25: Chapter 25 The Underground Spiritual Veins and the Pulsation of Bloodlines

At night, a small campfire burned in the cave, dispelling the late autumn chill.

Lin Chen did not meditate but instead kept Su Qingyao company, watching her use the firelight to repeatedly beat a deer skin sent by Old Man Shi with a wooden mallet to soften it, preparing to make a small pair of winter leather boots for Lin Leyao.

"Thump... thump..."

The dull thumping sounds echoed in the cave, rhythmic and steady.

Lin Leyao was already fast asleep, her small body curled up on the warm hay bed, breathing evenly.

"Old Man Shi mentioned something when he brought the game today." Lin Chen added a piece of dry wood to the fire, the flames crackling and leaping a bit higher.

Su Qingyao paused her beating motion and looked up at him.

"He said the older generation in Luoxia Valley tells legends that a Cultivator came here over a hundred years ago, seemingly looking for ore at the bottom of the valley." Lin Chen's voice was calm, as if discussing a mundane matter. "He was curious when he was young, went inside, and found an abandoned mine entrance. It was pitch black, and it collapsed after he walked in a short distance, so he didn't go in any further."

He paused, his gaze falling on the dancing flames, and added seemingly casually: "He asked me if the ore Cultivators look for is all related to Spiritual Qi?"

Su Qingyao's heart skipped a beat, and she completely stopped her work.

She was clever and immediately understood the deep meaning behind Lin Chen's words.

Cultivator, mine, Spiritual Qi... the meaning of these words combined was self-evident.

"You want to go?" she asked softly, her tone filled with irrepressible worry.

Lin Chen gave a hum, his gaze finally moving away from the flames and landing on her face: "Although this place is good, the Spiritual Qi is ultimately thin. We cannot always rely on that little bit of spirit rice and low-grade Medicinal Pill. If there really is a Spiritual Vein, even if it is just a remnant branch, it would be no different from rain from heaven for us."

He looked at his wife and daughter, his Dao Heart firmer than ever before.

Becoming stronger was not just for his own longevity, but to protect the flickering light in this cave, so they would not have to drift from place to place again.

"I will go down and check." Lin Chen made his decision. "You and Lin Leyao stay in the cave. If there is any abnormality, or if I don't return within half an hour, immediately activate the Earth Escape Talisman and go to the east valley entrance to meet Old Man Shi."

Su Qingyao wanted to say "I will go with you," but looking at her sleeping daughter and then at Lin Chen's determined eyes, she swallowed the words back.

She knew that if she followed, she would only become a burden to him.

She silently took a yellow talisman paper from her bosom and stuffed it into Lin Chen's arms.

The talisman paper was drawn with complex patterns and emitted a strange, fresh scent of vegetation.

"This is the 'soul-disrupting incense' I improved using the remaining Materials on hand." She said in a low voice. "After activation, it can emit a colorless and odorless strange fragrance. If a Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage smells it, their Divine Sense will fall into temporary confusion. You... be careful."

Lin Chen held the talisman paper that still carried her body heat, feeling a warmth in his heart, and nodded heavily.

A quarter of an hour later, based on the location described by Old Man Shi, Lin Chen found an area covered by dense thorns and rubble at the deepest part of the valley, near the bottom of the west cliff.

He drew his magic sword, pouring Foundation Establishment Stage spiritual power into the blade, and the sharp Sword Qi easily cut through the thorny vines.

Pushing aside the last cluster of waist-high shrubs, a pitch-black cave entrance appeared before his eyes.

The entrance was very narrow, only allowing one person to pass through while stooped, and inside was a passage sloping downwards. On the stone walls, one could see obvious traces of manual excavation, ancient and rough.

A cold and damp air surged from inside the cave, carrying the distinct fishy smell of soil and rock.

Lin Chen did not hesitate, restrained his aura, and slipped inside.

The passage was pitch black. He pointed in front of his eyes, and a faint spiritual light lit up, illuminating three feet of space in front of him.

Beneath his feet were slippery stone steps. After walking about thirty steps, the front was indeed blocked tightly by a large pile of collapsed rocks.

The rocks ranged from the size of a millstone to the size of a human head, stacked and intertwined, completely sealing the way forward.

Lin Chen did not give up easily.

He closed his eyes and slowly released his Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense, probing the surrounding stone walls and ground inch by inch like mercury pouring onto the ground.

Soon, on the right side of the collapsed stone pile, he felt a trace of extremely weak Spiritual Qi fluctuation.

The fluctuation was very faint, like a candle in the wind, but it was much denser and more stable than the scattered Spiritual Qi in the outside air, carrying a pure Earth attribute aura, faintly seeping out from the gaps in the thick stone wall.

He opened his eyes, walked to that stone wall, and reached out.

His fingertips touched the stone wall, feeling a cold and rough texture.

Just as his fingers unconsciously brushed over the rough stone ring, a familiar warmth came from the stone ring again.

This feeling was clearer and stronger than when he sensed the mysterious animal skin last time, and it carried a clear, downward guiding meaning, as if urging him to penetrate this layer of stone wall.

