Cultivating in Reverse: My Sign-In System Wants Me Dead

Chapter 158: Chapter 158 - The Reversed Formation and the Star-Metal Ravine

More cultivators arrived not long after.

The first sound was not a voice. It was the faint crunch of footsteps against broken stone.

Then several figures appeared beyond the entrance, moving with caution.

The frost marks Ji Ruyue had left along the route glowed faintly beneath their feet before fading behind them.

One by one, cultivators from different factions entered the Treatment-and-Containment Hall.

The moment they entered and saw how many people were already inside, many of them froze.

For a moment, no one knew what to say.

Then one cultivator from the new group cupped his fists.

"Thank you for leaving a trail, Fairy Ji."

Ji Ruyue nodded once.

Another cultivator looked at Tang Ziyan.

"Miss Tang, we followed as quickly as we could."

Tang Ziyan glanced at him.

"So you did have legs after all."

The cultivator lowered his head.

"Yes."

Several people from Su Bai’s side looked away.

It seemed the new arrivals were already used to her.

This made them slightly easier to respect.

Lin Weiyang was still underground, so the newly arrived group naturally integrated into the main hall first.

Compared to Tang Ziyan, Ji Ruyue, and Lin Weiyang, these cultivators were surprisingly easy to communicate with.

They asked questions politely.

They listened to Qiao Wen’s explanation.

They showed shock at the borrowed faces.

They showed gratitude toward Su Bai’s group for rescuing the victims.

Most importantly, they followed instructions.

Su Bai watched this quietly and nodded in his heart.

The group had become larger.

That meant more mouths, more movement, and more chances for trouble.

But it also meant more hands, more eyes, and more people who could guard one another.

In a place like this, moving alone was asking the red mist to choose your funeral style.

Besides, Su Bai now held part of the old outer-area map in his mind.

With more cultivators, they could cover more ground, protect the wounded, carry the unconscious, and respond to sudden attacks.

As long as they could follow commands, a larger group was not a burden.

Of course, that was the important condition.

Follow commands.

Su Bai silently adjusted his expectation.

While the two groups exchanged what they knew, Lin Weiyang finally returned from the underground passage.

The moment she appeared, the hall gradually quieted.

Her usually bright expression had changed.

The excitement had not vanished completely, but it had been buried beneath seriousness.

Lin Weiyang walked to the center of the hall.

"The formation below has indeed been reversed."

One of the formation-aware cultivator from Su Bai’s original group straightened immediately.

Lin Weiyang glanced at him and nodded.

"Your earlier judgment was correct. The root formation was not originally malicious."

The young cultivator’s eyes widened slightly.

Being confirmed by a Divine Artificer Citadel disciple clearly made him both proud and nervous.

Lin Weiyang continued, "Originally, this hall should have drawn corruption out of the wounded, separated harmful influences from the body and soul, stabilized the spirit, and sealed the extracted corruption into the containment layer below."

The hall became quiet.

That sounded like a holy medical formation. A battlefield treatment array.

Then Lin Weiyang’s expression darkened.

"But later, the circulation was reversed."

She raised a finger.

"The extraction became harvesting."

A second finger.

"The stabilization became binding."

A third finger.

"The containment became nurturing."

A fourth finger.

"And the guiding channels that once helped wounded souls return to themselves were twisted into channels that pulled soul fragments away."

The awakened victims turned pale.

Lin Weiyang continued, "The false shells were fed by the reversed channels. The altar outside likely served as the upper gathering point."

Mu Qing frowned.

"So the altar lured people in, and the root chamber processed them?"

"That is the simplest explanation," Lin Weiyang said. "But the formation is damaged. Some parts are missing. Some were forcibly altered by something that understood its structure very well."

Su Bai’s gaze deepened.

Something that understood its structure.

That was worse than ordinary decay.

Lin Weiyang exhaled.

"Still, there is good news."

Everyone looked at her.

She smiled faintly.

"The original formation itself is a treasure."

Several cultivators blinked.

Lin Weiyang’s eyes brightened again.

"The design is ancient, but brilliant. The way it separates corruption from the flesh without damaging meridians, the way it stabilizes soul fluctuations, the way the root channels distribute pressure through layers of stone and formation veins... even damaged, it is valuable."

Lin Weiyang looked at Su Bai.

