Chapter 629: A Shriveling World
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Both Shi Tianhao and Shi Zhongtian were worried for Shi Ziling and his wife, who were Shi Tianhao’s parents. But since things had involved the Hall of the Dead, they had to deal with things prudently.
According to known intelligence, the Hall of the Dead had always been hiding in a Middle World. The boundary pathway between this Middle World and the outside world was connected by the Void Battleground.
Ever since the Hall of the Dead was formed, they had always been trading inside the Void Battleground. Although the Void Battleground was unpredictable and chaotic, the Hall of the Dead was the most familiar with the Void Battleground among all the great powers in the Grand Celestial World.
Since they were keeping tabs on them, Shi Tianhao and Shi Zhongtian had no choice but to be careful as they entered the Void Battleground.
The both of them eventually decided to discuss with Lin Feng before making their decision.
The Dual Polarity Peak guarded the boundary pathway towards the Void Battleground, whereas the Virtuous Zen Master guarded the boundary pathway connected to the Divine Lands. After that, Shi Tianhao, Zhu Yi and the rest continued to explore the Celestial Wonders World.
At the same time, Shi Tianhao continued to find the Green Bronze Crucible of Emptiness inside this Middle World.
Before Shi Zhongtian exited the Void Battleground, he was already hurt. As he fought the Hall of the Dead envoys, he became more wounded.
But since he had already formed the Immortal Soul, when he tried to heal himself, he could soon absorb the spiritual energy around him and recover to his peak state.
Since he just reunited with his grandson, Shi Zhongtian could not bear to leave him. He decided to move with Shi Tianhao and the rest.
Shi Zhongtian sensed the spiritual energy movement in the Celestial Wonders World, and realized that Shi Tianhao and the rest did not discover something.
“The spiritual energy of this world seems to be gathering somewhere.”
Zhu Yi, Shi Tianhao, Yang Qing and Tuntun heard this and they were stunned. After receiving Shi Zhongtian’s warning, they realized it too.
They landed within a mountainous region. The spiritual energy at this region was very nourishing, far beyond any other regions. The bunch of them found a cave within this mountainous region. After they entered the cave, they realized that it was a giant cave that was like a palace.
Inside the cave, there was a stalactite crystal mine.
Spiritual water on the top of the stalactite rocks accumulated. After a period of accumulation, the spiritual energy gathered to form stalactite crystals, which were very valuable.
During the first Sect-Opening Ceremony, the Great Zhou Empire sent over congratulatory gifts, which contained these stalactite crystals that weighed over a thousand catties.
But now what was in front of Zhu Yi and the rest was an entire line of stalactite crystal mines. It contained an unknown amount of the crystal mines.
Shi Tianhao crushed a little of it and threw it into the air. After that, he opened his mouth and caught it. He started to chew it and sensed the spiritual energy within. He turned his head around, “The quality is very high.”
Yang Qing and Zhu Yi were both speechless. Shi Zhongtian laughed, “Your taste is pretty good.”
Tuntun was even more unceremonious. She consumed a large amount of the stalactite crystals. As she ate them, she laughed. She was extremely pleased.
Zhu Yi pulled her away and felt the change in spiritual energy. His expression changed, the spiritual energy of these stalactite crystals is slowly dissipating.”
Shi Zhongtian retracted his smile and walked in front of the mine. He knocked slightly and closed his eyes while feeling it. After a while, he nodded his head, “That is the case. Right now, the accumulation of the spiritual energy is slower than the loss of spiritual energy. That is why the mine is in a growth state.
“But I can clearly feel that the loss of spiritual energy is happening very slowly. In a few years, the change would be small. But a hundred years later, the gap will be very obvious.
“After more time, say a thousand years, the rate of loss of spiritual energy might even supersede the accumulation of spiritual energy. When that happens, this mine will slowly shrivel and even the entire belt of mines may even disappear.”
Shi Zhongtian’s expression became serious. For an ordinary person, a hundred years was his entire life. But for a cultivator in the Aurous Core Stage, a hundred years was not that long.
For a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, even a thousand years was just a part of his life. For an Immortal Soul Stage cultivator, some of them already spent a thousand years every time they retreated.
Tuntun pursed her lips and muttered, “Then let’s use these mines within a hundred years.
Zhu Yi shook his head and his brows were raised, “I believe it’s because these mines are huge, that’s why they are able to suppress the loss of spiritual energy. If we mine huge amounts of the stalactite crystals, we might cause the loss of spiritual energy to speed up. When that happens, before a thousand years are reached, the balance here will have collapsed. Then the stalactite crystals will all be wasted.”
Tuntun shouted, “It’s still better than leaving them to rot!”
Yang Qing pondered and said, “Let’s look at the condition of other places. I remember the place where the Water Marrow Crystal Mine was was fine.”
“No, it’s not.” Shi Tianhao and Zhu Yi shook their heads.” When we were there, I felt that something was not right about it. I didn’t think of any reason then, but as I think about it, I believe it’s the same as here.”
