Clan Cultivation: My Intelligence Updated Daily

Chapter 310 Flame Heart Crimson Crystal

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As Zhang Lingyu sank into the sea, the heavy water pressure rushed towards him, much greater than Chen Rang had experienced in the Dragon Whirlpool Lake of the Water Moon Secret Realm years ago.

With his current cultivation level, he only needed to slightly raise his spiritual shield, and the strange feeling instantly disappeared without a trace. With the added blessing of the Mist Shadow Jade Pendant, it wouldn't matter if he was a little faster.

Perhaps because this spiritual vein is of the fire element, not a single demonic beast was seen in the vicinity.

"arrive."

After about a quarter of an hour, Zhang Lingyu finally arrived at the location of the spiritual vein beneath Crimson Cloud Island. With a gentle sweep of his divine sense, he discovered that there was indeed an array on the node of the spiritual vein, used to extract the spiritual energy from it.

It appears to be only a third-order formation, and the convergence point naturally points to the cave on the island.

"Elder Puppet, can you sense anything?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the spiritual vein beneath Crimson Cloud Island is about to advance to the second tier." The Spirit Puppet Transformation Box had a sharp eye and immediately saw the problem.

They had sensed something unusual when they were on the island; the overall spiritual energy on Crimson Cloud Island seemed rather low, while the energy inside the cave was much higher.

In retrospect, this was the result of drawing upon the spiritual energy of an entire spiritual vein and using it all for the cave dwelling.

This is understandable; the Zhang family has done similar things in Mingyue Mountain and Yunjing Mountain. However, the spiritual energy of this spiritual vein is slowly rising.

There are only a few ways to enhance a spiritual vein: either by feeding other spiritual veins or spiritual stones, or by changing the terrain, or by placing treasures on the spiritual vein nodes to enhance it.

"Let's go, let's follow the spiritual vein upwards and take a look. If I'm not mistaken, there should be a formation that extracts spiritual energy at the fork of the spiritual vein."

"As Elder Kui said," Zhang Lingyu nodded and immediately followed the trail to the depths of the East Sea.

"Lingyu, haven't you thought about taking this spiritual vein away? It's unclaimed, and it's almost at the second level. After moving to Yingchuan County, it will become an excellent spiritual mountain and blessed land, and it's even fire-attribute, which is perfect for your Zhang family."

"I had the same idea, but extracting spiritual veins takes a lot of time and would cause too much noise. It might attract the surrounding demons and cultivators, which is really not worth it."

Zhang Lingyu shook his head and explained:

"There is also a spirit-gathering array set up by the cave owner on this spiritual vein. If someone who is not dead senses it, it would be a bad thing."

Elder Kui seemed to disagree with this statement: "Alas, why worry so much? That cave has been abandoned for many years, and the Earth Core Fire Essence has not been taken away. I think that cultivator is probably already dead there."

"That...makes some sense."

Zhang Lingyu gave a vague reply and then continued to concentrate on flying away.

As they gradually ventured deeper into the nearshore waters, they were able to see many monsters, most of which were only at the first or second tier.

Upon reaching a deep sea area, he could still see many monster corpses, and the smell of blood was strong. He glanced down and saw more than a dozen second-tier monsters fighting over a silver lotus flower.

With a slight pull of magical power, the spiritual herb fell into the palm of his hand.

Thanks to the blessing of the Misty Shadow Jade Pendant, the demon beasts did not realize that he had taken it. Instead, they thought that some demon beast hiding in the shadows had intercepted it, so they stopped fighting and began to search everywhere.

As they ventured deeper, Zhang Lingyu's storage bag gradually filled up.

"The spiritual creatures in the sea are indeed more abundant, but unfortunately their attributes are too singular."

He shook his head and continued on his way. The deeper he went, the higher the level of the monsters became, so in order to avoid any unexpected situations, he made fewer moves.

What intrigued him was that he occasionally encountered a few cultivators, some picking spiritual herbs and others slaying demonic beasts.

"That's not surprising. The demonic beasts near Linhai County have been almost completely slaughtered. In order to earn spirit stones, they have no choice but to take the risk of going deeper. Look, without exception, all these cultivators are Foundation Establishment cultivators."

The old man's voice echoed in my mind, laughing, "This is a good thing. The higher the grade of the demonic beasts and spiritual objects, the closer we are to them. They should be in that abyss ahead."

Looking ahead, Zhang Lingyu saw a huge, menacing crack suddenly appear on the once flat seabed. Just getting a little closer, the biting cold made him shiver.

"Such a rich inspiration."

After entering the abyss, Zhang Lingyu not only felt the water pressure that was constantly pressing down on him, but also the extremely dense spiritual energy.

"Such spiritual energy can only be possessed by fourth-tier spiritual veins."

"Fourth-tier?"