"If copied properly, some parts may help create better healing formations or emergency soul-stabilizing arrays. Even the failure points are worth studying."

Tang Ziyan leaned against the wall and said, "Only you artificers can call a corpse pit valuable with a straight face."

Lin Weiyang did not look offended.

"It is a very educational corpse pit."

Several cultivators did not know whether to laugh or shiver.

Su Bai nodded.

"Can it still produce false shells?"

Lin Weiyang became serious again.

"Not by itself. The main miasma source is gone, and as you said earlier, the false-shell sacs were destroyed. But there may still be residual links. I cannot guarantee the remaining borrowed faces did not receive some signal when this place changed."

The hall became colder.

Chen Feng said, "Meaning they may know this place was broken."

"Possible," Lin Weiyang said.

Su Bai looked toward the entrance.

The red mist outside remained quiet.

After a moment, he turned back.

"Then we should not stay here too long."

No one objected.

Su Bai looked at Qiao Wen and Mu Qing.

"How are the victims?"

Mu Qing answered, "The awakened ones can walk now, but they should not fight. The two who just received soul fragments are stabilizing and may wake later. The remaining three are still unconscious."

Qiao Wen added, "Their bodies are not collapsing, but their spirits are weak."

Su Bai nodded.

"Then they come with us."

Several people looked at him.

One young cultivator hesitated.

"Brother Su, carrying unconscious people through the mist will slow us down."

"I know," Su Bai said.

His tone remained calm.

"But if we leave them here, and the remaining borrowed faces return, what do you think will happen?"

The young cultivator lowered his head at once.

No one spoke again.

They had already heard the testimonies.

They knew exactly what would happen.

Tang Ziyan clicked her tongue.

"Troublesome, but correct."

That was probably praise.

Su Bai accepted it as such.

He then took out Mid-Grade Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills.

The moment the pills appeared, several people’s eyes changed.

Even mid-grade Lotus-Heart Pills were precious here.

Su Bai handed them to Qiao Wen.

"Feed these to the sleeping victims before we move."

Qiao Wen stared at the pills.

"Brother Su..."

Mu Qing was also startled.

"These are not cheap."

Several cultivators looked touched.

The sleeping victims did not belong to Su Bai’s sect.

They might not even be able to repay him.

Yet he took out three protective pills without hesitation.

Su Bai’s expression remained calm.

"They are useless if kept in storage while people die."

The hall fell silent.

The newly arrived cultivators looked at him differently.

Su Bai was telling the truth.

Mostly.

For him, these Lotus-Heart Pills were not very useful.

They blocked miasma from entering.

Qiao Wen accepted the pills carefully.

"I will feed them."

Lin Weiyang raised a hand.

"I can help move them."

Several bronze mechanisms flew out from her sleeves and unfolded into small disk-like supports.

"They cannot fly fast," Lin Weiyang said, "but they can carry unconscious bodies steadily. With cultivators guarding each platform, it should be safe."

Soon, the hall became busy.

The three sleeping victims were given the Mid-Grade Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills. Thin lotus-light barriers slowly formed around their bodies, clinging to them like pale second skins.

Lin Weiyang’s platforms lifted them gently.

The awakened victims who could walk were placed near the center of the formation.

The injured cultivators were paired with stronger ones.

Those with stronger lotus barriers stood outside.

Those with weaker barriers stayed inside.

Poison users, sword cultivators, defensive cultivators, formation cultivators, and support cultivators were arranged properly.

At first, people still looked around awkwardly.

Then they realized Su Bai was arranging them without raising his voice.

One sentence here.

A glance there.

A small adjustment.

A question to Qiao Wen.

A nod to Zhao Heng.

A short instruction to Chen Feng.

A polite request to Ji Ruyue.

A careful avoidance of telling Tang Ziyan what to do too directly.

The formation somehow took shape.

Tang Ziyan noticed this and narrowed her eyes.

"You are very used to ordering people."

Su Bai looked at her.

"I am used to trying."

Tang Ziyan snorted.

"That means they do not always listen."

Su Bai glanced briefly at Chen Feng.

Chen Feng immediately frowned.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Su Bai looked away.

"No reason."

Several cultivators coughed.

The atmosphere eased slightly.

Once the movement formation was prepared, the question became where to go next.

Chen Feng took out his copied map.

"This is the nearest marked opportunity."

