The sight before him was the Clear Spirit Valley, but he could sense a chilling aura within, making him feel uneasy, causing him to unconsciously furrow his brows.

However, without hesitation, he slipped a mask from his sleeve and slowly placed it on his face.

His eyes glowed with a faint cyan light. This time, he had to thoroughly search this place. The guidance of fate only indicated that the treasure was within the Clear Spirit Valley.

But it didn't specify the exact location.

And the Clear Spirit Valley wasn't small, spanning several miles, littered with jagged rocks.

He quickly suppressed his cultivation, almost to nothingness, and a faint light enveloped him, concealing him as a martial artist whose cultivation had not yet reached the Dan realm.

Even if someone approached, they wouldn't be able to detect his presence.

Although this place was desolate, Chen Yuan always maintained a cautious mindset. Only when he truly couldn't find it would he thoroughly turn this place upside down.

Entering the Clear Spirit Valley, Chen Yuan's senses became sharper. Wisps of invisible Yin energy leaked from the ground, as if there was an Yin vein beneath. He noted this change in his mind.

After searching the entire valley and still not finding the aura of opportunity, he roughly understood that the Blood Soul Wood was likely underground.

With this thought, Chen Yuan began to meticulously search every inch, his divine sense probing deep into the earth, trying to find a so-called passage.

His premonition was correct. After almost completely searching the entire Clear Spirit Valley, he indeed discovered something amiss on an ordinary stone wall.

This place was different from others. When his divine sense penetrated, he could sense that it was hollow inside, which meant that the place he was looking for was likely here.

With a shift of his body, he disappeared into the stone wall.

For a martial artist like him, ascending to the heavens or diving into the earth, overturning mountains and seas were commonplace. He could penetrate the stone wall without making any noise.

As soon as he entered, Chen Yuan knew he was right.

Within the nearly thirty-foot thick stone wall, there was indeed a passage, and it wasn't natural. It was clearly man-made, with traces of chopping and hacking.

At the same time, there were also patterns of formations.

Obviously, this place required passing through a formation to enter, but he forcibly broke in relying on his cultivation.

He estimated that if there were no accidents, this might be the secret lair of the evil sect that once existed in the Clear Spirit Valley, hiding the sect's treasures.

The Blood Soul Wood might be one of them.

But this thought was quickly rejected, because when his divine sense delved deeper into the passage, he discovered traces of human activity.

Chen Yuan was immediately alarmed and quickly withdrew his divine sense, becoming more cautious and careful, not daring to reveal his aura. The strength of the enemy was still unknown.

Recklessly exposing himself would be foolish. At least he had to get the Blood Soul Wood first before considering other things.

As Chen Yuan went deeper into the passage, the situation inside became clear. It turned out that there was such a hidden realm hundreds of feet below the Clear Spirit Valley.

And because of the formation's concealment, he didn't notice it during his previous search.

Something... was wrong!

When Chen Yuan fully delved into the underground with his divine sense, he was even more shocked because there were not only living people inside, but quite a few.

Each of them had a decent cultivation, at least at the Tongxuan level.

They seemed to have been refined into puppets, guarding various important paths. Some of them even had deep layers of dust on their bodies. If it weren't for a faint trace of life constantly lingering,

Anyone would think they were dead.

Of course, this wasn't the most shocking thing for him. What really surprised him was that the clothes and attire of these people were almost the same as those of the Unborn Church disciples he had found in Ping'an County.

Although there were slight differences, he estimated that it was a distinction based on strength or status!

Unborn Church headquarters!

!

The thought instantly popped into Chen Yuan's mind.

Which made him both surprised and delighted.

He was surprised that he never expected the Unborn Church, a famous Jianghu demonic sect wanted by the imperial court, to be located in the heart of Shu Prefecture.

Right under his nose!

He originally thought it was in Blood Prefecture, after all, that was the paradise of chaos!

When he first came to this world, he got involved in grudges with the Unborn Church. He even destroyed a branch of the Unborn Church for the sake of status, power, and the death of his 'uncle'.

