Ning Fan immediately looked toward the bushes, only to see a small head poking out from the foliage, looking at him with innocent adorableness.

It was Yun Qingyao.

"Phew--"

Ning Fan took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. The moment he saw Yun Qingyao, the tension in his heart vanished, and a heavy stone was lifted from his chest.

"Where did you go?"

Ning Fan asked with a stern face.

"Hehe."

Yun Qingyao stuck out her tongue and slipped out of the bushes. Seeming to know she had worried him, she cleverly ducked into the tent, brought out Ning Fan's clothes, and carefully helped him put them on piece by piece.

"I just saw my husband was too exhausted and wanted you to rest a little longer."

"Then what were you out doing?"

Ning Fan asked.

"Hmm..."

Yun Qingyao tilted her head, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. After a moment of struggle, she finally spoke.

"It's like this. Over there, I sensed a strange fluctuation of Spiritual Qi. I thought it was some kind of heavenly treasure, but... but..."

Toward the end, Yun Qingyao hesitated, leaving her sentence hanging.

"What is it?"

Ning Fan frowned as he asked.

"Husband should come and see for himself."

Yun Qingyao grabbed Ning Fan's hand. The two of them pushed through the bushes one after the other and arrived at the spot she mentioned. Upon seeing the situation, Ning Fan was also stunned.

-A rock wall.

That was right.

The location of the heavenly treasure Yun Qingyao had mentioned was nothing more than a rock wall. Under normal circumstances, it was absolutely impossible for anything to be inside.

But with the precedent of the Crimson Blood Stone, Ning Fan was willing to trust Yun Qingyao.

"Step aside. Let your husband take a look."

Ning Fan signaled for Yun Qingyao to step back. He planted his feet in a horse stance and threw a punch directly at the spot she had indicated.

"Bang--"

A dull thud rang out, immediately followed by a cry of pain.

"Oww!!"

Ning Fan instantly doubled over, clutching his fist with his other hand. His face was twisted in sheer agony.

"Husband, are you alright?"

Yun Qingyao hurried over, her eyes full of concern.

"I'm... I'm fine."

Ning Fan grimaced, baring his teeth.

It wasn't a major issue; merely a flash of sharp pain, not even enough to be considered an injury. However, this probing punch allowed Ning Fan to confirm that the rock wall Yun Qingyao had pointed out was incredibly solid. It was absolutely not hollow. The wall hadn't budged an inch from his strike.

"..."

This made Ning Fan seriously doubt whether Yun Qingyao's perception was real.

No!

He had to try again!!

Spiritual Qi surged wildly around Ning Fan. The vast power condensed over his fist into the black-grey shadow of a serpent. Ning Fan unleashed a ferocious punch against the rock wall.

Dragon Snake Evolution Hand!!!

"Boom--"

The Yellow Grade High Grade martial technique smashed into the rock face. This time, the wall could not stand firm. The unyielding stone was blasted into fragments by Ning Fan's strike.

Countless shards of rock sprayed in all directions.

Yun Qingyao couldn't help but retreat a fair distance backward.

"..."

Ning Fan pulled back his fist. Without even needing to look closely, he realized there was something behind the stone wall. The reason was simple-he felt a refreshing, pure wave of Spiritual Qi seeping out from the point of impact. Upon closer inspection, sweeping cracks covered the blasted wall, and a faint, fluorescent light flickered from within the fissures.

Under the bright daylight, it was almost imperceptible, but with careful observation, traces of the glow could still be seen.

"!!"

Ning Fan was overjoyed.

Just as he thought.

Yun Qingyao's perception had not been wrong. There really was something behind this rock wall. He just didn't know what kind of heavenly treasure it could be.

"Come."

Ning Fan called Yun Qingyao over to excavate the rock wall together.

Ning Fan had already blasted a pit roughly half a meter deep into the wall. Filled with loose rubble and deep fractures, digging further inward along the pit was not difficult at all. Half a quarter-hour later-

"Boom--"

As Ning Fan reached into a wide fissure and pulled violently, the last layer of the rock wall crashed down, revealing the scene behind it to Ning Fan and Yun Qingyao.

