The rippling Spiritual Qi patterns rising from the jade pendant slowly spread outward.
Ring after ring enclosed the group.
When Song Yan came within ten feet of the cliff face, the rippling Spirit Mark washed over him, and the cliff before his eyes actually vanished.
In its place was a spacious cave.
"An illusion formation?"
Song Yan reached out to touch the Spirit Mark, only to grasp empty air. "What a marvelous treasure. It can actually bypass an illusion formation and reveal the true appearance."
Formations usually had to be broken by disrupting their cores and anchor points.
Of course, if one's cultivation far exceeded that of the person who had laid the formation, smashing straight through it with brute force also worked.
Setting aside such rare cases, breaking a formation without external aids required extraordinarily keen perception and an understanding of formations.
Song Yan happened to have a little understanding of formations.
He knew that this jade pendant had not broken the illusion formation, but bypassed it outright.
"It's probably something this Foundation Establishment senior left behind back then..."
"But this senior passed away in meditation inside his cave abode, so how did this 'key' end up in Che Ning's hands...?"
Such questions were destined to go unanswered.
The group entered the cave. There were mottled marks and circular patterns on the ground, with a raised black stone pillar at the very center.
The pillar was densely inscribed with profound runes.
"The restriction that opens the cave abode is right here."
Che Ning spoke slowly. "Previously, through a fortunate coincidence, I obtained clues to this senior's cave abode, along with that Friend-Inviting Jade Pendant, but I found no method for breaking this restriction."
"So for now, we can only break it through brute force..."
He cupped his hands. "I'll