Chapter 244: Departure, the Ancient Heavenly Soul Sect Ruins

Takigawa, so incredibly generous!

Moments later, seeing Wang Yu still engrossed in the contents of the *Earth Mother Scripture*, Takigawa couldn't help but remind him.

"Brother Wang, you can study it thoroughly later. The *Earth Mother Scripture* is not something one can master in a short time. Some cultivators spend their entire lives researching it, yet still struggle to fully comprehend it."

"You're right. By the way, how much of these techniques have you, Master Takigawa, managed to comprehend?"

"I've gained some understanding."

Her foundations were strong, and once her inheritance was complete, her quiet meditation over the past year or so had effectively been raising the upper limits of her various abilities.

Next, the two began to divide the spiritual herbs.

The most important items were the third-tier spiritual treasures. One or two of them would aid Takigawa in forming her Golden Core, and her inherited knowledge seemed to contain the corresponding Golden Core elixir formula.

They distributed them according to their needs through friendly negotiation.

Each received six plants. Most of the third-tier poisonous plants Wang Yu acquired could be used in medicine. One particular plant was precisely one of the ingredients for the Exquisite Inner Core, named the "Turbid Qi Root"!

As its name suggested, it was a treasure similar to the Golden Qi Root, but its primary function was defilement, even more insidious than a spiritual consciousness poison.

If an ordinary cultivator accidentally ingested it, their meridians would become blocked, their physical body defiled, and their soul and spirit would weaken, severely harming their potential and aptitude.

That this item was one of the three main Qi Root ingredients for the Exquisite Inner Core puzzled him; he couldn't fathom the medicinal principles behind this elixir formula.

In addition to this, the other five plants were common items. Due to their toxic nature, they would fetch a higher price if sold to the right buyer. However, if sold to trade associations like Heavenly Treasure Pavilion or Golden Mansion, a single plant would only sell for a maximum of 200,000 spirit stones, which wasn't very cost-effective.

After clearing out the underground medicine garden, Wang Yu brought up the matter of the ancient Heavenly Soul Sect ruins with Takigawa, specifically the clues he had gathered.

The inverted "mountain" shaped landmark elements particularly resonated with Takigawa. She said,

"Brother Wang, what you described is indeed a formation. It originated from a natural earth formation, but was transformed by a master geomancer into a human formation: the Nether Tiger Prison Suppression Formation!"

Wang Yu frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

She explained, "In Feng Shui arts, 'mountain' often represents suppression and sealing. An inverted mountain signifies not only suppression but also locking everything within the formation. It's like a wedge at the end of an iron chain, nailing it firmly to the ground, making it a prison from which escape is impossible."

Wang Yu immediately understood, "Then what about the 'Nether Tiger'?"

"The tiger is the lord of the mountains, so an inverted mountain becomes the Nether Tiger. The ancient Heavenly Soul Sect cultivated the Path of Souls, so this formation was likely set up to trap and lock away various captured Yin souls and malevolent spirits."

The Path of Souls, though said to cultivate the soul, is essentially the power of divine consciousness.

The soul and divine consciousness are intertwined yet distinct. The latter is like the limbs of the former; through training, its strength can grow, making the soul itself stronger. They share a symbiotic relationship: one prospers, both prosper; one is damaged, both are damaged. Therefore, strengthening either one leads to the simultaneous growth of the other.

In ancient times, demonic cultivation was prevalent. Since the Heavenly Soul Sect was established in Scarlet Kite, it was a member of the demonic sects. Absorbing the power of Yin souls and malevolent spirits to enhance oneself was a common practice in demonic arts. However, such practices could easily defile one's own divine consciousness, making it difficult to form a Nascent Soul in the future.

Wang Yu, however, understood the profound implications.

The Ancient Soul Art was the solution to this problem; cultivating an Ancient Soul allowed one to resist all those impurities, chaotic wills, and memories. The person who created this cultivation method was truly a genius.

After his doubts were cleared, Wang Yu asked the crucial question.

"How do we find it?"

"Don't worry, Brother Wang. Since there's such a clear formation, we only need to look for Yin veins. Let's get out first, and you'll understand later."

"Alright."

After activating the Purple Dragon Earth Travel Art, with no one to hinder him, Wang Yu moved almost unimpeded underground and easily emerged onto the surface.

Takigawa's method perfectly suited her identity as a formation master. Holding a small triangular flag, she gently waved it, and the earth and stones parted. After she passed through, the ground returned to its original state. There was no trace that someone had passed through, not even a wisp of spiritual essence was left behind, something the Earth Travel Art couldn't achieve.

"Impressive."

Wang Yu's exclamation prompted an explanation from Master Takigawa.

"This is the Earth Mother Breathing Soil Banner. In the future, it will also become my Natal Artifact. Unfortunately, my cultivation is insufficient, and I lack a rare spiritual material, so it's not yet complete."

Wang Yu genuinely appreciated her straightforward and unreserved nature; it was like a shining piece of gold that everyone admired. He admired it even more, especially since he couldn't do the same.

They successfully returned to the surface.

As expected, they were no longer in the "White Snake Depression" but had emerged into a dense forest. Only after ascending to the highest nearby ground and flying to the treetops to observe the terrain did they confirm that they had veered approximately three hundred li north of the depression.

A golden ring lit up in Takigawa's eyes, a tangible manifestation of the Golden Qi-Gazing Eyes secret art. This art allowed her to penetrate the earth and directly perceive the flow of telluric energy.

In Feng Shui arts, telluric energy is a crucial element. Areas rich in telluric energy often indicate the presence of earth veins. By following their flow and pinpointing their source, one can often discover natural formations. Similarly, spiritual veins, Five-Element veins, dragon veins, and other variations originating from earth veins can all be located using the Golden Qi-Gazing Eyes. This secret art is also top-tier within the geomancer's inheritance. Its only drawback was its limited range.

