I was a mineral prospector in Chengdu, who transmigrated into the body of a mortal sword immortal.

Li Bai's heart pounded wildly in his chest, each beat aggravating the ruptured meridians and bringing a sharp, stabbing pain. The jade talisman on his chest burned his skin with a fiery stinging pain, and the smell of burnt flesh mixed with the scent of grass and earth filled his nostrils. He gritted his teeth, trying to suppress a groan of pain.

Fifty feet away, the man in the shadow of the artificial hill moved.

He didn't charge forward, but slowly raised his right hand and placed it on the hilt of the knife at his waist. The movement was slow, yet carried a cat-and-mouse composure. The morning light shone on the scar on his left cheek, making the wound appear particularly gruesome. The cold smile still lingered on his lips, his eyes like those of a hawk eyeing its prey.

Then, he took a step forward.

His footsteps were light, barely making a sound on the grass. But Li Bai could feel a sharp aura locking onto him, like an invisible rope wrapped around his neck.

The chaos in the square continued. The shouts of the imperial guards, the cries of the officials, and the calls of the officials trying to maintain order mingled with the increasingly loud rumble coming from the direction of the Xuandu Temple in the distance. On the high platform, Yang Yuhuan was finally helped up. She stood there blankly, her gaze unconsciously sweeping across the square.

Li Bai's gaze lingered on her for a moment.

Then, he took a deep breath, endured the excruciating pain, and poured the remaining true energy into his legs.

We have to make a move.

just now.

Just as he was about to leap out of the bushes, he suddenly felt a strange warmth in his chest.

It wasn't the burning pain from before, but a warm, gentle current, almost like the warmth of life, slowly seeped from the jade talisman, spreading outwards along the skin of my chest. The feeling was strange, as if something was awakening, breathing, establishing a connection with some distant being.

Li Bai paused in his movements.

He looked down at his chest—through his clothes, he could see the jade talisman emitting a faint, bluish-white halo, rippling outwards in concentric circles like water. At the same time, he felt an invisible connection, like an unseen thread, extending from the jade talisman, through the palace walls, across the streets, and all the way to the direction of Xuandu Temple.

Spiritual energy is flowing.

He could clearly sense that the remaining 30% of his true essence was being slowly drawn out by the jade talisman, transforming into trickles of water that flowed along the invisible thread into the distance. The speed was not fast, but it was exceptionally stable, as if it were being pulled by some powerful gravitational force.

"It worked?"

A glimmer of hope welled up in Li Bai's heart.

According to the records at the altar of the Western Mausoleum Divine Kingdom, activating the array requires three conditions: a specific time, a specific spiritual energy frequency, and sufficient spiritual energy infusion. The time is the third quarter of the Mao hour today; the spiritual energy frequency is provided by the jade talisman itself; and the spiritual energy infusion…

The true energy he poured in with all his might just now should be enough.

The connection has now been established, and spiritual energy is being transferred.

Next, the altar should be activated, emitting intense light and spatial fluctuations, creating an "anomaly" powerful enough to interrupt the ritual. Then, he could take advantage of the chaos to try to approach the platform, even if it's just to catch a glimpse of Yang Yuhuan from afar, even if it's just to confirm that she is still alive and conscious.

Li Bai held his breath, his gaze fixed on the direction of Xuandu Temple.

Take a breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Time is passing slowly.

The chaos in the square began to subside. Gao Lishi's shrill voice rang out: "Silence! Everyone, silence! Imperial Guards, return to your positions! Master of Ceremonies, continue the ceremony!"

The Imperial Guards began to regroup, the clanging of armor echoing throughout the palace. The officials, though still whispering amongst themselves, dared not raise their voices. On the high platform, Emperor Xuanzong's face was terribly grim; he waved his hand, signaling the ceremony to continue.

The master of ceremonies cleared his throat, his voice still trembling slightly: "Thank you for the Emperor's grace—the third bow—"

Yang Yuhuan was forced back into a kneeling position.

