242: clue

Nanhu Prefecture, beneath his feet, was a maelstrom of blood and fire, with agonizing screams and the roar of Spells tearing through the sky.

Xiao Zhuo hovered high above, silver patterns shimmering around him, shielding him from the churning bloody Devilish Qi below.

His Divine Sense, like an invisible tide, covered the vast area as far as his eyes could see, precisely locating and annihilating the remaining Cultivators who had managed to hide using secret arts.

The numbers on his panel continued to tick upwards steadily.

However, when he delved his Divine Sense deeper into the earth's Spiritual Veins, intending to capture the ethereal aura of the world's Origin, an unprecedented sense of "insignificance" washed over him.

The Minghu Realm was too vast!

Even though his Divine Sense far surpassed others of his rank, it could only cover ten thousand miles, and even when focusing on a single line, it extended only about a hundred thousand miles into the earth’s Spiritual Veins. To precisely locate the Origin, which the Heavenly Dao Will desperately concealed amidst countless chaotic energy fields and Shattered Realm Laws within this boundary realm, only slightly smaller than the Blood Demon Realm, was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"By myself, it's too time-consuming, laborious, and inefficient," Xiao Zhuo's eyes were cold, and he instantly dismissed the idea of fighting alone.

Xue Qin's command was to oversee, and even more so, to control. Controlling these hundreds of millions of Blood Demon Army was his greatest reliance at this moment.

He stepped back into the dilapidated yet still imposing main hall of the Heavenly Mirror Sect, seating himself on the cold obsidian throne.

"Saint's Decree!" Xiao Zhuo's voice was like the clash of cold metal, and the communication Formation, already inscribed in the hall, immediately began transmitting information.

Moments later, a dozen or so ethereal figures appeared in the hall; these were the projections of the fourteen army commanders, brought forth by the Formation.

Leading them was still the Mahayana army commander, Mo Duo. He and the other commanders were all reeking of blood, clearly in the midst of a fierce slaughter.

"Saint!" they all saluted in unison.

Xiao Zhuo's gaze swept over them, carrying an undeniable pressure: "As for the pursuit and extermination of the remaining Cultivators, you all shall handle it according to the Law. This Saint has other important matters."

He traced a line in the air with his fingertip, and an extremely complex three-dimensional map, condensed from pure Devilish Qi and Divine Sense, instantly unfolded. It was a holographic projection of the Minghu Realm, with mountains, rivers, prefectures, and cities clearly visible. However, most areas were stained with the blood-red color symbolizing the Blood Demon Army's occupation, with only Nanhu and Beihu Prefectures still having large grey-white areas representing resistance.

"The Origin of this realm has been moved and hidden by the Heavenly Dao. This is our ultimate goal for this expedition, and it is also a command personally issued by the Palace Lord!" Xiao Zhuo's voice grew heavier, "If the Origin does not reveal itself, this mission will be difficult to complete!"

"However, this realm is vast and boundless, and the Origin is hidden extremely deep. Although we have intercepted a large amount of vital essence from the Cultivators of this realm whom we have slain, a large amount of Spiritual Qi has still returned to the Heavenly Dao. At this moment, the Heavenly Dao is stronger than before and should not be underestimated." Xiao Zhuo's tone shifted, highlighting the difficulty, "But there must be a discernible pattern to where the Origin is hidden, constrained by the Origin's characteristics!"

He flicked his finger, and several Divine Thoughts containing information entered the minds of each commander, clearly outlining his three-fold deduction of the Heavenly Dao's Restrictions on concealing the Origin:

Spatial Restriction: The Origin must be within the Minghu Realm, and its displacement distance is constrained by its characteristics, making it impossible to be too far from the original realm core. He circled a massive ring-shaped search area on the map, centered on the original realm core with an astonishing radius.

Gravitational Field: The Origin is the source of Spiritual Qi and Law. Its very existence creates an invisible "gravitational field" that distorts, converges, or abnormally circulates the surrounding Heaven and Earth Origin Qi and Law. Even if concealed, this anomaly must exist, albeit in a subtle form.

Disguise Method: To maximize protection, the Heavenly Dao Will is highly likely to attach the Origin to existing, special Spiritual Vein nodes or natural wonders within the realm that possess strong carrying capacity and natural camouflage (such as ancient Spiritual Vein sources, entrances to Secret Realms containing special Laws, legendary places of Luck, etc.), borrowing their form to hide their essence.

"Your mission!" Xiao Zhuo's voice was decisive, "First, clear all Cultivator resistance within your respective jurisdictions, creating an 'energy vacuum' to reduce interference!"

"Second, within the designated search area, fully sense, search for, and mark the following anomalies:

Points within the area where Spiritual Qi concentration or flow direction shows non-combat-induced, persistent, abnormal convergence or depletion!

Unexplained, unnatural cyclical or distorted signs in earth pulse fluctuations, water flow trajectories, or even celestial phenomena!

