"Fourth Uncle."
At the end of the other passage was a golden river, a hundred zhang wide and stretching beyond sight in both directions. It was the Spirit Vein of Mingyu Mountain.
Beside the Spirit Vein sat a young man in his twenties, Nangong Wenyue, the greatest genius of the Nangong Family.
When he saw Nangong Shenyao arrive, he stood and gave him a slight nod. There was little respect in his manner.
"How is the refinement going?" Nangong Shenyao frowned slightly, displeased by Nangong Wenyue's attitude.
"I've refined a third of it." Nangong Wenyue paid no heed to his displeasure. After a moment's thought, he said, "But there isn't just one spirit here. There are five. To fully control that thing, we'll have to refine all five."
"Five?" Nangong Shenyao froze. The Nangong Family had risked a great deal to take over the Spirit Vein of Mingyu Mountain, and their main purpose was to refine something. They had originally thought that refining the spirit born there would be enough to gain complete control of it. They hadn't expected four more spirits to appear after the first one they'd discovered.
"I'm only at the Nascent Soul Realm. Refining this one is already a struggle. If we want to refine the other four, we'll have to bring Wen Xing, Wenyu, Wenxue, and... Wentian here. Otherwise, there's no chance of succeeding."
Nangong Wenyue frowned deeply.
"So Nangong Wenyue's been hiding here all along. I thought that guy was just so indifferent to worldly affairs that he kept to himself."
Following behind Nangong Shenyao, Chen Xiao had heard their conversation. His thoughts stirred. It seemed the Nangong Family had come here—and even destroyed the Chen Clan to seize Moon-Gazing City—as part of some grand scheme.
Besides, he had never heard the name Nangong Wentian before. He knew all four of the Nangong Family's outstanding younger generation: Nangong Wenyue, Nangong Wenxing, Nangong Wenyu, and Nangong Wenxue.
Of the four, only Nangong Wenyue was male; the other three were women. Chen Xiao had more than once joked that the Nangong Family's younger generation was dominated by women. But now, it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
If the Nangong Family had managed to hide someone like Nangong Wentian, they might well have concealed even more outstanding younger members.
Chen Xiao had thought that after being reborn, he would always be a step ahead and could easily foil the Nangong Family's plans. He hadn't expected the family to be like a deep pool, its bottom forever out of sight.
But Chen Xiao had already made up his mind. Nangong Wenyue seemed to be refining something here. Since he intended to refine it, Chen Xiao would stop him.
Nangong Wenyue had clearly paused his refinement and sat by the Spirit Vein to recover. Chen Xiao surveyed the area and spotted another passage leading underground at the edge of the vein.
Chen Xiao quietly released a Detection Talisman. When he found no danger ahead, he slipped inside without a sound.
Once inside, Chen Xiao relied on the Heaven-Concealing Talisman and searched around without restraint.
He was now beneath the Spirit Vein. The golden river flowed overhead, radiating dense spiritual energy. Chen Xiao felt the thin barrier that had long stood between him and the next stage of cultivation silently melt away. Now, even the slightest circulation of his true essence would let him form a Golden Core.
He could form a Golden Core naturally, without needing to force a breakthrough.
Chen Xiao forcibly suppressed the urge. This was no time to form a Golden Core. If he did so here, he might disturb the Spirit Vein. Then he would bear the brunt of it and be ground to pieces by the immense spiritual power.
The space wasn't very large, only a few dozen zhang across, and it showed clear signs of having been carved out by hand. The Nangong Family had evidently excavated it later.
Before Chen Xiao stood half of a gray-green stone bridge. Its surface was pitted and scarred by the passage of time. One half stood before him; the other had vanished without a trace.
A little girl in white, no more than twelve or thirteen, lay with her eyes closed on the bridge, as though something had bound her there. Two tear tracks ran down her cheeks.
"An Innate Divine Spirit!"
Chen Xiao's heart stirred when he saw the girl. She was neither human nor a spirit beast, but a life formed directly from the power of heaven and earth—an Innate Divine Spirit, nature's own spirit, heaven and earth's beloved child!
He hadn't expected this delicate, doll-like girl to be bound to the stone bridge. Her whole body was listless, and she had already lost more than a third of her life.
Suddenly, Chen Xiao remembered what Nangong Wenyue had said.
So refining the spirit meant refining this little spirit.
Suppressing his anger, Chen Xiao walked toward her.
"Big bad man, you..."
The little girl had somehow noticed Chen Xiao beneath the Heaven-Concealing Talisman. She barely managed to open her large eyes, but they were already clouded with a dull, ashen hue.
"You're not a big bad man. Who are you?" The girl seemed to sense that Chen Xiao meant no harm, but she remained on her guard.
"I'm here to save you. Come with me." Chen Xiao reached out and gently lifted her from the stone bridge. Though the bridge's restraints could bind a spirit, they had no effect on a human.
"No! If I leave, they'll capture my younger brothers and sisters too."
The girl struggled in Chen Xiao's arms, but she had almost no strength left and couldn't fight him off.
Still, she could feel the pity in Chen Xiao's heart. Nature's spirits understood human hearts best. Though she seemed innocent and naive, she could tell good from evil.
"Then your younger brothers and sisters will come with us." Chen Xiao's words were firm.
By now, he had sensed several faint gazes watching from nearby. They were probably the younger siblings the girl had mentioned.
"No..." The girl looked troubled. "My younger brothers and sisters aren't strong enough to leave. If they go outside, they'll vanish into nothing."
At that moment, two boys and two girls, all about the same age as the little girl in Chen Xiao's arms, emerged from hiding.
They first warily checked the passage. Seeing that no one had followed, they finally relaxed.
"Big Brother, please save Xianxian! That bad man comes here to torture her every day. Xianxian is going to die."
A little girl in black blinked her jewel-like eyes and gazed at Chen Xiao pitifully. From her words, Chen Xiao learned that the girl in his arms was named Xianxian.
The other three children tugged at Chen Xiao's clothes too, looking just as pitiful.
Chen Xiao was torn. His original purpose in coming here had been to disrupt the Nangong Family's plans. If he took all five children away, everything would be settled.
But if he took all five away, the four would vanish into nothing. How could Chen Xiao bear to do that?
After all, he hadn't sunk to the point of stopping at nothing to achieve his goals.
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