Back in his room at the Qin family, Shan Hu sat cross-legged, clearing his mind and condensing his Divine Sense into an invisible yet sharp force.
His Divine Sense pierced through the floorboards, descended through the foundation, easily navigating the Capital's complex underground network of pipes and structures, heading straight for the source of the spiritual energy fluctuation he had detected—beneath the Ye family's ancient estate.
After diving hundreds of meters underground, the surrounding soil and rock seemed to instantly become ethereal. A massive subterranean space appeared before his Divine Sense. This was not a natural formation but a cave dwelling forcefully carved out by some immense power.
Inside the dwelling, the air was thick with an ancient, decaying presence.
Shan Hu's "gaze" was first drawn to a magnificent array at the center. This formation was built on massive black stones inscribed with runes, and the core part had apparently once held some kind of luminescent object, but now only a void remained.
"A Spirit Gathering and Vein Guiding Array... grand in scale, at least the work of an ancient Golden Core stage cultivator," Shan Hu muttered, his voice resonating only in the Divine Sense realm.
The function of this array was to gather and guide the surrounding spiritual energy, connecting it with a spiritual vein deep underground. However, due to the passage of time, most of the runes on the array were worn down, making its operation sluggish.
His Divine Sense continued downward, passing through the array's base, and touched the true secret of the dwelling—an almost completely withered spiritual vein.
This spiritual vein resembled a giant dragon coiled underground, but now it was dry and skeletal, containing less than one-ten thousandth of its original spiritual energy. It had decayed so thoroughly that only Shan Hu's Immortal Emperor-level Divine Sense could have detected its presence.
"No wonder the spiritual energy in the Capital is so thin; it turns out a large remnant vein was sealed down here," Shan Hu realized.
Though weak, if this remnant vein could be restored and reactivated, it would be enough to provide a vast supply of spiritual energy for Qin Wan'er's cultivation in a short time. More importantly, the discovery of this remnant vein proved the existence of a complete legacy of ancient cultivation beneath the Capital.
Just as Shan Hu's Divine Sense was meticulously analyzing the array structure, he suddenly sensed an anomaly.
In an obscured corner above the dwelling, near the foundation of the Ye family estate, several crude, modern electronic devices were placed. They appeared to be some kind of simplified spiritual energy detectors.
Next to the detectors, there was residue of fresh soil and several cigarette butts, indicating that someone had recently visited the spot and was trying to peek at the underground spiritual fluctuations in a very amateur manner.
"Someone from the martial arts or Xuanmen circles in the mundane world has noticed the anomaly here, but they lack the ability to activate the array or investigate further," Shan Hu concluded instantly.
Without disturbing anyone, he used his Divine Sense to swiftly inscribe dozens of Immortal Emperor-level sealing runes into the rock layers surrounding the remnant vein.
These runes completely isolated the remnant vein, cutting off all external detection, including the simple devices' sensors. Simultaneously, he modified a part of the ancient array's structure, replacing its core array eye with the unique Ice Profound True Essence signature of Ye Qingcheng as the "key."
Thus, unless personally authorized by him, or if Ye Qingcheng performed a sacrifice using her own vital blood, no one could activate this ancient array or pass through it to reach the location of the remnant vein.
"Since I have found it, this place shall be the foundation of my Daoist sanctuary."
Having completed all of this, Shan Hu's Divine Sense slowly retreated back into his body.
He opened his eyes, a glint of sharpness flashing in his pupils. This reconnaissance was more valuable than anticipated. He had not only found a source of spiritual energy but had also identified the hidden peepers in the Capital.
"It seems I need to deal with a few troublesome 'rats' during Wan'er's retreat over the next few days."
A cold smile touched his lips. He then closed his eyes and began running his cultivation technique, accumulating strength for his next actions. The waters of the Capital had begun to boil.