Chapter 70: Seizing the Foundation (Part Five)

Teng Li suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils were unfocused and bloodshot, his lips trembled, and his teeth were clenched.

Wang Lin drew a complex symbol in the air with his right hand, bit his fingertip, and flicked out a drop of blood. The symbol immediately flashed with red light upon contact with the blood and imprinted itself on Teng Li's forehead.

In an instant, Teng Li groaned, his body convulsed even more violently, and all the muscles on his body bizarrely writhed, gathering frantically towards his chest from all directions.

Not long after, Teng Li's body withered rapidly before their eyes. All his muscles and Meridians condensed into a huge ball of flesh in his chest.

Wang Lin's eyes flickered. He flipped his right hand and cast another Hand Seal. The ball of flesh burst with a bang, detaching from Teng Li's body and floating in mid-air. At this moment, Teng Li's entire body was skin and bones, like a skeleton.

Wang Lin took a deep breath and exhaled a mouthful of Spiritual Qi, which merged into the ball of flesh. The ball of flesh rapidly contracted, and after a long while, it became the same size as the previous blood ball.

At this point, Wang Lin's face showed fatigue. He took out a Spiritual Qi Gourd, drank a large mouthful, and closed his eyes to meditate. Before long, he opened his eyes and pointed at Teng Li's body.

Immediately, loud cracking sounds erupted. All of Teng Li's bones shattered inch by inch, turning into bone powder that seeped out from his skin and condensed together to form another bone ball.

The three small, fist-sized balls of blood, flesh, and bone were arranged in a '品' character Formation, emitting an eerie glow.

"This Great Foundation Seizing Technique requires extracting the blood, flesh, bone, Soul, and Spiritual Root of the Cauldron, and the Cauldron must not die during the blood, flesh, and bone extraction process. It is truly too cruel," Wang Lin sighed, muttering to himself.

"What's so cruel about that? Among the Demonic Path cultivators in the country where this old man resided, there was even a Great Core Seizing Technique. That's what you call cruel. Not only does the Cauldron suffer immense pain, but the caster also has to endure unimaginable agony, sacrificing lifespan as a price, to achieve less than a one percent success rate," Situ Nan said unhurriedly.

Wang Lin remained silent for a moment, then focused his mind. He pointed at Teng Li with his right hand and chanted incantations. Gradually, his chanting speed increased, and his hands changed Hand Seals accordingly. Wisps of white Qi emanated from Teng Li's body, which now resembled a puddle of mud, growing thicker and thicker.

It was unclear how much time had passed, but the white Qi had become extremely dense, fusing together to form a blurry human figure. Looking closely, one could vaguely discern the facial features of the small figure, identical to Teng Li.

The small figure's eyes showed confusion, and its entire body trembled as if it would dissipate with a gust of wind. Gradually, the confusion faded, and it stared at Wang Lin, its eyes filled with venomous hatred, opening its mouth to let out several silent roars.

Wang Lin didn't even blink. He flipped his right hand and sent out a red light. The small figure seemed extremely afraid of the red light and turned to flee, but within three feet of Teng Li's body, it was as if an invisible cage existed. No matter how the small figure tried to escape, it couldn't break out of the three-foot radius.

Finally, seeing no escape, a fierce look flashed across the small figure's face, and it charged towards the red light.

Wang Lin remained expressionless. He waved his right hand, and the red light, like a rope, wrapped around the small figure several times, binding it. Then, the red light contracted, slowly pulling it outwards.

Wang Lin knew deeply that the step of Soul extraction must not be careless. The Soul must be pulled out completely intact from the three-foot confinement area of the body. Only then could the next step of Spiritual Root extraction proceed. Otherwise, although it wouldn't affect the Foundation Seizing, it would be impossible to use the opponent's Spiritual Root to change one's own physique.

The small figure's face showed pain as it was pulled out by the red light inch by inch. In a blink of an eye, half of it had crossed the three-foot mark.

Just then, a yellow light suddenly flashed on the small figure. The red light rope silently shattered, and the small figure immediately retreated back into the three-foot confinement area. The yellow light on its body flickered intensely, and the small figure quickly solidified from its blurry state.

Wang Lin's face was grim as he stared at the small figure. He formed Hand Seals with his right hand, about to cast a spell again, when the small figure's face showed terror and it spoke human words.

"If you kill me, my great-grandfather won't let you go! He is a Nascent Soul Stage expert. If you kill me, you'll be dead too."

