Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 234 The Bone of a Dragon from a Terrible Earth Vein!

Fang Shu fell into the cave and descended for a full quarter of an hour. Due to the foul air, his speed fluctuated, making it difficult for him to determine exactly how many feet underground he had gone.

Fifteen minutes later, his feet finally touched solid ground, and his body no longer swayed like a floating duckweed.

He was draped in a robe of water and fire, and when he looked around, he found the surroundings to be dark, with a visible range of only three zhang.

He then used his divine sense to survey his surroundings and discovered that the range of his divine sense was even smaller, only able to scan about one zhang around him.

The restrictive terrain made his heart tighten, and a look of vigilance immediately appeared in his eyes.

But he took a few more steps deeper into the area, his expression also showing emotion: "This is a place of great poison and great spirit."

Although the foul air here is thick, the spiritual energy is also exceptionally rich, the most abundant Fang Shu has ever seen in his life.

Unfortunately, the surrounding spiritual energy was mixed with foul air, so although he coveted it, he dared not touch it easily.

Unless there is a solution, consuming the spiritual energy of this place is like an old man taking poison.

“Spiritual energy is just the most common thing here.” He suppressed his thoughts and began to slowly explore and move forward in this natural underground passage.

According to Tian Jinmao, the dragon vein beneath Xiaoxishan Mountain is hollow inside, resembling the intestines of a living being, winding and twisting with almost no end.

Perhaps only by treating it as a ley line and refining it into his possession can he truly sense the extent of the territory occupied by this ley line.

Furthermore, Tian Jinmao didn't elaborate on what benefits might be found within this ley line.

This was not a deliberate concealment, but rather a testament to the Tian family's resources. The fact that they were able to create a secret chamber on Xiaoxi Mountain, using the location of the dragon vein's anus as the focal point, was already quite remarkable.

As for the rest, they are not from established immortal families, so it is difficult to know.

Fortunately, Fang Shu currently possesses a copy of an Earth Immortal's inheritance, which originated from the Vast Ocean.

Compared to the method of building a foundation on the spot, this method of building a foundation on the ground in the vast sea region is undoubtedly better at tapping into the value of a region's veins.

As he paced back and forth, Fang Shu sometimes followed the direction of the dragon vein's foul energy as described in the Dragon Whale Method, and at other times changed direction according to his own mastery of feng shui techniques.

He quickly surveyed the area and determined the location of the earth's veins.

Its exact size remains unknown, but its core area coincides with the boundary of Xiaoxishan, neither too large nor too small. Furthermore, Fang Shu has already roughly estimated the grade of the ley lines.

This place can indeed be considered a ley line, and it surpasses the quality described by Tian Jinmao and others. It is only one step away from being considered a low-grade ley line.

This discovery greatly excited Fang Shu!

The so-called "lowest-grade earth veins" are earth veins and dragon veins, which, like spiritual roots, are roughly divided into four grades by immortals.

The lowest grade is similar to the pseudo-spiritual root within Fang Shu's body. Obtaining it can assist immortals in foundation building, but the success rate of foundation building is the lowest.

Without the assistance of other spiritual objects, the probability of establishing a foundation in a low-grade earth vein is only 20%. Being able to establish a foundation is already quite good, and there is no potential to help the foundation-establishing immortals to elevate their cultivation to the eighth or even ninth tribulation.

Lower-grade ley lines have a higher chance of leading to Foundation Establishment, reaching 40%, and also have a certain chance of breaking through to the Eighth Tribulation Immortal level.

By analogy, those with superior ley lines have the highest chance of establishing a foundation. As long as the immortal's foundation is not too flawed, the success rate of establishing a foundation exceeds 95%! Moreover, there is a possibility of achieving the elixir in the future!
However, unlike spiritual roots, earth veins are not immutable.

The lowest grade of ley lines can be upgraded to the lowest grade, the lowest grade to the middle grade, and the middle grade to the highest grade, progressing step by step.

Even immortals who have built their foundation on inferior ley lines can, in theory, spend a great deal of effort to cultivate them into superior ley lines.

For example, there are many immortal clans in the world whose middle and upper-grade earth veins are cultivated by generations of ancestors, in the hope that one of the immortal clans will eventually be able to produce an earth immortal and achieve the elixir of immortality, thus transforming the entire immortal clan into a true immortal lineage!

Of course, the difficulty involved is self-evident.

Upgrading a low-grade ley line to a lower-grade one, and vice versa, is still feasible to some extent.

However, to advance to the superior level, favorable timing, location, and human factors are all indispensable. Moreover, advancing to the superior level often requires the efforts of two or more generations, and the continuous emergence of inner immortals within the clan, before it is even possible.

This is also why Fang Shu was still tempted by the Earth-based Foundation Building Method even after learning about the secret realm of Mount Lu.

Given his background, if he were to use the "Sit-to-Earth Foundation Building Method," his fate would be essentially sealed. He would not only be confined to his residence, but his lifelong arduous cultivation would also be solely for the sake of his descendants.

This was utterly uninteresting to him.

Fang Shushen was inside the dragon vein's anus. As he walked, he sighed softly, "Unfortunately, obtaining a medium-quality earth vein is almost impossible for someone like me with pseudo-spiritual roots and a peasant background."

In summary.

If he wants to achieve the possibility of alchemy in his own generation, rather than becoming a mere stepping stone for a sect or clan, then he basically has the path of establishing his foundation through earth-based cultivation!
After all, the method of building a foundation by walking on the ground involves using one's own earth veins to extract the earth veins of others, plundering mountains and rivers, and draining the pond to catch all the fish, thus turning the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into one's own use.

Underground, a foul stench billowed.

Fang Shu pondered, his gaze becoming increasingly uncertain.

After about half a day, he finally located the core of the earth vein inside the dragon vein's anus, and his face immediately lit up with excitement.

According to the "Dragon Whale Health Preservation Method", if you want to extract the earth's veins, you must first find its core. Only in this way can you extract the essence and seize the spiritual energy within a radius of tens or hundreds of miles!
At this moment...

Fang Shu stood in a depression about an inch deep. The area was small, only half a zhang in diameter, but the texture was quite peculiar. It was neither clay nor rock, but a kind of soil similar to swamp.

Before arriving at this place, from a distance, one would not notice anything unusual about it. But as one got closer, Fang Shu immediately felt that the surrounding energy had become viscous, making one feel heavy and his mind tremble.

With a flick of his sleeve, he brushed away the surface soil in the depression and immediately discovered that the "mud" underneath was actually formed by wisps of foul air condensed into something that was neither air nor water, and contained crystal-like objects inside.

This sight immediately piqued Fang Shu's interest. It must be some kind of rare object; he should collect it.

He used his magic to try and lift up the mud.

Hiss!
Unfortunately, as soon as the swamp left the shallow pit, it transformed rapidly into wisps of foul air and quickly drifted away.

After repeated attempts, all attempts failed.

Even if he took out medicine bottles, secret boxes and other items to seal and contain the mud, it was still quite difficult.

This made him sigh deeply.

"Although I have long known that the earth veins are truly a product of heaven and earth, unlike ordinary resources, they are difficult to collect and store, and can only be refined by oneself."

But encountering it now is still heartbreaking. His expression immediately became quite conflicted.

His main purpose in coming here today was to explore the geomantic veins of Xiaoxishan and scout out the location in preparation for the future.

But now that the investigation has been successful and it has been discovered that there are indeed definite ley lines in this place, and that they are only a hair's breadth away from becoming real ley lines, the situation is very good. But this situation, ironically, makes people feel anxious and uncertain.

Since we've already come all this way, why not grab some benefits and leave without doing anything?
After thinking it over, Fang Shu narrowed his eyes and decisively took out several paper knives from his hand. He used magic to send them flying and digging towards the core of the dragon vein.

Since he couldn't contain this "quagmire," he decided to keep digging. Even if he accidentally damaged the feng shui of the place, it wouldn't matter, since it wasn't his family's precious land anyway.

If any rare items are found beneath this ley line, it will be a huge profit.

The tricky part was that the paper knives he released only lasted for one breath in the foul air before they all withered and fell lightly onto the surface of the pit like dry branches and rotten leaves.

Unwilling to give up, he tried various other methods of excavation.

Finally, Fang Shu took out the eighteen flying beads.

This bead contains many evil spirits, is of good quality, and exudes a sinister aura. It is a yin and evil magic artifact, and its resistance to evil energy is extremely high.

Compared to other talismans and magical artifacts, this item should be less susceptible to being defiled and decayed by the foul energy of the earth's veins.

as predicted.

With a hissing sound, Fang Shu used eighteen flying beads to finally dig open the mud in the pit.

