Chapter 260 - 251: Traces of a Spirit Vein

Chapter 260: Chapter 251: Traces of a Spirit Vein

The results of the Primordial Yang Sect’s interrogation arrived sooner than Li Yuan had expected.

Chen Yi arrived at the Mist Forest Marketplace at noon the next day.

The two met again on the second floor of the administration office. The only things on the table were a copy of the fragmented map confiscated from the Demon Cultivator, held down by a recording jade slip.

Chen Yi got straight to the point after entering. "I got it out of them."

"They weren’t after a regular Evil Ore mine."

Chen Yi pointed to a region on the map. "To be precise, the Evil Ore mine is just one of the clues to an entrance. They’re more interested in a potential underground structure connected to the mine."

Li Yuan’s gaze fell on the fragmented map.

The map was incomplete, with many broken lines, but there were indeed a few unnatural connections between the Evil Ore mine, the ruins, and the proposed outpost location.

Chen Yi continued, "The contents of the jade slip are incomplete; I could only piece together a rough idea. The Dark Abyss Association is looking for some kind of old, buried structure. It might be a passageway or a sealed-off area. They were asking about the Evil Ore mine not to excavate ore, but to use it to find what’s underneath."

Li Yuan nodded, taking note of this information.

’That explains it,’ he thought.

The Evil Ore mine south of the marketplace was of average quality, something a normal Cultivator would look down on. Yet, the Dark Abyss Association had sent people to scout it repeatedly. They clearly weren’t after the ore itself.

Chen Yi glanced at him and added, "If you’re going to keep cultivating that Evil Vein of yours, you’d best get started soon."

"The Sect has organized some old legacies, including an Array specifically for cultivating Evil Ore veins. It’s not particularly valuable, but it’s rarely used. If you want to exchange for it, I can help you use your Contribution Points."

"I’ll take it."

Li Yuan replied without hesitation.

The second condition for making the Evil Vein permanent had been looming over him. Now that the Sect had a method available, there was no reason to delay.

Chen Yi nodded, taking out a prepared jade slip and a hand-copied scroll of diagrams.

He handed the items to Li Yuan and left the marketplace. Most of his energy was currently focused on the Dark Abyss Association interrogation, so he couldn’t stay here.

After receiving the legacy, Li Yuan didn’t enter the mine immediately. Instead, he first returned to his stone house to review everything.

Inside was an Array called the Cultivating Evil Array.

The concept wasn’t complex, but the practical application was the truly difficult part.

The key to the Cultivating Evil Array lay in placing its components at critical nodes along the vein, one by one. By using Array Hub Stones to link the vein’s natural Evil Qi flow, the scattered qi would become more concentrated, its circulation would stabilize, and it would slowly nurture the ore.

To put it bluntly, it wasn’t about forcefully stimulating growth, but rather channeling a turbulent river into a steady, living waterway with banks and canals.

After memorizing the several node diagrams, Li Yuan descended into the mine early the next morning.

The mine shaft was the same as always; the deeper he went, the denser the Evil Qi became. But now, with the special equipment from the Evil Vein, this Evil Qi was no longer just a mist to his senses, but a series of clear, distinct currents.

He could see at a glance which sections flowed faster, which nodes had the heaviest buildup, and where it was prone to leaking.

Li Yuan first went to a junction where a branch vein met the main tunnel on the left. Once there, he took out his materials, piece by piece.

He didn’t need an Array Disc. What he truly needed were three Evil-Attracting Stones, a ball of Sealing Pattern Sand, and a specially polished Array Hub Stone.

Li Yuan crouched down and began placing the items in the sequence described in the jade slip.

The Array wasn’t large, but it demanded precision.

As Li Yuan set up the Array, he constantly checked it against the actual flow within the vein, adjusting the positions. Twice, just after placing a component, he noticed the angle of the Evil Qi’s circulation was wrong and had to lift the stone and set it down again.

By the time he was setting the third node, his knowledge of the Tier One Array Dao suddenly felt as if it had been completely sorted out in his mind.

Previously, when learning about arrays, he had mostly relied on memorizing Spirit Patterns, circuits, and node relationships. Now, standing inside the vein, truly watching how the Evil Qi moved and how the Array used that momentum to change its direction, the barrier between theory and reality evaporated.

Another Evil-Attracting Stone was set down, the Spirit Pattern connected, and the three fine lines of the patterns naturally merged into one.

A panel silently popped up.

[Technique: Tier One Array Dao — Minor Achievement (0/1200)]

’Minor Achievement in the Array Dao.’

Li Yuan only glanced at it and didn’t stop working.

Li Yuan spent the entire day in the mine vein.

By evening, the last Array Hub Stone was embedded into the side wall of a cavity.

Li Yuan raised his hand and poured in his Spiritual Power. The six Array Patterns lit up simultaneously, and the existing circulation within the vein immediately grew more stable.

The change wasn’t drastic, but it was clear.

Before, the Evil Qi had circulated on its own; now, it was as if its path had been straightened. The few places where circulation was slow were bolstered, and the areas with heavy leakage were suppressed. The flow of Evil Qi throughout the entire vein was now clearly more orderly.

The moment the Array was fully formed, Li Yuan pressed his finger against one of the Array Hub Stones, and the panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Evil Cultivation Stone (Complete)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: Evil Qi Perception (White)]

[Effect: Allows perception of surrounding Evil Qi. Range increases with Divine Soul range.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Absorb the Evil Qi from one Mid-grade Evil Stone (0/1).]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]

Li Yuan read it and withdrew his hand.

’A White-grade trait,’ he thought. ’The effect isn’t bad, especially in a place like this mine vein or the Ghost Mist Forest; it would be quite useful. But my equipment slots are still full, and besides, the permanence condition is what it is. I won’t be getting my hands on a Mid-grade Evil Stone anytime soon, so there’s no need to make a change now.’

Li Yuan took the Evil Cultivation Stone and replaced it with a new, ordinary one.

With the Array complete, the rest would be simple.

For the next few days, Li Yuan traveled back and forth between the mine vein and the marketplace. Every day, he would check on the Array’s operation in the vein and fine-tune a few Spirit Pattern connections. Once all six nodes were completely stable, the Cultivation Array was fully operational.