Chapter 182: Innate Clear Qi

At the foot of an unnamed mountain somewhere in the eight-hundred-mile Qin Land.

Su Ping arrived at his destination before the teams that were rushing over upon hearing the news.

He noticed that the mountains and rivers in this vicinity were no longer as he remembered them.

Where he had imagined a loess plateau, before his eyes was a stretch of lush green.

Verdant vegetation was everywhere.

One could even see delicate plants like orchids appearing on the mountain.

The river water was not murky either, showing little difference from the streams in the south.

Gazing further into the distance.

One could see man-made structures arranged in a scattered yet orderly fashion over there.

They were not villages, however.

Due to historical and climatic reasons, drought and desolation meant this place had long since lacked many villages.

This also made it much easier to consolidate land for use.

Thus, with agricultural universities as the organizational core, each university could obtain large tracts of wasteland as experimental fields.

Teachers brought students from research groups here to conduct various practical applications.

While they achieved their goals.

They also cultivated generation after generation of crop seeds adapted to the new climate of this land for all of humanity.

Su Ping withdrew his gaze and Divine Sense.

He turned his attention instead to the Earth Palace.

Su Ping took out an Earth Escape Talisman.

Without a hint of hesitation, he used this Talisman, which was worth at least one hundred Spirit Stones.

With a flash of yellow light, Su Ping vanished from where he stood, entering the Earth Palace dozens of meters beneath the ground.

The Earth Palace had no light source whatsoever, pitch-black as ink.

Su Ping took out a Spirit Bead with his left hand, and the bright light emitted by the bead instantly cleared away the surrounding darkness.

Although his Divine Sense had long since ceased to fear light or darkness, Su Ping still preferred to be in the light.

Relying on the enhancement of his Divine Sense, Su Ping had already scanned the Earth Palace once after landing.

And he quickly confirmed the location of the source he was looking for.

He left the pile of burial objects without the slightest attachment.

After entering the depths of the Earth Palace.

Su Ping saw a massive coffin.

The coffin was filled with a certain type of gas that modern science could not yet explain.

It was precisely by relying on the protection of that gas.

That the corpse inside the coffin remained lifelike, as if it were merely sleeping.

"It is actually a wisp of Innate Clear Qi!"

"People in ancient times must have discovered that solid, jade-like Innate Clear Qi could protect a corpse from decay, so they placed it in the mouth or other parts of the body."

"This matches the legends in various records about placing jade in the mouth to ensure a corpse does not decay!"

"It is just that what is truly effective is the jade formed by Innate Clear Qi."

"And once this jade turns into clear qi, it easily leaks out if the coffin is not of high enough quality."

"Then, once someone disturbs the earth, I fear it all dissipates."

"As for wanting to wait for this wisp of Innate Clear Qi to happenstance turn back into jade, who knows how long that would take."

Thinking of this, Su Ping also recalled the phenomena often mentioned by archaeologists when they discovered ancient tombs with perfectly preserved, undecayed bodies in 'Walking into Science'—one of which was often a fragrance wafting out from underground before vanishing.

He couldn't help but feel a pang of regret; this was Innate Clear Qi, after all.

A heavenly treasure no worse than Cold Ice Heavy Water, an innate wonder!

How wonderful it would have been if it had been left waiting for him to retrieve it?

At the same time, Su Ping also guessed why that bronze vessel could have reacted to radiation.

Judging by its shape, it might well have been a Dharma Artifact specifically used to store the innate jade during ceremonies.

"Good treasure, come to me; only I can truly let you shine brilliantly!"

Su Ping opened the array map.

With a sweep, the entire room housing the coffin entered a world of ice and snow.

Then the coffin opened.

The surrounding Spirit Qi surged violently into it.

Upon contacting the Spirit Qi, the gas inside expanded fiercely, turning into a beam of green light that rushed directly into the celestial stars.

After a few breaths.

Accompanied by a thunderous roar.

Su Ping saw that wisp of Innate Clear Qi transform into a breeze that wandered and blew incessantly between heaven and earth.

It appeared within the array map.

The entire array map also faintly glowed, its quality rising once more.

Looking solely at the change in the Spirit Tool's aura.

It was already no weaker than those veteran Spirit Tools that had been through many battles.

And because it was an Array Tool, it could be used for both offense and defense.

Its value was perhaps even higher than those veteran Spirit Tools!

While Su Ping was delighted.

He also understood in his heart that there were simply too many treasures in his array map.

Once released, their traces must absolutely not be discovered by outsiders.

Otherwise, whether it was the Cold Ice Heavy Water or this Innate Clear Qi.

Those were wondrous items that could make Golden Core Great Abilities cast aside their dignity!

And facing a Golden Core Great Ability... Su Ping did not yet have the confidence to retreat unscathed before them!

Therefore, it was naturally better to continue keeping a low profile if he could.

After subduing the Innate Clear Qi, Su Ping canceled the Array and returned to the Earth Palace.

After putting the array map back into his Storage Spirit Tool, Su Ping looked around the Earth Palace and carefully covered the coffin again.

Only then did he offer an apology, and while the Earth Escape technique was still active, a flash of yellow light passed by.

He vanished from the Earth Palace.

Not long after.

Su Ping appeared in a small city, dressed as the Yunlai Sword Immortal, and took out cash to start tasting the delicacies of Qin Land.

Although Su Ping attracted the surprise and envy of many young people because he looked good.

He did not cause any further trouble.

After all, Su Ping had already restrained his transcendent aura.

As for his good looks and the Daoist robe he wore.

Nowadays, there are more people wearing similar clothes than those wearing anime costumes!

Others would not believe you were truly transcendent just because you looked good!

After all, looking at the appearances of the six Registered Disciples, including Huang Zong, currently exposed on the internet.

They were thoroughly greasy middle-aged and elderly men.

The bishops and Sect Leader over in Bangzi Country could not be called handsome or good-looking either.

And while Su Ping began to eat and drink heartily.

The expert teams, who had arrived a step late, began to conduct inspections above the Earth Palace.

As for the result, naturally, no traces of an intrusion were found.

It was just that some people above were still worried, so they chose to open the earth tunnel and sent out experts wearing suits resembling spacesuits to enter the Earth Palace for inspection.

And they compared the relics, the scene, and so on one by one.

As of now, nothing was missing.

It was just that further analysis would still require time to examine.

When the sky turned dim.

The next batch of experts scheduled for the shift change were told they were no longer needed.

It was because they had already learned through other channels that the Shu Daoren from the Burial Ground had appeared at the Zhang Family again.

And under the watchful eyes of everyone, he personally admitted to having obtained the needed item from the Earth Palace and took that Zhang Ping'an away.

Nowadays, everyone related to that Zhang Ping'an had become highly sought after!

At the same time, this Earth Palace was also classified as a top-secret location.

All data needed to be reorganized to find out what exactly that mysterious transcendent had come for.

And whether the master of the Earth Palace had also once been a Cultivator who mastered transcendence?

A massive investigative force was set into motion.

The relevant elite troops and generals were also unable to sleep from excitement because they had found a breakthrough direction.

As for the Zhang Family.

They were also in a state of great shock and excitement.

Zhang's father and Zhang's mother were praying incessantly before the deity statue at home, hoping that Zhang Ping'an possessed the Spirit Root mentioned by that Shu Daoren!

Pot Heaven.

Su Ping watched Zhang Ping'an, who was silently practicing according to the Basic Heart Method he provided, in the courtyard on the mountaintop of the Burial Ground.

Compared to those Registered Disciples like Huang Zong, this guy seemed familiar with the path when it came to cultivation.

The operation of his cultivation technique was only slightly worse than Zhou Xuan's.

However, judging from the operation of his Spirit Tool.

Even without using the secret technique Clear Heart and See Nature to judge.

Su Ping also knew that this Zhang Ping'an was someone who had a Spirit Root.

And it was at least of middle grade or higher.

He silently took a drop of blood from the center of the other's brow and dripped it onto the Bloodline Slate.

Hmm... no reaction.

But that was within reason.

A Spirit Body appearing would have been the unexpected outcome.

"Not bad, you are someone with a Spirit Root."

The voice of Shu Daoren rang in his ears, interrupting Zhang Ping'an, who was in a state of meditation, from his practice.

Zhang Ping'an dared not be angry, so he could only quickly get up and bow gratefully toward Su Ping, and then knelt to perform the apprenticeship ceremony.

"No need for formalities, you are only a Registered Disciple after all."

Su Ping chuckled, grasped at the Void, and a wine cup appeared in his hand.

After pouring a cup of Spirit Wine and handing it to Zhang Ping'an, he said slowly:

"Drink it, this is Spirit Wine, it is of great benefit to your Qi Refining and entering the body."

"It can also be considered a small gift from this old man to you, my Registered Disciple!"

"As for afterwards, you can first go to Nierbo to assist your senior fellow apprentices."

"Regarding cultivation, there is no need to rush!"