"The Nether Tiger Prison Suppression Formation is an artificially reversed Yin formation, very likely filled with various Yin veins, which naturally attract ghosts and spectral beings. There's a place called Ghost Mountain within the Heavenly Fiend Bone Forest. How about we look there first?"

"Alright."

Wang Yu naturally nodded. He had been searching like a headless fly, and the White Snake Depression he suspected wasn't the right place either. The spiritual consciousness poison in the surrounding wind belt might have been set up by the master of the Snake Manor, or it could have been a coincidence. Following a professional significantly increased their chances of finding it.

But he still had a question.

"Ghost Mountain is a relatively well-known exploration spot within the Heavenly Fiend Bone Forest. Hasn't any powerful geomancer come to investigate it before?"

Hearing this, Takigawa smiled proudly.

"The *Earth Mother Scripture* is not a simple Feng Shui art. What I can discover, other geomancers might not. Just the top-tier Qi-Gazing secret art isn't something ordinary people possess. Furthermore, the 'Dragon Restraint and Vein Stabilization' chapter is the essence of the *Earth Mother Scripture*, Brother Wang—"

"Hmm?"

Takigawa, who had just been smiling, turned serious. She said, "The first three chapters of the *Earth Mother Scripture* are still within reason, but the secret art in the fourth section must never be used unless absolutely necessary."

"Why not?"

"It harms the heavens and earth too much, making one susceptible to divine retribution."

The term "divine retribution" was originally used by ancient cultivators who couldn't bear to see demonic cultivators slaughter living beings. However, it was proven that massacring one's own kind or demonic beasts would not incur any divine retribution. Only when the fundamental principles of heaven and earth are truly harmed does divine retribution occur.

At such times, the lightning tribulation would transform into divine retribution blood lightning, dozens of times more powerful than others, leading to certain death upon contact, with no known survivors. If one hadn't reached the time for tribulation and was still alive and well, divine retribution would continuously accumulate power over time. Once it reached a certain level, natural disasters would descend. Earthquakes, landslides... even meteor showers from the sky, and one might get struck by lightning just by stepping outside. If one still didn't die and the divine retribution accumulated to a critical point, one would experience extreme misfortune, with various natural and man-made calamities continuously befalling them, even choking to death on a sip of water.

Wang Yu knew these details because he had read such records in the Scripture Hall, but at the time, he had regarded them as mere entertainment and jokes, not taking them seriously. After all, to incur divine retribution, one must first possess the ability to do so. He never expected that at the Foundation Establishment stage, he would already possess such a calamity-attracting, suicidal weapon.

Harming the fundamental principles of heaven and earth was no simple matter. To put it broadly, even slaughtering all living beings in two domains or sinking continents—such physical destruction would have no effect. To put it narrowly, if one destroyed a dragon vein nurtured by the earth, divine retribution would indeed arrive. A clever person might ask, if a continent is sunk, wouldn't the dragon veins also be destroyed? Actually, no.

Regardless of earth veins, dragon veins, Five-Element veins, Yin veins... these are essentially forms of Qi of heaven and earth. Though they have form, they lack substance, making them incredibly difficult for cultivators to destroy. At most, they can be restrained through secret arts and forcibly relocated. Among the many "veins," only the destruction of a dragon vein incurs divine retribution; the others are simply inconsequential. This demonstrates the unique nature of this kind of "vein."

A fully developed dragon vein is a treasure of the world, possibly not even found in this realm. However, there are many weaker dragon veins. Both the Heaven Refining Demonic Sect and the Heavenly Void Sword Sect had restrained dragon veins to enhance their sect's fortune. The *Earth Mother Scripture* recorded that the largest dragon vein in this realm was a fifth-tier dragon vein, far from being fully developed, and located within the Sea Dragon Abyss of the Chaotic Ancient Sea, making it difficult for cultivators to access.

These various anecdotes greatly broadened his horizons.

As they traveled towards Ghost Mountain, they conversed. Occasionally, Wang Yu would ask about the customs and local conditions of the Taihu Spirit Domain. Before he was sixteen, he had lived entirely as a mortal. His life was confined to Stone Lake City, so he knew little about Taihu, let alone the Taihu cultivation world.

Knowing that her background had been revealed, Takigawa no longer held anything back, answering whatever Wang Yu asked. Although there were also petty and underhanded dealings there, the overall situation was very prosperous. Takigawa could name over a dozen world-renowned cultivators offhand. As for Wang Yu, apart from the names of Nascent Soul cultivators, he didn't really know any powerful geniuses. This was likely due to the high mortality rate; Scarlet Kite only spread the names of powerful individuals. Those who died would be forgotten within a few years, as if they had never existed—a harsh and cruel reality.

"Takigawa feels that Brother Wang doesn't seem to be from Scarlet Kite either. Why don't you cultivate in Taihu? Aside from strict rules and scarce resources, it's much safer than Scarlet Kite."

Wang Yu immediately fell silent upon hearing this. He had tried, and then he was chased back. Back then, he said Scarlet Kite was more suitable for development, but ever since he ambushed the slave-hunting team, he hadn't dismissed the idea of staying in Taihu. After all, the "idle slot" was more useful than any secret art, and that was the confidence behind his choices.

"There's no point discussing that now. Master Takigawa, if you don't want to die in Scarlet Kite, you should return as soon as the Heavenly Soul Sect matter is concluded."

Hearing this, she immediately fell silent. She knew Wang Yu's warning was well-intentioned, but resources in Taihu were too scarce for rogue cultivators. She was already over two hundred years old this year and had to achieve Golden Core formation.

Ahead, Ghost Mountain came into view.