Chapter 12 Falling Cloud Cave

"Sister Zhu'er, Sister Zhu'er..." cried a woman in a long blue dress anxiously. Lei Yan's vomiting of blood gave her a bad prehension. When she turned to look at her sister beside her, she found that her sister's eyes were now lifeless and exceptionally vacant, her head drooping in a dejected manner.

"What... what did you do to my Sister Zhu'er, you bastard..." The woman in the blue dress abruptly whipped her head around and roared at Lei Yan.

"So this is the backlash." Lei Yan ignored the woman in the blue dress, slowly raising his right hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. The earlier feeling of lingering between life and death was still vivid in his mind. He had merely probed the other person's mind with his soul force when he was immediately met with a violent backlash. Fortunately, the power of the Five Dan in his body had a subtle connection with his soul force, which saved him from ending up an idiot or dead.

This initial test of the Soul Search Technique made Lei Yan understand how fragile the soul was—as fragile as a thin sheet of paper. The moment he invaded the other party's spiritual territory, he perceived all the memories within her soul. At the same time, the soul was the purest existence, intolerant of any foreign intrusion. It was precisely for this reason that he suffered such a fierce backlash from her soul.

"Sister Zhu'er, wake up..." the woman in the blue dress called out incessantly.

"Save your breath. She won't answer you," Lei Yan said coldly. "The fragility of the soul is beyond your imagination. She will remain demented until her death." Pausing for a moment, Lei Yan gave a cold chuckle. "However, you can rest assured. Her soul has been severely injured, and she won't last long before she dies."

Qing He, who had remained silent ever since encountering the Azure Dragon, felt his heart skip a beat. *"This brat... How does this brat know about the soul? Could it be that the Azure Dragon recorded matters concerning the soul in those jade slips he gave him? This is getting a bit troublesome. If I let this brat continue to develop, I will never be able to acquire his body. No, I must find a way as soon as possible..."*

"What soul? What do you mean she's dying? What are you talking about? You bastard, what on earth did you do to my Sister Zhu'er?" the woman in the blue dress shouted with a face full of anger.

"Want to know? As you wish..." Lei Yan slowly walked over to the woman in the blue dress. Through his previous soul search, he had obtained some relevant information about the Falling Cloud Cave and certain memories from that woman. However, this Falling Cloud Cave was truly bizarre; the cave master always wore a mask whenever he appeared, and as for the cave master's wife, she had never even been seen. The information was simply too scarce.

"You... don't come over. Get away! Go away!" The woman in the blue dress looked at Lei Yan in terror, helpless since she currently could not move.

"Soul Search." The corners of Lei Yan's mouth twitched slightly. At the same time, the soul force controlled by Lei Yan probed into the mind of the woman in the blue dress. This time, Lei Yan did not wait for the counterattack of the other's soul; with the momentum of a thunderbolt, he swept across her soul and withdrew. Everything went as he expected. As long as he concentrated his soul force, he could deal with that instinctively resisting soul force, just like a regular army dealing with a ragtag militia. By concentrating his strength, victory was easily attained.

This use of the Soul Search Technique gave Lei Yan a deeper understanding of how to wield the soul. At the same time, the heavy blow suffered by the woman in the blue dress was even more drastic. At this moment, her gaze was dull and she was on her last breath, appearing as though she could collapse at any second. Of course, Lei Yan also extracted some memories—memories that far exceeded his imagination.

The Falling Cloud Cave had been established for only a few years, and its cave master possessed formidable strength, having reached at least the Spirit Division Stage. It was said that a few days ago, the cave master had gone out to visit friends, and upon his return, he actually instructed his disciples below that he was preparing to get married. Moreover, the bride was a woman whose face was covered with a silk veil. What concerned Lei Yan the most was that the woman's figure appeared almost identical to Qing Ling's.

