This was Lin Yan's first time fully activating the divine ability Earth Vein Travel. Ever since the system had upgraded his Earth Vein Travel divine ability to the intermediate level, he had never had a chance to test how effective this evasion technique was. Today was the perfect opportunity.
Traveling underground felt remarkably strange.
Lin Yan felt as though he was not traveling through the Earth Veins, but had become part of them. His consciousness extended forward, flowing along those intertwined invisible veins.
What surrounded him was not solid soil and rock, but blurry streams of dim yellow light and shadow. From time to time, pure Wutu Earth Essence Qi or scattered minerals flashed past the edge of his "vision."
As he traveled underground, Lin Yan seemed able to sense the vibrations of the earth's veins, as well as countless tiny Energy Nodes and the distribution of mineral deposits and Spirit Veins. Meanwhile, the system's Mini Ecology Simulator recorded the massive amounts of information along the way—terrain, Spirit Qi concentration, Malevolent Qi distribution, traces of living beings, and more—projecting an ever-expanding dynamic map into his sea of consciousness.
More than that, he could vaguely sense activity on the ground above him. In a depression somewhere, several fierce beasts resembling wild boars, their tusks glinting with black light, were rooting through a patch of newly sprouted Spirit Mushrooms. Their foul saliva dripped onto the mushroom caps with a sizzling sound;
On another rocky slope, a blood red vine covered in barbs was quietly winding itself around a passing small beast. As the vine tightened, it gave off a teeth-grating scraping sound.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yan sensed that his destination was near. With a thought, his body separated from the Earth Veins, slowly solidified, and gradually rose to the surface.
The light before him brightened, and he was already standing atop Black Mountain. The mountain wind was biting, making his robes flap loudly. That old crooked pine stood only a few steps away, its bark cracked like dragon scales, its sparse needles weathered yet vigorous.
Almost the instant he emerged from the ground, the seven-colored rosy clouds above contracted. Mo Xuan descended as well, his four hooves treading upon clouds.
Mo Xuan looked at Lin Yan, then lowered his gaze to his own feet and curled his lip. "You won by just a little. But when did your evasion technique become this powerful? You couldn't outrun me before."
Lin Yan smiled. "This is the Earth Vein Travel technique I recently mastered. Its speed is decent, but I can only move along the direction of the Earth Veins. It isn't as flexible as your flight technique—you can fly wherever you want." Lin Yan answered honestly.
"That's still very impressive." Mo Xuan felt somewhat better after hearing that. Over the years, he had felt increasingly greater pressure from Lin Yan. At this rate, Lin Yan would soon surpass him in every respect.
"Your Earth Vein Travel technique can be used both for traveling and escaping. Once you burrow underground, your aura vanishes completely. Ordinary people won't be able to catch you." Although he had lost the contest, Mo Xuan still gave an objective assessment.
The Black Mountain Range was already the furthest extent of the Earth Dragon Community's influence. From the mountaintop, Lin Yan looked toward the wilderness beyond one side of the gorge. Although vast stretches of land remained grayish yellow or charred black, many oases still dotted the area. They were the result of the Earth Dragon Community's tireless efforts at transformation over the years.
But on the other side of the mountain body, Malevolent Qi was almost everywhere, filling the valleys, swamps, plains, and even the depths of the earth's cracks. At the edge of his vision, where heaven and earth met, several pillars of black-red Malevolent Qi rose into the sky like ugly scars connecting heaven and earth.
Vast swathes of land were gray-black or crimson, while the air carried a faint smell of sulfur or rot—the traces of erupting Earthfire and accumulated Malevolent Qi.
Dead giant trees stood like twisted skeletons, pointing toward the misty gray sky. The rivers were muddy beyond belief, and the corpses of Spirit Beasts could occasionally be seen floating on the water.
Some bizarrely shaped fierce beasts, their bodies radiating violent auras, wandered through the wilderness, slaughtering each other or greedily devouring everything they could find, including weak Spirit Plants and Spirit Beasts that had yet to gain intelligence.
"So this is the true Prehistoric World. The weak were prey to the strong, and only the fittest survived..." Lin Yan murmured, his mood somewhat heavy. His Earth Dragon Community was like a carefully tended greenhouse, while the true Prehistoric World had always been this cruel.
"Changing the world isn't so easy. The road is long and difficult, so we'll take it slowly." Lin Yan suddenly spoke with a sigh.
