Chapter 231: Earth-Vein Shift Technique

In front of the community service building, several heated arguments unfolded as a crowd of onlookers formed.

"I can't take this anymore! I gave birth to a son and a daughter for you. I married into your family and worked hard for over twenty years without a single complaint!" a woman screamed at the top of her lungs as she yanked a middle-aged man, nearly tearing his clothes to shreds. "And in return, you'd treat me like this? I've had enough, Yao Dengcheng!"

Some also behaved like her, while others were quieter, like the cold and well-maintained woman in her thirties standing in a corner with her arms crossed. Before her stood a man with a gray expression, his head lowered in silence.

"How could you? Is this how you treat our marriage? Didn't you say that marriage is the destination of love, and I am your final stop?"

A loud slap rang out.

"I will never forgive you, Zhou Wenzel! I want to get divorced!"

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The man silently lowered his head, tears streaming down his face.

A few had a better attitude about admitting fault. Near a set of fitness equipment, a middle-aged man knelt and clutched the leg of a woman who was about to leave. "Forgive me, my love. I, Li Xinhai, swear on the last shred of my dignity that I will never contact that woman again!"

An elder of the Hidden Earth Sect watched them from a broken window on the second floor of the community service building. Eventually, he sighed in relief, thankful that the people in the room didn't have to check each other's phones as well.

The sect master's orders had been terrifyingly strict.

In one corner, the half-immortal fox was watching the drama outside with a puzzled look. She muttered, "Have men really fallen this low in this era?"

"Well, they

did

do something wrong," Wang Sheng answered simply. "What's happening over there?"

"Don't worry. I'm keeping an eye on it. If they try to flee, I'll notify your master right away."

Xi Lian waved the phone in her hand with the voice call still active. With a flirtatious expression, she rolled her eyes at Wang Sheng. She then pulled out a pack of sunflower seeds from the Crane-Spirit Treasure Pouch and watched the drama unfold outside with great interest.

"This era suddenly doesn't seem so bad. People practice monogamy, and everyone has to be loyal to their partner. Had Daoist Qinglin taken someone else first back then, I would have been willing to be his second wife! I realize now that I was really selling myself short."

The Hidden Earth Sect members who were eavesdropping nearby all felt slightly confused. Though said to be half a step into the immortal realm, she didn't seem like a powerful being at all.

Liu Yunzhi teased, "Any thoughts after seeing all this, Fei Yu?"

Wang Sheng smirked. "Cultivating in peace is better than anything else."

Xi Lian turned to Mu Wanxuan. "What about you, Little Xuanxuan? What do you think?"

Mu Wanxuan's thoughts wandered. Her cheeks turned slightly red as she looked at Wang Sheng softly. "Don't worry."

Wang Sheng's face twitched.

What does Senior Sister mean by that? Is she encouraging me to be bold and pursue girls in the future? Or is she assuring me that she wouldn't be as shallow as the women below and would instead send me to meet the forefathers with a single slap?

"There it is! They have started fighting!" Xi Lian shouted and then quickly closed her eyes. Everyone around her tensed and stood up, watching the silver-haired girl closely.

Wang Sheng frowned. To his dismay, he could not take part in this battle since his master had already gone ahead. Moreover, even though they had many Golden Core Realm experts on their side, the enemy could decide to fight to the death, which would cause serious trouble.

Has the Hidden Earth Sect already formed a secret alliance with the Yin-Yang All-Creation Sect?

Wang Sheng carefully observed the expressions of the nearby Hidden Earth Sect members. He wanted to entertain the idea of a conspiracy, but reason would not allow it. The likelihood was just too low.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Woah, it has turned into a wonderfully chaotic fight between a bunch of weaklings—

ahem!

"

Xi Lian switched to a bright, lively tone for live commentary. At first, it sounded like she was telling a story, but she gradually took on the flair of a professional commentator.

"Your master released his aura first, startling the five rats hiding in the building. In response, they immediately tossed a dozen powerless mortals out the windows and broke through the western side of the building. The Golden Core Realm experts following your master have already moved in. They seem to have a plan, considering they've blocked all escape routes ahead of time!

"Whoa, there he is, the man who can turn himself into a puff of black smoke! His spell may not have much offensive power, but it works well as a smokescreen. He did a great job thickening the local haze level. Wait, they came prepared! They're fighting back!

"Nice! Your master has completely suppressed their counterattack with his ferocious Pure Yang Art. He struck down an old man who looked oddly familiar with one palm! Your master is going all out! He just scored a double kill!

"Your master is in a frenzy! The enemy's formation is falling apart! Now he's charging into the smoke and locking onto the enemy leader! His hands are rubbing rapidly against the air. He's preparing for a direct clash!

