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Chapter 50: Eliminates the trace
After experiencing the tremendous changes within the Formation, Meng Zhang was still trembling with fear. He had come dangerously close to being trapped inside the Formation, but thankfully, his quickness had saved him from that fate. Although Meng Zhang had successfully obtained the treasures this time, his Soul had suffered some injuries. However, he couldn't focus on that at the moment and planned to deal with it later when he returned.
Rather than hurrying to leave, Meng Zhang wanted to erase any traces of his presence here. The fact that such a Formation was set up, providing precious materials to refine the Jade Soul Fluid, indicated that the owner of the Formation not only possessed great power but also immense wealth.
Furthermore, Twin Success Valley originally owned this mining cave, which was later abandoned and utilized by the Ghost Path cultivators. Meng Zhang didn't know the role Twin Success Valley played in this and whether they had any connection with the Ghost Path cultivators. However, he didn't have the time or interest to investigate it now.
In general, identifying a person for ordinary individuals and regular cultivators relied on their appearance, physical characteristics, voice, and so on. These features were part of the physical body and not hard to change. However, powerful cultivators had other means of identification.
A more advanced method was to identify each person's unique true qi characteristics. Just like how there were no two identical leaves in the world, even if individuals cultivated the same technique in the same environment, their true qi would possess unique differences due to their individual constitutions. When true qi was activated, it emitted a distinct aura that made identification easier.
An even more advanced method was to identify a person's Soul. Each person's Soul was unique, and the Soul's aura was nearly impossible to change.
Meng Zhang watched the Yin Yang Reversal Formation that was currently running, the rampant underground fiend qi swirling within the Formation, and it was engulfing all the auras within, including the one left behind when he used Divine Soul Left the Body. When he entered the Formation, no one saw him. Now, he only needed to deal with the true qi auras leaked while he was killing Ghosts on his way here.
Meng Zhang slowly walked back along the path he came from. Whenever he passed places where he had taken action, he would take out a pile of talismans and randomly shoot them around. Techniques like Golden Sword Art, Earth Dragon Art, Fireball Art, and more bombarded the surroundings of the mining cave.
Fortunately, Meng Zhang had prepared well in advance and purchased enough talismans from Shi Weiming in Singing Sand City. The various spells stirred the surrounding spiritual energy, completely concealing Meng Zhang's true qi aura.
Moreover, these powerful techniques wreaked havoc, causing parts of the mine to collapse. The places where Meng Zhang had passed were all covered by collapsed earth and rocks.
By coincidence, when Meng Zhang reached a corner in one of the mining tunnels, he first used an explosion talisman on a stone wall, creating a big hole. Then, he followed up with an Earth Dragon Art that caused the ground to collapse, revealing a hidden chamber below.
Planning to leave, Meng Zhang stopped and observed the situation, then jumped down into the secret chamber. Several dried corpses surrounded a stone table in the chamber, forming a circle.
On the table were three storage bags. After confirming that they were safe and without traps, Meng Zhang carefully examined them. To his surprise, they were ten-fold storage bags, a relatively rare type.
While a ten-fold storage bag held ten times the capacity of a regular one, its high price made it less cost-effective, so it was seldom used by cultivators in the Refining Qi stage.
These three storage bags were filled with various items, with the majority being White Hidden Earth Crystals. White Hidden Earth Crystals were rare companion minerals that highly condensed the essence of White Hidden Earth ore. They were encased in a hard shell, which required careful polishing to obtain the crystal inside. These White Hidden Earth Crystals varied in size, with the larger ones being bigger than an adult's fist, and the smaller ones being as small as a finger.
Unlike White Hidden Earth, which was abundant, White Hidden Earth Crystals were a more precious spiritual material. Flying Swan Sect, in particular, had always paid high prices for these crystals without any limit.
Meng Zhang couldn't understand how this abandoned White Hidden Earth mine had yielded so many White Hidden Earth Crystals. If Twin Success Valley had known this, they wouldn't have abandoned the mine. If news of this got out, Flying Swan Sect might have intervened without regard for face.
This time, when Meng Zhang entered the mine, he brought eight regular storage bags, and they were all filled with numerous gains. After ensuring that these three ten-fold storage bags had no markings or hidden imprints, Meng Zhang took them all with him. Following the same route, Meng Zhang returned to the hill at the mine's entrance. By now, the talismans he brought, aside from the Earth Tunneling Talisman, were mostly consumed.
Meng Zhang activated the Earth Tunneling Talisman to leave the mine from the back of the hill.
At this time, the sandstorm was still raging fiercely, and it had not dissipated yet. With the sandstorm blowing heavily, even the Red Feathered Eagles of the Zhao Family couldn't clearly observe the situation below.
The Zhao Family cultivators had to risk being discovered as they secretly approached Taiyi Sect to observe it more closely.
Luckily, everyone in Taiyi Sect was occupied with their own affairs, and no one noticed the hidden spies.
After nearly ten days, the sandstorm finally dissipated completely, and the Zhao Family cultivators resumed their monitoring activities, but this time without any disturbances.
At this point, Meng Zhang, who had been in seclusion all this time, had completely repaired his Soul's injuries.
Once his Soul was fully healed, he went to the underground chamber where the spirit vein's Spirit Eye was located beneath the Sect Master's quiet room.
It had been a while since he was here, and the chamber looked the same as before. The Spirit Eye inside also showed no changes. The Spiritsnake Spear, which he had used last time, was recovering its spirituality from the nourishing power of the Spirit Eye.
The human-sized gem still emitted a colorful light, and within it slept the Guardian Spirit General of Taiyi Sect from many years ago.
The remnants of these Guardian Spirit Generals, who were heavily injured, rested in the gem's inner space, gradually recovering with the help of the spirit vein's nourishing power. If not for external assistance, the recovery process would be unimaginably lengthy.
Meng Zhang risked everything to seize the Jade Soul Fluid not for himself but to help these sleeping Guardian Spirit Generals.
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