Earth Vein Anomaly, Mysterious Light Cocoon

Xuanwei was burning with anxiety. He pushed his Heavenly Immortal cultivation to the extreme, his immortal qi body transforming into a stream of light barely visible to the naked eye. In just a few breaths, he rushed back from the Myriad Laws Tower to the medicine garden in the back mountain.

Before he even landed, he sensed an unusual spiritual energy fluctuation coming from the depths of the medicine garden! It wasn't the orderly convergence of the "Void Spirit Drawing Array" he had set up, but rather a chaotic, restless tremor, as if something underground was awakening!

The spiritual plants, like the Spirit-Nourishing Grass and Vermillion Fruit, which had been growing so pleasingly, now looked somewhat listless, their spiritual energy severely depleted. The ground in the center of the medicine garden was slightly bulging, with faint wisps of Chaos Color qi escaping from the cracks. These wisps echoed the aura of the Chaos Bead in his Sea of Consciousness, yet possessed an independent, ancient essence.

The two disciples sent by Daoist Duobao, who were on guard at the entrance of the medicine garden, looked on nervously. Upon seeing Xuanwei arrive, they quickly stepped forward. "Senior Brother Xuanwei! You're back! For some reason, the Earth Vein began to fluctuate abnormally about half an hour ago, accompanied by this strange qi flow. We didn't dare to act rashly!"

"Thank you, junior brothers. Leave this to me." Xuanwei calmed his mind, waved them away, and entered the medicine garden alone.

He first checked the "Void Spirit Drawing Array" and found that the Origin Particle of Space at the array's core had become extremely dim due to the Earth Vein's disturbance, causing the array's operation to nearly halt.

"As expected, it's related to this..." Xuanwei's gaze was grave as he looked at the bulging ground and the escaping Chaos qi. He could clearly feel the Chaos Bead in his Sea of Consciousness resonating more intensely than before, and... craving? It was as if something below was deeply attracting it.

If it's good fortune, it can't be avoided; if it's misfortune, it can't be escaped! Since the commotion had already started, if he didn't investigate thoroughly, he feared endless repercussions!

He took a deep breath, first placing the "Minor Void Shifting Talisman" bestowed by Duobao on his immortal qi core, ready to activate it at any moment. Then, he fully circulated the [Deep Immortal Seclusion], merging his own aura with the surrounding chaotic spiritual energy and Earth Vein fluctuations. At the same time, he carefully drew upon a trace of the Chaos Bead's power to cover his body. Only then did he slowly sink beneath the bulging ground, like a drop of water seeping into the earth.

The deeper he went, the greater the pressure from the soil and rocks, but the more concentrated the Chaos qi became. This qi was pure and ancient, unlike any spiritual energy he had encountered before. It was closer to the aura within the Chaos Bead, yet possessed a unique "heaviness" and "carrying" Dao Rhyme.

"This feeling... it doesn't seem like an attack, but rather like... the aura naturally emanating from some kind of seal or gestating object?" Xuanwei was filled with shock and uncertainty.

He followed the direction of the densest qi flow, moving with difficulty through the earth. After descending an unknown depth, the area ahead suddenly opened up!

A huge, naturally formed underground cave appeared before him. The cave walls were covered with naturally formed Chaos Dao patterns, which were faintly glowing, absorbing the spiritual energy surging from the depths of the Earth Vein and transforming it into that Chaos qi, converging towards the center of the cave.

And in the center of the cave, it wasn't another fragment of the Chaos Bead as he had imagined, nor was it some ferocious beast, but a... cocoon of light, about a person's height, woven from countless threads of Chaos qi, appearing almost substantial!

On the surface of the light cocoon, the Chaos Dao patterns flowed slowly like living things, emitting a majestic life force and an ancient pressure as if from the very beginning of creation! Inside the light cocoon, a vague, curled-up silhouette could be faintly seen, as if slumbering, or perhaps gestating.

"What... is this?!" Xuanwei stared at the light cocoon in shock. He could feel that the Chaos Bead's target of resonance was this light cocoon! Or rather, the being inside the light cocoon!

This light cocoon emitted a life form of extremely high level. Its essence seemed... no less than the Remnant Seed of Jianmu within him! Moreover, that pure Chaos aura was of the same origin as the Chaos Bead, yet it was more ancient, more primal!

