Starting as a spiritual plant master, may I eventually become the master of all lands.

Chapter 109 The Master of the Metal-Element Spiritual Vein

Inside the side hall, Song Chuan gazed at a spirit tree. The tree was thick and short, with numerous branches.

Each branch had a gleaming wooden sign hanging from it, with various tasks written on it.

"In the Rain Master Kingdom, on the banks of the Red River, exchange for the Crimson Blood Crystal of the Nuwa Clan."

"In Langyi County, there is a place called Epu, where you can catch black geese. The reward is spirit stones for each one caught."

"Hexi County, Lincheng, settle the long-standing conflict between the three Foundation Establishment families, and do not kill any of their Foundation Establishment cultivators."

"There is a suspected third-tier foxtail grass in Mengshan. If you can find it, the elder will reward you handsomely."

"Recently, large merchant ships from the Crossing the Sea Pavilion have been heading to the desolate region to purchase as much of the Wine Clan's Spirit Wine as possible, and a certain elder has been collecting it in large quantities."

"Exploration of the Spirit Well in the Well Kingdom"

"Records of Collecting Demonic Insects from the Kingdom of Well —"

"The combat level of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Cold Abyss Sect of the Well Kingdom —"

"Spend time among the independent cultivators in the State of Jing, gathering information on their strength and their opinions of both the State of Jing and the State of Qi —"

Song Chuan looked at the various task signs, the most absurd of which was to go to the Desolate Region to buy spirit wine for the elders. The Desolate Region was separated from the Qi Kingdom by the Yunduan Mountains, and it would take two or three years to reach it by sea and merchant ships.

Moreover, aren't there wine clan members at the Crossing the Sea Tower? They must have brought spirit wine with them. Could it be that it's already sold out and hasn't been replenished yet, and this elder can't wait any longer?

The key is that this mission is extremely dangerous, even more so than the adventures in Kongsang!

Not to mention the sea voyage and the sea monsters, even if we travel a long way to reach the desolate region, that place is not a safe haven.

Why is it called the Desolate Domain? Because in ancient times, the Eastern Domain and the Desolate Domain were collectively known as the Eastern Desolate. They were divided in two by the Cloud-Severing Great Mountains, making them difficult to connect. Over time, they became two large domains. The Desolate Domain bears many traces left from the barbaric era and is shrouded in mystery.

Later, the wine clan of the desolate region, renowned for their business, crossed the sea and joined forces with local forces in the State of Qi to establish the Crossing-the-Sea Tower, which led to some contact between them.

Is it true that a Foundation Establishment cultivator has accepted this task?

Furthermore, the Jing Kingdom has a lot of tasks. I don't know if it suddenly appeared because the Qi Kingdom was going to invade the Jing Kingdom, or if it had been infiltrating the country for many years.

Some of these tasks are assigned by the elders. Some are collected from Foundation Establishment cultivators by various halls, while others are issued based on the needs of the entire sect.

Once a task is accepted, the words on the wooden sign will disappear and be replaced with another task. If the task is not completed, it will reappear.

Song Chuan returned to his cave and pondered for a while. The journey of the Wood Guest would last another two or three years. He had to collect the other two types of seasonal earth elements this year. Planting them was at the Qi Refining stage, which was not difficult.

After the seed is planted, the three dantian will be strengthened, which will mark the beginning of the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation. At that time, once the Earth Yellow Hand and Stone Armor Technique are fully mastered, one can safely venture out.

The Earth Element of Autumn is harder to find than the other three types because autumn belongs to metal. This Earth Element of Autumn must be extracted from metal-type spiritual veins, and there are not many pure metal-type spiritual veins. Moreover, it must be a metal-type spiritual vein that is compatible with a large earth vein. It is estimated that they have all been occupied.

He first wandered around the branch caves of Foundation Establishment cultivators in various parts of the sect. None of the unused ones were suitable. The spiritual energy on them was fine for cultivation, but it was not pure enough as a seed for the Earth Element Dao Seed.

