Mountain Venerable and Sea Immortal

The spiritual light in the secret cave of the spiritual vein slowly faded, dissipating among the rocks. The ancient cave returned to silence, with a wisp of clear, azure sword intent intertwining with the long, continuous Daoist rhythm of guarding the vein, winding around the cave walls and the spiritual vein's soil, permeating the entire spiritual mountain valley.

A hundred miles outside Lingshan Grass Valley lies a desolate mountain range with jagged peaks and jagged rocks. Miasma gathers year-round, and fiery clouds swirl around it, creating a scene of scorching heat and barrenness, completely at odds with the serene and spiritual energy of Lingxian Valley.

In the dense forest and deep ravines, several figures clad in crimson outfits lay in ambush, their sleeves adorned with flame patterns that gleamed faintly in the shadows.

Huo Xiao lay prone behind the rubble, squinting at the direction of the Spirit Immortal Valley where spiritual energy soared into the sky. His eyes were filled with jealousy and resentment, and he muttered a curse under his breath:

"The three sects are living a carefree life, enjoying the good life while guarding the top-grade spiritual veins."

The Burning Heaven Sect had been eyeing Lin Yan's inkstone and Yun Xi's Dingyuan Pearl for some time, provoking confrontations and secretly instigating battles. However, they were all decisively defeated by Elder Wudao of Laoshan, forced to retreat in disarray and lie low. During this period, they remained coldly observant, watching the three sects exploit the spiritual veins from the shadows. Although their hearts were burning with greed, they dared not show themselves, quietly waiting for an opportunity.

Now that the Blood Fiend Sect is silent, the spiritual vein mining is mostly complete, the crystal source is abundant, and the fortune is rising. Furthermore, the appearance of an ancient secret cave and the great commotion of inheritance have been reported. The Burning Heaven Sect can no longer suppress its greed and immediately sent its core elites to quietly sneak around the Spirit Immortal Valley to investigate the truth.

The leader, Lie Lava, had a sinister and ruthless expression, with a greedy and fierce glint in his eyes. He held a wisp of flickering, dark red flame between his fingers, which hissed and emitted a hot and malevolent aura that caused all the surrounding vegetation to wither.

He lowered his voice and coldly instructed, "The three sects are focused on guarding the Ruins Rift and mining the spiritual veins. Their internal defenses are tight, but their external defenses must be lax. Now is a golden opportunity."

"This Hidden Crystal Spirit Vein is a top-tier spiritual vein that is only seen once every ten thousand years in the East Sea. In addition, there is the inheritance opportunity left by the ancient secret cave. As long as we find out the details and seize the opportunity to take it back to the sect, everyone's cultivation will be able to rise to the top in one step, and the sect's status will be able to completely crush all the surrounding sects."

"There's no need for a direct, all-out attack. We just need to quietly find out the weaknesses in the three sects' defenses, memorize the distribution of the spiritual vein mines and the rules for guard rotation, and once the information is relayed back to the sects and the main force has assembled, we can launch a night raid to plunder the crystal sources, seize the key points of the spiritual veins, and reap the benefits."

Several subordinates nodded in unison, concealing their auras and using the dense miasma forest to hide themselves. They dispersed in groups, stealthily moving along the outer perimeter of Lingxian Valley. Each of them kept a close watch on the sentry posts, investigated the nodes of the array, and recorded the location of the mineral veins with the strongest spiritual energy. Every move they made was filled with ruthless intent, their plans meticulous and leaving no room for error.

Ling Shan Grass Valley appears calm on the surface, but the thieves are already close in.

"It's like a persistent ghost."

Beside the blue stone platform, Lin Yan stood quietly, adjusting his breathing. Without raising his eyes, he already understood everything in his heart.

As the successor of the guardian vein, his divine sense had long been deeply integrated with the entire Hidden Crystal Spirit Vein. Every blade of grass and every tree in the valley, every breeze and every breath in the mountains, was within his perception and control. Ordinary cultivators might be able to conceal their presence and deceive the guarding disciples or ordinary elders, but they could never escape his perception in the slightest.

The moment the Burning Heaven Sect's spies set foot on the hundred-mile boundary of the Spirit Immortal Valley, a strange spiritual power, hot, violent, and full of predatory and murderous intent, suddenly entered the earth's ley line perception range.

He slowly raised his eyes, his face calm and expressionless, his eyes showing no emotion, but he already knew what was going on in his heart.

After enduring much restraint, the Burning Heaven Sect finally couldn't hold back any longer and came to spy on and covet the spiritual vein.

Lin Yan remained calm and collected, using his divine sense to firmly lock onto the movements of all the spies, memorizing their locations, numbers, and cultivation levels. He secretly set up an invisible barrier, preventing anyone from approaching the core of the spiritual vein or uncovering the true defensive strengths of the three sects. He effectively trapped all the spies on the periphery, rendering their efforts futile.

