The Peerless Emperor

Hearing Barret's words, both Lin Qian and Wang Gang turned to look in his direction in unison. They hadn't expected that the former would actually know about this matter.

Lin Qian remembered very clearly that in his previous description, he did not mention that such a situation would arise after the red aura contaminated the Spirit Wood.

Yet Barret had spoken about it on his own, which was evidence that he knew something about the matter.

"Barret, how did you come to know this? Have you seen it somewhere?" Lin Qian quickly asked, as this was extremely important for the Huaxia Empire's Southern Domain, Southern Nine Provinces.

He had come on this trip precisely to solve this issue.

Now that Barret had some definite clues, Lin Qian felt that sometimes when luck comes your way, you can't stop it.

"Lord, you misunderstand. I have not seen this myself, but my cousin Bade has encountered this strange situation," Barret hastily waved his hands and explained to Lin Qian.

Lin Qian didn't care who had seen it; any clue was good news: "It doesn't matter if you saw it or not, just speak quickly. You must also understand how important this is to me, right?"

Barret nodded and began to describe everything he knew to Lin Qian.

It turned out that Barret's cousin Bade had once been captured and taken to the Black Corner Country's Capital for forced labor.

At that time, he had entered the Black Corner Country Palace to repair a new palace.

Not far from the palace they were repairing, in mid-air, there was a pillar of red light shooting straight up into the sky, and it was emitting a crimson aura.

Bade saw that when this scarlet aura contaminated the Spirit Wood, it would cause the situation that Barret had previously described.

Because it was so strange, Bade remembered it very clearly, and after he secretly escaped from the Capital, on the way back to their gathering place, he told others about this matter.

Meanwhile, Lin Qian was meditating in a seated position and had heard nothing of it.

"In the palace of Black Corner Country's Capital, it turns out it was Black Corner Country's wrongdoing," Lin Qian's eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a murderous look, "If that's the case, we should just wipe out Black Corner Country."

But at this thought, Lin Qian felt even more amazed at his own luck.

He had left the exit just right, not affected by the turmoil caused by the Array, arriving in another underground world.

He had just happened to encounter this escort team and took action to save them.

Among those he had rescued was Barret's cousin Bade.

And it was this Bade who had told Barret about the peculiar incident he had seen in the palace, and so Lin Qian was able to grasp such a crucial clue.

It could be said that when Lin Qian had acted to save this team, the very information he needed was already in his hands.

"Truly, good deeds bring good fortune!" Lin Qian chuckled to himself.

After their conversation, the shock in Wang Gang's heart had not subsided. He hadn't expected the Human Clan in the underground world to be so powerful.

The world above, to be so vast.

However, after his extensive discussion with Lin Qian, Wang Gang could confirm one thing: The underground world was also not small.

Lin Qian spoke of an elder who had arrived in a very unfamiliar underground world, including the borders of the Ancient Forest World, which was also enveloped by strong spatial fluctuations.

Wang Gang guessed that beyond that boundary, there should be another underground world.

It was just that due to the great war, the Arrays enveloping and maintaining the underground worlds became chaotic, completely isolating each world from the others.

Lin Qian's elder had entered the underground world through an entrance, so he directly arrived in another part of the underground world.

Wang Gang's speculation was very reasonable, and Lin Qian agreed wholeheartedly.

After their conversation, Lin Qian prepared to leave and went downstairs.

When he reached the first floor of the house, Lin Qian waved his hand, and the books that were originally sent into the Huaxia Empire were all returned to their original places.

As for these books, the Heavenly Art Department had successfully copied them and then studied them carefully.

Meanwhile, three Crystal Bottles appeared in Lin Qian's hands, naturally filled with Potions.

Lin Qian handed Barret the bottle containing green potion, smiled at him, and said, "Consider this a repayment gift for bringing me the news. After taking it, you'll be able to improve your physique even further."

"As for this one, it's for your cousin." Speaking, Lin Qian handed Barret another Strengthening Potion with a lighter color, "His Realm is not as advanced as yours, and too strong a potion could cause his body to explode and kill him."

After carefully receiving the potions, Barret was extremely grateful and expressed his thanks, deeply appreciative of the gift of medicine.

Lin Qian, responding to Barret's thanks, shook his head and said, "You've earned it. Make good use of them. It's best to take them directly before a sparring session, as the effect will be better than that of cultivation refining."

Hearing Lin Qian's instructions on how to use the potion, surprise deepened in Barret's eyes. He had never heard of such a method to enhance one's cultivation.

After listening to Lin Qian's description, he was even more convinced that what Lin Qian had given him was indeed invaluable.

Regardless of Barret's eagerness to take the Strengthening Potion, Lin Qian handed a Crystal Bottle with light purple liquid to Wang Gang.

"My Lord, this is..." Seeing the light purple bottle, Wang Gang asked curiously.

"After taking this Potion, it should be able to neutralize the energy of the Spirit Transformation Fruit in your body, restoring your strength to normal and matching it to your Realm. However, taking it might be quite painful," Lin Qian said, shaking the potion in his hand and explaining to Wang Gang.

After hearing Lin Qian's words, Wang Gang gasped sharply, looking at Lin Qian in shock and then again at the potion bottle in his hand with astonishment.

A small Crystal Bottle like this was the hope of changing the entire Human Clan of the Ancient Forest World.

"However, I don't know the exact effect of this potion," Lin Qian did not hastily hand over the potion to Wang Gang but explained to him with a serious face.

"That means you are the first to take this potion, and we will need to test its actual effects on you."

"If you're unwilling to take it, I can offer you a different, better potion as a reward. Then we'll have to find someone else to test this one."

After finishing his words, Lin Qian simply watched Wang Gang, waiting for his decision.

However, Wang Gang had already nodded without any hesitation as soon as Lin Qian finished speaking, "My Lord, let me be the one to try it. After all, as the leader of this gathering, I should naturally be the first to bear the brunt."

Having said that, Lin Qian nodded in satisfaction and handed the potion over to him.

Wang Gang accepted the potion and uncorked the bottle without hesitation, gulping it down in one go.

But after Wang Gang took the potion, Lin Qian was pondering another matter.

According to Wang Gang's description, records of the underground world had shown that for over a hundred thousand years, from the time of the ancient war to the present, the concentration of Spiritual Energy had always been the same, never changing.

Yet the strange changes in the Southern Domain of the Southern Nine Provinces had only occurred suddenly about eight thousand years ago.

This meant that theoretically, from eight thousand years ago, the concentration of Spiritual Energy in the Ancient Forest World beneath should have increased. In reality, this was not the case.

So, where did the plundered Spiritual Energy of the Southern Domain of the Southern Nine Provinces go?