Your Spell Version is Too Low!

Moving like a bolt of lightning, Qi Yun followed the route from memory, speeding through the intricate, dim, and silent corridors of the Earth Temple.

The Clay Monks attempting to block his path seemed to have lost their anchor now that the Core Relic was gone. Their movements became sluggish and dazed, allowing him to bypass them with ease.

In just a few bounds, he burst out of the main complex of the Earth Temple.

He arrived before the chasm that gaped like the maw of a ferocious beast.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he leaped, his figure vanishing into the distorted, rippling spatial fissure.

After a brief wave of vertigo, his feet once again touched the dark red, cracked soil of the Yin Ruins.

The familiar air, thick with the stench of blood and Evil Qi, flooded his lungs.

Though it was nowhere near as pure as the air within the Earth Temple, it gave him a grounding sense of returning to reality.

He looked up. The dark gray sealing light barrier, which had covered the entire Yin Ruins like an inverted bowl, was now flickering violently. It wavered between visibility and invisibility, and the flow of the distorted Annihilation Talismans across its surface had become erratic.

Clearly, the Foundation Establishment Masters from the Sects outside were attacking with all their might.

Attempting to shatter the seal.

"They’re certainly making a ruckus..." Qi Yun muttered, his expression completely unfazed.

He nonchalantly found a relatively secluded corner, brushed away the loose stones, and calmly sat down cross-legged.

The tempests to come were not for a mere Qi Refining Disciple like him to worry about.

The Earth Temple’s core control artifact—the relics of Little Monk Ming Xin—had already fallen into the hands of Qian Xin Master.

In a way, this "Dao Soil," a treasure capable of altering a Sect’s very foundation, was already in the Wuji Holy Sect’s pocket.

The power plays of the Masters outside were nothing more than squabbling and haggling over the division of spoils.

As for the Three Sect Cultivators still trapped inside the Earth Temple, would they reveal his existence and actions after they got out?

Qi Yun casually flicked his sleeve, his face showing no sign of worry.

’At worst, I’ll just ditch this Zhang Mazi identity and get a new one,’ he thought, completely unconcerned.

Disguising his identity and changing his face was no difficult task for him.

The whole reason he painstakingly maintained this identity was for a moment just like this.

As long as his core interests were secure, he could easily abandon the identity to avoid a little trouble.

His mind made up, Qi Yun took out the Soul Refining Banner that had served him so well.

At this moment, the Soul Refining Banner was in poor condition.

On the pitch-black pole, the cracks left by the Cyan Sect Ancient Sword were becoming more pronounced, some even branching out into smaller fissures.

The eerie Magic Patterns that once flowed incessantly on the banner’s surface were now intermittent, and its Spiritual Light had dimmed.

Evidently, it had suffered considerable damage in the previous successive battles, especially when it was forcibly activated to resist the final siege.

Qi Yun channeled wisps of pure True Essence into the banner, gently nourishing the damaged Magical Artifact.

As the True Essence flowed over the cracks, it sent back a faint, stinging feedback, but he remained perfectly patient.

On this trip to the Earth Temple, the Soul Refining Banner had been crucial for both offense and defense, playing a vital role in blocking enemies and resisting the Buddha’s Will.

It gave him a deeper understanding of the path of Artifact and Magic Cultivation.

He slowly turned the platinum-gold Buddha Beads on his wrist, musing to himself:

’I really underestimated this path of Artifact and Magic Cultivation before.

’This Dharma Gate requires a huge investment of resources to refine a Magical Artifact.

’The cultivation process also requires constantly nurturing the Magical Artifact and improving its quality in sync with one’s own Cultivation, which is truly draining on one’s Heart and Spirit.

’It’s far less convenient than specializing in Magic alone.

’However, once the Magical Artifact and Magic are improved in tandem and truly take form, their power is indeed fiercer and more comprehensive than ordinary Magic.

’Whether it’s the Soul Refining Banner’s group combat, crowd control, or even Divine Sense attacks, they all far exceed the scope of a single type of Magic.’

’An ordinary Cultivator practicing this method would need to collect rare materials to upgrade their Magical Artifact while painstakingly studying the mysteries of Magic.

’That’s why so few can cultivate it to the Great Success Realm.

’It’s time-consuming, labor-intensive, and the gains don’t justify the costs.’

’But I have the support of the Magic Technique Panel. Version updates will naturally compensate for all shortcomings and enhance its power.’

’After returning to the Sect and collecting my rewards this time, I can really study this Dharma Gate in depth. The Soul Refining Banner needs to be repaired and upgraded. Perhaps... I can also look for other suitable techniques for Artifact and Magic Cultivation?’

Just as Qi Yun was engrossed in his post-return plans, pondering how to further leverage the advantages of Artifact and Magic Cultivation—

WENG—!!!

A violent tremor that seemed to originate from the very source of Heaven and Earth suddenly resounded throughout the entire Yin Ruins!

In the sky, the dark gray sealing light barrier, which was already flickering unstably, suddenly erupted with an iridescent light so bright it was blinding!

Countless Annihilation Talismans darted about and shattered like a panicked school of fish.

The light barrier itself twisted violently, as if under some irresistible, immense force, and let out a wail of protest!

The next instant, with a loud CRACK!

The vast light barrier covering the Yin Ruins, like fragile glass, was forcibly torn and shredded from several different directions by several terrifying, unstoppable forces from the outside world!

