Da Xuan Martial Saint

"This is an eruption of the Earth's veins..."

Chen Mu was in midair, barely avoiding the mudflow that shot straight into the sky, his expression becoming much graver.

The incident just now was far more dangerous than any encounter with the Black Demonic Catfish or Cheng Houhua. It was the true might of heaven and earth.

The so-called Martial Artists of the Five Viscera Realm, and even those at the second step, the Artistic Conception, merely borrow a trace of the might of heaven and earth. To the entire universe, they are insignificant. The power of that Earth's Vein eruption, if compared to a Martial Artist, was far beyond tenfold!

If his reaction had been slower and he had not avoided it but was forced to withstand it, even if he didn't die, he would have been severely injured.

Soon.

The mudflow that reached for the sky quickly receded, falling back into the river.

By this time, Chen Mu had landed on the riverbank. He looked at the river below that had become even more turbulent, took a deep breath to calm his thoughts, and without wasting any more time, plunged back into the water.

The eruption of the Earth's Veins would cause a temporary void in the diffused power of the veins underground, creating a cavity that allowed temporary access to the subterranean area. Although this was Chen Mu's first encounter with such a phenomenon, he understood it very well.

After diving into the water again, he saw that the Black Demonic Catfish from before was reduced to bones, and even the remnants of its bones were washed away to who knows where by the river. The area of the Earth's Vein eruption had now formed a cave, from which muddy water continuously gushed. However, the power of the Earth's Veins inside it had significantly weakened.

Whoosh!!

Without hesitation, Chen Mu dove headfirst into the hole still spewing mud.

The slimy mud immediately enveloped his whole body. Surrounded by the softness with no leverage, muddy water kept rushing from ahead. Nevertheless, Chen Mu drew in his limbs, twisted his body a few times, and forcibly burrowed further down.

After descending a bit, he felt some resistance ahead, not physical, but a thin membrane formed by the power of the Earth's Veins. It had become fragile because of the previous eruption.

With a little effort, Chen Mu broke through it hard.

This time, descension continued with no further obstacles. He slid down for over twenty cubits and landed in a warm and slick space. The area was still filled with muddy water, which was quite warm, resembling hot spring water, though not as clear.

Chen Mu swept his gaze roughly over the cave's uneven, rugged and muddy walls, where he saw many sparkling ores shining brightly. There were Superior Grade Warm Jade Mines, Cold Jade Mines, and even Mysterious Iron Mines among others.

"The Earth's Veins are always in motion; thus, these minerals must have been stripped from deep underground veins, carried along by the movement of the Earth's Veins to form this sight."

"And after the eruption, it left behind such a cavity, but it will soon fill up again."

Chen Mu murmured to himself.

He didn't waste time, for he had other things to do and couldn't afford to explore in detail or collect everything one by one. He quickly scanned his surroundings and fully extended his perceptive abilities. Instantly, a few items caught his eye.

Without the time for a detailed examination, he flashed over to the nearest mud wall on his left. He thrust his right hand into the mud and sand forcefully and felt that although the walls appeared to be just muddy water, they were tough, resembling the flesh and membrane of a person due to the mixed power of the Earth's Veins.

Chen Mu focused the sharpness of the Xun Wind Artistic Conception in his palm and harshly tore open a slit, reaching an arm into the mud to grope around and grasped a smooth, round object before forcefully yanking it out.

Without the time for a thorough examination,

Chen Mu took another step down, arriving in the center. He squatted low into the warm muddy water, extended his right hand, and grabbed a raggedly shaped item from deeper underground.

Finally, he leaped up, reaching the top of the mud wall and ripping something off with a pull and tear.

Immediately afterwards, without lingering any longer, he plunged back into the muddy water. With a powerful leap, he followed the path he had come through. The walls felt much tighter than before, as it seemed the scattered Earth's Vein power was gradually gathering and about to refill the gap.

With a few snake-like twists of his body, Chen Mu quickly ascended. Soon he burst out from the riverbed and, with a flicker, broke through the river surface to reach the shore. However, he had been turned into a mud man.

Though he shook his body a couple of times, and the Yuan Gang True Essence was stimulated to expel all the mud from his skin, his clothes still resembled something dredged from the mud.

Chen Mu wasn't concerned about this at the moment.

As he determined his direction and hurried along the river towards his destination, he also inspected the three items he had obtained from underground. These were the objects in which he had sensed the densest concentration of the Earth Vein's power.

First was the irregularly shaped hard object, a piece of ore. Its surface was coated with a thick layer of Mysterious Iron, but where the Mysterious Iron had flaked off, hints of deep red could be seen, feeling hot to the touch.

"Mysterious Fire Ore."

A glint flashed in Chen Mu's eyes as he identified its origin.

This ore was much more precious than Mysterious Iron. It did not originate from the Mysterious Iron veins themselves but required the intersection of Mysterious Iron veins with extremely hot Earth's Veins to form. Basically, it required meeting both conditions of Mysterious Iron veins and volcanoes, making it extremely rare and seldom found in complete reserves.

