Chapter 1962: Heaven Vein Sect

White mist swirled.

The Yin family members traveled intermittently on their magic artifacts. Yin Heqian's gaze swept everywhere, seemingly searching for something in the forest.

Standing on either side of him were a man and a woman, both with the appearance of youthful faces and white hair. Each held a compass-shaped magic artifact, resting flat in their palms, which they were activating with their true essence. In the center of the artifacts, a circular mirror-like part emitted a faint glow, reflecting their faces.

The other family members also brandished their chosen magic artifacts, their faces filled with vigilance.

Nianhui stood alone at the very back, her expression and demeanor as cold as ever, making her seem out of place among the group. In fact, throughout the entire Yin family, only Yin Qiao'er could converse with her. Nianhui usually remained in secluded cultivation year-round, so many younger Yin family members didn't even know such a person existed in their clan.

Yin Heqian's eyes glowed with silver profound light as he scanned the surroundings. He asked in a deep voice, "Elders, have the Yuanhui Twin Discs reacted? Have you discovered anything?"

The two closed their eyes and remained silent, concentrating on activating the Yuanhui Twin Discs. Only after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn did they slowly speak.

"Reporting to the family head, the lay of the land here, the mountain ranges and earth veins, show some discernible patterns that indeed align with the records in our ancient texts. With the passage of time, mountains and rivers change, so whether this is truly the ancient Heavenly Vein Sect's location remains to be verified. However, if this place is indeed the former site of the Heavenly Vein Sect, then the Vein Profound Pagoda must be there!"

The white-haired man on Yin Heqian's left raised a hand and pointed diagonally forward, and the woman nodded in agreement.

"It is said that the Vein Profound Pagoda was the Heavenly Vein Sect's most important treasure, crucial to its rise and fall. I wonder what kind of treasure it is to possess such immense power," Yin Heqian mused, manipulating his magic artifact to fly in the direction the white-haired man pointed.

"It must be a supreme treasure! Obtaining this treasure will be like adding wings to the family head, and the Yin family is destined for great prosperity!"

"Precisely. I still remember, decades ago, two thunderous booms shook the Yan Kingdom, but then nothing followed. At that time, rumors of the Heavenly Vein Sect's imminent emergence had already quietly circulated in the cultivation world. The Baili clan, Mount Guyang, and the Hengyu Gate all sent people to search for years, but found nothing. To think we uncovered clues. If we can get there first, it will be clear evidence of the Yin family's flourishing destiny!" Several people beside him continuously echoed their agreement.

Yin Heqian showed no sign of smugness. He merely shook his head slightly and calmly said, "It's too early to celebrate. We can rejoice once the two elders find concrete evidence."

As they spoke, they flew over dozens of mountain ranges.

"Wait!" the white-haired man suddenly called out, stopping everyone. His magic artifact glowed, its central mirror reflecting the surrounding mountains, as if viewing the land from above. Upon closer inspection, the local terrain appeared quite peculiar. The mountains here seemed unremarkable, but when viewed from a broader perspective, they felt slightly lower than the surrounding peaks, as if the land had subtly sunken. Normally, one might not notice this subtle difference, but combined with the information the Yin family had gathered, this place was certainly suspicious!

"Something's amiss!" Yin Heqian activated his spiritual sense, sweeping the area. He discovered many caves here. The caves were noticeably denser than elsewhere and extremely chaotic in their distribution, with no discernible pattern; some were on mountains, others in valleys. But they shared one commonality: all led underground. There were no unusual signs on the surface, no ruins related to a 'pagoda.' To find the Vein Profound Pagoda, they might have to enter the caves and search underground.

However, with so many cave entrances, which one should they enter? The ruins might still contain remnants of the Heavenly Vein Sect's formations and restrictions. Rushing in recklessly would only invite more trouble.

"Guard the two elders!" Yin Heqian commanded in a low voice. Everyone immediately dispersed, positioning themselves to protect the elders in the center, and jointly cast spells to conceal any unusual phenomena.

The two elders sat facing each other, raising their respective compasses. Their bases met, merging into one. Moments later, both elders spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. The blood flowed into the Yuanhui Twin Discs, seeping into the reflected scene. It seemed as if a real space existed within, where the blood flowed and transformed into countless blood-red "earthworms," each burrowing into a different cave.

The Yuanhui Twin Discs vibrated in the elders' hands. Soon after, they suddenly erupted in a burst of crimson light, staining a specific area and roughly encircling two dozen caves. Everyone simultaneously looked towards the corresponding area in reality.

"Family Head, we've done our best. The true entrance might be in this vicinity," the white-haired man said, looking exhausted.