The coincidence was far too great. Lei Yan and Qing Ling had parted ways only a few days ago, and that cave master had also happened to go out a few days prior. Furthermore, the bride's physique was so strikingly similar to Qing Ling's, coupled with the small medicine basket tied with a blue silk ribbon. By now, Lei Yan had concluded that the woman about to become the mistress of the Falling Cloud Cave was none other than Qing Ling.

"No, I cannot delay any longer," Lei Yan thought to himself. He had already learned that these two women were sent—one to repair the small medicine basket, and the other to procure wedding supplies.

With a thought, a wisp of fiery-red genuine essence emanated from his heart-dan, instantly transforming the genuine essence in his meridians into a brilliant red.

A flame erupted from Lei Yan's hand, elongating into a crimson blade that slashed across the necks of the two women ahead.

"White Tiger, let's go," Lei Yan called out softly as he walked away.

The White Tiger, drooping its eyelids, suddenly sprang up and trotted over to the sides of the two dead women. Muttering under its breath, "Such a waste," it extended its right paw, extracted two golden dans from the lower abdomens of the two women, tossed them into its mouth, and followed after him.

***

"Lei Yan, I haven't eaten all day. Couldn't you have let me eat before leaving?" the White Tiger complained as it caught up with Lei Yan.

"Can't two golden dans fill your stomach?" Lei Yan asked with a hint of anger.

"Eh? How did you know? Ah... You made me eat them on purpose!" the White Tiger yelped.

"What else did you think? Hurry up, stop dawdling," Lei Yan urged, abruptly increasing his speed as he rushed toward the Falling Cloud Cave.

"Hmph. Your speed is so slow; even if I waited for you for half a day, I'd still be able to catch up," the White Tiger said, curling its lip.

Within the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Lei Yan and the White Tiger had arrived at the foot of Falling Cloud Mountain.

*Falling Cloud Mountain, sunken clouds, immortals dwell deep within the sea of clouds.* This was how the locals described Falling Cloud Mountain. The sea of clouds was a wondrous spectacle of Falling Cloud Mountain; massive amounts of settling clouds accumulated around the mountain, forming a dreamlike sea of clouds. When a breeze blew, the sea of clouds morphed into countless shapes, making people marvel while imagining whether these shifting clouds were crafted by the hands of immortals.

"It's pretty here, much prettier than my lord's territory. It's just a pity it's useless to me," muttered the White Tiger.

Lei Yan didn't bother to appreciate the wondrous scenery of Falling Cloud Mountain at all. He formed a set of hand seals with his hands, and a path leading into the mountain materialized before him. He walked straight into the mountains.

According to the memories of the two women, Falling Cloud Mountain was merely the outer perimeter of the Falling Cloud Cave. Only upon reaching the mountainside would a few patrolling disciples be encountered. The higher one went, the more patrolling disciples there were, until reaching the peak where guards were most heavily concentrated, as that area had been designated as a forbidden zone by the Falling Cloud Cave Master.

"Golden Ghost, obey my command. Show no mercy to the seven men ahead on the mountainside," Lei Yan commanded without a moment of hesitation.

A human figure flew out from the Five Elements Pagoda tied to Lei Yan's waist. Almost instantly, the Golden Ghost flew back, its speed defying imagination.

"The two golden dans up ahead are yours," Lei Yan turned and said to the White Tiger, his pace not slowing down in the slightest.

"I'm starting to think more and more that I'm a genius. Following you not only lets me eat golden dans as I please, but none of these killings will be counted against my head. Hahaha, this is too awesome!" the White Tiger cried out, its speed suddenly surging as it dashed forward.

Lei Yan did not dwell on the White Tiger's words, focusing solely on charging forward. In the blink of an eye, he reached the mountainside. This part of the mountainside seemed as though it had been lopped off by a single sword strike; a semi-circular flat terrace nearly ten zhang in radius was strewn with the corpses of seven men. Continuing upward, there was another terrace where a cave was located—the so-called Falling Cloud Cave.

The number of Falling Cloud Cave disciples ahead was increasing, and Lei Yan had to stop and ponder how to infiltrate the Falling Cloud Cave.

