marked the locations of several large herb gardens and a few mineral veins.

The demonic path is certainly making thorough preparations for their invasion, Lin Yun sighed inwardly.

Glancing at the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator beside him, Lin Yun pondered for a moment. A wisp of divine sense drifted out and quietly invaded the mind of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator.

The divine sense was imperceptible, easily penetrating into the body of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator.

Seeing that his wisp of divine sense had blended into the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator's body with ease, Lin Yun chuckled softly, thinking to himself, If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being a demonic cultivator practicing demonic arts, which happens to be countered by my Secret Demon Method. Moreover, with this wisp of Core Formation-realm divine sense, someone at your late Foundation Establishment stage has no way of detecting it at all.

Sensing that his wisp of divine sense was quietly and gradually eroding the intelligence of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator piece by piece, Lin Yun's heart stirred. The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator suddenly spoke in a low voice, "It is time to return and report to Elder Li."

With that, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator produced a blood-red flying fork, stepped upon it, and silently departed while steering the fork.

Watching the dark red escaping light of the departing Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator, Lin Yun could not help but sigh inwardly, The Three Secret Demon Disciplines and the Heavenly Treasury Supplementary Register are truly formidable indeed!

This was different from Lin Yun's previous crude application when he used divine sense to stir up the demonic thoughts in the minds of the Black Fiend Sect members, causing those two Black Fiend Sect members to kill each other.

Now, Lin Yun used the Soul-Bewitching and Spirit-Seizing Art from the Three Secret Demon Disciplines, gradually encroaching upon the mind of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator with a wisp of divine sense.

He made the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator unknowingly serve him. Everything the man saw and heard, if Lin Yun required it, would be transmitted back by that attached wisp of divine sense for him to know.

Eventually, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator would even unconsciously degrade into Lin Yun's puppet. If he wished, Lin Yun could even seize the living soul of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator for his own use.

The reason the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator suddenly wanted to leave just now was because Lin Yun desired him to leave, and that wisp of divine sense had imperceptibly influenced the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator's thoughts.

After the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator left, Lin Yun did not immediately enter the Spirit Stone Mine. Instead, he drove the Formless Sword Escape to slip away quietly, arriving at a desolate mountain to patiently wait for the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator to return and report on his mission.

Several hours later, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator arrived at a nearby mortal city and, inside an inn, met an elderly man wearing a green robe with a full head of white hair and a face covered in wrinkles.

"Reporting to Martial Uncle Li, this disciple has finished surveying the borders of Jianzhou in the Yue Kingdom, and today discovered another Large Spirit Stone Mine. This is the map." The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator respectfully reported to the elder.

The elder surnamed Li took the map, glanced at it, and casually remarked, "This truly is a Large Spirit Stone Mine. It seems the people from Spirit Beast Mountain did not lie to us. You have done well. Once we return to the sect, I will petition the Young Master to transfer you to his side as a personal guard."

Hearing this, a look of wild joy immediately appeared on the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator's face. "Many thanks, Martial Uncle Li!"

The elder surnamed Li looked at the map and said nothing more, merely waving his hand dismissively.

The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator tactfully took his leave and departed.

Through the divine sense left upon the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator, Lin Yun understood everything that had transpired in the inn crystal clear.

"The Core Formation cultivators of the Ghost Spirit Sect have already arrived in the Yue Kingdom, and Spirit Beast Mountain has also defected to the demonic path. It seems the invasion of the demonic path is not far off," Lin Yun murmured softly. "And what of the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master? It appears this Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator cannot be casually wasted; the identity of Wang Chan's Personal Guard still holds some utility."