Observations of the Primordial World

This was the first time Lin Yan had exerted his Earth Vein Travel divine ability to its full potential. Ever since the system had upgraded his Earth Vein Travel to the intermediate level, he hadn't had the chance to verify the effectiveness of this movement technique. Today was the perfect opportunity to put it to the test.

The sensation of traveling through the underground was quite marvelous.

Lin Yan felt as if he were no longer traveling through the earth's veins, but had instead become a part of the veins themselves. His consciousness extended forward, flowing along those invisible, intertwined pathways.

Surrounding him was not solid soil or rock, but blurred, flowing shadows of dim yellow light. Occasionally, pure Wutu Earth Essence Qi or scattered minerals would flash past the edges of his "vision."

As Lin Yan traveled underground, he seemed able to perceive the vibrations of the earth's veins, sensing countless minute energy nodes and the distribution of mineral deposits and spirit veins. Meanwhile, the system's Mini Ecology Simulator recorded massive amounts of information along the way—terrain, spirit qi concentration, miasma distribution, signs of life, and more—projecting an ever-expanding dynamic map within his Sea of Consciousness.

Not only that, he could even faintly perceive movements on the surface above: in one hollow, several beasts resembling wild boars, their tusks gleaming with black light, were rooting for spirit mushrooms that had just sprouted. Their foul-smelling saliva dripped onto the mushroom caps, making a sizzling sound.

On another rocky slope, a blood-red vine covered in barbs was quietly wrapping around a small beast passing by, the vine tightening with a teeth-grinding friction.

He did not know how much time had passed before Lin Yan sensed that his destination was near. With a shift of his intent, his body detached from the earth veins, slowly solidifying as he ascended toward the surface.

The light before him brightened, and he stood atop the peak of Black Mountain. The mountain wind was biting, whipping his robes with a loud flapping sound. The gnarled old pine tree stood just a few steps away, its bark cracked like dragon scales, its needles sparse yet vigorous.

Almost the moment he emerged from the ground, the seven-colored rosy clouds above converged, and Mo Xuan landed, his four hooves stepping on the clouds.

Mo Xuan looked at Lin Yan, then lowered his head to look at his own feet, curling his lip. "Just by a hair. You won. But when did your movement technique become so formidable? You couldn't outrun me before."

Lin Yan laughed. "This is the Earth Vein Travel technique I recently mastered. Although the speed is decent, it can only follow the path of the earth veins. It's not as flexible as your flying technique, which lets you go wherever you please," Lin Yan said honestly.

"That's still pretty impressive." Hearing this, Mo Xuan felt a bit more at ease. Over the years, he had felt increasing pressure from Lin Yan. At this rate of development, Lin Yan would soon surpass him in every aspect.

"Your Earth Vein Travel can be used for both travel and escape. Once you dive into the ground, your aura vanishes completely; an average person wouldn't be able to catch you." Even though he had lost the race, Mo Xuan still provided an objective assessment.

The Black Mountain range was the furthest reach of the Earth Dragon Community's influence. Lin Yan stood on the peak, looking out toward the wilderness on the side of the canyon. Although vast stretches of land still appeared grayish-yellow or scorched black, there were quite a few oases dotted in between—the fruits of the Earth Dragon Community's tireless efforts at reclamation over the years.

But on the other side of the mountain, miasma was almost everywhere, filling valleys, swamps, plains, and even the depths of earth fissures. At the edge of his vision, where the sky met the earth, one could even see pillars of black-red miasma shooting into the sky, like ugly scars connecting heaven and earth.

Large swaths of land were grayish-black or crimson, and the air was filled with a faint scent of sulfur or rot—traces of volcanic eruptions or accumulated miasma.

Dead giant trees stood like twisted skeletons, pointing toward the gray sky. The rivers were turbid, and one could occasionally see the corpses of spirit beasts floating on the surface.

Some bizarrely shaped, violent beasts wandered the wilderness, killing each other or greedily devouring everything they could find, including weak spirit plants and spirit beasts that had yet to develop intelligence.

"This is the true Primordial World. The law of the jungle, survival of the fittest..." Lin Yan whispered to himself, his mood heavy. His Earth Dragon Community was like a greenhouse carefully nurtured by someone, while the true Primordial World had always been this cruel.

"Wanting to alter the world is no easy task. The path is long and difficult, so I'll just have to take it slow," Lin Yan said with a sudden sense of reflection.

