Chapter 638: These Blind-Eyed Tree Spirits, Being Drained Dry Without Even Knowing It!

Passing through the intricately tangled network of trunk passages, Su Ming followed Ye Qing to a basin on the outskirts of Greenwood Court.

Before they even drew close, a revolting stench of decay assaulted their nostrils.

Su Ming furrowed his brow slightly and focused his gaze.

At the center of the basin lay a natural spring pool, encircled by six thick, sturdy light trees. This was what Pan Shi had referred to as the "Spirit Spring Formation."

However, the spring water that should have been radiating rich vitality and emerald-green light now presented a sickeningly turbid, dark yellow appearance. A lifeless gray film floated atop the surface of the water.

The six light trees surrounding the spring were in even worse condition. Their once crystalline, translucent leaves were falling off in large patches, and along the rough trunks, the luminous markings that should have been bright were now so dim they were almost invisible. The entire natural formation was like a terminally ill elder, gasping for its final breaths.

Several spirit race formation masters dressed in cyan robes were gathered anxiously by the spring, discussing something in heated tones. They held various wooden detection instruments in their hands, trying to untangle the blocked life-force circuits on the spring's surface, but their efforts were clearly proving futile.

When they spotted Ye Qing leading a stranger over, those spirit race formation masters immediately shot hostile and disdainful glances at them.

"Ye Qing, why have you brought this human here? This is a restricted area!" an older spirit race formation master barked with a frown.

"Elder Pan Shi sent him to repair the formation," Ye Qing answered loudly, then turned to Su Ming and gave him a quick wink. "It's all on you now."

Su Ming paid no attention to the sarcastic remarks from those formation masters.

He walked straight to the edge of the spring and crouched down.

"Move aside." Su Ming said flatly to a spirit race formation master blocking his way. His voice was low, yet carried an undeniable authority.

That formation master froze for a moment, and subconsciously took half a step back.

Su Ming didn't use any flashy magical implements. He simply extended his right hand slowly and pressed his palm against the damp soil at the edge of the spring.

"Observation of the Minute, activate!"

Su Ming closed his eyes, and the formation lines deep within his pupils spun wildly.

At the same time, he channeled his Ruo Shui spiritual energy, seeping it downward through the cracks in the soil toward the depths of the earth.

Water seeps through every opening.

This was the innate advantage water-type formation cultivators possessed over other disciplines when investigating formations.

"Looking only at the blocked life-force circuits on the surface will never fix the problem. Because the root cause isn't here at all." Su Ming sneered inwardly.

His Ruo Shui spiritual energy traveled deeper and deeper.

Thirty feet down. No abnormalities.

Sixty feet down. The flow of life-force began to grow sluggish.

Ninety feet down!

Su Ming's Ruo Shui spiritual energy finally touched the extreme depths that those spirit race formation masters could never have detected.

The next instant.

Su Ming's eyes snapped open, his pupils contracting to the absolute limit!

At the core formation base of the Spirit Spring Formation, ninety feet beneath the ground, there was no sign of natural aging or blockage at all!

In the vision of Observation of the Minute, Su Ming clearly saw disgusting parasitic dark-purple mycelium tightly plugging the very mouth of the spirit spring. Though water was still seeping through, the majority of the vital essence was being absorbed by the dark-purple mycelium!

These dark-purple mycelium were frantically siphoning the spirit spring's vital essence, then channeling it through the shadows of the earth veins, streaming endlessly toward the outside of Greenwood Court!

"This fluctuation frequency..."

"It's the Dark Current Sect!"

Lin Yu's voice echoed within Su Ming's Consciousness Sea, laced with shock at the sluggishness of these spirit races: "These blind-eyed tree spirits! The Dark Current Sect's roots have already sunk deep into their arteries, sucking them dry, and they're still up there treating a surface blockage?!"

Su Ming didn't respond.

He took a deep breath. The deep-blue formation lines in his eyes didn't dissipate. Instead, he controlled his Ruo Shui spiritual energy to an extremely delicate, almost imperceptible state, following the crevices in the soil to gradually expand the scope of his investigation.

One stick of incense passed.

Two sticks of incense passed.

A full half hour went by. Su Ming remained crouched by the spring, completely motionless, like a carved stone statue. Only the cold sweat occasionally dripping from his chin betrayed the fact that he was engaged in a microscopic examination that consumed immense mental energy.

Ying perched obediently on his shoulder, her golden pupils scanning the surroundings with vigilance. Occasionally, she would brush her soft feathers against Su Ming's sweat-soaked cheek, letting out extremely soft "cheep cheep" sounds from her throat.

Ye Qing, standing off to the side, finally couldn't hold it in any longer. He lowered his voice, his tone laced with anxiety and confusion: "Su Ming, what exactly are you looking at? The blocked life-force circuit is less than three feet below the water's surface. You've had your hand pressed into the mud for ages—do you think a formation is going to grow out of the dirt or something?"

Su Ming slowly withdrew his hand, and the deep-blue glow at his fingertips quietly extinguished.

He let out a long breath of turbid air. His complexion was slightly pale, but his eyes were exceptionally bright and profound. He didn't answer Ye Qing directly. Instead, he turned and snapped off a withered branch from a light tree, then began drawing on the smooth, damp soil.

"Scritch, scritch, scritch..."

As the branch moved across the ground, an extraordinarily complex diagram of the underground network took shape in the mud.

"This is the complete picture of the area within ninety feet beneath the Spirit Spring." Su Ming pointed at a circle in the center. Then he drew a thick line extending from the northeast, which split with perfect precision into six extremely thin veins as it approached the circle, wrapping around six nodes of the circle like venomous serpents.

"And this... is the true cause of the Spirit Spring's depletion." Su Ming's branch struck heavily against those six nodes.