A Hundred Years of Wandering

Only after Lin Yan had traveled another several tens of thousands of miles did he discover another peculiar lotus in a swamp shrouded in Malevolent Qi.

The lotus grew from pitch-black mud, yet its petals were pure white. A point of golden light shone at its center, making it appear exceptionally sacred amidst the filthy surroundings.

[Pure World White Lotus (Seedling), Mid-grade Innate Spiritual Root. Born in places of utmost filth and turbidity, yet blooms with flowers of utmost purity and cleanliness. In its juvenile stage, it can purify Malevolent Qi and toxic miasma. Its lotus seeds contain life-giving creation energy and are supreme healing treasures. Its growth cycle is extremely long: it blooms once every Ten Thousand Years and bears seeds once every Ten Thousand Years.]

Lin Yan's eyes widened. A Mid-grade Innate Spiritual Root! This was an excellent treasure. Though it was only a seedling, its potential was limitless. Lin Yan quickly summoned the Earth Spirit Seal and simultaneously mobilized the Great Earth Origin within his body, storing the entire swamp, along with the Pure World White Lotus seedling, inside the Earth Spirit Seal's Internal Space.

This treasure seal was not only capable of both attack and defense, but also contained a small Internal Space for storing items. Moreover, that small space was filled with an extremely dense Earth Element Origin, making it more than sufficient for temporarily storing these Spirit Plants and spiritual treasures.

Besides plants and minerals, Lin Yan encountered quite a few Rare Beasts along the way. There were "Hallucinatory Butterflies," whose feathers were as dazzling as rainbows but could release mind-bewildering dust, and "Treasure Seeking Rats," small as mice, capable of digging at astonishing speeds and feeding on Spirit Ore. However, these small Spirit Beasts would immediately flee warily whenever they spotted Lin Yan from afar.

To gain a more detailed understanding of the true situation in the Outer Area of the Canyon, Lin Yan did not choose to travel using Evasion Techniques. Most of the time, he relied solely on his feet. The information displayed by the simulator was merely data and could not show the real scenery. Only after traveling all this way did he gain a direct understanding of the Primordial World's true appearance.

Thus, Lin Yan traveled and rested as he went, spending nearly a hundred years exploring the entire area surrounding the canyon.

A hundred years was no more than the flick of a finger to the Primordial World. Yet for Lin Yan, what he had seen and experienced over those hundred years allowed him to truly feel the savagery and cruelty of the Primordial World for the first time.

Regions swept by violent Malevolent Qi winds, swamps of boiling venom, and frequently erupting Earth Fire Torrents—such harsh environments were everywhere.

Beyond those naturally harsh environments, the omnipresent fierce beasts and Fierce Plants had also brought enormous ecological disasters upon this land.

He had once seen from afar an Earth Splitting Demonic Rhinoceros as massive as a mountain. With one stomp, the earth cracked apart and Malevolent Qi surged into the skies;

He had also encountered flocks of Corpse Soul Crows, shaped like vultures but bearing Bone Wings. Wherever they circled, vegetation withered and Living Beings vanished.

There were also Spirit Devouring Vines stretching for dozens of miles, writhing like living creatures as they dragged every passing Living Being underground and sucked them dry of blood and essence.

Over those hundred years, he had no idea how many such scenes he had witnessed.

Lin Yan showed no mercy toward vicious creatures whose strength matched his or was even somewhat weaker. Fully displaying his tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong, he unleashed the Earth Spirit Seal. Its yellow light was heavy as a mountain, and a single strike shattered the fierce beasts' bones and tendons. When the Wutu Divine Light swept past, the Malevolent Qi foundation the Fierce Plants relied upon for survival was completely washed away.

When facing troublesome fierce beasts, he would also make use of the terrain and employ formations to lay ambushes and kill them. If he encountered something he truly could not defeat, he would dive into the ground and use the Earth Dragon Clan's innate Earth Escape Technique to flee without a trace. He carried out the strategy of "fight if you can win, run if you can't" to perfection.

And every battle brought him gains. He had already collected an unknown number of fierce beast and Fierce Plant remains.