"Thank you, Elders! Two stay behind to guard the elders. The rest of you, follow me!" Yin Heqian flew above that marked area but couldn't discern anything. He selected a cave, entered the underground, and the others swiftly followed.

As they descended the cave, the terrain gradually narrowed, then abruptly widened after a certain distance, branching out like a spiderweb. Initially, everyone tried using their spiritual sense to scout, finding no anomalies. But as they delved deeper, they felt their spiritual sense inexplicably suppressed, even Yin Heqian, a Nascent Soul cultivator, was not immune.

"This must be the Heavenly Vein Sect's ruins!" someone exclaimed excitedly.

"Calm down!" Yin Heqian reprimanded, then looked at Nianhui behind him. "Fourth Sister, have you found anything?"

Nianhui looked around, then took out a jade cicada from her sleeve. She gently rubbed its wings, and the cicada astonishingly came to life, its wings vibrating with a low hum. The invisible sound waves spread for an hour before the cicada folded its wings and settled back into Nianhui's palm.

"Not here," Nianhui said calmly.

The joy on everyone's faces involuntarily subsided, but no one questioned her. They all knew the power of the Nine-Sound Cicada artifact, and Nianhui was incapable of lying.

"Out!" Yin Heqian decisively ordered a retreat to the surface. He then chose another cave and continued to descend.

The process repeated itself over and over again. Finally, after descending into the eleventh cave, Nianhui gave a completely different answer!

"There!" Nianhui pointed with her jade hand towards one of the tunnels and flew into it first.

The cave seemed bottomless; they flew for a long time without reaching its end, but the anomalies within the cave grew more frequent.

"There's another stone pool ahead!" A Yin family member transmitted a warning, his tone somewhat tense.

Nianhui and Yin Heqian stopped at the edge of the stone pool. The tunnel wall recessed to one side, forming a deep, square pit with solid stone walls. They had seen similar stone pools in other caves. This stone pool contained no water, and its four walls were covered with unintelligible murals. The lines in the murals were chaotic, carved directly into the stone with blades, making them hard to describe in words—primitive yet peculiar.

Despite their crude appearance, the murals possessed a strange allure, making it hard to look away. After prolonged viewing, the two lowest-cultivation individuals felt dizzy and nearly suffered a disruption in their true essence. The more others pondered them, the more bizarre and chilling they found the murals. Everyone else stopped, and several intentionally averted their gaze, not daring to look directly at the murals. Fortunately, Nianhui did not linger long and continued forward.

As they delved deeper, they encountered more stone pools, and the eerie atmosphere grew thicker.

While the Yin family was gradually making their way deeper underground, others had also entered this area from different directions, and it wasn't just one force.

In another tunnel, a group of four advanced silently. The leader was a man who appeared to be forty years old, with a goatee under his chin and bright, piercing eyes that suggested shrewdness and competence. This group belonged to a well-known cultivation family near the Yan Kingdom, with the compound surname Baili. They were originally just a small, ordinary family, affiliated with a cultivation sect. However, this small family possessed great fortune. Every family head throughout history had been exceptionally talented and ambitious, leading the Baili clan to gradually expand. Now, the family boasted three Nascent Soul patriarchs, making them a formidable force in the vicinity of the Yan Kingdom! The leader was one of these three patriarchs, named Baili Qingkong.

"We've gone this far and still haven't reached the end. Near the Yan Kingdom, there shouldn't be another ruin this grand apart from the Heavenly Vein Sect, should there? I never expected it to emerge after so many years of dormancy." The speaker was a young man holding a folding fan. Unlike the others, his expression was quite relaxed and casual, as if enjoying the scenery here. "Third Uncle, there are four of us. Who knows how long it will take to find the core of the ruins? Should we send a message back home?"

Baili Qingkong said indifferently, "There's no need to alarm the family head and the grand elder just yet."

"Understood!" The young man prudently fell silent. The other two dared not say more and silently continued their journey through the dark underground.

Elsewhere, similar scenes unfolded. Due to various reasons, they converged on these ruins at the same time. The strengths of the different factions varied, and none were aware of how many competitors surrounded them.

"Thirteenth stone pool," the young man counted the stone pools they encountered on the way, piecing together the content of the murals in his mind. There were differences in content between each mural. Gathering all the stone pools might reveal other mysteries, but with just the four of them, who knew how long it would take to explore the entire ruin?

Just as the young man was concentrating on piecing together the murals, he was suddenly startled by a tremor. He looked up to see a scorching wind emanating from Baili Qingkong, blowing towards him. Knowing that this wind was his Third Uncle's renowned escape technique, the young man gave up resisting and allowed the wind to carry him off the ground.

