Chapter 227: Attack in the Darkness

Reformatted according to your rules. No words, punctuation, or content have been changed.

At this thought, Ling Xiaoyou suddenly froze.

That was right—aside from containing seemingly inexhaustible earth vein energy, the most unique trait of earth veins was that they ran beneath every piece of land in existence. Because of this, earth vein channels were constantly transmitting earth vein energy throughout the world. If one wanted an analogy, they could be compared to blood vessels, capable of transporting things from one place to another through the earth veins.

So the question was—what exactly did the Devil want to transport?

Ling Xiaoyou didn’t think this was difficult to guess. Aside from the “bomb disease” virus, what else could it possibly be?

Everything had become clear now. The Devil wanted to use the earth veins to spread the virus to every piece of land in Eastern Radiance. By using the earth vein heart as a node, even if the virus wouldn’t normally spread that quickly, the circulation of the earth veins would allow it to spread across all of Eastern Radiance in an instant.

By then, any city with Yin spirits present—regardless of whether it possessed an earth vein heart node—would become infected with the virus.

Ling Xiaoyou’s expression immediately turned serious. She whipped her head toward Lin and asked,

“Does the earth vein heart have protective measures?”

“It does.”

Although Lin didn’t understand why Ling Xiaoyou had suddenly become so serious, she also realized that something seemed amiss, and quickly said,

“There are dozens of layers of protective measures. Most of them would be neutralized by the restriction, but a good portion would remain unaffected.”

Hearing this, Ling Xiaoyou let out a slight sigh of relief, but she was still tense.

She quickly shared her speculation, then turned around amid the equally grave expressions of Lin and the vice captain, preparing to run back inside.

“I’m going to check on the situation. This restriction might very well be a move aimed at the earth vein heart.”

Seeing this, the vice captain immediately tried to stop her, but Lin held him back, saying,

“Let her go.”

“But Captain—”

The vice captain froze, hurriedly wanting to say something, but Lin looked at him and said in a deep voice,

“What she said makes a lot of sense. This restriction came far too suddenly. If the Devil is trying to tamper with the earth vein heart, everything lines up perfectly.”

“But Captain, she’s still just a—”

Before the vice captain could finish, Lin interrupted him again.

“Child? Are you confusing something here?”

The vice captain was taken aback, then saw Lin say seriously,

“She’s not the kind of child you see as useless. The ‘child’ you’re referring to—can that child win the championship in the Xuantian Martial Tournament, where so many Heaven’s Chosen gather?”

“Ch-Champion?!”

The vice captain was completely stunned.

Although he had heard that the Xuantian Martial Tournament was being held in the Imperial Capital this time, he had been too busy to pay any attention to such matters. He didn’t know that Ling Xiaoyou had just won the championship not long ago.

Lin hadn’t watched the matches either, but she had still paid some attention to the competitions involving Ling Xiaoyou and her group.

“That’s right. Don’t be fooled by her being at the Soul Gathering Stage. I dare say that even against a powerful Yin General, she could escape unscathed. So don’t underestimate her.”

“…” The vice captain stared at Ling Xiaoyou, who had already disappeared from sight, and said,

“But Captain, are we really going to let her go alone?”

“Why, do you want to go with her? But with your cultivation, you’d be instantly suppressed the moment you stepped in there. Then we’d have to trouble her to drag you back out.”

Lin glanced at him and said calmly,

“All we can do now is trust her, and—”

She looked at the surging tide of demons outside the protective shield, like a flood of corpses, and said,

“Do what we must do.”

“Dammit, I forgot to ask where the earth vein heart is located.”

At this moment, Ling Xiaoyou—the one who had been entrusted with such high hopes—suddenly stopped in her tracks, scratching her hair in frustration.

She had been too anxious, worried that the Devil would break through the protection and spread the virus into the earth vein heart, but she had forgotten to ask Lin where the earth vein heart actually was.

Fortunately, she still had her clone outside. She could simply command the clone to ask for the location.

Ling Xiaoyou manipulated her clone, obtained the location of the earth vein heart from Lin, and then resumed running in that direction.

In a corner that Ling Xiaoyou failed to notice, a pair of eyes watched the direction she had gone, carrying regret and murderous intent.

“The earth vein heart should be just ahead.”

A water blade swept through, cleanly severing the head of the last demon in her path.

Ling Xiaoyou looked at the direction that had been blocked by demons, a small smile breaking across her face, and quickly dashed forward.

The location of the earth vein heart was considered top secret even within the Exorcists Association. If not for Lin’s high clearance, and the urgency of this incident, she wouldn’t have been able to learn where the Imperial Capital’s Exorcists Association had hidden the earth vein heart.

Pushing open an ancient door, Ling Xiaoyou hurried inside.

As she passed through, she glanced at the runes and the intricate, exquisite formation patterns on the door, guessing that this door was originally meant to block others from entering. But now, because the restriction covered the entire building, this door that prevented entry had lost its function as well.

Behind the door was a deep, dark corridor. The pitch-black environment made it impossible even for Ling Xiaoyou—a Yin spirit capable of night vision—to see her surroundings.

But fortunately, even without relying on her sight, her spiritual sense alone was enough to perceive the situation around her, preventing her from running into walls.

Moving forward through the darkness, Ling Xiaoyou’s pace slowed somewhat, afraid she might step into some trap.

Suddenly, Ling Xiaoyou felt as if a chill wind had swept past her back, and she shuddered violently.

Then, some inexplicable premonition told her—get down!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ling Xiaoyou threw herself forward.

A gust of force sliced past the top of her head. As the sound of a wall being cut open echoed behind her, Ling Xiaoyou immediately understood what had happened.

Someone was trying to ambush her!

With that thought, Ling Xiaoyou knew she needed to create distance between herself and her enemy as quickly as possible.

Water rapidly converged beneath her, then transformed into something akin to a spring, launching her forward a considerable distance.

Using the momentum from the launch, Ling Xiaoyou quickly laid down several hundred water threads in the areas she passed through. These threads weren’t for fighting—they were to help her sense the enemy’s position.

Although she didn’t know who the enemy was, there was no doubt that they were stronger than her.

That was clear from the fact that she had been maintaining her spiritual sense the entire time yet had never detected the enemy at all.

So, in this pitch-black environment, determining the enemy’s position was undoubtedly the most important thing.

The spring’s propulsion quickly ran out. Ling Xiaoyou landed steadily, then immediately drew the Cloud Water Bow.

A pitch-black arrow rapidly condensed, the bow pointing from afar toward the direction of her enemy.