96: Chapter 96 Spirit Vein Contamination

The Cultivator said it was far, but Ye Jing didn't mind; it was enough just to know that such a place existed.

Su Dadan added sheepishly, "To be honest, we brothers ventured here to pick green-veined grass because we wanted to trade for some Spirit Stones at the market. We also wanted to see if we could find a simple Cultivation Technique suitable for our own cultivation."

At this point, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face. "We only have an introductory Breathing Mantra. It's useless once we enter Qi Refining. If we want to progress further, we need a new Cultivation Technique."

Ye Jing's eyes flickered slightly. Hearing them speak, he realized just how comprehensive the basic Cultivation Technique, the Qi Induction Mantra, truly was.

The three chatted pleasantly, and the invisible barrier between them dissipated somewhat.

As for Hei Feng, who was following Ye Jing, since he had suppressed his aura, they simply treated him as an ordinary black dog and continued their journey forward.

The two Cultivators led Ye Jing to a valley.

The vegetation around this valley was exceptionally lush; even the common weeds carried a faint trace of spiritual power.

However, Ye Jing saw a bizarre scene inside: while the outside of the valley was lush with greenery, the inside was desolate and filled with an eerie Yin Qi.

Su Dadan and Liu Qing also looked wary. They said to Ye Jing, "Senior, this valley has abundant Spiritual Qi, but there are several First-Order Demonic Beasts wandering inside. Our strength is insufficient, so we can only pick plants on the outskirts every time and don't dare to go deep."

"First-Order Demonic Beast?" Ye Jing felt very uneasy.

He had previously learned about some beasts with Spiritual Qi and thought there were only Essence Spirits.

But later, he learned that above Essence Spirits were First-Order Demonic Beasts. A First-Order Demonic Beast is comparable to a Qi Refining Level 5 Cultivator; its strength is not to be underestimated.

The Rank classification of these Yao Beasts corresponds to the Realms of human Cultivators, but at the same Rank, the Yao Beast's Physical Body is powerful, making them often harder to deal with.

People like Su Dadan and Liu Qing, at Qi Refining Level 1 or 2, could easily handle ordinary wild beasts and Essence Spirits.

But if they encountered even the lowest First-Order Demonic Beast, even one just about to Rank up, they would have no choice but to flee.

The First-Order of Yao Beasts is further divided into Early, Middle, and Late Stages.

The Early Stage of the First-Order is comparable to Qi Refining Level 3, the Middle Stage corresponds to levels four through six, and the Late Stage corresponds to levels seven through nine.

Above the First-Order Demonic Beast is the Second-Order Demonic Beast, which corresponds to a Cultivator's Foundation Establishment Stage.

The strength of a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator is far beyond that of the Qi Refinement Stage, but a Second-Order Demonic Beast not only has a stronger Physical Body, some can even master Divine Abilities and demonic arts. In a fight between the two, it's uncertain who would win or lose.

Moreover, the jump between each Rank represents a world of difference in strength, just like the insurmountable chasm between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment.

Furthermore, the Inner Cores, pelts, and fangs of Yao Beasts are extremely precious cultivation resources. Especially the Inner Cores condensed by First-Order Demonic Beasts, which contain dense spiritual power and are highly beneficial for a Cultivator's progress or for forging powerful Magical Artifacts.

Perhaps they could even be sold for a good price on the market.

At this moment, the Poisonous Variant Bee Queen hidden in Ye Jing's sleeve suddenly trembled violently, appearing very excited.

Ye Jing remembered that spiritual insects crave the Spiritual Source within a Spiritual Vein. He stared intently at the valley ahead—could that be where the Spiritual Vein was located?!

Just as he focused his gaze, ancient characters appeared from the Immortal Willow in his mind.

"First-Order Spiritual Vein. Remnants of an Evil Formation, contaminated by Devilish Qi. If the Devilish Qi is purified and five hundred points of Immortal Light are spent on restoration, it can support the Family's long-term development!"

The ancient characters slowly dissipated in his mind, and a wave of shock surged through Ye Jing's heart.

No wonder this valley looked so desolate while the outside was full of life; it turned out that the Spiritual Vein in this valley had been contaminated by that remnant Formation.

The Miscellany also mentioned it was guarded by some ancient Formation, but after all, it was just hearsay, so some discrepancies are normal.

