My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 378: Chapter 257: Earth Pivot’s Spirit Tour: Qinling Alchemy, The Longevity Bowl’s Radiance, and Dragon Vein Restoration (Part 3)

With an ability as insane as Li Xiang’s, all the ore veins deep underground were his for the taking, like his own private property.

When Li Xiang used his Crystal Vein Armor to mine underground, it was exceptionally stealthy. He didn’t have to apply for any permits, and he didn’t have to pay taxes.

Of course, these ore veins were just ”byproducts” of their search for a special Earth Vein, not the true purpose of their trip.

”If we want to find the Qinling Earth Vein, you might have been looking in the wrong direction, Li Xiang. The Qinling Earth Vein is the Dragon Ridge of Huaxia. It extends east from the Kunlun Ancestral Vein and carries the royal aura of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties. Its ore veins are nourished by Earth Marrow... According to the *Classic of Mountains and Seas: Western Mountain Chapter*, when the Yellow Emperor forged his tripods on Jing Mountain, he used Profound Yellow Essence mined from the northern foothills of the Qinling Mountain Range. The Bronze Tripods of the Western Zhou Dynasty contained 2.7% Purple Mansion Mica, which is why they haven’t rusted for millennia. And Emperor Wu of Han’s Five Coin Money was minted with Taiyi Profound Gold, which established the monetary dominance of the ’Han Half Tael’...”

Jiang Cai’Er’s eyes flashed. With a wave of her hand, a vast amount of data appeared, all in a virtual electronic format, holographically projected into the empty space before them. Li Xiang was dazzled. ’Cai’Er really is something else.’

’She’s a walking, living library!’

Soon, Jiang Cai’Er deduced the true location of the Dragon Vein from this data: the northern foothills of Lishan.

However, it was getting late, so they had to go back for a bit. Grandma had already prepared dinner. After they ate, Jiang Cai’Er went home to check in, then washed up and went to bed early.

A little after ten o’clock that night, the two of them snuck out for a date.

Now that Li Xiang could use Earth Escape, Jiang Cai’Er no longer had to go through the trouble of climbing out her window. Instead, Li Xiang went to pick her up, taking her directly deep underground. Once they were in the remote mountains, they resurfaced and continued on foot.

Traveling on the surface at night was even faster, thanks to Li Xiang’s Extreme Speed of 5.5 Mach.

He shot forward, and in the blink of an eye, he had brought Jiang Cai’Er to the northern foothills of Lishan. They landed on the ruins of Huaqing Pool, their combat boots crunching on the ice. The world around them was a vast expanse of white under a piercingly cold wind.

”This should be the place.”

They sank into the ground and began to search carefully. With Li Xiang’s Earth Vein Perception Ability, they quickly found a mysterious Earth Vein.

”Yanhuang Blood Jade?”

Looking at the ore vein, which pulsed faintly as if it were a living creature, Li Xiang recognized it without needing Cai’Er to point it out.

They were over three thousand meters underground. Within the vein were countless crystal-clear jade stones, but they were streaked with a rich, heavy, blood-red color that matched the legendary ”Yanhuang Blood Jade.”

This wasn’t Chicken Blood Stone, but a much higher-tier jade.

Legend had it that Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Heirloom Seal of the Realm was inlaid with a crystal of Yanhuang Blood Jade.

Li Xiang activated his superpower and, with a wave of his hand, broke off a large, pure piece of Yanhuang Blood Jade. It had natural patterns across its surface.

”Is this... a River Map pattern?” Jiang Cai’Er took it to observe more closely, exclaiming in amazement as she gently stroked its surface.

’The River Map? Does it have to be this fantastical?’ Li Xiang was stunned.

But then again, since this was the Dragon Vein of Huaxia, it wasn’t all that surprising.

Li Xiang led Jiang Cai’Er through the living ore vein. It had numerous branches, and they discovered many other special veins. These included the Profound Yellow Essence, Lantian Jade Marrow, Taiyi Profound Gold (which looked similar to the Obsidian Ore Vein of Mount Fuji, but instead of jade, it was an extremely hard, dark-colored alloy of various metals), and Purple Mansion Mica that Cai’Er had mentioned earlier.

These were just the names Jiang Cai’Er had inferred from ancient texts; in modern times, they all have different names, which won’t be detailed here.

”Cai’Er, have you noticed? A lot of the ore veins here are fractured,” Li Xiang said suddenly, after they had explored more than half of the area.

Jiang Cai’Er tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, ”Legend has it that the Dragon Vein here was severed by human hands. Perhaps it’s true. I just don’t know how they could have accomplished that in ancient times.”

”Were there Extraordinary Beings back then, or Feng Shui Mages?” The two of them weren’t from that era, after all. Still, with an Earth Vein Spirit present, the place must have held some profound mysteries before the Dragon Vein was severed.

”There probably were,” said Jiang Cai’Er. ”Also, I’ve detected a sleeping consciousness hidden within this Earth Vein. It’s similar to the ones we encountered in the Metaverse.”

”Artificial intelligence?” Li Xiang blurted out, but immediately shook his head. ”It must be a Spiritual Sense born from the Earth Vein. Since the vein was damaged, the entity itself must have been severely wounded.”

Mount Fuji’s Earth Vein had the Obsidian Black Gold Mountain Saint. This was the Chinese Ancestral Vein; there was no way it could be weaker than Mount Fuji’s. It was just that he wasn’t skilled in matters of Spiritual Sense and couldn’t communicate with it.

”Let me try,” Jiang Cai’Er said. She unleashed her Imaginary Number Corridor, creating a virtual Metaverse space and pulling Li Xiang’s consciousness inside.

Jiang Cai’Er was, of course, also inside.

”Whoa, is this the legendary Soul Out of Body experience from the old stories?” Li Xiang exclaimed, more convinced than ever of Jiang Cai’Er’s incredible talent.

”Something like that. It’s actually the Metaverse. Right now, we’re essentially Digital Life. I’m going to try and see if I can pull that Dragon Vein’s Spiritual Sense in here with us.”

’This is like creating a group chat in person,’ he thought, ’except it’s a virtual, 3D Metaverse group.’

After she spoke, Jiang Cai’Er closed her eyes. All sorts of strange symbols began to radiate from her body, converging into a stream of information that stretched out into the void.

It was all binary code, which Li Xiang couldn’t understand at all.

Li Xiang had been a top student himself, but compared to Jiang Cai’Er, he felt like a complete dunce.

”It’s no use,” she said a few minutes later, opening her eyes and shaking her head. ”The consciousness is still dormant and isn’t responding. It seems to have been severely wounded.”

Li Xiang thought for a moment, then asked, ”Is it possible there’s a language barrier?”