TEAR—!

A tremendous sound like cloth being ripped apart echoed between Heaven and Earth.

The sealing light barrier completely disintegrated, turning into a sky full of broken, firefly-like specks of light that quickly dissipated.

The moment the light barrier shattered, a huge rift was torn open in the Celestial Vault above the Yin Ruins.

Pairs of cold, majestic eyes, filled with boundless Magical Power and domineering will, appeared in the Celestial Vault like suspended suns!

Those were the projected gazes of the Foundation Establishment Masters from the Four Major Sects.

They swept over every inch of land in the Yin Ruins, every Cultivator, carrying scrutiny, inquiry, and a trace of offended majesty.

Impatient with the endless stalemate, the Masters chose to intervene by force in the most direct and domineering way possible!

At the same time the seal was broken and the Masters’ gazes descended,

Qi Yun, who was sitting cross-legged and regulating his breath, suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold on his back!

It was not a change in temperature, but a strong sense of crisis originating from the unseen, one that involved the level of karma and causality!

He could almost "see" it: on an intangible, void-like plane, several vague but powerful figures were walking along some mysterious track, step by step, toward the "causal thread" connected to him!

Their gazes were like invisible hands, about to part the mists and pluck him—this Junior Cultivator who played a key role in the Earth Temple’s strange events—out from the vast sea of people!

’This is bad!’ Qi Yun’s heart tightened, his brow furrowed deeply. ’These Foundation Establishment Masters are working together to deduce the chain of causality, tracing events back to their source! They’re about to find me!’

Once he was locked onto, everything he had done in the Earth Temple, especially his contact with the remnant consciousness of Little Monk Ming Xin, would be completely exposed.

At that point, he would have to face the wrath of the Three Sects Masters simultaneously.

Even with the Holy Sect’s protection, he would be thrown into a position of extreme passivity and danger!

His thoughts raced as he tried to figure out how to break this hopeless, no-win situation.

That prickly, bone-chilling sense of being watched suddenly... lessened!

It was as if the presences that were about to reach him had suddenly been blocked by several figures that appeared without a sound.

Those "figures" walking along the causal thread seemed to have been intercepted, confused, and led in other directions.

Qi Yun’s tense Heart and Spirit suddenly relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief. A barely perceptible bead of cold sweat even trickled down his temple.

’It seems... a Master from the Holy Sect made a move, obscuring the heavenly secrets and disrupting the causal lines for me.’

The sealing light barrier above the Yin Ruins completely shattered, melting away like ice and snow to reveal the true sky outside.

Immediately after, a terrifying pressure, as if Heaven and Earth were collapsing, descended with a roar!

Several figures had not yet fully materialized, but their vast and turbulent Divine Sense swept through the entire Yin Ruins like an invisible storm!

The Divine Sense of a Foundation Establishment Master is incredibly powerful, spreading like quicksilver to fill every crack and crevice.

It meticulously swept over every inch of land, every broken stone, and every single Cultivator within the Yin Ruins.

But at this moment, Qi Yun had already taken a step ahead. Activating a Secret Skill, he quietly sealed most of the Hundred Acupoints he had just opened throughout his body!

The surging True Essence within him instantly became "docile" and "frail." His external aura also plummeted from the Qi Refining Eighth Layer he had just broken through to, falling back to its original Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

The key causal threads on him—related to the core of the Earth Temple and his clash with Little Monk Ming Xin’s remnant will—had already been disrupted and concealed by the Holy Sect’s Master.

Now, in the Divine Sense perceptions and causal deductions of the other Three Sects’ Masters, he was just a Holy Sect Disciple sitting in a corner, his aura weak, his Cultivation at a mere Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

But upon careful inspection, they found he bore no strong causal traces related to the Earth Temple’s core, and his Cultivation was entirely unremarkable.

He was far from capable of making waves in a scheme at the Master Level.

’Just a junior who got lucky and maybe picked up a few benefits on the outskirts of the Earth Temple.’

’His aura is unstable; he must have been through a tough fight. Nothing to worry about.’

Several powerful streams of Divine Sense lingered on him for a moment but failed to find any flaws.

They quickly moved on, passing over him as if he were dust, completely "ignoring" him.

With a flicker of thought, the Masters all transformed into sky-shattering rainbows of different colors. Like meteors crashing to earth, they plunged into the deep fissure of the Earth Temple with unstoppable momentum.

Only after all the Masters had entered the Earth Temple did the immense pressure blanketing the entire Yin Ruins finally ease slightly.

At that same moment, Qi Yun clearly felt a calm gaze, tinged with a hint of imperceptible approval, rest on him for a moment.

It was Qian Xin Master.

Qi Yun understood immediately. It was the signal to leave.

He no longer hesitated. He stood up at once, dusted himself off, and walked briskly toward the exit of the Yin Ruins.

He passed through the light barrier entrance jointly established by the Four Major Sects.

The noisy chatter of the outside world and a rush of fresh air greeted him.

The temporary Marketplace on the outskirts of Pot Valley was still bustling, with countless gazes turned toward the Yin Ruins in curiosity and awe.

The very instant he stepped through the light barrier, his body completely clear of the Yin Ruins’ boundary, Qi Yun acted without hesitation. With a single Heart Thought!

[Gathering Form and Scattering Qi]

Without attracting anyone’s notice, he vanished in plain sight, as if he had never been there at all.