Then, the Spirit Vein began to churn violently. The colossal vortex shut out all external pressure while constantly generating a forward thrust. Nie Kong felt as if his body had been lifted, surging toward the source of the Spirit Vein, moving with a speed akin to an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

Gradually, Nie Kong could no longer distinguish the surrounding scenery, only a dense, shifting expanse of green flashing before his eyes, as if he were entirely enveloped in emerald light. This sensation went beyond mere visual dazzle; before long, even Nie Kong’s consciousness started to grow hazy.

A slight alarm stirred within Nie Kong, and he quickly shut his eyes, allowing his mind to regain clarity.

"Pop!"

He had no idea how much time had passed when a faint sound, like a water bubble bursting, reached his ears. Nie Kong’s rapidly moving form instantly stilled, his feet now firmly planted on solid ground.

"Have I actually entered the Yin Ruins?"

Nie Kong’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively opened his eyes only to find a green wall blocking his view.

Looking up, the wall stretched impossibly high into the heavens, seemingly without end. Nie Kong was greatly astonished. He glanced left and right again; the green wall remained boundless, its true length unknowable, yet the ground beneath his feet was slick and bare, showing no trace of plant life.

This was the Yin Ruins?

Nie Kong was utterly taken aback. Aside from that immense green wall, everywhere else was utterly desolate. Before coming here, Nie Kong had imagined the scene within the Yin Ruins countless times. In his mind, this place should resemble a Phantasm Realm or an illusory space.

Based on Nie Kong’s speculation, the Yin Ruins should lean more towards an illusory space, since the physical body could enter and survive within such an environment. Getting a physical body into a Phantasm Realm, however, seemed almost impossible, unless it was a shattered one, like those within the Beast Tamer Sect.

But a Phantasm Realm that could shatter at any moment could not possibly serve as a dwelling place for a place whose heritage predated Spirit Defense City.

Furthermore, given that the female Spirit Master from the Yin Ruins had established the lineage of Spirit Defense City in the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range, the social structure within the Yin Ruins should be similar to that of a Spirit Master sect. The only difference was that the rulers wouldn't be ordinary Spirit Masters, but the Half-Spirit race Hua Yanjie had spoken of.

Upon successfully traversing the Yin Ruins Spirit Vein, he might appear among mountains and rivers; he might land in a bustling city akin to Jiyang City; he might, like during the 'Six Halls Grand Competition,' find himself facing one or two Spirit Beasts that immediately swarmed and attacked him; or he might materialize in a vital sect location like the inner city of Spirit Defense City, only to be captured as an intruder into the Yin Ruins...

Yet, none of these possibilities had materialized. In Nie Kong’s current line of sight, apart from the towering green wall, there wasn't a single living soul in sight.

When he first learned from Patriarch Xu Ba that every hundred years a Yin Ruins envoy would deliver the 'Spirit Apex Holy Water,' Nie Kong had once speculated that he and Nie Qiong might be the children of Nie Qingyang and that envoy from over twenty years ago. But now, Nie Kong began to doubt his own conjecture.

The Spirit Vein guarded by Spirit Defense City was vital to the survival of the Yin Ruins. No matter how foolish that Yin Ruins envoy from years ago might have been, they couldn't possibly jeopardize the crucial task of delivering the 'Spirit Apex Holy Water' because of having two children with Nie Qingyang! Moreover, the fact that Nie Qingyang died during a Spirit Beast capture mission suggested he wasn't any kind of genius; whether he possessed the charm to attract a Half-Spirit envoy from the Yin Ruins remained unknown.

More importantly, even if the envoy twenty years ago encountered trouble and failed to deliver the 'Spirit Apex Holy Water' to Spirit Defense City, the Yin Ruins, upon learning the news, could have simply dispatched another envoy. This would not have resulted in a delay stretching over two decades.

Nie Kong suddenly felt a pang of worry. Could it be that a world-shattering change had occurred within the Yin Ruins over the last twenty years, resulting in the complete disappearance of everyone inside?

As this thought flashed, Nie Kong let out a self-deprecating laugh. The Yin Ruins could spawn a powerful sect like Spirit Defense City; they must be teeming with formidable experts. Besides, according to Hua Yanjie, the Half-Spirit race of the Yin Ruins was even more insidious than the Five Great Spirit Races—how could they have been wiped out without a trace?

"I’m truly worrying needlessly," Nie Kong muttered with a self-mocking smile. His mind quickly returned to calm, and his attention was soon drawn to the activity within his body. At this moment, the mass of dark-green blood in his Yaochi Acupoint seemed to be violently drawn, tossing and churning, eager to move.

Nie Kong understood that this change in the dark-green blood must have begun the moment he entered the Yin Ruins, but he had been lost in his own thoughts and hadn't noticed. Since the Yin Ruins was the place for the awakening of the Half-Spirit bloodline, such a reaction was entirely to be expected.

"Ah!"

Qing Yue cried out as if waking from a dream. She squeezed her little skirt and wriggled out from Nie Kong's chest, her face full of confusion. "Nie Kong, there seems to be a power inside you, completely different from your spiritual energy, very strange... But, it feels like it shares the same origin as mine?"

As she spoke the last words, Qing Yue’s voice grew softer, yet the suspicion in her faint, greenish eyes deepened.

Nie Kong couldn't help but chuckle, "You only just noticed?"

