Chapter Nineteenth: The Strange Encounter in the Cold Cave

  There is still one more chapter tonight, please collect and recommend

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  Ling Xiao was diligent in his cultivation on one hand, and on the other hand, he was also pondering over the secret manual he had bought from the market.

  It's indeed a defective copy, and even the name of the secret recipe is not available, only vague recognition of words like "hook" and "dragon", unclear in meaning.

  Ling Xiao attempted to practice the techniques recorded in the secret recipe.

  The most commonly used method of driving a magic treasure is simply to release it and rely on its own power for simple attacks or defenses.

  While the masters were continuously using their magical tools, they also discovered such inefficiencies and waste. So they constantly pondered and deduced, just like the use of martial arts in the mortal world, and polished out many secret recipes, techniques, and moves. And because the magical tools used by the masters were more flexible and varied, and could be controlled remotely after being cast, even more countless variations emerged.

  It also makes the struggle between Shifu and Tai Lung more colorful and varied.

  But in fact, this is not enough. Human wisdom is endless. Many monks also quickly discovered that they can be further derived under the driving of Fa Bao. For example, combining spells and Fa Bao, combining array methods and Fa Bao, combining puppets and Fa Bao... even between Fa Bao, talismans, beast control, illusion techniques, etc., etc.

  All of these combined to form a vast and complex system of magical spells. It also made the battles between cultivators unpredictable, making it difficult for anyone to defend against them.

  Ling Xiao obtained this set of secret recipes, which is one of the simpler ones.

  It utilizes a special mantra, using true energy to carve out an illusory shadow similar to a soaring dragon in the void, attaching it to the flying claw. This causes the flying claw to become like a dragon traversing the sky after its release, greatly increasing its power while also allowing for more complex and agile transformations.

  It's easy to say, but actually extremely difficult.

  Imagine the fight between masters, victory and defeat are often decided in a breath. If you want to cast a spell, it would take five or six breaths of effort, which is already too late, what's the use of having great power?

  But if only pursuing speed, the dragon shadow printed out is too rough, then in the subsequent changes, the power of flying claws will be greatly weakened.

  The key to this set of secret skills is to use the shortest time possible to carve out the most realistic image with the law, in order to increase the power of the flying claw. To simplify it further, the more laws that are carved out within the shortest time, the greater the final formed power will be...

  This incomplete manual records the basic nine forms of Dragon Shadow: grab, strike, sweep, steal, turn, lock, dance, cut off and gather. More variations are also derived from the combination of the nine basic routines.

  Ling Xiao quickly memorized all the techniques, but to exert their maximum power, he could only rely on continuous practice and familiarity in the future.

  ……

  In this way, another half month passed by in a flurry of activity.

  Since the Bai Lian Fei Zhao was destroyed by that mutated poisonous spider, Ling Xiao had not gone hunting for monsters with Ma Ru and Feng Yi again. Even after buying back Wu Jin Zhao, he was busy refining pills, practicing, getting familiar with Wu Jin Zhao, and pondering over that set of secret skills, and rarely left the sect.

  After his skills had improved and he was slightly more familiar with the nine moves of the Dragon Shadow Claw technique, Ling Xiao thought about going to Spider Ridge again.

  He had been hiding this matter in his heart all along, and when he hunted down the mutated poisonous spider, the air around him was clearly filled with a chill - so, would there be something strange about that place?

  So, after everything was ready, Ling Xiao got up and rushed to Zhulian.

  This path was much more familiar now, and his speed had also increased, so Ling Xiao only spent a little over two hours before arriving at Spider Ridge.

  Identify the direction below, relying on memory, and head towards the location where the poisonous spider was hunted.

  It's inevitable to encounter poisonous spiders on the road, but Ling Xiao is careful and has Wu Jin's claws to protect himself. Every time one or two poisonous spiders appear, he uses Wu Jin's claws to dodge them from a distance. If he encounters a lone poisonous spider, he will also cast a spell, conjure up a dragon shadow, attach it to the flying claw, and quickly kill the spider.

  So on the way, I haven't found my destination yet, but I've already hunted and killed three poisonous spiders, which is an unexpected gain.

  But as he went deeper, Ling Xiao began to feel something was off. Having walked a long way, not only did he not feel the chill, but instead startled several groups of poisonous spiders, forcing him to retreat and hide, even wasting a low-grade paper charm.

  Ling Xiao changed his route several times, trying to bypass the area dense with poisonous spiders, but there were too many poisonous spiders on Spider Ridge. Since he had already ventured quite far in, he circled around, only to be constantly blocked by swarms of poisonous spiders.