"That's right. From now on, we need to be careful. Fourth-order spiritual veins are often inhabited by powerful demon tribes, and it's certain that a demon king is stationed there. According to the map, it is the Xuanjiao tribe that is here."

A flash of black-gold spiritual light passed between Zhang Lingyu's brows, and then he gradually lost the feeling of water pressure, while his figure became more concealed.

It's clear that the Spirit Puppet Transformation Box has activated its power.

He hadn't used it before on purpose, not only to test his own limits but also to hone his physical body.

As they ventured deeper into the abyss, they could see many black sharks swimming about. Their rank was not very high because they were only on the outer edge of the spiritual vein and had not yet approached the node.

The closer they get to the node, the higher the rank of these demons, and the demon king is also cultivating at the node.

They only wanted to see the branching point of the spiritual vein and had no other intentions.

Before long, Zhang Lingyu arrived at his destination. As he probed with his divine sense, he could see all the branches of the spiritual veins, large and small, before him.

However, no matter how they looked at the branching point of the spiritual vein on Crimson Cloud Island, they could not detect anything unusual.

"Elder Kui, what is this?"

"It's normal that you can't tell. There are two arrays set up at this fork in the road. The inner one is a spirit-gathering array used to extract spiritual energy, and the outer one is used to conceal it."

The old puppet explained:

"Although this spirit-gathering array is not operating at its maximum, its power is not so easy to hide from the demon king. That's why there is this outer array. Judging from the looks of it, it must be at least fourth-order."

"I see. But what is the purpose of doing this? Is it just to nourish the Daoist Lung Fire Essence, or to cultivate a second-tier spiritual vein?" Zhang Lingyu asked in confusion.

"Indeed, there should be something more down there!" The old puppet's gaze turned toward the deepest part.

It could sense that there was another world below, but the array blocked its view, so it couldn't see it clearly.

But one could sense a strong aura of fire and malevolence.

In order not to alert the enemy, Zhang Lingyu had already pushed this magic weapon to its limit.

Standing on the seabed, Zhang Lingyu saw only jagged rocks and seaweed in his divine sense; no wonder the demonic beasts hadn't noticed him.

Only with the blessing of magical artifacts can one see the fluctuations of the array twisting.

The entrance is hidden under an inconspicuous rock.

Upon entering, one immediately feels an unbearable heat. Zhang Lingyu, who cultivates the Fire Virtue Attack Technique, was already struggling to breathe, indicating that this place was extraordinary.

Besides this, a thick fog suddenly surged up all around, and all that could be seen was white. Even his divine sense was compressed to a range of a few feet around Zhou Shen.

Without a doubt, it must be the effect of that fourth-order formation.

To resolve the current predicament, one must either use divine sense to find an exit or locate and destroy the core of the formation.

However, both methods are more difficult than the other, especially the latter. If the formation is broken, the anomaly here will definitely attract the attention of the monsters.

"Old Puppet Master!"

"Don't worry, I'm here. Just follow the direction I point out!" The old man's voice rang in his mind, pointing him in the right direction.

Nearly half an hour later, other scenery slowly appeared before Zhang Lingyu's eyes.

What unfolds before your eyes is a colossal lava cave that is truly awe-inspiring, as if it were a gateway to a fiery inferno.

The cave is incredibly high and spacious, yet the surrounding area is completely empty, with only the vast lava lake at the bottom capable of captivating the soul.

But this is not the focus of attention at the moment; in the center of the lava lake, there is a huge rock platform that suddenly appears out of nowhere.

The platform's surface was polished smooth as a mirror by someone with great supernatural power, and a giant spirit-gathering array was engraved on it, covering almost the entire surface of the platform. The array patterns were extremely complex.

At this moment, one can clearly feel that the spiritual energy of the entire cavern and even the wider area of ​​the spiritual vein is being drawn by the terrifying suction force of this formation, turning into a pale golden vortex of airflow that is almost visible to the naked eye, and surging wildly towards the formation.

This is far from the most breathtaking sight.

At the very center of the massive spirit-gathering array, there was something!

The object appeared somewhat blurry and indistinct amidst the excessively concentrated aura and surging heat, making it difficult to discern precisely.

However, dozens of extremely thick chains extend from all directions of the platform, and even from the cave ceiling and the surrounding rock formations.

The chains were made of some unknown spiritual material, and each one was covered with densely packed runes. The other end of each chain was firmly locked to the object in the center of the spirit-gathering array.

The object bound by hundreds of chains emitted a low, resonant sound as it absorbed the immense spiritual energy from the spirit-gathering array.

"What on earth is this thing?!"

Zhang Lingyu could imagine how valuable the things in front of her were, yet she felt a deep sense of fear.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Flaming Crimson Crystal." At this moment, even the Puppet Elder had lost his usual composure.

