In the depths of the Qingyun Secret Realm, all is silent and still, seemingly isolated from the outside world's hustle and bustle, with only the occasional gust of wind echoing through the valleys. Lin Tian stands at the entrance of the cave, his eyes filled with vigilance and curiosity. The scene before him is truly beyond his expectation. The spaciousness and brightness within the cave form a stark contrast to the desolation outside, leading him to wonder if there are unknown secrets hidden here. Lin Tian steps into the cave slowly. The surrounding cave walls are densely covered with ancient runes. These runes seem chaotic at first glance but faintly reveal a certain pattern. Although Lin Tian doesn't understand the meaning of these runes, he can sense the powerful force they contain. This force feels both familiar and strange to him, as if these runes carry some ancient prohibition or secret art. He cautiously proceeds deeper into the cave. The further he goes, the denser the spiritual energy within the cave becomes. Lin Tian feels that the true essence within his body is constantly being stimulated, even showing signs of restlessness, as if it wants to break through some kind of restraint. Lin Tian forcibly suppresses the fluctuations of the true essence within him and observes everything around carefully. At the end of the cave, Lin Tian sees a stele. The entire stele emits a faint blue light, like a delicately carved piece of jade. The material of the stele is very peculiar, with a surface as smooth as a mirror but faintly exuding an ancient oppressive force. Lin Tian approaches the stele and discovers that it is engraved with even more complex runes, and the arrangement of these runes seems to hold some special meaning. Lin Tian attempts to extend his spiritual sense into the stele, hoping to explore its mysteries. However, as soon as his spiritual sense touches the surface of the stele, he feels a strong rebound force, as if an invisible hand is preventing him from delving deeper. Lin Tian's heart shudders, realizing that he has probably encountered an extremely important prohibition that is beyond his current cultivation level to easily break. He takes a few steps back, ponders for a moment, and decides not to act rashly. Lin Tian understands in his heart that caution is essential on the path of cultivation; being eager for quick success often leads to adverse results. Since there is such a powerful prohibition here, it indicates that there must be something extraordinary. And these things can only be attempted to uncover when his cultivation level advances further. Lin Tian gathers his mind and decides to temporarily set aside the mystery of the stele and continue exploring the cave. He notices that on one side of the cave wall, there seem to be some ancient murals engraved. Lin Tian moves closer and finds that the content of these murals is extremely complex, depicting numerous scenes of cultivators and strange beasts. These murals seem to record an epic battle. In the paintings, there are cultivators flying with their swords, fighting against the flying dragons in the sky; there are also powerful cultivators casting spells, summoning earth-shattering thunderbolts, and fighting against giant beasts in the sea. The lines of the murals are bold and vivid, as if the battle is replaying right before one's eyes, inspiring awe. Lin Tian carefully observes these murals and gradually discovers the hidden patterns. These murals are not just simple battle scenes but seem to imply the profound meaning of some cultivation techniques. Lin Tian's heart stirs and he begins to seriously study the details in these paintings, attempting to find some valuable clues. As time passes, Lin Tian gradually senses a strange force. This force seems to emanate from the murals and resonates with the true essence within him. Lin Tian involuntarily places his palm on the cave wall, feeling the fluctuations of that force. Just at this moment, a piece of information suddenly emerges in Lin Tian's mind. This information is as if engraved deep in his memory and is suddenly triggered. This is a description of an ancient cultivation technique called "Azure Dragon Formula". This technique is based on powerful true essence force. Through specific mental methods and hand seals, it can summon the power of the Azure Dragon from the void and unleash devastating attacks. Lin Tian is shocked in his heart. The description of this technique is clear and specific, as if it is specially imparted to him. He can't help but recall his various experiences in the Qingyun Secret Realm and feels that all of this seems predestined. However, Lin Tian also understands that although this technique is powerful, it is not something he can easily master with his current cultivation level. Every word of the "Azure Dragon Formula" reveals extremely profound meanings and requires extremely high comprehension and cultivation level to understand the mystery. Lin Tian knows that he must