Dawn broke over Azure Peak City, painting the mountain in shades of gold and crimson. Lin Feng stood at the city's eastern gate, dressed in the plain traveling robes Whisper had provided—sturdy but unremarkable, the kind worn by thousands of wandering cultivators.
"You have everything?" Whisper asked. She'd insisted on seeing him off personally, which Lin Feng suspected had more to do with protecting her investment than genuine concern.
Lin Feng patted the storage pouch at his belt. Inside were the protection talisman, the concealment stone, some basic supplies, and the detailed map Whisper had provided showing the safest route to Whispering Vale.
"Everything," he confirmed.
"Remember: activate the concealment stone before you get within five miles of the vale. The protection talisman only when you're actually entering the spirit-infested areas." Whisper's expression was serious. "And if you encounter any sect patrols, you're just a wandering cultivator looking for spirit herbs. Nothing suspicious, nothing memorable."
"I understand."
"Good." She handed him one more item—a simple jade token. "This is keyed to a communication formation I control. If you get into serious trouble, crush it. I'll know something went wrong. I probably won't be able to save you," she added pragmatically, "but at least I'll know not to wait for my percentage of the cache."
Lin Feng tucked the token away, oddly touched by even that pragmatic gesture. "I'll try not to die."
"See that you don't. Dead clients don't pay their debts." Whisper turned to leave, then paused. "One more thing. Shen Wu's message said you were 'unexpectedly suitable' for the system. I'm curious—what did he see in a bookkeeper from a backwater town?"
Lin Feng thought about that for a moment. "I think... he saw someone who had nothing to lose. Someone overlooked enough that no one would suspect. And maybe someone desperate enough to do what needed to be done."
Whisper studied him with those sharp, calculating eyes. "Good answer. Try to live up to it." She vanished into the morning crowds, leaving Lin Feng alone.
He took a deep breath, adjusted his pack, and started walking.
The journey to Whispering Vale took most of the day. Lin Feng followed Whisper's route carefully, avoiding the main roads in favor of smaller paths that wound through forested hills. He passed a few other travelers—mostly mortals heading to or from Azure Peak City—but no cultivators.
Around midday, he stopped to rest and cultivate. The ambient spiritual energy here was still stronger than in Clearwater Town, and Lin Feng used the opportunity to push his cultivation forward.
[Cultivation Progress: 89% to Qi Refining 3rd Layer]
So close. Just a bit more, and he'd breakthrough to the third layer. But he couldn't afford to stop and focus entirely on cultivation—not while the cache waited and sect patrols ranged through the area.
As afternoon stretched toward evening, the terrain began to change. The gentle hills gave way to rougher, more desolate landscape. Trees grew twisted and gnarled, their leaves gray instead of green. The air took on a chill that had nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with accumulated death energy.
Whispering Vale was ahead.
Lin Feng activated the concealment stone. Immediately, he felt his spiritual signature dampen, becoming muted and difficult to detect. To any cultivator scanning the area, he would register as barely Qi Refining First Layer—hardly worth noticing.
He crested a final hill and looked down into the vale itself.
It was beautiful in a haunting, melancholy way. The valley stretched for several miles, filled with those strange gray-leafed trees that seemed to exist in permanent autumn. A mist clung to the ground, thick and cold, and through it Lin Feng could see shapes moving—humanoid but translucent, their forms flickering in and out of visibility.
Restless spirits. The dead who couldn't move on.
And everywhere, pervading everything, was the sound that gave the vale its name: whispers. Voices speaking in languages Lin Feng didn't know, some pleading, some angry, some simply repeating the same phrases over and over like broken records.
It was deeply unsettling.
Lin Feng checked his map. According to Whisper's information, the cache was hidden in a sealed cavern at the vale's heart, about two miles from where he currently stood. The cavern was protected by formations keyed to Shen Wu's spiritual signature—which meant it should recognize the Myriad Fortress System.
The trick was getting there without being possessed, drained, or worse.
