Chapter 443: |
North State, the far north land.
Lin Jiang and Xia Qingshan secretly arrived at North State. The current North State was not much different from a thousand years ago. It was still vast and sparsely populated, with more demonic beings and the Human Demon Clan than humans.
The current North State was controlled by the Tianxuan Sect, or more precisely, by Zhou Huaiying. The once Xiaotian City had become Zhou Huaiying’s private property. He didn’t make any innovations; he just did things as Xiaotian City did before, but all the income went into his pocket.
Once past the former Xiaotian City area, the population became even scarcer. Lin Jiang and Xia Qingshan avoided Zhou Huaiying’s private soldiers’ patrol routes and ventured into the northern regions of North State.
"Once we’re here, those patrols won’t come."
Lin Jiang stood on an ice mountain and said. The temperature here is already very low. Ordinary cultivators with golden cores and Nascent Souls must keep their spiritual energies functioning at all times to resist the cold, which is very draining. The patrol cultivators are not so diligent; they naturally slack off and hardly ever venture this far in.
Xia Qingshan remained silent and looked around. Lin Jiang noticed a peculiar glow in Xia Qingshan’s eyes, probably some kind of eye technique.
"There is nothing here."
"Brother Xia, what kind of secret technique did you just use?"
"Then thank you, Brother Xia."
"No need, Qi Observing Skill is not a very powerful technique, and it has many limitations."
"What can Brother Xia see with Qi Observing Skill?"
"I can see the energy of mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, lakes, seas, people, monsters. Everything has its own energy, and when they come into contact, their energies merge. Third Sister is trapped because of this, there is a powerful presence interfering. Maybe he can hide well, but there will definitely be traces left behind."
"I don’t understand."
"····"
Lin Jiang felt a bit embarrassed, but he knew that most people in the cultivation world wouldn’t understand either. Xia Qingshan was very skilled in the ways of the cultivation world, which made him quite unfamiliar to everyone.
"Just follow me, Brother Li. North State is vast, so you’ll need to be patient. We might have to search for a long time."
"Don’t worry, Brother Xia. Patience is one thing I have plenty of."
Lin Jiang said that Lin Ying could spend hundreds of years searching for Lin Die, so his own time was nothing compared to that.
The two of them searched North State by foot, exploring every corner in the most simple but effective way possible.
After ten years, Xia Qingshan finally stood on a glacier, took out a jade slip, and asked. Brother Li, do you think the terrain here matches what’s on this jade slip?
"We’ve checked out dozens of terrains like this one."
"No, this one is different."
"What makes it different?"
"Hiding wind and gathering energy, this is an excellent Feng Shui location. If I’m not mistaken, there must be a super large spiritual vein underground."
"If I remember correctly, the You State sect once searched for the spiritual vein of the North State. The North State spiritual veins are very rare, mostly small to medium-sized, without any large ones, let alone super-large ones."
Lin Jiang said. Super large spiritual veins in the cultivation world are very few, only some extremely ancient sects possess them, like the Danxia Sect. Most other sects only have large spiritual veins. If there were super large spiritual veins in the North State, they would have been discovered long ago.
"Spiritual veins change, and many are hidden deep underground. It’s normal for some to go unnoticed."
"Okay, let’s dig, right?"
"Dig."
Xia Qingshan said, Lin Jiang then soared into the sky, Qing Gang Sword flew out, slashing at the iceberg. The iceberg collapsed, but had no effect, there was just more ice underneath.
"Brother Xia, please help. This iceberg is extremely hard and almost turning into mysterious ice."
"Okay."
Xia Qingshan nodded, Lin Jiang threw him a sword, and both of them controlled flying swords to start cutting mountains and breaking stones.
Both of them were experts in Soul Changing techniques, their movements were very fast. In just one day, an ice mountain turned into an ice pit, yet there was still no trace left.
"Brother Li, trust me."
Xia Qingshan was very confident, and Lin Jiang, without saying much, continued to work as a laborer, digging mountains.
Lin Jiang fully experienced what it means to move mountains like the foolish old man. Without stopping for half a month, he dug countless rocks, ice blocks, and frozen soil. A giant pit with a diameter of three kilometers appeared on the ground, already several hundred meters deep.
"Taoist Friend Li, come quickly."
A few days later, while Lin Jiang was meditating to restore his spiritual power, Xia Qingshan suddenly exclaimed. Lin Jiang flew into the deep pit.
"It’s mysterious ice. How could there be mysterious ice at this depth?"
