Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation-Chapter 86 - 81: Spirit Stone Vein

On the vast, boundless ocean, numerous islands of varying sizes and shapes were scattered haphazardly.

Just over a hundred feet beneath the waves, a large fish, nearly invisible and the same color as the seawater, swam by silently.

"...Senior Sister, how much longer until we get there?"

A young man’s clear and calm voice sounded from within the "great fish."

A soft, melodious female voice replied, "We’re almost there. About another half an hour."

The great fish was actually a Flying Ship cleverly disguised with Magic. To avoid being spotted by the Mu Family’s spies, they had opted to sneak in underwater, as neither the sky nor the surface was safe.

In the cabin, Ling Qiyue studied the Jade Scroll in her hand, her powerful Divine Sense extending in all directions, penetrating thousands of feet into the seawater.

This Jade Scroll was not the original, but a copy she had made herself. The original had been left behind on Longhuan Island, locked away and placed under a Seal in a hidden storeroom.

This was Ling Changqing’s suggestion. The original Jade Scroll likely had some kind of unknown, fatal trap hidden on it, so it was too dangerous to carry with them.

The two women placed great importance on his opinion, which was why they had chosen this arrangement to minimize the chance of an accident.

Tang Qiu Yao sighed softly. "I never would have thought there’d be such a massive Spirit Stone Deposit hidden in the Deep Sea, here at the edge of the Feiyu Sea Region. I really don’t know how the Mu Family managed to find it."

"Perhaps... they didn’t discover the secret themselves. Maybe they seized it from another faction by force?"

Ling Qiyue said this, knowing the Mu Family Cultivators had a poor reputation in the Feiyu Sea Region. Some of them were always relying on their strength to bully the weak and engage in extortion.

The Mu Family’s leadership had always ignored such matters, even tacitly condoning them, as long as the younger generation didn’t provoke any major powers.

Therefore, it was highly probable the Mu Family had obtained this map through some unscrupulous means, such as robbing visiting Loose Cultivators or even killing them for their treasures.

"Perhaps. But that doesn’t matter to us anymore."

Ling Qiyue reasoned that now that the Ling Family knew the secret of this undersea deposit, they had to try and see if they could mine some of the Spirit Stones and bring them back.

The Flying Ship, disguised as a great fish, continued its submerged journey and reached the area marked on the map without any trouble.

The sea’s surface was empty. The nearest small islands were hundreds of miles away, and they were all deserted. Inhabited islands were even farther.

"Alright, let’s begin our descent!"

Tang Qiu Yao piloted the Flying Ship, beginning their descent into the Deep Sea Region.

When they reached a depth of nearly a thousand feet, Ling Qiyue put away the Flying Ship and deployed the Glazed Yellow Umbrella. A tough, pale-golden barrier of light enveloped the three of them as they continued to descend toward their target.

A thousand feet, two thousand feet, three thousand feet...

As they descended deeper, the pressure on the Glazed Yellow Umbrella grew. The light barrier was slowly compressed by the incredibly heavy seawater, causing it to shrink.

"If only we had a Magical Treasure!"

Tang Qiu Yao lamented. At a depth of over seven thousand feet, while the Defense of a Top Grade Spiritual Artifact could still hold, it was clear it wouldn’t last for long.

However, Ling Qiyue was a new Golden Core Master and hadn’t had time to refine her own Magical Treasure, so that was not an option at the moment.

After a moment of thought, Ling Qiyue said, "It’s not an entirely unsolvable problem. If we can get enough Spirit Stones, we could consider renting a Magical Treasure from one of the major factions in the future."

"Yes, that’s feasible."

Tang Qiu Yao agreed, adding that the cost of Refining a Magical Treasure on one’s own was too great, and it also took a very long time to complete.

In their current situation, temporarily renting a Magical Treasure for this emergency was undoubtedly the most appropriate solution.

Of course, the cost of renting a Magical Treasure was also exorbitant, and it depended on whether you had the right connections. It wasn’t something you could just rent whenever you wanted.

As they spoke, the three of them had already descended to a depth of over five thousand feet.

With the light from certain bioluminescent creatures swimming in the water, Ling Changqing could easily see his surroundings.

Rolling underwater mountain ranges, rugged hills, deep valleys covered in thick seaweed, dark caves, and towering undersea cliffs were visible everywhere.

Dark green, glowing jellyfish over a hundred feet in diameter drifted with the currents. Forests of net-like seaweed and starfish the size of pot lids were everywhere, and schools of strange fish swam past in the distance.

Furthermore, they all exuded dangerous auras; they were the cream of the crop among Second Rank fierce beasts and were not to be trifled with. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

About a thousand feet away, Ling Changqing vaguely saw an unknown, fiery-red Sea Beast the size of a small mountain swim past quickly. Its aura had firmly reached the level of a Third Rank fierce beast.

"The number of fierce beasts here seems exceptionally high," Ling Changqing said in a low voice, his expression grave. "The Spiritual Qi in the water is abundant, but it also feels violent and chaotic..."

"That’s perfectly normal. In any area with a large spirit vein, whether on land or underwater, the ambient Spiritual Qi is always like this!"

Ling Qiyue explained as her smooth, supple arm wrapped around his waist.

Moreover, creatures that grow up in this kind of environment all become ferocious, bloodthirsty, and belligerent by nature.

Over time, some fierce beasts might even mutate, growing larger and becoming even more dangerous and difficult to deal with.

By a stroke of luck, some Beast Kings have an extremely low chance of awakening their intelligence and transforming into Great Demons, just like human High Rank Cultivators.

The three of them moved away from the fierce beasts exuding dangerous auras and cautiously continued their descent.

