Su Ming suddenly turned his head, his gaze falling on the corner of the wall.

There, a black spider the size of a fingernail was spinning a web in the crevice between two rocks.

On one side was a shadow so deep it seemed bottomless, on the other was the brightness where the glowstone's light spilled. The spider tested several times, ultimately choosing not to retreat back into the depths of the shadow. Instead, it spun its web at the boundary between light and shadow. That was the path flying insects most easily passed through, and also the most conspicuous position. But it itself did not perch at the center of the web. Instead, it hid under the shadow of a withered leaf at the edge of the web, with only an extremely fine silk thread connecting to its legs.

The light was in the open, the killing intent in the dark.

The web was for others to see, and also for catching prey.

"I understand."

Su Ming withdrew his gaze, his originally tense shoulders slowly relaxing. He reached out, picked up the Xuantian ring, and solemnly, slowly, slid it back onto the index finger of his left hand.

The cool sensation instantly transmitted, it was a weight he was most familiar with.

"Since we're going to put on a show, the props have to be convincing."

Su Ming took out a bottle of prepared spiritual liquid from his storage pouch—it was "Spirit-Cleansing Water" used to clean rust from magical implements, but he did not use it directly. Instead, he activated the *Like Water Art*, atomizing the spiritual liquid and gently enveloping the ring.

He did not wipe away the ring's dullness; on the contrary, he added another layer of disguise over this dullness.

He artificially adjusted the ring's original, occasional subtle, profound fluctuations to be even more chaotic, even more feeble, like a candle flame in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

"Master, cooperate a bit, retract your aura to the extreme, leaving only a trace of 'deathly aura'."

"Heh, I'm familiar with this job." Lin Yu's voice instantly became faint and indistinct. The luster on the ring completely dimmed, making it look like a piece of worthless scrap iron commonly seen in the mortal world. Only from a specific angle would it refract a glimmer of heart-palpitating, ghostly light.

After finishing this, Su Ming closed the lid of the lead box and quickly carved seven "Spirit-Sealing Runes" along the edge of the lid with his finger.

He stood up and walked to the deepest part of the cave dwelling, where there was a natural earth vein node, also the core formation eye of the *Minor Heavenly Cycle Water Rhythm Formation* he had arranged.

Su Ming formed hand seals with both hands. The ground cracked open a fissure just wide enough for one person's arm to reach into. Below, the flowing light of the earth veins was faintly visible.

He sank the lead box into it, then buried along with it Qin Yi's communication talismans, which carried the distinct aura of the Beast Peak, as well as several pieces of material dismantled from discarded magical implements, which were tainted with mixed, impure auras.

"Use chaos to conceal the specific."

Su Ming muttered to himself in a low voice, then closed the earth fissure. He placed a seemingly random ornamental mountain rock on top of it and carved an extremely concealed "self-destruct restriction" on the bottom of the rock.

If someone forcibly broke open this node, the restriction would instantly detonate the impure materials below, flushing the lead box into the deeper chaotic currents of the earth veins.

After finishing all this, Su Ming sat back down on the meditation cushion.

The cave dwelling returned to tranquility.

He lowered his head to look at the ring on his finger. At this moment, the ring appeared utterly devoid of spirituality, like a cheap piece of ornamentation.

"Master."

Su Ming closed his eyes and began adjusting his breathing.

His heartbeat frequency gradually decreased. The circulation of spiritual energy within his body became slow and viscous, like the water of a deep winter pond not yet frozen solid.

"Hmm?" Lin Yu's voice had already become somewhat ethereal, clearly making the final preparations for self-sealing.

"This journey is like wading into an abyss." Su Ming recited silently in his heart.

"Scared?"

"A little." Su Ming admitted frankly. "After all, it's Punishment Peak. That's a place that devours people without spitting out the bones."

Lin Yu's voice carried a rare trace of gravity, no longer that kind of playful teasing. "Disciple, remember the final mind technique I will teach you."

Su Ming focused intently to listen.

"Once you enter their formation, nine parts truth, one part falsehood."

Lin Yu's speech was slow, each word seeming to strike upon Su Ming's soul. "Where it's true, you must be emotional. Think of your despair on the exile road, think of your desire to survive. These emotions are all real, they are the most moving and the best at covering up lies."

"As for that one part falsehood…" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"It must be flawless."

"When they ask you about the source of your power, don't panic, don't conceal it. You must display a kind of fear of 'being guilty of possessing a treasure' and the secret joy of 'luckily obtaining a treasure'. This kind of emotion can perfectly explain your previous acts of hiding your abilities."

Su Ming slowly nodded, engraving these words into the depths of his heart.

"Emotion where it's true, flawless where it's false…"

He murmured the repetition. His originally somewhat restless heart completely settled into stillness.

He was like an actor about to go on stage, making the final adjustments to his makeup backstage. Only, for this play of his, there were no rehearsals. Once the performance failed, the price would be his life.

Lin Yu's voice completely vanished.

The last trace of fluctuation on the ring also disappeared along with it.

At this moment, Su Ming had truly become a man alone.

Outside the cave dwelling, the mountain wind wailed.

That wind sound passed through the jagged, strange rocks of Gazing Star Cliff, emitting sharp whistles, as if some giant beast lurking in the darkness was sharpening its claws and fangs, waiting for its prey to emerge from the cave.

There were still three hours until mao hour, third quarter.

Su Ming did not move again.

He was like that spider in the corner of the wall, retracting all his aura, quietly perched at the boundary between light and dark, waiting for the moment of dawn.