But since then, he had no connection with the Unborn Church. The other party didn't retaliate against him, although he often used the name of the Unborn Church to falsely accuse his enemies.

But to be honest, he rarely dealt with the Unborn Church.

The most recent time was when Lu Renjia, the former Jin Envoy of Shu Prefecture, died. Lu Renyi, under his prompting, frantically searched for the traces of the Unborn Church, achieving some results, but definitely not many.

Because he had never found the headquarters of the Unborn Church, he had already given up on the idea. He didn't expect that in the guidance of the Destiny Altar, he directly and unintentionally found the traces of the Unborn Church.

Thinking about it now, the evil sect that wreaked havoc for a while was probably wiped out by the Unborn Church, which is why they mysteriously disappeared.

And the Unborn Church's appearance in the Jianghu seemed to coincide with that time point.

It was like opening the door for Qiao'er's mother to see Qiao'er, coincidental beyond words!

As for joy... that was naturally because of Jingtai's matter.

He had long suspected that Jingtai was probably inseparable from the demonic forces, most likely the Unborn Church, which had been notorious in recent decades.

Because the time when Jingtai came of age was around the time when the Unborn Church began to be active.

It was hard for him not to associate the two, and he even thought about solidifying this charge to make Jingtai and the Sima family lose all popular support!

Instructing Lu Renyi to investigate the Unborn Church was also for this reason.

However, with no progress for a long time, he had given up on the idea, thinking of directly framing him after obtaining some ambiguous evidence.

Now he didn't need to!

As long as he could prove that Jingtai was related to the Unborn Church, he could directly destroy the foundation of the Sima family. Even if he couldn't, don't forget that this was the headquarters of the Unborn Church.

His framing would be even more credible!

Therefore, Chen Yuan was both surprised and delighted when he discovered that these guards were disciples of the Unborn Church. This trip to find opportunities wasn't in vain, and there was an unexpected surprise.

Of course, Chen Yuan wasn't overwhelmed by this thought.

The Unborn Church was able to expand its influence to most of the Central Plains in just a few decades, its strength was beyond doubt, and this was its headquarters.

In terms of danger, it wasn't inferior to a dragon's pool or a tiger's den.

And the Unborn Mother and Unborn Ancestor, who were often mentioned by the disciples of the Unborn Church, he estimated were likely True Monarch-level experts at the Yang God realm.

Even if they had never taken action in the Jianghu, he didn't dare to be careless.

Therefore, after realizing this, Chen Yuan's vigilance had risen to the highest level, and at the same time, he compressed his aura to the extreme.

His divine sense was even more restrained, fearing that he would be detected by a strong expert.

Chen Yuan carefully avoided several layers of formations and more than a dozen Tongxuan-level Unborn Church guards before finally arriving at a more spacious place.

This place resembled the Unborn Church's council hall, hundreds of feet in size, with dozens of black-robed Unborn Church disciples walking around inside.

Some were hurrying, some were meditating, and some were chanting the Unborn Church's teachings. Their only common point was that almost none of them were weak, with the lowest having a Tongxuan cultivation.

The highest few had reached the Dan realm.

Obviously, most of the power had been dispersed to various parts of the Central Plains. This was only a part of it. If its strength was completely added up, it would definitely be an alarming level.

But after careful investigation, Chen Yuan didn't think the Unborn Church was terrible.

Ultimately, the Unborn Church had only grown for a few decades. The reason why there were so many strong experts with decent cultivation, besides the fact that they had some foundation, was mostly because they were forcibly promoted using secret methods.

Just like the fake Dan realm Grandmaster Chen Yuan had encountered in Tangshan, they were unable to improve their strength through their own cultivation except by relying on secret methods.

There wasn't much change in their lifespan either.

Only their strength was improved.

Although this was enough to drive many people crazy, Chen Yuan had never looked up to it. The Unborn Church's secret methods were basically like draining a pond to catch all the fish.

Of course, the reason for this was actually clear if you thought about it.