"White Tiger, tell me, how can we enter the Falling Cloud Cave without them noticing?" Lei Yan asked rhetorically.

"I remember there's an art called Invisibility, but I don't know such trashy magic, and it wouldn't fool anyone whose cultivation is deeper than yours. So what you're saying is completely impossible, unless you've reached the Mahayana Stage, then maybe. But you're only at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation right now. Even if I charged in, I'd be discovered, let alone you. For all we know, they might already know we're here," the White Tiger said, curling its lip as it wiped its blood-stained hands on its body.

"Looks like killing our way through is the only option. White Tiger, you'd better wait for me at the foot of the mountain. The master of this Falling Cloud Cave is at least at the Spirit Division Stage," Lei Yan advised.

"So what if he's at the Spirit Division Stage? My innate divine ability is not something a cultivator at the Spirit Division Stage can withstand. Oh, I get it. You think I couldn't beat Uncle Muyan, so you're looking down on me, aren't you?" the White Tiger howled with a displeased expression.

"I'm looking out for you, you idiot," Lei Yan cursed under his breath.

"Why are you always looking out for me? Weird, why do I have this uncomfortable feeling? Damn it, Lei Yan, what kind of spell did you cast on me? How did I get hit by your magic without even knowing it?" the White Tiger clamored.

"Idiot." Too lazy to argue with the shouting White Tiger, Lei Yan shouted, "Golden Ghost, Wood Ghost, hear my command! Show no mercy to anyone who tries to block our path ahead!"

At Lei Yan's command, two figures flew out from the Five Elements Pagoda. Lei Yan followed closely behind, and the White Tiger brought up the rear.

In the blink of an eye, Lei Yan charged onto the upper terrace. At the entrance of the Falling Cloud Cave, screams rose one after another; a flurry of severed limbs flew through the air accompanied by spurting blood. This was the first time Lei Yan had witnessed the cooperative combat power of the Golden Ghost and the Wood Ghost. The Wood Ghost's Wood "Dao" opened Lei Yan's eyes—the branches and leaves entangling the Falling Cloud disciples severely restricted their mobility, while the Golden Ghost's blade-like fingers cleanly sliced across their necks.

"Which rats dare to come and run amok in my Falling Cloud Cave?" A sonorous voice rang out as if descending from the heavens. Following that, two men with coiled hair buns and clad in cyan robes plummeted from the sky.

"Cut the crap. Call your cave master out," Lei Yan said bluntly.

"Hahaha..." One of the men who had just landed burst into laughter. "Just a puny junior at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, and you think you're worthy?"

"You bastard, stop right there!" the other man yelled, striking out with a palm toward the White Tiger, who was busy digging out a Falling Cloud disciple's golden dan.

Seeing the attack incoming, the White Tiger let out a fierce roar, generating a whirlwind that formed a barrier before it. Meanwhile, it swiftly pried out the golden dan of the Falling Cloud disciple at its feet, tossed it into its mouth, and flashed behind Lei Yan.

That man smashed the wind barrier to smithereens with a single palm strike. Glancing up to see that the White Tiger had already extracted the golden dan, he roared, "You bastard, I'll kill you!" With erratic footwork and his right hand extended flat, he bellowed, "Falling Cloud Palm!" Countless palm shadows surged toward Lei Yan like falling clouds.

"Golden Ghost, make your move," Lei Yan commanded in a low voice.

The Golden Ghost flashed forward, charging straight into the torrential wave of palm shadows seemingly without a care for the blows landing on its body. With a wave of its right hand and a flash of cold light, it swept across the man's neck, sending his head soaring into the air.

"Junior brother!" the cyan-robed man standing opposite Lei Yan cried out in alarm.

A miniature figure radiating a silver glow burst out from the neck of the decapitated man and darted into the cave.

"Call your cave master out, or I will slaughter the entire Falling Cloud Cave," Lei Yan said in a low, grim voice.