56. Spiritual Veins

Clay is looking at six human-size hexagonal prisms like pieces of dried firewood lying before him.

Who would have thought that the Isolation and Defensive Formation which was supposed to protect him actually attacked him from inside?

He wanted to wash himself but since he did not know how to control it, it treated him as an enemy as well but thanks to his improved power, he was able to easily uproot the pillars and forcefully disabled it.

“I really need to learn about Advance Formation.” Clay vowed to himself then stored the hexagonal prisms hoping he did not destroy them then walked towards the lake.

Clay sighed as he saw his reflection on the lake. He still can’t believe that only seven years had passed and here he is, a six footer monster who looks like a werewolf.

He just hoped that Urda is wrong.

After cleaning himself, Clay went back to the cabin and meditated again and came afternoon, he went for a walk.

It struck him that the environment barely has any Qi.

Back to whichever forest he came from, even on that valley where he met Onus, the amount of Qi in the air was at a level where he did not rely on external resource to replenish. But today, it is almost absent and he can verify this using the black and white image of his Godly Eyes.

The absence of Qi is certainly bad news but this should be a perfect opportunity for him to see what Spiritual Vein is like.

The first time he met Urda, he learned that Qi is produced which means that if he needs to continue cultivating, he will one day rely on a source.

Clay summoned his wings and after minute he levitated at least two kilometers then looked below the cabin then started tracing the flow of Qi using his Godly Eyes.

“That’s disappointing.” Clay muttered to himself as he was anticipating the same huge root-like structure he saw at Bul’akaw city.

Clay descended at least a kilometer. Regardless how thin the Qi is on the environment, that little amount should still have a source and he may be standing too far.

“I told you so.” Clay smiled as his guess was correct. As he got closer to the land, he noticed a small zigzag pattern reflected on his Godly Eyes and the location is on a river three kilometers north the cabin.

Clay flew towards the small structure and having confirmed that there are no threats, he then land on a patch or sand. Unlike the Spiritual Vein he saw in the city where Qi waves are actively radiating from the root-like structure, this little Vein only has faint waves and is directly connected to flowing river.

Clay summoned his Qi Projection Hands and started digging and after a minute, the heart of the Vein was exposed. In the past, Clay would celebrate this kind of discovery but having seen the real world of cultivation, little things no longer excite him.

Clay thought a Spiritual Vein looks something especial but in front of him is a literal root covered in hard sediment.

With his Godly Eyes activated, Clay observed the heart of the Vein up close. He could barely discern the Formation structures within the heart of the Vein as it felt like looking at a white paper on a white background but as he looked further, he noticed a set of familiar Nodes.

“Isn’t that a Beast Core?” Clay quizzically asked himself. Having incorporated and fused a Beast Core to his body, he is very much familiar with the location of Nodes and the Spiritual Vein seem to be no exception.

Clay released his divine sense and observed the Spiritual Vein again. Having broken to Foundation Establishment, his divine sense had been enhanced it felt like he could see the insides of the Vein.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

At first, at he could see is blurry image but has he concentrated, he noticed how small amounts of water is being absorbed and following the flow of the water, he noticed how they end up at the heart of the Vein and it is fascinating that there are no traces of it being released by and instead, what is being spewed back is Qi.

Clay is in deep thought.

Back when he first started cultivating, there were times when his Qi was depleted and to replenish his strength, he just needed to eat and sleep and he is certain he did not absorb the surrounding Qi. And he positive as well that the food he ate were ordinary.

So the question is, how did he recover his strength?

Ridiculous as it may sound, the idea that Magic Beasts and cultivators can be turned to Spiritual Veins is plausible. Comparing the circulation circuit within the Spiritual Veins and Magic Beasts or cultivators for that matter, they are almost the same. If he only he had more sample so he can determine if the concept of leveling applies to Veins as well.

“But if it were true, then how come there is scarcity of Spiritual Veins?” Clay mused.

Actually, there is one more difference.

Clay took out a random Beast Core from his spatial ring then activated this Godly Eyes.

“That must be it.” Clay inwardly exclaimed as he discovered that the heart of the Beast Core did not have a hole at the center where water can be absorbed.

Not satisfied, he took out ten random Beast Cores and looked at their center one by one.

After a minute, Clay came up with a crazy idea.

When he first thought that incorporating Beast Core to someone’s cultivation, he believed it was absurd but later, he found out it is possible though it is unfortunate it came with a price.

If there is one thing he had been curious of, it is his ability to see the flow of energy. He may not have lived long to see the world but if this ability can be acquired by anyone, then things like flawless Pills and perfect Inscriptions should be overflowing everywhere. The fact that it is not, he believed it to be a perk for having transmigrated.

And if this ability allows him to create Spiritual Veins, then only a fool will not take advantage of this blessing.

Clay expanded his divine sense and when he found a Magic Beast that looks like boar, he extended his Qi Projection and brought the beast in front of him.

The boar struggled but with Clay’s immense display of power, the beast could not put up any resistance then lost consciousness.

At the same time, Clay activated his Godly Eyes.

“There it is.” Clay just confirmed his hypothesis. For a living entity that cultivates, it seems to have that tiny hole at the center of the Core and even he is not exception. If he concentrated at the center of his dantian, that hole exists. In fact, even the farmer infested with Death Qi had it as well.

So the question again is, why does that hole cease to operate when a person or a beast dies?

Clay injected his Qi towards the board then slowly mapped out its meridians and after gaining control of the boar’s circulation circuit, he contained it extracted it out from the boar’s body.

In the past, Clay would be disgusted witnessing this gruesome way of killing an animal but having killed cultivators, the blood and the sight of a boar whose veins and arteries being forcefully extracted did not even agitate his gut.

With the boar’s death, Clay used his Qi to guide and continue circulating the energy within the boar’s extracted circuit and just like he anticipated, the hole at the center of the Core did not close.

Clay waited and after a quarter of an hour, he felt that the circulation had become automatic even without his guidance. At the same, since the blood surrounding the root-like structure coagulated and dried, Clay created a simple sediment and covered the structure making it look like a big ball of dirt.

Clay wanted to submerge the ball near the river but the dirt might be washed away so he levitated and flew towards an area where he saw a small of water.

He then placed it on the shallow flowing water of a rivulet then activated his divine sense and Godly Eyes.

Slowly, Clay saw movement. Having confirmed it was water, he waited until it flowed towards the center. If this was in the past, Clay would be irritated by the pace at which the water is flowing but he had experience worse especially when he was tortured. Time seemed to have stopped during that nightmare.

After a quarter of an hour, the water finally reached the hole at the center but when he was expecting Spiritual Qi to come out, nothing was returned. Although, on his Godly Eyes, he could see a bluish mist but when he switched back to normal sight, he could not feel anything. Then after a few second, the bluish mist stopped being spewed out and scattered in the air. On top of it, some of the Nodes started to dim.

“What in the world!”

Clay injected his Qi again then tried to circulate it within the boar’s circulation circuit but right at that moment, he felt it is no longer the same.

Clay stopped and decided to observe. He does not know if it failed but looking at his little experiment, it is exactly operating like the Spiritual Vein at the river. Only that there is no Spiritual Qi being produced.

Clay thought it might take time but after waiting an entire day, there were no changes and given it was getting dark, he flew back to the cabin to rest.