Hidden within the shadows outside the cave, Lin Sheng's attention remained fixed upon the underground chamber.
More specifically—
Upon the object hidden beneath the spiritual pond.
A Spiritual Eye.
A genuine Ranked portable Spiritual Eye.
Even Lin Sheng couldn't help narrowing his eyes slightly.
No wonder his Mental Mark had reacted.
No wonder the surrounding spiritual qi density had reached such a level.
At first glance, everything here pointed toward the existence of a Rank-2 Spiritual Vein.
The dense spiritual qi.
The Rank-2 spiritual herbs.
The body-refining pond.
Even the Rank-2 serpent occupying the territory.
Yet after extending his Mental Field deeper into the pond, he discovered the truth.
There was no Rank-2 Spiritual Vein.
The Spiritual Eye itself was gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi while the body-refining pond continuously accumulated and transformed part of that energy.
The combined effect had created an illusion nearly identical to a Rank-2 Spiritual Vein.
Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would likely be fooled.
As for Su Yang and the serpent—
Neither seemed aware.
Otherwise neither would still be fighting.
If the existence of a Spiritual Eye was exposed, the battle would've ended immediately.
A Rank-2 Spiritual Vein was valuable.
A Ranked Spiritual Eye was priceless.
One was fixed to the earth.
The other could be carried.
The difference was enormous.
For now, however, Lin Sheng chose not to act.
Instead, he shifted his attention back toward the battle.
The fight had already entered its final stage.
The underground chamber was filled with shattered stone and scattered blood.
Several scales had been blasted off the serpent's body.
Meanwhile, Su Yang wasn't in much better condition.
His left arm hung limply.
Blood continuously dripped onto the ground.
The violent exchange between Foundation Establishment cultivator and Rank-2 Yao Beast had pushed both sides close to their limits.
Hissssss!
The serpent suddenly let out a deafening roar.
An icy aura erupted from its body.
The temperature inside the cave immediately dropped.
Frost spread across nearby rocks.
Spiritual qi froze into visible mist.
Lin Sheng's eyes sharpened.
"A bloodline ability."
The next moment—
The serpent's body began changing.
Its flesh compressed.
Its bones condensed.
Its scales merged together.
Within moments, its enormous body transformed into a gigantic ice spear over twenty meters long.
The terrifying killing intent locked onto Su Yang.
Boom!
The spear shot forward.
The surrounding air exploded.
The speed was astonishing.
Su Yang's expression immediately changed.
He could feel it.
Death.
If this attack landed, he would die.
His newly formed spiritual platform trembled violently.
His divine sense screamed warnings.
Yet there was nowhere to dodge.
The serpent had already locked onto him.
At that moment—
A strange aura erupted from Su Yang's body.
Ancient.
Tyrannical.
Mysterious.
Lin Sheng's gaze immediately shifted.
It was the Yang Jade Script.
The object hidden within Su Yang's sea of consciousness.
Crack!
Purple lightning surrounding Su Yang suddenly changed.
Deep red.
Blood-red lightning erupted from every pore on his body.
The aura carried an indescribable destructive pressure.
Even Lin Sheng felt his Mental Field become slightly unstable when it came into contact with the crimson lightning.
A notification immediately appeared before his eyes.
[Unknown Lightning Energy Detected.]
[Danger Level: Moderate.]
Su Yang himself seemed equally shocked.
Clearly, this wasn't a power he controlled completely.
Yet instinctively, he grasped it.
The red lightning rapidly gathered together.
A spear appeared.
A spear forged entirely from crimson tribulation lightning.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Su Yang roared.
The spear shot forward.
Tribulation Lightning Spear!
Boom!!!!!
The underground chamber was instantly swallowed by light.
For several breaths, nothing could be seen.
Only destruction.
Only lightning.
Only explosions.
The collision caused the entire cave to shake violently.
Cracks spread through the walls.
Stone collapsed from above.
Even Lin Sheng had to strengthen his footing.
Eventually—
The light faded.
The result appeared.
The serpent was dead.
Completely dead.
Its crystallized body had shattered into dozens of chunks.
Pieces of ice-covered flesh scattered across the ground.
Not even a corpse remained intact.
Meanwhile, Su Yang stood unsteadily in the center of the battlefield.
His face was pale.
His aura had weakened significantly.
The crimson lightning disappeared.
The mysterious pressure vanished.
The Yang Jade Script returned to silence.
Without hesitation, Su Yang pulled out several healing pills and stuffed them into his mouth.
Only after circulating his cultivation method did his complexion improve slightly.
Then he began collecting his rewards.
First—
The Beast Core.
