44: Chapter 44 Tracing the Dark River, The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain

The tier-two medicine field by the Yin-Origin Cold Pool was even more remote than Qi Yang had imagined.

Setting out from the main hall of Baicao Peak, one had to cross three hills, pass through a gloomy forest that never saw sunlight all year round, and then walk down a moss-covered stone staircase for half the time it took to burn a stick of incense before seeing the long, narrow valley shrouded in gray-white cold fog.

In the valley, over a thousand stalks of half-man-high nether grass were densely planted.

This grass was dark purple all over, its leaves covered with a thin layer of white frost, and wisps of visible cold qi occasionally emerged from its roots and stems.

Just standing on the ridge of the field, Qi Yang could feel a bone-chilling coldness surging up from the soles of his feet.

If ordinary Cultivators of the Qi Condensation Seventh or Eighth Layer stayed here for half a day, their Meridians would be eroded by the cold qi, and after a long time, they would either die or be crippled.

But what about Qi Yang?

He stood in the middle of the field and took a deep breath; after those chilling qi drilled into his lungs, they were easily crushed by the Five Elements Grindstone in his Dantian, transforming into wisps of pure water-attribute spiritual power that merged into the depths of his Qi Sea.

"Comfortable."

Qi Yang's mouth turned up slightly.

At the end of the medicine field stood a dilapidated thatched cottage, which was the dwelling left behind by the previous handyman.

It was said that that person had only worked here for two months before the cold poison entered his body, and he was carried out of the Inner Sect, with no news of him ever since.

Qi Yang pushed open the creaking wooden door; the inside was empty, with only a moldy wooden bed and a table with a broken leg.

"Fine, at least it's a bit better than the one in the Outer Sect."

He didn't care about the quality of his living quarters.

The important thing was that this place was remote enough and desolate enough.

Within a radius of several hundred zhang, besides him, there wasn't even a ghost of a shadow.

That very night, Qi Yang began his most proficient craft: digging holes.

He first spread a thick layer of hay on the floor inside the thatched cottage, and then pressed down a loose stone brick.

The Five Elements spiritual power operated simultaneously, and the earth-attribute spiritual power turned into an invisible giant hand, peeling, compressing, and pushing away the soil beneath his feet layer by layer.

In less than half an hour, a narrow passage leading fifteen zhang underground was dug out.

With the experience of digging a secret room in the Outer Sect, Qi Yang was already familiar with doing this kind of work.

Three days later, a brand-new secret room, twice as large as the one in the Outer Sect, took shape.

Isolation Formation, Spirit-Gathering Array, warning Formation... Various Formation Plates were activated by him, wrapping the entire secret room airtight.

"The safe house is done; next is the real business."

Qi Yang sat cross-legged on the stone platform in the center of the new secret room, closed his eyes, and slowly extended his perception downward into the ground.

Although the cultivation speed of the Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root was as slow as a snail, it had an advantage ignored by everyone: the coverage of its perception was extremely wide.

Although the perception of geniuses with Dual Spiritual Roots or Three Spiritual Roots was powerful, their attributes were incomplete, and they would be interfered with when encountering mismatched Spiritual Qi.

As for Qi Yang's Five Elements perception, no matter which type of Spiritual Qi—metal, wood, water, fire, or earth—it could accurately capture it!

His perception, like an invisible giant net, slowly spread downward and into the depths along the earth veins.

Ten zhang, twenty zhang, thirty zhang...

Fifty zhang underground, Qi Yang's brow suddenly twitched.

He felt water.

It was not ordinary groundwater, but a hidden underground river!

The current flowing in that underground river exuded an extreme chilling aura that made one's teeth chatter, and every drop of water contained rich Yin-attribute Spiritual Qi.

This chilling qi was identical to the cold qi absorbed by the nether grass!

The same origin!

"xuanyin water Spiritual Vein!"

Qi Yang suddenly opened his eyes, his hands trembling slightly with excitement.

He forcefully suppressed the wild joy in his heart and continued to deeply perceive the flow direction of that underground river.

Tracking all the way along the direction of the water flow, the underground river wound its way towards the northeast...

That direction was precisely the core Forbidden Ground of the Inner Sect, the Spirit Spring Cave!

Qi Yang almost laughed out loud.

To get xuanyin water, others had to figure out a way to break through the layers of Restrictions of the Spirit Spring Cave and avoid the guard of the Foundation Establishment Stage Elders.

And what about him, Qi Yang? Right under his feet was a natural pipeline leading directly to the Spirit Spring Cave!

As long as he followed this underground river and dug a tunnel from underground, he could approach the source of the xuanyin water without anyone knowing!