keep this technique in mind and practice it when his cultivation level advances further. While Lin Tian is immersed in the profound meaning of the murals, his gaze is suddenly drawn to a depression on a cave wall. This depression is slightly different from the surrounding cave walls, as if it was deliberately chiseled later using a special technique. Lin Tian is puzzled. He approaches cautiously, reaches into the depression, and touches a cold object. He gives a push and the object is immediately moved, revealing a narrow hidden passage. Lin Tian's heart stirs, guessing that this passage might lead to a deeper part of the cave. So, he decides to explore and proceeds slowly along the passage. The hidden passage is extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways. The cave walls around are covered with traces of time, appearing extremely old. Lin Tian tries to lighten his footsteps as much as possible and proceeds cautiously to avoid triggering possible mechanisms. After walking for some time, a stone door appears at the end of the passage. The stone door is engraved with complex runes that are in the same vein as the runes in the cave, obviously done by the same person. Lin Tian reaches out and touches the stone door, feeling a warm spiritual energy flowing out slowly from the runes, as if guiding him to open the stone door. Lin Tian hesitates slightly and ultimately decides to push open the stone door. After injecting true essence into it, the stone door slowly opens, revealing a small secret room. The light in the secret room is dim, but Lin Tian can still clearly see the furnishings inside. On the stone platform in the center of the secret room lies a jade box. The jade box is completely white and flawless, with exquisite patterns carved on the surface, appearing extremely magnificent. Lin Tian approaches carefully, stares intently at the jade box, and faintly feels that there must be something extraordinary inside. He reaches out and touches the surface of the jade box, feeling a gentle and warm touch, as if the jade box is not an ordinary stone material but a treasure full of spirituality. Lin Tian's heart stirs with curiosity and he slowly opens the jade box. As the jade box is opened, a faint spiritual energy rushes towards him. Lin Tian sees a light blue jade slip lying quietly inside the jade box. This jade slip is different from ordinary jade slips. Its surface flickers with a weak glow, as if it contains endless mysteries. Lin Tian reaches out and takes out the jade slip, and slowly extends his spiritual sense into it. Immediately, a powerful torrent of information floods into his mind. This amount of information is extremely huge and Lin Tian has to concentrate all his mental energy to barely receive it. When he completely digests the information in the jade slip, Lin Tian's expression becomes extremely solemn. It turns out that what is recorded in this jade slip is an ancient formation that has been lost for a long time - "The Array of Returning All Spirits". The Array of Returning All Spirits is an extremely powerful spirit-gathering formation. By arranging specific formation runes, it can condense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth together, forming an extremely dense spiritual energy vortex. This formation can not only be used to assist cultivation but also can be used in battles to form a powerful spiritual energy barrier to resist external enemies. However, it is also mentioned in the jade slip that the arrangement of this formation is extremely complex. It requires mastering a large amount of formation knowledge and spiritual energy manipulation skills. The slightest mistake may lead to the formation going out of control, with unimaginable consequences. Lin Tian feels a burst of excitement. He knows that if he can master this formation, it will greatly assist him in future cultivation and battles. But at the same time, Lin Tian also realizes that learning this formation is not easy. Especially the spiritual energy manipulation and rune engraving skills involved far exceed his current knowledge range. Lin Tian decides to keep this jade slip properly and study it slowly after returning to the sect.
After putting the jade slip back into the storage bag, an inexplicable sense of emotion welled up in Lin Tian's heart. He originally thought that this trip to the Qingyun Secret Realm was just an ordinary adventure, but never expected to encounter so many extraordinary encounters in this cave one after another. However, Lin Tian also understood that all of this was just the beginning. Unknown dangers in the Qingyun Secret Realm still awaited him ahead. He must remain vigilant at all times and act cautiously to survive in this secret realm full of opportunities and perils. After leaving the secret room, Lin Tian decided to continue exploring other areas of the cave. He knew that in such a place hiding a large number of ancient relics, there might be more secrets waiting for him to