Absolutely Leak-Proof

Chu Xingchen held two maps of a strange texture in his hands.

Both were rewards from the system. One was the Map of Mountains and Seas rewarded for taking in a disciple, and the other was the Map of Mountains and Rivers given for completing the mission when Li Yingling broke through to the Soul Formation Realm.

In the beginning, Chu Xingchen had tried to find a way to merge the two maps. After all, when separated, they could only individually display the topographical changes of this world, lacking any extra ability to move mountains or fill seas.

Chu Xingchen originally thought there would be a third map, but it turned out what was missing was a board capable of accommodating both maps.

The True Board of the World Map provided by the system was a flowing, transparent, ultra-thin double-layered folder that could stack the two maps together almost seamlessly, one on top of the other.

The Map of Mountains and Seas was on the bottom, and the Map of Mountains and Rivers was on the top.

When the two maps were stacked, areas that originally had no relation or even overlapped perfectly aligned with each other.

The inked parts perfectly merged into one, filling in the blanks and flawlessly patching up any missing areas.

Once the two maps were inserted, their size could be controlled by Chu Xingchen's will. This was likely its ultimate form.

The five continents and myriad regions were all contained within the map.

The water veins and spirit veins were fully revealed.

However, there was no miraculous glowing mist, nor any earth-shattering Dao aura.

The water veins flowed freely within, while the spirit veins were intercepted in the Central Continent. The originally thick and robust spirit veins were tapped by the Eighteen Immortal Sects, leaving roughly only a third of their thickness to flow toward the other great continents.

Chu Xingchen observed carefully, tracing the spirit veins back to their origins.

After all, who wouldn't be curious about where such massive amounts of spiritual energy originated and how they were produced?

After observing for a moment, Chu Xingchen found that the origins of all the spirit veins could not be traced. They essentially vanished upon reaching a certain place, with at most some small tributary spirit veins merging into them nearby.

Were their origins deliberately erased, or was there a hidden realm responsible for the generation of these spirit veins?

This question seemed very meaningful for the time being, but it had to be set aside for now.

It was better to study this complete map issued by the system. Since it was handed to him at this specific point in time, it definitely had something to do with the Heavenly Demons causing chaos.

After all, to truly set up a grand formation capable of crossing two realms to call for reinforcements, the spiritual energy supply would have to be absurd. The consumption of spirit stones would likely be something even the Heavenly Demons couldn't sustain, so they would inevitably have to rely on the spirit veins.

First, he had to ensure that the spiritual energy of the Eighteen Immortal Sects had not been misappropriated, though the probability of that was quite low.

After all, they were already at the pinnacle of the immortal sects; there was really no need for them to collude with the Heavenly Demons.

Unless some old fogeys in certain sects truly wanted to ascend to immortality. But even that was likely a minority. After all, the great calamity wasn't that distant for those Tribulation Crossing cultivators.

The scenes of the human race being overturned like ants were probably not forgotten.

The other concern was the spirit vein tributaries flowing to the other continents. He needed to focus on recording these and occasionally compare them to see if there were any strange fluctuations in the spirit veins.

Chu Xingchen began to manipulate the map while using a jade token to record the current state of every spirit vein.

This thing was real-time. If he didn't record it, he wouldn't know if its appearance changed later.

After recording the map's entire situation for the day, Chu Xingchen began to study if this thing had any other uses.

Although being able to display spirit veins, water veins, and other unknown things in real-time was already incredibly impressive, what if it had even more powerful abilities?

For example, moving some small spirit veins or shifting small water veins?

If he could really move them, that would be incredible.

Chu Xingchen carefully injected spiritual energy into it, closely feeling the map's reaction.

Upon injecting spiritual energy, he found it just dispersed a bit, but overall, it was still manageable.

Could it be... this thing could actually be manipulated?

Chu Xingchen's eyes lit up. As he gradually increased his spiritual energy, he guided it toward a minuscule, barely noticeable spirit vein.

And then!

He plucked it!

Chu Xingchen's spiritual energy touched it, but it didn't budge an inch.

Increase the spiritual energy output!

Not enough!

Increase it more!

Still not enough?!

Chu Xingchen felt not a single trace of change, feeling as if a mortal were trying to push a mountain peak.

