185: Chapter 184 Fourth-Order Spiritual Vein

Yun Ming stood beside the coffin for a while, then turned and took that jade box out of the map of mountains and rivers.

The jade box was a foot square, completely emerald green, and engraved all over with Seal formation patterns.

He undid the Seal and lifted the lid.

The little Dragon flew out of the box, only as long as a chopstick, crystal clear, and emitting a faint Spiritual Qi glow.

It swam in a circle in the air, flicked its tail, and flew into the distance.

It hadn't flown far before it suddenly stopped.

It seemed to have hit an invisible wall and was bounced back.

It did a somersault in the air, steadied itself, and flew in another direction.

It was bounced back again.

It flew again, and was bounced back again.

It got anxious, its body expanded, its Spiritual Qi glow flared, and it turned into a streak of light, rushing toward Yun Ming.

Its body slammed into Yun Ming, but couldn't move him; instead, it was bounced away, somersaulting a dozen times in the air.

Yun Ming stood there, motionless.

Inside the map of mountains and rivers, he was the master of this world.

Mountains, rivers, plants, and living creatures—everything was under his control.

He didn't need to lift a finger, didn't need to cast a Spell, and didn't even need to have a thought.

Everything here would operate according to his will.

The little Dragon wanting to attack him was like a grain of sand wanting to attack the ocean, or a fallen leaf wanting to attack the earth.

It did not understand what it was facing.

It only instinctively wanted to escape, wanted freedom.

Yun Ming reached out and made a grasping motion toward the little Dragon.

The little Dragon's body froze, as if gripped by an invisible hand, suspended in mid-air, unable to move.

It struggled a few times, but couldn't break free, so it stopped struggling.

It curled into a ball, huddled there, its body trembling slightly.

Yun Ming sensed its emotions.

Fear, unease, and a hint of grievance.

It had finally managed to get out of that jade box, thinking it could be free, but ended up trapped again.

It did not understand why it was trapped, did not understand who the person before it was, and did not understand what place this world was.

Yun Ming did not explain.

He relaxed his hand, and that invisible force also dissipated.

The little Dragon hung in mid-air, not running away.

It looked at Yun Ming, seemingly waiting for something.

Yun Ming pointed toward the ground.

The little Dragon hesitated for a moment, then slowly descended, landing on the soil beside the wooden house.

The moment its body touched the ground, it suddenly lit up.

It wasn't the violent light from when it was struggling, but a soft, gentle glow.

Its body began to grow, from the length of a chopstick to the length of an arm, from arm-length to forearm-length, and from forearm-length to a zhang long.

The body was no longer transparent, but solid, like a real Dragon, coiled on the ground.

It looked down at the ground beneath it, then looked up at Yun Ming, and then nodded gently, as if accepting something.

It began to sink.

Its body gradually merged into the earth, its scales, claws, tail, and head sinking in inch by inch.

Light shone out from where it sank, becoming brighter and more intense, illuminating the entire land.

The land began to change.

The originally grayish soil turned dark brown, moist and fertile, emitting a faint, fresh fragrance.

Grass sprouted from the soil, not just one or two blades, but in vast patches, lush and tender, as if spring had arrived overnight.

Trees also began to grow.

Not slowly sprouting from seeds, but emerging directly from the ground, trunks, branches, and leaves forming in an instant.

The originally barren hillside turned into a dense forest in the blink of an eye.

Spiritual Qi surged up from underground, bubbling out like a spring.

The Spiritual Qi was very dense, thick like fog, like clouds, as if it wanted to lift a person up.

Yun Ming took a deep breath, and the Spiritual Qi flowed into his body through his mouth and nose, into his Dantian, and was absorbed by the five Golden Cores.

The five Golden Cores brightened simultaneously, as if cheering, as if leaping with joy.

He closed his eyes, feeling the changes in this world.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the map of mountains and rivers was rising rapidly.

Before, there was only the faint Spiritual Qi emitted by Spirit Stones and Spirit Medicine, thin like morning mist, visible but intangible.

Now, it was different.

