Chapter 1451: River of Stars Spiritual Vein

To Zhang Zhengdao, the Spiritual Vein before him was both a supreme treasure and a lethal poison.

He took one look and secretly shook his head.

This was absolutely not Spiritual Energy one could refine directly. It was filled with countless impurities. The slightest misstep would lead to entering fire and falling into demons, resulting in death and the complete dissipation of his Dao.

"Why does the Spiritual Energy seeping from this Spiritual Vein contain so many impurities?"

"It is much like a mountain stream," Chen Changsheng explained. "Water from the source always carries debris, but after filtering through sand, stone, and vegetation along its path, it becomes much cleaner."

Put like that, Zhang Zhengdao understood immediately.

"Then what does the source of this Spiritual Vein look like?" he asked.

"Shall we go down and see?" Chen Changsheng suggested.

Zhang Zhengdao's face changed, and he hurriedly shook his head. "Fellow Daoist, I lack the skill for that. If even a trace of this Spiritual Energy accidentally slips into my meridians, the consequences would be disastrous."

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment before replying, "This Chen has seen many Spiritual Veins over the years, but this place is uniquely strange. It reveals itself in the form of a spring."

"Since that is the case, you might as well wait for me here, Fellow Daoist. This Chen will go down and see exactly what lies below."

Zhang Zhengdao stared blankly at him. "Fellow Daoist, you really intend to go down?!"

Chen Changsheng gave a slight nod. "Indeed."

"You must be extremely careful."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. This Chen has some measure of confidence."

Seeing this, Zhang Zhengdao said no more and stepped aside.

He watched as Chen Changsheng slowly stepped forward, cast a single glance back at him, and leapt directly into the Spirit Spring.

Zhang Zhengdao drew a sharp breath. "He actually jumped down?!"

Disbelief washed over him, but he didn't dare approach the edge to check.

The volatile Spiritual Energy forced him to keep his distance, leaving him to watch the spring from afar.

After plunging into the Spirit Spring, Chen Changsheng felt himself sinking endlessly downward.

What spread before his eyes resembled a vast river of stars.

Bathing in the Spirit Spring, he remained completely untouched by the volatile Spiritual Energy roiling around him.

He sank deeper and deeper through this starry river. His surroundings grew increasingly quiet; at first, he could still catch faint, fragmented sounds, but soon, absolute silence took over.

Finding his footing upon this river of stars, he walked forward.

A long while later, the faint sound of flowing water echoed in his ears. When Chen Changsheng raised his head, his gaze broke free from the confines of the Spiritual Vein.

"This is..."

Chen Changsheng stared at the sight before him in utter disbelief.

Glancing around, he saw lines resembling meridians towering within the void.

These meridians connected to one another and branched off in every direction. Unending streams of Spiritual Energy surged through them, following the intricate network.

Looking up again, his gaze seemed to pierce straight through the earth and vegetation above, viewing the Spiritual Vein that breached the surface.

It was then that sudden realization struck him.

He committed every detail of the scene to memory, not daring to overlook a single spot.

He continued his exploration forward. Gradually, the sprawling network of Spiritual Veins converged into a single spiritual river.

This spiritual river flowed endlessly from east to west before splintering into countless tributaries that stretched off in all directions. This formed the Spiritual Veins of the world.

"I should follow it upstream."

Seeking the true source of this spiritual river, Chen Changsheng went against the flow.

He lost track of how long he walked. Eventually, a landmass resembling an island appeared in the distance.

Spiritual Energy from all directions converged upon that island, pooling into a massive lake. The river water he had been following flowed directly out of this lake.

"Huu..."

Arriving at the shores of The Lake, Chen Changsheng was met with a breathtaking realm brimming with Spiritual Energy and starlight.

Never in his life had he witnessed such a spectacle.

Slowly, he began to unravel the origins of this Spiritual Energy.

This enormous island acted as a transit hub. It gathered Spiritual Energy from across the world, condensed it into spiritual liquid, and pooled it into The Lake. From there, the spiritual river carried it back out to every corner of the world.

And the Spiritual Energy drawn into this place came from those same corners of the world.

The laws of nature were immutable. Just like rain falling from the sky, the energy underwent a continuous cycle of Reincarnation—never diminishing, and never increasing.

Stepping forward, Chen Changsheng scooped a handful of water from The Lake.

The Spiritual Energy here possessed no fundamental alignment. Ordinarily, Spiritual Energy had distinct attributes—much like the stark difference between the laws of yin and yang and conventional five-element Arts and Techniques. Yet, the energy before him lacked any such distinctions.

It was pure qi, but the sheer volume of impurities churning within it was simply incalculable.

If an ordinary cultivator attempted to refine it, they would suffer blocked meridians at best, and at worst, their body would violently explode.

Exhaling deeply, Chen Changsheng turned to look back.

Standing here, he could see the overarching web of every Spiritual Vein in the world. His gaze swept not only across the Mortal World, but also the Cultivation World, and the Desolate Sea.

The radiant nodes branching off represented every land abundant with Spiritual Energy across the realms. Looking at it was exactly like gazing up at a star-filled sky.

But as Chen Qi considered the deeper implications, a sudden jolt went through his mind.

He looked down at the ground beneath his feet.

He suddenly realized that the land he stood upon functioned exactly like a cultivator's Elixir Field and Sea of Consciousness. It possessed the ability to refine Spiritual Energy. The countless Spiritual Veins stretching out from it were perfectly analogous to a cultivator's meridians, routing energy to all corners in an endless cycle of Reincarnation.

"Could it be..."

"Is this entire world simply the physical manifestation of the Heavenly Dao's body?"

Chen Changsheng considered the possibility for a moment before pushing it out of his mind.

Sometimes an answer seemed obvious on the surface, but was actually a false conclusion.

Chen Changsheng felt that a world as vast as this one could not be adequately compared to the Heavenly Dao's physical body.

The only logical possibility was The Lake.

It might just be one fragment of the Heavenly Dao's physical body!

By utilizing this Elixir Field and Sea of Consciousness, the world's Spiritual Energy was gradually filtered into a clean, pure state. Perhaps during the ancient era, the world's energy was originally as volatile as the raw current before him, and had never possessed the refined purity seen today.

But was that truly a good thing?

Chen Changsheng did not think so. It was akin to boiling a frog in warm water. Slowly, the water would heat up, and the frog would feel comfortable, enjoying the warmth. But as the temperature continued to rise, the final outcome was inevitable.

Nourished by this gentle Spiritual Energy, modern cultivators had gradually grown weaker than those of ancient times. The threshold to step onto the path of Cultivation had been lowered, but the ultimate ceiling of a cultivator's potential was being continuously suppressed in return. As a result, the world was constantly changing.

Chen Changsheng straightened his posture. For a moment, he could hardly believe the sight before his eyes.

"What a spectacle..."

It was as if he were staring directly at the core origin of the world. He had likely stepped into a place that no one had ever reached before.

A sprawling river of stars stretched out right in front of him.

The entirety of creation was laid out beneath his gaze.

The Lake before him governed the Spiritual Energy of the entire Cultivation World. If this place were ever missing, the resulting shift in Spiritual Energy would render every cultivator in the world completely incapable of advancing their paths.

Unlike the ancients, modern cultivators simply lacked the ability to refine impure Spiritual Energy.