Nor did he spare those Spirit Beasts and Spirit Plants. Within the Earth Spirit Seal's Internal Space, he had specifically opened up a corner as a small "Spirit Plant Garden." Star Tear Orchids, several Clear Heart Bamboo stalks he had luckily found, and the most important Pure World White Lotus seedling had all been placed there.

"About time to head back." Lin Yan stood atop a barren mountain peak, gazing in the direction of the canyon. His hundred years of wandering had made him increasingly miss the noisy group of Younger Brothers back home, as well as the peaceful and leisurely atmosphere.

However, just as he prepared to return, the system's warning suddenly rang sharply in his mind:

[Warning! Earth Veins energy three thousand miles ahead is exhibiting abnormal agitation. A large-scale Earth Qi Eruption is predicted! The eruption core contains a high concentration of mixed Chaos Fiendish Energy and Innate Spiritual Qi. Danger Level: High!]

"An Earth Qi Eruption? Malevolent Qi and Spirit Qi erupting at the same time?" Lin Yan found it rather strange. He had never seen Spirit Qi and Malevolent Qi erupt simultaneously before.

"Something unusual must be behind this. Should I go take a look?" Driven by curiosity, Lin Yan decided to investigate. He used the Earth Escape Technique and silently made his way toward the warning location.

Before long, he reached the edge of the Earth Qi Eruption zone. The sight before him made him suck in a cold breath.

Within an enormous basin ahead, the earth was violently churning and bulging. Countless thick pillars of energy crazily burst forth from underground. Their colors were weird: one half was destruction Malevolent Qi, murky as ink, while the other half was dense, pure Innate Spiritual Qi.

The two utterly opposing energies tangled together, colliding and annihilating each other, yet strangely maintaining a dynamic balance as they emitted deafening roars.

At the Core Area of the eruption, space had already been twisted by the two energies. The ground had split open into bottomless ravines, while violent Energy Turbulence tore everything nearby to pieces. Even from a great distance, Lin Yan could feel that terrifying power capable of destroying Heaven and Earth.

"Good grief. If I got sucked into that, there probably wouldn't even be ashes left of me." Lin Yan clicked his tongue inwardly and no longer dared approach. He found an enormous boulder and secretly observed from behind it.

He tried inspecting it with the system atlas, but the information it returned was [Unable to Identify].

"Even the atlas can't identify it?" A thought stirred in Lin Yan's heart. The system's Primordial Basic Knowledge Atlas could only identify low-grade Spirit Ore Mineral Deposits or ordinary Living Beings. Whenever the atlas showed that it was unable to identify something, it often meant that the item was of an extremely high grade, beyond the atlas's range of recognition.

Lin Yan faintly felt that he might have encountered a great treasure this time. Thus, he decided to wait patiently for a few days and see what sort of treasure was about to emerge.

This earth-shaking Earth Qi Eruption lasted for three full days and nights. Once the final pillar of energy slowly withdrew underground, calm gradually returned to the basin. All that remained was a Giant Pit over a thousand zhang in diameter and bottomless in depth, along with a strange smell lingering in the air—a mixture of pure Spirit Qi and pungent Malevolent Qi.

After waiting another half day and confirming that there was no further danger, Lin Yan cautiously descended to the bottom of the pit.

Deep within the pit, Treasure Light flickered faintly. An unusual suction force could also be felt, seemingly drawing the surrounding Malevolent Qi and Spirit Qi down beneath the earth.

"Sure enough, there's something good here!" Lin Yan summoned the Earth Spirit Seal to protect himself, activated his Innate Divine Ability, and tunneled deeper underground.

He had no idea how long he traveled downward before Lin Yan suddenly fell into a vast, empty space. At its center, an object floated in midair, wrapped in a gentle and strange glow.

Lin Yan examined it carefully and discovered that the object inside the ball of light was an Octagonal Disc no larger than his palm. Its material was neither metal nor jade, resembling both stone and wood, with incomparably complex patterns covering its surface.

Most miraculous of all, the front of the disc emitted streams of pure Spirit Qi, while its reverse side released streams of violent Malevolent Qi. Spirit Qi and Malevolent Qi were clearly separated, yet did not mingle at all.