61: Earth vein remains, fragments resonating

The interior of the pipe was absolute darkness and dead silence. Even the air seemed to have solidified, carrying a heavy scent of metallic rust and millennia of dust. The four individuals suppressed all their aura, standing still like stone statues for a long time until they confirmed that the heart-pounding sense of being spied upon at the pipe entrance had not followed them in. Only then did they slightly relax.

"We're temporarily safe," Lin Xuan whispered, his voice stirring a faint echo in the empty pipe. He spread his palm, and the immortal abode pivot token emitted a soft, clear light, barely dispelling a small patch of surrounding darkness and illuminating their grave and slightly weary faces.

Su Wanqing took out a Medicinal Pill for healing and consumed it, silently adjusting her breathing. Her serene profile appeared somewhat pale under the clear light. Qu Feiyan, on the other hand, vigilantly watched the direction they came from, a glint in her charming eyes, seemingly sensing the movements of the dark shadow outside. Gongsun Yu stood next to Lin Xuan, the thunder light silver ring held in her hand, still not daring to relax.

"What... what exactly was that thing? It felt much more terrifying than a golem," Gongsun Yu asked in a low voice, still shaken.

"A Guixu Cult scout, or some kind of construct we can't comprehend," Lin Xuan said in a deep voice, recalling the blurry dark shadow and the cold, crimson gaze. "It deliberately drove us here, it must have an agenda. This pipe might not be a way out."

As he spoke, he tried to extend his Divine Sense deeper into the pipe. However, his Divine Sense was greatly suppressed here, as if sinking into a mire, only able to probe less than ten zhang before being unable to advance further. The depths of the pipe remained a profound darkness, unknown and mysterious.

"My Divine Sense is severely restricted," Su Wanqing opened her eyes, her tone solemn. "There's something strange about this place."

"It seems we can only explore forward," Qu Feiyan retracted her gaze and looked at Little Brother Lin. "Little Brother Lin, does your precious token have any instructions?"

Lin Xuan focused his mind to sense the cardinal edict in his palm. After acquiring the second core fragment, the clear light within the token was noticeably much denser. The two fragments slowly floated within it, their Qi intertwined, emitting fluctuations several times stronger than when it was just a single piece. At this moment, the token was sending a faint but continuous pulling sensation, not towards the pipe entrance, nor straight ahead, but towards a certain direction to the lower side of the pipe.

"There's a sensation, it's below," Lin Xuan pointed to the metal wall on the lower left side. "It seems to be in the lower layer of this pipe structure, or even deeper."

This pulling sensation was not directed at another core fragment, but rather seemed like a resonance with a certain homologous energy field or special environment.

"Shall we go down and see?" Gongsun Yu asked.

Lin Xuan pondered for a moment, then nodded. Staying put was merely waiting for death, going forward was unknown, but going down had the guidance of the cardinal edict, which might lead to a glimmer of hope. He walked to the left pipe wall, reaching out to touch the cold, rough metal surface, carefully investigating. Soon, he found an area that was slightly different from the others, with shallower corrosion marks, and he could vaguely feel an extremely faint energy residue.

He tried to inject a trace of his Qi and blood into it.

"Click..."

With a slight mechanical click, the seemingly seamless metal wall actually recessed inward, then silently slid open, revealing a narrow, downward-sloping passage just wide enough for one person! The passage was still pitch black, but there was a faint flow of air, carrying an even older, more solidified aura.

"As expected, there's more to this place than meets the eye," Qu Feiyan's beautiful eyes lit up.

Lin Xuan was the first to step into the passage, the clear light of the cardinal edict acting like a beacon, illuminating the path ahead. The passage sloped steeply downwards, the steps cast from the same metal, covered in dust. The four individuals entered in single file, cautiously.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the passage finally reached its end. Before them, the space suddenly opened up, revealing a massive underground chamber!

This space was not naturally formed, but rather like a huge, buried underground hall. The dome of the hall was supported by massive bones and some kind of transparent crystal fragments. Through the crystals, one could vaguely see the twisted pipe structures and rock layers above. In the center of the hall was a huge, dried-up pool, its bottom covered with thick, colorful crystallized sediments, emitting faint Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

What was most striking, however, were the countless massive pipes embedded in the rock walls encircling the hall! These pipes were incredibly thick, made of a material that was neither metal nor stone, and their surfaces were inscribed with dense, ancient, and complex runes, even more so than those seen in Xuntian Hall. Many pipes were already broken and twisted, like the corpses of giant Dragons, silently narrating their past glory and disaster.

From some broken sections of the pipes, dark red, solidified blood-like substances seeped out, emitting an uncomfortable aura of decay. Other pipes, however, flickered with extremely faint, various colored Spiritual lights, seemingly still operating very slowly, maintaining the last trace of "vitality" in this place.

"This place... seems to be one of the earth vein energy centers of this ancient ruin, or rather, the 'Mist Hidden Realm' fragment?" Su Wanqing looked around, her clear eyes unable to hide her shock. The ancientness of those runes far exceeded her understanding.

The immortal abode pivot token in Lin Xuan's palm emitted an even clearer hum than before! The clear light rippled, creating a distinct resonance with the pipes in this hall that still retained Spiritual light, especially with a single, intact pipe in the deepest part of the hall, which was dark gold all over and whose surface runes flowed like the stars of the Zhou Tian. The resonance with this pipe was the strongest!

One end of that dark gold pipe connected to the dome, while the other end disappeared deep underground, faintly conveying a sense of majestic and serene power.

"It's an unpolluted earth vein node!" Lin Xuan's eyes flashed with brilliance. He felt that the two fragments within the immortal abode pivot token became exceptionally active in this environment, even beginning to spontaneously absorb the remaining, relatively pure ancient energy from this place, repairing their own damage. Especially the stubborn dark Qi within the second fragment, under the cleansing of the pure homologous energy, showed faint signs of dissipating!

This was undoubtedly an excellent place for rest and refinement! The energy field here seemed to be able to isolate external probes, so the Guixu Cult's dark shadow might not easily find this place.

"Let's meditate here first. I need some time to refine the residual impurities of the fragments," Lin Xuan decided immediately. "The energy field here is special, it might help us recover, or even make progress."

The Three women also felt the benefits of this environment for their Cultivation and nodded in agreement. Su Wanqing found a platform near the dark gold pipe and sat down cross-legged, inhaling and exhaling the pure primordial Qi of this place. Qu Feiyan was very interested in the crystallized sediments at the bottom of the pool and carefully collected them for study. Gongsun Yu guarded near the entrance, both on alert and Cultivating with the residual lightning-attributed Spiritual light of this place.

Lin Xuan walked to the dark gold pipe, sat down cross-legged, placed the immortal abode pivot token on his lap, and immersed his mind within it, guiding the remaining pure energy in the hall to fully refine the second core fragment.

The dark underground core temporarily became their haven. Outside the pipe, however, the shadow of the Guixu Cult still loomed, and a greater storm was brewing within the gray mist.