Chapter 22: The Soul-Calming Stone Monument

  After Lu Yun entered the deep well, Zhang Aoxue and Lin Yunfen stood quietly beside the well, paying attention to the movements around them, wanting to see if there were any unusual changes. When that brilliant light burst into the sky, the two of them understood that something had happened to Lu Yun below.

  Lin Yunfeng's expression changed slightly, saying: "Looking at these two rays of light, the powerful force hidden in them, it seems that Lu Yun has encountered danger. I'll go down and take a look, if something happens, it won't be good. Master sister will stay here, I'll go first." After finishing speaking, he turned around and was about to head down.

  Zhang Aoxue calmly said, "I'll go too. You're in front, I'm behind. Let's go." With a resolute expression on her beautiful face, she blocked Lin Yunfeng from saying anything and he didn't say another word. Lin Yunfeng didn't say anything and directly jumped into the well, followed by Zhang Aoxue.

  It was also bad luck for the two of them that they had descended to about fifty zhang when they encountered that column of water shooting up into the sky. The force of the water column was so great that in that situation, it instantly blasted the two of them out, and got Lin Yunfeng completely soaked, his mouth constantly complaining. Zhang Aosnow calmly took a glance at Lin Yunfeng, then suddenly plunged down into the well. Lin Yunfeng saw this and couldn't help but stop complaining, immediately entering the well as well.

  Very soon, the two of them didn't encounter anything and easily arrived at the bottom of the well, where they saw Lu Yun. When Zhang Aoxue saw the woman standing behind Lu Yun, a hint of an extremely subtle and strange expression flashed in her eyes. But that expression immediately turned into an icy and ruthless gaze, coldly staring at the woman. Lin Yunfeng also saw the woman, and a hint of strange light flashed in his eyes as he looked at Lu Yun with some confusion.

  A purple light suddenly appeared, and the entire well bottom instantly became a piece of purple. The woman behind Lu Yun exclaimed, her body trembling constantly, her expression showing great fear. A cyan light flashed around Lu Yun's body, slightly blocking the purple glow outside, looking at Zhang Aoxue and saying softly: "Sister, don't be agitated, this girl is a soul body, but she doesn't have evil intentions, sister will understand if you listen to me explain." After finishing, he told the two that the woman couldn't leave here and go for reincarnation, and mentioned that this woman was not an evil spirit, which made Zhang Aoxue put away her divine sword.

  Looking at Lu Yun, Zhang Ao Xue didn't say anything and quietly walked towards the jade stele. Lin Yun Feng looked at Lu Yun and asked: "Lu Yun, just now when we were outside, we saw that some of them had light pillars and some had water pillars, what's going on?" Lu Yun glanced at Zhang Ao Xue's moving back figure and lightly told him about what happened earlier, but he didn't mention that he himself had used the Buddhist sect's "Heart Zen Unbroken Technique".

  As they walked in front of the Soul-Sealing Monument, the three of them quietly observed this stone monument. Lu Yun spoke softly: "This Soul-Sealing Monument is very unusual, it can lock down all souls and yuan-shen, making it impossible for them to leave here. On its surface, there was originally a layer of incredibly powerful seals, I have already broken that seal, but for now, we still don't have the opportunity to examine what secrets this Soul-Sealing Monument holds. Now let's take a look together at what secrets this Soul-Sealing Monument actually has."

  Lin Yunfeng's eyes flashed with a hint of light as he employed a special method to probe the secrets of the jade stele. Zhang Aoxue, on the other hand, was surrounded by a purple glow, his true energy surging forth in full force as he scrutinized the jade stele before him. Time passed unnoticed, and Lin Yunfeng let out a soft sigh, saying: "This Soul-Sealing Stele is indeed mysterious. I've been investigating for half a day, but haven't found anything useful. What about you two? Have you gained any insights?"

