118: Chapter 118 Exploring the Southern Wilderness's Earth Veins

Inside the Kunlun Main Hall, Jiang Changge lay lazily on his recliner as usual.

Over the past half year, matters such as recruiting Disciples, allocating resources, and guiding Cultivation had been handled by Qingxuan and the other Elders; he only needed to make an occasional appearance to maintain his persona as the Sect Master.

[Ding, today's check-in complete. Obtained Xuanyuan Fruit * 100.]

The familiar prompt from the System rang in his mind.

Jiang Changge put down the half-eaten spirit fruit and sighed silently in his heart.

The check-in rewards were no longer bailing fruit, but had been replaced by the more Advanced Xuanyuan Fruit. However, for him, it was completely useless; only the flavor had changed.

Over the past half year, the rewards from the System check-ins were still things he could not use.

Low-rank Medicinal Pills, ordinary Magical Artifacts, and the occasional Earth Rank treasure were all considered pleasant surprises.

However, it was not as if there were no gains at all.

Three months ago, during a check-in, the System granted him the Flame Banner of Separation, one of the Innate Five Directions Banners. It focused on offense and could invoke the Southern Bright Li Fire, confuse Yin and Yang, and invert the Five Elements.

If he could obtain the other four banners, he could assemble a set of Innate defensive Supreme treasures.

Jiang Changge probed his Divine Sense into the System storage, glanced at the mountain of treasures, and then withdrew it.

He leaned back on his recliner again, his gaze passing through the hall doors to look at the misty Immortal peaks outside. It had been half a year; it was time to go out for a walk.

Previously, he had intended to travel the Xuanhuang World, but had been delayed by the matter of recruiting Disciples for Kunlun.

Now that the Sect was running normally and the Disciples were on the right track with their Cultivation, he could go out for a stroll; perhaps he might even encounter a new person of destiny.

Just as Jiang Changge was about to stand up, he suddenly frowned.

A strange feeling rose from the bottom of his heart. The feeling was not unfamiliar to him; half a year ago, outside the Purple Bamboo Forest, before the earth vein eruption, he had experienced a similar sensation.

"It's happening again?"

Jiang Changge stood up abruptly, walked quickly out of the hall, and arrived at the summit of the Main Peak.

His gaze pierced through the barrier of the Kunlun Small World and looked toward the depths of the Southern Wasteland. There, the earth was trembling slightly, and an ancient and vast aura was slowly rising from deep underground.

That aura was identical to the one during the earth vein eruption half a year ago, but it was more intense and urgent, as if the existence deep underground was accelerating its awakening.

"System, what is going on? Hasn't it been a while since the last earth vein eruption?" Jiang Changge asked in his heart.

[Ding, detected a violent eruption of the Southern Wasteland earth veins. The source is the corpse of an Immortal buried deep in the Southern Wasteland.]

[The time interval between this eruption and the last is short. The suspected cause is the accelerated decay of the Seal's power, leading to an increased frequency of Immortal power leakage.]

[If the Seal completely collapses, the residual Immortal power within the Immortal's corpse will be fully released, and the Southern Wasteland will face a catastrophe.]

Jiang Changge's brow furrowed even tighter. This thing being buried under his own Sect was, after all, a hidden danger.

Although the System said this was a normal phenomenon, if the Seal were to completely collapse one day, even if the Kunlun Small World were not affected, the Southern Wasteland would certainly suffer.

"Is there any way to resolve this completely?" Jiang Changge asked.

[Ding, there are two solutions. First, reinforce the Seal, which can delay the leakage of Immortal power, but treats the symptoms rather than the root cause. Second, enter the place of the Seal, retrieve the Immortal's corpse, or refine it, which would solve the problem at its root.]

[However, the depths of the place of the Seal are guarded by the remnant soul of the Immortal, and the danger level is extremely high. The host must proceed with caution.]

Jiang Changge was silent for a moment.

An Immortal's remnant soul did not sound easy to deal with, but he had the System, the Supreme Magical Artifact xuanchen whisk, and the instant transmission array disk to teleport back to Kunlun at any time. Even if he couldn't win, he could always run away.

Furthermore, if that Immortal's corpse could truly be retrieved or refined, it would definitely be a huge gain.

"I'll prepare and go explore." Jiang Changge made up his mind.

He did not alert anyone, simply sending a Divine Thought to Qingxuan, stating that he would be away for a few days and leaving the Sect's affairs for him to handle temporarily.

Qingxuan's reply came quickly, with only two simple words: "As you command."

Jiang Changge did not delay any longer. With a wave of his hand, the instant transmission array disk flew out of his sleeve and hovered before him.

The Formation Plate was dark green, its surface covered in mysterious runes, with faint spatial fluctuations flowing across it.

He tapped his fingertip, and a beam of spiritual light entered the Formation Plate. The plate suddenly lit up, cyan light flowing, and the runes seemed to come alive, moving across the surface of the plate.

The next moment, Jiang Changge's figure disappeared from the Kunlun Small World.

When he reappeared, he was already standing above a wasteland deep in the Southern Wasteland.

Above the wasteland, the earth was cracked, with bottomless ravines extending in all directions. From within the ravines, scarlet mist continuously surged, carrying an aura of decay that was chilling to the heart.

The traces left by the earth vein eruption from half a year ago were still clearly visible.

And at this moment, a new eruption was brewing.

Jiang Changge looked down at the wasteland beneath his feet, his Divine Sense spreading out and probing deep into the ground. Soon after, he finally touched the edge of that Seal.

It was a huge curtain of light that firmly sealed off a space deep underground. Runes flowed upon the light curtain, emitting an ancient and vast aura.

But at this moment, those runes had dimmed significantly, and the surface of the light curtain was covered in cracks, with scarlet mist continuously seeping out from them.

The Seal was collapsing.

Jiang Changge withdrew his Divine Sense, his gaze landing on that light curtain as he pondered for a moment.

The purpose of this trip was to investigate the Immortal's corpse. If he could retrieve or refine it, that would be best; if not, he at least needed to figure out how much longer the Seal could hold.

If he could find the Opportunity left behind by that Immortal, it would be killing two birds with one stone.

As for the danger, he had the instant transmission array disk in hand; he could run away at any time.

Jiang Changge did not hesitate any longer. With a wave of his hand, a white light flew out from his sleeve—it was the Supreme Magical Artifact, the xuanchen whisk.

As the whisk came into his hand, a cool and gentle aura surged into his body, putting him much more at ease.

He stepped onto the Void Realm and walked toward the crack in the Seal.

The moment Jiang Changge's figure disappeared into the crack in the Seal, the scarlet mist above the wasteland surged suddenly for an instant, then returned to normal.

Inside the crack was a deep passage that seemed to have no end.

Embedded in the rock walls on both sides of the passage were some unknown dark red crystals, emitting a faint light that illuminated the path ahead with flickering shadows.

The air was filled with an old and decaying aura—the scent of time accumulated, mixed with a faint, lingering smell of blood.

Jiang Changge stepped on the Void Realm, slowly moving downward along the passage.

Holding the xuanchen whisk in his hand, the tail of the whisk swayed gently, emitting a warm, soft white light that kept the surrounding uncomfortable, chilly aura at bay.

The passage was much longer than he had anticipated.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

At the end of the passage was an underground grotto several dozen zhang in circumference. The vault of the grotto was high, with countless stalactite-like rock pillars hanging down, and spiritual light faintly flowing across their surfaces.

In the very center of the grotto, that curtain of light from the Seal stood silently, separating the world ahead.