"Flaming Heart Crimson Crystal?"

"good."

The old puppet explained:

"This thing is usually formed at the confluence of the earth's veins and fire eyes. This process is very long, usually taking about three thousand years, and it becomes a fifth-order spiritual object when it is formed."

"At its current size, it will take at least five thousand years, almost reaching the sixth rank!"

"As for the use of this Flaming Crimson Crystal, it is naturally used as a material for refining weapons. In addition, cultivators can also extract its essence to purify their cultivation, but that will have to wait until you reach the Golden Core stage."

According to Elder Kui, this item was not originally supposed to reach this age, but the Spirit Gathering Array extracted the spiritual energy of the fourth-order spiritual vein for forced catalysis. If it were to break through to the sixth order in another twenty or thirty years, it should be able to do so.

According to Elder Kui, this item was not originally supposed to reach this age, but the Spirit Gathering Array extracted the spiritual energy of the fourth-order spiritual vein for forced catalysis. If it were to break through to the sixth order in another twenty or thirty years, it should be able to do so.

"However, this spirit-gathering array did not rotate at full power, and it intentionally leaked some energy into the spiritual vein of Crimson Cloud Island. Do you know why?"

"It should be that the demon beasts have noticed a large loss of spiritual energy. At the same time, if the Flame Heart Crimson Crystal advances to the sixth rank ahead of schedule, it will probably cause quite a commotion, and the losses will outweigh the gains."

"good."

"Shall we take this thing away?"

My advice is not to take it away for now.

After thinking for a moment, Elder Kui suggested:

"This item is a good thing for you. You are almost at the sixth level, but you haven't reached it yet. If you take it now, its value will be greatly reduced. It's better to wait until you form your core and then come back. By then, it should be ready."

"Furthermore, once it's taken away, the spirit-gathering array below will collapse, and the accumulated spiritual energy within will surge out. At that time, this cave will collapse instantly, and neither you nor I may be able to escape."

"Even if we manage to escape by sheer luck, the huge commotion will surely alert the Demon King, and we will still be doomed."

Zhang Lingyu thought about it and felt that it made sense. However, he was worried that the item would be taken away during the Core Formation period, and he couldn't come to check on it every now and then.

After listening, Elder Kui said, "You don't need to worry about that. Don't forget Crimson Cloud Island."

"The reason why the spiritual energy of the spiritual veins under Crimson Cloud Island has increased dramatically is due to the leakage of spiritual energy from this spirit-gathering array. If it stops increasing one day, the spirit-gathering array here will most likely be destroyed, and everything will return to normal."

"Understood." Zhang Lingyu nodded.

Although I can't check it from time to time, I can ask Zhang Yuanhua for help.

Once they reach the Core Formation stage, the grandfather and grandson working together will have no problem taking away the Flaming Crimson Crystal.

As long as the upper layer of the formation doesn't have any problems, it's fine.

Furthermore, if we really need to confirm it, wouldn't it be better to use the intelligence system?

After deciding not to take it for the time being, the person and the treasure confirmed that there were no abnormalities in the formation and then returned to the Sea Abyss.

To be honest, he also wanted to establish an overseas island for his people to practice their faith.

Even if something unexpected happens to the family, resulting in death and extinction, at least a trace of bloodline can be preserved.

……

Having ventured too deep into the demon realm and having already achieved his objective, Zhang Lingyu decided to stop exploring and return directly to Lin Yuan City.

Of course, they didn't let go of the spiritual creatures and monsters they encountered along the way; they got spirit stones from them.

When they returned to Lin Yuan City, it was already evening. The city was still brightly lit, and the streets were bustling with people.

That's not all. Above the center of the immortal city, there is a huge treasure ship with the words "Ten Thousand Treasures" printed on it.

"It's the Wanbao Chamber of Commerce, the largest chamber of commerce in the cultivation world of the East Sea. Every time they come and go, they bring a lot of good things."

The Spirit Puppet Myriad Transformations Box explained, "It is said that the owner of this merchant guild is a Nascent Soul cultivator."

"A Nascent Soul cultivator?"

"That's right. Don't be fooled by the fact that there is only one Nascent Soul cultivator in the East Sea. There are quite a few in secret. Nascent Soul is difficult to achieve, but there are more than just a few in this world."

It continued:

"Without a Nascent Soul cultivator behind them, what makes the Myriad Treasures Merchant Guild the number one merchant guild in the East Sea cultivation world?"

"But since you're here, there might be an auction within the next month, where rare treasures from the cultivation world of the East Sea will be auctioned off. That will broaden your horizons."

"Is that so? Then this junior will have to see for myself!" Zhang Lingyu was still in the Qi Refining stage when he last participated in an auction, and it had been a long time since he had experienced one.

So he quickly headed to the Chen family's house to inquire about the specific time of the auction.

……

……