Chapter 84: The Subterranean Spirit Vein

The mouth of the dried well was about five feet in diameter—more than enough for a grown man to descend without trouble. Its depth, however, stretched for dozens of yards, ten times deeper than any ordinary well. Liu Junhuai did not leap in. He always approached the unknown with caution; in the world of cultivation, danger lurked everywhere, and many things could not be resolved by strength alone. Venturing alone into this perilous realm, it was prudence that kept him alive until now.

Bracing his limbs against the well wall, Liu Junhuai slowly edged downward. The air inside was dry and thin, and as he moved, grains of sand and gravel tumbled from the wall to the bottom, making faint, rustling sounds. He reached the bottom at last, inspecting the area carefully, but found nothing unusual. Frustrated, he shook his head. Was he placing too much faith in that faint voice he'd sensed in his mind?

Unwilling to give up, he searched again, finally confirming there was no miracle to be found. With a sigh, he began to ascend. Now less wary, Liu Junhuai vaulted upward twice, reaching halfway up the well. Just as he was about to move again, he noticed a subtle indentation where his right hand pressed. Surprised, he paused and leaned in for a closer look.

The indentation was linked to a crack between the stones of the well wall, bearing the same dry, mottled color. If not for his touch, it would have been impossible to distinguish. The crack was barely a finger's width. Liu Junhuai traced it with his finger and felt the outline of a rectangular stone—a complete block concealed within the wall.

He pushed at the stone, but it wouldn't budge. Inch by inch, he searched for a mechanism, but none revealed itself. With his spiritual sense unable to penetrate, Liu Junhuai recalled the water-drawing winch at the well's mouth.

He had noticed its peculiarity when he arrived, and now, with the discovery in the well, he felt certain the winch held a secret. His eyes brightened, and with a few leaps, he was back at the well’s rim.

The winch was made entirely of wood, not a trace of iron. Liu Junhuai tried rotating the handle—it moved smoothly, unaffected by age. He studied it from every angle; aside from its unusual material, nothing seemed amiss.

At last, he focused on the grooves cut by the rope. From his storage ring he took a long whip, wrapped it around the grooved wood, and yanked the handle forcefully. The winch’s wooden cylinder spun rapidly under the whip’s pull.

He waited, but nothing changed. Then, he poured a surge of true essence into the spinning wood. Instantly, a flash of white light streaked across it, and the cylinder spun even faster.

Just then, a creaking sound echoed from within the well. The rectangular stone halfway down retracted into the wall, and the sound abruptly ceased.

Delighted, Liu Junhuai quickly leapt down, arriving at the spot where the stone had been. Before him was a larger rectangular recess, arranged in a seven-star pattern with seven slots.

Understanding dawned on him; he drew out seven high-grade spirit stones and placed them one by one into the slots. Immediately, a brilliant white light flared. Liu Junhuai’s head spun briefly, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a cave.

The cave was roughly thirty yards across, filled with abundant spiritual energy. Facing him was an ancient set of bronze-hued tables and chairs, worn and aged. On the table were several fragrant wooden boxes; time and decay had broken them, scattering fragments across the surface.

Liu Junhuai stepped forward and examined them. Most contained jade bottles of various sizes, holding pills aged beyond measure.

One of the boxes held a roll of jade slip, inscribed with incomprehensible characters. They resembled the tadpole-like stone drum script he’d seen on the Iron Xuan Golden Record, carrying a faint aura of antiquity.

On one side of the table and chairs, a beast-hide pouch leaned against the cave wall, filled with gold, silver, and jade ornaments, and a small amount of spirit stones kept in an iron box. Among these stones, one caught his eye—a piece riddled with fine cracks. At home, he had a similar mineral, and at the market in Pingdu City he’d acquired another, which could attract metal like a magnet. He remembered Mr. Liu had called it an extension ore from the outer edge of a spirit crystal vein.

Liu Junhuai was thrilled. Could this mean the cave’s rich spiritual energy came from a spirit crystal vein? Was there a spiritual vein here? His purpose for entering the cave shifted entirely.

