Immortals of the End Times

Chapter 152, pages 164-165: Frenzied Digging of Spirit Veins, Ancient Demonic Trees, and Slaughter at the Export (Two-in-One Chapter, Please Subscribe)
One day later.

Two figures gracefully approached the fourth-level spiritual vein area.

However, the petrified spiritual veins around the area resembled giant gray-white pythons coiled underground, exposing the cracked rocks on the ground.

Wisps of spiritual mist still occasionally seep out from the cracks, proving that the spiritual veins within have not yet completely dried up.

Unlike the outside world, this secret realm seems to be protected by some power. Even though most of the fourth-level spiritual veins have been petrified and depleted, they still maintain the purity of a fourth-level spiritual vein and will not directly degenerate into a second-level spiritual vein.

After the two figures landed, they landed steadily on the outer edge of the spiritual vein. Nan Zhixia's black hair fluttered in the wind, and her eyes sparkled with excitement: "Wuji, the aerial flight techniques you taught me are truly amazing."

I feel my flight speed has increased by at least 30%, and the energy consumption has decreased significantly. How did you do that?

"Nothing special, just practice makes perfect," Zhao Wuji said modestly.

With the power of his wind manipulation technique, he could easily impart some of his experience to Nan Zhixia, just as he had once used his swordsmanship experience to instruct the peak master. This would allow him to deepen Nan Zhixia's understanding of the techniques.

The two landed at this point.

With a slight flutter of his sleeves, Zhao Wuji channeled the remaining wind elemental energy around him, which transformed into gusts of mountain wind that swept across all directions.

Wind domain perception!

He stood with his hands behind his back, having already discerned through his wind domain perception that the seemingly peaceful valley ahead actually concealed deadly danger.

"It's still there after all."

He had learned from the puppet cultivators he controlled that the passage leading to the depths of the fourth-level spiritual vein was still blocked by the spirit-suppressing array set up by his second senior sister.

He made a hand seal to cast an array, then condensed a wisp of bloodthirsty energy and gently touched it in the void, instantly stirring up a ripple-like array pattern.

"This spirit-suppressing array is unguarded, so its power won't be too strong."

A golden glint flashed in Zhao Wuji's eyes as he whispered, "However, it's still best to avoid it."

"Yes, better safe than sorry."

Nan Zhixia nodded, and also made a hand seal with her fingertips, using the "Spirit Eye Technique" of the Supreme Cave Heaven.

Her eyes suddenly glowed with a faint purple light, and she could vaguely see the trajectory of the spiritual energy flowing in the array not far away.

Her eyes flashed, and she pointed to one of the cracks: "There! The spiritual mist is overflowing, which means there is a weak point in the formation."

"Not bad! I didn't expect you, Holy Maiden, to have some skills; you even know about formations."

Zhao Wuji smiled faintly, "However, I don't intend to break the formation. Just watch how I can enter without breaking it and learn from me."

He took out several array flags from his storage bag and quickly set up a small "reverse spirit array" around him. Each array flag landed precisely on a node of the spirit-suppressing array.

This formation is recorded in "A Hundred Explanations of Mysterious Formations". It can briefly interfere with the spiritual power operation of the Spirit-Binding Formation, causing it to pause briefly.

Nan Zhixia felt dizzy as she watched Zhao Wuji quickly set up the formation, only able to understand half of it.

The formation was set up too quickly; even if she could glean some experience from it, she simply couldn't replicate it.

“Alright, three breaths is enough time for us to get through,” Zhao Wuji said in a deep voice.

"it is good!"

Nan Zhixia tacitly took out a "concealment talisman" and affixed it to the two of them to ensure that their auras would not leak out.

Zhao Wuji flicked his finger, and a wisp of sword intent condensed at his fingertip. Blood Fiend Spiritual Power burst forth with a sword aura, precisely piercing the weak point of the formation.

"open!"

The spirit runes of the Spirit-Suppressing Array instantly became disordered, and the interference from the Reverse Spirit Array caused the array to temporarily fail.

The barrier ahead rippled like water, revealing a narrow gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.

The two moved like lightning, turning into two afterimages as they slid into the core area through the rift.