The Unborn Church rose too quickly. If it wanted to have a large force in a short period of time, it had to have a large number of mid-level forces to establish branches outside.

They were originally pieces that could be abandoned at any time. Anyway, the Unborn Church could replicate them and wasn't afraid of losses at all.

Therefore, Chen Yuan didn't think about soul searching inside.

The souls of the Unborn Church disciples he had encountered, even those with a little status, had already been restricted. Once his divine sense entered, their souls would quickly dissolve.

This was one of the reasons why people were helpless against the Unborn Church.

At most, they could only find branches. The headquarters was never revealed.

He had experimented with this many times.

Even Yang God True Monarchs couldn't avoid this with soul searching, and those Unborn Church disciples were extremely fanatical and not afraid of death at all. Most of them would commit suicide as their first reaction after being captured.

To return to the embrace of the Unborn Parents.

To enjoy themselves in the so-called 'Vacuum Hometown'.

The underground was very large. The empty hall was only one part of it. There were countless dense caves inside. But at the same time, it was also very small. Chen Yuan didn't believe that if he searched them one by one, he wouldn't find the location of the Blood Soul Wood!

In a corner that no one was paying attention to, Chen Yuan quickly killed an Unborn Church disciple, put on his clothes, and disguised himself directly. His body was quickly put into the Celestial Book Treasure.

The reason for doing this was that the defenses here were too tight. It was foreseeable that the further he went, the more formations there would be. Hiding in the void was not feasible.

His cultivation hadn't reached the point where he could escape all searches.

Because his divine sense needed to be suppressed, he couldn't accurately predict dangers. He was especially cautious when facing the Unborn Church's lair!

Although the Unborn Church was tightly guarded, it also had one advantage, that was everyone basically wore black robes that covered their entire bodies, some even didn't reveal their eyes.

No one would greet each other. This place was like a tightly running machine. Everyone was almost in their respective positions, seeming very suppressed and silent.

Walking in the Unborn Church's lair, although Chen Yuan's divine sense was suppressed to the extreme, he still had some perception. But he didn't find a single martial artist at the Huayang level.

Which made him wonder a little.

Could it be that such a large Unborn Church lair didn't have a strong expert guarding it?

He estimated that this was unlikely. The most likely possibility was that he hadn't noticed it.

Leaving the main group, Chen Yuan walked in a cave similar to a corridor. There were many rooms on both sides. Chen Yuan swept through them one by one, his eyes flashing with cyan light from time to time.

He was looking for the whereabouts of the Blood Soul Wood.

But after searching dozens of rooms, there wasn't the slightest movement.

Chen Yuan frowned, but he was helpless. His divine sense was suppressed, so he couldn't cover the entire Unborn Church lair in an instant. He could only use this method to search.

Finally, Chen Yuan stopped.

But it wasn't because he had found the whereabouts of the Blood Soul Wood, but because he was a little curious about what was in the room. Why was this place divided into so many rooms?

After looking at it back and forth and sensing that there was no living aura inside, Chen Yuan pushed open the stone door with his hand.

The scene that appeared before him shocked him again.

There was no one in the stone door. The area wasn't large either. Only an altar and a stone statue were the most eye-catching, as well as a bluestone cushion below. It was very simple, but it was full of strangeness.

He walked into the cave and slowly closed the stone door.

The smooth bluestone cushion below could prove that someone often sat here facing the altar statue, seemingly worshiping it.

On the altar, there was a stone furnace with three half-burnt incense sticks. The incense was blood-colored, and the smoke it emitted was also a strange red color, all of which went towards the stone statue and were devoured by it.

As for the base of the stone statue, it was engraved with four characters.

Unborn Parents.

And what really shocked Chen Yuan was the appearance of the stone statue.

It was seventy percent similar to the Great Jin Emperor Jingtai.

So, Jingtai wasn't colluding with the Unborn Church, but he himself was the so-called Unborn Ancestor!

No wonder the disciples of the Unborn Church often chanted his name, but he had never appeared in the Jianghu in decades.