Mo Xuan had seen environments even harsher than this and was long accustomed to such sights, so he did not share Lin Yan's many feelings. Seeing Lin Yan staring blankly beyond the mountain without setting off, he urged, "Hurry up. We still have a long way to go. If you want scenery, there's plenty more like this ahead—enough to make you sick of looking at it."
The two set off again. This time, they no longer competed in speed and simply traveled side by side. Lin Yan occasionally used Earth Vein Travel to move underground for a stretch, then leaped into the air to travel alongside Mo Xuan for a while, but most of the time they journeyed overland.
Along the way, Lin Yan continuously used the System Atlas to scan unfamiliar things they encountered.
[Beep! Discovered "Ghost Cry Vine," a mid-tier Fierce Plant that feeds on the vital blood of living beings. Its vines are tougher than refined iron and fear lightning and fire. Ecological hazard: High.] [Beep! Discovered "Phantom Light Marrow Ore," a rare Spirit Ore that can be used to forge illusion-type magical treasures. Wearing a small amount has a calming effect. Ecological impact: Slightly positive (its associated mineral vein can stabilize local earth energy).] [Beep! Discovered an "Ironback Mountain Ape" group, mid-tier fierce beasts. Social creatures, extremely low intelligence, moderate destructive power. Ecological hazard: High.]
After the Primordial Basic Knowledge Atlas had been upgraded, not only had its scanning range expanded, but it could also identify more species. The countless unfamiliar species and special abilities broadened his horizons. Coming out to explore had indeed been the right decision; at the very least, his knowledge had grown considerably.
Of course, along the way, he not only learned of many things he had never seen before, but also witnessed many cruel scenes firsthand.
Beside one stream, whole patches of "Moonlight Lotus" were corroded by the Malevolent Qi brought by a passing herd of "Swamp Tuskers." Their petals withered, leaving a scene of utter ruin.
A newly grown grove of "Flame Firs" was being frantically gnawed apart by "Corrosive Sha Ants" emerging from cracks in the ground. The trees visibly withered and collapsed, while after the ants passed, only honeycomb-like holes and a pungent sour stench remained.
Within a small valley relatively rich in Spirit Qi, a small herd of "Green Feathered Antelope" had originally lived peacefully. But after a fierce beast invaded their territory, Malevolent Qi filled the gorge and Spirit Qi dispersed. The entire Green Feathered Antelope herd could only flee in all directions.
The sight filled the two with anger, and they intervened several times. But there were simply too many such incidents for them to handle. Once, they even encountered a fierce beast at the Mysterious Immortal level. The two were beaten so badly that they could not fight back at all. In the end, Mo Xuan had to consume a great deal of Origin Power and activate a secret technique of the Qilin Clan to frighten the beast away, allowing them to escape by sheer luck.
After that battle, Mo Xuan spent nearly a hundred years in rest and recuperation before fully recovering. Yet because of that battle, the usually lively Mo Xuan unexpectedly became a little more composed.
Along the way, Lin Yan continuously recorded what he saw and heard. The Ecological Simulator logged a great number of fierce beasts and Fierce Plants, along with many places possessing extremely harsh ecological environments. Lin Yan estimated that those places must be home to exceptionally powerful fierce beasts—perhaps even fierce beasts that had reached the Golden Immortal Realm. Whenever they encountered such places, the two did not dare force their way through. They could only detour or sneak past quietly, not daring to reveal even the slightest trace of aura.
And so, the two traveled and rested, covering an unknown number of tens of thousands of miles. Whenever they encountered weaker fierce beasts, they charged over and killed them directly. Whenever they encountered stronger ones, they fled without hesitation. They thoroughly embodied the essence of "fight if you can win, run if you can't."
One day, the two passed through a continuous range of red mountains. Fire-aspect Spirit Qi was unusually active here, and the air was filled with dry heat. The rocks were all crimson, as if they were being tempered by blazing flames.
Suddenly, an intense energy fluctuation came from ahead, mixed with an angry dragon's roar, the frenzied howls of fierce beasts, and even the thunderous boom of colliding spells.
The dragon's roar was exceptionally penetrating, and they could hear it clearly even from so far away. But Lin Yan could tell that it contained urgency and fury.
Lin Yan and Mo Xuan exchanged a glance, then accelerated forward at the same time.
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