novelraw Chapter 198 : 【Spirit Vein: lv1 (Upgradeable)】
Chapter 198 : 【Spirit Vein: lv1 (Upgradeable)】
Chapter 198: 【Spirit Vein: lv1 (Upgradeable)】
Ji Yuan’s Divine Sense had barely been released when he already saw a figure walking from the end of the passageway.
Zhi Yun.
She was covering her wounded chest with one hand, staggering toward Ji Yuan. Every few steps she managed to cast an Escape Technique to hasten her speed slightly.
Ji Yuan’s heart tightened, and his spreading Divine Sense immediately captured the pursuers behind her.
It was Xuan Weizi from Medicine King Valley and… Danxia from Joy Palace!
They were actually chasing Zhi Yun?
Why would they be chasing Zhi Yun!
Ji Yuan didn’t know what had happened here, but for them to kill their own sectmate, and in a place like this Spirit Vein, doing such a thing… He absolutely couldn’t get involved.
Run!
I must run!
Ji Yuan, who had just sat down, immediately stood up and cast the Escape Technique 《Shadow-Following》, but just as he was leaving, Zhi Yun’s weak voice echoed in his mind.
“They are devouring the Spirit Vein, stealing Spirit Stones, and I stumbled upon them. They want to kill me.”
“No… Brother Wuyou, save me.”
Ji Yuan’s footsteps paused for just an instant, but then he immediately sped away, heading deeper into the Spirit Vein.
Zhi Yun, who had finally found him, stopped.
She no longer ran.
She had pinned all her hopes of survival onto Ji Yuan, thinking he would stall them for a moment and call for the others, giving her a chance to live.
But who would have thought… this Island Lord of Wuyou would just run… run away!
Danxia and Xuan Weizi, who had caught up from behind, saw Zhi Yun had stopped fleeing, and also slowed their steps. Both summoned their Spiritual Artifacts.
“Looks like your lover isn’t too keen on saving you.”
Danxia said with a faint smile.
Xuan Weizi’s face darkened as he hurled the treasure pearl in his hand. “Enough nonsense, just kill her!”
A wisp of cloud rose from Zhi Yun’s body again, but it only blocked the pearl for an instant. The next moment, the pearl smashed into her chest, shattering her ribs and sending her flying to crash against the stone wall.
Her body fell like a ragdoll to the ground. She no longer struggled.
Coughing blood clots, she gave a bitter, broken laugh and stammered: “You… your… your matter, I… I’ve told… Wuyou… you can’t… can’t hide it…”
Before she could finish speaking, Danxia casually cast a Fireball Technique, blasting Zhi Yun’s head into a pulp.
Xuan Weizi flicked his left sleeve.
No other movement was seen, but within the sleeve, the cloth stirred as if something alive lurked inside.
In just a moment, a wisp of white smoke rose from Zhi Yun’s body and flew into Xuan Weizi’s left sleeve, disappearing without a trace.
“What now?”
Danxia looked anxiously at Xuan Weizi beside her.
“Kill!”
Xuan Weizi retrieved the treasure pearl with his right hand, raised and lowered his left, making a slicing motion.
“If word of this gets out, we’ll definitely lose our heads. The more people know, the greater the danger. No matter what, this Island Lord of Wuyou must die.”
Danxia hesitated for a moment, then said:
“In my opinion, this Island Lord of Wuyou might not know. From what I understand of Zhi Yun’s character, she probably saw Wuyou refuse to save her and wanted to drag him down with her before she died.”
“Do you dare to bet?”
Xuan Weizi sneered.
Danxia had no reply.
“Better kill wrongly than let one go.”
“What about after? Last time we killed that Island Lord of Linmu Island we nearly got exposed. Now we’ve killed two more…” Danxia was starting to panic.
The veins on Xuan Weizi’s forehead bulged. Clenching his fists, he ground his teeth and said:
“We can only kill them first and talk later. Kill them and we live. At worst, we say we were greedy for their wealth. Don’t kill them and we’re dead!”
“That’s true.”
“Then hurry and find him!”
Xuan Weizi’s voice transmission roared.
