Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

33: Chapter 33: Nascent Soul Awakens (Continued)Nangong Xuan’s voice was soft, yet it detonated like a thunderclap in the silence of the earth vein.

Lin Mo’s heart instantly leaped into his throat. His newly stabilized chaos dao seed faltered slightly as he pushed all his Perception to the limit, warily scanning the direction Nangong Xuan had indicated.

In the darkness, there was initially nothing unusual. Only the eternal cold of the deep earth and the faint hum of the flowing Spiritual Vein.

But soon, a minute ripple, completely out of place with its surroundings, was keenly caught by Lin Mo, like a pebble dropped into a lake.

That ripple wasn’t a spiritual power impact; it was more like... a precise and cautious probe. Like invisible tentacles clinging to the rock walls and seeping through cracks, it scanned every inch of space with a cold, programmed efficiency. It wasn’t powerful, but it was exceptionally resilient and focused, clearly originating from some special Magical Artifact or a Cultivator who practiced a specific tracking Spell.

It’s the person in the White Mask! They really do have special tracking methods, to have locked onto this vague area beneath the earth vein so quickly!

The probing ripple advanced slowly, drawing closer and closer. He could already vaguely sense that its source seemed to be in a rock fissure somewhere above.

Nangong Xuan’s expression was grave. He tried to force a trace of true essence, but the black-green light at his fingertips flickered on and then quickly dimmed. He let out a muffled groan as a trickle of pale gold blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth again. With his heavily injured body, even the simplest Breath-Concealing Spell was difficult to maintain perfectly.

Su Muxue, within the ice, also seemed to sense the external threat. The rune on her forehead flickered uneasily, and the escaping Profound Yin Cold Qi caused another layer of thin frost to form on the surrounding rock walls. Under the enemy’s precise probing, this subtle energy change was no different from a beacon in the dark of night!

The probing ripple clearly paused for a moment, then began to seep more accurately toward the narrow rock vein where they were located!

Danger! Once they were completely locked on, in their current state, they would be like turtles caught in a jar!

At this critical juncture—

A flash of inspiration struck Lin Mo’s mind!

He remembered the chaos dao seed’s characteristic of devouring and transforming all things, especially its ability to encompass and decompose energy ripples. Although he couldn’t actively launch a large-scale attack now, what if... he mimicked it? What if he mimicked the aura of the earth vein itself to create a false energy barrier?

Without time for second-guessing, he immediately pushed the chaos dao seed with all his might!

The light cluster in his chest was no longer restrained. Instead, it began to ripple slightly at a strange frequency, emitting an aura that was no longer pure Chaos Dao charm. Instead, it simulated the heaviness of the surrounding earth vein rocks, the stagnation of Earth-Element Spiritual Power, and even the faint, foul remnant Death Qi of those Subterranean Beasts from before!

He did his utmost to ’smear’ his own aura to match the surroundings perfectly, spreading this simulated aura outward like an invisible, crude shroud, attempting to envelop the group!

This was an extremely risky attempt! His control over the chaos dao seed was still very rudimentary. This simulation was full of holes; if the opponent probed carefully, it would be exposed instantly! Furthermore, it was incredibly taxing on his mind!

Almost at the same time, the cold probing ripple touched his simulated ’protective shroud’.

The ripple visibly stagnated, as if momentary confusion had arisen. What it ’felt’ was an area of rock wall with stagnant energy, no different from the surroundings. The abnormal cold and faint life force it had vaguely sensed before seemed like a mere illusion.

But immediately following that, the ripple became even more condensed, like the tip of a needle, and began to try and penetrate the ’rock wall’ with relentless persistence!

Lin Mo groaned inwardly, feeling that his simulation was about to be punctured! The chaos dao seed fluctuated violently, and the mental exhaustion was immense.

Right then, a sharp light flashed in Nangong Xuan’s eyes! Though he lacked the strength to cast great Spells, his experience and insight remained!

He saw Lin Mo’s intention and predicament, and he also sensed the nature of that probing ripple. He abruptly raised his left hand—not to perform a hand seal, but with great difficulty, he forced out the last few drops of pale gold Lifeblood Essence from his fingertips and flicked them away!

Those few drops of Lifeblood Essence didn’t fly toward the source of the probe, but instead sank silently into the rock wall ahead and to the side!

In the next moment—

Rumble... In the rock layer dozens of yards ahead, a small-scale, muffled collapse suddenly occurred! Several massive boulders crashed down, causing significant commotion and energy turbulence! More importantly, the Nascent Soul aura contained within Nangong Xuan’s Lifeblood Essence—though faint—leaked out for a brief instant during the collapse!

In the depths of this earth vein, that sliver of Nascent Soul aura was like a lit torch in the darkness to the pursuers!

As expected!

The cold probing ripple above was instantly drawn toward the collapse and the Nascent Soul aura! Without hesitation, it abandoned the ’perfectly normal’ rock wall here and, like a shark scenting blood, rapidly spread toward the site of the collapse!

The crisis was temporarily averted!

Lin Mo immediately withdrew the simulation. The light of the chaos dao seed dimmed significantly, and waves of exhaustion washed over him. That brief confrontation of just a few breaths had cost him more mental energy than his previous self-purification.

Nangong Xuan coughed up another mouthful of blood, his face turning even more ashen. Using his Lifeblood Essence was a wound upon a wound for him. However, the look he gave Lin Mo was filled with wonder and praise.

”Little friend... good methods!” he transmitted, his breath unsteady. ”To be able to simulate the earth vein environment... the Dao of Chaos is indeed... infinitely profound...”

”Senior overpraises me; it was your timely response,” Lin Mo replied, still feeling lingering fear. If Nangong Xuan hadn’t acted decisively to create a diversion, he certainly wouldn’t have held out.

Both of them knew this was only a temporary measure. The opponent would soon discover the anomaly over there was a ruse and would inevitably return to probe this area even more carefully. They had to leave immediately!

”This place... is not suitable to stay!” Nangong Xuan struggled to stand, only to stumble.

Lin Mo immediately activated his Dao Seed, sending out a wisp of Chaos Qi as a gentle push to help him steady himself.

Nangong Xuan glanced at Liu Qingxuan’s remains, a flash of pain crossing his eyes. He then looked at the frozen Su Muxue, and finally, his gaze landed on Lin Mo.

”I need a brief meditation... half a quarter-hour... to recover a shred of mobility...” he rasped. ”Little friend... be alert...”

With that, he immediately sat cross-legged again. Ignoring his injuries, he frantically squeezed his potential, absorbing the earth vein Spiritual Qi to race against time.

Lin Mo stood guard by his side, his mind tense to the limit. He let his Perception out fully, monitoring every direction. He knew that this half a quarter-hour would be extremely long and dangerous.

Deep in the earth vein, the silence before the storm returned.

But this time, the hunter was on guard and would not be easily deceived again.

The true test had only just begun.