Dragon-Suppressing Nail

Cui Yu, now in the mood for conversation, pondered for a moment and then said, "In fact, if it weren't for the first generation of Feather Lord removing the first Dragon-Suppressing Nail, this dragon Dragon Vein would probably still be absorbing Turbid Qi and exhaling Spiritual Qi, providing nourishment for the East Sea Immortal Island."

Yu Dingguo, Feather Lord of the Yu Dingguo?

Hu Mang's mind raced.

Suddenly, the key point came to mind, and he blurted out:

"So, the Yu Household's ancestral treasure is a Dragon Vein artifact, and moreover, it's a Dragon-Suppressing Nail?"

"That's right, so the current Lord Lin to suppress the Dragon Vein of the East Sea Immortal Island and lay artificial dragon Dragon Vein are partly due to past karma."

"If we don't do this, perhaps a hundred years from now, the Thirty-Six Immortal Islands of the Eastern Sea will also lose all their natural Spiritual Qi due to the rising Turbid Qi."

So if Lord Lin uses this as a reason, then the other Ten Lords can't object, right?

After all, this wasn't just a personal grudge between two families; it was a favor that New Heavenly Gate owed the Yu Household.

As for why the first generation of Feather Lord removed the Dragon-Suppressing Nail, it's obvious without even thinking that he used it to overthrow the Old Heavenly Gate.

"So, those ghost islands are both corpse nails and Yin-Yang Node of this dragon Dragon Vein?"

Cui Yu nodded again.

"The skills of Yin and Yang transformation and the finishing touch on a painting can be traced back to Daoism."

No wonder he just met that group of the Chen Dynasty Daoists. He underestimated you. No wonder you can achieve cyber immortality.

No wonder a branch of a Ghost Dragon Vein appears here.

"I've heard that Dragon Vein can grow stronger by devouring each other's Yin-Yang Node?" the Hu Mang asked casually.

"Some Dragon Vein are fine, Dragon Vein are not. The Eighteen Corpse Nails are used to suppress a dragon Dragon Vein, but this is Dragon-Suppressing Formation. The Yin-Yang Node are inanimate objects, so it won't work."

Hu Mang suddenly realized.

Dead Yin-Yang Node won't work, but living ones? I've learned something new.

It seems I need to find another way to strengthen the Ghost Dragon Vein.

"It's a pity," Cui Yu said, a hint of regret on her face.

"What's a pity?"

"If the Yu Household hadn't removed that Dragon-Suppressing Nail, this Sea Dragon Vein wouldn't have been severed."

"What would happen if it hadn't been broken?"

Cui Yu stopped talking and silently turned on the flashlight. The flashlight beam began to change, first turning pale white, then pitch black, and then blood red. When the light turned blood red, Hu Mang finally saw what was ahead.

It was a bottomless abyss.

Its edges are irregular and jagged, as if it had been forcibly torn apart by some enormous force.

The inner walls of the abyss were covered with dense, vein-like patterns. Under the glow of the blood-red light, these patterns shone with a dark red luster and writhed slightly, as if they still retained some kind of life force.

From within the abyss, Yin Qi surged upwards, forming streams of black currents that swirled and coiled at the abyss's mouth, emitting a low, mournful sound, like the wailing of ten thousand ghosts.

A strong sense of unease rose from the depths of the Hu Mang's heart.

It felt as if a hook was pulling my soul down.

However, this feeling quickly disappeared because Elder Cui turned off the flashlight.

"I'm leaving, I'm going back," the old man said.

Hu Mang opened his mouth, wanting to ask what the end of the Dragon Vein was, but he knew the old man in front of him wouldn't answer, so he changed his question.

Can a severed Dragon Vein be repaired?

The old man did answer that question.

"It can be repaired, but I don't know how."

Who can fix it?

Ten Yama Kings held a ceremony.

Therefore, there will be one of the Ten Yama Kings permanently stationed overseas, or more precisely, permanently stationed on this fairy island in the East Sea.

Until this Yin-Yang Passage is completely repaired.

When Hu Mang saw Elder Cui off and went to report to Eighth Master Hui, he heard this shocking news.

"Can the Ten Yama Kings be stationed overseas?" Hu Mang asked hesitantly, "Is that within your scope of business?"

"Business is something that comes from expansion. How can the Underworld be promoted and honored if we don't expand our business?"

On the other end of the phone, Eighth Master Hui's tone was as open and easygoing as ever.

In fact, there's no need to always promote or glorify the business of the Underworld.

After a moment of silence, Hu Mang asked, "Will it be you?"

"I can't come. This is probably a battle among several veteran Yama kings; I don't even have the qualifications to compete."

Hu Mang was startled.

Even Eighth Master Hui couldn't win against it, so what exactly is at the end of this Dragon Vein?

"Oh, by the way, Elder Cui said a few good words for you, so he gave you an extra six-month bonus. Don't forget to accept it."

A half-year bonus means you've accumulated six months' worth of Yin Virtue, plus the previous 20 points, making it a total of 40 points of Yin Virtue.

"I see."

Eighth Master Hui was Hu Mang's only connection among the upper echelons of Heavenly Gate, so he still wanted to gather more information.

"If the Underworld Bureau were to reside here, would Lord Lin agree to it? Wouldn't that be tantamount to encroaching on his territory?"

"He will agree," Eighth Master Hui said with certainty.

"Why?"

Do you remember what I said when I left your house?