Her body was as stiff as a puppet, and she was supported by two palace maids as her forehead slowly lowered again.

Li Bai's heart sank.

Why?

Why isn't the altar responding?

He clearly sensed the connection, felt the flow of spiritual energy, so why were there no other unusual phenomena in the direction of Xuandu Temple besides the loud bang just now? Could the formation have failed to activate? Could the records of the Xiling Divine Kingdom be incorrect? Or perhaps…

He suddenly remembered a sentence that the high priest of the Western Mausoleum Divine Kingdom had said in the Shu Mountain Secret Realm: "The earth's veins are like dragons, sleeping for thousands of years. Once awakened, they cannot be controlled by human power."

At the time, he thought it was just a description of the vastness of the spiritual veins in the secret realm.

Looking back now, that statement may have had another meaning.

Chang'an, the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, is a place where dragon veins converge. The Xuandu Temple is located at the "dragon's eye" in the southeast of Chang'an, where several massive earth veins intersect beneath the surface. Could the altar of the Xiling Divine Kingdom be more than just a simple teleportation array, but rather…

Li Bai dared not think any further.

He felt the temperature of the jade talisman on his chest rising.

It wasn't the gentle warmth from before; instead, it began to scald, growing hotter and hotter, as if it would burn through his clothes, his skin, and into his bones. At the same time, the invisible connecting thread suddenly thickened, no longer a trickle, but a raging river—the remaining thirty percent of his true essence was being frantically drained away in just three breaths!

"not good!"

Li Bai's expression changed drastically.

He tried to sever the connection and tear the jade talisman off his chest, but it was too late.

The jade talisman seemed to come alive, clinging tightly to his skin. Its scalding heat made him recoil at the mere touch of his fingers. The feeling of his true energy being drained was like having his internal organs ripped out; a tearing pain shot through his meridians, and his vision began to black out.

Just when he thought he was about to be drained dry—

A sudden change occurred.

It's not from the direction of Xuandu Temple.

Instead, it starts from the ground.

A deep rumble, seemingly emanating from the deepest part of the earth, suddenly came from the ground of Xingqing Palace—no, from the southeastern part of Chang'an City.

The sound was neither thunder nor an explosion, but a dull, heavy vibration with an ancient rhythm. It was as if something enormous was turning over underground, or as if a sleeping dragon was yawning in its dream.

The ground began to tremble.

It wasn't the slight shaking we felt earlier, but a real, visible tremor.

Li Bai crouched in the bushes, able to see the soil beneath his feet trembling, tiny pebbles bouncing and falling. The holly branches swayed wildly, rustling softly. In the distance, from the plaza, the paved bluestone creaked and groaned as the slabs pressed against each other.

"The earth shook!"

Someone in the crowd shouted.

Panic spread like a plague.

The order that had been barely maintained collapsed instantly. Officials, no longer caring about etiquette, scattered in all directions; some crouched down, covering their heads, while others staggered, trying to escape the square. The imperial guards' formation was disrupted again; horses neighed in fright, and cavalrymen desperately tightened their reins. On the high platform, palace maids and eunuchs were in chaos; some rushed to support Emperor Xuanzong, others to protect Yang Guifei, pushing and shoving each other amidst screams.

Emperor Xuanzong, surrounded by several guards, stood with a livid face. He gripped the railing tightly, his gaze sweeping around, and shouted sharply, "What's going on?!"

No one could answer him.

Because an even bigger change is coming.

A beam of light suddenly appeared in the sky, just three miles from the direction of Xuandu Temple and Xingqing Palace.

That wasn't ordinary light.

It was a twisted pillar of light, a mixture of bronze and bluish-white, as thick as a palace pillar, shooting straight into the sky from the ground. The surface of the pillar was not smooth, but covered with intricate patterns that flowed and swirled in the light, like living runes. The light was so intense that it was blinding even in daylight, dyeing half the sky an eerie bronze color.