  Zhang Aoxue glanced at Lu Yun and shook her head slightly, indicating that she had not found anything either. Lu Yun said helplessly: "I have a feeling that there is something hidden in this Soul-Tomb Stele. That thing can play the role of locking souls, so it makes Night Rain Girl unable to leave here and reincarnate. In addition, this Soul-Tomb Stele also has the ability to conceal all evil and strange aura. It's just because of this that we didn't notice the gloomy atmosphere of ghosts and monsters down there when we were outside. Unfortunately, I don't dare to confirm what exactly is inside."

  Lin Yunfeng's face lit up with joy: "Really, Lu Yun, are you sure there's something inside? If it's true, then it must be an extraordinary treasure. Hehe, I'll have to study it carefully, can't return empty-handed from the Treasure Mountain, right?" After finishing speaking, Lin Yunfeng circled around the Soul-Sealing Stele, constantly turning, with a sly glint in his eyes, and it was clear what he was thinking.

  After spinning around a few times, Lin Yunfeng stopped his body and slowly walked closer to the jade stele. He saw that his right hand was stretched out in front, with a mysterious blue-green light appearing at the edge of his palm. As Lin Yunfeng's right hand slowly approached the jade stele, about one foot away from it, a silver halo blocked his right hand. A thick layer of silver light circulated and flowed, forming a protective shield that firmly stopped Lin Yunfeng's right hand, causing them to be locked in a stalemate.

  Lin Yunfeng's eyes burst with a fierce glow, his right hand suddenly bursting forth with a mysterious blue-green light. His body took a sudden step forward, forcing the silver light shield back. But as soon as the silver light retreated, it too exploded with an equally powerful radiance, sending Lin Yunfeng flying backward once again. Zhang Aoxue and Lu Yun watched in amazement, their faces filled with shock. Who would have thought that this flow of light was so mysterious, growing stronger when faced with strength, yet weaker when faced with weakness? It was truly bizarre.

  Lin Yunfeng tried seven times in a row, but failed every time, and was shocked. He retreated to Lu Yun's side, wiping the sweat from his brow: "This thing is mysterious, no matter how hard I try, I just can't break through this seal, it's really strange. You guys try too, see if there's any way, anyway we can't leave empty-handed, today we must figure out what's inside."

  Lu Yun glanced at Zhang Aoxue, seeing her serious expression, and couldn't help but speak up: "Aoxue Shizhi, let me try first. If I'm not good enough, then I'll trouble you to take over. What do you think?" Zhang Aoxue looked at him and nodded slightly: "Be careful, don't force it. If you're not up to it, retreat and avoid affecting your cultivation."

  Lu Yun looked at her beautiful eyes, slightly nodded, and a strange feeling was exchanged in each other's eyes. Lu Yun slowly walked to the front of the jade stele, with his right hand forward, operating the "Twelve Heavenly Gates" true yuan of Yi Garden, a green light flashed, instantly contacting the flowing silver light on the jade stele. As soon as the two different true airs came into contact, Lu Yun immediately felt that the silver light had an extremely strong repulsive force, crazily resisting his own true yuan and not allowing him to advance.

  Because there were people around, Lu Yun didn't want to expose his ultimate skill, so he had to withdraw his right hand after probing for a while. After watching quietly for a long time, Lu Yun stretched out his left hand this time. A cyan glow appeared on the edge of Lu Yun's left hand, and his heart was currently casting the "Wanyuan Return to One" technique, deeply suppressing that silver light. Slowly, a layer of pale blue light appeared at the bottom of the well, gathering towards Lu Yun in a flurry. This pale blue light contained a soft and gentle aura, all concentrated on Lu Yun's left hand, tightly combined with that silver light, emitting a strange glow.

  Zhang Aoxue and Lin Yunfen both looked at Lu Yun, with surprise in their eyes. Lin Yunfen couldn't help but speak up: "Hey, Lu Yun, what's going on here? Why didn't I know you could do this before? This seems to be a unique skill of our Yi Garden, I've never seen it before! Can you tell me, what's the story behind this, I really want to know!"

