However, spirit stone mines nurtured by a spiritual vein are a different story, generally producing a considerable quantity of spirit stones, along with various spirit stones of different attributes.
This is because spiritual veins, unlike individual spirit mines, are special environments formed by the manifestation of pure spiritual energy between heaven and earth, capable of gathering most of the spiritual Qi.
If mined properly, they can continuously produce spirit stones. However, not all spiritual veins can nurture spirit stone mines; generally, only an area near a high-grade spiritual vein transforms into a spirit stone mine.
Currently, the high-grade spiritual vein they have entered is such a case.
Seeing so many spirit stones along the way, Zhang Ling wanted to collect some, but after looking at the black fox constantly moving forward, he abandoned the idea.
He stopped looking at the spirit stones, as finding the Rootless Lotus was the most important thing now.
Thus, Zhang Ling urged the black fox possessed by the Azure Fox King, traversing through the spirit stone mine. After about fifteen minutes, they arrived at a large underground space.
This was a space several miles in size, filled with thick stalactites and a large number of spirit stone mines.
The sound of rushing water entered his ears, and Zhang Ling saw streams of water flowing from some cracks in the surrounding rocks. These streams were small, like small creeks, all flowing into a large pool several hundred feet in size.
The pool was shrouded in white mist, and between the rolling mists, one could see some colorful spiritual lights.
Upon reaching this place, the intensity of the spiritual Qi became two to three times more concentrated.
"This is a spirit spring," Zhang Ling couldn't help but say, looking at the pool.
Spirit springs refer to water flows containing spiritual Qi, which are very common in the cultivation world. They can be used for refining pills and weapons, and can also be consumed directly, with a wide range of uses.
However, high-quality spirit spring water is rare. Good spirit water has many magical effects.
Some can stimulate spiritual plants, shortening the growth time of spiritual herbs. Of course, even the best spirit spring water cannot compare to the mysterious little bead in his hand.
Other springs, when consumed for a long time, can improve a cultivator's physique, achieving the effect of cleansing the marrow and changing the tendons. This is the most common use of spirit water.
Looking at the spirit spring water before him, Zhang Ling felt the rich spiritual Qi it contained. This type of spirit spring is a common spiritual eye spring found in spiritual veins.
Suddenly, the black fox possessed by the Azure Fox King transformed into a black light, plunging into the spring water and swimming around a few times.
"Boy, come down too. This is the Clear Spirit Spring nurtured by the high-grade spiritual vein here. Although its grade isn't particularly high, soaking in it can cleanse the impurities from your body."
Zhang Ling responded and immediately entered the pool. He scooped up some of the water with his hands. The spring water was crystal clear, but upon closer inspection, one could see some milky white particles suspended in the water.
If these particles were examined with divine sense, it would be discovered that they were crystals condensed from spiritual Qi, containing pure spiritual power that could be easily absorbed by cultivators.
At the same time, one could smell a faint fragrance. After taking a few deep breaths, Zhang Ling felt refreshed, and the fatigue from the past half-day was swept away.
The sound of bubbling water arose, and the black fox suddenly howled, its body instantly growing huge, transforming into a black fox over ten feet long.
The fox opened its large mouth, and a suction force emerged. A water tornado rose from the pool, all falling into its mouth.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Ling's eyes flashed, and he patted his storage bag, taking out a huge white jade jar. This was a storage tool refined from the ice and fire jade he had obtained earlier. He cast a spell on the jar, and a suction force emerged, drawing in a large amount of spirit spring water.
After about fifteen minutes, he stopped contentedly after filling over a dozen jars of spirit spring water.
"Hehe, this spirit water is just ordinary spring water associated with the spiritual spring eye here. If not properly preserved, the spiritual power it contains will dissipate completely in a few days," the Azure Fox King chuckled, but then added, "The Rootless Lotus is below. There is also a spiritual eye stone down there. The last time I came here, I found the Rootless Lotus there."
The black fox's body flashed with black light, shrinking back to about ten feet in size, and directly leaped into the spirit water, disappearing from sight.
Zhang Ling also smiled and dived into the water.
The Azure Fox King was right; if the spirit spring water was not properly preserved, the spiritual Qi would be lost quickly. Fortunately, he used器具 made of ice and fire jade, which could preserve the spring water for several months without any problems.
The man and beast continued to swim towards the bottom of the water.
Zhang Ling discovered that the space below was not small, filled with colorful stalactites, many of which contained spirit stone mines.
Suddenly, his expression shifted, and a flash of azure light appeared in his hand as he slashed a sword light towards the left. With a soft '噗' sound, a strange fish was split in half.
This was a strange fish with semi-transparent white scales all over its body, about ten feet long. Its internal organs could be clearly seen. The fish's head was covered with colorful scales.
Although he killed the strange fish with one sword strike, Zhang Ling sensed that this strange fish was a demon beast with a third-order strength.
This place was deep inside the Heavenly Abyss, so there shouldn't be any demon beasts.
However, this place had a high-grade spiritual vein, with abundant spiritual Qi, so the demon beasts living in this area could indeed avoid the erosion of the turbid Qi, as long as they did not leave this Heavenly Heng Mountain.
As they continued to swim downwards, they occasionally discovered several other types of fish demon beasts, but fortunately, their strength was only at the third or fourth order, posing no threat to them.
Fifteen minutes later, in a dim space, water suddenly exploded from a spring in the ground, and the Azure Fox King and Zhang Ling emerged from the water. They had arrived at an even larger space.
What came into view was a rocky area, but these rocks had countless water holes of varying sizes, from which spirit water continuously flowed, gathering on the ground into small springs of varying sizes.
They emerged from the largest spring. This place was also filled with a layer of spiritual mist, enveloping the surroundings. Some colorful light spots could be seen flashing in the mist, making it look somewhat like being in an illusion.
Zhang Ling released his divine sense to probe, discovering that this was a very large underground water cave.
The sound of rushing water constantly echoed from the nearby stone walls, forming a water curtain, and it was as if it were raining overhead. The ground they were standing on was also a sandy area, with a thin layer of flowing water submerging their ankles. Some colorful stones could be seen in the sand.
He reached out, and several jade stones of varying sizes flew into his hand. Among them, a fist-sized, earthy yellow jade stone was a medium-grade earth attribute spirit stone, and a black, shiny jade stone was a medium-grade water attribute spirit stone.
In addition, there was also a colorful, unevenly colored circular jade stone. Zhang Ling also recognized that this was a low-grade Five-Spirit Jade, enough to refine a high-grade magic tool.