At the same time, strange sounds came from the air.

It sounded like thousands of bronze swords rubbing against each other, producing a sharp, piercing metallic screech; or like a gale sweeping through a narrow valley, howling mournfully. The sound came from the direction of the pillar of light, layer upon layer, echoing over Chang'an, drowning out all the gasps and screams.

Li Bai looked up at the pillar of light shooting into the sky, his pupils contracting.

This was not the "small-scale anomaly" he had expected.

This is simply... a cataclysmic change in the world.

He could sense that the spiritual power contained within the pillar of light was so immense that it was suffocating. It was beyond the reach of human power; it was the power of the earth's veins, the power of a dragon vein that had been dormant for thousands of years, forcibly awakened by something and gushing out from the ground.

Even more terrifying, he felt the suction force of the jade talisman on his chest suddenly disappear.

No, it didn't disappear.

It's finished.

The jade talisman seemed to have completed its mission, and its temperature began to slowly decrease, returning to a warm and smooth feel. However, Li Bai could clearly sense that the true essence that had just been drawn away, as well as the spiritual power stored in the jade talisman itself, had all been poured into the depths of the earth's veins, becoming the last straw to awaken this "giant dragon."

"What...what did I do?"

Li Bai muttered to himself, his voice hoarse.

He originally just wanted to create some chaos, interrupt the ceremony, and give himself an opportunity.

But now, he's unleashing the power of the earth's veins beneath Chang'an, a terrifying force capable of altering the landscape and triggering catastrophes. If the earth's veins go completely berserk, if the dragon veins spiral out of control, the entire city of Chang'an could...

"Boom—"

Another loud bang.

This time, the sound came from closer.

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the western wall of Xingqing Palace.

The crack started at the base of the wall and spread upwards like a black centipede, crawling over the blue bricks, over the top of the wall, and all the way to the eaves. The sound of the bricks shattering was crisp and piercing, and dust fell in a flurry. Then, a second and a third crack appeared, and the entire west wall began to shake.

"The wall is about to collapse!"

Someone in the Imperial Guard shouted.

The crowd went completely mad.

Officials, palace maids, eunuchs, guards… everyone was fleeing, surging towards the exit of the square. Pushing and shoving, people fell and were immediately trampled over by those behind them, screams and cries mingling together. On the high platform, Emperor Xuanzong was forcibly lifted by guards and forced back into the Qin Zheng Wu Ben Building. Yang Yuhuan was separated from her by the crowd; two palace maids clung to her tightly, but they too were jostled and pushed about.

Li Bai watched all this, his hands and feet turning ice-cold.

He wanted to move, to rush over and save Yang Yuhuan, but his body felt as if it were nailed to the spot.

It's not that we can't move, it's that we dare not move.

Because he sensed that the man with the knife was still there.

Fifty feet away, in the shadow of the artificial hill, the man still stood, neither fleeing nor moving, not even glancing at the towering pillar of light. His gaze remained fixed on the bushes where Li Bai was hiding, and the cold smile on his lips grew increasingly pronounced.

He is waiting.

Waiting for Li Bai to make his move.

When Li Bai emerged from his hiding place, when Li Bai was exposed to the light of day.

Then he would pounce like a cheetah, and end it all with the long knife at his waist.

Li Bai took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

His chest still ached, his meridians still throbbed, and less than a tenth of his true energy remained. Facing an expert whose strength was unknown but clearly far surpassed his own, a direct confrontation would be certain death. Escape? Where could he escape to? The square was packed with people, the palace walls were collapsing, pillars of light were raging, and the entire Xingqing Palace was in complete chaos.

He has to make a choice.

just now.

Just as he gritted his teeth and prepared to fight to the death, the anomaly escalated once again.

The pillar of light that shot into the sky suddenly began to distort.