  Lu Yun ignored Lin Yunfeng and used his left hand to execute the "Wanyuan Guiyi" technique with all his might. This technique was specialized in collecting the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for one's own use, and at this time, Lu Yun discovered that a strong attack wouldn't work, so he tried a strong occupation instead. Feeling the silver light begin to float, Lu Yun's heart rejoiced, knowing that he would soon succeed. Lu Yun's body was filled with blue light, and his left hand, due to the concealment of the cyan light, added to the blue light, hiding the aura in his palm, so he added three more points of force.

  At last, the silver light began to converge towards Lu Yun's left palm under his strong suction. The jade stele was surrounded by countless strange flower patterns that flashed in mid-air, and many talismanic diagrams appeared around Lu Yun, rapidly entering his body. In a flash of silver light, the flowing light on the jade stele instantly disappeared into Lu Yun's palm. This shocked both Zhang Aoxue and Lin Yunfeng, who looked at Lu Yun with strange eyes.

  At the moment when the silver light disappeared, the jade stele suddenly split in half, and a dazzling silver light burst out, spinning rapidly at the bottom of the well. As they gazed at this silver glow, Lin Yunfeng and Zhang Aoxue both withdrew their gaze from Lu Yun's body, carefully observing this mysterious object. After watching for a while, Zhang Aoxue exclaimed in surprise: "This is a treasure sword! Quickly block the exit above, we can't let it escape!" As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yunfeng had already reacted and swiftly blocked the path above, carefully guarding the exit.

  When the silver light appeared, Lu Yun didn't look at it, but instead looked at his own left hand. At this time, Zhang Ao Xue and Lin Yun Feng hadn't noticed that on the palm of Lu Yun's left hand, a pattern had appeared. The pattern was a one-inch-long jade symbol, clearly displaying the two ancient characters "Zhen Hun". This jade symbol shone with silver light, as if it were carved into the palm of Lu Yun's hand, mysterious and strange. Lu Yun thought for a moment, and the jade symbol disappeared. Immediately after, Lu Yun thought about making it appear again, and suddenly the jade symbol reappeared on the palm of his left hand. This made Lu Yun extremely happy, with a hint of strange light flashing in his eyes.

  She glanced at the woman, who was trembling all over and staring at the silver sword in horror. Lu Yun's body flashed, and he appeared in front of her, blocking the silver light. Just then, Lin Yunfeng's voice came from above: "Lu Yun, be careful not to let this treasure sword escape. I'll guard it here, you quickly think of a way to get it."

  Lu Yun glanced at him and smiled softly, "Yun Feng, I already have a sword, so you can have this one. Even if Shifu's divine sword is in hand, it's still not useful, so you should go instead." As soon as he said this, Lin Yunfeng's face lit up with joy, and he laughed, "Lu Yun, since you say so, I'll take it to heart. Today, I'll thank you first, and in the future, I'll remember to help you get what you want, heh heh. Now, please come here and guard the exit, I'll go down and subdue it."

  Lu Yun smiled calmly and brought the woman with him, suddenly appearing beside Lin Yunfeng. Above his head, the As-You-Wish Heart-Soul Sword shone with a crimson glow, firmly guarding the exit. Lin Yunfeng's body shook, and six figures appeared at the bottom of the well, simultaneously pouncing on the silver treasure sword. The silver treasure sword seemed to understand Lin Yunfeng's thoughts as well, its light flickering in and out, sometimes east and sometimes west, never allowing Lin Yunfeng an opportunity to get close to it.

  Zhang Aoxue gazed at the silver sword, a hint of a smile in his eyes, and the Purple Shadow divine sword flashed out of its scabbard. In an instant, a purple glow spread throughout the entire well bottom, forcing the silver treasure sword to shine brightly as it defended against the powerful aura of the Purple Shadow divine sword. This gave Lin Yunfeng the opportunity to seize control. With a wave of his hands, a blood-colored net appeared above the treasure sword, covering it with countless tiny blood beads that had suddenly materialized. These tiny blood beads were actually formed from the accumulation of Lin Yunfeng's own fresh blood. He understood that to subdue a treasure sword, brute force was not enough. For a sentient treasure sword like this one, only his own fresh blood could bind and control it.