He pointed toward a region northeast of their current position.

"Old ravine. Possible star-metal fragments."

The moment the words star-metal appeared, the eyes of many cultivators changed.

Star-metal was one of the most famous treasures of the Fallen-Star Sanctuary.

It existed outside as well. But the star-metal inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary was different. It had been tempered by the Sanctuary’s strange environment across countless years.

Weapon refiners loved it.

Formation masters wanted it.

Sword cultivators dreamed of it.

Even small fragments could be sold for a high price outside.

Within the Sanctuary, star-metal fragments were considered one of the more common valuable resources.

But common did not mean easy to find.

The Fallen-Star Sanctuary was vast.

The miasma distorted direction.

The terrain changed.

And places marked as possible star-metal grounds were often places where many people fought, died, or disappeared.

Still, treasure was treasure.

After the hall’s harvest, many cultivators were already satisfied.

But no one had forgotten why they had entered the Sanctuary.

Su Bai looked at Chen Feng’s map.

Then at the old map fragments in his mind.

The ravine.

He had seen a warning marker pointing away from it in the dead soldiers’ memories.

That meant it was dangerous.

But danger and value often walked together in the cultivation world, arm in arm, laughing at sensible people.

Su Bai’s eyes deepened.

In the memory fragments, star-metal had not merely been scattered treasure.

Some structures had been reinforced with it.

Some weapons had been forged from it.

Not every soldier had access to such weapons. Only stronger soldiers, elite squads, or important defensive points had carried them.

And those weapons had been effective against the enemies.

That changed the meaning of star-metal.

It was not only wealth. It might be a countermeasure. A material that ancient defenders had trusted.

That alone made it worth investigating.

Su Bai looked around.

"Let’s check it out."

Several people straightened.

"But we move carefully," Su Bai continued. "That area may not be simple."

The hall quieted.

Qiao Wen asked, "How do we divide gains if we find star-metal?"

This question was necessary.

A larger group meant more complicated distribution.

If they did not settle it now, a treasure could turn allies into enemies.

Su Bai nodded.

"We follow contribution."

No one was surprised.

He continued, "Those who scout, guard, break formations, identify danger, protect the wounded, and fight all count as contributors. Those who cannot fight because they are injured or unconscious will not receive combat shares, but they may receive protection and necessary treatment."

The awakened victims lowered their heads.

None objected.

They already understood.

Su Bai looked at Lin Weiyang.

"If the star-metal is tied to formations or mechanisms, Sister Lin’s identification contribution will be counted separately."

Lin Weiyang smiled.

"Fair."

The rules were simple.

And difficult to argue with.

Soon, everyone agreed.

The newly arrived cultivators were even more willing.

They had already heard how Su Bai divided the hall’s treasures fairly. Trust was easier to build after an example had already been given.

Su Bai looked at the whole group.

There were now more than thirty cultivators.

Behind the Glacier-Lung Bone Mask, he smiled faintly.

More people meant more chances to survive.

And if they truly found star-metal...

His heart stirred slightly.

There were many places he wanted to visit.

The old map in his mind was enough to start.

Su Bai exhaled softly through the mask.

For once, the sound was almost excited.

Tang Ziyan noticed.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Why do you sound happy?"

Su Bai answered calmly, "Treasure hunting is naturally pleasant."

Tang Ziyan stared at him.

"Coming from you, that sounds poisonous."

Su Bai looked at her.

"Then we are compatible."

Tang Ziyan’s ears reddened again.

Soon, Su Bai turned away.

"Prepare to move."

Everyone checked their pills.

Those whose lotus-light barriers were thinning swallowed new Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills.

Their barriers brightened again.

Then Su Bai noticed something.

Tang Ziyan and Ji Ruyue’s lotus barriers were still unusually strong.

Su Bai’s eyes moved slightly.

That medicinal behavior...

His Transcendent Grade Lotus-Heart Pills.

His master had mentioned selling some to the Tang Clan.

It seemed Tang Ziyan had received them.

Su Bai smiled faintly behind the mask.

His creation lasted longer than expected.

After everyone finished preparing, Su Bai looked toward the entrance.

He stepped toward the entrance.

"Stay close."

No one argued.

More than thirty cultivators followed him.

The lotus-light barriers glowed faintly as they stepped out of the Treatment-and-Containment Hall and into the red mist again.