Digging through one of the larger chunks, he eventually extracted a crystal sphere roughly the size of a fist.
A Rank-2 Beast Core.
Only yao beasts with sufficiently pure bloodlines could condense such a thing.
Within the core existed the entirety of the beast's cultivation.
Its yao qi.
Its essence.
Its accumulated power.
Everything was condensed inside.
Its value far exceeded ordinary Rank-2 materials.
After storing it away, Su Yang continued searching.
A few moments later, he found what he was looking for.
The serpent's gallbladder.
Using a jade knife, he carefully extracted it before placing it inside a specially prepared container.
The gallbladder of snake-type yao beasts was one of the locations where essence accumulated.
Unlike Beast Cores, it could be consumed directly.
Many body cultivators valued such materials.
After finishing, Su Yang finally relaxed.
He sat down cross-legged.
His breathing gradually steadied.
The battle had exhausted him.
His injuries weren't light.
Recovering quickly was his highest priority.
Unfortunately—
Someone else had already arrived.
Lin Sheng calmly stepped into the cave.
The concealment formation never reacted.
The defensive formation never reacted.
Neither had the ability to stop his Mental Field.
Several breaths later, Lin Sheng stood less than ten meters away from Su Yang.
Only then did Su Yang sense something.
His eyes snapped open.
Shock immediately appeared on his face.
"Lin Sheng?!!, what are you...."
He never finished speaking.
Boom!
Five Mental Spiral Thorns erupted simultaneously.
They entered Su Yang's sea of consciousness like five drills.
The attack was overwhelming.
His divine sense barely managed to rise before being completely shattered.
"AARRRRGGGHHHHHH!"
Su Yang screamed.
Blood flowed from his nose.
His eyes.
His ears.
The next moment, his body collapsed.
Unconscious.
Lin Sheng remained expressionless.
One Mental Spiral Thorn would've been sufficient.
Five guaranteed success.
Enough to destroy resistance.
Not enough to damage memories permanently.
After all—
He needed information.
Walking forward, Lin Sheng placed his hand upon Su Yang's head.
His Mental Field entered.
There was almost no resistance.
The weakened soul was completely vulnerable.
Instantly—
Memories flooded into his mind.
The Chip activated.
[Memory Stream Detected.]
[Sorting Information...]
[Organizing Chronology...]
[Integration Approved?]
"Yes."
Immediately, the chaotic memories became organized.
Lin Sheng saw everything.
A mortal village.
A poor family.
A father who wanted his son to become a scholar.
A stubborn child who repeatedly rejected that future.
Then—
The cave.
At eight years old, Su Yang accidentally fell into a hidden cave.
There he discovered an abandoned storage pouch.
Inside was a cultivation manual.
Because he barely recognized written characters, learning cultivation took years.
Yet eventually he succeeded.
Fetal Breath.
Martial Arts.
Jianghu.
He defeated experts, defeated martial masters.
Then came the Mist. A strange barrier separating mortals from cultivators. Crossing it brought him into Cloud Mist Market.
From there his life accelerated. Qi Refining.
Hunting teams.
Adventures.
Opportunities.
Danger.
Growth.
Until eventually—
The Beast Tide.
And the greatest opportunity of his life.
The Yang Jade Script.
Lin Sheng focused carefully.
Unfortunately, even Su Yang knew very little.
He simply discovered the script.
Touched it.
Then everything changed.
His spiritual root improved.
His physique strengthened.
His spiritual sense evolved into divine sense.
His cultivation speed increased.
Eventually he became a Rank-1 Talisman Master.
Everything originated from the script.
The memories continued.
The hidden cave.
The breakthrough.
The serpent.
The battle.
Then darkness.
The memory stream ended.
Lin Sheng slowly withdrew his Mental Field.
Several notifications flashed before his eyes.
[Memory Extraction Complete.]
[No Origin Information Found.]
[Yang Jade Script Identity Unknown.]
Lin Sheng frowned slightly.
Even Su Yang didn't know.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Looking down at the unconscious cultivator, Lin Sheng remained silent.
A mortal child. A fortunate encounter. A rising genius. A bright future.
Yet all it took was one encounter with someone stronger.
The cultivation world had always been this cruel.
Standing up, Lin Sheng shifted his attention toward the spiritual pond.
The true treasure awaited him.
And hidden beneath it—
The Ranked Spiritual Eye quietly emitted streams of pure spiritual qi. Walking towards it, Lin Sheng had contemplated properly 'asking' for the pond and uts contents but then he remembered that he wasn't in his previous life anymore.
There was no such thing as sending a beaten tiger back to its mountain as doing that would allow it to grow and devour through ones own mercy.