"This is..."

Ning Fan's eyes widened as he murmured to himself.

Behind the rock wall was not some single heavenly treasure, but an incredibly spacious underground cavern. Clusters of stones shimmering with fluorescent light filled this space. The stones were packed in irregular, jagged formations, taking on all sorts of shapes. The dense fluctuations of Spiritual Qi originated precisely from these stones.

"A... a Spirit Vein?!"

Ning Fan exclaimed in shock.

A so-called Spirit Vein was a mineral vein of Spirit Stones. Even though Ning Fan had never seen one before, the moment these special stones were laid out before him, he recognized them immediately.

"..."

Ning Fan pondered briefly.

That was right.

A Spirit Vein was a massive mineral vein spanning deep into the mountains. It certainly had more than one entrance. It seemed Yun Qingyao had stumbled blindly into another entranceway.

"Husband!!"

Yun Qingyao stepped closer, her voice thick with excitement.

"My precious Qingyao is truly amazing, to actually sense the location of a Spirit Vein. With this Spirit Vein here, we have the chance to massively increase our strength!"

Ning Fan declared.

"Let's go!"

Ning Fan and Yun Qingyao stepped into the Spirit Vein one after the other. In an instant, both of them felt their bodies enveloped by an incredibly dense concentration of Spiritual Qi.

"Husband, can we collect all these stones and take them away?"

Yun Qingyao tilted her head and asked.

"Not quite."

Ning Fan shook his head.

Although these stones possessed abundant Spiritual Qi, the concentration was lacking. A full cubic meter of raw ore was barely comparable to a single refined Spirit Stone. If they were to use raw ore for dual cultivation, they would have to pile up over three hundred cubic meters of raw stone and lie down right in the middle.

Leaving aside whether his storage ring even had that much space, they couldn't absorb Spiritual Qi from such a massive area during dual cultivation anyway.

"Spirit Vein... Spirit Stones."

Ning Fan muttered to himself.

Without refinement, raw ore didn't hold much value. They still needed to find the exact location of the core vein. Of course, there were also some smaller stones scattered around that possessed exceptionally thick Spiritual Qi. The concentration in those small stones was considerable, basically matching that of a true Spirit Stone.

But they would have to be carefully selected.

"Husband, which way should we go?"

Yun Qingyao suddenly asked.

After the two had ventured over a hundred meters deep into the Spirit Vein, a fork in the path appeared before them. The split ran north and south, meaning Ning Fan and Yun Qingyao had to choose a direction to press onward.

"..."

Ning Fan raised his hand and gently stroked his chin.

Choose randomly?

No.

The flow of a Spirit Vein actually left traces to follow-the closer the raw stones were to the outer edges, the denser their Spiritual Qi. Sensing carefully, the Spiritual Qi down the southern path gradually thinned out, while the Spiritual Qi down the northern path grew increasingly dense.

That meant...

The southern path led deeper into the Spirit Vein, while the northern path led toward the shallower layers.

After a brief moment of thought, Ning Fan made his decision.

"South!"

Ning Fan chose to venture deeper into the Spirit Vein.

His reasoning was simple-

Under the current circumstances, if they were to cross paths with Ji Wuxi and the others, the situation would absolutely not be in Ning Fan's favor. Ji Wuxi's group was likely searching the area where the Spiritual Qi was densest. By taking the opposite route, Ning Fan could naturally avoid them.

He would quietly build up his strength!!!

Once his strength was great enough...

Ning Fan's eyes flashed.

"Let's go."

Ning Fan took Yun Qingyao's hand, and the two set off one after the other down the southern passage. Along the way, Ning Fan meticulously picked through the rubble, finding quite a few Spirit Stone-like rocks that held abundant Spiritual Qi. Even if they couldn't match refined Spirit Stones, they would still be highly effective for cultivation.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Ning Fan estimated that six or seven hours had slipped by. He had gathered a considerable pile of these Spirit Stone-like rocks, and so he decided to stop and engage in a session of dual cultivation right there on the spot.

"Wife."

"With the heavens as our canopy and the earth as our mat, let us engage in dual cultivation here within this Spirit Vein today."

"..."