Spirit Vein

An elite resentful spirit's individual combat strength was no weaker than that of an underworld soldier corporal. It was especially superior at controlling large areas of the battlefield, which would be a great help on the patrol ahead.

The group continued forward, and Lin Xu sent his paper figures far ahead to scout.

Once the paper scouts entered the fog, it began to erode them. As a direct result, the paper figures had to return every three to five minutes so Lin Xu could replenish their magic power.

The only advantage was that their scouting range had greatly increased. Even three to five minutes was enough for the paper figures to survey everything within a kilometer.

Using the paper figures' vision, Lin Xu avoided a group of wandering walking corpses and ghost wolves in turn, finally reaching the patrol outpost.

The outpost was actually a towering wooden tower built from hardwood. A bonfire blazed fiercely, driving away the fog across an area a hundred meters in diameter and creating a small safe zone.

Two outer sect disciples and ten militiamen were already stationed there. When Lin Xu arrived with his team, the little outpost became somewhat crowded.

NPCs paid no heed to social niceties. Lin Xu glanced at his two fellow disciples. They were much like Wang Xiaowu, whom he had encountered on the road earlier: both were level-one Daoists.

Their highest attribute, spirit, was only 13 points. The only spells they knew were illusions such as Mind Bewilderment or simple techniques like the Light Mantra. They lacked the ability to fight head-on.

Lin Xu sat cross-legged in the outpost and rested briefly, then set out again with the militiamen.

Since this was a patrol mission, they obviously couldn't just stay comfortably at the outpost. Otherwise, if anything went wrong, they would likely become scapegoats.

When something happened and someone needed to take the blame, you had better have already done everything you could.

With the experience he had gained in society in his previous life, Lin Xu naturally wouldn't slack off at this critical moment. He sent his paper figures ahead and cautiously patrolled the surroundings.

Every half hour, he returned to the outpost to rest for a while, setting out again once he had recovered.

"Awooo~"

A ball of flame enveloped the demon wolf. Fire burst from its mouth and nostrils, scorching its fur in an instant.

Even its brains had been burned to a lump of charcoal. The green-skinned demon wolf fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and breathed its last.

Lin Xu caught his breath and calmed his turbulent sea of consciousness.

"This Spirit Realm really is a wretched place unfit for survival..." Looking at the demon wolves lying dead on the ground, he sighed helplessly.

Even with the paper figures carefully scouting ahead, the patrol still encountered all kinds of sudden dangers from time to time.

This pack of demon wolves, for example, had locked onto the patrol from two or three hundred meters away and charged straight at them, leaving them no time to evade.

The last wisp of a Source Fire fragment entered Lin Xu's body, and the patrol moved on.

Among a stretch of scattered rocks, a group of corpse monsters, crawling slowly with the stench of decay rising from their bodies, fell dead one after another under the combined assault of the militiamen and underworld soldiers, never to stir again.

Lin Xu looked away from the battlefield and toward a wooden treasure chest glowing faintly beside a gray stone.

Since the Spirit Realm had taken form from humanity's subconscious, classic fixtures like treasure chests and groups of wild monsters naturally appeared there too.

Treasure chests came in five qualities according to their material: wood, iron, bronze, silver, and gold, corresponding to the five colors white, cyan, blue, purple, and gold.

"This wooden chest looks quite exquisite. Good thing it isn't one of those lowest-grade ordinary wooden chests..."

Lin Xu glanced at it and opened it without any expectations.

"Huh? This is..." He froze when he saw what was inside.

A fine suit of scale armor and a bag of coins.

Item: leather-lined scale armor

Type: armor

Grade: white, fine

Effect: defense +12 (strength ≥ 12)

Description: scale armor lined with cowhide, offering both protection and comfort

"Good stuff..." Lin Xu picked up the armor. Steel scales were fastened to tanned cowhide, and the sight alone gave him a sense of security.

"Put it on." He casually handed it to the guard accompanying him.

He was a Daoist, a magic-based class. Wearing armor was too inconvenient and would also slow down his spellcasting.

He picked up the money pouch and looked inside. It was filled with Dharma Coins, shimmering with an enticing glimmer.

"232 coins. Not bad, a tidy little profit." He put the money away with satisfaction.

Dharma Coins were magic power, the guarantee of a mage's staying power. That was especially important in the Spirit Realm's dangerous environment.

After a short rest, the group set out again.

With the paper figures scouting, the team could avoid most dangers.

"Huh? This place..."

They had just avoided a group of wandering evil creatures when the images sent back by a paper figure made Lin Xu pause.

A small mountain over 300 meters high rose abruptly from the wasteland ahead. Through the paper figure's vision, he could vaguely make out flickering firelight.

He cautiously controlled the paper figure, slowly approaching the place where the firelight flickered. Seen from afar, the flickering shades of ink seemed to be unfolding into a living ink-wash painting.

The paper figure couldn't hear, but it could discern subtle changes on the battlefield.

"Groups of Spirit Realm monsters are fighting each other..."

Lin Xu quickly worked out what was happening halfway up the mountain and instinctively sent the paper figure closer.

Just then, several different colors abruptly appeared on the mountain ridge, which had been painted in heavy strokes of ink. They resembled flowing ribbons, or perhaps brilliant ink splashed in every direction.

Yes, although they were plainly nothing more than simple gradations of black and white, Lin Xu discerned complex and subtle shifts of color within them.

It was the first time he had seen such complex and subtle changes in color through a paper figure's vision. He stared blankly for a moment. "What is that?"

There was no answer, but some instinct told him it was very important.

"A sudden premonition..." Lin Xu understood. According to the experience adventurers had compiled on the forums, once a person's spirit attribute exceeded 13 points, that person would gradually develop a kind of extraordinary intuition.

The clearest example was a mortal crisis: sometimes a warning from one's sixth sense was more accurate than what one's eyes could see.

Soul-refining cultivators focused on cultivating the soul, and as their souls grew stronger, their intuition also grew keener.

"Let's go take a look." Lin Xu directed the patrol, carefully skirting the battlefield as they approached the unusual area in the paper figure's vision.

While they were still on the way, he had already controlled the paper figure to investigate the abnormal area. He found that the band of light branched out in the shape of the character "大," spreading from the center of the hill in all directions like a water vein hidden underground.

As they drew closer, Lin Xu also noticed more and more spiritual potency pervading the air.

Spiritual potency was what cultivators called it; in scientific terms, it was the active energy in the air.

Putting these things together, he gradually formed a guess. "Could this be a Spirit Vein?"

His heart burned, and his steps quickened.

Dragon Veins, Earth Veins, Sources of Magic Power, and so on were all names for the same kind of thing. For him, if he could claim this Spirit Vein, he could sit at its Spirit Eye and draw in Spiritual Qi, converting it into a steady stream of Dharma Coins.

In other words, this was the equivalent of a gold mine!