Any known or newly discovered natural wonders, ancient ruins, or legendary sites that possess characteristics of strong carrying capacity, especially if their core areas coincide with the energy or Law anomalies mentioned above!"

"Third, all anomaly points, regardless of size or strength, location, or discoverer, must be reported immediately as top-secret military intelligence! I, the Saint, will personally verify them! Anyone who provides a clue that ultimately leads to the Origin will receive a million contribution points! Their subordinates will receive priority allocation of subsequent spoils of war! Concealing information or delaying military intelligence—will result in the extermination of nine generations of their clan and the extraction and refinement of their soul!"

A million military achievement points! Priority allocation of spoils of war! These rewards made all the commanders breathe heavily, and the greedy red light in their eyes almost burst forth.

As for the punishment of "exterminating nine generations of their clan and extracting and refining their soul," they automatically ignored it.

"We respectfully obey the Saint's decree!" The roar echoed through the hall, filled with bloodthirsty excitement and a craving for rewards.

"Go! I, the Saint, want to see the entire search area covered with your marked nodes!" Xiao Zhuo waved his hand.

The fourteen ethereal figures vanished.

Their hundreds of millions of Blood Demon soldiers immediately transformed from mere killing machines into an overwhelming horde of living detectors, sensing anomalies in Heaven and Earth.

Xiao Zhuo's Main Body remained in the Heavenly Mirror Sect, but he split off several Divine Thought Clones to inspect various prefectures, simultaneously engaging in slaughter. When their power was exhausted, they would reform. At the Quasi-Immortal stage, one could transform Divine Thought into Clones, possessing combat power comparable to Undergoing Tribulation. And for a powerful individual like Xiao Zhuo, who controlled Dao Principles, even his Divine Thought Clones were no weaker than ordinary Mahayana Cultivators.

His Main Body also began receiving military intelligence from various locations through the Formation.

Encrypted military intelligence from Nanhu, Beihu, and even the outlying seas, like countless streams of blood-colored information, began continuously pouring into his Sea of Consciousness.

On the map, at the boundary between the grey-white and blood-red areas, small light point markers began to appear sporadically:

"Report! At the eastern foot of 'Cui Ping Mountain Range' in Nanhu Prefecture, a small Spiritual Spring has been discovered. The Spiritual Qi of the spring is abnormally flowing backward into the ground, with mysterious flow rates, suspected to be a Law distortion point!"

"Report! In the depths of 'Cold Crow Marsh' in Beihu Prefecture, within the core area of the desolate swamp, earth Qi has been rising recently, with a faint anomaly of life flourishing, completely out of place with the surrounding Death Qi!"

"Report! In the 'Falling Star Trench' on the edge of Minghu Prefecture, rhythmic pulsations of deep-sea Spiritual Pressure have been detected, suspected to be a sign of energy convergence!"

"Report! On the outskirts of the 'Burial Dragon Abyss' ruins in Nanhu Prefecture, our army encountered strong resistance during a sweep. The Spells of the resistors contained a trace of ancient Dragon Qi, suspected to have activated some Restrictions of the ruins, causing abnormally violent earth vein tremors!"

Information surged in like a tide, and the light points on the map continuously increased and flickered.

Xiao Zhuo's Divine Sense operated at high speed, filtering, analyzing, and comparing.

He coldly screened the information based on the three restrictive principles, combined with the known wonder information marked on the map.

"Cui Ping Mountain Spiritual Spring... too small in scale, insufficient carrying capacity, excluded."

"Cold Crow Marsh vitality... too faint and unstable, more like a final burst of life, excluded."

"Falling Star Trench... too far from the original realm core, exceeding the limit of the Heavenly Dao's remaining power, excluded."

"Burial Dragon Abyss..." Xiao Zhuo's gaze was fixed on that glaring red dot.

The Burial Dragon Abyss, a legendary place where ancient True Dragons fell, contained a trace of Shattered Realm Dragon Clan Law and vast Dragon Qi. It was a famous dangerous place and ancient ruin in the Minghu Realm, itself a powerful node of Luck and Law!

Its location was precisely in the core area of the search circle! The military report mentioned "abnormally violent earth vein tremors" and its connection to "ancient Dragon Qi," which perfectly matched the two key Restrictions: "gravitational field anomaly" and "attachment to a powerful disguised carrier"!

"It's this one!" A cold light burst from Xiao Zhuo's eyes, and a curve of complete control appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Finally, a clue!"

His figure instantly vanished from the throne, leaving only a cold command echoing in the empty hall: "Mo Duo! Lead your elite forces, target—Burial Dragon Abyss! Block the periphery, those who trespass die! This Saint will personally investigate the core!"

The Burial Dragon Abyss, this perilous place where ancient Dragon Clan members were buried, was about to welcome the existence that would determine the ultimate fate of the Minghu Realm.