The map perfectly withstood Chu Xingchen's spiritual energy.

The next moment.

All the Tribulation Crossing spiritual energy within Chu Xingchen surged out. At the same time, he drew a large amount of divine sense from the Innate Primordial Dao-Fixing Dual-Qi Pearl and began attempting to move the spirit vein.

The Heavenly Dao map shone brilliantly under the injection of this massive spiritual energy.

Yet, this spirit vein, which was clearly so small and inconspicuous that it could barely support a sect, remained like a mountain. It couldn't be moved at all, not even showing the slightest sign of being pushed.

Fine! If I can't push a spirit vein, I'll push a water vein!

Great! I can't push the water veins either?

Is this trash map even usable?

Chu Xingchen's spiritual energy surged as he targeted a water vein again. But the next moment, Yun Xiao's somewhat vigilant voice came from outside the door:

Fellow Daoist Chu! Is there anything abnormal inside?

Chu Xingchen's spiritual energy instantly settled down, and the Innate Primordial Dao-Fixing Dual-Qi Pearl emerged beside him.

Because he had drawn out too much divine sense, the Innate Primordial Dao-Fixing Dual-Qi Pearl had not completely concealed Chu Xingchen's exposed Tribulation Crossing aura just now, and this wisp of aura had been detected by Yun Xiao outside.

No.

Chu Xingchen replied, then stored the Heavenly Dao map into his system space. A Tribulation Crossing cultivation base was probably not enough to move things on it; he might have to let Bai Xuanling try it later.

At least judging from the performance of this Heavenly Dao map, it should support such an action.

He would stop his research here for now and study it with Bai Xuanling later.

Chu Xingchen adjusted his aura, regaining control of the Innate Primordial Dao-Fixing Dual-Qi Pearl to conceal his presence, and then opened the door.

Yun Xiao stood at the door with a slight frown, his gaze subconsciously looking into Chu Xingchen's room.

The aura exposed just now was extremely profound, with a terrifying Dao resonance that an ordinary Tribulation Crossing cultivator probably wouldn't possess.

Chu Xingchen did not block his view. Instead, he walked down the stairs and looked at Xu Jin and Daoist Yuyang, who were leisurely drinking spirit wine on the side, seemingly unconcerned about him.

Seeing Yun Xiao's still vigilant expression, Chu Xingchen started to spout nonsense:

I was just studying a talisman Bai Xuanling gave me. I didn't expect it to contain her aura.

Yun Xiao nodded slightly. Obviously, he didn't believe this explanation, but seeing that Chu Xingchen was indeed fine, he didn't ask any more questions.

He also understood that Chu Xingchen had no obligation to tell him the truth, especially regarding his personal secrets. Even if Chu Xingchen didn't explain, he couldn't say much.

Seeing that Yun Xiao was tactful enough not to press further, Chu Xingchen glared at Xu Jin and the other man, saying:

You two brats actually care less about me than Fellow Daoist Yun Xiao does. I'm going to cut ties with both of you!

We can talk about cutting ties later, Xu Jin tossed a jade token from his robes. Take a look at this first. I feel like it looks a bit familiar.

Chu Xingchen reached out, took the jade token, and probed it with his divine sense.

This was a message from the mission hub, a position temporarily overseen by Ye Antao.

It seemed that a series of actions and arrangements had already been finalized.

Chu Xingchen studied it for a moment, finding it somewhat familiar. He felt like he had seen this way of handling things somewhere before.

This was absolutely not the kind of arrangement Ye Antao could come up with; she was never this thorough.

Instead, it was a bit... like something Bai Qing would do.

Chu Xingchen furrowed his brows, murmuring in confusion, "That can't be..."

Shouldn't Bai Qing be under the strict supervision of his eldest disciple in the Southern Jambudvipa Continent right now?

Was someone imitating her? Who could mimic her style so perfectly?

Still, the plan was laid out so flawlessly that it didn't matter who made it—he might as well just execute it first.

Even if it really was Chen Baiqing, it shouldn't be a problem.

After all, Chen Baiqing was a sweet, caring little darling personally certified by Chu Xingchen himself.

She would absolutely never let him down.