  Ling Xiao Cai finally understood why no one had ever mentioned that icy cold place and the mutated poisonous spider.

  Can only retreat back, first find the place where you originally hunted poisonous spiders, then follow your memory, along the path you took that day, and carefully venture deeper.

  This time, it was indeed unimpeded. Along the way, only a few poisonous spiders appeared from time to time, all of which were easily killed by Ling Xiao with the help of his flying claws, earning him over a dozen contribution points. It has to be said that using flying claws to hunt poisonous spiders is really convenient, and after grabbing them from a distance with the flying claws, it's easy to maintain a safe distance; with the assistance of the Jiuyi Dragon Shadow Technique, he can even directly kill them with his black gold claws, increasing efficiency.

  It was soon the day to hunt down the mutated poisonous spider, and indeed, I felt that chill again; but there were no signs of the poisonous spider around.

  Ling Xiao slowed down his speed, carefully observing his surroundings and feeling his way forward.

  As he delved deeper, the air around him grew increasingly cold, and the black gold claws held in his hand, ready to be sacrificed at any moment, also became icy and piercing. Ling Xiao had no choice but to circulate his true energy to protect his palms.

  Fortunately, there were no poisonous spiders around. Otherwise, with his current state, he would have to react at least three times slower than usual.

  Not far ahead, at the foot of a towering cliff, a dark cave was revealed in the gap between the bare rocks. The chill also came from that cave.

  It seems that this cave is the destination of this trip. That poisonous spider was probably also mutated due to the eerie chill in this cave.

  Ling Xiao cautiously approached him.

  The entrance is only one person high, slightly narrow, but just enough for one person to pass through; the cave winds down, and the road is also rugged and uneven, apparently naturally formed, and few people have passed by.

  However, Ling Xiao didn't dare to be careless and found a piece of broken stone to throw in. The stone rolled down along the cave, colliding with the surrounding walls, making a "crashing" sound that echoed for a long time before finally reaching the bottom.

  Then there was no movement for a long time.

  Ling Xiao waited patiently for a moment before finally putting his mind at ease, carefully making his way down the cave.

  Moss grew on the ground, and it was slippery when stepped on. As we went down, after turning several corners, the slope became gentler, and the view in front of us also opened up, with a width of several meters, and about one meter from the top. In the belly of the cave, a naturally formed large hall appeared. However, there was some accumulated water on the ground, about half an inch deep, making a gurgling sound when stepped on. It must have been accumulated over the years after rainfall.

  The water had not frozen, but it was giving off a chilly air as if it were icy.

  Although Ling Xiao hadn't practiced those night vision and illumination spells, he still had his true energy protecting him, so his line of sight was much clearer than an ordinary person's. With careful observation, he could barely make out what was in front of him.

  He looked up and examined it carefully, but saw that in the depths of the hall, there was a shadowy stone pedestal; on the pedestal was embedded a palm-sized token, which emitted a faint red glow in this dim environment.

  Ling Xiao was somewhat curious and saw that there didn't seem to be any danger in the cave, so he carefully approached and wanted to pick up the token.

  But just as he approached the stone platform, he suddenly heard a crashing sound coming from his right side, accompanied by a whistling wind, rushing straight towards him, even his cheeks were scratched and felt a bit sore.

  Ling Xiao was greatly shocked and hastily rolled on the ground, splashing water everywhere with a "gushing" sound.

  "Clang!"

  A loud crash, as if a heavy object had scraped against the layer of accumulated water and violently collided with the rocks below.

  But just as Ling Xiao narrowly dodged, he had some spare time to turn around and look back, only to see in front of the stone platform behind him, on the surface of the water, a half-person-high, child-like puppet floating, holding a wide and thick long wooden sword, almost as long as its body, slantingly inserted into the water. The surrounding ripples were still surging, carrying its body up and down.

  Puppet!

  Ling Xiao recognized at once that this was a puppet left behind by someone unknown.

  Puppetry is also a common method used by cultivators to deal with enemies. It uses special secret methods to refine some lifeless or lifeless objects, making them act, fight, or complete some trivial matters under the control of the cultivator.

  The materials for refining puppets can be diverse, including wood, iron, stone, and even some corpses or yin energy, which can be refined into puppets with different functions and powers.

  Generally speaking, puppets usually have a core and then an auxiliary array for operation.

  However, Qi Yunzong was not good at making puppets, and Ling Xiao only had such a simple understanding. The specific core, the position of the formation, he couldn't see it at all.

  But judging from the movements of this puppet just now, it's likely that its strength is at least equivalent to that of a third or fourth layer Qi cultivator, yet it wants to surpass its own...