Ling Qiyue’s expression was grave, and beads of cold sweat dotted her smooth forehead. The pressure she was enduring was clearly immense.

Ling Changqing’s lips were tightly pressed together. He held his Senior Sister’s smooth, firm waist and didn’t let go. The dangerous aura in the surrounding seawater had become almost tangible, pricking his skin like steel needles.

The Era Star Palace in his sea of consciousness trembled slightly, and a profound, indescribable layer of mysterious light enveloped his Divine Soul and physical body, significantly weakening the dangerous aura assailing him from all directions.

His Luck and Fortune were being consumed at a visible rate. In a few hours, they would drop to a dangerously low level.

As they continued their descent, they quietly approached a depth of seven thousand feet.

"We should... be there soon, right?"

Tang Qiu Yao’s soft, sweet voice trembled slightly. Neither she nor Ling Changqing had ever been to such a deep part of the sea; it would be a lie to say they weren’t nervous.

"It’s right below us!"

Ling Qiyue said softly. The range of her Divine Sense far exceeded the other two, and she had already sensed the aura of the deposit hidden beneath the sea sand.

In a moment, a winding, twisting undersea mountain range shaped like a primordial dragon appeared in their vision.

At the foot of the mountain, amidst the white sea sand, they could see the unique, lustrous glow of Spirit Stones twinkling in the distance.

They had finally found the location of the undersea Spirit Stone Deposit!

"What do we do now?" Tang Qiu Yao asked softly.

Just by looking at the Deep Sea fierce beasts everywhere in the surrounding water, anyone could tell that the fortune here wouldn’t be easy to claim.

"Little Junior Brother, what do you think we should do?"

Ling Qiyue squeezed Ling Changqing’s palm. ’In a deadly environment like this, it’s best to listen to his plan.’

"Let’s find another spot. We should look for an area with fewer fierce beasts before we make a move."

Ling Changqing said, ’If I weren’t here, these fierce beasts would have pounced on us long ago.’

"Okay."

Ling Qiyue nodded, leading the other two to swim away quietly, searching along the path of the undersea mountain range.

After searching patiently for half an hour, Ling Qiyue finally found a barely suitable area.

In that spot, there were only two Silver Backed Sea Apes. They had buried their burly bodies in the sea sand and were sound asleep.

Other than them, there were no other fierce beasts within a radius of over a hundred feet.

"This place will have to do!"

Ling Qiyue said in a low voice. She knew that her Little Junior Brother couldn’t hold on for much longer, and this was already the most suitable place to start.

Tang Qiu Yao and Ling Changqing had no objections, so the three of them approached stealthily.

When they were only a few dozen feet from the Silver Backed Sea Apes, Ling Qiyue suddenly struck. A flash of Sword Aura, as thin as a cicada’s wing and condensed to the extreme, flickered and vanished.

The two creatures suddenly opened their large, blood-red eyes and sat up from the sand. Before they could even react, their massive heads were already separated from their bodies.

Before the purplish-black blood could gush out, Tang Qiu Yao had already produced several Second Rank Ice Seal Talismans, instantly freezing the two creatures’ corpses before collecting them into a Storage Pouch.

"Alright, everything went smoothly!" Ling Qiyue let out a small sigh of relief.

The three of them immediately moved closer and found a suitable spot. Tang Qiu Yao released four Second Rank Daoist Soldier Puppets from her Storage Pouch, and they began to dig at the sea sand.

Less than three feet of sand was quickly overturned, revealing a soft, watery, lustrous glow from within—the sheen of Spirit Stones.

Tang Qiu Yao let out a low, surprised cry. She immediately used the Object Control Spirit Technique to grab a piece of Spirit Stone Raw Ore and inspect it in her hand.

"This purity... it’s unmistakably a standard Low grade Spirit Stone!"

She said joyfully. The Spirit Stones mined on Longhuan Island were generally full of impurities and had limited purity. They had to be smelted and purified with Magical Power to reach the standard of Low grade Spirit Stones.

But the Spirit Stone Deposit here already met the purity requirements. After being dug up, cut, and processed into standard sizes, they could be used directly as hard currency.

"Hurry up, let’s get to work!"

Ling Qiyue’s voice was urgent. "Dig as much as we can! It wasn’t easy getting down here, we have to at least make it worth our while!"

Ling Changqing asked, "Senior Sister, with your current Cultivation, how long can you last?"

Ling Qiyue looked at him. "I have Elixirs to replenish my energy, so that shouldn’t be a big problem. The key is how long you can last, Little Junior Brother."

Ling Changqing silently calculated for a moment before saying, "About two hours. I can’t go any longer than that!"

"Alright then, we’ll stay for two hours," Ling Qiyue immediately agreed.

The process that followed was relatively simple. As the Daoist Soldier Puppets dug continuously, the tip of the iceberg of the massive Spirit Stone Vein was gradually revealed.

Tang Qiu Yao and Ling Qiyue continuously used the Object Control Spirit Technique to collect large chunks of Spirit Stone Raw Ore into their Storage Pouches.

They had come fully prepared, each bringing over twenty large-capacity Storage Pouches and Magical Artifacts like Storage Bracelets.

Ling Changqing also joined in, collecting piece after piece of Spirit Stone Raw Ore into his Storage Pouches.

Moreover, Ling Qiyue had already promised him beforehand that all the Spirit Stone Raw Ore he collected would be his to keep and that he wouldn’t have to hand it over to the Ling Family when they returned.

Therefore, Ling Changqing was particularly motivated. As long as he worked hard, he might be able to take care of a good portion of the Spiritual Artifacts and Cultivation Resources he would need after his Foundation Establishment.