Yunxi, who was standing to the side, noticed that his aura was slightly tense and his expression was different. She immediately turned her head to look at him, her eyes full of genuine concern.

Lin Yan shook his head slightly and raised his hand to signal her to focus on meditation and stabilize her newly formed sword heart, without having to worry about external matters.

External threats have arrived, and treacherous thieves are at our door.

Just as all the Burning Heaven Sect spies dispersed to investigate and relaxed their vigilance, Lin Yan's eyes suddenly darkened, and a low shout pierced the air:

"Three guards, listen to my command! Encircle them! Intercept and kill them! Leave no spies behind!"

The moment the words fell, the Laoshan Dharma Seal suppressed the ground, the Azure Cloud Sword Light streaked across the sky, and the Water Moon Spirit Net sealed the heavens.

The three sects' already-waiting guards instantly set off, the formation activated in an instant, spiritual light sealed off the entire desolate ridge's retreat route, and a sudden chilling killing intent filled the air, accompanied by a fierce wind.

War begins!

Yunxi's brow shone with a flash of sword-heart light, and she unleashed her newly born innate Azure Cloud Sword Heart with all her might. Without even a sword in hand, a clear, snow-white sword aura condensed at her fingertips. The sword intent was pure and fierce, tearing through the miasma and slashing directly at the nearest Burning Heaven Sect spy.

The spy didn't even have time to activate his incineration fire before the sword intent pierced through his protective spiritual power. His body stiffened for a moment, then the sword light shattered his fire energy, causing his blood and qi to dissipate, and he perished on the spot. The sword strike was clean and swift, revealing the divine power of the ancient swordsmanship of Qingyun.

Immediately following, Qingyao darted forward. With a flick of her sleeve, the Water Moon Pavilion's gentle water spiritual energy transformed into countless water blades, the flowing water entangling and killing with a blend of softness and strength. The water blades intertwined into a net, sealing off all escape routes for the two Burning Heaven Sect cultivators. The water's force was bone-chilling, crushing their protective aura of burning fire. Her steps were light and agile, her movements unpredictable. In an instant, she closed in, and with a palm strike, spiritual energy shattered their heart meridians. The two spies collapsed to the ground, lifeless, before they could even scream.

Lin Yan's palm inkstone surged with black light, the Dao patterns guarding his meridians fully activated, and the power of the earth's veins amplified the force, causing the entire desolate mountain range to tremble and the soil to churn. Facing the leading raging lava, Lin Yan neither dodged nor evaded, but instead thrust the inkstone horizontally, the power of the mountain and sea meridians guarding his meridians crashing down with a deafening roar.

The raging lava roared and howled, its entire body engulfed in flames, crimson flames sweeping around it as it unleashed its full power to ignite a raging inferno, attempting to force Lin Yan back in one fell swoop.

The waves of fire and the dark light collided with a deafening roar that echoed through the mountains and fields!

The flames shattered, and the fire's intensity dissipated!

The lava-covered tiger's mouth exploded, its meridians were shaken, its chest bones cracked, and it spurted out a mouthful of blood, staggering back several steps in serious injury. He looked up in horror, his face filled with fear, never expecting the power of its protective meridians to be so formidable.

Lin Yan stepped forward, and Mo Yan pressed down again, his killing intent chilling:

"You dare to play with fire and covet my spiritual veins?"

The remaining spies from the Burning Heaven Sect tried to come to their aid, but they were surrounded and killed by the cultivators from the three sects. They were attacked with sword strikes, magic attacks, and seals. In just a few breaths, all the spies were killed, with no survivors.

On the desolate mountain, corpses lay on the ground, embers and smoke drifted away, leaving only Lie Lava Rock critically injured.

Seeing that all his men had been wiped out and the situation was hopeless, he dared not linger in battle. Enduring the excruciating pain of his severe injuries, he turned into a streak of crimson flame and recklessly broke through the weak gap in the formation. He fled in panic without looking back, coughing up blood as he went, leaving behind only a lingering sense of resentment and hatred echoing through the mountains.

"Lin Yan! The Three Sects! This grudge will be avenged by the Burning Heaven Sect!"

The cultivators from the three sects wanted to give chase, but Lin Yan stopped them by raising his hand.

"No need to pursue. The enemy is already defeated and weakened; killing him will be pointless." He looked in the direction where the lava had fled, his expression indifferent.

"The Bone Demon has awakened?"

Unbeknownst to anyone, at the very moment of the fierce battle and the turmoil of blood and qi, at the bottom of the Guixu Rift, a wisp of dark demonic mist surged violently once more, stirring and rising quietly before sinking back into silence.