Beside the beast-hide pouch lay a pitch-black skeleton, dark as ink, emanating a menacing aura despite countless years having passed.

Scattered on the floor, the skeleton’s bones glimmered with a shadowy hue. On one finger bone, a storage ring was looped, likewise dark, faintly etched with the image of a cloud-riding dragon.

Intent on discovering the source of the abundant energy, Liu Junhuai did not examine these items closely; he swept them all into his storage ring—including the ink-black skeleton.

There was nothing else in the cave. Liu Junhuai followed the flow of spiritual energy, determined to track its source.

He knew that spiritual energy rarely mixed with other elements. If a place’s environment was severely damaged, the energy would diminish or shift elsewhere. The dense aura of antiquity here filled Liu Junhuai with hope—he longed to find a spiritual vein to replace his depleted spiritual liquid.

He suspected this place had been buried underground during some ancient geological upheaval, the abundant energy trapped below, later excavated to create this cave.

Only such an explanation fit the intense ancient aura.

Searching the cave, Liu Junhuai eventually found a hidden array in one corner—the very reason his spiritual sense could not scan the cave.

The array’s setup far surpassed his own skills. If not for the ancient age and near depletion of its energy source, Liu Junhuai would never have detected it.

Even so, it had taken him ages to discover, proving that the array master was leagues above his own third-tier level.

After much deliberation, Liu Junhuai realized the only way forward was brute force. He activated his transformation art, conjuring a giant hand to strike the hidden array.

Ripples of spiritual energy shimmered across the array’s surface, then restored themselves—the array was indeed formidable.

Liu Junhuai drew the Five Elements Chaos Blade and struck at the array, carefully probing with his spiritual sense along the blade’s path. With a boom, the blade’s energy was shattered and his sense severed—the first target’s spiritual energy was abnormally active.

He shifted focus, swinging the Chaos Blade again, but found no loosening of the energy flow.

After attacking a dozen points, Liu Junhuai finally noticed one spot where the energy seemed to loosen after being struck.

As the energy shifted, the array’s surface paused for less than two breaths.

This brief pause was all Liu Junhuai needed—it was the array’s flaw.

He swung the Chaos Blade, its energy boring into the loosened spot. The blade’s energy was shattered again; the array paused, and Liu Junhuai unleashed his giant hand, slamming it down.

A rumbling echoed as the array trembled. Seeing his success, Liu Junhuai was overjoyed, striking twice more—the tremors intensified.

Before he could launch a fourth strike, the energy flow recovered, the array emitted a shrill cry, and returned to normal.

He struck again with the Chaos Blade, repeating the sequence. After several cycles, a deep fissure opened where he had attacked.

With each brief pause, the array trembled more fiercely, sharp cries resounding, spiritual energy roiling chaotically within.

At last, with a final screech, the array ceased functioning. Clarity flooded Liu Junhuai’s vision; the barrier had fallen, revealing a far larger cavern. Dense waves of spiritual energy poured from its mouth, surging into Liu Junhuai, making him shudder involuntarily.

Wildly elated, he plunged into the cavern without pausing to survey it with his spiritual sense.

As soon as he entered the passage, Liu Junhuai felt the spiritual energy here was at least several times denser than outside.

His eyes shone, ever more certain that a spiritual vein was present. He sped down the sloping tunnel at full speed.

He traveled for several miles, yet still found no sign of the vein, though the energy grew ever richer.

At last, after another burst of speed, Liu Junhuai arrived at an underground chamber lush with vegetation.

Here, the energy, though not as concentrated as the spiritual liquid lake in the Chaos Space, covered a much greater area—several times that of the lake.

Beneath the thick foliage, he found the source. “The spiritual vein must be just below,” Liu Junhuai thought.

He parted the dense plants and soon saw a thick, white jade-like band, as wide as a barrel and dozens of yards long, coiled beneath the earth like a giant serpent. Beside it lay scattered mid-grade spirit stones, their color slightly inferior to that of the vein.

Liu Junhuai was both exhilarated and troubled—exhilarated to have discovered the vein, troubled because he did not know how to extract it.