107: Chapter 107 The First Sound of Earth's Veins

Under intense contraction, the shape of the bracer changed. The threads at the very front forcibly retracted, revealing the coarse stone ring he had always worn on his thumb.

The surface of the stone ring, which had been dull and lusterless, now seemed to have magma slowly flowing within it, exuding a heart-palpitating heat.

Lin Chen felt a searing heat on his fingertip. Before he could react, a faint, eerie purple light suddenly shot out from the tiny crack in the center of the ring's face.

This beam of light did not disperse, remaining as condensed as a sharp, thin sword. It instantly pierced the thick blue-brick floor of the Meditation Room and plunged straight into the deep soil layer.

"Boom——"

A dull, low roar came from the depths of the earth, as if a giant beast that had been sleeping for a thousand years had been poked in a painful spot by this beam of light.

Immediately following this, the rock wall directly in front of the Meditation Room began to violently twist and reorganize under the illumination of the beam.

Gravel fell with a rustling sound. On the originally smooth stone surface, spiral-shaped, dark red runes appeared. These runes intertwined, looking exactly like a wound that was slowly tearing open.

"This... is this a naturally formed Restriction crack?" Lin Chen's pupils constricted sharply.

He could feel a desolate, cold spatial fluctuation, carrying a thick, earthy, fishy smell, overflowing from that crack.

"Don't go over there! Clan Chief, quickly step back!"

A shrill, trembling shriek came from the shadows of the Meditation Room.

Wang Shu, the surrendered soldier who had been responsible for guiding the way, was now slumped on the ground like a frightened quail.

His shifty eyes had shrunk to the size of needle points. He stared fixedly at the twisted runes on the rock wall, his cracked lips trembling incessantly: "The Alliance Master... the Alliance Master said it himself, this thing underneath is alive... it eats people, it really eats people!"

Wang Shu's voice echoed in the narrow Meditation Room, carrying a fear that came from his very bones.

As a bottom-feeder who had spent many years in the Black Fiend Alliance, he understood the ruthless methods of Old Monster Wu better than anyone.

A place that even that heartless Devil Head listed as a taboo must definitely be an entrance to the Netherworld.

Lin Chen did not pay attention to Wang Shu's wailing.

He rubbed the stone ring. The evolved bracer on his right arm was crazily devouring the spatial power overflowing from the crack, and every silk thread was vibrating excitedly.

This crack was clearly a shortcut to the place marked with "Void Crystal Essence."

Just at this moment, a crisp "ding-ling" sound suddenly came from the corridor outside the Meditation Room.

That was the sound of the "Star-Pulling Formation" that Liu Ruxu had set up at the valley entrance being triggered.

Immediately following, a nauseating, fishy, sweet smell permeated the air.

"Clan Chief, something has happened!" Liu Ruxu's cold, clear voice carried a rare trace of impatience.

Lin Chen moved slightly, his entire body turning into a wisp of green smoke as he swept out of the Meditation Room.

When he landed at the lookout post at the valley entrance, the scene before him made the stomachs of the few Lin Family members who had followed him churn.

He saw that the three scouting Puppet rats set up at the valley entrance had now turned into three puddles of dark green pus, hissing and emitting poisonous smoke, corroding deep pits into the hard granite.

A thick, purple-black miasma was rolling and writhing at the valley entrance as if it had a life of its own.

At the edge of the churning poisonous mist, a long fingernail with an eerie purple metallic luster slowly poked out.

The fingernail was fully three inches long and lightly scratched against the hard rock.

"Gachi——"

A sound of friction that set one's teeth on edge rang out.

On the rock, five charred marks half an inch deep were striking to the eye.

The charred marks twisted and coiled, faintly forming a huge character for "Fiend."

"It is Old Monster Wu's mark." Liu Ruxu's face was pale. She held three Formation Flags between her fingers but hesitated to throw them. "He is warning us that this is the Black Fiend Alliance's territory; whoever touches it dies."

Lin Chen gazed at the five charred marks and let out a cold snort.

He did not speak, only slowly pressed the scorching stone ring onto the faint crack in the ground.

In an instant, an even more violent resonance erupted from the depths of the earth's core.

The entire valley seemed to shake. This shaking was not a simple earthquake, but a high-frequency tremor, as if this piece of land was trying to throw off the shackles on its body.

"Clang!"

A sound of a heavy object falling to the ground came from the side hall.

Lin Chen's heart tightened, and with a flicker of his figure, he rushed into the Meditation Room behind where Su Qingyao was practicing Alchemy.

He saw that a Black Iron Pill Furnace, which was usually as steady as Mount Tai, had actually tipped over onto the ground by itself, and the Spiritual Liquid that had not yet formed into pills flowed all over the floor.

And those originally scattered crimson furnace ashes, under the traction of some invisible force, actually pieced themselves together crookedly on the ground into two huge ancient Seal characters.

"Geng Metal."

Su Qingyao stood beside the Pill Furnace, her fair hand pressing firmly against her lips, pressing out a glaring white mark.

Her eyes were full of shock, and she whispered: "Husband... I did not add any Metal-attribute auxiliary Materials just now. These furnace ashes were forcibly transformed under the call of that power from beneath the earth."

Lin Chen looked at those two characters, his gaze growing deeper.

The Earth Vein changes, Geng Metal appears.