Lin Chen's heart moved. He pondered for a moment and stopped hesitating.

He drew his magic sword. Instead of using brute force to hack, he poured pure Foundation Establishment spiritual power into the sword tip, like the finest carving knife, carefully starting to cut the stone wall along the direction of the Spiritual Qi fluctuation.

"Chi... chi..."

The harsh friction sound rang out in the silent passage.

The rock here was far harder than imagined; even with the magic sword, progress was slow.

It took him nearly an hour, sweating profusely, to cut a narrow gap in the stone wall that only allowed him to pass sideways.

Spiritual light probed inside. Behind the gap was not the mine tunnel he imagined, but a narrower rock crevice that seemed to be naturally formed, pitch black and bottomless, extending vertically downwards.

That pure Earth Spiritual Qi came from deep within this crevice.

Lin Chen squeezed sideways into the gap, bracing his hands and feet against the rough rock walls, climbing down about ten zhang, and his feet finally touched solid ground.

The view suddenly opened up.

This was a small natural stone chamber, about two or three zhang square.

In the center of the stone chamber was a natural shallow pit the size of a washbasin.

At the bottom of the pit, a thin layer of milky white, translucent paste was condensed, emitting pure and gentle Earth Spiritual Qi. Just taking a breath made Lin Chen feel that his limbs and bones were much more comfortable.

He looked up at the dome of the stone chamber and saw several stalactites of varying lengths hanging down.

The longest one had a drop of milky white liquid condensing at its tip, precariously hanging.

Earth Milk Spiritual Liquid!

Lin Chen's breathing suddenly stalled, and a stormy sea churned in his heart.

This was a spiritual object legendary to only form at large Spiritual Vein nodes after thousands of years!

Although looking at this condensation speed, it would probably take three to five years to drip a drop, and the yield was extremely low, it was the real deal!

What shocked him even more was the stone wall on one side of the stone chamber.

On that stone wall, some blurred talismanic lines were carved, mottled and ancient, vaguely forming an incomplete Formation pattern.

When he subconsciously walked close to the stone wall, the warmth of the stone ring on his thumb reached an unprecedented Peak, even beginning to tremble slightly.

Driven by some instinct, he stretched out his right hand and pressed his palm into a depression in the center of the Formation that was about the size of a palm.

Almost the moment his palm touched the stone wall, the "Spirit Nourishing Technique" Cultivation Technique in his body began to operate uncontrollably.

A trace of pure spiritual power carrying his unique Bloodline aura flowed uncontrollably from his palm Meridians into the cold stone wall.

The next moment, a sudden change occurred!

The incomplete runes on the entire stone wall suddenly lit up with an extremely faint but clearly visible earthy yellow light.

The light flowed like water ripples, re-outlining those blurred lines clearly.

After only a few breaths, the light slowly dissipated. On the stone wall, a few lines of small characters written in ancient seal script and a simple Spiritual Qi operation diagram appeared out of thin air.

"I accidentally obtained this branch of the Spiritual Vein, leaving behind this remnant map of the Breath Concealment Formation and half of the 'Earth Vein Qi Nourishing Technique' for those destined. Earth Milk drips once every three years, use with caution. — Left by Mountain Wild Rogue."

The handwriting disappeared along with the complete disappearance of the light, and the stone wall returned to its mottled and ancient state, as if everything just now was just an illusion.

Only the real Earth Milk Spiritual Liquid in the shallow pit and the small characters deeply imprinted in his mind proved everything that had happened here.

Mountain Wild Rogue... Spiritual Vein branch... Breath Concealment Formation... 'Earth Vein Qi Nourishing Technique'!

Lin Chen forcefully suppressed the violent shock in his heart.

He carefully took out a clean jade bottle from his Storage Pouch and used a small jade spoon to scrape about ten drops of Earth Milk Spiritual Liquid from the shallow pit, sealing it away.

Then, he firmly memorized the operation route and formula of the half of the 'Earth Vein Qi Nourishing Technique' on the stone wall in his mind.

Just as he was about to leave the stone chamber, the message talisman given to him by Su Qingyao in his bosom suddenly became slightly hot—this was the signal they agreed upon for everything being safe.

But almost at the same time, Lin Chen felt his heart beat rapidly for no reason twice.

A weak pulsing sensation from the deepest part of his Bloodline came.

Is it [Crisis Warning Fuzzy Sensing]?

No, the feeling this time was very gentle, without any malice, more like a... resonance?

He immediately thought of Su Qingyao and his daughter Lin Leyao left in the cave.

Could it be because he just triggered the "Spirit Nourishing Technique" and the local Spiritual Vein Spiritual Qi, and they were connected to him by blood, producing some distant sensing?

The thought had just arisen, and the long-lost System notification sound rang in his mind at the right time:

[Detected resonance between external pure Spiritual Vein Spiritual Qi and host's Bloodline Cultivation Technique, Family Foundation stability slightly improved.]

[Discovered incomplete ancient technique 'Earth Vein Qi Nourishing Technique' (half), which can complement 'Spirit Nourishing Technique', slightly increasing the probability and stability of offspring's Earth Spiritual Root birth.]

