Kle In stopped mid air and looked at the Death Qi mountains one more time. When he investigated the structures within the deep crevice at the center before, it turns out that if he were to remove the dirt that accumulated over time, the true image of the structures would reveal a spatial formation that stretches at least eight hundred meters wide.

But what really made him retreat is the Gathering Inscription part of the Formation. Instead of it being supplied by Spiritual Qi, it is a concentrated Death Qi that is being gathered and the supply is coming from a Spiritual Vein.

If he did not create a Spiritual Vein Model that produces an unknown energy only compatible with plants, he would be shocked with this discovery.

He stopped himself from further investigating the area. He remembered the spatial formation he inscribed before he was offered as a sacrifice and although it is a simulacra of the spatial formation he saw back on earth before detonating himself, the formation still created a tear in space which absorbed his enemy and to this day he has no idea where it led to.

This world offers uncountable interesting things he would like to study, but these matters has to wait as he cannot be distracted at the moment until he heals himself. He turned around and flew back to Ab'atuan City to buy formation materials.

Kle In did not abuse his stay in the village repository. Although there is urgency and he could have had ordered additional translators during evenings, he forced himself to act decent to ensure the villagers would provide him what he wanted. He used those times to study books related to controlling other forms of Formations.

After an hour, he arrived at the vicinity of the city and spent around five hundred medium sized Qi Crystals and bought premade Isolation, Gathering and Defensive Formation Pillars. He estimates he only have forty Mid Qi Crystals left. Although he felt like being extravagant, it was not time to be frugal. After a few minutes, he flew northwest. According to the map from the village, the mountains towards the border are full of powerful and unknown demonic beasts and it would be better to have a slight detour.

He is in deep thought while flying. The other reason he did not wait for the second batch of copied ancient texts to be translated in the village is that yesterday, he realized how fast his body is changing. He is fine with the transformation but he seems to be ageing rapidly when he saw his face in the mirror. Having lived to his fifties in his past life, he was at least aware how his body changed from a teenage boy to a grown adult and by his estimate, he probably only has less than a year to live if this continues.

After three days, he landed on a deserted mountain with a natural spring which formed a swamp teeming with unfamiliar plants. The Spiritual Qi is thin making it hidden from passing cultivators and perfect place to install a Spiritual Vein Model and resupply his leaves. He scanned the surrounding areas to ensure no one is around before installing an Isolation Formation concealing and confining the region. He wanted to set up the Defensive Formation but he decided to not waste more of his crystals. He spent the whole day creating three additional Spiritual Vein Models and before evening came, he dug a cave to settle in.

Kle In smiled at his misfortune as he cooks a wild boar's meat. He has no idea why were people after him and did not believe what he said during the torture.

He looked into the spatial rings of the first group of people he killed at the villa. Having better knowledge about formations, he was able to detect and erase hidden formations on each magic item. Even if he is not fully familiar with the value of those items, he still feels that it is not sufficient for Nascent Soul Experts to go through such length to find him.

Aside from the herbs sealed in jade boxes, the only thing that caught his attention are the Sword Cultivation Techniques. Since he has spare time, he decided to study it in detail.

Three days passed in a blink and Kle In started harvesting leaves enriched with Spiritual Qi. Last night, he stopped immersing himself with the sword techniques. When he first looked at the manuals, he could immediately tell he could improve it if he is basing it on the diagrams and positioning of Qi Nodes involved.

What he could not understand is at what point will the Sword Qi manifest. He remembered the fight he had at the river and the young swordsman only performed basic slashes and produced power rivaling his strength at the second power. In essence, his technique can similarly have various forms like the Sword Techniques and should also produce the same type of power but he could not figure it out.

After hours of practice, he stopped in disappointment and decided to study the delphic nature of Sword Qi in the future. Since the leaves were ready for harvest, he will stick to his schedule.

As he collected leaves, the bones in his body started to ache more particularly on his coccyx area and his head. He could tolerate the pain but the lightheadedness was making him slowly lose consciousness. Just like his previous blackouts, he knew he needed to find a safe place to rest.

Kle In does not know how long his slumber will take so he decided to retrieve the Spiritual Vein Models. The Isolation Formation may not be able to contain the Spiritual Qi continuously produced by the surrounding plants and the burst of Qi may attract unwanted attention. He could feel he will hibernate any moment soon.

Before he could store the Spiritual Vein Models, the skin transformation developing and spreading on his face grabbed his attention. Unaware of his surroundings, bolts of crossbows were already fired at him

Phssk!

Kle In saw two bolts pierced his calves aggravating the changes in his body and the next second, he felt paralyzed and dropped to the ground. His last thought was spreading his Qi Projections and crushing six people.

Last night, a group of cultivators were travelling when their flying mounts suddenly changed its course. The cultivators tried to control them but their leader allowed they take a small break. The leader was surprised that a trained mount would act abnormally within a location deplete of Qi so he thought that it might be a treasure that attracted their beasts.

After a few minutes, their mounts brought them near a mountain. Their mounts were restless and it looked like it was attracted to a scent within the formation. The group got off their mounts and started investigating.

Upon stepping into the Formation, an Eden of Qi greeted them. It is normal to see herbs brimming with Qi but all plants they encountered, even simple grasses were infused with rich Qi.

What was confusing them is that they could not trace the source of the Spiritual Qi. Their leader ordered one to be stationed outside the formation as a lookout while the rest proceeded to investigate.

The group could not find a trace of Defensive Formation the further they move into the center until one of them saw an Early Foundation Establishment expert practicing Sword Art. They wanted to retreat but upon confirming there is only one cultivator within the vicinity, their leader decided to sneak attack.

Their group consists of Late Qi Condensation practitioners and he is confident they could still gang up on Kle In even if they fail with the surprise attack. His plan was to interrogate the owner of the mountain after paralyzing him. What he did not know is that their plan backfired the moment the crossbows reached its target and sending them to their graves.

After almost an hour of waiting, the cultivator assigned to guard the area noticed that his comrades have not responded so he went to investigate as well. Upon arriving on the scene, he immediately sent a signal for back up.