Most like him would acquire it through the eruptions of the Earth's Veins.

"Good stuff,"

Chen Mu appraised in his heart.

The effect of the Mysterious Fire Ore was such that it could be used to refine treasures of fiery nature and even for forging higher-quality Spirit Weapons, but that required Superior Grade Mysterious Fire Ore, which he did not have in his hand...

Although he was not a smith, and couldn't precisely assess its quality, according to his extensive knowledge, it was probably of Low or Middle Grade, not Superior Grade.

If it were of Superior Grade, there would be no Xuan Iron covering its surface, but rather a whole and pure piece of Mysterious Fire Ore.

Even though it was only of Low to Middle Grade, it could still be used to forge top-quality treasured artifacts. Although his Silverstream Saber was already of good quality, Silverstream itself was a tough mineral which could withstand being forged multiple times, and it could definitely be mixed with Mysterious Fire Ore and forged again.

The saber refined next time would possess a hint of fiery characteristics, and its quality would be comparable to Cheng Houhua's Cold Clear Sword.

For Chen Mu, this was a direct way to enhance some of his strength, so naturally, his evaluation wouldn't be low.

Then,

Chen Mu turned his gaze to the other two items.

Among them, the alien object that felt smooth and slimy in the mud,, now washed, revealed itself to be an earthy-yellow pearl. Chen Mu was very familiar with this object because he had one himself.

Earth Element Pearl.

He had previously obtained it from the storerooms of the He Family and had been using it to aid his cultivation of the Gen Mountain Artistic Conception. Indeed, he gained more experience when pondering the Artistic Conception, but the one he got from the He Family was far smaller than this new one he held.

The one from the He Family was only the size of a thumb, whereas this one was at least a size larger, about the size of a pigeon's egg, and its quality was clearly a notch higher.

"Another good item,"

Chen Mu's eyes lit up slightly; he hadn't expected that out of the three items he picked, two would be so useful to him.

With this higher quality Earth Element Pearl, he could crush the previous lower quality one and turn it into Medicinal Powder to consume, starting from the spleen to temper the Five Viscera, completing a cycle of Five Viscera Tempering in a short period of time.

Although one cycle of Five Viscera Tempering might not offer a significant increase, it was better than nothing, and for Chen Mu at this stage, any progress was good progress.

In fact,

many Martial Artists at the Five Viscera Realm struggle for a lifetime in this realm without significant improvement.

For example, like He Wuyou. Speaking of Yuan Gang, his Yuan Gang was not strong, and speaking of Artistic Conception, his was also mediocre. Although being over eighty years old for the Five Viscera Realm wasn't considered age-worn, Yu Jiujiang, an even older gentleman, had at least realized the second step of the Kan Water Artistic Conception.

The majority of Martial Artists in the Five Viscera Realm are like the stewards of the Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion, mastering around two to three portions of Heaven and Earth's might; those who reach five portions are already extremely rare.

Take Meng Danyun, a true disciple. If both Xun Wind and Kan Water Artistic Conception step into the second step, and the Five Viscera are tempered to nine or even ten times, combined, it is roughly about five portions.

And how many can reach Meng Danyun's level in one generation across a state?

As for Zhou Hao, a Great Profound true disciple, or Zuo Qianqiu, a nearly invincible figure in the Five Viscera Realm, they are even fewer. Zhou Hao is a genius among geniuses, and Zuo Qianqiu is a peerless prodigy rare to see in a century.

For most Martial Artists in the Bone Tempering Realm, and even for some in the Five Viscera Realm, they might never have any intersection with such individuals in their lifetimes.

"Hmm, this is..."

Chen Mu shifted his attention to the third item.

That was the last piece he tore off from the top of the mud wall, a slick and supple blood-colored object about the size of a palm, which felt non-living yet appeared to be alive, with an extremely rich blood aura within.

"It should be a type of 'Blood Ganoderma,' among the Meat Ganodermas,"

Chen Mu swiftly concluded.

Meat Ganoderma, also called Taishui, is also among the rarer medicinal ingredients in this world, with many Body Refinement prescriptions including this ingredient. Meat Ganoderma itself has many types, with cold and hot properties, all different.

The one Chen Mu held, being reddish in color and feeling like it contained a rich blood aura, was probably a type of Blood Ganoderma, the most precious kind among Meat Ganodermas that could nourish Qi-Blood.

"It's of no use to me, but it will be very useful to Hongyu,"

Chen Mu thought, as he stored it away.

With such a portion of Blood Ganoderma to nourish Qi-Blood, Xu Hongyu would be able to progress more quickly towards Major Achievement in Bone Tempering, and the likelihood of breaking through to the Five Viscera Realm would also increase by a lot. Furthermore, Chen Yue, Yu Ru, and Xiao He could also make use of it.