Danxia shuddered, hurriedly casting an Escape Technique to fly ahead. Watching her back, Xuan Weizi’s eyes flashed with a faint, hard-to-detect ruthlessness.
‘This woman is indeed capable, but far too cowardly. Keeping her might be a liability. When it’s time to kill Island Lord Wuyou, I’ll see if I can create an opening for him to kill her.’
With this thought, Xuan Weizi hurried to chase after her.
……
Deep in the Spirit Vein, in a fissure formed by a collapsed boulder.
The black smoke converged, finally forming a figure. As soon as he appeared, Ji Yuan suppressed his aura and draped the Shroud given by Senior Brother Ma over himself.
At once, his aura was suppressed to the extreme.
He recalled what Zhi Yun had just said.
‘Xuan Weizi and Danxia are actually devouring the Spirit Vein. Someone really has this ability? Damn it, geniuses really are everywhere.’
Thinking about this, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but have a thought.
‘No matter what method they’re using, as long as I can get it… this 【Spirit Vein】 building will be settled, won’t it?’
‘Zhi Yun’s words, her dying message, should not be a lie. Besides, she told me this to drag me down with her, which is normal. Like a drowning person grabbing at the last straw. If it were me, I’d also speak.’
‘It’s normal for her to say it. Likewise, it’s normal for me not to save her to protect myself.’
Since that’s the case, then it’s time to kill.
And he’d have to kill two mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators at the same time.
If this were outside, Ji Yuan would feel pressure, but it wouldn’t be too great. He had many means. Killing two mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators… if he exerted himself, he had confidence.
But now he was in the Spirit Vein. Once he made a move, he had to keep the commotion to a minimum.
It must not be detected by people outside.
To kill two mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators silently—that was difficult.
Ji Yuan began silently pondering what methods he had to kill them without a sound.
Very soon, Ji Yuan heard voices coming from the passage outside.
“Brother Wuyou, don’t hide. We won’t kill you. Why not come out and talk?” Xuan Weizi’s voice came through.
“We killed Zhi Yun for personal reasons. It has nothing to do with you.”
“How about we settle this privately? We’ll give you a sum of Spirit Stones, and you pretend you didn’t see anything. How about it?”
“……”
Xuan Weizi walked and called, his Divine Sense sweeping back and forth, but found nothing.
This Island Lord of Wuyou seemed to have vanished into thin air. No matter how Xuan Weizi searched, he saw no trace.
Damn it!
“He won’t come out. I’m guessing Zhi Yun really told him before she died.”
Danxia transmitted to Xuan Weizi.
“Mm.”
Xuan Weizi nodded slightly without changing his expression. “Brother Wuyou, did Zhi Yun tell you something before she died?”
“If you know, then you should come out and talk to us. This is a big deal, a business that could make you rich for life.”
After speaking, Xuan Weizi walked forward a bit more, planning to speak again, but suddenly he saw an extremely tall man appear out of nowhere in front of him.
This person was wearing a tattered black robe, with a shroud draped over it. He looked filthy and ragged, as if he had been hiding underground for a long time.
The aura he exuded… ghostly qi swirling, cultivation unclear, but just looking at him gave a heavy sense of oppression, as if he could not be looked at directly.
Even from his own master, Xuan Weizi had never felt this!
But the problem was, who was this person, and why was there such a terrifying demonic cultivator underground?
Weren’t the Golden Core Real Persons from the Three Immortal Sects already finished thoroughly investigating this Spirit Vein? How could such a person still be hidden here… In a daze, Xuan Weizi realized something.
If those Golden Core Real Persons didn’t discover him, didn’t that mean this demonic cultivator’s cultivation was even higher than theirs?!
“Shout your mother’s shout!”
Ji Yuan looked at the stunned Xuan Weizi before him, frozen in shock, then suddenly… swung a slap at Xuan Weizi’s face.
With his Foundation Establishment body, putting his full strength into the slap.
At such close range, Xuan Weizi couldn’t even dodge.
“Puh—”
He spat out a mouthful of teeth, his body spinning several times in the air before crashing heavily into the stone wall.
