Earth Vein Survey

Three years later, Xuande, Jieyin, and Zhunti arrived at Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain precisely on schedule.

Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun were also fully prepared.

After brief pleasantries, they wasted no further time, mounting their clouds and heading straight west.

Wuzhuang Temple was originally situated near the boundary between the eastern and western Primordial Wilderness, slightly on the eastern side.

Flying westward for only a few days, the surrounding scenery began to undergo subtle changes.

The vibrant, energetic, and thriving vitality of the Eastern lands, where Spiritual Energy brimmed and all things flourished, receded like a tide.

Replacing it was a somewhat somber, desolate scene.

The mountains and rivers remained majestic.

But many peaks displayed unnatural fractures or tilts, as if violently twisted by some immense force.

Rivers and streams grew sparse, many channels dried to the bone, or reduced to murky trickles.

The earth's color shifted toward grayish-yellow, and vegetation was noticeably thinner.

Mostly drought-resistant, barren-tolerant plants; the lush forests and spiritual herbs common in the East were rare to see.

The Spiritual Energy in the air also thinned, flowing sluggishly.

Occasionally, faint chaotic fluctuations could be felt, like an asthmatic patient struggling to breathe.

"This is what the West looks like now."

Jieyin gazed at the scene below.

His voice was low, and the sorrowful expression on his face had not faded since they crossed into Western territory.

"The calamity of Rahula has left deep poison."

Zhunti also dropped his smile, brows tightly knit:

"The deeper we go, the more obvious the damage to the Earth Veins.

In many places, the spiritual mechanism is nearly severed."

Xuande observed silently. Though he had mentally prepared himself, seeing the "sickness" of this vast land with his own eyes still shook him.

This was not merely a difference in scenery, but a decline in the entire region's "vitality."

He could faintly sense, deep beneath his feet, a soundless pain and obstruction.

It was utterly unlike the steady, solid feeling he had sensed at the eastern border.

Zhenyuanzi's expression was grave; he sensed it more clearly than the others.

As the wielder of the Earth Scroll, every discomfort in the land beneath his feet transmitted directly to his heart.

He said solemnly, "The Earth Qi is tangled like a mess of hemp—many veins are broken, blocked, or twisted.

If this continues, the West's vitality will only weaken further. Daoist friend Hongyun, can you sense it?"

Hongyun had also put aside his usual levity, his face serious as he carefully perceived the surroundings:

"The chaotic Earth Qi has thrown water vapor out of balance, winds are sluggish, and even the earthfire seems unstable.

The Four Symbols are unbalanced—no wonder all things wither.

The situation is even more severe than I imagined."

The five continued westward. The deeper they ventured into the Western heartland, the more shocking the sights became.

Sometimes they saw enormous rift valleys, bottomless, emitting chaotic and impure turbid Qi.

Sometimes they encountered utterly dead wastelands, barren of any grass, only bare sand and rock.

Occasionally, they spotted remnants of living settlements, mostly feeble, struggling to survive on the impoverished land.

"We can no longer just skim the surface like this."

Zhenyuanzi halted his cloud and spoke to the others.

"We need to thoroughly and carefully survey the damage to the Earth Veins across the entire Western land, and draw a detailed vein map, before we can prescribe the right remedy.

This will take time, and I must fully activate the Earth Scroll to sense it—I cannot be greatly disturbed during the process."

Xuande nodded: "Daoist friend Zhenyuanzi speaks truly. The four of us can guard you, ensuring the investigation proceeds smoothly."

Jieyin and Zhunti naturally had no objections. Hongyun also said, "Daoist brother, just focus on your work; leave the protection to us."

Zhenyuanzi chose a relatively stable, high barren mountaintop to descend.

He sat cross-legged, nodded to the others, then calmed his breath and raised his hands.

An ancient book, radiating a thick, earthy yellow light, its cover engraved with patterns of mountains, rivers, and veins, slowly rose from above his head—it was the Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Earth Scroll, also known as the Heaven and Earth Mirror.

The Earth Scroll hovered three feet above Zhenyuanzi's head and slowly unfurled.

The pages rustled without wind, emitting a soft yet vast, earthy yellow glow.

This glow was not harsh, yet it spread like quicksilver across the ground.

Seeping without obstruction in every direction, especially deep into the earth.

Zhenyuanzi closed his eyes, his entire mind connected to the Earth Scroll.

Through the Earth Scroll's unique ability to link with the primordial essence of the Primordial Wilderness.

He began to perceive the flow of Earth Veins, the movement of Spiritual Energy, and the points of damage beneath every inch of the Western lands...

Xuande, Jieyin, Zhunti, and Hongyun stood at the Four Directions, guarding Zhenyuanzi at the center.

Each deployed their own methods, setting up simple warning and defensive barriers.

On alert for any interference that might come from outside or from underground.

Time, in this state of focused investigation, slipped away unnoticed.

One year, ten years, a hundred years...

For a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, as long as the mind was immersed in the Great Dao or important matters.

The concept of time would blur.

Zhenyuanzi did not remain seated motionless the entire time.

Every so often, when the Earth Scroll's resonance with a certain region reached a sufficient level.

He would shift positions under the protection of the group, moving to another area to continue deeper perception.

They traversed the West's high mountains, deep valleys, plains, and deserts, setting foot on nearly every important Earth Qi node.

Xuande and the other three accompanied him the entire way, witnessing firsthand the devastation of the Western lands.

And seeing firsthand how Zhenyuanzi meticulously and tirelessly recorded and analyzed every anomaly in the Earth Veins through the Earth Scroll.

Sometimes he would suddenly point out that beneath an ordinary-looking patch of ground, a tiny Spiritual Vein was on the verge of complete fracture.

Other times, he would pause for a long time before a violent eruption of Earth Qi, deducing the root of its chaos.

Hongyun was not idle either.

Coordinating with Zhenyuanzi's investigation, he used his sensitivity to the Four Directions' Qi.

Carefully distinguishing and recording the abnormal manifestations of Water, Wind, and Fire caused by the disorder of Earth Qi in various places.

He discovered that at many points where Earth Veins were broken, the underground water systems were also disrupted or dried up.

Where Earth Qi was blocked, fierce winds often raged endlessly or the air stagnated.

And in areas where Earth Fire was unstable, abnormal sensations of dry heat or yin cold emanated.

Jieyin and Zhunti were responsible for shallow communication with the West's remaining Earth Veins and Earth Spirits, assisting Zhenyuanzi in verifying some perceptions.

And when Zhenyuanzi needed to actively stimulate a certain Earth Qi to observe its reaction, they provided magical power support.

Xuande, besides guarding, silently observed and learned.

Zhenyuanzi's application of the Earth Dao was nothing short of divine—it was not brute force.

But like the most skilled physician, using the finest divine sense and Dao resonance to take a pulse.

Hongyun's grasp of the Four Directions' changes was also extremely exquisite, able to see subtle connections that ordinary people overlooked.

All of this deepened Xuande's understanding of the operation of heaven and earth and the art of regulation.

Unknowingly, over ten thousand years passed in this journey of investigation.

One day, at the edge of a place in the far West called the "Sea of Nirvana."

Zhenyuanzi slowly withdrew the radiance of the Earth Scroll and opened his eyes.

His face bore deep exhaustion.

But his gaze was exceptionally bright and clear, clearly having grasped the overall condition of the West's Earth Veins.

"I have troubled all you Daoist friends," Zhenyuanzi said with a long sigh, addressing the four who had guarded him.