Zhang Ling began to examine the information recorded on the brocade handkerchief. After the better part of an hour, he finished reading the miscellaneous notes.
Then, he released his divine sense to sense the environment outside the formation.
"It seems I'm right; this is the Nether Springs River mentioned above. If it's truly this place, then they still have a sliver of a chance to escape."
Zhang Ling thought to himself.
The Yin energy here was rich, several times more concentrated than the Yin Water River above. He had noticed this long ago.
After descending here, the rate at which spiritual power flowed out of his body was much faster than outside. Fortunately, he had just set up the formation.
Looking at the hexagonal formation plate placed beside him, Zhang Ling frowned. At this moment, the formation plate was floating a few feet above the ground, rotating slowly.
Silks of spiritual light flickered on it, and beneath the formation plate was a pile of thirty to forty low-grade spirit stones.
At this time, three spirit stones on top of the pile had become dull and gray, turning into ordinary stones.
Only half an hour had passed, and several spirit stones had already been consumed.
This made his face darken. The core of this place was the Eternal Life Hall above.
The Eternal Life Hall was a secret place of the Ghost King Sect. To build the Eternal Life Hall, they had to rely on places with rich Yin energy, that is, Yin Sha lands.
The Nether Springs River was such a place, and the Yin water he had seen above was a branch of it.
The true purpose of the Eternal Life Hall was as a place of inheritance for the Ghost King Sect, and there were a total of seven of them. They were not places that ordinary disciples could enter.
However, the Ghost King Sect had disappeared ten thousand years ago. He had seen records of this sect in the Haoyuan Sect's library.
The Ghost King Sect was an ancient sect that had produced experts in the Transformation God stage. It had also contributed greatly during the invasion of the ancient devils and could be said to have been prestigious.
But twenty thousand years ago, the sect's high-level cultivators died and were injured overnight, and they were eventually defeated by allied enemy sects.
It was rumored that infighting had occurred within the Ghost King Sect, and even the mountain gate was broken. Since then, it disappeared from the cultivation world, and the three words 'Ghost King Sect' became a legend.
The information on the brocade handkerchief was a record of some of the sect's secrets by a Ghost King Sect elder named Hundred Ghosts.
Most of it was a description of the Eternal Life Hall. The information above revealed that this Nether Springs River had not been cut off and led to the outside world.
This was their hope of getting out.
However, it did not specify how large or long this Nether Springs River was, but it was better than having no hope at all.
Zhang Ling turned his head to look at the Qingyi woman's condition. She had not yet woken up and could only wait for this senior to wake up before saying anything.
...
He didn't know how much time had passed.
"Did you treat the wounds on my body?" The Qingyi woman raised her arm and looked at it.
"Senior has awakened. You lost consciousness before and had injuries. Please forgive me if I offended you."
Zhang Ling answered cautiously. This woman was a high-level cultivator. If there were any taboos and she held him accountable, it would be troublesome.
So, he kept his attitude very low.
"Why are you standing so far away? Am I that scary?" The Qingyi woman glanced at Zhang Ling and said softly.
"Uh..."
The Qingyi woman's words left Zhang Ling unsure of how to respond.
"I'm not that pedantic." Softening her voice, the woman said faintly.
"May I know Senior's esteemed name? Zhang Ling thanks Senior for saving my life earlier."
Zhang Ling walked a few steps closer and stood not far from the woman, a look of embarrassment flashing across his face before he respectfully bowed to her.
"Are you still paying attention to these superficialities at the Foundation Establishment stage?" The woman frowned, seeming somewhat displeased.
"The grace of saving my life is a small matter for Senior, but I value my own little life very much."
"Zhang Ling, a vulgar name, hehe. Since you say I saved your life, then what will you use to repay me?"
"This..."
Zhang Ling's expression froze when he heard this. He didn't have anything on him that was worth a high-level cultivator's attention.
Except for that mysterious bead. But this thing was his biggest secret, and he was unwilling to take it out.
The Qingyi woman's beautiful eyes carefully scanned Zhang Ling's body, and her face suddenly turned pale as she coughed lightly twice.
"Do you have any healing pills on you?"
"Yes."
Zhang Ling quickly patted his storage bag and took out a white porcelain bottle, handing it to the Qingyi woman. The woman took the bottle and poured out a white pill from it.
"White Spirit Pill, not bad."
The Qingyi woman swallowed the pill and sat down cross-legged with her eyes closed, but after a moment, she reopened her eyes.
Then, she poured out the remaining White Spirit Pills from the porcelain bottle. There were a total of five pills, and she threw them all into her mouth.
This scene made Zhang Ling's expression strange, and the corners of his mouth twitched a few times.
The White Spirit Pill was a second-grade healing elixir, worth hundreds of spirit stones each. It had the miraculous effect of stabilizing a cultivator's aura and nourishing the meridians.
Although these White Spirit Pills were all refined by him, they had also consumed a lot of precious spiritual herbs and were the most valuable pills in his possession.
This woman swallowed as many as five pills at once, which made him unable to believe it. Although the White Spirit Pill's medicinal power was gentle, wasn't she afraid of indigestion from taking so many at once?
Zhang Ling thought to himself. At this time, the Qingyi woman stood up again. Her beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if the previous pill had no effect.
Then, the Qingyi woman took out a yellow storage bag from her bosom and stretched out her hand in his direction.
"Come here and open this storage bag."
This woman suddenly said this, making Zhang Ling confused.
A storage bag was the most valuable thing on a cultivator's body, with all their possessions inside. Even close friends and relatives had no right to open it.
This action was beyond Zhang Ling's expectations, and Zhang Ling froze on the spot and did not step forward.
"Why are you afraid when I have no reservations?"
Seeing that he didn't move, the Qingyi woman snorted, her tone a little colder.
"Um, why doesn't Senior open the storage bag herself?" Zhang Ling hesitated for a moment, but still asked.
"If I could open it myself, would I still need you? Haven't you noticed that I don't have any spiritual power on me?"
In fact, Zhang Ling had noticed before that this woman had no spiritual power fluctuations on her body. He had thought she was using a secret technique to hide it.
Hearing her say this at this moment, his mind also relaxed a little.
A storage bag cannot be opened without spiritual power. It can only be opened by using spiritual power and divine sense together on the storage bag.
Taking out and storing items also requires the use of spiritual power and divine sense, both of which are indispensable.
The Qingyi woman's beautiful eyes flickered a few times, and she threw the yellow storage bag in her hand to Zhang Ling, looking very unrestrained.
Zhang Ling took the yellow bag. It was a purse-style bag embroidered with golden silk threads, and there were also some flower and bird patterns embroidered on it.
The storage bag was warm to the touch, and Zhang Ling also smelled a strange fragrance. Zhang Ling grabbed it a few times, and the bag was bulging, and he didn't know what was inside.
"Input your spiritual power into it." A clear voice sounded in his ear.
Zhang Ling no longer hesitated and mobilized a trace of spiritual power to input into it. He saw that the mouth of the bag flashed with spiritual light, and some tiny golden runes appeared.
Restriction!
Zhang Ling looked up at the Qingyi woman in confusion. Ordinary storage bags did not have restrictions. It seemed that this was a high-level storage bag.
As he looked at the Qingyi woman, a wave of aura rushed out of the woman's body. Immediately, Zhang Ling felt a powerful divine sense probing his body.
Then, it turned into an invisible force and rushed towards the mouth of the bag in his hand. The runes on the mouth of the bag trembled and then dissipated.
