Chapter 96: Chapter 4: Spiritual Spring from the Earth

In the Huangyuan Mountain Range, Yang Jing stood on the branch of an ancient, towering tree, looking down at the Huang Clan Territory below. The Huang Family was a Foundation Establishment Clan, after all. He didn’t dare be so arrogant as to fly directly overhead using Cloud Escape to watch them.

He looked up at the sun to estimate the time, judging that Iron Head and Yinjiao had already begun their work underground.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he keenly sensed a faint tremor coming from underground. The ancient tree beneath his feet began to shake, its leaves rustling against one another.

The Huang Family Cultivators within the clan territory naturally noticed the disturbance as well. Several Cultivators immediately mounted their Flying Spiritual Artifacts and soared into the sky to investigate the source of the anomaly. Cultivators from clans like theirs were extremely sensitive to earth tremors. This was because the Grand Array’s Base and Banners were anchored in the Spiritual Acupoints of their Spirit Vein. A tremor could alter the course of the Spirit Vein, or even sever it completely, which would in turn obstruct the flow of Spiritual Qi to the Grand Array and hinder its operation.

Wars between Cultivation Clans usually began by triggering an earthquake to weaken the enemy’s Array.

After flying a circuit, the Cultivators relaxed. The faint tremor must have been a natural phenomenon. It was far too weak to have any effect on the clan’s Grand Array.

Suddenly, from beneath a massive boulder not far from their clan territory, a faint sound of water could be heard.

A Cultivator’s senses are sharp, and they quickly noticed the anomaly. The leading Huang Family Cultivator controlled a Flying Sword, which sliced the giant rock in two with a single strike.

The previously faint sound of water instantly grew louder as a gurgling Spiritual Spring surged up from the ground, accompanied by a dense wave of Spiritual Qi.

“This Spiritual Qi! There’s a Spirit Vein underground, brought to the surface by the Spiritual Spring! It must be at least Tier One Upper Grade!”

The few Huang Family Cultivators gathered around the Spiritual Spring, overcome with joy. They never would have imagined that a simple, impossibly faint tremor could actually bring a hidden, underground Spirit Vein to the surface.

“Quick, lock down the news! Issue a gag order to all clan members and Guests! Guan Chong, go to the clan treasury and retrieve the Earth Array to protect this Spiritual Spring. As long as we can draw the underground Spirit Vein to the surface, our Yushan Huang Clan can gain at least another thousand acres of Spirit Fields. With so many Spirit Fields to support us, producing another Foundation Establishment Cultivator won’t be difficult. The heavens themselves wish for the Yushan Huang Clan to prosper!”

The Spirit Veins assigned to Foundation Establishment Clans that migrated to the Chen Kingdom under the Pioneer Order were officially registered. Unless a clan committed a grave error, their claim would not be arbitrarily revoked. Moreover, Foundation Establishment Clans were forbidden from attacking one another to seize these allotted Spirit Veins.

Unclaimed Spirit Veins, however, were a different matter. These were Spirit Veins that had been missed during the original surveys by the Six Great Sects, and they always went to the worthy—whoever claimed them first, kept them.

The conflicts between Foundation Establishment Clans usually revolved around these very Spirit Veins.

Because the competition was so fierce, a single Foundation Establishment Clan often couldn’t monopolize an entire Spirit Vein. They had to cooperate with others to fend off the covetous eyes of other clans.

But this underground Spirit Vein was different. It was simply too close to the Yushan Huang Clan. The Huang Family was fully capable of claiming it entirely for themselves.

Standing atop the tree, Yang Jing watched the ecstatic Huang Family Cultivators, a smirk playing on his lips.

The next day in the Ghost Ruins Market, Yang Jing used the Inconstant Illusionary Form Technique to disguise himself as Huang Guanhong and set up a stall in the square to sell his wares.

A few Magical Artifacts were displayed on the stall. He had taken them from a Tribulation Cultivator—none other than the very one who worked most closely with Huang Guanhong. He had even lifted the Communication Talisman used to contact Huang Guanhong from the man.