[Detected high-concentration Chaos Origin life reaction! Target status: Deep slumber/Mid-gestation.]

[Energy level: Cannot be accurately estimated (interfered by Chaos aura). Essence: Suspected innate Chaos creature or... nascent life gestated from the remains of a Chaos Demon God?]

[Chaos Bead resonance extremely high! Analysis: This light cocoon has a deep connection with the Chaos Bead, possibly being a lost part of the Chaos Bead's origin, or a special existence born from being nourished by the Chaos Bead's aura.]

[Warning! This light cocoon is in a critical gestation period, requiring immense energy, and is unconsciously drawing spiritual energy from the surrounding Earth Vein and... the life force of the host's spiritual plants! Forcible approach or interference may lead to unknown consequences!]

The System's analysis made Xuanwei's scalp tingle!

Innate Chaos creature? Nascent life from the remains of a Chaos Demon God? And a deep connection with the Chaos Bead? Each of these origins was more terrifying than the last!

Furthermore, this thing was stealing the spiritual energy and life force from his medicine garden! No wonder his Spirit-Nourishing Grass had wilted!

What should he do?

Leave it alone? Setting aside whether this light cocoon would drain his painstakingly managed medicine garden dry, the mere thought of what kind of being it would become after gestation was enough to make him lose sleep. If it gestated into a ferocious beast, he would be the first to suffer!

Forcefully destroy or move it? The System had clearly warned of unknown consequences. With his Heavenly Immortal cultivation, to tamper with an "egg" that could possibly be of Chaos Demon God level? He might as well be eating arsenic for longevity – seeking death!

Just as Xuanwei was caught between a rock and a hard place, the Chaos Bead in his Sea of Consciousness seemed to sense his hesitation and actively transmitted a gentle yet firm intention. It wasn't Yang Mei's lingering will, but the instinct of the Chaos Bead's own (weak) spirituality – it yearned to approach the light cocoon, as if it were a beneficial supplement, while also conveying a sense of appeasement, indicating that the light cocoon harbored no ill will.

Xuanwei pondered for a long time and finally decided to trust the Chaos Bead's senses. After all, the Chaos Bead was his greatest trump card, and being of the same origin as this light cocoon, its judgment should be more accurate.

He cautiously approached the light cocoon, stopping at a distance of about three zhang – this was the relatively safe distance assessed by the System.

He attempted to guide a trace of extremely faint Chaos qi, belonging to the Chaos Bead's origin, slowly towards the light cocoon.

Buzz!

The Dao patterns on the surface of the light cocoon instantly lit up, showing great affinity and desire for this aura of the same origin! It did not attack; instead, like a hungry infant, it greedily absorbed this trace of Chaos qi, and the light of the entire cocoon seemed to brighten and stabilize slightly.

At the same time, Xuanwei could feel that the light cocoon's absorption of the Earth Vein and his medicine garden's spiritual plant life force had weakened by a notch!

It's effective!

A thought flashed through Xuanwei's mind. Could it be that this light cocoon needed pure Chaos qi, rather than ordinary spiritual energy? Was its absorption of the Earth Vein and spiritual plant life force merely a "second-best" instinct?

If that were the case, then perhaps he had a way to "feed" it, or even... establish a connection with it?

He possessed the Chaos Bead. Although it didn't produce much Chaos qi, its purity and shared origin were its strengths! Moreover, as the Chaos Bead's repair progressed, the amount of Chaos qi produced would also increase!

This might not be a crisis, but an opportunity for long-term investment? Investing in a future Chaos creature?

This thought made Xuanwei's heart race uncontrollably! The risk was immense, but the potential reward was equally astonishing!

He immediately began to experiment. He stopped guiding Chaos qi from the outside and instead sat cross-legged (or hovered) three zhang away from the light cocoon. He circulated the Chaos Heaven-Opening Art, simultaneously communicating with the Chaos Bead, using himself as a relay station. He absorbed the chaotic spiritual energy from the Earth Vein, initially transformed it through the Chaos Bead, then mixed it with a trace of his own immortal qi and Wood Element Vitality (adjusted by the Remnant Seed of Jianmu to increase affinity), creating a gentler, more easily absorbable Chaos Spiritual Energy, which he slowly supplied to the light cocoon.

