Chapter 57: Secondary Bloodline Vein?

Lu Yan’s eyes were immediately drawn to one of the altars, upon which rested a bronze cauldron. It stood over a meter tall, with three sturdy legs and two curved handles. The Dao Tome in his possession reacted distinctly to its presence.

Lu Yan’s heart began to race. Such a large piece of Dao Food—if he could obtain it, how much would his martial arts improve? He was on the verge of a great windfall. But the altar was still some distance away, at least a kilometer off; he would have to get much closer to seize it.

Aside from the bronze cauldron, there were several other locations that stirred a reaction from the Dao Tome. Some were obscured from view, so he couldn’t see clearly, and all were still out of reach for the time being.

With nothing else to do, Lu Yan began to examine the stone steles scattered about.

Each stele was carved with a variety of patterns, all still quite distinct. Most depicted scenes of ritual sacrifice—various ceremonies of worship. The object of these rites was a figure with a human body and a bull’s head, twin wings sprouting from its back: the very image of the largest statue present.

The bull-headed being loomed high above, while below, countless humans knelt in submission, offering different tributes. What exactly these tributes were, though, was carved in abstract forms, difficult to discern.

At that moment, the girl made some progress. She tossed a stone and declared, “With this stone as the center, an area within a foot’s radius is safe.”

A foot? Lu Yan’s spirits sank. Clearly, this place was even more dangerous than above—the safe zones were much smaller. Only one person could pass at a time.

“Drip a drop of blood there,” the girl instructed, pointing to a spot. Lu Yan squeezed out another drop of blood.

Willforce patterns shimmered into view as the girl observed. This time, she studied the lines for the time it took a stick of incense to burn before confirming the next safe zone.

Were it not for his robust qi and blood, allowing him to control the wound on his finger, the injury would have scabbed over long before she finished.

After another stick of incense, they found a third safe zone, marking the spot with a stone.

Lu Yan noticed that the safe zones here were utterly irregular and fiendishly complex. In a place like this, without familiarity with willforce patterns, it would be nearly impossible to find safe passage. No wonder the two great clans could only send people in as sacrifices.

“With such dense willforce patterns, how did the ancients before the Great Era get through? Wasn’t it terribly inconvenient?” Lu Yan asked.

“Didn’t you see the images on the steles? The ancients all performed rituals. After the rites, willforce would descend upon them, and with willforce upon their bodies, the patterns would not trigger,” the girl explained, her focus still on the patterns.

Thus, step by careful step, they pressed forward.

Half a day later, they had advanced several hundred meters and come close to a statue holding Dao Food.

Set into the statue’s chest was a stone the size of an egg, dull and gray—Dao Food.

Lu Yan hurled a stone at it; with a clang, the stone hit but the embedded block did not budge. He threw several more stones, each striking true, yet the stone remained firmly fixed.

Unwilling to give up, Lu Yan tried again and again, but the result did not change. He had to abandon the attempt. Frustrated, he moved on.

Fortunately, some time later, as they neared another piece of Dao Food, Lu Yan managed to claim it, soothing his wounded spirits somewhat.

In this manner, they spent a day and a night inching closer to the colossal statue, drawing near the heart of this domain.

Lu Yan endured easily, his vigorous qi and blood allowing him to go without food for a day and a night. The girl, however, looked weary—her lovely face pale and her eyes shadowed with fatigue.

It was not hunger that wore her down, but the mental strain of reading willforce patterns.

As they advanced, they began to sense a faint blood scent in the air, tinged with metallic tang.

“This is ground-blood qi. Ahead, there must be a blood-vein,” the girl’s eyes brightened, fatigue melting away.

“A blood-vein? The Liu and Wu clans unearthed a blood-vein too—could it be the same one, connected underground?” Lu Yan speculated. Could it be that they were about to reach the blood-vein before the two great clans?

“Hard to say. By rights, the distance from here to the clans’ territory is quite far, and a first-grade blood-vein shouldn’t be this long—it probably doesn’t extend here,” the girl judged.

“You mean there are two blood-veins?” Lu Yan’s heart pounded with excitement. If they could seize one for themselves, wouldn’t that be a fortune?