When Lin Jiang arrived at the deep pit, Xia Qingshan pointed at the ground and said. This doesn’t make sense. There are ice blocks on the surface, then frozen soil and rock layers below. How could there be mysterious ice?
"This is not just mysterious ice, but also a kind of seal."
"What kind of seal?"
"I don’t know yet, Brother Li. Let’s dig along the edge of this mysterious ice and reveal the whole thing."
"Can’t we just break it directly?"
"Do you remember when I told you there was a terrifying presence by your Third Sister’s side? Do you want to directly awaken it?"
"Oh, I see. However, this project is too big. I will go find people to help."
Lin Jiang said. This project is so huge that there is no end in sight. Who knows how big this mysterious ice is. They have to dig all around, and it will take them a lot of time. That’s why Lin Jiang chose to find people to help.
Nearly a month later, Lin Ying arrived with over thirty members of the Lin family, most of whom were Nascent Soul cultivators. Almost all the Lin family’s experts were brought out.
"Brother, who is this…"
"Xia Qingshan"
"Ah"
Lin Ying was a bit confused, she knew exactly what Xia Qingshan’s identity was now, why was he mixing with her brother.
"Don’t ask so many questions, his identity is strictly confidential, you help with digging the hole first."
"Okay"
Without a word, Lin Ying came only after receiving a message from the Third Sister.
With some help, Lin Jiang took on the role of a boss, directing the Lin family’s children to dig the hole. After more than a month, the entire mysterious ice began to emerge. It was an Ice Stone, more than a kilometer in length and hundreds of meters wide. The inside of the ice was invisible, and even divine sense couldn’t penetrate it.
"Taoist Friend Xia, what do we do next?"
"First, let the subordinates leave. We don’t know the situation inside yet, but the danger is very high."
"Okay, Lin Ying, you take the people back first."
"Brother, I’ll stay, the others can go first."
"Don’t be silly."
"You stop being silly, I am Void Achieving, you are Soul Changing."
Lin Ying said directly, "Lin Jiang, that’s so embarrassing, how could I forget about that."
The descendants of the Lin family retreated first, three people stayed behind, Lin Ying took action, releasing hundreds of spiritual talismans around the Ice Stone, each talisman activated, all of them were fire attribute spiritual talismans, unleashing fierce fire dragons.
When the energy of the spiritual talismans was depleted, the rocks several tens of meters away were melted by the fire, but after Lin Jiang cast a spell to disperse the water vapor, he found that the Ice Stone had no trace at all.
"Just attack directly, brother, give me the Sagittarius Bow first."
"Okay."
Lin Jiang gave back the Sagittarius Bow to Lin Ying. Lin Ying fully pulled the bowstring and shot an arrow.
"Boom"
The spiritual light hit the Ice Stone, creating a hole, but the next moment, the hole healed itself.
"Lin Ying, don’t be foolish"
Lin Jiang saw Lin Ying wanting to use the Burning Life Secret Method and immediately stopped her, it was not worth it.
Although Lin Jiang cared deeply for Lin Die and wanted her to live, he realized that sacrificing too much for Lin Die wouldn’t be worth it.
"Taoist Friend Xia, do you have any more solutions?"
"No, even Void Achieving can’t break through, let alone me."
"Is my Third Sister really here?"
"I can’t be sure, but since there’s nowhere else to go, I can’t think of anywhere else."
"Okay, Lin Ying, do you have a very big bag to put this Ice Stone in and take it away? We can figure out a plan slowly."
"Okay."
Lin Ying nodded, she did have a very big bag that could fit something like this.
Lin Ying took out the storage bag, used magic to control the Ice Stone, trying to put it into the bag, but the Ice Stone remained still, even Lin Ying’s magic couldn’t move it, which was strange.
Lin Jiang immediately stepped forward, also using his magic to help Lin Ying, both of their powers reached their limits, and the Ice Stone started hovering unsteadily in the air.
After finally managing to stuff the Ice Stone into the storage bag, in less than a second, there was a loud bang, the storage bag shattered, and the Ice Stone fell out.
"Indeed, there is a living creature inside the Ice Stone."
Lin Jiang sneered, realizing that the storage bag couldn’t hold living creatures, he had only wanted to test it.
"Crack"
As soon as Lin Jiang spoke, a block of ice fell from the Ice Stone and slowly began to melt.
"Brother Li, run quickly!"
Just as Lin Jiang was waiting for the ice block to melt, Xia Qingshan’s anxious voice suddenly came.