The moment he entered the mine tunnel, Zhao Wuji quickly retrieved the array flags to avoid triggering a backlash from the array.

However, on the surrounding rock walls, there were already many large, prismatic source crystals embedded in them. They were of extremely high purity and shone with a star-like silver-blue halo in the darkness.

"The density of source crystals here is so high! And they're so pure," Nan Zhixia exclaimed happily.

Zhao Wuji slightly closed his eyes, his powerful spiritual senses sweeping across every corner of the mine like a tidal wave.

After confirming that there was no danger, he lightly raised his sword finger, and the Cold Soul Flying Sword was drawn from its sheath with a 'clang'.

The Frost Soul Flying Sword is an ice-type flying sword. Although using it to mine source crystals is a waste of its potential, it is just right that it will not ignite the spiritual energy in the source crystals, thus avoiding the danger of the mine exploding.

This is precisely what ordinary, low-level mining cultivators are most cautious about.

The moment the numerous source crystals were put into his sleeve, they appeared to have entered his storage bag, but in reality, they all entered his Pot Heaven space.

The crystalline soil within the Pot Heaven space trembled violently.

Seeing this, Nan Zhixia lightly raised her hand and summoned her Azure Phoenix Sword.

As the sword flashed, source crystals fell one after another, and were then handed over to Zhao Wuji, seemingly acknowledging his future status as the manager of the assets.

The two continued mining deeper and deeper, eventually extracting as many as five or six hundred source crystals.

As they continued to go deeper, they heard rustling sounds coming from deep underground.

"not good."

Zhao Wuji's expression hardened. His extraordinary spiritual sense had detected the disturbance in advance. "The swarm of spirit-eating insects sleeping in this spiritual vein has been disturbed. I didn't expect that we had only dug up such a small amount, yet we had already disturbed the swarm. Obviously, this place is rarely disturbed."

'Hiss hiss hiss!'

In just a short while, a swarm of spirit-eating insects, resembling a deep blue tide, surged out from the depths of the mine.

"Retreat!" Zhao Wuji decisively abandoned further mining and instead released the spirit-eating insects from the Pot Heaven space, letting them fight and devour the wild insect swarm.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the insect swarm, the two quickly ventured deeper into the territory.

Gradually, they discovered emerald-colored spiritual marrow in the deep crevices of the rock walls. Almost every crevice contained one or two drops, and some areas even had exposed ancient spiritual stones.

"It looks like this place has already been mined. There's not much spiritual essence left."

Nan Zhixia quickly took out the jade bottle and put it away.

"Hmm, taking the rest is fine too."

Zhao Wuji flicked his sleeve, sending out numerous small bottles to collect spiritual essence. At the same time, the Cold Soul Flying Sword swiftly took away several ancient spirit stones.

As numerous spiritual essences and stones detached from the cracks, a muffled hum suddenly emanated from the depths of the petrified spiritual vein, like the mournful cry of a dying beast.

A vast, desolate aura emanated from the depths of the tunnel, like the fluttering of countless insects.

Zhao Wuji felt a chill run down his spine, his spiritual senses faintly detecting danger, and he immediately stopped Nan Zhixia from collecting the spiritual essence.

"No wonder those dynasty cultivators didn't take all the spiritual essence and spirit stones; it seems they were somewhat wary of them!"

"You mean..." Nan Zhixia's eyes changed, a hint of surprise appearing on her face.

The spiritual vein beneath Yunfeng Cave Heaven was destroyed, revealing a thousand-year-old monster named Huang Shang.

Could there be some terrifying entity that has sealed itself away beneath the fourth-level spiritual vein of this secret realm?

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the apprehension and seriousness in each other's eyes.

"Each time the Tiannan Secret Realm opens, the array at the entrance becomes stronger than the last, forcing those who can enter to have increasingly lower cultivation levels."

Zhao Wuji's eyes flickered slightly as he pondered, "It seems that every time someone enters the secret realm and reaps a great harvest, the secret realm's formation tightens."

Nan Zhixia frowned. "Is someone deliberately manipulating the formation to prevent outsiders from entering?"

