Chapter 627: Tailor-Made

"Gulp."

Su Ming could even clearly hear Lin Yu's soul body emit a distinct phantom sound, something like the swallowing of saliva.

"Th-this... this formation in the spirit realm..." Lin Yu's voice had completely changed pitch, that demeanor of a master he always kept on his lips now thrown to the winds. He whipped his head around, eyes blazing as he stared at Su Ming, his tone carrying a near-maniacal ecstasy, "Disciple! We're rich!!!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Lin Yu's soul body transformed into a streak of deep-blue afterimage, diving headfirst into that white mist without any pretense of restraint.

"Disciple! Quick! This old man is about to feast! Use your Ruo Shui spiritual energy to protect the formation core, don't let any spiritual energy leak out!"

"Alright!"

Su Ming understood immediately.

He frantically devoured the surging influx of pure spiritual energy while using the glow of his lifebound formation plate to firmly lock onto that Void Rift, refusing to let it expand even a hair's breadth.

Inside the Xuantian ring.

Lin Yu sat cross-legged, his ethereal hands suddenly forming a bizarre arcane seal.

"Come to this old man... now!"

Lin Yu's soul body swelled violently within the sea of mist, transforming into a massive deep-blue vortex. Those silver threads and golden lights floating amidst the spiritual energy, as if drawn by some fatal attraction, surged madly toward the center of the whirlpool.

With every silver thread absorbed, Lin Yu's soul body deepened in luster by a single degree.

When a rare speck of golden light merged into his soul form, his entire being erupted with a sacred and ancient pressure. The origin he had consumed protecting Su Ming and forcibly refining Qingyan's memories was now recovering at a terrifying speed, and was even climbing ever higher!

"Cheep!"

Ying hopped around frantically nearby. Though not a pure soul body, as a spirit beast with ancient bloodline, it possessed a beast-like acute intuition for high-grade energy.

It opened its sharp beak and lunged forward, trying to devour the white mist drifting out.

But the moment it sucked in a big mouthful, the utterly refined spiritual energy overloaded it so badly it rolled its eyes back, flopping to the ground with a "thud," its two claws twitching in the air. Clearly suffering from energy overload, it had gotten drunk on spiritual energy.

"Don't worry about that silly bird, it won't die from overeating." Lin Yu hummed contentedly with his eyes closed in the white mist, "Disciple, focus on recovering your own spiritual energy! This place is practically a bottomless treasure trove!"

Su Ming collected himself and stopped paying attention to Ying.

He immersed himself completely in the circulation cycle of the Like Water Art.

As time passed, the wound on his left shoulder, corroded by the Purple-Spotted Mushroom, was thoroughly flushed clean of residual weak toxins by repeated washes of Ruo Shui spiritual energy, forming a thick layer of dark-red blood scab. The gash on his right arm, so deep it exposed bone, had also stopped seeping blood and was beginning to slowly close.

Time raced by within this narrow yet vibrant crack.

One hour later.

Su Ming slowly exhaled a long breath of turbid air and opened his eyes.

His complexion had returned to a healthy flush, and the fatigue brought on by spiritual energy depletion had completely vanished.

Most importantly, the spiritual energy within his Golden Core had fully recovered to seventy percent!

"Hoo..." Su Ming felt the surging power refilling his body and finally had some semblance of confidence to survive in this terrifying spirit realm.

He turned his head to look at the center of the formation.

The Void Stone, which had been glowing with silver light, was now dull and lifeless, with fine cracks appearing across its surface. The formation's operation was slowing, and the spiritual energy and source substance surging from the rift were rapidly diminishing.

Lin Yu's soul body floated out from the thinning white mist.

This Lin Yu now—where was the frail, transparent remnant soul from before? His soul form was condensed so solidly it seemed almost physical, with faint golden patterns flowing across its surface. Every gesture and movement carried a palpable, heart-stopping pressure.

"This Minor Void Spirit Attraction Formation was tailor-made for the spirit realm." Lin Yu hovered mid-air, ethereal hands clasped behind his back, desperately trying to appear calm and unruffled, but the corners of his mouth—which he simply could not suppress—completely betrayed his inner ecstasy.

He looked down at the formation beneath his feet and let out a long sigh, his gaze becoming unprecedentedly deep.

"No wonder." Lin Yu's voice carried a dawning, bleak realization, "No wonder in Qingyan's memories, those madmen of the Dark Current Sect dreamed of opening a passage between the two realms. The Void structure of this spirit realm is naturally suited for soul-cultivation. If I could stay in this kind of environment long-term, this old man's realm would advance by leaps and bounds."

He whipped his head around, staring seriously at Su Ming.

"Disciple, this Minor Void Spirit Attraction Formation is our greatest trump card in this world, and the very foundation of our survival. Absolutely, absolutely do not let a single spirit race discover this secret."

Lin Yu's soul body leaned forward slightly, his tone icy: "In a place where even the plants can eat people, once they learn you can draw pure spiritual energy and source substance from the Void... A common man's only crime is possessing a treasure. This old man doesn't need to spell that out for you, does he?"

Su Ming nodded in deep agreement, his expression stern.

"I understand."

Without wasting a word, his hands immediately began forming seals.

"Concealment character art, stack! Seal character art, fall!"

Su Ming spared no expense with his freshly recovered Ruo Shui spiritual energy, his fingers becoming a blur of afterimages in the air.

Layer one, layer two, layer three!

A full three layers of high-grade Concealment Formation lines were stacked tightly around the periphery of the Minor Void Spirit Attraction Formation. He even constructed a small internal circulation barrier with Ruo Shui spiritual energy, locking all the faint spiritual energy fluctuations that might escape within three feet of this rock crevice, ensuring not a wisp leaked out.

Only after completing all this did Su Ming carefully stow the nearly depleted Void Stone back into his storage pouch, and the formation shut down. The pitch-black rift vanished instantly, and the rock crevice once again returned to dimness and silence.

"The spiritual energy supply problem is temporarily solved." Su Ming sat upright cross-legged, his gaze sharpening, "Now, it's time to plan the next move."

Su Ming closed his eyes, and within his Consciousness Sea immediately surfaced the spirit realm map from Qingyan's memories that Lin Yu had transmitted to him earlier.

Though it was only a vague impression existing in his mind, without precise distances or detailed topography, for a top-tier formation master, it was more than enough to sketch out a rough geographical framework.

Su Ming reached out and, on the dust-covered rock floor, heavily traced a single dot with his finger.