Chapter 523.2: Lungs? (1/2)
Taking out his luopan, Lu Yun abruptly invoked the Dragonsearch Invocation. The compass’ three layers modulated into a miniature world at his side once more, recovering the projection of the celestial master tomb and the mountain over it, feng shui layouts, formations, and all.
“I missed a lot in my speculations just now. This nascent spirit soil is no ordinary soil—it’s formed from the crystallized energy of heaven and earth. I must take into account its corresponding effects on feng shui.” A handful of black earth appeared in Lu Yun’s palm.
The reinforcement of hell greatly amplified his speed of thought, wisdom, and strength. With the luopan’s help, he could analyze more than just feng shui layouts, and even the material in his hands was open for examination.
“Nascent spirit soil… a dao immortal leaves this behind after their death.” Frowning slightly, Lu Yun murmured to himself. “Was there once some sort of appalling slaughter in the ghost realm? Or perhaps this place was an ancient battlefield in its time?”
He looked closer at the soil between his fingers, carefully evaluating its structural composition.
“Yep, this is concentrated natural energy, alright. There’s a bit of something else there, too.”
Everything about the soil was laid bare to his eyes.
“If a nascent spirit is formed from the energy of the world… then an immortal’s nascent spirit absorbs immortal qi. In other words, immortal qi is a higher form of natural qi. So then, where does the qi in nature come from?” The question popped into his head.
“Cultivators have always relied upon natural qi. Before the foundation of immortal dao, there were cultivators of countless disciplines… yet, natural qi has yet to run dry since time primeval.
“Natural qi is born from heaven and earth, but there’s no way nature produces enough on its own for everyone to use… but what if there’s a circulation cycle?”
A karmic fruit inside his body ignited as hellfire flared in his eyes; the power of the Spectral Eye operated at its maximum.
“I knew it…” Lu Yun slowly uncreased his brow.
The soil in his hands was diminishing at a rate not visible to the human eye. Although he couldn’t determine the exact speed, it was definitely turning back into pure natural qi and rising into the void.
The rate of sublimation was so slow as to be unnoticeable, thus preventing anyone from realizing what the soil was, but it was definitely happening.
“The ghost realm… there’s very little heavenly qi there, and no trace of immortal qi at all. However, this kind of black soil abounds…
“Can this ghost realm be the ‘lung’ of all the facets in the world of immortals? Wait, no, the whole multiverse!”
Lu Yun was reminded of the Amazonian rainforest back on Earth. Some called it the planet’s lungs, since it absorbed most of the carbon dioxide on Earth and turned it into oxygen.
“The nascent spirit soil that fallen immortals leave behind is sucked up by some unknown force and sent here. Gradual sublimation returns the resulting qi to the other worlds. But… why does the ghost realm want to consume the world of immortals? It looks like it’s already eaten more than one other world, too.”
The more he thought about it, the more confused Lu Yun got. Some of his conclusions seemed to make sense, but their conflicts with each other made the grand scheme of things inexplicable.
Why was natural qi so thin in the ghost realm? How did nascent spirit soil from other areas end up gathering here?
…and where did all those yin spirits come from, anyway?
Now that he’d figured out what the soil was made of, and the rate of its sublimation, he could use that knowledge to recalibrate his judgments about the changes in the celestial master tomb’s feng shui and formations.
Minutes later, cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
“I really was wrong! If I’d entered the tomb through the thief’s tunnel I figured out before, it would be no different from entering through the front door. The same horrors would happen to me as to someone who tried to cross the boundary of the worlds.” Lu Yun heaved a long sigh of relief.
Determining a tunnel from feng shui involved more than just assessing the environment. Even the kind of soil underfoot was important.
Back on Earth, it was customary for tomb raiders to use a luoyang shovel to dig up a cross-section of soils in order to appraise the time period the tomb was from. The typical tomb layouts of that period could then be used to speculate the appropriate placement of a thief’s tunnel.
While that wasn’t necessary in the world of immortals, any natural energy inherent to the soil would affect feng shui all the same. The minutest of errors often had the most disastrous of consequences.
The only saving grace to an incorrect tunnel was that it would still function as expected after the first unlucky sap entered and triggered their mishap. Most tunnels found in the present world of immortals were excavated and proved in that manner.