  A brilliant light flashed, and a sword whizzed through the air, piercing the clouds. The precious sword rapidly flashed and dodged Lin Yunfeng's bloody net, but unfortunately, it was too late. When the blood beads enveloped the silver light, the silver light suddenly dimmed and disappeared, and a long sword gently fell from mid-air, caught by Lin Yunfeng in one hand. Lin Yunfeng's face lit up with joy, gazing at the precious sword in his hand with unbridled delight. The sword was three feet three inches three tenths long, its body one inch two wide and three tenths thick, looking extremely elegant. On the hilt were engraved two small characters: "Wind Cutter".

  Lu Yun and Zhang Aoxue walked closer to Lin Yunfeng, both with a hint of blessing in their eyes. Lin Yunfeng exclaimed excitedly: "Look at this sword! It has the words 'Wind Slasher' engraved on it, I suppose this is indeed the Wind Slasher Sword. Hehe, isn't it great? Oh, right, where's the scabbard? Quick, let's find it!" After finishing speaking, he hastily ran to the jade stele and began searching for the scabbard. At that moment, his excitement was like a child's, causing Lu Yun and Zhang Aoxue to shake their heads in amusement.

  Not long after, Lin Yunfeng found the sword scabbard in the jade stele and walked over with a happy face. At this time, Lu Yun asked the woman: "What do you plan to do now, leave here or continue to stay here?"

  The woman glanced at the three of them and said softly, "For so many years, I've been stuck here, wasting a lot of time. With my current level of cultivation, if I go outside, I wouldn't even dare to show my face in the light, or else those cultivators would beat me until my soul flees. Rather than that, I'd better stay here and cultivate for now. When the day comes that I'm not afraid of the light, I'll go find him myself, and then I won't need to trouble you. For now, I can only ask you to keep an eye out for me." These last words were directed at Lu Yun.

  Lu Yun said in a soft voice, "It's better this way. Once you go out, there are many cultivators outside who won't be safe for you either. Just stay here quietly and focus on your cultivation. If I find him, I'll pass on what you've said to him. Now, we'll take our leave of you. If you want to find me in the future, just remember that I'm from Yi Garden. But whatever you do, don't go to Yi Garden, because there are divine arrays guarding it all around, and if you get close, you'll be destroyed." After finishing speaking, Lu Yun had Lin Yunfeng and Zhang Aoxue go up first to wait for him, then he began setting up a seal here. This seal could not only suppress the leakage of ghost energy but also prevent strong enemies from entering. Once everything was complete, Lu Yun glanced at the woman, nodded slightly, and flashed away.

  As Lu Yun departed, the woman in the night rain gently waved her hand and softly said: "In the future one day, perhaps you will meet him, because you are very similar to him. You both have the same aura, with many similarities." Lu Yun's body paused, turned his head to look at her for a moment, a strange light flashing in his eyes, before disappearing into the dark depths of the well.

  When Lu Yun appeared at the wellhead, he found Lin Yunfeng happily dancing with his sword in the distance. A strong and powerful silver light intersected, countless sword shadows gathered in mid-air to form countless sword flowers, layer by layer, scene by scene, spreading outwards, just like a heavenly maiden scattering flowers, very beautiful. Zhang Aoxue stood quietly on the side, calmly watching Yunfeng, with a hint of calmness in his eyes, unable to discern anything.

  Lü Yun appeared in the sky, Zhang Ao Xue said softly: "We should go back now, if we hurry, we can still catch lunch." A figure flashed, a white figure suddenly appeared 20 meters away, rapidly advancing. Lü Yun glanced at Lin Yun Feng who was about to speak, shook his head slightly, and chased after Zhang Ao Xue. Lin Yun Feng let out a strange cry, his body rode the sword into the air, instantly catching up with Zhang Ao Xue and Lü Yun.