Zhao Wuji shook his head, "It's not that I don't want outsiders to come in, but I don't want outsiders to be too powerful and cause too much damage."

As the two continued their conversation, numerous speculations began to surface in their minds.

"Let's go and see other places."

Seeing that he had gained an advantage, Zhao Wuji chose to retreat.

The two figures quickly departed and soon arrived at the mine passage where the Dynasty cultivators had entered.

But at the end of this passage was a solid rock wall, a dead end.

However, on the rock wall, there were array patterns covered with spiritual moss, with half a "gem" full of cracks embedded in the array eye, and ancient spirit stones that had not been used up were inlaid around it.

"Void Stone?"

Zhao Wuji stared at the gem in the center of the array, his expression changing slightly.

This gemstone is as precious as the Void Stone used to make storage bags.

He had only seen it in ancient books; it was a core material used to set up teleportation arrays.

"It seems that those cultivators from the mysterious dynasty used this formation to enter and exit the Tiannan Secret Realm, a different route than ours."

Nan Zhixia turned her head to look at Zhao Wuji, shook her head slightly, and indicated that Zhao Wuji should not touch it rashly.

Zhao Wuji nodded and said, "Don't worry, I don't need to personally investigate to find out the secrets of that dynasty. Their people will help me explore."

Just then, he heard the sound of swarms of insects coming from not far away. He immediately waved his sleeve and said, "Let's go. We've already gained enough this time. Let's cultivate nearby for a while and then prepare to leave the secret realm."

The two returned along the same route.

As he passed by the swarm of insects, Zhao Wuji made a hand seal and flicked his sleeve. Many spirit-eating insects with blood-red patterns on their backs buzzed over and were drawn back into his sleeve, returning to his space within the Pot Heaven.

"good."

He scanned the space of the pot with his mind and saw that only a dozen or so of the spirit-eating insects he had cultivated had been lost. A slight smile appeared on his lips.

These bred creatures are clearly several times stronger than wild insect swarms.

The two avoided the swarm of insects and quickly left.

He then found a secluded mountain valley outside the level-four spirit ore vein and continued his cultivation.

Nan Zhixia's cultivation level is about to break through to the sixth level of Qi Induction.

As for Zhao Wuji, although he hoped to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining in the remaining eight days, he also knew that this would be extremely difficult.

Each stage of the later Qi Refining process requires the accumulation of six hundred strands of spiritual power, which is six times that of the early stage and twice that of the middle stage.

Such a profound accumulation of spiritual power has created a chasm between the late stage of Qi Refining and the early to mid-stage, and the spiritual power it unleashes can intimidate those of lower realms into trembling.

"To achieve a rapid breakthrough, we must use better resources and extraordinary methods."

Zhao Wuji thought of the ancient spirit stone.

He then focused his mind and observed the situation within the Pot Heaven Space after absorbing more than six hundred source crystals.

They discovered that the crystalline soil within the Pot Heaven space was suddenly churning and boiling.

The scattered fragments of spirit stones were instantly swallowed up.

Numerous scattered and foreign spiritual energies swirled violently in the chaotic mist of the spatial dome, transforming into a funnel-shaped vortex of spiritual energy that gathered all the scattered spiritual power.

"The universe within a pot. My space has essentially become the prototype of the universe."

Zhao Wuji was overjoyed.

They even observed that deep within the crystal soil, dozens of spiderweb-like spiritual veins had spontaneously condensed, with the ends of the veins extending to the edge of space.

Every time the spiritual vein extends an inch, the chaos at the edge of space recedes a little.

"This is a good pace of development."

Zhao Wuji's eyes showed satisfaction.

Although these patterns are still very immature compared to true spiritual veins, resembling tiny spiritual veins, it is foreseeable that they will gradually condense into large spiritual veins as the space of the Pot Heaven expands and resources increase.

He released the swarm of spirit-eating insects into the Pot Heaven space, which had already begun to gnaw at the surface impurities in the crystal soil.

The pure spiritual liquid that was then exhaled was actively absorbed by the space, with an efficiency ten times higher than that of natural evaporation.

