According to the information Su Mu had consulted, there had been no shortage of people who damaged Dragon Veins throughout the dynasties.
Now that he had seen this, Su Mu reckoned that few of the Dragon Veins on this map were likely to remain.
"If all the Dragon Veins have been destroyed, how do you restore them again?"
Su Mu sat cross-legged atop a tree. A gentle breeze blew past from time to time, making the treetop sway constantly, yet he remained perfectly still like an enlightened master, holding a stack of documents and continually leafing through them.
"Found it!"
A moment later, Su Mu found the information he had copied down.
According to the documents, although the Dragon Veins had been destroyed, they still possessed spirituality. Restoring them was extremely difficult, but they could be guided to merge into a main Dragon Vein.
Even if not a single one remained intact, the many ruined Dragon Veins could still be used to nurture a main Dragon Vein.
Su Mu thought it over and felt this method was feasible.
After checking the information once more, Su Mu immediately put the documents into his bag, then swept his gaze around and locked onto the dragon lair.
With a light push of his feet, Su Mu drifted down to the ground. After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he arrived at the dragon lair.
The dragon lair here was now a deep pit that looked somewhat bottomless. No grass or trees grew around it, leaving the place looking rather desolate.
At this sight, even Su Mu could not help sighing.
He laid out the things he had brought in his backpack one by one. A moment later, he first assembled a simple table.
Then Su Mu began arranging fruit offerings and lit incense.
Su Mu picked up the incense and lit it with Spiritual Power. Once he inserted the three sticks, three wisps of smoke began curling upward, but then a strange sight appeared.
The three wisps of smoke first rose straight upward, then made a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn and plunged directly into the deep hole.
A moment later, a faint sound came from inside the hole.
Hearing it, Su Mu inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. This was to awaken the Dragon Vein's spirituality. If it could not be awakened, there would be no way to proceed.
At the sound, Su Mu dared not delay any longer. He hurriedly formed Hand Seals with his right hand and began walking along the Dragon Vein using the Dragon-Treading Footwork.
With every step, the Spiritual Power within Su Mu flowed through the soles of his feet into the ground.
Something beneath the ground seemed to be responding to Su Mu. With every step he took, the ground trembled.
At first, the tremors were very slight, but they grew stronger and stronger.
Finally, after seven steps, the shaking sent rocks tumbling down the surrounding mountainsides.
"Aooo!"
A cry that seemed to carry a measure of grievance drifted from the distant cavern, like a child who had suffered a terrible injustice tearfully pouring out its grievances to the newcomer.
Hearing the cry, Su Mu could not help freezing for a moment. The Dragon Vein truly did possess spirituality.
Sniffling slightly, Su Mu steadied his mind and continued forward.
The Dragon-Treading Footwork consisted of nine steps in total. Only after completing them could he begin guiding it.
"What's going on? Why are the readings showing a small-scale earthquake deep in the southern mountains?"
Inside the earthquake monitoring bureau, a group watched the constantly shaking instruments and frowned. This place was not a tectonically active region, so why would a small-scale earthquake occur here?
What was stranger still was that the shaking seemed to be at the surface, rather than originating deep underground.
For a time, everyone in the earthquake bureau was stunned by the strange data.
"Send people to this location immediately and take a look."
The news was quickly reported up the chain, and the higher-level bureau immediately dispatched personnel, preparing to send them by helicopter to investigate the situation.
"Nine steps completed. Next comes guiding the dragon."
Su Mu wiped the sweat from his forehead. Completing those nine steps had almost drained all the Spiritual Power in his body.
The next stage, guiding the dragon, did not mean leading it away, but making the Dragon Vein turn over.
The previous dragon lair was already ruined. If it did not turn over, the Dragon Vein would remain ruined as well.
Su Mu glanced around and immediately settled on a direction.
"Come, follow me!"
Su Mu drew a deep breath, then murmured those words. His steps were unbearably heavy as he slowly walked to one side.
As Su Mu moved, a mountain ridge that looked utterly ordinary when viewed from far above actually began moving slowly.
It was as though the ridge had suddenly come alive.
Su Mu's face was pale. Guiding the dragon this time was countless times harder than the previous time.
Boom!
A series of dull booms rang out along the ridge, and huge boulders came crashing down.
Strangely, before these falling boulders could come close to Su Mu, they veered away and crashed elsewhere.
The distance was filled with scattered rocks, and uprooted trees toppled in every direction. Only the area around Su Mu remained exceptionally safe, with none of the upheaval reaching him.
The Dragon Vein underground was protecting Su Mu, allowing him to guide it without worry.
Sensing this, Su Mu could not help smiling.
"Go!"
Su Mu took a great stride forward. With that step, something seemed to snap like a taut string, giving a twang.
A sense of ease took its place.
Su Mu knew he had succeeded.
He immediately looked up in delight and saw that the Dragon Vein had begun moving.
From here, Su Mu was no longer needed. The Dragon Vein would settle into place on its own.
Rumble!
A roaring sound came from the distance. A helicopter was flying toward the area.
Aboard the helicopter, several staff members watched the mountain range below, the shock on their faces beyond description.
"Did you record what just happened?"
"I recorded it!"
The staff member holding the camera swallowed and answered with difficulty.
They had been sent to investigate the earthquake here, never imagining they would witness this moving mountain range.
In just this short time, the mountain range had actually shifted and changed direction. If they told anyone, probably not a single person would believe them!
Su Mu also noticed people approaching. Frowning, he could not even spare the time to pack up the table before him. He hastily dealt with things a little and hurried away.
Shortly after Su Mu left, the people aboard the helicopter also spotted this strange place on the ground. Everywhere else was covered in fallen rocks, yet this place that resembled an altar had somehow remained entirely undisturbed.
It even looked very safe.
An hour later, the recording was delivered to the security department.
In a conference room in a secret basement, the recorded footage played. As they watched the mountain range moving on-screen, many of those present looked horrified.
After the video ended, silence fell over the conference room for a moment before someone asked a question.
"We've confirmed this wasn't doctored, correct?"
Although he felt it was impossible, he still could not help wanting confirmation.
"This is the satellite map from an hour ago. This is the current satellite map."
Hearing the question, the person in charge brought up the latest map images and displayed them.
At the sight of the two map images, everyone present shuddered. The earlier video had not revealed that much, but now, looking at the satellite maps, they realized that the mountain range had shifted several dozen centimeters!
After another brief silence, an extremely heated discussion immediately broke out in the conference room.
Half an hour later, the recording was placed in the S-class classified archives.