Spiritual Qi surged from the ground, endless, as if a pump that would never stop had been installed in the heart of this world.

He walked to the highest point of the hillside, overlooking the land that was changing.

Mountains, rivers, forests, grasslands—everything became more vivid under the nourishment of Spiritual Qi.

The water in the river was clearer, and the stones at the bottom could be seen.

The leaves of the forest were greener, so green they seemed about to drip water.

The grass in the meadow was taller, high enough to cover his knees.

The air was filled with the fragrance of flowers, grass, and the fresh scent of soil, along with a faint, indescribable scent, like the clean atmosphere after rain clears.

He remembered the Spiritual Qi concentration of the Qingxuan Sect.

That was a great Sect with a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor presiding, rich in Spiritual Qi, and its Spiritual Vein was not of a low grade.

But at this moment, the Spiritual Qi concentration in the map of mountains and rivers had already surpassed the Qingxuan Sect.

Not just by a little, but by a lot.

A Fourth-Grade High Grade Spiritual Vein, placed outside, would be enough to support the consumption of a medium-sized Sect for hundreds of years.

And this Spiritual Vein now belonged to him.

No, it belonged to this world.

Yun Ming walked back to the wooden house and stood by the coffin for a while.

The two characters on the coffin lid—"Rest in Peace"—seemed a bit clearer under the nourishment of the Spiritual Qi.

He reached out and touched the coffin lid, his fingertips feeling the texture of the wood, smooth and cool.

Yun Ming took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

He turned and left the map of mountains and rivers.

The days that followed returned to tranquility.

Yun Ming woke up early every day to Cultivate, sitting in meditation to circulate his Dao scriptures, his five Golden Cores slowly rotating in his Dantian.

After Cultivating, he would go into the yard to tend to those few Spirit Medicines, watering, loosening the soil, and removing pests, his technique as skilled as an old farmer.

He also transplanted a few mystic pattern jade seed sunflowers from the map of mountains and rivers and planted them in the corner of the yard.

The seeds produced by this thing were delicious and full of Spiritual Qi; snacking on a few when he had nothing to do was much better than eating ordinary melon seeds.

He sat on a bamboo chair, basking in the sun while snacking on seeds, occasionally picking up the day's gazette to flip through it, seeing if anything interesting had happened.

Every so often, he would use up his accumulated draws.

The sea of stars was filled with flowing light, but most of it was Spirit Stones.

Spirit Stones piled up into mountains; there were some Medicinal Pills and Magical Artifacts, but nothing particularly rare.

Gold could occasionally be seen once or twice, but color never appeared again.

He didn't care; whatever he pulled, he pulled; anyway, he didn't lack anything.

The days passed day by day, neither rushing nor slow, neither salty nor bland.

He had truly become a shut-in of the cultivation world.

Spring passed and autumn came, winter departed and summer arrived.

The Spirit Medicines in the yard bloomed and faded, faded and bloomed again.

The mystic pattern jade seed sunflowers were harvested crop after crop, and the seeds filled several jars.

He repeated the same things every day: Cultivate, read the paper, snack on seeds, sleep.

He didn't feel bored, nor did he feel lonely.

Unknowingly, ten years had passed.

The person delivering the paper had changed.

The previous middle-aged man with dark skin and a loud voice had retired, replaced by a young lad in his early twenties with Early Stage Qi Cultivation, who ran very fast, stuffing the newspaper into the door gap before dawn every day, rain or shine.

Yun Ming renewed the newspaper subscription for another ten years and paid the Spirit Stones in one go.

His beard grew longer and longer, reaching his chest.

He didn't shave it, nor did he use any Spell to groom it, just letting it grow.

He rarely went out.

Occasionally he would go to the vegetable market to buy some vegetables, or go to the market to look around, seeing if there were any new Medicinal Pills or Materials.

Most of the time he stayed at home, Cultivating, reading the paper, and snacking on seeds.

He had completely gotten used to life in the Zifu Immortal Dynasty.

Peaceful, stable, with no fighting or killing, no schemes or deceit, no grudges or entanglements that made one unable to breathe.

He felt he could live his whole life like this.

Until today.