Joining Forces to Repair

In the Western Continent of the Primordial World, beneath the vast, barren earth, lay a complex, chaotic network of damaged ley lines.

One by one, golden Earth-Core Fire Dragons swam through the soil and rock underground, guiding the magma and channeling ley-line power to connect and form new ley lines.

Humm. Under Zhen Yuanzi's control, the Earth Book, which had transformed into something like the Great Earth's Fetal Membrane, gathered the endless ley-line power beneath the earth, providing energy for the Earth-Core Fire Dragons and allowing them to reconnect and repair the ley-line network faster.

"Come on, all of you, over here!" Hong Yun, darting underground just like the Earth-Core Fire Dragons, cast spells to draw up the magma and make it flow like water.

"Hong Yun, stop messing things up! You're opening ley lines wherever you please. You're making more work for us," Zhen Yuanzi's exasperated voice rang in Hong Yun's ears.

"Why don't you clear out the larger main ley lines first? Go farther away and work there."

"Fine! You're all so fussy! Why make everything so complicated? The Western Continent isn't your private property," Hong Yun said, then headed off into the distance.

Shi Mo, meanwhile, sat cross-legged inside a main ley line. He drew upon the ley-line power gathered by Zhen Yuanzi and carefully repaired the chaotic, damaged network that the Earth-Core Fire Dragons had roughly reconnected.

Time slipped by. With Zhen Yuanzi gathering ley-line power through the Earth Book, Hong Yun clearing the main ley lines, and the Earth-Core Fire Dragons blazing a path, Shi Mo's repairs to the Western Continent's ley lines grew far more efficient.

Gradually, Shi Mo and the others also realized that as the repaired network spread wider, the flow of spiritual energy through the ley lines nourished those still awaiting repair, making them easier to mend.

And even without anyone repairing the tiny offshoots branching from the main ley lines, once the primary network was restored, they slowly began to connect on their own.

So, just as Hong Yun had said, Shi Mo stopped repairing the ley lines with such painstaking care, and his speed increased once again.

In truth, Zhen Yuanzi's use of the Earth Book to gather ley-line energy was much like diverting a stream: it made the energy flow faster through the network, which also helped the smaller ley lines connect by themselves.

As Hong Yun cleared more and more main ley lines, the Earth Book's influence also gradually connected those lines to one another.

The wider the connected ley-line network grew, the faster and more efficiently the natural ley-line energy gathered.

Combined with the earthfire power drawn up by the Earth-Core Fire Dragons and Hong Yun, the ley-line energy surged and boiled ever more fiercely. The newly repaired and connected network across a vast area seemed to activate like a colossal formation.

"Inviting Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun to help was definitely the right call." As the pace of repairs continued to rise, Shi Mo grew more and more delighted and expectant. In just the next few decades, the merit he earned by repairing the Western Continent's ley lines already exceeded everything he had gained before.

There was no doubt that Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi had contributed greatly, and they would naturally receive a generous share of the merit as well.

Zhen Yuanzi, having gained some insight, even entered a state of cultivation.

Fortunately, although Zhen Yuanzi had stopped and no longer followed Shi Mo with the Earth Book, he still instinctively controlled it to gather ley-line power and send it to Shi Mo.

The speed at which it gathered and transmitted ley-line power continued to increase, easily keeping up with the needs of Shi Mo and the Earth-Core Fire Dragons.

One day, as Shi Mo remained immersed in repairing the ley-line network, he sensed Hong Yun approaching and opened his eyes.

"Little Brother Shi Mo, where's Brother Zhenyuan?" Hong Yun asked in puzzlement as he drew near.

After Shi Mo explained Zhen Yuanzi's current state, Hong Yun couldn't help grumbling. "That unreliable fellow! At a time like this, he still has the mind to cultivate?"

Shi Mo's mouth twitched. Unreliable? It seemed Brother Hong Yun wasn't much more dependable himself.

"Ugh, repairing this ley-line network is such a pain. It's so boring! I've already cleared plenty of main ley lines for you, enough for you to keep repairing them at your own pace. I'm going out for some fresh air," Hong Yun said, then left at once.

Watching Hong Yun leave just like that, Shi Mo was even more speechless. This guy was the truly unreliable one! As a mighty cultivator of the Primordial World, he was impatient and far too flighty. No wonder he couldn't seize his opportunities later on and ended up dead, body and soul destroyed.

"Forget it. I can't count on him, so I'll just have to work harder myself! Besides, the more I repair, the more merit I earn. Those are real, tangible benefits." Shi Mo shook his head and got back to work.

The dark red Wind-Fixing Pearl floated before Shi Mo, faintly blazing with golden flames. Clearly, it had absorbed a great deal of merit, making it more powerful and mysterious.

As the Wind-Fixing Pearl darted through the newly opened ley lines, rock and soil melted and burned away. Blending with the ley-line power and earthfire, they became energy crystals, forming tangible underground spiritual veins that greatly increased the speed and efficiency of transmitting spiritual energy and earthfire power.

Yet Shi Mo, immersed in repairing the Western Continent's ley lines, failed to notice how the vast ley-line network beneath the entire region was changing.

With the Earth Book stirring the many main ley lines Hong Yun had cleared, energy surged and gathered, steadily opening connections throughout the network. As the ley lines across a vast region were continuously restored, the entire ley-line network formation quietly activated, causing the earthfire power in the underground magma to boil and gather as well.

The result was inevitable. Who knew how much time had passed when Shi Mo began to sense that the ley-line power and earthfire within the network had grown too dense and were slowly turning violent. Even then, he failed to realize the danger approaching.

Immersed in his cultivation and insight, Zhen Yuanzi had fully activated the Earth Book. When he felt the surging energy, he abruptly snapped awake. Just as he was about to warn Shi Mo, his expression suddenly darkened as if he had sensed something.

"Little Brother Shi Mo, be careful! The ley-line power and earthfire are too violent!" After warning Shi Mo, Zhen Yuanzi used the Earth Book to sense the network and swiftly made his way toward Longevity Mountain.

"Brother Zhenyuan left? What happened? What's wrong with the ley-line power and earthfire?" Shi Mo was startled and confused. He immediately used the Wind-Fixing Pearl to sense them more closely, and his expression changed.

"Bad! At this rate, the ley-line power and earthfire will explode. When they do, they could cause a massive earthquake and volcanic eruptions!"

"I have to find a way to suppress and redirect them, diverting the energy through the ley-line network. The Earth Book has affected all this energy, drawing it toward me. I've turned into a black-hole vortex!" Shi Mo was growing frantic.

"Right, the Wind-Fixing Pearl! I'll use it to suppress this energy first, then figure out how to divert and disperse it. Or I could just trigger a few volcanic eruptions to release the pressure. The Primordial World is so vast, after all; earthquakes and volcanic eruptions caused by chaotic ley-line power and earthfire aren't uncommon."