Hu Mang thought for a moment and said:

"One virtue and one destiny unite to Void Refinement."

"Do you know that anyone selected as one of the Ten Lords, regardless of who they are, is guaranteed to advance to the Void Refinement?"

"Why is that?" Hu Mang asked in surprise, he couldn't believe such a thing had happened.

"Because the positions of the Ten Lords themselves house the Void Refinement fruits of the previous generation of the Ten Lords."

Eighth Master Hui revealed a piece of information known only to members of the Heavenly Gate.

"But achieving the Void Refinement doesn't mean that this generation's Lord Lin doesn't want to forge his own path. Only by forging his own path can he possibly advance further. Do you understand now?"

Hu Mang hung up the phone and let out a long sigh.

So that's how it is.

This generation's Lord Lin actually wants to follow the path of Yin Virtue, instead of the path of killing and accumulating merit that is usually followed by military cultivators.

If he remembers correctly, the reward for Yin Virtue should be the Interception Fortune.

In another office on this artificial fairy island

Just like Hu Mang, Lin Zhiying and Ao Tianhai also reported to their superiors through an encrypted hotline.

Their superiors were of a much higher rank than Hu Mang's superiors.

"... Hahahaha, Old Ghost's nose is really sharp. He came right up there by smell. Fine, let him send people over if he wants. Anyway, they only do things related to ghosts. As for things for the living, we'll do our own."

"Little Hai Zi, still working on your physical body? I'll reserve a spot for you in the 'Void Project' program. You can't even kill through the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons with your physical body? Is the blood flowing in your veins really mine? Or have you undergone a genetic mutation?"

Ao Tianhai gave a wry smile.

"Alright, let's leave it at that. I'll handle the matter of asking Old Ghost for benefits myself. Oh, by the way, Lieutenant Colonel Lin—"

Lin Zhiying instinctively stood at attention in a military posture.

"Good job, you're awarded a third-class merit."

"Yes, Lord Lin!"

After hanging up the phone, Lin Zhiying and Ao Tianhai looked at each other in silence.

After a long pause, Lin Zhiying said with a wry smile, "I didn't accomplish anything, yet I still got a third-class merit."

"This shows that the information you brought back is valuable enough," Ao Tianhai reassured him. "You know, a third-class merit award requires review by the General Staff Department; it's not something that Lord Lin can decide with just a word."

Lin Zhiying could only manage a wry smile.

"But I don't even know what news I brought back. I don't even know what those two from the Underworld Bureau found out."

"Then you should try to build a good relationship with that consultant, Little Hu. Maybe you can get some more insider information. I'm going to report to 'Void Project' now."

Ao Tianhai shrugged.

"I heard the stones on the Moon Star are quite pretty. Bring me two back when you come back," Lin Zhiying requested.

"No problem."

"Void Project", or Void-Shattering Project for short, is a military project undertaken by the military to cultivate the strongest physical cultivators.

Because it requires the use of extremely special Qi of the Void, the project is located not on Earth Star, but on the Moon Star, which is in Earth Star's orbit.

This nomination wasn't really about "father-son affection"; it was mostly for the final physical adjustments before merging the Dragon Vein.

The military was also the most efficient; when Hu Mang saw Lin Zhiying again, Ao Tianhai was no longer on the island.

"He went to training, but he asked me to leave my phone number with you, saying it was to thank you for saving his life and to keep in touch."

Lin Zhiying paused, then said:

"However, the place where he's training is a bit unusual, so you probably won't be able to contact him for the time being."

"Colonel Ao, you're too kind. He can fight his way out on his own without my help, and he might even be able to take me with him."

Ever since he learned that the other party was an artificial infant cultivated from the bloodline of the Lord Lin, Hu Mang knew that the other party's hidden trump card was definitely not just the power of the Dragon Vein.

The two chatted casually for a few more minutes, and in any case, after this mission, they finally became acquainted.

At least, they wouldn't need an introduction from Eighth Master Hui.

Hu Mang hesitated for a moment before revealing his purpose.

"I'd like to ask Sister Lin for a favor..."

Next, Hu Mang recounted his background, the cause and effect of the artificial infant and the Holy Son Cult, and his experiences related to the demonic path.

Although there was nothing sentimental about it, the realistic storyline of "revenge and demonic cultivation" really resonated with Lin Zhiying.

Principal Lin let out a sigh of relief and said, "So, Hui the Eighth said you had some private business to attend to overseas, and this is your private business, right? Seeking revenge against the demonic path."

"... yes."

"Okay, come with me."

She led the Hu Mang out of the office, through several corridors, and arrived at a military elevator.

The elevator doors were made of heavy alloy with a matte gray coating and no markings or nameplates, making them look no different from ordinary freight elevators.

But when Lin Zhiying reached the elevator door, she placed her right hand on an inconspicuous panel on the side of the door. A blue scanning light illuminated the panel, scanning her fingerprints.

Then, she brought her left eye close to a small hole above the panel, and a beam of red light swept across her iris.

"This is the control center of the Demon-Locking Radar; you can think of it as a large monitoring room."

Lin Zhiying pressed the button for the third basement level.

Soon, they arrived at the monitoring room she had mentioned.

The monitoring room was much larger than he had imagined, about three or four hundred square meters in size. It contained a dense array of monitoring devices, screens, control consoles, complex Spiritual Qi pipelines, and hundreds of military array masters operating them in an orderly manner.