121: Chapter 121 Reinforcing the Seal

It was an underground space so vast it was nearly boundless.

The vaulted ceiling hung high, hidden in darkness with no end in sight, while the ground was paved with massive, grey-blue stone slabs, each carved with runes.

Those runes emitted a faint Spiritual Qi, illuminating the entire space.

In the center of the space, a massive stone platform stood silently.

The platform was carved from a single piece of unknown jade, its surface smooth as a mirror, with profound formation patterns engraved all around it.

On the platform, a corpse lay quietly.

It was the corpse of a middle-aged man, with a slender build and a thin, refined face.

His eyes were tightly closed, and a faint smile seemed to linger at the corners of his mouth, as if he were merely asleep.

He wore a Daoist robe whose original color could no longer be discerned, covered in dust and in tatters.

Yet, beneath that robe, a faint light shimmered.

What concerned Jiang Changge even more was the aura lingering around the corpse—that was Immortal power—true Immortal power.

Even though he had been dead for countless millennia, and even though most of the Immortal power had dissipated, the remaining wisp was still vast enough to be heart-stopping.

Jiang Changge stood before the stone platform, his gaze falling on the corpse, his brow slightly furrowed.

He could sense that on this corpse, besides the residual Immortal power, there was an invisible Restriction.

That Restriction was fused with the corpse itself, firmly locking the Immortal power within it and preventing it from leaking out.

However, the Restriction had gradually loosened under the erosion of time, and the Immortal power seeping out from the cracks in the Seal was leaking through the gaps in this Restriction.

"System, can I collect this Immortal corpse now?" Jiang Changge asked in his mind.

[Ding, the host's current cultivation is insufficient to directly collect the Immortal's remains. Although most of the residual Immortal power within the Immortal's remains has dissipated, the remaining portion still far exceeds the host's capacity.]

[Forcing a collection may cause the Immortal power to go out of control, with unimaginable consequences. It is recommended that the host attempt this only after reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.]

Jiang Changge nodded; he had already anticipated this.

An Immortal's remains, even if dead for countless millennia, were not something he could easily touch at his current level.

However, it was fine if he couldn't collect it; he could first reinforce the Seal and come back after reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

Jiang Changge waved his hand, and several beams of light flew out from the System storage, hovering before him.

A golden stone—the Gold-Suppressing Stone, an ancient treasure specifically used for reinforcing Seals and suppressing Spiritual Veins.

He had obtained it from a sign-in several years ago and had left it gathering dust in the storage; he hadn't expected it to come in handy today.

A palm-sized jade tablet, the Spirit-Sealing Jade Tablet, an ancient Magical Artifact that could absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and convert it into the power of a Seal.

There were also a few miscellaneous items, all part of the assets he had accumulated from signing in over the past hundred years. Each piece was priceless, yet he took them out casually, preparing to use them to reinforce the Seal.

Following the System's guidance, Jiang Changge crushed the Gold-Suppressing Stone and sprinkled the powder around the stone platform.

As the powder landed, it transformed into golden streaks of spiritual light that merged into the runes on the stone slabs.

Those previously dim runes suddenly brightened, and the invisible Restriction on the stone platform subsequently became more stable.

Next, he embedded the Spirit-Sealing Jade Tablet into the ground directly in front of the stone platform. The moment the tablet entered the ground, a beam of spiritual light surged from it, spreading in all directions.

Wherever the spiritual light passed, the fragmented runes re-condensed, and the Seal of the entire stone platform seemed to be revitalized at that moment.

Jiang Changge then arranged the few miscellaneous items in specific positions around the stone platform. The moment each item landed, it triggered a flicker of spiritual light.

After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, all the arrangements were complete.

Jiang Changge stepped back several paces and swept his gaze over the entire stone platform. The aura of the Seal was much more stable than before, and the Immortal power seeping from the cracks had visibly diminished.

Although this treated the symptoms rather than the root cause, it could at least hold out until Jiang Changge reached the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

"That's about it." Jiang Changge muttered to himself, putting the remaining items back into the System storage.

He took one last look at the corpse lying quietly on the stone platform and bowed slightly.

"Wait until I reach the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, and then I will collect you."

His voice echoed in the vast underground space, carrying a touch of solemnity and a hint of anticipation.

The corpse on the stone platform showed no reaction; only that wispy, elusive Immortal power continued to circulate around it.

Jiang Changge straightened up, turned, and walked toward the exit; his figure soon disappeared into the darkness of the passage.

The place of the Seal returned to silence, with only the reinforced Seal emitting a faint spiritual light in the darkness, like a silent vow guarding an ancient secret.

Meanwhile, outside the Seal, the Spiritual Vein turmoil deep within the Southern Wilderness gradually subsided as the Seal was reinforced.

Above the wasteland, the scarlet mist was slowly dissipating.

The blood-red rift that spanned the sky, which had expanded to thousands of miles long during the peak of the Spiritual Vein turmoil several days ago, was now slowly closing, leaving only a thin crack.

Several figures stood with hands behind their backs above the wasteland, their gazes fixed on the closing blood-red rift, their expressions varied.

The leader was none other than Ancestor Zhou Huaixu of the Zhouwu Dynasty.

Not far beside him, Ancestor Yang Qingtian of the Nanli Dynasty had a solemn expression, his gaze fixed on the blood-red rift.

Ancestor Xu Tianyan of the Xuanyuan Dynasty stood beside Yang Qingtian, equally grave and silent.

Grand Elder Daoist Ziyang of the Medicine King Valley sat cross-legged in the Void Realm, eyes slightly closed, while his Divine Sense constantly probed into the rift, attempting to perceive the aura within.

Daoist Yunlan of the Piaomiao Sect, Lord Yangtian of the Qingyang Sect, Elder Jianchi of the Heavenly Sword Sect, and the leaders of the seven top forces of the Southern Wilderness were all gathered here.

"The Spiritual Vein turmoil suddenly intensified, and then suddenly subsided."

Yang Qingtian was the first to speak, his voice low, "This is already the second time."

"During the last Spiritual Vein turmoil, the Secret Realm of the Purple Bamboo Forest closed early, and the Spiritual Veins of the Southern Wilderness have yet to fully recover," Xu Tianyan continued, his voice carrying a hint of worry.

"Although this turmoil did not last long, its intensity was greater than the last, and I fear it will leave behind even more severe aftereffects."

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu's gaze fell on the blood-red rift, his voice low: "Aftereffects are a minor issue; the urgent priority is to determine the source of the turmoil. What exactly is buried beneath the Southern Wilderness?"

As his voice fell, the gazes of the several Tribulation Transcenders turned in unison toward Daoist Ziyang.

Daoist Ziyang slowly opened his eyes and shook his head: "My Divine Sense could only probe a hundred zhang into the rift before being repelled by a force. The strength of that force far exceeds my understanding."

"Even you cannot probe inside?" Daoist Yunlan's brow furrowed slightly, "What exactly is in that rift?"

Daoist Ziyang was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "I do not know, but one thing is certain: within that Seal, there is an extremely ancient and vast aura."

"That aura is something I have never perceived before."