  On the way, Lu Yun spoke up and said: "This time when we go back, remember not to mention that female ghost's matter, otherwise you'll probably get scolded. Cloud Maple, remember, if any of your senior uncles ask about this sword, be sure to leave out the part about the female ghost, or else you'll definitely get a good scolding. Did you hear me clearly?"

  Lin Yunfeng smiled and said, "Alright, no need for you to say it, I already understand. Whoever talks about this will get scolded, do you think I'm a fool? Now we're not talking about that anymore, what female ghost, I've never seen one before. Let's talk about the martial arts conference we attended last time, how was it? What are your opinions?" His shining eyes looked at Lu Yun and Zhang Aoxue, waiting for their response.

  Lu Yun glanced at Zhang Aoxue and said softly to Yun Feng, "Don't worry about this matter, just focus on doing your best. When you get back, make sure to seize the time and familiarize yourself with the weapons, lest you be flustered during the martial competition and end up losing face."

  "Alright, since none of you want to speak up, I'll just go ahead and try out my sword by myself. If any of you are interested, come chase me and we can see who's the fastest." With that, Lin Yunfeng chuckled and vanished into thin air with his Wind Slashing Sword in an instant.

  Lu Yun and Zhang Aosnow did not chase after them, still maintaining their original speed, advancing with the wind. Looking at the scenery around them, Lu Yun spoke up: "Aosnow, do you think we cultivate like this for longevity, or to become a heroic swordsman who eradicates evil? Is it to seek that mysterious Tao of immortals, or to obtain that powerful strength, so as to do as one pleases? In this world, there are countless people cultivating the truth, but why?"

  Zhang Aoxue looked at him, this was the first time he called himself like that, and a hint of strangeness appeared in her eyes. After thinking quietly for a moment, Zhang Aoxue said: "The world is vast, and nothing is impossible. Cultivating immortality is just one way, and everyone who chooses this path has different goals. So your question is not easy to answer. In this world, many people are confused at times, and in that critical moment, making the right decision will determine a person's fate. You may be in that stage of confusion now, so this moment is very important for you, because it will affect your whole life."

  Lu Yun sank into deep thought, and Zhang Ao Xue's words were very meaningful. There is no need to care about other people's decisions, the most important thing is to recognize the decision in your own heart, choose the path you want to take, and then strive to fight hard. After a long time of contemplation, Lu Yun suddenly smiled and looked at Zhang Ao Xue softly saying: "Thank you, Ao Xue. Let's speed up and go back early."

  Two figures, like shooting stars, broke through the air and descended onto the cultivation grounds of Yi Garden. As the sword light dissipated, Zhang Aoxue and Lu Yun gently landed on the ground. Before they could even steady themselves, seven people appeared around them, silently gazing at Lu Yun and Zhang Aoxue.

  Lu Yun's face was calm, and before he fell, everything about these seven people had already appeared clearly in his mind, so he wasn't surprised at all. Zhang Aoxue's eyes didn't move, turned around and walked towards Master, standing quietly beside Master. Among the seven people, Li Hongfei glanced at Lu Yun with a slightly cold gaze, then lightly looked away. Lin Yunfeng made a strange face at the two of them, as if hinting at something.

  Xuan Yu True Person smiled and looked at the two, opening his mouth to say: "It's good that you're back. I've already heard about this matter from Xuan Yin Shidi. You both have some gains, which has reached my goal. Now let's all go back to Yi Tian Ge together and discuss the martial arts conference in a few days." He lightly turned around and walked towards Yi Tian Ge.

  Ziyang Zhenren looked at Lu Yun, a hint of concern in his eyes. He gently patted his shoulder, and together with him, followed the others to Yitian Pavilion.