High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

After a long while, Zhou Wangyue withdrew his hand, broke through the water's surface, and leaped back to the edge of the cave. Song Chen followed.

"You saw it?" Zhou Wangyue asked.

"Field?"

"Yes, although those fragments were shattered, the energy connection between them was not broken."

"Blue light spots circulate among the fragments, forming a self-consistent field, which is the reason why the fragments can continuously release energy."

Zhou Wangyue shook the water off his hands, and his voice returned to normal.

"If the fragments are moved, the field will be destroyed."

"Once the fragment leaves the field, the energy release immediately stops. You tested it before; the fragment becomes ineffective once it leaves the river."

"That's not because of the river, it's because of leaving the field. The existence of the river is only one of the necessary conditions for the field to be maintained."

Song Chen nodded. He had sensed it when he was testing the fragments; the reason the fragments failed didn't seem to be because they were separated from the water, but because they were separated from the whole.

However, he couldn't see the connection at the energy level and therefore couldn't confirm this guess.

Song Chen came to a conclusion.

"So this river can't be moved."

Zhou Wangyue glanced at it again and gave his confirmation.

"It's definitely impossible to move it."

"At least with current human methods, it cannot be moved."

"The complexity of the field exceeds the current level of psionic technology. Forcibly moving the fragments will only render them all ineffective."

Song Chen remained silent.

If it can't be moved, it means this underground river has to stay here.

The Earth Dragon King knows this location and will return sooner or later; Anning City is not far away.

While he was still thinking, Zhou Wangyue turned around and looked at him: "You're the one who found this Source Spirit Crystal. You decide how to deal with it."

Song Chen looked up at him.

Zhou Wangyue's expression was very serious, the kind of seriousness one strong person has for another.

Song Chen discovered the underground river, deduced the Earth Dragon King's movement patterns, and used his special ability to find the spiritual imprint that even a Grandmaster couldn't detect.

He found this place, so it's up to him to decide.

The cave remained quiet for a long time.

Song Chen lowered his head, looking at the dark blue crystal on his chest.

It turns out it's called Source Spirit Crystal, and it comes from an unknown alien civilization.

There are no more than fifteen in the world, and those who obtain them, as long as they don't die, will basically become powerful.

Zhou Wangyue's dark red crystal accelerated his martial arts training speed tenfold, while his dark blue crystal accelerated recovery. Of course, it might have other functions as well, but we don't know yet.

Now, another source spirit crystal has shattered into fragments, releasing blue light spots underground.

These blue light spots merged into the river water and entered his body, causing his blood and energy levels to slowly increase.

This efficiency is very low for him now, but what does it mean for ordinary martial artists, and for all martial artists in the Great Xia Dynasty?

It seems to be a field where you can continuously increase your health and mana.

No need for killing, no need for fighting, no need for consuming elixirs.

Simply soaking it in river water will improve its quality.

What does this mean for Great Xia?

Many images flashed through Song Chen's mind.

The beast tide on Yunbo Island, the warriors who died on the city walls, nuclear industry talents from various countries, all abducted by the beasts to build nuclear bombs...

He doesn't need this underground river.

He has a killing system; killing alien beasts makes him stronger, so this dark river provides him with negligible improvement.

But what about the Great Xia? What about those martial artists without a system?

Song Chen raised his head and made a decision.

"I've decided to go to Shanghai Jiao Tong University."

The four words were spoken softly, but each one was clearly audible in the reverberation of the cave.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wangyue was somewhat moved.

The two haven't known each other for very long, only a few months from when they enrolled at Tianhai University, but their relationship has repeatedly surprised him.

He hesitated for a moment, then repeated it.

"Are you sure you want to submit it?"

Song Chen nodded affirmatively.

"Hand it over."

"I can't move this underground river, nor can I protect it, and it won't help me improve much."

"But how many martial artists can Great Xia cultivate with it? A thousand? Ten thousand? I don't need this underground river, but Great Xia does."

"Moreover, my parents live next door, the Earth Dragon King may return at any time, and there may be even stronger Beast Kings coming here in the future."

"After the Great Xia takes over, they will be stationed here."

"If the fifth-tier peak Earth Dragon King were to return, he would be facing the Great Xia's garrison troops, not my parents."

Zhou Wangyue looked at him for a long time, his gaze revealing a great deal of emotion.

Song Chen read part of it, feeling gratified, surprised, and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Do you know the value of this underground river?" Zhou Wangyue said.

"Know."

"You know that if you take it for yourself, you can..."

"I know," Song Chen interrupted him.

It was a bit impolite, but I still interrupted.

He certainly knew the implications behind it.

If he were to claim it for himself, he could use this underground river as his private resource point.

It is not open to the public, and no one is allowed to get close.

He can come back regularly to soak, slowly but steadily increasing his blood and qi levels.

He can keep this secret for ten or twenty years, until he becomes a sixth-order rank or even surpasses it.

With his current martial arts skills, once he reaches the sixth rank, no one in the entire Great Xia Dynasty, or even in all of humanity, could snatch this underground river from him.

But it is not necessary.

The killing system improved him much faster than this dark river.

Killing a fifth-tier alien beast costs tens of thousands of kill points.

A Heavenly Fate Blood Pill costs 500,000 Kill Points and can increase your Blood Points by about 200. This Dark River is two orders of magnitude less cost-effective.

He doesn't need it, but the Great Xia does.

"Have you decided?" Zhou Wangyue decided to ask one more time.

"It's decided."

Zhou Wangyue nodded, and then he said something.

"Rest assured, Great Xia will never treat you unfairly. Please believe me, this is not some empty promise."

Song Chen nodded.

Although he didn't make this decision for the sake of reward, he knew the weight of Zhou Wangyue's words.

The president of Tianhai University, a sixth-level grandmaster, and one of the five authorized users of the Da Xia Zero File, said, "Da Xia will never treat you unfairly," which is a promise.

Zhou Wangyue dialed an encrypted frequency band from the tactical terminal.

Song Chen's Eye of Truth swept over and found that the communication signal had passed through at least three layers of psionic encryption, each with a different encryption method.

Communication is established.

Zhou Wangyue made no small talk and did not address the other party by name.

"Source Spirit Fragment, Complete Field, confirmed to increase health points."

"The discoverer, Song Chen, voluntarily handed over the discovery to Daxia."

"Immediately activate the highest level of security procedures, deploy garrison troops, and seal off a 300-kilometer radius around the ruins of Changqing City."

There was a silence of about three seconds on the other end of the communication.

Then a voice that Song Chen had never heard before came through, deep and steady, with the composure that only someone who had long held a high position could possess.

"confirm?"

"confirm."

"Location."

"The ruins of Changqing City, 500 meters underground. I'll send you the coordinates."

"The garrison troops will be in place within 48 hours. You stay where you are and await handover."

"Know."