Chapter 136 Upgrading the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Veins,
Earth Escape Technique
“You may leave now.”
“Whether the Sea Sand King’s defeat shakes Aragon Country or not, the sky over the De
Molinos family will not collapse.”
“As for the Albigensians Sect aligning itself with the demonic path… I suppose it’s time I paid
them a visit.”
Seated in his chamber, Arius spoke in an even, composed tone.
Hearing that his ancestor planned to travel to the Albigensians Sect, the scar-faced elder of the
De Molinos family grew even more puzzled.
At this moment, heading to the Albigensians Sect was clearly not a wise decision.
But the Ancestor’s thoughts were not something a mere mortal like him could hope to
comprehend.
With a respectful bow, he took his leave.
Once the elder departed, Arius walked into the depths of the treasury, entering his private
secluded chamber.
Sitting cross-legged, he laid out various resources before him.
His first priority was to use the Appraising Immortal Mirror to fully repair and upgrade the Level 2
Spirit Gathering Array embedded within the chamber.
During his last restoration attempt, the array had only managed to recover to a mere Level 1
formation, tripling the concentration of spiritual energy in the area.
But if he could fully restore and upgrade it, the array’s range and effectiveness would increase
dozens of times over.
According to his plan, Arius wasn’t just going to restore this Level 2 formation.
He was also going to upgrade the spiritual veins beneath the Blood Wolf Mountain Range.
With Gu’s token in his possession, many of Arius’s previous concerns were now irrelevant.
Once he had restored the formation and elevated the spiritual veins, he would spend the next
few months advancing his cultivation to the Peak of Level 1.
Only then would he set out for the Albigensians Sect.
Arius had three objectives for his visit to the Albigensians Sect.
1. To make a statement
○ He would reveal Gu’s token to intimidate the sect and use them as a stepping
stone to deliver a clear message to both the righteous and demonic factions—
The De Molinos family is under the protection of a Pill Alliance powerhouse.
○ Gu had given him this token, and while he lacked the strength to stand on his
own just yet, he would not hesitate to leverage this backing.
○ As long as he openly walked into the Albigensians Sect, no matter how Aragon
Country’s future changed, the De Molinos family would remain untouchable.
2. To retrieve D e Molinos Noah and his guardian elder
○ With the Albigensians Sect now aligned with the demonic path, its future was
doomed.
○ Once the righteous faction organized a counteroffensive, the sect would be
eradicated.
○ Arius had originally planned for De Molinos Noah to infiltrate the sect, slowly
gaining influence and control over it.
○ But circumstances had changed.
○ Now that they had turned to the demonic path, their days were numbered.
3. To assess the Albigensians Sect’s position in the coming storm
○ Regardless of whether the demonic factions conquered Aragon Country or if the
remaining kings reclaimed control, the Albigensians Sect would be at the heart of
the conflict.
○ Their so-called ancestors might have the ability to abandon their sect and flee,
preserving their own lives.
○ But the sect’s legacy?
○ That was as good as lost.
At the end of the day, the Albigensians Sect simply lacked the foundation to withstand the
coming storm.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Arius continued his preparations, placing a wealth of
resources onto the Appraising Immortal Mirror.
A gentle radiance enveloped the damaged Spirit Gathering Flags, its soft glow pulsing with
mysterious power.
The resources required to restore and upgrade the Level 2 Spirit Gathering Array were still
within Arius’s means.
But as for upgrading the spiritual veins beneath the Blood Wolf Mountain Range—
That was another matter entirely.
Even Arius himself was uncertain about how far he could enhance them.
One thing, however, was certain:
The resources required to elevate the spiritual veins would be far greater than anything needed
for a mere Spirit Gathering Array.
After all, a Spirit Gathering Array simply concentrated and siphoned spiritual energy from a wide
area—hundreds or even thousands of miles—to create a localized cultivation hotspot.
But spiritual veins?
They were the very source of spiritual energy, generating it on their own and nourishing all living
things within their domain.
The spiritual vein beneath the Blood Wolf Mountain Range was nothing more than a micro-sized
Heaven and Earth Spiritual Vein—and it was slowly withering away…
Nearly fifteen minutes passed before Arius, using the Appraising Immortal Mirror, finally
completed the restoration of the Level 2 Spirit Gathering Array!
Before the restoration, the array’s effective range had been a mere few dozen meters.
But now, its coverage has expanded to an astonishing five hundred meters!
As for its spiritual energy concentration—it had increased from three times the normal level to
thirty times!
Previously, it had been nothing more than a damaged formation.
Now, however, with its complete restoration and upgrade, the cost to maintain it had also
skyrocketed.
The original monthly energy consumption had been merely two fragments of low-grade spirit
stones.
Now, it required a full two low-grade spirit stones per month!
“Next… it’s time to restore and upgrade the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Vein.”
However, Arius did not immediately activate the Spirit Gathering Array.
He was still far from wealthy, and every spirit stone counted.
He needed to be careful with his resources.
Sitting in the secluded chamber, Arius held the Appraising Immortal Mirror in his hands. A
thought suddenly struck him.
If he wanted to strengthen the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Vein beneath the Blood Wolf
Mountain Range, he would have to expose it to the mirror’s radiance.
But the spiritual vein was buried deep beneath the earth.
That meant there was only one solution—he would have to dig his way down.
With no other choice, Arius began flipping through his collection of spell manuals, searching for
an earth-escape technique.
Fortunately, he only needed a basic method to burrow underground—nothing complex.
After some searching, he found what he was looking for—a basic Earth Burrowing Technique.
This spell was not particularly profound.
In fact, for most cultivators, even if they mastered it, it was nearly useless.
It was almost never used for escape.
Without a primary cultivation method based on Earth-element techniques, using the Earth
Burrowing Technique would result in incredibly slow movement and a massive drain on mana.
For cultivators who did not specialize in Earth-element arts, attempting to use Earth Burrowing
to flee from an enemy was tantamount to digging their own grave.
Within his secluded chamber, Arius sat cross-legged, his expression calm as he comprehended
the cryptic incantations written in the manual.
It took him nearly nine days before he barely managed to grasp the fundamentals of the spell.
The process had been far more difficult than expected.
There was no helping it—his primary cultivation technique, the Crimson Flame Dao Canon, was
aligned with the Fire element.
This conflicted with the Earth-element nature of the technique, making it much harder for him to
learn.
One thing was certain—when his cultivation was high enough and his lifespan long enough, he
would make it a priority to master all five elemental cultivation techniques.
There was an ancient saying—
“When the Five Elements merge as one and reach perfection, one can use them as the
foundation to comprehend the Three Thousand Great Daos and the fundamental truths of the
universe.”
“Descend!”
With a soft command, Arius unleashed his mana.
Instantly, faint brown light radiated from his body, spreading in soft ripples.
In the next moment, his entire body sank into the earth.
Ten meters… a hundred meters… a thousand meters…
The deeper he went, the more terrifying the pressure of the earth became.
If not for the inherent strength of a Level 1 cultivator’s body, he would have been crushed into
pulp by the time he reached a few hundred meters.
By the time he had burrowed ten thousand meters deep—his physical endurance nearly
reaching its limit—
He finally found it.
The hidden Heaven and Earth Spiritual Vein, buried deep beneath the surface.