Lin Feng pulled out the protection talisman but didn't activate it yet. One hour of protection. He needed to make it count.
He began his descent into the vale, moving carefully, trying to disturb as little as possible. The moment he entered the mist, the temperature dropped dramatically. His breath came out in white puffs, and the whispers grew louder, more insistent.
"...why did you leave me..."
"...not fair, not fair, NOT FAIR..."
"...just wanted to go home..."
"...GIVE IT BACK..."
The voices pressed against his mind, seeking entry. Lin Feng gritted his teeth and kept moving. The spirits were becoming aware of him—translucent forms drifting closer, their faces locked in eternal expressions of sorrow, rage, or confusion.
One spirit, a woman in the tattered remains of what might have been sect robes, reached toward him with skeletal hands. The moment she touched him, Lin Feng felt a spike of bone-deep cold.
He activated the protection talisman.
Golden light burst from the paper seal, surrounding Lin Feng in a barrier that pushed the spirits back. The woman's spirit recoiled with a soundless scream, and the other ghosts retreated, unable to penetrate the protective formation.
[Protection Talisman Active][Duration: 60 minutes][Warning: Effect will expire. Plan accordingly.]
Lin Feng picked up his pace, half-running through the mist-shrouded vale. The spirits followed but couldn't touch him. They drifted alongside, their whispers growing more agitated.
He was halfway to the cavern when he heard different voices—living voices, speaking in sharp, urgent tones.
Lin Feng dropped into a crouch behind one of the twisted trees, suppressing his already-concealed spiritual signature even further.
Through the mist, three figures emerged. They wore the deep purple robes of the Thousand Poison Valley, and each carried weapons that dripped with sickly green luminescence. Even from this distance, Lin Feng could sense they were Foundation Establishment realm—far beyond his ability to fight.
"This is a waste of time," one was complaining, a burly man with ritual scars covering his arms. "These spirits can't be harvested. Not enough coherent soul energy."
"Elder Venom said to search the vale thoroughly," the leader replied. She was a woman with a face scarred by what looked like acid burns, her voice cold and authoritative. "The Crimson Blade dogs are sniffing around this area for a reason. If they want something here, we want it first."
The third cultivator, a thin man who kept twitching nervously, spoke up. "The rumors say the Immortal Architect had seven caches in this province. If one is here—"
"Then we find it, and Elder Venom rewards us enough to break through to Core Formation," the leader finished. "So stop complaining and search."
They moved off to the northeast, arguing about search patterns and optimal spirit detection techniques.
Lin Feng waited until they were out of sight, his heart hammering. The Thousand Poison Valley was actively searching for the cache. If they found it first, or if they spotted him...
He needed to move faster.
Abandoning stealth for speed, Lin Feng ran. His enhanced Qi Refining physique allowed him to cover ground quickly without making excessive noise. The spirits followed, a growing crowd of translucent forms that pressed against his protective barrier, their whispers becoming a roar.
The cavern entrance appeared ahead—a crack in a cliff face, barely wide enough for a person to slip through. Seal script glowed faint red around the opening, visible only to spiritual senses.
Lin Feng recognized Shen Wu's work immediately. The seals were complex, layered formations designed to keep out intruders while allowing those with the proper key to enter.
He pressed his hand against the seals, and the Myriad Fortress System resonated with them. The formations recognized the connection, the link between Shen Wu's creation and its current bearer.
The seals parted like curtains.
Lin Feng slipped through the crack into the cavern beyond. The moment he was inside, the seals snapped shut behind him, cutting off the spirits and their maddening whispers.
Blessed silence.
Lin Feng took a moment to catch his breath, checking his talisman's remaining time.
[Protection Talisman: 37 minutes remaining]
More than enough time, if he hurried.
The cavern opened into a surprisingly well-appointed storage chamber. Preservation formations covered the walls, their gentle light revealing neat rows of resources. Crates of spirit stones were stacked along one wall. Shelves held jade slips organized by category. And in the center, on a pedestal of black stone, sat a grimoire bound in what looked disturbingly like human skin.
Lin Feng's instincts screamed warnings, but he pushed forward, quickly cataloging the cache's contents.
[Whispering Vale Cache Discovered!]
[Scanning contents...]
[Resources Acquired:]
5,247 Spirit Stones (Low-Grade) 47 Jade Slips (various cultivation techniques and knowledge) 1 Grimoire: "Legions of the Fallen" (Advanced Undead Summoning) 1 Ancient Formation Disk (Unidentified) 3 bottles of Foundation Establishment Pills (6 pills total) Various crafting materials and spirit herbs
[Total Value: Approximately 7,000 spirit stones]
[Summoning Points Awarded: 1000 (for successfully retrieving major cache)]
Lin Feng worked quickly, transferring everything into his storage pouch. The spirit stones went first—five thousand of them would have taken hours to count manually, but the storage pouch simply absorbed them all at once. The jade slips followed, their cool surfaces tingling against his fingers.
Then he reached for the grimoire.
The moment his hand touched the black cover, knowledge flooded his mind—not overwhelming like Shen Wu's initial transfer, but insistent, demanding attention.
Techniques for summoning greater undead. Methods for creating death knights that could fight Foundation Establishment cultivators. Rituals to raise bone dragons. Processes for binding spectral mages with intelligence intact.
But also something more sophisticated: hybrid summoning, methods for combining different troop types into single powerful units. Ways to fuse elemental servants with undead warriors. Techniques to create living-construct chimeras.
And at the very beginning of the grimoire, inscribed in Shen Wu's distinctive flowing script, a warning:
"Power demands price. The undead serve absolutely, but they hunger eternally. Feed them death energy, spirit stones, or the essence of the living. Fail to satisfy their hunger, and they will turn on you. This is not metaphor. This is truth written in the bones of fools who thought themselves masters of death.
Use these techniques wisely. Or become another ghost whispering in forgotten vales."
Lin Feng swallowed hard and stored the grimoire carefully. He would study it more thoroughly later, in safety.
The Ancient Formation Disk was last. It was a flat circle of jade about the size of his palm, covered in formation script so complex that Lin Feng's eyes couldn't track all the interconnecting patterns. The system provided basic information:
[Ancient Formation Disk][Type: Unidentified - Requires analysis][Estimated Power: Tier 4 or higher][Recommendation: Study carefully before use]
Lin Feng stored it with the grimoire. Whatever it was, it was valuable enough that Shen Wu had hidden it in a cache protected by spirits and proximity to three hostile factions.
He was about to leave when he noticed something else—a small jade slip sitting beside where the grimoire had been, easy to miss. Lin Feng picked it up, and Shen Wu's voice filled his mind:
"If you've made it this far, you're either competent or incredibly lucky. Probably both. Listen well, heir.
The Thousand Poison Valley will intensify their search of this area within three days. The Crimson Blade Sect has a diviner who will locate this cache within a week. You must be long gone before either event occurs.
In the grimoire, you'll find a technique called 'Spectral Passage.' It allows temporary transformation into incorporeal form—useful for escaping pursuit. The cost is high, but survival is worth any price.
And one more thing: the Formation Disk is not what it appears to be. Do not attempt to activate it until you reach at least Foundation Establishment realm. It is both treasure and trap, gift and curse. When the time comes, you'll understand.
Trust Whisper, but verify her information. Trust the Void Empress, but never call on her casually. Trust yourself above all.
Good hunting."
The voice faded. Lin Feng stood in the silent cavern, processing the information. Spectral Passage—a technique to become incorporeal. That could be invaluable for escaping tight situations.
But the warning about the Formation Disk troubled him. Treasure and trap? He'd have to be very careful with it.
[Protection Talisman: 18 minutes remaining]
Time to leave.
Lin Feng exited the cavern, the seals closing behind him automatically. The moment he emerged, the spirits surged forward, drawn by his living energy. But the talisman still held, its golden barrier keeping them at bay.
He started back the way he'd come, moving as quickly as he dared through the mist-shrouded vale. The spirits followed in a growing crowd, their whispers rising to a crescendo.
Then Lin Feng heard shouts ahead—real voices, alive and angry.
He crouched behind a boulder and peered through the mist. The three Thousand Poison Valley cultivators were there, and they'd been joined by three more figures in crimson robes.
Crimson Blade Sect.
The two groups faced each other with weapons drawn, spiritual pressure crackling in the air.
"This area is under Crimson Blade Sect jurisdiction," the Crimson Blade leader was saying—a handsome man with a sword that crackled with lightning. "You're trespassing."
The scarred woman from Thousand Poison Valley laughed mockingly. "Jurisdiction? Whispering Vale is unclaimed territory. We have as much right to be here as you do."
"We're searching for Shen Wu's legacy. If you interfere—"
"We're searching for the same thing, sword-polisher. And we're not leaving empty-handed."
The tension ratcheted higher. Spiritual techniques began to manifest—the Crimson Blade cultivators' weapons glowing with elemental power, the Thousand Poison Valley members releasing toxic vapors that ate through the mist.
They were going to fight.
Lin Feng's mind raced. If they fought here, the spiritual energy fluctuations would be massive. Other cultivators in the area would notice. More importantly, in the chaos, someone might detect him.
He needed a distraction.
An idea formed—reckless, possibly suicidal, but it might work.
Lin Feng pulled out one of the jade slips from the cache—a basic technique manual worth maybe ten spirit stones. Nothing valuable. He infused it with a burst of spiritual energy, then threw it as hard as he could toward the northeast, away from both his position and the exit.
The jade slip sailed through the air, its spiritual energy signature suddenly flaring bright as Lin Feng's Qi activated the formation script on its surface.
Every cultivator's head snapped toward it.
"There!" someone shouted. "Spiritual energy signature! Someone else is here!"
Both groups forgot their confrontation and rushed toward the jade slip, spiritual senses extended, searching for whoever had thrown it.
Lin Feng ran in the opposite direction.
He sprinted through the vale, the spirits parting before his protective barrier, his enhanced physique allowing speeds no mortal could match. Behind him, he could hear the cultivators shouting, arguing, searching.
He was fifty feet from the vale's edge when his protection talisman flickered.
[Protection Talisman: 3 minutes remaining]
Too close. The spirits were growing more agitated, pressing harder against the failing barrier. Some of the stronger ones were beginning to seep through, their incorporeal forms brushing against Lin Feng's skin with touches of ice.
Twenty feet from the edge. The mist was thinning. He could see clear ground ahead.
[Protection Talisman: 1 minute remaining]
Ten feet. The spirits were swarming now, dozens of translucent forms reaching, grasping, hungry for the life energy radiating from a living cultivator.
Five feet.
[Protection Talisman: Expired]
The golden barrier vanished.
Immediately, a spirit—the woman in tattered robes from earlier—lunged at Lin Feng. Her hands passed through his chest, and he felt a cold so profound it stopped his heart for a beat.
Death energy flooded into him, trying to still his Qi, freeze his meridians, drag his soul from his body.
Lin Feng threw himself forward in a desperate leap, crossing the final few feet to exit the vale. The moment he passed the boundary, the spirits stopped. They couldn't leave—bound to the vale by whatever tragedy had killed them centuries ago.
The woman's spirit stood at the edge, one hand still extended, her expression frozen in eternal longing.
Lin Feng collapsed on solid ground, gasping. His chest felt like ice had replaced his heart. His meridians were sluggish, fighting against the death energy that had invaded them.
[Status Alert: Death Energy Contamination][Spiritual Energy circulation reduced by 40%][Recommended: Purification technique or high-grade cleansing pill]
Lin Feng forced himself to his feet. He couldn't stop here—not this close to the vale, not with cultivators still searching nearby.