Qing Yue glared at him, "Hmph! If Grandma hadn't been observing this place constantly, I would have certainly noticed sooner. Still, this Yin Ruins is truly bizarre. Ever since entering, I have a feeling of coming home, Nie Kong. Isn't that strange?"

With that said, Qing Yue climbed onto Nie Kong’s shoulder, twisting her petite and exquisite body as she looked around with equal measures of curiosity and bewilderment.

"Coming home?"

Nie Kong paused, murmuring the phrase once, his voice suddenly tinged with urgency. "Qing Yue, what did you say just now?"

Qing Yue looked confused. "Before? If Grandma hadn't been observing this place constantly..."

"A little further back!"

Without waiting for Qing Yue to finish, Nie Kong interrupted her.

"It feels like it shares the same origin as mine?"

Qing Yue was utterly perplexed.

"Yes, those were the exact words." Nie Kong clapped his hands together. "Qing Yue, you said the power inside me shares the same origin as yours?"

"I have that feeling. To be specific, Grandma can't quite explain it," Qing Yue nodded.

"Same origin?"

Nie Kong repeated the two words over and over, vaguely feeling as if he had grasped something. But in an instant, his thoughts became murky again. No matter how hard he tried to ponder, he couldn't recapture that feeling, and he ended up patting his aching head.

Seeing this, Qing Yue’s eyes darted around. She grinned mischievously and tried to entice him, "Nie Kong, that power seems to be suppressed beneath your acupoint. Why don't you loosen the restraint a bit? That way, my feeling will become clearer, and you won't have to rack your brains so hard. Isn't that better?"

"Don't even think about it," Nie Kong immediately refused.

What a joke! Before finding a way to awaken his bloodline, if he relaxed the suppression on that mass of dark-green blood, he might revert to his appearance before he was eighteen. In that state, facing danger in the Yin Ruins would leave him with almost no ability to resist.

Even with Qing Yue, a thousand-year-old Medicine Spirit, present, Nie Kong didn't want to risk that again. Of course, Nie Kong also didn't want to experience that feeling of uselessness anymore.

Qing Yue was choked by Nie Kong’s refusal, rolling her eyes and muttering petulantly, "Just let Grandma take a look; it won't cost you a piece of flesh. So stingy!"

"..."

Nie Kong ignored her complaints and began walking along the green wall.

Although he had ascended against the Spirit Vein to enter the Yin Ruins, there was no sign of any Spirit Vein here.

Without the guidance of a Spirit Vein, Nie Kong had no direction. The vast, bare expanse in the distance didn't look like a good destination either. The only viable course was to follow this high wall; perhaps there was a greater chance of finding human traces. After all, no matter how high or long this green wall was, it must have been built by people from the Yin Ruins.

After several tens of minutes, the green wall continued stretching forward, as if it would never end.

"..."

"Nie Kong, this wall is too long! How long until we reach the end?"

"It’s bare everywhere here; not a single blade of grass. Nie Kong, why don’t we go back to Spirit Defense City?"

"How to go back? You’ll have to figure that out yourself. Hmph hmph, Grandma is so old, why should I waste energy thinking about such things? Really!"

"Oh, this is so boring! Nie Kong, call out that Medicine Spirit hidden in your body to play with Grandma! I haven't even seen her yet!"

"..."

The scenery remained unchanged, and Qing Yue grew immensely bored, hopping and chattering on Nie Kong’s shoulder. After walking for so long, Nie Kong couldn't help but feel anxious too. This place was exceedingly strange, as if he were perpetually circling beneath the green wall.

Nie Kong had tried using spiritual sense to scan the surroundings, but unfortunately, this place seemed to heavily suppress it. While he could clearly see scenery a hundred meters away with his eyes, if he closed them and used his spiritual sense, the detectable range barely exceeded ten meters.

This fact was particularly incredible.

Nie Kong felt a touch of envy for that little fellow Xiangxiang. No matter how the dark-green blood in the Yaochi Acupoint fluctuated, it remained lazily floating on top. Strands of green energy constantly drifted within the Pet Bag, sometimes siphoning toxic mist from the 'Spirit Sealing Stele' to feed the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower,' and other times coiling around a drop or two of red liquid from the roots of the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower' to happily feast, utterly absorbed in its activities.

"Just how long is this green wall?"

After a long while more, Nie Kong’s expression was blank, but the anxiety in his heart intensified.

If he couldn't even walk the entire length of this green wall, let alone awaken his bloodline, he might end up trapped here forever. He had also thought the scene was an illusion, so he quietly took out the kernel of the 'Phoenix Eye Fruit' stored in his Pet Bag and consumed it all, yet the sight before him showed no change whatsoever—the green wall appeared entirely real.

If it wasn't an illusion, it might be a phantasm. Unfortunately, Nie Kong wasn't a Spirit Rune Master and didn't understand the mechanics of phantasms, let alone how to see through their deception.

"Look, there’s a path!" Qing Yue suddenly shouted.

"Oh?"

Nie Kong looked up and his heart leaped with joy. Indeed, several dozen meters away at the green wall, there was a wide road sloping diagonally upward...

(Translator's Note: Brothers, this is the only update for today. I promise to make up the owed chapter tomorrow. Rest assured, I still have some integrity left. O(∩_∩)O haha~ Also, there was a small error in the previous chapter: Spirit Defense City's lineage has been passed down for over twenty generations, not two hundred. I truly feel pathetic; being on a train the other day scrambled my brain. This note does not count towards the word count...)