It wasn't a simple swaying; it was a genuine, living distortion. The runes on the surface of the pillar of light spun wildly, bronze and bluish-white light intertwining and colliding, bursting into dazzling sparks. Then, at the top of the pillar of light, the sky, dyed bronze, suddenly cracked open.

No, it's not cracked.

Something shot out from the beam of light.

These were streaks of bronze light, like shooting stars or arrows, shooting out from the top of the pillar of light and scattering in all directions. The streaks trailed long, fiery tails, tracing eerie paths across the sky; some fell towards the outskirts of Chang'an, some towards the city, and a few…

It is flying towards Xingqing Palace.

"What is that?!"

"Heavenly fire! It's heavenly fire!"

"Run!"

Panic among the crowd reached its peak.

Li Bai looked up and saw the bronze streaks of light getting closer and closer, his pupils suddenly contracting.

He could sense that the spiritual energy contained within those streams of light was extremely violent, carrying the unique weight and ancient aura of the earth's veins. If he were hit, even in his prime, let alone his current severely injured state, he might not be able to withstand it.

Even more terrifying, one of the streaks of light flew directly toward the bushes where he was hiding.

No.

wrong.

Not facing the bushes.

It's facing...

Li Bai suddenly turned his head and looked at the man with the knife fifty feet away.

The man also looked up at the sky, the cold smile on his face disappearing for the first time. He stared at the bronze streak of light flying towards him, a hint of solemnity flashing in his eyes, and his right hand slowly tightened its grip on the hilt of his sword.

Then, he moved.

Instead of fleeing, he took a step forward, his left foot touching the ground, his body slightly lowered, and his long sword was drawn half an inch from its sheath.

The blade was black, gleaming with a dark luster in the morning light.

He was going to take the hit head-on.

Li Bai was startled.

This man's strength is probably even more terrifying than he imagined.

But we can't worry about that now.

Because another streak of bronze light was flying towards the high platform—where Yang Yuhuan, supported by two palace maids, was staggering and trying to escape, but was squeezed by the crowd and could not move an inch.

The streak of light was swift, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, like a falling star.

Li Bai's heart almost stopped beating.

Without a second thought, he had already charged forward.

He poured all the remaining ten percent of his true energy into his legs. The excruciating pain of his meridians tearing made his vision go black, but he ignored it and shot out of the bushes like an arrow, running wildly towards the high platform.

A distance of fifty zhang would normally be covered in just a few breaths.

But now, every step feels like walking on a knife's edge.

The scalded skin on his chest burned intensely in the wind. The cracks in his meridians widened as his true energy circulated, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, a metallic taste filling his mouth. But he couldn't stop, he couldn't slow down, because that bronze streak of light was already less than a hundred feet from the platform.

"Get out of the way!"

He roared and shoved through the crowd blocking his way.

Some were knocked down by him, others cried out and dodged. The Imperial Guards spotted him; some drew their swords and rushed at him, but he didn't even glance at them, his figure flashing past the gaps in the blades. His true energy was rapidly depleting, his body teetering on the brink of collapse, but his eyes were fixed only on the staggering figure on the high platform.

Thirty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

The bronze light had reached directly above the platform.

It was a fist-sized ball of light, its surface ablaze with bronze flames. Inside, raging spiritual energy swirled and compressed, threatening to explode at any moment. The intense heat emanating from the ball distorted the air, and the banners surrounding the platform began to smoke.

Yang Yuhuan looked up at the approaching streak of light, her face as pale as paper.

There was no fear in her eyes, only an empty, resigned calm.

Just like when she watched Li Bai being taken away by Qujiang Pool.

Just like when she knelt and kowtowed during the investiture ceremony.

That calmness pained Li Bai more than any screams or cries.

"No--"

He roared and leaped into the air.

The last wisp of true essence was squeezed from his dantian and poured into his right hand. Without a sword or any magical weapon, he could only try to grab the stream of light with his bare hands. The moment his fingers touched the ball of light, bronze flames instantly spread to his arm, his skin burning with excruciating pain, and his bones creaking.

