Chapter 14: I sneak attack!

The underground crevice was vast, growing wider the deeper they went, as if the entire Chunding Mountain had been hollowed out.

Li Xingruo, observing the surroundings, furrowed her brow:

“Stinking Taoist, is Chunding Mountain considered a major landmark in the immortal sects?”

“No, it’s just an ordinary stone mountain, barely a thousand meters high.”

Shi Xiangwen’s expression was unusually serious.

He kept examining the stone walls, his brows knitted into a frown.

After a long silence, he turned to Li Xingruo:

“Miss Xianer, you’ve noticed the anomaly here too, haven’t you?”

“The artificial carving marks on these walls are so obvious, you’d have to be blind not to see them.”

Li Xingruo pointed to the left wall. “And this underground space is ridiculously huge—probably half of Chunding Mountain is hollowed out.”

She quickened her pace to walk beside Shi Xiangwen, asking:

“So, you think this is related to the spirit vein eruption?”

“I’m not certain.”

Shi Xiangwen shook his head, frowning. “But seeing this anomaly inside the mountain, it feels like there’s some causal link to the spirit vein eruption.”

Li Xingruo agreed, closing her eyes to sense the surrounding spiritual energy.

As expected, the air, walls, and even the soil held traces of unusually volatile spiritual energy.

This energy was chaotic, encompassing all five elements and yin-yang.

If absorbed carelessly, it could clog meridians, damage cultivation, or even drive one to madness.

Withdrawing her spiritual sense, Li Xingruo said, “Spirit vein energy is supposed to be pure and balanced. How could such volatile energy come from the vein?”

Shi Xiangwen didn’t answer directly, instead asking, “What does Miss Xianer think?”

“Testing me, stinking Taoist?”

Li Xingruo shot him a glance, analyzing:

“I probed with my spiritual sense. This volatile energy penetrates dozens of meters into the walls, and some exposed rocks show signs of water corrosion, likely from prolonged exposure to water spiritual energy. So, I think this massive hidden space inside the mountain is the real culprit behind the Jueyun boat’s damage.”

She was confident in her analysis, but as she spoke, she realized she’d overlooked a key factor.

Shaking her head, she continued: “No, that’s not right. If it’s as I said, the energy torrent from here should’ve dispersed after hitting the Jueyun boat. But we didn’t sense anything odd on the way up. According to Li Feihu, this happened days ago—not enough time for the energy to fully dissipate.”

She shook her head again:

“Even if the energy erupted directly from the vein, it’d spread to the surrounding area after hitting the boat. Chunding Mountain’s spiritual energy isn’t denser than elsewhere…”

Her gaze shifted to Shi Xiangwen:

“Stinking Taoist, you noticed this already, didn’t you? That’s why you brought me to investigate the vein?”

Shi Xiangwen didn’t deny it, tacitly confirming.

He asked:

“In Miss Xianer’s view, are there other possibilities?”

“Another possibility… Li Feihu lied to you,” Li Xingruo clapped. “Maybe he damaged the boat himself, feared the sect’s punishment, and blamed the spirit vein.”

Shi Xiangwen countered, “Miss Xianer underestimates the Huangji Sect. Verifying whether the boat was damaged by spirit vein energy isn’t difficult.”

Li Xingruo pondered hard. “What else could it be?”

This time, Shi Xiangwen didn’t beat around the bush:

“Someone acted to collect or conceal that energy.”

“What?” Li Xingruo froze, then blinked in surprise. “Energy strong enough to hit a flying boat in the clouds and pierce its steel and talisman-protected hull must be immense. Collecting or hiding it without alerting anyone isn’t simple!”

At least… it’d take someone on the Demon Lord’s level.

Shi Xiangwen smiled. “Miss Xianer, don’t get so excited. It’s just a theory. We need to go deeper to uncover the truth.”

Li Xingruo was reluctant to take the risk and cautioned:

“Further in is the vein’s core, where all of Chunding Mountain’s earth energy converges. If something goes wrong, we might not even leave bones behind.”

“Just a quick look from a distance, not the core itself,” Shi Xiangwen insisted.

“You…”

Knowing he’d drag her along regardless, Li Xingruo gritted her teeth. “Fine, we’ll look, but only once. Whether we find anything or not, we retreat immediately!”

“Miss Xianer sure cherishes her life,” Shi Xiangwen chuckled.

“Duh, who doesn’t?” Li Xingruo rolled her eyes, thinking: I’m tasked with the demonic path’s revival—how can I risk my life like you, stinking Taoist?

Cursing inwardly, she followed Shi Xiangwen into the vein’s core area.

Upon entering, she felt a soothing, balanced energy.

“Odd, the energy here feels normal,” she muttered, puzzled.

Sensing the same, Shi Xiangwen hesitated, rubbing his brow. His eyes suddenly flashed with sharp light.

Li Xingruo didn’t know what technique he was using, but his face paled rapidly, then flushed unnaturally.

Looks like a technique backfired… she thought.

“Cough!”

As the thought crossed her mind, Shi Xiangwen tensed, the light in his eyes faded, and blood trickled from his mouth with a cough.

“Uh, what… happened to you?”

Seeing his technique halt and his bloodied, miserable state, Li Xingruo edged closer. “What were you doing with that eye glow? Backlash from a spell?”

Shi Xiangwen raised a hand, wiping the blood. “No matter, no matter.”

“You’re spitting blood and call it no matter?” Li Xingruo feigned concern, reaching to pat his back. “Are you okay? Let me help channel energy to heal you.”

Shi Xiangwen sidestepped, a cold smile on his pale face. “I didn’t expect Miss Xianer to care so much about me.”

Her hand missing, Li Xingruo lowered her arm, smiling. “I’ve always been kind-hearted, can’t stand seeing others suffer.”

“Your concern deserves my gratitude,” Shi Xiangwen leaned closer.

“No need!”

Li Xingruo swung a palm at him and bolted.

Damn, this stinking Taoist’s so cautious. I tried to push him into the vein’s core while he was injured, and now he’ll probably retaliate!