Zhao Wuji's heart stirred, and he took out the small bottle of fourth-level spiritual essence liquid and dripped it into the confluence of spiritual veins.

The liquid spiritual essence flows like mercury syrup, filling the gaps in the patterns and allowing the micro-spiritual veins to fully take shape.

The space around the pot suddenly trembled, and the vortex of spiritual energy gradually subsided, forming a stable internal and external circulation.

In the internal circulation, the spirit-eating insects purify the crystal soil, and the dissipated spiritual mist rises to the dome, condenses into spiritual rain, and falls back to nourish the crystal soil and nurture miniature spiritual veins.

The external circulation is the continuous infusion of external spiritual energy.

Even if one leaves the secret realm and returns to the world of Dharma decline, the internal circulation of the Pot Heaven space will still exist.

"From now on, we can farm in the Pot Heaven Space. The spiritual energy here is no less concentrated than that of the Linglang Cave Heaven."

Even in a spiritless land, if it only supplies my needs without replenishing them, it should be enough to last a year.

Zhao Wuji pondered for a moment, then looked at Nan Zhixia, who was cultivating in the other cave.

He patted his storage bag and took out two ancient spirit stones, holding them in his hand.

The pure spiritual energy within the ancient spirit stone, combined with his ingestion and guiding techniques, almost immediately transformed into spiritual energy upon absorption into his body, flowing into his meridians and being absorbed into his dantian.

The efficiency is dozens of times higher than cultivating with source crystals in hand.

Such precious resources are not even available to many late-stage Qi Refining cultivators; they are usually only used when breaking through to a higher level.

But Zhao Wuji has no bottlenecks.

Having seven ancient spirit stones in hand, it's perfectly reasonable to take out two to cultivate and quickly improve one's cultivation level.

"We have eight days left. We need to spend two days returning to the exit and retrieve the Yin-Yang Twin Lotus that Gong Yu collected."

He focused his mind and quickly absorbed the vast and profound spiritual energy from the ancient spirit stone to cultivate.

On the surface of the Yin-Yang Pearl, the progress of cultivation began to fluctuate visibly.

Meanwhile, deep within the secret realm, beneath a level-four spiritual vein, a gigantic, pitch-black tree stands silently in the depths of a nearly hollowed-out mine.

Its roots, like coiled dragons, burrow deep into the petrified spiritual veins.

The tree trunk is covered with dark red vein-like patterns, and a viscous fluorescent liquid flows through these patterns.

Countless filamentous aerial roots hung down from the tree crown, each end of which was wrapped around a withered monk's head.

These are the brains of those who died in the secret realm in the past.

Now it has long since turned into nourishment, leaving only empty eye sockets where occasionally a fragment of memory, completely digested, flashes by.

At the core of the giant tree, the massive tumor formed by the fusion of hundreds of brains slowly writhed, its protruding human face opening and closing its lips, emitting a hoarse sigh.

For many years, it has not only failed to receive the message it sought, but has also been constantly plundered by cultivators who enter the secret realm, losing its wealth, resources, and even its life.

Even today, the outside world remains in that terrifying end times. Even powerful dynasties that have survived by clinging to the past are decaying and rotten, making them unworthy of the attention of the world.

Without finding that legendary treasure, it will be difficult to overcome the calamity of the end times and usher in the spring of spiritual revival.

At this moment, the tree roots wriggled, and several new heads appeared.

In the empty eye sockets, images of being manipulated and killed by Zhao Wuji before death flashed through them, and the neural network-like mycelium immediately began to analyze the spell's patterns.

"A technique for controlling ghosts and puppets? That's quite rare!"

A slight tremor ran through his brain, which felt like it was riddled with countless tumors, as he recalled a distant memory.

In those ancient sects, some people wielded the Soul Banner and were able to control the spirits.

Suddenly, another fragment of fresh brain memory caught its attention.

"Huang Shang. This old fellow is still alive, hehehe. It's a pity that he was exposed to this world in advance and could not escape his fate. Despite all his calculations, fate is ultimately no match for destiny."

Outside the secret area, the atmosphere was as heavy as iron.

"Damn it!"

The master of the Supreme Grotto-Heaven had a gloomy expression.