Because his true body was in the Imperial Palace of Shenjing City, receiving the worship of the people!

Chen Yuan reached out and picked up a blood-colored incense stick from the stone furnace and put it in front of him. His expression was extremely grave. This burning blood-colored incense actually exuded a strong Yin aura.

And the Yin aura he sensed leaking from the ground in the Clear Spirit Valley was exactly the same as this incense!

Although he didn't know what raw materials this blood-colored incense was made of, he had a vague guess in his mind.

What was Jingtai doing?

Absorbing incense?

What was its effect?

Chen Yuan subconsciously thought of Jingtai's cultivation. It was said in the Jianghu that Jingtai was a rare martial arts genius who had managed to cultivate to the Tiandan realm despite the suppression of fate.

But he was forever trapped in the Tiandan realm and couldn't break through to the Huayang realm.

But now...

Chen Yuan let his thoughts wander and thought of a key point.

Perhaps...

Jingtai had started cultivating the primordial spirit long ago, but not by relying on his own cultivation, but by relying on the power of these incense offerings to cultivate his primordial spirit.

When it accumulated to a certain point, perhaps...

'I still underestimated Jingtai!'

Chen Yuan thought to himself.

He originally thought that Jingtai was not to be feared, that he only relied on the Great Jin national fortune to be undefeated under the Yang God realm, that he was actually just an ant.

As long as he defeated the power of the imperial court, he could kill him at will.

But perhaps no one would have thought that Jingtai himself was a genuine martial arts expert. Although he wasn't following the orthodox path of martial arts, who knew what kind of power he could unleash?

Absorbing incense for decades would definitely have accumulated to a terrifying level.

But Chen Yuan hadn't figured out how he could integrate these powers offered by others with himself.

Could it be that like martial artists, his lifespan would also increase greatly with the improvement of his cultivation?

Once he integrated, what level would his strength reach?

Where did he get this incense path, which was completely different from the martial arts cultivated in the human world?

Was he the only one in this world cultivating in this way?

Would this method have any consequences?

Chen Yuan's eyes flickered, and his thoughts raced.

But at the same time, he used a recording stone to record everything in the cave.

Just as Chen Yuan was about to leave the cave to find the Blood Soul Wood, he suddenly heard extremely faint footsteps outside, seemingly heading straight for him.

His eyes narrowed, Chen Yuan immediately put the blood-colored incense back in place, while he directly sat cross-legged on the bluestone cushion.

"Rumble..."

The stone door was pushed open. A black-robed man glanced at Chen Yuan at the door. After confirming that there was someone here, he turned and left, pushed open another stone door, and walked in.

Chen Yuan slowly got up. If his actions were wrong, then he would have to physically disappear that person.

Everything in the cave was as before. Chen Yuan slowly walked out, slowly closed the stone door, and then started walking along another fork in the road. Along the way, he calculated.

Based on the current judgment, there were at least three hundred such caves under the entire Clear Spirit Valley, and there were other different caves, but Chen Yuan sensed that there were people inside, so he didn't go in to investigate.

As he walked along, Chen Yuan encountered several Unborn Church disciples. However, the two sides never communicated and were like numb puppets.

Finally, Chen Yuan reached the end of the labyrinth-like lair.

In front of him was a stone door several feet in size, which was completely different from the previous ones. He curled the corners of his mouth into a relaxed smile, and the cyan light in his eyes responded.

"Finally... found it!"

......

......

"Found it!

!"

Shuzhong, within the Luo Chen Mountains, outside Chen Family Village.

Gu Tianqiong, Li Kuangxiu, and Sima Che slowly stepped out of the void. Each of them had a faint smile on their faces. After leaving the capital, they accelerated their speed and returned to the south in a very short time.

They came to this Chen Family Village hidden in the mountains.

Seemingly sensing something strange, Wu Daozi on the back mountain was about to cast his fishing rod when he suddenly frowned, feeling a vague sense of unease in his heart.

——————

Checking in, asking for monthly tickets!

I've been laying the groundwork recently, and the climax is coming soon!