Exactly like how he had struck Zhi Yun earlier.
Beside them, Danxia, already terrified, saw this “senior” casually slap, without even using spiritual power, and still have such force. She was so frightened she dropped to her knees on the spot.
“Se… Senior, this has nothing to do with me, I… I wouldn’t dare disturb Senior’s cultivation.”
“It was all, all Xuan Weizi forcing me to come. I never wanted to be here.”
A married couple are like birds in the same forest, but when disaster comes they fly apart.
Not to mention Danxia and Xuan Weizi weren’t even married or Dao companions, just a fleeting affair.
Ji Yuan glanced at her coldly, saying nothing.
After all, Ji Yuan himself hadn’t expected that 【Shapeshifting Talisman】＋【Yin Ghost Sect Ring】＋【Shroud】 would produce such a miraculous effect.
But thinking about it, it made sense. If it were him in this situation, he would also be afraid.
Walking in a place he thought was completely safe, only for a demonic senior whose cultivation couldn’t be seen but who exerted immense pressure to suddenly appear…
Ji Yuan felt his first reaction might be to use the Jade Cup given by Hua Yaoyue, then release the Sky-Escape Shuttle to flee.
If he still couldn’t escape, then… like Danxia, he’d beg for mercy.
Other than that, there was no other way.
“Trash!”
Xuan Weizi crawled up from the ground and roared viciously at Danxia, who had betrayed him. Immediately, spiritual energy fluctuations surged from his body.
“Oh?”
Ji Yuan glanced at Xuan Weizi with a half-smile.
At once, black smoke spread from his body. “Come. I won’t make it hard for you. Two choices—only one of you can leave alive. Choose who it will be.”
Danxia instantly looked toward Xuan Weizi.
The latter propped himself up from the ground, glaring fiercely as he growled: “I called you stupid, and you really are stupid, aren’t you? Do you really think he’ll let us go?!”
“He just wants to have some fun with us.”
“Seems you’re smart.” The black mist Ji Yuan released already filled most of the passage. Yin Ghost Formation… formed in a single thought.
“Unfortunately, I don’t like smart people.”
Ji Yuan braced himself fully, though outwardly he still looked casual and indifferent. His ten fingers interlocked, then snapped apart, crackling with a sharp “pi-li-pa-la” sound.
“Bluff your damn bluff, go die!!”
Xuan Weizi roared, and suddenly from his limp sleeve burst a black sable the length of an arm. Once out, it perched on his shoulder and sucked toward Ji Yuan.
In an instant, Ji Yuan felt his Divine Soul tugged, about to be pulled away. But the Soul-Suppressing Bell trembled slightly.
With a flash of golden light.
His soul sat as steady as a mountain.
“That’s it?” Ji Yuan laughed. “You dare bring out this trash method of devouring souls?”
“Wha… what…”
Xuan Weizi felt as though the sky had collapsed. The technique he relied upon to snatch a sliver of life had been dissolved so effortlessly?
I don’t believe it—again!
He urged the sable once more. It sucked at Ji Yuan—and instead drew in two Yin Ghosts. No, not just two, but an endless stream of Yin Ghosts!
They swarmed upon Xuan Weizi, engulfing him in an instant.
Xuan Weizi had thrown all his focus onto the sable. From the start, he hadn’t expected he could withstand the attack of this demonic cultivator before him, so he had made no defense at all.
Not even the most basic protective artifact.
Only when the Yin Ghosts began biting his flesh did he realize—they weren’t as powerful as he thought!
The strongest among them were no more than Foundation Establishment.
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something.
“Wu—”
The moment he opened his mouth, a Yin Ghost darted inside, choking off his words.
He tried to send a Divine Sense transmission, but as soon as he released it, he found a flying sword had silently reached his side.
Shrouded in black mist, it pierced close—into his ear.
With a muffled groan, piercing pain struck his head, and he lost consciousness forever.
Once Xuan Weizi died, Ji Yuan naturally thought of capturing that sable. A beast that could devour souls would be far more useful than the Great Toad or Ice Flood Dragon!
But just as he was about to act, the sable kicked its four legs… and died.
