My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 380: Chapter 258: Earth Pivot Journey - Spirit of the Land: The Forbidden City’s Earth Vein, Profound Yellow National Guardian, and Vientiane Secret Pavilion

At night, Li Xiang landed on the Han Baiyu Stone Steps before the Forbidden City’s Taihe Hall, Jiang Cai’Er in his arms. The great hall was solemn and majestic, its gilt bronze beasts draped in silver armor, and icicles hung from the flying eaves like crystal curtains.

In the distance, the vermilion walls of the Forbidden City held up glazed tile roofs crowned with snow. The red walls and white snow created a unique vista in the dim light.

They had been to the Forbidden City before, but this was their first time visiting in the snow.

The rest of the Imperial Capital was still bustling with traffic, its lights as bright as day, but the Forbidden City was exceptionally quiet. Only the biting north wind howled, sweeping over the accumulated snow.

"The Dragon Vein of the Imperial Capital City should be right under this Taihe Hall," Jiang Cai’Er said.

She had done her research, consulting countless ancient texts, and was fairly certain of her conclusion.

Historical records described the Yanshan Mountain Range as the coiled spine of a great dragon. It started in the east at Shanhai Pass, propping up the heavens and guarding the sea, and reached the Northern Taihang in the west, serving as the key to the Central Plains. Its form was like that of a Giant Dragon raising its head to guard the Forbidden City Imperial Palace.

This Earth Vein inherited the Kunlun Ancestral Qi and absorbed the imperial fortunes of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The foundation of Taihe Hall reaches directly to the spine of the Dragon Vein, while the Celestial Altar secretly corresponds to the astral position of the dragon’s eyes. Kublai built the Great Capital, "taming the dragon" to construct the city in accordance with the *Zhou Li: Kaogongji*...

"Then let’s go take a look." Li Xiang wrapped his arm around Jiang Cai’Er’s slender waist. An earthy yellow light flared up around him, and the two of them instantly sank into the ground.

With Li Xiang’s Earth Vein Perception Ability, it didn’t take them long to find the legendary Dragon Vein of the Imperial Capital.

Its main body was the Forbidden City Mysterious Gold Vein, a fused product of Yanshanian-period granite and Proterozoic metamorphic rock. It existed only deep beneath the foundations of the Forbidden City’s three great halls and contained a symbiont of micron-sized natural gold and cinnabar.

"They say that during the Yongle Era, powder from this ore was mixed into the golden floor bricks of Taihe Hall, making them warm in the winter and cool in the summer. During the pillaging by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, the German Army tried to cut out and take the bricks, but the ore powder supposedly came into contact with their firearms, triggering a chain reaction that blew up the entire transport team. Of course, this is all from unofficial histories, so who knows if it’s true." Jiang Cai’Er was an expert in this area and explained as she followed Li Xiang through the earth.

"It’s like I’ve hired a senior tour guide for free," Li Xiang laughed.

"Haha, not exactly for free."

"How so?" Li Xiang asked in surprise.

Jiang Cai’Er chuckled. "You forgot, didn’t you? You paid with your charms!"

"You dare tease me? Watch how I teach you a lesson!" The two began to roughhouse playfully on the spot, enacting a rather steamy scene deep beneath the Forbidden City.

As they journeyed along the ore vein, they also discovered several other branch veins, such as the "Celestial Longevity Star Marrow," the "Yongding River Heart Jade," and the "West Mountain Dragon Blood Diamond."

These names were all identified by Jiang Cai’Er from ancient texts; in modern scientific terms, they had different corresponding names.

For example, the main components of the "Celestial Longevity Star Marrow" were likely symbiotic crystals of an iridium-nickel alloy and jadeite, formed by the convergence of energy from the area’s special Earth Vein and a meteorite impact crater.

The "Yongding River Heart Jade" was a variant of serpentinite buried in the ancient riverbed of the Yongding River, containing nano-diamond inclusions and reaching 9.2 on the Mohs scale of hardness.

The "West Mountain Dragon Blood Diamond" was essentially a symbiont of Chromium-bearing Diopside and Blood-like Hematite. It was rumored that the fragment of the Spirit Communication Jade that Cao Xueqin wore while writing *Dream of the Red Chamber* came from this source.

Much like the Qinling Dragon Vein, all the main and branch veins here were fractured. Many parts were shattered and in disarray, clear evidence that they had suffered numerous calamities in the past.

But what made Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er curious was that the Pulsating Power of the Dragon Vein here seemed faintly stronger than that of the Qinling Ancestral Vein.

"It seems the Spirit Vein’s consciousness is still lucid. Let me start a group chat so we can meet it together." Sensing something unusual, Jiang Cai’Er suggested this in a clear voice.

"Okay," Li Xiang nodded.

Immediately, Jiang Cai’Er activated her Imaginary Number Corridor, creating a virtual Metaverse chat group right before them. The figures of Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er appeared inside this miraculous space, essentially as Digital Life forms. In the outside world, they both wore Armor, but upon entering this virtual space, they revealed their true appearances.

After all, it would be far too insincere to remain hidden and secretive when communicating with the Spiritual Sense of a Dragon Vein.

Jiang Cai’Er sent out the invitation—a stream of information composed of countless lines of binary code—but there was no response.

They thought it was a failure. Just as Jiang Cai’Er was about to take Li Xiang’s hand and "leave the group chat," a faint dragon’s cry echoed, and both their spirits lifted.

Then, they saw a dragon-shaped Illusion slowly float into the space.

At the same time, a system prompt appeared: "Tier Thirty-Six Divine Level Mutated Creature, Profound Yellow Forbidden Spirit Dragon, detected."

However, the moment they saw this draconic Illusion, both Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er gasped, and sorrow welled up from their hearts. They felt no shock, only a deep lament.

Because this Spiritual Sense of the Dragon Vein was covered in wounds.

Its body, which should have been resplendent with golden scales, was riddled with black holes like bullet wounds. Black Earth Marrow oozed from the injuries. An iron scroll of the Treaty of Shimonoseki was nailed into its Dragon Ridge, the chains of the Gengzi Reparations were wrapped around its reverse scale, and a Steel Cannon Fragment was embedded in its severed claw. On the fragment, one could faintly make out a suppression curse written in Latin...

However, a faint crimson glow emanated from some of its festering wounds, particularly on several vital points on its neck and abdomen. The areas with this crimson glow seemed to be slowly healing, the decay far less severe than in other places.

"Forgive my appearance, young friends," the draconic Illusion spoke in a human voice. "My injuries have not yet healed, so I cannot stay long. I hope you will forgive me." It nodded slightly to Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er before immediately dissipating.

Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er looked at each other, speechless. They hadn’t even had a chance to talk.

But they understood; the Spiritual Dragon simply lacked the strength. Those were not mere physical wounds.