“It’s too soon to say. To confirm, we’d have to cross this region and enter the blood-vein itself,” the girl replied, her spirits obviously lifted, urging Lu Yan to hurry and bleed again so they could press on.

Soon after, they reached the largest altar beneath the bull-headed statue.

There, upon the altar, stood the bronze cauldron, and the Dao Tome’s reaction was intense.

With a ringing clang, Lu Yan threw a stone at the cauldron—but it didn’t move an inch.

He poured his qi and blood into a stone and flung it with force. It struck the cauldron, shattering to dust, yet the cauldron remained unmoved.

Again, it would not come loose.

Unwilling to give up, Lu Yan retreated, found a hundred-pound boulder, and hurled it at the cauldron, qi and blood infused. Such a blow could kill a tiger outright, but the cauldron did not so much as tremble.

Lu Yan was speechless. Along the way, he’d already encountered three pieces of Dao Food he could not claim.

Of course, he had managed to acquire three smaller pieces, but the largest remained out of reach for now.

Defeated, he could only move on, planning to try again later.

After several more hours, they finally crossed the ruins. Ahead lay hills of varying heights, a vast expanse tinged with crimson.

The exposed rocks were red, the soil was red, and even the plants—flowers, grasses, and trees—all bore a red hue. Even the air, saturated with blood-qi, glowed faintly red.

This was the blood-vein.

From beneath the earth, blood-qi constantly seeped out, known as ground-blood qi.

As for how blood-veins were formed, no one knew. For thousands of years, countless scholars, martial artists, nobles, and kings had sought the answer, but none had succeeded.

At least, for ordinary warriors, the origin remained a mystery.

Thus, people could only consider it a natural product of the world.

“This density of ground-blood qi…” The girl’s delicate hand brushed the air, her flawless nose twitching as she caught the blood scent. “This isn’t a first-grade blood-vein; it’s a second-grade one.”

Lu Yan was shaken. “Are you sure?”

What was a second-grade blood-vein? It was a treasure only a Grandmaster-level clan could claim. Marquis-level clans could only occupy first-grade blood-veins.

All of Lian’an County had but a single blood-vein, held by the Grandmaster-level Wei clan.

But here, there was actually a second-grade blood-vein.

If word got out, Lian’an would be thrown into chaos—even Grandmaster clans from other counties would be drawn here.

The Liu and Wu clans had only found a hidden first-grade blood-vein and had already sealed the area for years, sending men to their deaths in search of the path. The significance was clear.

“I’m seventy to eighty percent certain,” the girl said, her eyes bright and all trace of fatigue gone. “The ancients were clever—of course they built their temples over the blood-vein.”

“A hidden second-grade blood-vein—just imagine how many exotic beasts it could nurture. I’ll finally have all the beast meat I need to hone my culinary arts.”

As she spoke, the girl flashed a grin, baring snowy teeth—Lu Yan could almost see her mouth watering.

She was not just a martial chef, but a true glutton, Lu Yan concluded.

With long strides, the girl moved ahead.

After a moment’s thought, Lu Yan followed, for the Dao Tome had issued no warning—there were no willforce patterns here.

“How extraordinary,” he murmured, marveling at the red flowers, grasses, and trees bursting from the ground. That an underground world could nurture such wonders was truly remarkable.

Of course, the girl explained that most of the plants growing on a blood-vein were useless, containing blood toxins within.

But a select few could be used as spirit herbs, cooked with exotic beast meat to create dishes that counterbalanced toxins with toxins.

Suddenly, the ground trembled as if some colossal creature was about to burst forth.

The two of them leapt back over ten meters.

In the next instant, a massive beast erupted from below, stones scattering. Its maw, bristling with fangs, snapped down on the very spot where they had just stood.

Had they not dodged in time, they would have been bitten.

“A giant lizard,” Lu Yan observed.

This creature truly deserved the title “giant.” Including its tail, it stretched four meters long and nearly a meter high, its body armored in gray scales like iron plates.

“This is a first-grade exotic beast, the Ironclad Lizard,” the girl murmured, her smile broadening. “Such creatures are rare. I’ve only read about them. Their meat, when cooked as martial fare, replenishes and enhances qi and blood—a great boon for a warrior’s cultivation.”