Mo Xuan had seen environments far worse than this and was long since unfazed, so he didn't share Lin Yan's sentiment. Seeing Lin Yan staring blankly outside the mountain without moving, he urged, "Let's go. The road is still long. If you want to look at the scenery, there's plenty more of this ahead—enough to make you sick of it."

The two set off again. This time, they didn't compete in speed but walked side by side. Lin Yan would occasionally use Earth Vein Travel to move underground for a stretch, or leap into the air to travel alongside Mo Xuan, but for the most part, they traveled on the ground.

Throughout the journey, Lin Yan continuously used the system's atlas to scan everything unfamiliar he encountered.

[Beep! "Ghost Cry Vine" detected. Mid-tier Fierce Plant. Feeds on the vital essence and blood of living beings. Its vines are harder than refined iron and fear lightning and fire. Ecological hazard: High.]

[Beep! "Phantom Light Marrow Ore" detected. Rare spiritual ore. Can be used to refine illusion-type magical treasures. Carrying a small amount has a calming effect. Ecological impact: Mildly positive (associated ore veins can stabilize regional earth energy).]

[Beep! "Ironback Mountain Ape" tribe detected. Mid-tier Fierce Beast. Gregarious, extremely low intelligence, moderate destructive power. Ecological hazard: High.]

After the Primordial Basic Knowledge Atlas was upgraded, not only did the scanning range increase, but it could also identify more species. The colorful variety of strange species and special abilities opened his eyes. Coming out to walk around was indeed the right choice; at the very least, his knowledge had increased significantly.

Of course, along this journey, he not only learned about many things he had never seen before but also witnessed many cruel scenes with his own eyes.

By a stream, patches of "Moonlight Lotus" were eroded by the baleful aura brought by a group of passing "Swamp Tuskers," leaving the petals withered and the area in a mess.

A newly sprouted "Flame Fir" grove was being frantically devoured by "Corrosive Sha Ants" emerging from a crack in the ground. The trees withered and collapsed visibly to the naked eye, and after the ant swarm passed, only honeycomb-like holes and a pungent, acidic, rotten smell remained on the ground.

In a small valley with relatively abundant spiritual energy, a small group of "Green Feathered Antelope" originally resided, but after a Fierce Beast invaded their territory, the valley was suddenly filled with baleful aura, the spiritual energy dissipated, and the entire Green Feathered Antelope tribe had no choice but to flee in all directions.

The two felt their anger flare up and intervened a few times, but there were simply too many such incidents to manage. Once, they even encountered a Mysterious Immortal-level Fierce Beast. The two were beaten with no power to fight back. In the end, Mo Xuan had to exhaust a large amount of his Origin Power to launch a secret technique of the Qilin Clan, which finally scared the beast away, allowing the two to escape by a stroke of luck.

After this battle, Mo Xuan spent nearly a hundred years in rest and recuperation before recovering to his original state. However, because of this battle, it was rare for the flippant Mo Xuan to become a bit more composed.

Throughout the journey, Lin Yan kept recording what he saw and heard. The Ecological Simulator recorded a large number of Fierce Beasts and Fierce Plants, as well as many places with extremely harsh ecological environments. Lin Yan estimated that extremely powerful Fierce Beasts lived in those places, and there might even be Fierce Beasts that had reached the Golden Immortal Realm. When encountering such places, the two dared not force their way through and could only take a detour or sneak past, not daring to expose even a trace of their aura.

Just like this, the two walked and stopped, not knowing how many tens of thousands of miles they had traveled. On the way, they would charge and destroy any Fierce Beasts they encountered that were weaker than them, and they would slip away if they encountered ones that were too strong. They brought the essence of "fight if you can win, run if you can't" into full play.

One day, the two passed by a continuous range of red mountains. The Fire Element Spiritual Qi here was exceptionally active, and the air was filled with a sense of dry heat. The rocks were all crimson, as if they were being calcined by a raging fire.

Suddenly, a violent energy fluctuation came from ahead, mixed with an angry dragon roar and the frantic roars of a Fierce Beast, along with the rumbling of spells colliding.

The dragon roar was extremely penetrating; it could be heard clearly even from such a distance. But Lin Yan could tell that the dragon roar was filled with anxiety and anger.

Lin Yan and Mo Xuan exchanged a look and simultaneously accelerated forward.