As expected, the light cocoon showed great satisfaction with this "customized nutritional meal"! It stopped frantically absorbing the Earth Vein and the medicine garden's life force, and instead, like a hungry chick, focused on absorbing the Chaos Spiritual Energy supplied by Xuanwei. The light cocoon's glow visibly stabilized and softened, and the vague silhouette within seemed to solidify slightly.

[Target energy absorption mode changed! Absorption from Earth Vein and external life force reduced by 80%!]

[Host and target established preliminary unidirectional energy link! Link stability: Low.]

[Chaos Bead resonance with target deepened, repair progress slightly increased (5.01% !)]

Success! Xuanwei was overjoyed. Although it would take considerable time and energy each day to "feed" this light cocoon, compared to his medicine garden being drained dry and the unknown risks, this was the best possible outcome!

More importantly, he could feel that during the energy exchange with the light cocoon, his own control over Chaos qi, his comprehension of the Chaos Heaven-Opening Art were deepening, and even the life force of the Remnant Seed of Jianmu was integrating more perfectly with the Chaos aura!

This was simply a bidirectional cultivation accelerator!

He settled his mind, maintaining the energy supply while beginning to use the pure Chaos Dao Rhyme emanating from the light cocoon to consolidate his Heavenly Immortal cultivation and comprehend divine abilities.

Time slowly flowed by in the silent underground cave.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Xuanwei felt his energy was significantly depleted and prepared to stop transferring it, the cocoon of light seemed to have "eaten its fill." It sent out a wave of contented, lazy mental fluctuations.

Immediately after, a chaotic Dao pattern on the surface of the cocoon glowed faintly. A small clump, about the size of a fingernail, with a chaos color and what looked like swirling nebulae within, separated from it and slowly drifted towards Xuanwei.

This clump of matter exuded an incomparably pure aura of primal Chaos. Its quality was even higher than the Chaos Qi that Xuanwei could currently convert!

[Detected "Chaos Source Gel" (trace)! Contains the most primordial power of Chaos creation, usable for improving origin/lineage, repairing origins, nourishing spiritual treasures, catalyzing spiritual roots... numerous effects!]

Chaos Source Gel! Xuanwei's eyes widened! This was truly a treasure! It would have unparalleled effects on repairing the Chaos Bead, nurturing the Remnant Seed of Jianmu, and even improving his own origin/lineage!

This cocoon of light actually "returned the favor"?!

He carefully caught the clump of Chaos Source Gel and merged it into his Immortal Qi body. Instantly, a warm current spread, nourishing every inch of his origin. Even the Chaos Bead and the Remnant Seed of Jianmu in his sea of consciousness transmitted waves of joyful intent.

"Mutual benefit... it seems this investment was worth it!" Xuanwei looked at the cocoon of light, which had once again fallen silent but now glowed with a more gentle radiance, a smile on his face.

He withdrew from the underground cave and returned to the Medicine Garden. As expected, the disturbance in the Earth Vein had subsided. Although some of the Spiritual Plants had lost a bit of their vitality, they were no longer wilting.

He readjusted the "Void Spirit Drawing Array," converting a portion of the drawn spiritual energy into Chaos Spiritual Essence through his energy link with the cocoon and sending it down. This established a stable channel for "nourishment."

After handling all of this, Xuanwei finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to head to the Myriad Laws Tower to select a Spiritual Power.

However, just as he stepped out of the Medicine Garden, a communication sword talisman flew through the air and hovered before him.

The sword talisman was wreathed in sharp sword intent, an aura he was very familiar with—it came from Yunxiao!

Xuanwei's heart tightened, and he quickly took the sword talisman. As his divine sense probed it, Yunxiao's voice, cool and clear with a hint of seriousness, sounded directly in his consciousness:

"Junior Brother Xuanwei, come to Three Immortal Island quickly. The Netherworld Taint Qi you dispelled when healing the Seven Orifices Exquisite Lotus... I have found some clues regarding its origin. It may be related to an old case from the Primordial World, and the implications are significant. I need to confirm it with you in person."

Clues about the Netherworld Taint Qi? An old case from the Primordial World?

Xuanwei's brow furrowed. The stone that had just been put down in his heart was lifted again. It seemed he would have to make a trip to Three Immortal Island once more. Moreover, judging by Senior Sister Yunxiao's tone, this matter was likely far from simple!