Chapter 264: Underground

Episode 1: Secret Technique "Three Autumn Leaves"

Meng Chuan saw the 'Meng Residence' within Jiangzhou City through the clouds. He immediately dove down, vanished in a flash, and reappeared in the central pavilion of Star-Moon Lake.

Liu Qiyue stood by a peach tree, holding a divine bow. She repeatedly drew the bow and released true essence arrows.

The true essence arrows skimmed the lake's surface, arced around a large tree two miles away, pierced through leaf after leaf, and only then did they dissipate on their own.

Arrow after arrow... In the blink of an eye, she had fired over a dozen arrows.

"A'Chuan," Liu Qiyue put away her divine bow and smiled as she greeted her husband. "What did Master say?"

"Of course, Master was very pleased," Meng Chuan walked over to a stone table, picked up a pastry, and took a bite, chuckling. "He even gave me a Spirit Returning Demonic Aura and a Cavern Heavenly Orb. I didn't want to take advantage, so it's counted as credit for my next thirty-five years of patrol duty."

Liu Qiyue wasn't surprised. She chuckled, "So, that's twenty million credits per year? Four times what you earned patrolling six prefectures before. That's reasonable. After all, A'Chuan, your pursuit of demon races should be comparable to King Bai Yu; one person can stand against an entire sect. Four times the credit isn't really that high."

"If everyone demands treasures from the sect, where would the sect get them?" Meng Chuan said. "We can't just think about taking. For example, Venerable Luotang guards Luotang Pass, and Master guards the mountain gate; their contributions are immense, yet they haven't claimed a single shred of credit from Yuanchu Mountain. Instead, they actively contribute, and many powerful Godfiends throughout history have, before their deaths, donated most of their treasures to the sect. Only a small portion was left for their descendants. This is how inner disciples can receive extensive cultivation."

"Indeed," Liu Qiyue nodded. "I believe Master and the others also hope that A'Chuan, you can kill many more demon races."

Meng Chuan nodded.

These treasures were very valuable to him personally, but they were nothing to Yuanchu Mountain as a whole. Hadn't he heard that inviting King Bai Yu for a year cost far more than this?

Yuanchu Mountain expected him to kill more demons!

"Tomorrow morning, I'll begin hunting demons," Meng Chuan said. "I'll be out pursuing them all day and will only return at night to rest and cultivate. An'er and You'er will depend heavily on your care."

"Don't worry, leave it to me," Liu Qiyue nodded. "Oh, there's something I need to tell you."

"Hm?" Meng Chuan looked at his wife.

"Last year, You'er and An'er killed Wang Cong to save their junior sister. Didn't the two siblings also review the case files?" Liu Qiyue asked.

Meng Chuan nodded.

"Since then, they occasionally come to me to look at the files. While I do have some mundane case files, most of them are intelligence reports on demon race rampant in various regions. I've noticed that You'er and An'er have been cultivating with increasing diligence," Liu Qiyue said with concern. "They are only thirteen after all. Is it too early for them to be exposed to this?"

"It's not too early," Meng Chuan said. "Junior Brother Yan Chitong joined Yuanchu Mountain at thirteen. I experienced the calamity of demon attacks and massacres at six. In this era, it's good for them to know more. What they will face in the future will be far more brutal than simply reading words in intelligence reports."

Liu Qiyue nodded: "You're right."

The next morning.

"Father, Mother," the siblings, having finished their morning practice, sat down at the dining table.

The family of four sat down for breakfast. Meng Chuan smiled, glancing at his children. You'er and An'er had both reached the Flawless Realm, but they still hadn't comprehended 'potential.' Comprehending 'potential' at thirteen... that was the level of an unparalleled genius, like Xue Feng, the fifth young master of the Anhai King's family, and Junior Brother Yan Chitong, both of whom comprehended potential at thirteen. And now, both of them were Feudal Lord Godfiends.

Meng Chuan himself hadn't achieved this, so he didn't set such high expectations for his children.