Zhu Yi looked at Shi Zhongtian, “Previously, Elder Shi mentioned about the spiritual energy of this world. They seemed to gather in a single area. I just thought of this point and discovered the problem.”
“Now it seems like the loss of spiritual energy of this mine is related to the movement of spiritual energy in the Celestial Wonders World.”
Shi Tianhao said, “Let’s take a look at other places.”
The spiritual energy in the Celestial Wonders World was not very nourishing. But many of these places had gathered huge amounts of spiritual energy and also nurtured many precious treasures.
Shi Tianhao and the rest explored the entire world, and they even returned to the Water Marrow Spiritual Mine to re-check the place. As expected, every mine that they saw had the same problem.
The region where spiritual herbs and medicine grew also had the same problem. In the short-term, there was enough spiritual energy to boost the growth of the spiritual herbs. But as time passed, the place became more barren. In the end, insufficient spiritual energy was around to aid the growth of the spiritual herbs.
The situation in this region was better than at the mines. Spiritual herbs and medicine could be grafted to other places. But if the resources in the mine were shifted to somewhere else, away from the original environment, they would be unable to birth more resources. But under normal conditions, if mining was done at suitable rates, these resources could be renewed.
Shi Tianhao, Zhu Yi and Yang Qing looked at one another and saw that they were all very serious.
Regardless whether it was Lin Feng or the few of them, they wished to claim this entire Celestial Wonders World. They wanted to make it as a foundation for the future development of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
Under such a circumstance, the disciples from the Celestial Sect of Wonders naturally wished for it to develop in the future and become the foundation of the sect. They did not want it to be the same way as in the Cloud Forest World.
If they wanted it to be that way, then it was simple. They could just mine all the resources and leave. Even if they did not have the abilities to do so, they could leave it to the elders of the sect, namely Lin Feng, the Dual Polarity Peak, Virtuous Zen Master and even Shi Zhongtian to mine all the resources.
If they wanted to develop the world, whatever that was happening now was indeed worrying. If the situation of the loss of spiritual energy of the mines was not reversed, then they would not dare to mine for resources. Otherwise, the mines would collapse and eventually shrivel.
Zhu Yi said in a deep voice, “Since the spiritual energy is gathering in one particular region, that must be where the root of the problem is. We shall find that place and solve the problem.”
Shi Zhongtian tried to figure out the direction of the flow of the spiritual energy. He said, “I can conjure a spell and bring all of you along.”
“Thank you Elder.” Zhu Yi and Yang Qing expressed their gratitude towards him. Shi Tianhao looked at him, “You are injured. It’s best not to do so.”
Shi Zhongtian laughed, “Silly kid, I fought my way out of the Void Battleground. I am fine.”
As he said, he conjured a spell. He shouted, “The few of you, protect yourselves and focus your minds.”
As a white light shone, everyone was engulfed. As a boom resonated, the white light flashed and disappeared.
Zhu Yi, Shi Tianhao, Yang Qing and Tuntun were aware of the external changes. They watched as the light flowed and changed, making it unpredictable.
Shi Zhongtian conjured a spell not to transcend void space, but to infuse everyone within the momentum of the flow of the spiritual energy in the Celestial Wonders World.
It was as if they converted into a small boat amidst a long river. As they floated on the river, following the current, they were guided to the end by the river.
This was only something an Immortal Soul Stage cultivator could do. Shi Zhongtian was injured, thus he did not fully unleash his powers. That was why he needed to be careful as he conjured the spell, so as to prevent being ostracized by spiritual energy in the Celestial Wonders World.
Everyone followed the flow of spiritual energy and landed on the ground again. But it was an empty space that seemed ordinary. It was unbelievable that this place was the point where all the spiritual energy gathered.
The spiritual energy in this place was not nourishing. If Shi Zhongtian did not bring all of them here, even if Shi Tianhao and the rest passed by this place, they would not have realized anything was amiss.
After Shi Zhongtian landed, he stomped his foot and a huge crack appeared on the ground. As the crack developed all the way down, a huge cracked valley seemed to have formed.
Zhu Yi and the few of them looked down. They saw the deep ends of the cracked valley but they could not see the end of it. There was no flow of spiritual energy, as if the entire place was dead.
Shi Zhongtian led them as they flew down all the way without stopping.
After a brief moment, Yang Qing lifted his head and looked up. He saw that the opening of the valley only revealed a thin line of light.
And at this point, everyone felt a suction power. The more they descended, the stronger the suction power.
They heard the flowing sound of water. They continued to descend and very soon, they saw a huge pond. It was dark and did not reflect any light.
Even the streak of light from above that came into contact with the pond was engulfed.
Zhu Yi raised his brows and summoned the Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra. The Forever-Bright Light was shone onto the pond, but was immediately engulfed. No light could pass through the water pond.