“Damn it!”
Ji Yuan instantly understood. Xuan Weizi had clearly formed a master-slave symbiotic contract with it.
When the master died, the slave died.
Since Xuan Weizi was dead, the sable too perished.
Danxia had witnessed everything. She hadn’t resisted at all. Only when she thought the Yin Ghosts had completely killed Xuan Weizi did she tremble and speak.
“You… you’re the Island Lord of Wuyou, right?”
“Don’t kill me, please. I really don’t want to die…”
Tears streamed down Danxia’s face. She ripped off her robe, revealing her alluring figure beneath.
Ji Yuan didn’t even glance at her.
“I know, I know.” Danxia wiped her tears and hurriedly said: “Xuan Weizi had a black thread ball. He said it was given by a senior. That’s what he used to steal Spirit Stones from the Spirit Vein, but it was very slow. The two of us spent half a year and only extracted less than a zhang. It’s in the mine where we often stayed.”
“Alright. You may go.”
Ji Yuan sighed. “Remember to keep today’s matter secret.”
“Yes, yes.”
Danxia nodded repeatedly. “Fellow Daoist, don’t worry. Today’s matter, heaven knows, earth knows, you…”
Before she finished, her eyes bulged wide as a flying sword pierced through her brow and out the back of her skull. Her eyes filled with disbelief.
“You… you… why kill… me…”
Danxia stammered brokenly.
Ji Yuan wasted no words.
The Liushuang Flying Sword, having pierced her brow, plunged again into her chest, shredding her heart completely.
Her once alluring peaks collapsed into a bloody mess.
Truth proved it—no matter how beautiful a woman was, in death she was the same.
With a thought, Ji Yuan collected Danxia’s corpse, Xuan Weizi’s corpse, and the sable’s body. He wasted nothing.
He also stripped their rings and claimed the Yin Ghost Flag.
Finally, he refined their lingering souls into Yin Souls and fed them into the Thousand Souls Banner.
Moments later, deeper in the Spirit Vein, Ji Yuan—his appearance restored—retrieved from Xuan Weizi’s storage pouch the black thread ball Danxia had spoken of.
This thing… did look like a thread ball, but more like a living creature.
Gripped in his hand, its countless threads writhed and struggled, as if desperately trying to escape.
‘Strange thing, this is.’
Ji Yuan stored it again in the pouch. He didn’t bother searching Xuan Weizi’s bag further. His priority was to see the part of the Spirit Vein they had stolen.
To see if he could… make it his own!
With that thought, Ji Yuan summoned the Sky-Slicer Boat, flying low through the Spirit Vein.
Half an hour later.
He reached the shallow layers, standing at the mine where Xuan Weizi and Danxia had often rendezvoused. A year ago, when Ji Yuan was on duty, he had passed the entrance many times, always hearing unspeakable sounds from within.
Now he realized—that was their cover.
In truth… they had been secretly mining here!
Ji Yuan stepped inside. A sweep of Divine Sense revealed an anomaly—there was even a small Illusion Formation.
‘No wonder it wasn’t noticed, even so close to the exit. They had a formation concealing it.’
A second-tier Illusion Formation. Ji Yuan knew breaking it would take too long. Searching Xuan Weizi’s pouch, he soon found the array flags that controlled it.
Infusing spiritual energy, he entered past the formation and reached the mine’s depths.
At first glance all was normal, but with Divine Sense probing, he saw a stone wall riddled with countless pinholes.
As if pricked by endless needles.
No doubt, this was the thread ball’s work.
Ji Yuan inspected closely and found this area was still under the Spirit Vein’s formation control. Clearly, to succeed in stealing it, the thread ball was required.
He retrieved it from the pouch. Infusing spiritual energy, it came alive. Countless threads extended, writhing like tendrils.
He set it against the wall.
At once, the threads moved on their own, crawling in all directions before slipping into the pinholes.
Ji Yuan’s Divine Sense followed closely. Within mere breaths.
The stone wall before him actually separated from the formation.
And before his eyes appeared a line of words only he could see.
【Spirit Vein: lv1 (Upgradeable)】