Besides these Magical Artifacts, the stall also had rows of neatly arranged Jade Bottles, each engraved with a Restriction to seal in Spiritual Qi.

Huang Guanhong was a familiar face in the Ghost Ruins Market. As soon as he set up his stall, a Cultivator approached.

“Huang Haizi, didn’t you get your hands on some Spirit Marrow? You should be set for life. Why are you still out here running these shady side hustles?”

“I can’t believe even you caught wind of it. The Spirit Marrow was a fake. I was hoping to scam a few Spirit Stones out of the Celestial Treasure Tower for fun, but I didn’t expect their Shopkeepers to be as cautious as turtles. Even with a treasure like Spirit Marrow right in front of them, they insisted on inspecting it repeatedly. I had no choice but to leave with my fake.”

Yang Jing said, perfectly mimicking Huang Guanhong’s tone. He suspected the Chief Shopkeeper of the Celestial Treasure Tower was pulling strings behind the scenes; otherwise, the news wouldn’t have spread so quickly.

“You’ve got some serious nerve, trying to scam the Celestial Treasure Tower. You really must have a death wish.” As he spoke, the Cultivator picked up a Jade Bottle from the stall and asked, “What’s this Spirit Water?”

“My Jade Mountain Huang Family discovered a new Spiritual Spring, and the Old Ancestor immediately ordered it to be sealed off. You know the status my Huang Family’s Old Ancestor has in the Huangyuan Marketplace. If he claims to be number one in Artifact Refining, nobody can object, right? I smuggled this Spirit Water out myself. Selling it cheap, one Spirit Stone a bottle. You can’t go wrong at this price!”

The Cultivator immediately looked interested, took out a Spirit Stone, and bought a bottle.

He opened the Jade Bottle, a hint of confusion on his face.

“This is clearly just an ordinary Spiritual Spring. Aside from the Spiritual Qi being a bit richer in the Water Element, I can’t see any difference.”

The Cultivator poured a little into his mouth.

“Why does it have a strange taste? It’s a bit rank.”

“Could my Huang Family’s Old Ancestor’s judgment be wrong? If you don’t believe me, go take a look at my Huang Clan’s territory. That Spiritual Spring was sealed off with a Grand Array long ago.”

The Huang Family’s Old Ancestor had a rather famous reputation for Artifact Refining in the Huangyuan Marketplace. With Yang Jing’s endorsement, many Cultivators took out Spirit Stones to buy the Spirit Water. After all, for these Cultivators who lived on the edge, a single Spirit Stone was hardly a large sum of money.

Suddenly, Yang Jing reached out and grabbed a person’s wrist.

“For you, it’s two Spirit Stones.”

The man instantly became furious:

“On what grounds? Everyone else pays one, but I have to pay two!”

“On the grounds that you’re an Innate Martial Artist!”

He pulled back his hand, having confirmed the latent Demon Qi within the man’s body. The man was a Demon, one who had received a transplant of a Demon beast’s bloodline.

The man shot Yang Jing a hateful glare, tossed two Spirit Stones onto the stall, and took a bottle of Spirit Water.

Yang Jing impassively continued to tend his stall. ’I just hope these Demons are sharp enough to notice the trick with this Spirit Water.’

’After all, given the Iron Armor General’s deeply cautious nature, if all the useful information came solely from Wang Tong, he would definitely become suspicious and doubt Wang Tong’s reliability. He might even send these Demons to investigate and confirm everything multiple times, just to cross-reference the intel.’

’The price for them, as Demons, to make a move against the Huang Family within the Chen Kingdom’s borders is simply too high.’

’But if what I provide is merely circumstantial evidence, while the most critical and conclusive proof comes from the Demons directly affiliated with the Demon Country, then the probability of the Iron Armor General choosing to believe it outright will increase dramatically.’

After spending this much time with him, he had long since figured out the Iron Armor General’s personality.

After selling out of the Spirit Water, Yang Jing casually packed up his stall and vanished from everyone’s sight.

’He had already set the stage for the Iron Armor General and Si Yuan. All that was left was to watch them take their places and perform.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep