He controlled the puppet to dig three zhang towards the northwest, then divided the path into two branches, adjusting the direction with a sensing talisman, and continued digging.
During the excavation, he discovered quite a few crystals, in various colors, but to Shen Wang, they weren’t very valuable. He only chose a few pieces to bring home for Jia’Er and the others to use as decorations.
As the digging continued, he found that the sideways digging was prone to collapse, forcing him to use a lot of earth stabilizing talismans for support, significantly slowing down the excavation speed.
By half an hour before dusk, he still hadn’t found anything, so Shen Wang had to return and continue the next day.
At night, Shen Wang noticed the zombies had noticeably increased, and he couldn’t help but look towards the rear mountain.
"Damn it, is Grave Mountain turning into a nest of zombies?"
Shen Wang decided to check the situation after dawn, taking the opportunity to silently eliminate the zombies. With over half a month of accumulation, his master-level swordsmanship had already reached minor success, and his master-level talismanic magic had even achieved great success, nearing perfection.
Before dawn, Shen Wang sat on the wall to cultivate.
At this time, Yang Qi was rising, and the zombies would retreat, giving him roughly an hour before breakfast to cultivate peacefully.
As dawn broke, his location felt like a lowland nearby, with a steady influx of pure Yang Qi toward him.
He utilized a natural array to make some adjustments to the terrain around him, turning his meditation zone into a special cultivation area that could gather pure Yin Qi at night and pure Yang Qi during the day.
Pure Yin and pure Yang are actually attributes of two types of Spiritual Qi, states formed by the changes of heaven and earth. Even different attributes of Spiritual Qi have distinctions between Yin and Yang, with fire having Yin Fire and Yang Fire, and wood having Yin Wood and Yang Wood.
For cultivators, neither pure Yin nor pure Yang is appropriate; at least in lower realms, they can’t handle it. Usually, a balance of Yin and Yang is maintained, or else one risks becoming a fallen demon, with either a fiery temper or cold meridians.
Understanding Yin and Yang is a condition for Foundation Establishment, and Shen Wang has nearly grasped it at this moment. Once he reaches the peak of Qi Cultivation, he’ll be confident enough to start Foundation Establishment.
After the sun rose, with Yang Qi abundant, Shen Wang paused his cultivation and absorbed the eastward purple Qi, his face taking on a layer of purple hue, which gradually faded as the sun climbed higher.
He returned to the inner courtyard to have breakfast.
Before Foundation Establishment, if cultivators don’t use the foul-tasting Grain Avoidance Pills to fill their stomachs, they still need to eat.
Shen Wang, who also practices Martial Dao, requires meat and medicinal supplements even more.
After eating, he took out the Black Death Blade to practice in the courtyard, with Liu Shan and Hongping watching attentively.
With each swing infused with a menacing aura, Xiaobai’s normally gentle face inexplicably gained a fierce presence, each stroke sharp and domineering, straightforward and relentless, flashing cold light, appearing as though nothing could stand in its way.
The Black Death Blade felt like an extension of Shen Wang, moving with ease, the saber technique flowing naturally without any unnecessary movements, crisp and clean, very captivating to watch.
Without using any Spiritual Power, Shen Wang’s Black Death Blade still exhibited considerable power, seemingly unstoppable by anything under its blade.
"Master, is that the legendary union of man and blade?"
Liu Shan expressed boundless admiration, having practiced saber techniques for a few days himself, yet far from achieving such a state.
Shen Wang responded noncommittally, his sword control technique had already reached the state of man and sword as one. Perhaps the difference between sword and saber wasn’t great, as practicing with the Black Death Blade had naturally led to him and the blade becoming one.
"Master has already reached the level of a Grandmaster of Martial Arts. It is truly our honor to learn saber techniques from you,"
Hongping remarked with a smile.
"Keep practicing diligently; hard work can make up for lack of talent. Don’t underestimate yourselves."
Shen Wang put away the saber and walked towards the rear mountain.
Although the Shen Family’s ancestors had been tended so as not to turn into zombies, Shen Wang still needed to check for any recent changes, lest the family members seize the opportunity to make an issue of it when they visit.
The rear mountain was eerily quiet, with tombs of varying sizes scattered across the slopes, generally growing larger the deeper one ventured.
The deepest area was dark, containing a formidable Evil Qi. With his entry-level understanding of arrays, it was clear that an array covered the Grave Mountain, blending natural and artificial formations.
"It seems something is indeed being suppressed here,"
Shen Wang pondered, circling the perimeter, stopping in front of a damaged tomb, next to a hoe.
"Yet another vagabond has come to rob a grave. Unfortunately, our family doesn’t have any burial goods,"
Shen Wang filled back the dug-up earth, glanced at the hoe, and frowned, "Forgotten tools probably mean someone was taken and turned into a zombie, possibly one that I eliminated."
Thinking of the zombies that harassed him nightly, Shen Wang picked up the hoe and restored the other disturbed graves.
Throughout the entire process on Grave Mountain, Shen Wang felt uneasy, as if something were watching him.
He was not surprised; as long as he didn’t venture deep into the mountain, there wouldn’t be much trouble during the day.
After some simple maintenance on the graveyard, Shen Wang returned home to continue studying poison dao texts.
Although he had gained some experience brewing potions, he was still just starting in the Poison Dao and had yet to determine whether he was poisoned.
In the afternoon, as usual, he went to the mining site, digging at various places underground to further pinpoint the Spiritual Eye’s location.
After over half a month, Shen Wang’s cultivation had once again broken through, advancing from the sixth to seventh layer of Qi Cultivation.
With this breakthrough, he officially entered the late stage of Qi Cultivation, noticeably enhancing his strength. Shen Wang remained unsure if he was poisoned or if he had found the Spiritual Eye, feeling somewhat anxious.
Both things could or could not exist.
The absence of poison would be fortunate, but if the Spiritual Eye were nonexistent, then nearly a month’s digging would’ve been a waste of time.
To find this possible entity, Shen Wang began digging from one hundred meters underground to over a hundred zhang, scouring every ten-zhang height across a three-li radius, yet still unable to locate it.
That day, Shen Wang delved another ten zhang further and dug various tunnels across the surface.
Looking at the direction pointed by the sensing talisman, Shen Wang was displeased.
This thing could only sense Spiritual Qi concentration but couldn’t pinpoint where the Spiritual Eye was.
He took out a map, crossed off the newly explored section on the three-dimensional diagram.
Scrutinizing the map and based on the direction indicated by the sensing talisman, the potentially existing Spiritual Eye should be nearby; could it have been overlooked due to too wide intervals between digs?
Isn’t it said that a Spiritual Eye, when approached, should be rich in Spiritual Qi?
If it were indeed nearby, the Spiritual Qi should now be exceptionally dense.
Shen Wang was puzzled.
He studied the map: "Unless, it’s not a Spiritual Eye, but some sort of treasure imbued with Spiritual Qi..."
Looking at the nearby crystal ore, Shen Wang started digging within the original ten-zhang range, soon encountering a fissure. After clearing the surrounding soil and rocks, a glow of spiritual light emerged.
Shen Wang took a deep breath and personally dug out the surrounding soil and rock, soon revealing a massive purple crystal. The crystal was cracked, revealing inside a concentration of spiritual light, housing some treasure.
"It’s indeed a treasure, not a Spiritual Eye!"
Shen Wang was thrilled, for although he didn’t find the Spiritual Eye, the remarkable treasure itself was valuable.
Perhaps even more valuable than a mere Spiritual Eye.