The point was that Qinling really did have a Spiritual Vein.

Ye Jing clenched his fists and asked Su Dadan and Liu Qing behind him, "Do you know exactly how many powerful Yao Beasts are in this valley? What is their strength?"

Liu Qing thought for a moment and said, "Senior, we've seen two. One is like a giant bear with immense strength that can shatter boulders; judging by its aura, it should be at the Early Stage of Qi Refining. The other is that green snake you killed, which hadn't yet entered the First-Order."

At this point, a flicker of lingering fear crossed his eyes. "However, there should be one most powerful Yao Beast inside. I previously saw several Black-robed Men charge in, and none of them ever returned! Its strength is at least at the Middle Stage of the First-Order or higher!"

Hearing this, Ye Jing asked, "A group of Black-robed Men?"

"Yes, they seemed to be Demonic Cultivators," Su Dadan said with lingering fear. "I heard them mentioning something about a Spiritual Vein and wanting to seize this land. Fortunately, they were eaten by the Yao Beast!"

Ye Jing frowned upon hearing this. The appearance of those Black-robed Men was strange, but the Spiritual Vein Su Dadan mentioned made him even more alert.

"You're saying there's a Spiritual Vein here?" Ye Jing asked tentatively.

Su Dadan said helplessly, "If there were a Spiritual Vein, it would have been occupied by those Immortal Families long ago. High-level Cultivators came here to check before and said this Spiritual Vein was contaminated by Demonic Cultivators a long time ago and is unusable; it's a Waste Vein!"

Hearing this, Ye Jing didn't think those Cultivators' judgment was wrong; after all, even the Yan State Royal Family had recorded this Spiritual Vein.

The Spiritual Vein truly was ruined, but there was still residual spiritual power; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to nurture so many Spiritual Plants and Yao Beasts.

It was just that the presence of Devilish Qi made Orthodox Cultivators afraid to approach easily.

With his strength, along with Hei Feng and the Poisonous Variant Bee, dealing with the Early Stage First-Order Bear Monster inside wouldn't be much trouble.

Even for that powerful Yao Beast that hadn't shown itself, he could bring his Family members to wear it down together.

But the real trouble was the Devilish Qi remaining from that Evil Formation. Ye Jing had learned about such things.

Devilish Qi would not only corrode a Cultivator's Spiritual Root, but staying in it for long would also disturb one's mind, leading to Qi Deviation at best or one's entire cultivation base vanishing into nothingness at worst.

Ye Jing fell silent for a moment, then said, "How about this: you two wait here while I go to the edge of the valley to investigate!"

Seeing this, Su Dadan and Liu Qing just thought the old Cultivator was curious and didn't say much, only telling Ye Jing to be careful.

Ye Jing reached the edge of the valley and approached quietly.

As soon as he stepped into the valley, a cold and gloomy aura rushed toward him, completely different from the Spiritual Qi outside.

This aura was very pungent. After smelling it, Ye Jing immediately felt the spiritual power in his body become somewhat turbulent.

He quickly controlled his spiritual power to form a shield around himself, isolating the erosion of the Devilish Qi.

Hei Feng, on the other hand, showed no change. He wagged his tail and looked around curiously.

Seeing that Hei Feng was completely unaffected, Ye Jing felt relieved to bring him in. Perhaps this Devilish Qi only affected humans.

Inside the valley was a scene of dead silence. The ground was bare without a single weed, and only some black rocks were scattered about. The rocks were covered in bizarre dark red patterns, likely caused by the contamination of Devilish Qi.

Ye Jing walked slowly, staring at the ground.

Sure enough, in the depths of the valley, he saw a circle of blurry runes. These runes were already incomplete and broken, but they still emitted a faint, evil aura.

That appeared to be the remnants of that Formation.

The black gas around the runes was exceptionally thick, forming a faint black mist that made it impossible to see the situation inside clearly.

Just then, Hei Feng suddenly barked wildly at the black mist, his fur standing on end as if facing a great enemy.

Ye Jing quickly drew and gripped his large blade, retreating a few steps while circulating his spiritual power in defense.

In the next second, heavy footsteps came from the black mist, followed by a massive black bear running out.

The black bear was pitch black all over, its fur stained with dark red blood, and its eyes were crimson.

That was exactly the Early Stage First-Order Bear Monster Su Dadan had mentioned.