But he held on tightly, using all his strength to fling the ball of light to the side.

The ball of light veered off course, grazing the edge of the platform before landing on the open ground at the edge of the square.

"boom--"

The explosion was deafening.

Bronze flames shot into the sky, blasting a crater over ten feet deep into the ground, scattering dirt and rubble everywhere. The shockwave swept across, shattering the railings of the high platform, tearing banners away, and sending several of the nearest imperial guards flying backward, coughing up blood.

Li Bai fell from the sky and crashed heavily onto the edge of the high platform.

His right arm was charred black, the skin cracked, and blood seeped from the fissures, mingling with bronze-colored flame residue. A wave of excruciating pain washed over him, and his vision went black; he nearly fainted.

But he forced himself to lift his head.

Yang Yuhuan was still standing on the high platform.

She looked at him, and for the first time, her eyes showed emotion.

It was shock, it was confusion, it was disbelief.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but her voice was drowned out by the surrounding noise.

Li Bai wanted to smile at her and tell her that everything was alright, but as soon as he moved his lips, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Then, he felt a gaze upon him.

Cold, sharp, and filled with murderous intent.

He slowly turned his head and looked fifty feet away.

The man with the knife was still standing there.

Beneath his feet lay an even larger crater—the mark of another explosion of bronze light. Scattered around the crater were fragments of the black blade, and half a broken sword remained embedded in the soil.

The man's right hand was bleeding, and the web between his thumb and forefinger was split open, so deep that the bone was visible.

But he was still standing.

Moreover, his gaze had already shifted from the sky back to Li Bai.

That look was colder, sharper, and filled with more killing intent than before.

A cold smile returned to the corners of his mouth.

Then, he took a step.

Towards the high platform.

Towards Li Bai.

Step by step, we traversed the scorched earth, the broken bricks and stones, and the still-burning bronze flames.

Each step carried a heavy, imposing force, as if it were about to crush the earth.

Li Bai struggled to stand up, but his right arm was useless, his true energy was completely exhausted, and the ruptures in his meridians had widened further during the previous outburst. He could only kneel on the ground, watching the man get closer and closer.

Forty feet.

Thirty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

The man flicked his right hand, and the broken knife flew out of the soil and landed in his left hand.

He held the knife in his left hand, his posture somewhat awkward, but his fierce aura remained undiminished.

Ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

The man stopped and stood below the platform, looking up at Li Bai, who was kneeling on the edge of the platform.

The morning light shone on his face, making the scar look particularly menacing.

"You," he began, his voice hoarse, like sandpaper scraping, "are Li Bai?"

Li Bai did not answer.

He simply looked at the man, at his hawk-like eyes, at his cold, hard face, at the scar that ran from the corner of his eye to his jaw.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

In the Shushan Secret Realm, the High Priest of the Xiling Divine Kingdom once showed him a mural.

The mural depicts an ancient war. On the battlefield, there is a special army, clad in black armor, with long swords at their waists and bronze masks on their faces. The high priest says that they are the "Pulse Guards" of the Xiling Divine Kingdom, specifically responsible for suppressing leyline disturbances and protecting the stability of the dragon veins.

The leader of the Zhenmai Guard had a scar on his face.

That scar was inflicted when he was suppressing a rampaging ley line, and was attacked by the backlash of the ley line's spiritual energy. It has never healed since.

"You are..." Li Bai's voice was hoarse, "...the Zhenmai Guard?"

The man's pupils contracted slightly.

Then he smiled.

That smile was cold and complex, containing surprise, mockery, and a hint of...sadness.

"I never imagined," he said, "that a thousand years later, someone would still remember this name."

He raised his left hand, pointing the broken sword at Li Bai.

"But do you even know what you just did?"

Li Bai remained silent.

"You activated the altar of the Xiling Divine Kingdom, that's true," the man said slowly. "But that altar isn't for teleportation, nor is it for creating strange phenomena. It's the core of the Suppressing Vein Array, used to suppress the 'Lishan Dragon Vein' beneath Chang'an City!"