discover. However, Lin Tian was also clear that his time was limited. The opening time of the secret realm was only a few days, and he had to obtain as many valuable resources as possible during this period. Exiting the hidden passage, Lin Tian returned to the main passage of the cave. He carefully sensed the fluctuations of the spiritual energy around, attempting to find other possible hidden locations. Suddenly, Lin Tian felt a weak fluctuation of spiritual energy coming from the other side of the cave. Although this fluctuation was extremely subtle, it was particularly prominent in this quiet cave. Lin Tian immediately became alert and cautiously moved forward in the direction of the fluctuation. He felt that the fluctuation seemed to be guiding him to a hidden place. The closer he got, the more obvious the fluctuation became. Finally, Lin Tian discovered an abnormal stone wall in a corner of the cave. This stone wall seemed ordinary, but Lin Tian felt a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy coming from behind it. He reached out and pressed his hand on the stone wall. After injecting true essence, the stone wall actually began to slowly move aside, revealing a new passage. Lin Tian walked into the passage without hesitation and found that this passage was even narrower than the previous hidden passage. The stone walls around were covered with moss and vines, appearing extremely dark and damp. Lin Tian slowed down and moved forward carefully, fearing triggering hidden mechanisms. After walking for a while, a spacious area suddenly appeared before Lin Tian's eyes. This area was circular, and the surrounding stone walls were engraved with a large number of runes and patterns. These runes emitted a faint blue light, illuminating the entire area like a dreamland. In the center of the area, there was an ancient altar. On the altar were several stone slabs emitting weak spiritual energy. Lin Tian approached the altar and found that these stone slabs were engraved with dense runes, as if they were some kind of complex formation patterns. Lin Tian's heart stirred slightly. He felt that this altar seemed to have some connection with the formation in the previous jade slip. So, he took out the jade slip and carefully compared the formation patterns in the jade slip with the runes on the stone slabs, and found that they were completely identical! This discovery shocked Lin Tian immensely. He realized that he might have accidentally found the layout location of the "Array of Returning All Spirits". The spiritual energy in this area was exceptionally dense, obviously having undergone long-term spirit-gathering operations. This altar was very likely a place used by an ancient mighty figure for cultivation or research, and the mysteries hidden here far exceeded Lin Tian's imagination. A strong desire to explore immediately rose in Lin Tian's heart. He wanted to uncover the secrets of this altar. However, he also understood that his current cultivation level and knowledge reserve were far from sufficient to decipher the formations and runes here. Acting rashly would only lead to unpredictable consequences. After some deliberation, Lin Tian ultimately decided to temporarily give up further exploration of the altar. He kept the jade slip and the situation of the altar in mind and decided to return here for more in-depth research after enhancing his cultivation level and formation proficiency. After making this decision, Lin Tian felt that the pressure in his heart seemed to have lessened significantly. He knew that the path of cultivation was long and arduous. Haste makes waste. Only by making the right choice at the appropriate time could one truly go further. After walking out of the altar area, Lin Tian felt that the true essence within him seemed to have become more condensed, as if this trip to the cave had unconsciously enhanced his cultivation level. Lin Tian realized that this cave not only hid a large number of ancient secrets but might even have a special assisting effect on the improvement of a cultivator's cultivation level. However, Lin Tian knew that he couldn't stay here for too long. The time in the Qingyun Secret Realm was limited. He had to return to the sect as soon as possible, sort out the gains from this trip, and prepare for the next exploration. When walking out of the cave, the outside light had become softer, evidently indicating that a considerable amount of time had passed. Lin Tian stood at the cave entrance, looking back at this hidden cave, his heart filled with complex emotions. He knew that this exploration was merely the beginning. On the future path of cultivation, there would be more challenges and opportunities waiting for him. Whether it was the ancient altar in the cave or the "Array of Returning All Spirits" recorded in the jade slip, they would all become significant assists on his cultivation path. Lin Tian sorted out his mood, took a deep breath, and turned to walk in the direction he came from.