It's not that it can't be used, but he doesn't want his soil to have any flaws. Even if it can be repaired later, who knows if it will affect the operation of the cultivation technique.

Looks like I'll have to become a "thief" this time!

He patiently cultivated in his cave for two months, during which he also went out to explore several times. When the month of Xu arrived, he quietly went to a branch of the mountain.

After wandering around for most of the day, they arrived at the cave dwelling of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. They saw that the area in front of the dwelling was filled with water vapor, and the formation was exactly the same as that of their own cave dwelling.

Below this cave dwelling lies the metal-elemental spiritual vein that he had his eye on.

He observed for a while, and then used the Qianhuang Pearl to probe for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out. The Qianhuang Pearl only extended twenty or thirty feet further than his own divine sense. This distance could save his life in a critical moment, but it wasn't enough for long-distance probing.

Forget it, whether there's anyone there or not, I'll just use the "Borrowing Earth to Form Clouds" technique to directly infiltrate the spiritual vein, extracting earth essence without making a fuss. This person shouldn't be able to detect me. As long as it's not a late-stage Foundation Establishment cave.

Its body flashed, and a beam of yellow light disappeared into the ground, heading straight for the spiritual vein beneath the cave.

They traversed the spiritual veins, avoiding the various key points of the formation, and successfully arrived at the core node of the spiritual veins.

The array formations accompanying the sect's foundation-building cave and the Song family's protective mountain array were of comparable strength, so it wasn't a difficult task for him.

Feeling the wisps of golden spiritual energy gathering around me was incredibly comfortable. Earth gives birth to metal; this metal element is practically my "own child"!

He breathed a sigh of relief, not daring to extend his divine sense to peer upwards at such close range, lest he be detected. However, the cave's owner should not be there, or if he were, he would likely be busy with cultivation.

No one would have imagined that someone would sneak down into their sect's cave dwelling, such a safe place, to do such a "filthy" thing.

Hey! Song Chuan smiled, feeling a thrill inside.

He took out the small bottle, carefully cast the incantation for the Essence Extraction Technique, and began collecting Earth Essence.

After collecting data from the core nodes, he collected data from several other nodes. After more than two hours, he finally finished and was very satisfied.

Just as he finished filling the small bottle and was about to use earth magic to leave, a sudden change occurred!

The underground array's core shifted and began to move.

This means the master of the formation is changing the formation; he must have discovered me. Oh no!

What to do? No matter how the formation changes, it won't stump me, but if I force my way out, that would be embarrassing.

If this person were to file a complaint against me at the Hall of Law Enforcement, even if I hadn't done anything harmful to the cave owner, I would definitely be severely punished.

Unauthorized trespassing is a serious crime! The worst part is that it will ruin your reputation and create a new enemy within your own sect.

The matter of extracting earth element from the spiritual veins must not be spoken of. Regardless of whether it damages the spiritual veins, this is certainly not permitted openly by Vine Flower Valley.

Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard a familiar voice: "Fellow Daoist Song—Song Chuan—?"

Uh! It's her? Dai Lingjun!

The owner of this cave dwelling, which belongs to the metal elemental vein, was actually the frail woman he had seen more than half a year ago when he extracted the Wu Earth elemental essence.

He found this woman very strange at the time, and he couldn't detect her with his divine sense.

She shifted her focus, but didn't directly attack Song Chuan. Judging from her tone, there was no obvious hostility.

But how did she discover me? Even though we were very close, I didn't reveal the slightest trace of my presence! Logically, someone in the early stages of Foundation Establishment shouldn't be able to detect me.

If this ability to create clouds from soil is at such a level, I'd better seriously consider my future cultivation plans.

He sighed, then lifted himself up and landed on the ground in front of the cave, which was within the formation.

Dai Lingjun clutched a corner of her clothes in each hand, her face flushed, her head slightly lowered, avoiding direct eye contact with Song Chuan. But Song Chuan knew she was watching him!