The secret beneath this Zangtian Abyss is likely even more shocking than what the Ring Spirit scanned.

"Clan Chief... Clan Chief, spare my life!"

Wang Shu did not know when he had followed, and he was kowtowing with a thudding sound outside the door.

He seemed to have been scared out of his wits by the Earth Vein tremor just now, and disregarding everything else, he fished out a pitch-black crystal the size of an infant's fist from his bosom and trembling, held it above his head: "This is a piece of 'Black Fiend Stone' that I secretly hid. I beg you, Clan Chief, to spare my life! The Alliance Master... Old Monster Wu, every month on the 15th at the Hour of the Rat, he personally brings people to the valley to mine the stones. Only at that time will the poisonous mist in the west of the valley become the thinnest due to the Earth Qi feeding back. I beg you, Clan Chief... for the sake of my loyalty, take me away from this ghost of a place!"

As Wang Shu spoke, his eyes kept stealing glances at Lin Chen's right hand.

He could feel that wisp of spatial tearing sensation that made his whole body crawl, like tentacles, silently wrapping around the Black Fiend Stone in his hand.

Lin Chen took the stone.

The stone ring was like a shark that had smelled blood; a powerful suction force instantly erupted.

With a "crackle," the incredibly hard Black Fiend Stone instantly shattered in Lin Chen's hand.

But this was not crumbling; it was the essence within being forcibly stripped away by the stone ring in an instant.

In the dead of night, the entire Jieyin City was sinking into turmoil and clamor, only Geng No. 9 Courtyard was terrifyingly quiet.

Lin Chen sat cross-legged, his consciousness sinking into his Sea of Consciousness.

After the Black Fiend Stone was devoured by the stone ring, the originally blurry 3D map in his Sea of Consciousness instantly became condensed and real.

A picture that would make the world go crazy unfolded in Lin Chen's mind.

Several thousand zhang underground, three dark red, polluted Spiritual Veins covered with various strange patches were like three hideous blood vessels, converging in the center of the Zangtian Abyss.

And at the core of that convergence, a golden point of light wrapped in layers of black crystals was emitting a weak yet tenacious light.

That was not a treasure; that was a sealed plane node!

The Ring Spirit's cold and emotionless mechanical voice rumbled in his Sea of Consciousness:

[Devoured specific medium, coordinate analysis accuracy increased to 99.9%.]

[Warning: Three veins converging, "Zangtian Abyss" opening countdown: 71 hours.]

[If unable to enter the central area before the countdown ends, the spatial barrier will enter a 60-year reinforcement period.]

Lin Chen opened his eyes abruptly, a sharp killing intent flashing across the bottom of his eyes. There were only three days left.

Just as the sky was breaking dawn, Lin Haoyu was already practicing his sword in the courtyard.

As the heavy sword swung, it brought forth bursts of low, rumbling thunder.

His moves were extremely simple, yet every sword strike smashed heavily onto the nodes of the air.

"Sss——"

A sharp sword wind swept across the side rock wall, peeling off thick layers of moss in sheets.

Lin Haoyu's sword momentum stopped abruptly, his gaze like a torch, staring fixedly at the exposed rock.

Lin Chen walked over slowly, looking in the direction of his son's gaze.

He saw that on the gray-white rock, there were several extremely thin but bottomless grooves.

The edges of the grooves were smooth, yet they exuded an indescribable, cold Death Qi.

"Father, this is fresh." Lin Haoyu's voice was low, carrying an unconcealable murderous aura. "Looking at the marks, it should have been left two hours ago. The person who came is good at lurking. If it weren't for my insights into the 'Qinghe Sword Art' these few days, I wouldn't have been able to detect that the Qi here had been disturbed."

Lin Chen reached out and gently stroked the groove.

The shape of the groove was extremely strange, twisting and winding like a barb.

"This is a mark left by the Black Fiend Alliance's 'Soul-Snatching Hook'." Lin Chen said indifferently, but his eyes grew colder. "It seems Old Monster Wu cannot wait to make a move before us. His people have already crept up to the edge of the courtyard."

This barb-shaped weapon, combined with that cold, snake-like residual Spiritual Energy, could only be the doing of those elusive retainers of the Black Fiend Alliance.

The other party had clearly locked onto the movement beneath Geng No. 9 Courtyard, only they hadn't launched a full-scale attack yet, hindered by the chaos in the city that had not yet dissipated.

Lin Chen stood up, looking toward the direction of the valley entrance.

Since you want this Opportunity beneath the earth, then I will give you a "chance."

He beckoned, signaling Liu Ruxu, who had been guarding in the shadows, to come over.

"Clan Chief." Liu Ruxu landed gracefully, her expression solemn.

"Notify Qin Ruowei and have the Family members who were on standby start moving." Lin Chen rubbed the stone ring on his thumb, his mouth curling into a cruel arc. "Make the commotion a little louder, especially with those rare Materials obtained from the Cui Family and the Zhao Family. I want everyone watching this place to see clearly that the Lin Family... is moving our 'trump card' treasures into that abandoned stone house."

He turned his head and looked at the desolate, remote valley entrance shrouded in mist, his eyes devoid of any warmth.

The bait has been cast; it just depends on whose appetite is big enough to swallow this hook, which is enough to cost them their lives.