Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

The group went upstream, investigating the Crimson Creek River all the way. Whenever they encountered undercurrents, deep pools, tunnels, or unusual landforms, they would examine them carefully. However, apart from finding some low-grade ores, they found nothing special.

More than ten days later, they reached the northernmost point of the river.

This was a region of majestic mountains. The winding mountain ranges, like reclining dragons or galloping beasts, divided the land into valley after valley, and great river after great river.

The Crimson Creek River followed the mountain range, coming from the north, winding and circling in the mountains, passing through countless bends before finally heading southeast.

Within the mountains, several tributaries flowed from the northwest and west, merging into the Crimson Creek River.

"Yuanjing, if there is nothing unusual about the main stream from the north, then the secret of the Crimsonfin Fire纹 Fish must come from the tributaries," said Fire Crow Taoist, standing in the air, looking far to the west. Within his sight, four streams of water shimmered in the sunlight.

Zhang Yuanjing hesitated, "Well, I don't know where these four tributaries originate, and they all seem to be significant rivers."

In his opinion, the secret of the Crimsonfin Fire纹 Fish was at most a Foundation Establishment-level opportunity. His original belief that obtaining this opportunity could lead to False Core was just an optimistic guess, not a certainty. Otherwise, he wouldn't have abandoned it to go to Xuan Yin Mountain.

"Yuanjing, what kind of opportunity do you think lies behind the Crimsonfin Fire纹 Fish, if there is one?" Fire Crow Taoist asked.

Zhang Yuanjing said, "That's not hard to guess. I think Senior already has the answer. It's nothing more than a spiritual vein where water and fire merge, which is the most likely possibility. Of course, it could also be a spiritual plant that can naturally harmonize water and fire spiritual power. And the last possibility is a true demon in the Demon Core realm with this ability."

Fire Crow Taoist smiled and asked, "Yuanjing, such an opportunity is not small, is it not worth spending some time to investigate?"

Zhang Yuanjing explained, "If it's a spiritual vein, that's fine. But if it's a spiritual plant, to produce this river's worth of Crimsonfin Fire紋 Fish, it would have to be a spirit at least. All spirits must be above the Demon Core realm. Such spirits are rooted deep in the soil, with branches like swords, making them extremely difficult to deal with. If it's a Demon Core realm demon beast, one that can find such a spiritual vein, its intelligence would definitely not be low, and there might not be just one, but several, or even a group."

Fire Crow Taoist pondered for a moment and said, "Yuanjing is overthinking it. The possibility of it being a spiritual plant is unlikely. How can there be so many spirits in this world! As for demon beasts, there have been no reports of Demon Core realm demon beasts nearby. So, it is very likely to be a spiritual vein where water and fire merge. If we can dig it out, it would be a substantial fortune."

Generally speaking, spiritual veins where water and fire merge are formed by the interaction of water and fire attribute spiritual veins, and these two single-attribute spiritual veins have a certain chance of condensing spiritual essence.

Fire Crow Taoist was so active for the sake of fire attribute spiritual essence. If he could get one or two pieces, it would be of great benefit to Yuan Zhilin's Core Formation.

However, even if there really was a spiritual vein where water and fire merged, the possibility of giving birth to spiritual essence was very low. Zhang Yuanjing didn't want to spoil Fire Crow Taoist's interest, so he agreed to spend some time investigating the tributaries.

The tributaries were not very long. The longest one came from the due west, about 30,000 miles long, and the shortest one was only seven or eight thousand miles long.

The group split into four groups. Fire Crow Taoist was in a group alone, Yuan Zhilin and Mei Zhenyi were in a group, Ape Thirteen took Liu Jinglong in a group, and Zhang Yuanjing took Han Ji, Zhang Jun, and Zhang Yu in a group.

Fire Crow Taoist went to investigate the longest tributary, but in less than ten days, he sent a message via spirit jade, saying that there were no discoveries.

Then came Yuan Zhilin and Mei Zhenyi. They investigated the shortest one, and after fifteen days, they confirmed that there was nothing unusual.

Fire Crow Taoist went directly to find Ape Thirteen and Liu Jinglong, and together they investigated the tributary called Blackwater, which was more than 20,000 miles long.

Yuan Zhilin and Mei Zhenyi came to join Zhang Yuanjing and the others. The tributary they were investigating was called Dragon River, probably because it often roared as it passed through the mountain valleys, hence the name.

Because Zhang Yuanjing was with three Qi Refining disciples, his movements were very slow. Zhang Yu was also a lively character, often wanting to "go off on tangents", turning to some mountains and lakes that looked good on the side, so after more than a month, they only inspected more than 10,000 miles of waterway.

However, he did make some discoveries along the way. That is, in a long section of the waterway, there were no fish. Not to mention the Crimsonfin Fire紋 Fish, even ordinary aquatic creatures were nowhere to be seen.

Zhang Yuanjing dived into the water and carefully examined it with his divine sense, and found that the water was mixed with a very small black particle. If he didn't concentrate his divine sense and look at it up close, he wouldn't be able to detect it at all.

This substance was hard, insoluble in water, and did not precipitate, but it contained violent fire-type power. When touched with spiritual energy, it would explode, making his fingers ache.

Leaving the mountains and crossing a few high slopes, the front suddenly opened up. Ten thousand miles of fertile fields stretched from in front of him to the end of his vision. The wide Dragon River galloped windingly on the boundless plain. Hundreds of thousands of mortal towns were scattered like stars, especially the densely populated towns on both sides of the river, which were spectacular.

The group went upstream and soon found aquatic creatures in the Dragon River again, and there were also Crimsonfin Fire紋 Fish, while the black particles seemed to have suddenly disappeared. This undoubtedly boosted the spirits of Zhang Yuanjing and the others, and they felt that the investigation was finally on the right track.

After traveling no more than a few hundred miles, they entered a secular kingdom called Daqian. The Dragon River flowed through this country for five thousand miles, with towns densely distributed on both banks, which made it much more troublesome for Zhang Yuanjing and the others to investigate.

In order not to attract attention, they had to travel along the river like mortals during the day, and at night, when the river was foggy, they flew close to the water on their swords, investigating section by section.

By midnight, they had inspected several hundred miles of waterway.

At this time, they came to a small city and found a stone building that looked like a statue and a temple on the river bank outside the city. It was brightly lit at this time, and about thousands of ordinary people were gathered in front of the building, shouting "The Feather God has manifested."

Under this building, facing an altar, there were dozens of old men kneeling on the ground. In front of them were many gold and silver jewels, low-grade spiritual medicines, and six beautiful sixteen or seventeen-year-old girls.

These old men were full of piety, and loudly recited prayers such as "The Feather God has mercy on the world, bestows great blessings, and removes disasters." The six girls looked terrified. The calmer ones just bit their lips tightly, while the timid ones were already crying.

Zhang Yuanjing opened his powerful divine sense and carefully examined this section of the river. The water here was floating with a large number of dead fish, large and small, of different species, and a small number of Crimsonfin Fire紋 Fish. Their causes of death were the same, their abdomens burst and their internal organs were shattered.

"Zhenyi, Han Ji, go and see what's going on!"