He had already received a message from the cave, informing him that Zi Hongyanxi's soul lamp and Fang Qinghan's soul lamp had been shattered.

The only thing that still put his mind at ease was that the soul lamp of the saintess Nan Zhixia was still intact.

His gaze swept over the crowd, a murderous intent lurking in his eyes, yet he had to suppress his anger.

After all, the secret realm is dangerous, and it is common for disciples to die, but the death of Daozi is by no means ordinary.

"Hmph, to this day, five disciples of my White Bone Cave Heaven have had their life lamps shattered, one of whom was a core disciple at the sixth level of Qi Refining!"

The Lord of the White Bone Cave snorted coldly, his sinister gaze sweeping across everyone's faces before finally settling on the ancient cultivator and the general. "The opening of this secret realm has resulted in such heavy losses, almost total annihilation. Could it be that someone is secretly sabotaging us?"

"joke!"

The master of Qingming Cave Heaven scoffed, "Secret realms are places for life-and-death trials. If you're not as skilled, you die, so be it. Why make excuses? My Qingming Cave Heaven has also suffered many losses. Who will speak up for justice?"

"You!" The White Bone Cave Master glared angrily, his spiritual power surging around him.

The master of Xuanxiao Cave Heaven said calmly, "The master of White Bone Cave is quite generous, setting up a soul lamp for every disciple. My Xuanxiao Cave Heaven only set up a soul lamp for one disciple. That disciple is still alive, so I think everyone should be fine."

He paused, then chuckled sarcastically, "Some disciples of certain grotto-heavens are of varying quality, so naturally, they may suffer heavy casualties."

"You bastard!" the White Bone Cave Master roared in fury.

Zhong Kui sat calmly to the side, a faint, cold smile playing on his lips, as if he were enjoying the farce.

But he quickly put on a gloomy expression, as if his own disciples had also suffered heavy losses.

Hua Qingshuang and Yan Lan, who had already arrived, stood in a corner with their brows slightly furrowed, their gazes shifting among the crowd before finally settling on Zhong Kui.

“Something’s not right…” Hua Qingshuang and Yan Lan exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of worry in each other’s eyes.

Just as they were pondering, Zhong Kui suddenly spoke up: "Why are you all arguing? The secret realm is dangerous, and it's normal for disciples to suffer losses. However..."

He changed the subject, looking meaningfully at the master of the Supreme Cave Heaven, "If someone harbors ill intentions and uses the secret realm to eliminate dissidents, then that's a different story."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed. A cold glint flashed in the eyes of the Supreme Cave Master, who said in a cold voice, "Zhong Kui, what do you mean by this? My Supreme Cave has lost a Dao Child and a former candidate Saintess."

Zhong Kui smiled slightly but did not answer. He simply picked up his teacup and took a sip, his demeanor composed.

Alarm bells rang in Hua Qingshuang and Yan Lan's hearts, and they knew something was wrong.

"This old devil Zhong seems to be plotting something we don't know about?"

Yan Lan transmitted her voice to Hua Qingshuang.

A cold glint flashed in Hua Qingshuang's eyes as she transmitted her voice, "If Wuji has any other business, I want this old ghost Zhong's life to be buried with him. Senior Sister, what do you say?"

"Hehehe"

Yan Lan covered her mouth and chuckled, her eyes narrowing into a dangerous arc. "Junior Sister, do you perhaps think I don't want to kill this old devil Zhong? But I'm even more concerned about the safety of our precious nephew."

A flash of murderous intent, a crimson glint in her eyes.

Time passed quickly, and the final three days before the exit of the secret realm opened arrived.

At this point, at the internal exit.

The grayish-white mist, like the breath of a dying beast, churned and rolled among the cracked rock walls.

In the past two days, groups of three to five cultivators from various grottoes have rushed in from all directions.

These people, all with tattered robes and terrified expressions, maintained a wary distance from one another, wanting nothing more than to leave this damned secret realm as soon as possible.

"The people of White Bone Cave Heaven were almost all wiped out. We haven't seen a single one yet."

A disciple of Xuanxiao Cave Heaven clutched his bleeding chest, his gaze sweeping over the gathered crowd.