If he couldn't enter through the front door, he would burrow from underground!

Qi Yang took a deep breath, calmed his churning mood, and began to calmly evaluate the workload.

From the Nether Grass Field to the Spirit Spring Cave, the straight-line distance was about three li.

However, the underground river was not a straight line. Coupled with having to bypass various hard rock layers and possible underground mineral veins, the actual distance that needed to be excavated would at least double.

Moreover, the closer it got to the Spirit Spring Cave, the denser the Spiritual Qi in the earth veins became, which meant the greater the risk of being detected by the Formation.

He had to dig the tunnel extremely deep, to the extent that even the peripheral defense Formations of the Spirit Spring Cave could not detect it.

"Cannot rush."

Qi Yang suppressed the restlessness in his heart.

He was now at the Qi Condensation Seventh Layer, and his earth-attribute spiritual power reserves were limited; he could only dig a distance of three to five zhang at most every day.

According to this speed, it would take at least a month to dig to the periphery of the Spirit Spring Cave.

One month, Qi Yang could wait.

He had kept a low profile for so many years, was he going to mind just this one month?

Starting from the second day, Qi Yang began a routine that was infuriatingly regular.

During the day, he weeded, watered, and applied spiritual fertilizer in the Nether Grass Field with a hunched back, acting precisely like a half-dead old farmer.

Occasionally, patrolling Inner Sect Disciples passed by, and seeing his cowardly appearance at the Qi Condensation Third Layer, they didn't even have the interest to spare him an extra glance.

But late at night, Qi Yang in the secret room transformed into a diligent marmot.

He first used earth-attribute spiritual power to loosen the soil ahead, and then used water-attribute spiritual power to soften the hard rock layers.

Then he used the roots of Wood-attribute Spiritual Power to crush and compress the gravel into the cave walls on both sides, and finally used fire-attribute spiritual power to dry and reinforce the cave walls, while metal-attribute spiritual power condensed a thin protective layer to prevent cave-ins.

The cooperation of the Five Elements was seamless.

Others had to use brute force when digging holes, chiseling punch by punch.

As for him, Qi Yang, his Five Elements spiritual power was a natural shield tunneling machine!

Every time he advanced one zhang, Qi Yang would stop to carefully scan the Spiritual Qi fluctuations within a radius of dozens of zhang with his perception, and only continue advancing after confirming there were no abnormalities.

Time passed slowly.

The tunnel extended towards the direction of the Spirit Spring Cave inch by inch.

One morning half a month later, Qi Yang was squatting in the Nether Grass Field pulling weeds.

A young Disciple wearing an Inner Sect white robe hurried down the stone steps, and seeing Qi Yang, shouted from afar.

"Hey! Old man farming! The steward wants you to deliver this month's nether grass to the main hall of the Spirit Plant House. Today, people from various peaks of the Inner Sect are coming to pick up goods!"

Qi Yang acknowledged, picked fifty stalks of the best-looking nether grass to put into a bamboo basket, and walked towards the main hall of Baicao Peak with a hunched back.

The main hall of the Spirit Plant House was exceptionally lively today.

Disciples sent by various peaks to pick up goods lined up in several queues, and the steward Jiang Duosheng puffed out his big belly pointing out the country there, wearing an arrogant face to everyone.

Qi Yang put down the bamboo basket, just as he was about to finish his errand and leave, a commotion suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Have you heard? Something happened to that new female Disciple of Jianzhi Peak!"

"Who? Is it that Su Qinghan who broke the rules to enter from the Outer Sect?"

"That's her! It is said that Senior Brother Chen Daoyuan has taken a fancy to her and wants to take her as a Dual Cultivation Dao Companion. That little lass didn't know what's good for her and refused to her face, and now she is locked up in the back mountain of Jianzhi Peak by Senior Brother Chen Daoyuan!"

"Hiss! Senior Brother Chen Daoyuan? That is a Prodigy of the Qi Condensation 11th Layer with Three Spiritual Roots, and a Personal Disciple of Peak Master Wu Lie! Isn't it just a matter of a word for him to want a female Cultivator as a Dao Companion?"

"Indeed! Although Su Qinghan is a Three-element Profound Spiritual Root and her talent is indeed good, she is only at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer. What difference is there between her and an ant in front of Senior Brother Chen Daoyuan? She has to submit whether she wants to or not!"

Qi Yang's action of putting down the bamboo basket paused for a moment.

He didn't look back at those gossiping Disciples; his cloudy old eyes simply narrowed slightly.

Su Qinghan was targeted by someone? And an Inner Sect Prodigy at the Qi Condensation 11th Layer at that?