The Pulse of the Earth

"Buzz~"

An invisible force spread, causing changes in the surrounding space and time. Quietly, in Lin Xu's extremely keen perception, the scattered information concepts of Azure Cloud Mountain accelerated their convergence towards the Mountain Lord Seal.

"It really worked!" Lin Xu was surprised, then delighted. "Is it because I'm the master of Azure Cloud Cave?"

Because he is the nominal master of this mountain, the difficulty of accumulating authority has been greatly reduced. As long as one prays with Incense Fire Heaven Silver, the process of accumulating authority can be accelerated.

A moment later, the strange fluctuations subsided, the effect of the Wish Technique disappeared, and the speed at which the authority was condensed quickly returned to normal.

"Approximately 1% progress..." Lin Xu's gaze fell on the item panel: [Mountain Lord Authority Condensing, Progress: 1.03%]

"One hundred Incense Fire Heaven Silver?" He stroked his chin, frowning as he pondered.

One hundred Incense Fire Heaven Silver is no small sum; it's equivalent to one hundred strings of Dharma Coin.

For him, taking out one hundred strings of Dharma Coin was easy, and taking out one hundred Heaven Silver was also easy, but it was very difficult to gather so much Incense Fire Heaven Silver.

"Perhaps I should take a look around the Merit Hall?" Lin Xu pondered for a moment and then made a decision.

Of course, even if the Merit Hall has so much Incense Fire Heaven Silver, it cannot be used at will; it still needs to be exchanged for contribution points.

He directly used Spiritual Qi to refine Heaven Silver, intending to exchange it for incense and religious offerings.

Because of the tradition of cultivation, in Daoist temples, 1 tael of Incense Fire Heaven Silver can be exchanged for 1.5 Heaven Silver, which is equivalent to 150 taels.

"There probably aren't that many incense offerings and beliefs left in Daoist temples..." Lin Xu pondered.

Incense worship is a manifestation of people's beliefs. Such a concept is difficult to collect and store, and it is hard to preserve it for a long time.

If these strategic resources are passed down through Daoist temples, their consumption during peacetime would be considerable, leaving even fewer behind.

"Qiuqiu actually knows how to pick up treasure chests?" While pondering, Lin Xu saw the wooden treasure chest placed at the entrance of the cave and smiled slightly.

That's right, it seems she has indeed become intelligent.

After Meng Yaoguang carried the wooden box into the quiet room, he took out a spirit lamp and made a wish with Incense Fire Dharma Coin and offerings, "Give me a batch of incense and religious offerings!"

Before a treasure chest is opened, it's like Schrödinger's cat; nobody knows what you'll get.

On the Spirit Realm Forum, someone revealed that a purple weapon was found inside an ordinary wooden treasure chest, which sold for millions of Dharma Coin, making someone rich overnight.

This shows that even the lowest quality treasure chests have a chance of containing good items.

Lin Xu reached out and opened the treasure chest, his gaze sharpening.

What came into view was a gem that shimmered with seven colors. With his keen senses, he immediately recognized it as Faith Gem, a crystallization of the power of faith.

"Faith Crystal... it seems to be a set of things created by Western gods." His face lit up with joy as he rolled the fist-sized, prismatic gem into his hand.

Faith Gem, a blue-grade consumable, provides 10,000 incense points.

"Ten thousand incense offerings, I made a profit..." He breathed a sigh of relief; he was lucky.

Treasure chests are not numerous in the Spirit Realm; some unlucky adventurers may not encounter one for several years, and the items they obtain are of varying quality.

Lin Xu sat on the futon, clutching the Faith Gem in his hand as he began to refine incense.

Wisps of seven-colored mist converged toward the spirit lamp, accompanied by a soft "crackling" sound. The chaotic incense energy was purified and gradually condensed into a drop of dazzling Heaven Silver.

A drop of mercury-like liquid fell silently, then condensed in mid-air, forming a small silver ingot in my hand.

Meng Yaohua brought over a wooden box and neatly stacked the collected Incense Fire Heaven Silver into it.

As Lin Xu became more and more skilled at refining Incense Fire Heaven Silver, the process became faster and faster.

As time passed, the Faith Crystal, originally the size of eggs, began to shrink, and Incense Fire Heaven Silver took shape one by one until the box was full after an hour.

At this moment, the last bit of faith was extracted and refined, and ten Incense Fire Heaven Silver were neatly arranged, gleaming with a bright silver luster under the candlelight.

"It's done..." Having Faith Gem in one go, Lin Xu raised the Spirit Lamp without hesitation and cast Wish Technique again, "Accelerate the condensation of authority!"

"Buzz~"

Each Incense Fire Heaven Silver turned into wisps of green smoke and dissipated, causing invisible ripples to spread and stir the entire area around Azure Cloud Mountain.

In that instant, Lin Xu felt a violent disturbance in the realm of rules and information. This was originally a realm that only Legendary or even gods could perceive, but now, due to the violent disturbance of information, he could clearly feel the chaos and changes within it.

Deep within the mist, a dark underground city lies hidden beneath the earth.

The earth's Spirit Vein were bound by powerful magical runes, like a bound dragon, winding and twisting until finally multiple Spirit Vein were constricted and converged at a single point.

The flames flickered, and a magma fireball, arched by a volcanic vein, pulsated like a beating heart. Solidified stone chips fell away, revealing a golden-red, scorching lava core.

The Dungeon Heart, the heart of this vast, three-dimensional underground city, the energy core of the dark world, the heart of the Underground Lord.

The black-armored giant standing before the Dungeon Heart suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction of the Azure Cloud Mountain cave.

The gaze seemed to pierce through the thick layers of earth and the dense fog, settling on the Mountain God Authority that was gathering within the cave.

The giant remained silent, its dark gaze reflecting the weight of the earth and the heat of the magma.

The Earth Vein could not be hidden from it; a new lord was being conceived there.

"According to the pulse of the earth, the gestation of authority requires two to four weeks..." the lord pondered silently. "I must find him and destroy him before then!"

"Roar..."

Seemingly sensing its master's emotions, two eerie "lights" suddenly illuminated the darkness.

Those were the eyes of a colossal beast, each the size of a basketball. Its massive body, illuminated by the firelight of the Dungeon Heart, revealed a ferocious yet robust silhouette.

The enormous lion's head stared at its master, its wings unfurling in the darkness like a barrier that blotted out the sky.

The giant, who was over ten feet tall, was barely the same height as the lion's head.

"Babalu, be quiet." The giant reached out and stroked the giant beast's lion face. "Soon, you will be able to unleash your carnage."

"Roar~"

Babalu growled expectantly, the penetrating sound piercing through the darkness and spreading towards the distant, gloomy lands. The monsters roaming the city froze, looking fearfully toward the Dungeon Heart.

"Order the front lines to hold their ground and delay the enemy's advance!" The lord's deep voice echoed from his enchanted plate armor, reverberating through the dungeon's winding corridors. "Assemble all the high-ranking warriors of the territory; except for the necessary defensive forces, the entire army will march with me!"

An army, fully equipped and ready to go, had its objective temporarily changed. It quietly completed its assembly and set its sights on Azure Cloud Mountain.