"They're all dead! A group of mysterious and powerful cultivators clad in spirit armor are hunting us down everywhere."

A female cultivator from Yanling Cave Heaven turned pale and looked terrified. "Both of my senior brothers are dead."

"I... I encountered three male cultivators, but they only robbed me of my belongings and did not kill me."

"I'm so glad I survived this ordeal," said a cultivator from the White Bone Cave Heaven, thankful for his miraculous survival.

Several Qingming Cave Heaven cultivators were still in shock, their gazes shifting between the Linlang Cave Heaven cultivators and the two remaining blood corpse puppets not far away.

Ji Mobai's face was gloomy. He gently stroked the broken Lonely Cloud Sword in his hand and slowly clenched his fist.

Near the Misty Forest, he encountered an enemy cultivator led by a mysterious and powerful female cultivator.

He was almost controlled by the opponent's strange spell, but fortunately, the Lone Cloud Sword protected him, and he barely managed to escape with all his might.

This is only if the other party doesn't seem to intend to pursue him; otherwise...
"Senior Brother Ji, why hasn't Junior Brother Zhao arrived yet? Could he have run into those people and gotten into trouble?"

"This is what Chang Mingxi, the secret master of Xuanji Peak, said from the side."

"Junior Brother Zhao is probably in grave danger!"

Beside him, Lu Yongnian looked dazed, the figure he had encountered at Yaowang Mountain flashing through his mind.

He barely managed to break free from the spell's control and fled in panic.

Looking back, the figure that suddenly appeared behind the cultivators of the White Bone Cave and the Blood Corpse Puppet seemed to be Junior Brother Zhao.

If Junior Brother Zhao had intervened then, an accident would have occurred.
"If it really is Junior Brother Zhao," Lu Yongnian sighed, clenching his fists, "my life..."

At this moment, in the shadows not far away, nine dynasty cultivators clad in cold, dragon-patterned armor were observing the situation at the exit of the secret realm.

Under Zhao Wuji's control, Senior Brother Gong said calmly, "The mission is over. We have already lost three people. There is no point in going back to kill them. I plan to lead the team back."

The second senior sister, who was wearing a bird-shaped face mask, sneered, "When did Senior Brother Gong become so merciful?"
These people have already spotted us. If we don't wipe them out, the cave masters of Tiannan will surely figure out that there are other entrances and exits to the secret realm, and even guess our origins.

Her tone was icy and ruthless, “They must die! This group from Linlang Cave Heaven and Qingming Cave Heaven must also be brought back.”

Senior Brother Gong shook his head and said, "With our current strength, if we were to annihilate them or capture them alive, there would inevitably be casualties."

And don't forget Elder Wang warned us that there's a problem deep within this secret realm. We must return two days early to prevent any unforeseen events; time is running out.

Second Senior Sister sneered, "What danger is there in wiping out these small fry?"

Her eyes flickered, "Especially you, senior brother, you alone are enough to sweep them away."

Moreover, cultivators from both the Linglang Cave Heaven and the Qingming Cave Heaven can be directly controlled using bloodline incantations.

Senior Brother Gong shook his head, "You underestimate them. I have met one of them, Zhao Wuji, whom Zhong Dongzhu wanted to eliminate. He is very strong, and the bloodline curse is useless against him!"
You are no match for him. If you insist on taking action, then now is the time.

He didn't want to say anything more, so he turned around and said, "Sixth Brother, Eighth Brother, let's go. We'll leave this to your Second Senior Sister!"

"asshole!"

The second senior sister gritted her teeth, unwilling to watch her senior brother Gong's figure leave, then looked ahead and sneered.

"Even without Senior Brother Gong's help, the six of us could have wiped them out. But..."

Her eyes flashed with a cold light. "I'd like to see just how strong Zhao Wuji really is! That even Senior Brother Gong is wary of him!"

Suddenly waving his hand, a chilling voice came from behind the mask, "Go! Take away all but the cultivators from Linlang Cave Heaven and Qingming Cave Heaven, leave no one else alive!"
"Zhao Wuji, leave him to me!"

(End of this chapter)