*Boom!*

*Crack!*

To everyone's shock, the walls of the tunnel cracked, and countless fissures spread from ahead. The tremors grew more violent, as if the ground were about to collapse. In this critical moment, Baili Qingkong's eyes flashed with sharp light. Instead of retreating, he advanced, surrounded by scarlet flames, his speed dramatically increasing!

Meanwhile, deep underground, in an unknown place.

The Yin family gathered around a stone pool. This stone pool was more than ten times larger than the others, and this was the end of the underground cavern. There was no path forward. Behind the stone pool stood a massive stone wall, dozens of zhang high, engraved with even larger and more complex murals.

Yin Heqian and Nianhui floated to the left and right of the stone wall, both extending their hands and pressing them against the wall, as if trying to push open two massive doors. The Yin family members behind them arrayed themselves in a formation, casting spells with all their might. Waves of blue light, like surging water, rushed towards the stone wall, aiding the two.

*Boom!*

When the first tremor erupted from behind the stone wall, a crack appeared in the middle of the mural. But before the Yin family could express their joy, something unexpected happened.

*Boom!*

From behind the stone wall, a terrifying force suddenly erupted. The stone wall immediately fragmented into countless cracks, and stones of various sizes tumbled down. The stone wall was about to collapse, and the tremors were far from over. The cracks continued to expand, and the underground cavern instantly became dilapidated.

"Oh no!" a Yin family member cried out in alarm.

Yin Heqian's face was ashen. The sudden change was too swift to react to, and completely unstoppable. If the tremors were confined to the underground, they might have been able to delay for a while, but if the entire ruin collapsed, it would likely be discovered by other cultivators immediately. Soon, the various sects and forces surrounding the Yan Kingdom would come to claim a share!

"Change..." Yin Heqian was about to give an order when he suddenly felt a powerful aura rapidly approaching amidst the chaos. His heart immediately tightened. Clearly, the Yin family was not the only one to discover these ruins. The situation was worse than expected; they had attracted competitors so quickly!

In his urgency, Yin Heqian didn't notice the unusual expression on Nianhui's face beside him. Her eyes rippled faintly, showing surprise and confusion. Gradually, she seemed to dimly understand something, and a hint of bitterness flashed in her eyes.

"Change formation!" Yin Heqian roared.

The Yin family, though startled, did not panic. They immediately altered their formation, pushing their palms forward. Blue water-drills formed before them and shot furiously towards the stone wall. The already crumbling stone wall, subjected to this heavy assault, finally succumbed to the overwhelming pressure and completely collapsed.

Behind the dust, an ancient stone hall was revealed. The hall's walls were covered with murals, and astonishingly, it had no floor, like a bottomless well leading into the unknown. Faintly, at the very deepest part, several clusters of dim light could be seen, like the precious glow emanating from treasures.

Yin Heqian flew out from the rubble and saw the scene within the hall. His body swayed, and he was about to fall when a thunderous sound suddenly erupted behind him.

*Crack!*

A streak of red light shot directly towards Yin Heqian's back, accompanied by a hearty laugh. "Family Head Yin, long time no see. Why the rush to leave? Why not stop for a chat?"

A mass of blue light appeared behind Yin Heqian. As the two lights met, they immediately intertwined. Yin Heqian was not injured, but under the fierce impact, his body involuntarily tilted. He forcefully steadied himself, suppressing the anger in his heart, and roared, "Baili Qingkong!"

Deeper underground.

In an unknown place.

In the dark, silent space, a figure sat cross-legged on a cold stone. When the tremors reached him, he slowly opened his eyes, releasing a sharp gaze. It was none other than the young man surnamed Shi. He raised his head, and as if through the earth, he seemed to see the scene above. He 'saw' the three Baili family members and Baili Qingkong.

"Baili!" The young man surnamed Shi uttered these two words, his tone filled with bone-chilling hatred. The Baili clan was the main perpetrator of the massacre that wiped out the Sha family back then. The once prominent Sha family had only one direct descendant escape: him. He had endured humiliation and burden until this very day! The Baili clan's current possession of three Nascent Soul patriarchs was precisely because they had trampled on the Sha family's corpses and drunk their blood.

Besides the Baili clan, there were also cultivators from other forces drawn here. These forces, to varying degrees, had also taken advantage of the Sha family's misfortune.

***

*Author's Note:*

Lately, being at home, I've been a bit disoriented, so updates haven't been stable. Things should return to normal once I'm back. I can't make up for previous missed chapters, but I will for future ones. Noting one chapter as owed.

(End of chapter)