As they dug downwards, layers of soil surged up, transforming into evil energy within the dragon vein. This caused the concentration of foul air within the entire anus to rise dramatically, and the underground became extremely restless.

Fang Shu merely glanced around before ignoring them.

He had already tidied up the outer chamber when he entered, and the secret mechanisms in the chamber would automatically return to their positions after he entered, making it extremely difficult for others to detect the entrance that led directly to the earth's veins.

Therefore, even though the news of the death of that pair of wild mandarin ducks had already alarmed the temple and attracted the disciples, the visitors would not necessarily investigate the underground veins.

Moreover, Fang Shu is protected by an ancient treasure. As long as the treasure is not damaged, he can stay in the underground foul air. Even if someone comes to investigate, he may not be afraid. On the contrary, he may gain some advantage and either hide from or kill the intruder.

Click.

As he dug, one of the flying beads broke, so he replaced it with another.

If two chips break, replace both; if three chips break, replace all three…

When only two of the eighteen flying beads remained, Fang Shu had already conceived the idea of ​​donning a water and fire cloak and personally digging them out with his own hands.

However, if something goes wrong and the wedding robe is damaged, he will regret it too late. Even if he has a strong physique, he may not even have a chance to escape.

Fortunately, at this moment, he finally unearthed something from the bottom of this dragon vein!
There was a nail, about the length of an infant's arm, lying diagonally in the pit. It was of ordinary appearance, covered in rust, and its patterns were obliterated, showing no trace of any divine creation.

Upon closer inspection, this object bears a striking resemblance to the nails found on sunken ships in the river.

However, the fact that this thing could lie unharmed in the filthy pit of the earth veins already proves that its material is extremely special!

Even if it is not extraordinary, after the accumulation of time and the soaking of the dragon vein's foul air, it will surely no longer be an ordinary thing.

as predicted.

Fang Shu cautiously probed with his divine sense. As soon as his divine sense made contact with it, he felt a chilling sensation.

As if his finger had been burned, he could only quickly withdraw his consciousness.

Even so, his soul was still damaged.

Although the injuries were minor and few, like burns with blisters, such an object that could damage his soul with just a touch was truly a strange thing.

Fang Shu looked surprised.

He quickly devised a plan to first remove the nail from the pit and set it aside. Then, he used the remaining two bone beads and all the magical tools he had available to dig, continuing to dig in the shallow pit.

Luckily, he managed to dig up another nail, much to his delight.

Unfortunately, he continued digging, but after digging to a depth of nearly ten feet, he found nothing more.

At this point, all the miscellaneous magical artifacts on his body had been used up, leaving only a pile of ashes corroded by foul air.

At the core of this dragon vein, there seem to be no other wonders left.

Fang Shu had no choice but to stop while he was ahead and suppress his greed.

He then examined the two nails he had dug out more closely and was surprised to find that they were not metal, but rather more like bone.

After looking at him several times, he subconsciously touched the Hundred Gu Banner on the back of his head.

A delightful thought popped into Fang Shu's mind:

"This is... a dragon's bone!?"

As soon as this idea came to mind, he discovered that the "rust" on the surface of the nails did indeed resemble tiny bone fragments that had been peeled off from the two bones by the constant erosion of the dragon vein's foul energy.

Just as Fang Shu thought, the shape of these nails was due to the two objects, like pebbles in a river, being gradually weathered by the foul air of the dragon vein year after year.

As for their original form, they were some kind of huge skeletal fossils.

After confirming repeatedly that the object was bone and not a man-made artifact, Fang Shuxin's judgment about the "dragon bone" became even more certain.

He thought to himself, "Anything that can survive in the anus of this dragon vein is definitely a Foundation Establishment material. Even if it's not the skeleton of a dragon, but of another demon beast, it's almost the same as a dragon's skeleton."

For a moment, Fang Shu hesitated, then realized that the trip had truly been worthwhile.

It should be noted that his most important treasure—the Hundred Gu Banner of the Flood Dragon's Spine—was forged from the bones of a flood dragon.

Moreover, it is not a pure dragon bone. It was made by the ancestors of the Hu family using the spine of a snake as the main material and refining the dragon's energy into it, which successfully transformed the snake spine into a dragon spine.

The technique of refining magical artifacts is quite sophisticated and admirable, but compared to refining artifacts using the spine of a real dragon, this method is ultimately inferior.

Now, Fang Shu has actually obtained two genuine Foundation Establishment "dragon bones"!
(End of this chapter)