"That fat sect master suddenly pulled out a calligraphy brush. Three of our people formed a grand sealing formation! Hah, as if such a basic formation could trap anyone—wait, they actually caught a cultivator!

"The two remaining rats are trying to flee! A large hole just opened in the ground, and they jumped in! Is that the Earth-Escape Technique? No, that's the long-lost Burrowing Dog Technique! The Earth-Vein Shift Technique! Or more accurately, the Earth-Vein Relocation Technique!"

Xi Lian suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with lingering excitement. "They just slipped out of my spiritual perception range."

The half-immortal fox looked around and noticed the members of the Hidden Earth Sect all twitching at the corners of their mouths, staring at her as if they were looking at an alien. "Huh? What's with all of you?"

Only then did Xi Lian remember that she was not some master's little sidekick anymore; she was a big shot in her own right. She cleared her throat and sat down with elegance. Her gaze turned calm and composed.

Wang Sheng tugged on Mu Wanxuan's sleeve and whispered, "You should stop Big Sister from playing too much of those violent mobile games. They're not good for her mental health."

Mu Wanxuan nodded seriously. "

Mm, mm!

"

Beside her, Liu Yunzhi covered his face with one hand. He felt as though his worldview was being constantly shattered.

Xi Lian let out two disgruntled hums, clearly annoyed. "From now on, I'll just play match-three puzzle games."

Wang Sheng quickly asked, "You can't find their trail anymore, Big Sister?"

Xi Lian seriously and calmly replied, "Yeah. Two managed to escape: an old woman who forcibly turned herself into a young girl and another who always uses flashy smoke tricks. Your master killed two and captured one."

"The ones who escaped are the yin sect master and Elder White Tiger," Wang Sheng said, rubbing his chin in thought. "What exactly is the Earth-Vein Relocation Technique?"

"To be precise, it's not a technique. It should be classified as a formation."

Xi Lian twirled a strand of silver hair with her fingers as she explained that the concept of earth veins had existed since ancient times. Even before the descent of the Heavenly Court, there had been records of earth veins in the ancient Hua Republic. Veins were to the earth what meridians were to humans.

Ordinary people could talk about earth veins, but no one really understood what they were.

According to Qing Yanzi's explanation to Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan, earth veins were the blood vessels of the land. They represented the structure of mountains and rivers within a region and served as channels through which primal qi gathered and flowed underground.

Cultivators had yet to determine whether earth veins gathered primal qi or whether the movement of primal qi formed earth veins themselves.

In areas where earth veins had fully developed, primal qi was usually more "active."

If an earth vein contained a high concentration of primal qi, it was known as a spiritual vein. Over long years of accumulation, spiritual veins would produce Qi-Nurturing Stones, Spirit Stones, and even Immortal Stones.

Any sacred mountain affiliated with a Daoist sect had to have spiritual veins running beneath it. Otherwise, it could not be considered a truly blessed land.

A thousand years ago, when primal qi was cut off, the spiritual veins gradually withered. Now that primal qi had returned, they were slowly becoming active again. However, all the ancient methods of nurturing or relocating spiritual veins had already been lost.

It turned out that the Yin-Yang All-Creation Sect could repeatedly appear inside official encirclements and escape each time because of this very technique.

"Can we track where they fled?"

Xi Lian shrugged. "No. Even for an actual immortal, searching across a thousand-

li

radius is extremely difficult, and I'm not a true immortal. Besides, the underground earth veins in the Hua Republic are crisscrossed. Upon activation, they can travel directly through the earth veins and reach the other side in a very short time as long as they set their formation at a remote location."

Liu Yunzhi could not help but sigh. "These corrupt cultivators from the Yin-Yang All-Creation Sect really do have some tricks up their sleeves."

"They wouldn't be so hard to deal with otherwise," Wang Sheng replied with a faint smile. "At least we gained something unexpected. They tried to wipe us and the Hidden Earth Sect out in one go, but they ended up suffering casualties themselves."

An administrator from the Hidden Earth Sect said in a deep voice, "Thinking about it now, this was a dangerously close call. If not for this senior detecting the poison in advance, we would have suffered unimaginable consequences."

Xi Lian blinked and looked at Wang Sheng. She whispered, "Are all these supposedly lofty hidden sects only good at offering verbal thanks?"

Wang Sheng smiled helplessly. He wanted to scold her and ask what more she wanted, but due to her strength, he just shook his head lightly.

The nearby members of the Hidden Earth Sect looked very embarrassed.

One of the elders lowered his voice. "I'll go check on Third Brother. We must find the traitor hiding in our ranks today and tear them to pieces!"

Wang Sheng quickly reminded, "Just hand them over to the Special Investigation Unit for proper handling."

"Ah, of course... Of course."