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Chapter 410: The Culprit
🕑 Added 2024-10-10 06:36:55 +0000 UTCThe reason Lin Qian had come to this place was that Zhuge Ming had suddenly informed him that the dense spiritual energy that had been steadily increasing in Linhai Province had abruptly begun to decline.
Moreover, the spiritual trees that had been planted were withering, their branches and leaves covered in blood-red patterns, resembling veins growing on them.
According to the observations of the Ministry of Engineering scholars in Linhai Province, these blood-red lines, which looked like veins, behaved like parasites. They latched onto the spiritual trees, draining their nutrients.
Furthermore, the spiritual trees that had been infested by these blood vessels not only ceased absorbing the dissipated soul energy from the surrounding environment but instead began absorbing the ambient spiritual energy and channeling it through the parasitic blood veins to an unknown destination.
The only place in Linhai Province where such a phenomenon was occurring was the lake in front of Lin Qian.
The sight of the blood-red lake was unnerving, and Lin Qian could clearly feel the spiritual energy in the surrounding environment converging into the lake.
Staring at the crimson waters, Lin Qian's expression darkened. Linhai Province was a part of the Huaxia Empire and a testament to his efforts. Now, an unknown force was corroding his empire, like a parasitic leech greedily siphoning off its life force.
His gaze briefly shifted to the nearby cave entrance, which pierced through the mountain wall, and he frowned slightly. "Given how strong my father is, if he had explored the ruins beneath this lake, he should have noticed any abnormalities. Why didn't he mention this in his letter?"
Ye Xin also glanced at the large cave opening in the mountain wall, her heart filled with unease.
If Lin Qian hadn't told her, Ye Xin would have never imagined that the seemingly gentle Uncle Lin was powerful enough to pierce through a mountain with just a simple wooden spear.
Her gaze returned to the lake, her brows furrowing deeply.
The rapid decline in Linhai Province's spiritual energy was a source of great concern for her.
Linhai Province had reached its current state not only because of the Huaxia Empire's overwhelming national power but also due to her own efforts in managing it. The province was something she had meticulously built for Lin Qian, and seeing it weakened by this mysterious phenomenon filled her with heartache.
"Xiao Qian, do you think this might be related to the strange occurrences in the Southern Nine Provinces of the Southern Region?" Ye Xin suddenly asked as she gazed at the eerie lake.
Lin Qian stared at the blood-red water and nodded slightly. "It's very possible. It could be that when the spiritual energy in Linhai Province and the Southern Nine Provinces of the Southern Region reaches a certain threshold, this phenomenon occurs."
"This might also explain why the Southern Nine Provinces are considered a land of anomalies."
Linhai Province, Feng Province, Lianshan Province, Qizhou Province, Diaoshun Province, Nanying Province, Anjiang Province, Chengmen Province, and Nanlong Province were collectively known as the Southern Nine Provinces of the Southern Region.
In fact, after Lin Qian left Linhai Province and observed other provinces in the Southern Region, he found that the gap between the Southern Nine Provinces and other provinces was enormous.
While there were differences in power among the various provinces in the Southern Region, these differences could be attributed to the influence of the local forces. The concentration of spiritual energy also varied between provinces, but the differences were generally within a reasonable range.
However, compared to the other provinces, the Southern Nine Provinces were woefully lacking in spiritual energy.
In the rest of the Southern Region, even ordinary people could achieve the first three basic stages of cultivation, with some reaching the Forming Yuan Stage by middle age. But in the Southern Nine Provinces, most people had no soul power at all, and the best they could achieve was the Entry Yuan Stage. Linhai Province was the most extreme example of this situation.
The situation in the other eight provinces was slightly better than in Linhai Province, as they at least had a few Life-and-Death Realm soul martial artists.
Despite the similar land area of the Southern Nine Provinces compared to other provinces, the poor cultivation environment meant that other forces had little interest in the region.
To most people, the Southern Nine Provinces were simply an overlooked and remote part of the human territory.
It was this obscurity that had initially drawn Lin Qian's parents to this place when they eloped. After all, it was an area so remote that few would think to look for them here.
The strangeness of the Southern Nine Provinces had always been an unsolved mystery in the Southern Region. Over time, as the area had little value, people stopped paying attention to it.
It wasn't until the emergence of the Huaxia Empire that many began to speculate that the peculiarities of the Southern Nine Provinces might be related to this empire.
Some believed that the Huaxia Empire had been secretly developing within Linhai Province, siphoning off the spiritual energy of the Southern Nine Provinces until it was ready to reveal itself.
The Huaxia Empire didn't refute these speculations, leading many to accept this explanation as the truth.
In reality, Lin Qian deliberately avoided refuting these rumors, as they provided a convenient cover for the empire's origins.
However, Lin Qian knew deep down that the anomalies of the Southern Nine Provinces were not caused by the Huaxia Empire. Now, it seemed that the true cause of these strange occurrences was finally revealing itself.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two sharp sounds broke the silence as two Wind Scouts zipped past Lin Qian and Ye Xin, diving headfirst into the blood-red lake to investigate.
Lin Qian and Ye Xin stood at the edge of the lake, watching the ripples created by the Wind Scouts as they entered the water, waiting quietly for the results.
Before long, Lin Qian received the report from the Wind Scouts. There was nothing unusual at the bottom of the lake, except for a crack in the lakebed from which a faint trace of blood-red liquid was seeping out, easily dyeing the entire lake.
Lin Qian frowned as he stared at the lake. Suddenly, a surge of imperial yellow soul power burst from his body and rushed into the blood-red waters.
In an instant, Lin Qian's soul power acted like an invisible hand, seizing the entire lake and lifting it into the air.
The blood-red lake water floated above the lakebed, suspended by Lin Qian's imperial yellow soul power.
At the same time, Ye Xin assisted by waving her hand, summoning starlight soul power to block the rivers feeding the lake, preventing more water from flowing in.
With the lake water lifted away, the bottom of the lake was fully revealed, exposing the scene to Lin Qian and Ye Xin.
A well-preserved ancient structure lay quietly at the bottom of the lake. As Ye Xin looked at the building, she immediately understood that this was the ruin Lin Qian had mentioned.
However, the condition of the lakebed around the building was alarming. The cracked ground resembled a spiderweb, and blood-red energy was continuously seeping out from the fissures.
It was clear that this blood-red energy was the culprit behind the current state of Linhai Province
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