[Do you want to consume 30 Family Prestige points to attempt to complete the basic principles of 'Earth Vein Qi Nourishing Technique'?]

Lin Chen immediately brought up the System panel. His Family Prestige had slowly accumulated and recovered to [Awe: 35 / 100] after the stable life in Luoxia Valley and the "kindness" to Old Man Shi.

"Yes!" He muttered in his heart without hesitation.

The Prestige value instantly dropped to 5 points.

The next moment, a stream of information about the ancient method of how to trigger, nurture, and use Spiritual Vein Spiritual Qi to nourish himself and his Bloodline merged into his memory out of thin air, faintly fitting with some content about Spiritual Root gestation in the "Spirit Nourishing Technique", giving him a deeper understanding of both Cultivation Techniques.

Lin Chen did not dare to stay long and immediately returned the same way.

When he returned to the cave, Su Qingyao was holding her daughter and looking anxiously at the entrance. Seeing him return safely, she let out a long sigh of relief.

Lin Chen briefly talked about his findings, but omitted the abnormality of the stone ring and the detailed situation of the ancient Formation, only saying that he was lucky to find a natural spiritual cave left by a predecessor and some cultivation insights.

He took out the bottle of Earth Milk Spiritual Liquid and handed it to Su Qingyao carefully.

"This thing has pure and gentle Spiritual Qi, but its medicinal power is extremely strong. Before each cultivation, take one drop and dilute it with ten times the amount of clear water before taking it. It has miraculous effects on stabilizing cultivation and nourishing Meridians. When you are doing Alchemy, you can also try to add a very small amount; perhaps it can improve the quality of the Medicinal Pill."

Su Qingyao looked at the milky white spiritual liquid bottle emitting a soft halo, and an unconcealable joy and excitement flashed in her cold eyes.

With this spiritual cave and Earth Milk Spiritual Liquid, the Lin Family could finally be considered to have a true Foundation to stand in this cruel world of Cultivation.

In the next few days, Lin Chen began to plan and renovate the mine stone chamber.

He designated it as the core location for his future closed-door cultivation, and at the natural crevice at the entrance, using the remaining Materials scavenged from Outer Sect Deacon Wang Heng's Storage Pouch and combining the principles of the 'Earth Vein Qi Nourishing Technique' parsed by the System, he set up a more hidden and stronger composite Formation.

This Formation could not only give early warnings, but also trigger a trace of Spiritual Vein power for defense. No Cultivator above the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage would be able to forcefully break in without alerting him.

At the same time, he asked Old Man Shi to help collect some inconspicuous stones and withered vines from the valley to disguise the entrance of the abandoned mine even more seamlessly. From the outside, it looked just like a normal patch of cliff vines.

A few days later, when everything was set up, Lin Chen set up a miniature First-Grade Gathering Spirit Formation beside the shallow pit.

This Formation mainly relied on extracting Spiritual Vein Spiritual Qi to operate, and only needed to be supplemented with a small amount of Spirit Stone to increase the Spiritual Qi concentration in the stone chamber by nearly double.

Su Qingyao also carefully used the tip of a silver needle to dip less than one-hundredth of a drop of diluted Earth Milk Spiritual Liquid into the medicinal herbs when refining a batch of "Qi Nourishing Powder".

When opening the furnace, the medicinal fragrance overflowed, and the success rate of the Medicinal Pill was actually 20% higher than usual, and each medicinal powder was pure in color, with quality far exceeding the past.

Lin Leyao also seemed to like the atmosphere in the mine stone chamber very much. Every time she was carried down, she would sleep extra peacefully and sweetly, her little face flushed, exceptionally cute.

The Lin Family finally seemed to have found an excellent foothold in this Luoxia Valley.

However, in the dead of night, Lin Chen sat alone in the stone chamber, listening to the faint sound of water droplets condensing on the dome, but there was not much joy in his heart.

He rubbed the cold stone ring on his thumb, his eyes deep.

The existence of Spiritual Vein Spiritual Qi was both a huge Opportunity and the root cause of potential fatal disaster.

Once leaked, it would be enough to attract powerful enemies he could not contend with at all.

Why did the "Mountain Wild Rogue" who left the Legacy leave in such a hurry?

Did the remnant map of the "Breath Concealment Formation" he mentioned mean that this place originally needed to desperately conceal its own existence?

What exactly did the stone ring's strong reaction to this place foretell?

The calmness of Luoxia Valley might be more fragile than the undercurrents of Black Stone Town.

He must seize this precious breathing space to raise his cultivation to the Peak of the first level of Foundation Establishment as soon as possible, and figure out the background of "Blood Crow Tower" as soon as possible.

Otherwise, when the real storm came, this seemingly safe underground spiritual cave might very well become the grave for him and his Family.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, dispelled distracting thoughts, and was just about to start tonight's practice.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye that in the shallow pit of Earth Milk Spiritual Liquid, which usually only condensed a drop every three to five days, there seemed to be an unusual radiance flashing by.