Of course, You'er and An'er's cultivation environment was far superior to Meng Chuan's back in his day. From a young age, they received hands-on instruction from Meng Chuan, a Feudal Lord Godfiend, who taught them according to their aptitudes, guiding them step by step. Liu Qiyue, also a Feudal Lord Godfiend, frequently taught their children as well. With both parents working together... they held great expectations for their children, hoping they would possess the power to protect themselves during this time of war.

"I'm off," Meng Chuan stood up, gave a slight nod to his wife, then shot into the sky and vanished.

Liu Qiyue watched the sky outside through the hall door. This was the first day her husband began his underground exploration.

Meng You and Meng An, however, weren't entirely clear. They only knew that their father often went on rescue missions to deal with demon races, so perhaps this trip was also to slay demons.

Meng Chuan flew at super-high speed through the clouds. Having cultivated to the 'Undying Realm,' his body was increasingly attuned to lightning, allowing him to burst with greater speed. A single flash could cover eighteen miles.

Soon, he arrived at the East Sea.

"Starting from the East Sea, I'll begin my exploration," Meng Chuan dove down, instantly burrowing into the earth. He disappeared in a flash, and the tunnel he created immediately collapsed and sealed behind him.

For mortals, tunneling underground was an incredibly difficult feat.

For Godfiends and Demon Kings, it was much easier.

But for a Feudal Lord Godfiend, it was trivial! His 'Dark Star Domain' prevented any rock or soil from even touching Meng Chuan. He traveled through the earth, flying downwards, with the resistance from the soil and rocks only slowing his speed to seventy percent.

"Open," Meng Chuan's vertical eye on his forehead opened, and the power of his Thunder Magnetic Domain fully erupted. Even with the invisible influence and obstruction of the Earth's power, he could still scan three miles around himself.

Meng Chuan flew downwards at super-high speed, the rocks and soil parting as he struck them.

At first, he could still detect underground rivers.

Later, he also found subterranean magma.

Further down...

Gradually, it transformed completely into a rock layer, nothing but solid rock! Meng Chuan continued to force his way downwards, penetrating through everything. The rocks were incredibly fragile before him.

"The deeper I go, the harder the rocks become, and the resistance increases," Meng Chuan mused.

He flew about two hundred miles deep underground in one go.

"Hmm?"

The scene before him changed.

Previously, most of the area had been solid rock layers, but now, below him, countless 'rock fragments' and 'metal fragments' were slowly flowing.

"Boom." Meng Chuan continued flying downwards, plunging into the flowing mass of countless rocks and metals.

As soon as he entered, he felt an invisible force formed by the myriad flowing objects. The power of the earth was also much denser here, reducing his detection range from three miles around him to a little over two miles.

Meng Chuan continued to fly down for several dozen more miles.

It remained a continuous flow of rock and metal fragments.

"So this is what the depths of the earth are truly like," Meng Chuan nodded slightly.

"According to ancient texts, beneath the surface are soil and rocks, becoming harder the deeper one goes. Around two hundred miles underground lies the 'Earth Fluid Layer,' where countless rocks and metals flow... The entire world's subsurface is like this, continuously flowing slowly. The deeper one goes, the smaller these rock and metal fragments become."

"From two hundred miles to five thousand miles underground, it's all part of the Earth Fluid Layer. The deeper you go, the finer the fluid becomes. These countless fluids seem to possess life, forming a complete entity, and the resistance increases. For a King Godfiend, reaching five thousand miles underground is typically their limit."

"Below five thousand miles underground, the Earth's power liquefies, and the resistance becomes terrifying. Only Creation Realm experts can delve deeper."

"And further down? The texts contain no records."

Meng Chuan looked at the flowing rocks and metal fragments around him. "The Earth Fluid Layer is constantly moving, so it's impossible to build a cavern dwelling here. Any dwelling would be torn apart."

"Therefore, Demon Kings' cavern dwellings are, at most, about two hundred miles underground," Meng Chuan mused.