He activated the concealment stone again, suppressing his spiritual signature to the minimum, and started walking. Every step was agony. The death energy fought his movements, tried to still his blood, freeze his thoughts.
But he kept walking.
An hour later, Lin Feng found a small cave in the hills several miles from Whispering Vale. He crawled inside, set up a basic alarm formation using techniques from the Fortress Foundation Scripture, and collapsed.
He needed to purge the death energy before it did permanent damage.
Lin Feng entered the Spirit Gathering Pagoda, where the concentrated spiritual energy would help fight the contamination. He sat in the meditation chamber and began cycling his Qi according to a purification technique included in the Fortress Foundation Scripture.
The process was excruciating. He had to force his spiritual energy through meridians that wanted to freeze solid, burning out the death energy bit by bit. It felt like his insides were being scoured with ice and fire simultaneously.
Hours passed. Lin Feng's entire body shook with the effort. Sweat poured down his face despite the cold. His vision blurred.
But slowly, painfully, the death energy began to dissipate. His meridians cleared. His spiritual energy flowed freely again.
[Death Energy Purged: 87%][Remaining contamination will dissipate naturally over 2-3 days][Spiritual Energy circulation restored to 93%]
Lin Feng opened his eyes, exhausted but alive. The sky outside the cave showed early dawn—he'd cultivated through the entire night.
He checked his status:
[Current SP: 1,310][Cultivation: Qi Refining 2nd Layer (89%)][Resources: 5,247 spirit stones, grimoire, formation disk, pills, jade slips][Physical Condition: Exhausted, minor death energy contamination]
He'd done it. He'd successfully retrieved Shen Wu's cache right under the noses of two major sects.
Lin Feng allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction.
Then he pulled out the grimoire and began to study.
The Legions of the Fallen was a comprehensive manual on undead summoning, starting with basic techniques and progressing to advanced methods that required Foundation Establishment or higher to attempt.
The most immediately useful section was "Basic Undead Creation." Unlike the system's standard summoning that cost Summoning Points, the grimoire's methods required different resources: death energy, spirit stones, and corpses.
According to the text, a cultivator could harvest death energy from places like Whispering Vale, battlefields, or graveyards. Alternatively, they could convert spiritual energy into death energy using specific techniques—though this was inefficient and taxing.
The corpses needed depended on what type of undead you wanted to create. Beast corpses created undead beasts. Human corpses created skeleton warriors or zombies. Cultivator corpses... those created something much more dangerous.
Lin Feng found the technique Shen Wu had mentioned: Spectral Passage.
[Spectral Passage][Rank: Advanced][Requirements: Qi Refining 3rd Layer or higher, understanding of death energy principles][Effect: Transform user into incorporeal form for up to 10 minutes. In this state, physical attacks pass through harmlessly, but spiritual attacks deal double damage. User cannot attack while incorporeal.][Cost: 50% of maximum spiritual energy plus gradual contamination with death energy][Warning: Excessive use will result in permanent transformation to undead state]
It was powerful but dangerous. A perfect escape technique, but one that came with serious risks.
Lin Feng spent the rest of the day studying the grimoire and the jade slips from the cache. The slips contained a variety of techniques—sword arts, formation methods, pill recipes, and more. Not all were immediately useful, but together they represented a comprehensive education in cultivation fundamentals.
One jade slip in particular caught his attention: "Spiritual Sense Expansion." It was a technique for extending one's spiritual senses beyond the normal range—invaluable for detecting threats and finding resources.
Lin Feng decided to practice it immediately. Following the instructions, he cycled his spiritual energy in a specific pattern, then extended his awareness outward.
The effect was immediate and disorienting. His senses exploded outward, covering a sphere nearly a hundred feet in radius. He could feel every rock, every plant, every insect within that area as if they were extensions of his own body.
And he could feel three spiritual signatures approaching his location.
Cultivators. All three at Qi Refining Fourth or Fifth Layer.