A cold light flashed in Wang Lin's eyes. Without a word, he spat out a large mouthful of Spiritual Qi, and his hands rapidly changed Hand Seals, continuously striking the Spiritual Qi. Gradually, the Spiritual Qi condensed into a thin thread.

The small figure's face showed even greater fear. It said sharply, "My great-grandfather already knows I'm in danger. He's coming right away, you…"

Before it could finish speaking, Wang Lin flicked his left hand, and the thin thread buzzed as it pierced into the three-foot radius of Teng Li's body, instantly trapping the small figure and fiercely pulling it outwards.

The small figure shrieked and struggled, "Great-grandfather, save me!" The yellow light on its body immediately flickered violently, showing signs of contending with Wang Lin.

Without a word, Wang Lin slapped his Storage Pouch and threw out a Spiritual Qi Gourd. The liquid inside the Gourd immediately flowed out and instantly merged into the thin thread. The thin thread immediately thickened to the size of a finger, and he pulled again.

This time, no matter how the yellow light on the small figure flickered, it was no longer effective. Wang Lin grabbed it out. The moment it left the three-foot confinement area, the yellow light on the small figure immediately dissipated, turning into a cloud of yellow mist. The mist strangely churned, revealing a blurry figure. The figure was enveloped in mist, its details unclear, but a hurried voice was heard, "Fellow Daoist, hold on, let's talk."

Wang Lin was startled. Situ Nan immediately said, "Don't worry, this is a Nascent Soul Stage expert's Void Incarnation. Unlike an Incarnation outside the body, this Void Incarnation has no attack power. He can't see you, nor does he know your location. He can only let you hear him speak. Moreover, this Void Incarnation has distance limitations. It seems this person is not close to this place, which is why this Void Incarnation is so blurry. As for why he appeared, he must have cherished this Teng Li greatly, so he always left a trace of Divine Sense within his Soul."

Wang Lin didn't say a word. He pointed at the small figure trapped by the Spiritual Artifact rope. The small figure immediately stopped struggling, gradually shrinking, and finally turned into a purple-glowing orb.

The Void Incarnation of Old Master Teng seemed to sense that Teng Li's Soul had been refined. It let out a fierce roar, its tone filled with resentment, and said grimly, "Those who kill my Teng family will surely be cursed! You are dead! I, Teng Huayuan, will find you one day…" After speaking, the yellow light slowly dissipated.

Tens of thousands of miles away, on a mountain peak, an old man in a black robe stood, his face grim. His eyes flickered, and he clenched his fists, muttering to himself, "Li'er, your great-grandfather swears that I will search the heavens and the Yellow Springs to avenge you!" After speaking, he slapped his chest with his right hand, spitting out a ball of black blood. He then sliced with his right hand, rapidly moving it through the blood, and circles of dark red ripples spread out, transforming into countless strange symbols that lingered between heaven and earth.

Immediately after, a small figure radiating purple light rushed out from the old man's heavenly spirit, paused in the sky, and then immediately sat cross-legged in the Void Realm.

"Curse, rise!" the small figure shouted fiercely. Forming Hand Seals with both hands, his Divine Sense transformed into thousands upon thousands, merging into each symbol.

"Curse, receive!" With the naked eye, the old man's Nascent Soul visibly wilted and shrank considerably, clearly indicating that a large amount of Nascent Soul Qi had been consumed without hesitation. The symbols infused with Divine Sense simultaneously flashed with an eerie light, flying one after another into the sky, arranging themselves into a complex Formation. This Formation covered half the sky, and at this moment, the wind and clouds changed color, and thunder rumbled.

"Curse, turn!" The great Formation in the sky moved, slowly rotating. Streaks of blood-colored lightning appeared within the Formation. These lightning bolts connected together, forming a strange diamond shape.

"Curse. Combine!" The small figure's final roar shook the heavens and earth. At the same time, he spat out another large mouthful of Nascent Soul Qi. The great Formation in the sky spun faster and faster, more and more red lightning appeared, and the diamond pattern formed grew brighter and brighter. Immediately after, the range of the great Formation gradually shrank, rapidly contracting at a visible speed, finally converging entirely onto that diamond pattern, along with the red lightning.

The pattern slowly descended from mid-air and imprinted itself on the small figure's forehead.

A grim smile appeared on the small figure's lips, and he said sinisterly, "Those who kill my Teng family will surely suffer my, Teng Huayuan's, curse!"

Inside the tree cave, four orbs floated before Wang Lin. Without a word, he cast several Hand Seals at Teng Li's body, and countless sparkling points of light floated out from Teng Li.

