Nie Rong's old face flushed red.
As a cultivator, he instinctively relied on his divine sense to perceive external things, and by accident he had completely overlooked such obvious words carved onto the plaques!
Zhou Lili lowered her head, her face burning with shame.
Unlike Nie Rong, her reason was not carelessness but fear. She was extremely afraid that disciples of great clans or sects had come to compete for the spirit vein, so she dared not even raise her head to face the eight Dao plaques. Because of that, she missed the character etched there.
At this moment, Meng Xiangxiang asked curiously, "This Ye Family… could it be that Ye Family, one of the three great clans of the Central Domain?"
Nie Rong quickly gathered his composure and confirmed, "To dare seal off all eight entrances of Duanya Mountain with spirit treasures, while openly displaying the name Ye, besides the Ye Family of the Central Domain, there is no other possibility!"
Zhou Lili's brows knitted with sorrow. "How could it be that Ye Family… Why would they care about such a small spirit vein?"
Yao Ranran activated her spirit power, urging her Lotus Petal Cloud-Stepping Boots. "We must seize the spirit vein before they do!"
Zhou Lili cried out in alarm, "Fairy Ranran, Duanya Mountain is already sealed! If we do this, it means openly opposing Ye Family!"
She knew Fairy Ranran was strong, but how could one person ever match an entire clan?
Yao Ranran turned her gaze toward Nie Rong. "My eldest disciple, do you have a way to break through the Dao plaques and take us out?"
Nie Rong hesitated. "There is a way… Eh, Master, I haven't finished speaking yet!"
The moment Yao Ranran heard that there was a method, she immediately leapt forward, her Lotus Petal Cloud-Stepping Boots carrying her and Meng Xiangxiang deeper into the mountain.
From behind, Nie Rong cried helplessly, "The instant we break the plaques, the Ye Family will notice us! Those eight plaques also carry recording imprints. If we flee now, we will be hunted down without end!"
"What?! Why didn't you say so earlier!" Zhou Lili was filled with fear.
Nie Rong frowned. "Perhaps with the identity of a Wuxiang Sect elder I might survive, but the rest of you… not so much."
Zhou Lili's voice trembled. "…Fairy, wait for me, Fairy please don't go on without me!"
Deep inside the cliffs, at a rugged valley.
Yao Ranran leapt lightly onto a treetop, plucked one fiery red fruit, and held it in her hand.
"What rich spiritual energy!"
Unfortunately, her knowledge of spiritual flora was limited. She could not recognize what fruit this was. Otherwise, she would have already swept the entire tree clean.
Soon, Nie Rong arrived, dragging Zhou Lili behind him.
"Master, these eight Dao plaques are not something ordinary Ye clansmen could possess… Huh, this, this is Zhu Chi Fruit!"
The moment Nie Rong saw the tree full of red fruit, his eyes widened. He immediately abandoned Zhou Lili and rushed forward to pluck one.
Zhou Lili, still dizzy, lifted her head. When the fiery fruit came into view, all her dizziness vanished at once.
"Zhu Chi Fruit!!!"
The shrieks from the pair made Yao Ranran cover her ears. "This fruit is that powerful?"
Was it worth much?
Zhou Lili swallowed hard. "Zhu Chi Fruit is an exceedingly rare spiritual fruit of the world. It cannot be artificially cultivated, and its growth conditions are extremely strict. It only grows in places where spiritual energy is overwhelmingly abundant!"
"Eating one Zhu Chi Fruit can increase two full years of cultivation!" Nie Rong added quickly, already devouring one.
Hearing this, Yao Ranran casually bit into the fruit in her hand. "Two years of cultivation? That doesn't sound like much… but the tree produces so many fruits."
Zhou Lili: "…" To her, two years of cultivation was priceless!
Nie Rong, thinking of his own age and then comparing it to Yao Ranran's youthful bone age, suddenly found the fruit in his hand far less appetizing.
This Master of his was truly a monster!