Lin Feng's eyes snapped open. Had he been tracked? Had someone detected him after all?
He quickly suppressed his spiritual signature with the concealment stone and waited, barely breathing.
The three cultivators passed within fifty feet of his cave, their voices carrying in the morning air.
"—waste of time. The Whispering Vale was a dead end."
"Not entirely. Did you see how fast the Crimson Blade Sect and Thousand Poison Valley mobilized? They know something we don't."
"Probably just chasing rumors. The Immortal Architect has been dead for weeks. His legacy is probably already claimed or destroyed."
They moved on, heading toward Azure Peak City.
Lin Feng waited another hour to be safe, then emerged from the cave. He needed to return to the city, deliver Whisper's percentage, and begin the next phase of his plan.
But first, he needed to breakthrough to Qi Refining Third Layer. He was so close—just a bit more cultivation would push him over the edge.
Lin Feng found a spot with decent spiritual energy concentration and began cultivating. The Fortress Foundation Scripture guided his Qi through increasingly complex patterns, strengthening his meridians, expanding his dantian, refining his spiritual foundation.
He could feel the barrier approaching—the wall between second and third layer. He gathered his spiritual energy and pushed.
The barrier resisted. Lin Feng pushed harder, forcing more Qi against the obstruction. The strain was immense. His meridians burned. His dantian felt like it might rupture.
Then, with a sensation like glass shattering, the barrier broke.
[BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED!][Qi Refining Realm, Third Layer][Spiritual Energy capacity increased by 50%][Body refinement progress: 23%][Spiritual sense range increased][Reward: 100 SP]
[Quest Completed: Establish Your Foundation][Rewards: Random Unit Summon Ticket, 100 SP]
Lin Feng opened his eyes, feeling power surge through him. The difference between second and third layer was significant—his spiritual energy was denser, his body noticeably stronger, his senses sharper.
And he had a summon ticket.
[Random Unit Summon Ticket acquired][Use now? Y/N]
Lin Feng considered. Random meant unpredictable—he could get something powerful or something useless. But he was about to return to Azure Peak City, where he'd need to navigate dangerous situations.
Having another resource might be crucial.
He selected "Yes."
[Activating Random Unit Summon...][Calculating...]
A circle of light appeared before him, growing brighter. Something was materializing within it—something that made Lin Feng's instincts tingle with recognition.
The light faded, revealing a wolf.
But not just any wolf. This creature was made of translucent silver mist, about the size of a large dog. Its eyes burned with sapphire fire, and when it looked at Lin Feng, he felt a connection snap into place—a bond deeper than words, more fundamental than thought.
[Spirit Wolf Pup summoned - Bonded Unit][Name: Unnamed][Current Power: Qi Refining 2nd Layer equivalent][Special: Grows with Host - as you advance, so does this unit][Abilities: Pack Hunter, Spiritual Tracking, Loyalty Bond][Note: Bonded units have maximum loyalty and cannot betray the Host]
The wolf approached and bumped its head against Lin Feng's hand. The touch was solid despite its ethereal appearance, warm and reassuring.
Pack, a young, eager voice echoed in his mind through their bond. Alpha. Protect.
Lin Feng smiled, reaching out to scratch behind the wolf's ears. "You need a name," he said softly.
The wolf's silver mist-form seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, catching the light like moonbeams.
"Yue," Lin Feng decided. Moon. "Your name is Yue."
The wolf—Yue—made a sound somewhere between a bark and a howl of approval, her tail wagging with enthusiastic agreement.
[Spirit Wolf "Yue" named and bonded][Bond Strength: Maximum][Cultivation Enhancement: +15% efficiency when Host cultivates near bonded unit]
Lin Feng stood, feeling more confident than he had since receiving the system. He had resources, techniques, a powerful grimoire, and now a loyal companion who would grow with him.
"Come on, Yue," he said. "We have business in Azure Peak City."
Together, cultivator and spirit wolf began the journey back to civilization.
The real work was about to begin.