These points of light were densely packed, and immediately after leaving the body, one-third of them dissipated into the heavens and earth.

Wang Lin took a deep breath. He knew these points of light were the so-called Spiritual Roots. He quickly exhaled a mouthful of spiritual mist, enveloped the points of light, and swiftly devoured them. The points of light immediately produced a strong repulsion, and during the process of the spiritual mist devouring them, another one-third of the points of light dissipated, with only one-third successfully fusing with the spiritual mist.

Just then, Wang Lin's forehead suddenly lit up, and a purple diamond pattern strikingly appeared.

Wang Lin immediately noticed, raised his hand to touch his forehead, and his expression froze.

Situ Nan immediately exclaimed, "This person has quite a grand scheme! Wang Lin, you've been cursed by a Nascent Soul Stage expert who didn't hesitate to sacrifice lifespan. As long as you enter a certain range of him, he can instantly appear by your side. This person actually knows such a profound Formation curse."

Wang Lin suddenly stood up, his face grim, and said, "Is there any way to break it?"

Situ Nan pondered for a moment, then smiled triumphantly, "Actually, you don't need to worry too much. According to my analysis, this curse has no attack power; it only serves as an instant positioning function. Although this person's curse is profound, I specialized in studying curses that use Formations to trigger spiritual energy fluctuations between heaven and earth back in the day. Although I can't cast them now that I've lost my Physical Body, helping you disrupt the curse's effects is still something I can do.

As long as you're not too close to him, with my help to conceal you, he won't be able to find you no matter what. Don't worry. Hehe, Wang Lin, this is actually an Opportunity. I once accidentally obtained an ancient Secret Technique that uses a curse as a bridge for backlash. It requires the caster to have Core Formation Stage cultivation, plus some Spiritual Items as aid. Once successful, one can obtain half of the opponent's cultivation. Tsk tsk, you're really lucky, kid."

Wang Lin's heart trembled. This was indeed a great Opportunity. If it succeeded, his cultivation would soar, and he would directly reach the Core Formation Stage from the Core Formation Stage, saving him countless years of bitter cultivation.

However, the success rate of this Secret Technique was only 10%. If it failed, not only would he not gain anything, but he would also suffer a backlash, causing his Divine Sense to be greatly damaged, and he might even fall into a coma for a hundred years.

Wang Lin frowned and said, "Is there no way to increase the success rate?"

Situ Nan shook his head and said, "No, this Secret Technique is too heaven-defying. It's already good enough to have a 10% success rate. However, you don't need to worry too much. If you have enough Spiritual Items, you can increase the success rate. If you have a Heaven-Defying Bead, it can be increased by another 10%."

Wang Lin's eyes lit up. He had a Heaven-Defying Bead. If he could find enough Spiritual Items, he could increase the success rate to 30%. That was already quite high.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then said, "What kind of Spiritual Items are needed?"

Situ Nan said, "There are three types of Spiritual Items needed: one is the Soul-Nourishing Grass, which can nourish the Soul and increase the success rate by 5%; the second is the Blood-Returning Flower, which can restore blood and increase the success rate by 5%; the third is the Bone-Forging Fruit, which can strengthen bones and increase the success rate by 5%. If you have all three, plus the Heaven-Defying Bead, the success rate can reach 30%."

Wang Lin nodded. These three Spiritual Items were not common, but they were not impossible to find. He had to find them as soon as possible.

"What about the backlash?" Wang Lin asked.

Situ Nan said, "The backlash is mainly about the damage to the Divine Sense. If you have a Soul-Nourishing Grass, you can reduce the damage. If you have a Heaven-Defying Bead, you can eliminate the damage. So, you don't need to worry about the backlash if you have the Heaven-Defying Bead."

Wang Lin felt relieved. It seemed that the Heaven-Defying Bead was indeed a treasure. He had to make good use of it.

"Alright, I'll go find these Spiritual Items now," Wang Lin said.

Situ Nan nodded and said, "Go, but be careful. That Teng Huayuan is not to be trifled with. Although his curse is only for positioning, he is still a Nascent Soul Stage expert. If you are not careful, you might fall into his trap."

Wang Lin nodded again. He knew the dangers. He had to be extra cautious.

Wang Lin then put away the four orbs and the Spiritual Qi Gourd. He then looked at Teng Li's body, which was now just skin and bones, and sighed. He then cast a spell, and Teng Li's body turned into ashes and dissipated in the wind.

Wang Lin then left the tree cave and headed towards the outside world, ready to embark on a new journey to find the Spiritual Items.