Yao Ranran, standing at the treetop, gazed downward. "You said Zhu Chi Fruit only grows in places with exceptional energy. Look there, in the fissure below, a thread of violet qi is seeping out. Doesn't that mean this spirit vein is not ordinary?"
Nie Rong restrained his greed for the fruit, extending his divine sense over the crack. A bold thought surged in his mind.
"Violet qi… Could it be that the spirit vein hidden below is not a small spirit vein, but a Supreme-grade Spirit Vein?"
With a clatter, the pit of the fruit fell from Zhou Lili's hand to the ground.
Yao Ranran's eyes lit up. "This Supreme-grade Spirit Vein you speak of… is it the one said to have disappeared from the world, no longer seen, the kind that produces supreme-grade spirit stones?"
Nie Rong's pupils shook violently. "It might be… It very well might be the kind even Junior Brother Han failed to find!"
Yao Ranran could no longer restrain herself. She leapt down into the fissure.
"A Supreme-grade Spirit Vein, I am about to be rich beyond imagining!"
Meng Xiangxiang stood dumbfounded at the treetop, stiff as wood. Had he really heard this? A thing of legend… right before his very eyes?!
Nie Rong suddenly looked toward the Dao plaques at the mountain peak. "No. Whoever those people are, I cannot allow them to seize this Supreme-grade Spirit Vein!"
Zhou Lili's eyes widened in shock.
A small spirit vein was already a rare treasure. But here, hidden in this mountain, lay the legendary Supreme-grade Spirit Vein. If word of this spread, it would shake the entire cultivation world!
Not long after Yao Ranran dove into the fissure, a violet dragon illusion roared into the sky, surging upward from the earth into midair.
At the foot of Duanya Mountain.
Yu Zhenyan's group saw the violet dragon soar aloft at the same time. Its overwhelming aura made their hearts tremble.
Ye Nantian hastily took out a Spirit Pulse Orb. The glaring violet radiance made the orb quake uncontrollably.
"Supreme-grade Spirit Vein! This is the manifestation of a Supreme-grade Spirit Vein!"
Ye Nantian's hands shook with excitement.
Yu Zhenyan stared at the violet dragon above, eyes flashing with disbelief and awe.
"So it wasn't a small spirit vein, but a Supreme-grade Spirit Vein!"
After the shock, Ye Nantian's gaze hardened with killing intent.
"Yu Daoyou, we must rush to the vein's location at once. The violet dragon's emergence means someone has already touched the leaking vein!"
Yu Zhenyan's expression changed sharply. "Ye Daoyou is right. A Supreme-grade Spirit Vein will attract countless others. We must immediately subdue the violet dragon!"
Streaks of light flashed across the sky as Ye Nantian's group sped toward the dragon's origin.
At the same time, other cultivators around the area began to sense the overwhelming spiritual energy. One after another, they flew toward Duanya Mountain.
"That violet dragon… it's the manifestation of a Supreme-grade Spirit Vein!" Meng Xiangxiang, recalling stories he had read in ancient texts, was shaken to the core.
Nie Rong studied the violet dragon a moment, then realized, "Master hasn't come back up yet. This dragon is only an illusion!"
Before his words had fully landed, a streak of light flashed across the sky, dropping a vast net over the violet dragon.
In the blink of an eye, the dragon shattered like foam, the net falling powerless to the ground.
Nie Rong turned his head toward the newcomer, recognizing him at once.
"You are the son of the Ye Family patriarch, Ye Nantian?"
Ye Nantian's face darkened when his spirit net caught only an illusion. Losing face, he shouted in anger, "Since you know my identity, then hurry up and get lost!"
Nie Rong's expression sank. "What arrogance. Just a brat with yellow hair, and you dare speak to this elder in such a tone?"
"Elder? A shaky Golden Core cultivator, unable to even stabilize his avatar, what nameless little sect spawned you?" Ye Nantian sneered with contempt.