"Twelve hundred years ago, the dragon vein of Mount Li went berserk, triggering a massive earthquake that sank half of Chang'an into the ground. The Western Mausoleum Divine Kingdom mobilized the entire nation's resources to set up this dragon vein suppression array, forcibly suppressing the dragon vein. The array's core is located underground at the Xuandu Temple, guarded by the Dragon Vein Suppression Guards for generations."

"And today, you used your spiritual power to activate the core of the formation."

The man paused, his voice growing even colder.

"But you are not a Zhenmai Guardian, you do not have the Zhenmai Guardian's inherited mark, and you activated the array eye incorrectly. Therefore, the array eye was not activated, but rather... destroyed."

"Now, the dragon vein of Mount Li is awakening."

"The earthquake, the pillar of light, and those bronze streaks were all just omens. Once the dragon vein is fully awakened, the entire city of Chang'an will sink into the ground, just like it did 1,200 years ago."

Li Bai listened, his hands and feet turning ice-cold.

He recalled the words of the High Priest of the Western Mausoleum Divine Kingdom: "The earth's veins are like dragons, dormant for thousands of years. Once awakened, they cannot be controlled by human power."

So, that wasn't a description after all.

That was a warning.

And he himself broke the warning.

"I..." Li Bai opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

An apology? Repentance? What's the use?

The man looked at him, the murderous intent in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by a complex emotion, almost pity.

"You don't need to blame yourself," he said. "It's fate. The Suppressing Meridian Array has been operating for 1,200 years, and its core has long since begun to loosen. Even without you, it would have collapsed naturally in a few decades. You just... brought that day forward."

"But being ahead of time means being unprepared."

The man looked up and gazed in the direction of Xuandu Temple.

The towering pillar of light had begun to shrink.

It's not disappearing, it's coalescing.

The bronze and bluish-white light compressed inward, becoming increasingly solid and bright. On the surface of the pillar of light, the flowing runes began to recombine, forming a huge, intricate pattern.

The pattern looks like a dragon.

A sleeping, coiled, and soon-to-awaken dragon.

"The dragon vein has begun to materialize," the man said in a low voice. "In at most an hour, it will be fully awakened. At that time, Chang'an City..."

He didn't continue.

But Li Bai knew what that meant.

It means death.

It means destruction.

This means that this ancient capital, the city where he once lived, loved, hated, and protected, will cease to exist.

This also includes the people in this city.

Including the woman on the high platform who was still watching him.

Li Bai slowly turned his head and looked at Yang Yuhuan.

She looked at him too, her eyes still filled with shock and doubt, but more than anything, with a sense of bewildered helplessness.

She didn't know what had happened, what the light was, who the man was, or even why Li Bai was there or why he had saved her.

She simply stood there, like a pear blossom swaying in a gale.

Fragile, beautiful, and capable of withering at any moment.

Li Bai looked at her and suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, bitter, but resolute.

He turned his head and looked at the man below the stage.

"Is there any other way?" he asked.

The man remained silent for a moment.

"Yes," he said. "The dragon vein needs to be resealed. But two conditions are required: First, the core of the dragon vein must be found, that is, the location where it materializes. Second, someone must be willing to sacrifice themselves, using all their essence and soul as a sacrifice for the sealing."

Li Bai nodded.

"Where is the core of the dragon vein?"

The man pointed in the direction of Xuandu Temple.

"Right beneath the pillar of light, deep within the altar."

"Okay," Li Bai said, "take me there."

The man looked at him with a complicated expression.

Do you know what that means?

"I know," Li Bai said, "it means death."

"Are you still going?"

"want."

Why?

Li Bai did not answer.

He simply turned his head and took one last look at Yang Yuhuan.

Then, he struggled to his feet and used his still-functioning left hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"lead the way."

He said.