39: Chapter 39: Mining to Gather Resources

He did not dodge, nor did he retreat.

He simply raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and pressed them forward into empty air.

"Five Elements Rotation — Suppress!"

Hum!

A terrifying five-colored coercion erupted with a bang!

Li Sha and Tie Tu only felt their vision blur, their bodies feeling as if they were suppressed by an invisible giant mountain, their movements instantly lagging!

"What?!" The pupils of the two constricted sharply.

This coercion... Peak of Qi Refining Level 9? No, Half-step Foundation Establishment? Even stronger!

Before they could react, Xiao Yuan brought his left hand fingers together into a sword shape and slashed through the air.

"Golden Ray Slash!"

Hiss! Hiss!

Two pale golden sword rays flashed past.

Compared to sword techniques like the Shadow-Chasing Wind Sword Technique, the sword techniques within the Metal attribute Cultivation Technique were much easier to use in such a narrow space.

Li Sha and Tie Tu maintained their charging posture, freezing in place.

The next second.

Thud! Thud!

Two heads rolled onto the ground, their faces still retaining expressions of shock and disbelief.

The headless corpses slowly fell to the ground, fresh blood staining the ground red.

The battle ended.

From start to finish, it took less than three breaths.

Xiao Yuan shook his hands and muttered: "Qi Condensation 9th Layer... Are they really this fragile?"

He squatted down, removed the two Storage Pouches, and swept them with his Divine Sense.

Then, the corners of his mouth twitched fiercely.

"No way..."

Li Sha's Storage Pouch: one hundred and eighty-three Spirit Stones, five bottles of Low Grade Qi Gathering Pills, a few basic Talismans, and that was it.

Tie Tu's Storage Pouch: one hundred and sixty-five Spirit Stones, a bottle of healing Medicinal Pill, a spare long saber, a few sets of clothes to change into, and that was it.

Adding up, three hundred and forty-eight Spirit Stones.

"You are outer sect elites after all, Qi Condensation 9th Layer ones!" Xiao Yuan couldn't help but complain, "You're doing even worse than the desperados in the mineral vein!"

He recalled those veteran oil-slick figures in the mineral vein he had killed previously, which one didn't have a net worth starting at four to five thousand Spirit Stones?

"No wonder you had to take this kind of dirty work..." Xiao Yuan shook his head and collected the inheritance of the two "poor ghosts" into the Creation Cauldron Space.

Standing up, his gaze turned cold.

Chen Yin, Zhao Tianlei.

He had acted so convincingly, checked their Storage Pouches, and searched their bodies, yet these two people still refused to give up.

"One is for Ye Qingcen? One is because of Zhao Mingfang's death? And the greed for the jade talisman treasure?" Xiao Yuan sneered, "Fine, once I get out, we'll settle accounts slowly."

He raised his hand and flicked out two fireballs, burning the corpses to ashes, then turned and walked towards the Thunder Pond Valley.

Returning to the Thunder Valley, Xiao Yuan sat cross-legged in the stone room he had excavated, but he couldn't calm his heart to Cultivate.

Although there were still quite a few Medicinal Pills.

But the perfect marrow cleansing pill had a negligible effect on him now, and the resources needed for cultivating the Five Elements simultaneously were an astronomical figure.

Wanting to push all five Cultivation Techniques to the 18th Layer of Qi Condensation, relying solely on this little family fortune was like a drop of water on a burning cart.

"The pit I dug myself, I have to finish filling it even if I have to kneel..." Xiao Yuan smiled bitterly.

The 18th Layer of Qi Condensation sounded awesome, but cultivating it was truly life-threatening.

But once the bow was drawn, there was no turning back; he could only bite the bullet and go on.

"The most urgent task is to accumulate Spirit Stones." Xiao Yuan calculated, "The prices of Medicinal Pills for improving cultivation in the Foundation Establishment Stage will multiply several times. If I don't save more, I'll be drinking the northwest wind once I go out."

There are still two years left, and this mineral vein is his biggest goldmine.

But before that —

"The Great Turtle Breathing Technique, it's time for a Breakthrough."

The perception range of the Minor Achievement Realm was one hundred meters, and the mineral-finding efficiency was still a bit low.

If he could break through to Major Achievement, the perception range would expand to five hundred meters, equivalent to the Divine Sense strength of the threshold of the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment. Wouldn't finding Spirit Stone mineral veins be like turning on a map hack?

Moreover, the creation cauldron now has the Five Elements Rotation formation base supplying energy. Although slow, it was a steady stream.

Using these energies to drive the cultivation of the Great Turtle Breathing Technique should be able to Cultivate it to the Major Achievement Realm.

Said and done.

Xiao Yuan closed his eyes and focused his mind, circulating the Great Turtle Breathing Technique.

Inside the Dantian, the Five Elements Rotation formation base slowly rotated. Every time it rotated a circle, a wisp of pure Five Elements Spiritual Qi was absorbed by the creation cauldron and transformed into Yin and Yang Qi.

Xiao Yuan did not use this energy for cultivating the Cultivation Technique, but instead directed it all into the circulation path of the Great Turtle Breathing Technique.

Time passed day by day.

In the Thunder Valley, the Thunder Pond still roared.

Xiao Yuan was like a stone, motionless.

The energy inside the creation cauldron accumulated bit by bit, and was consumed bit by bit on the Breakthrough of the Great Turtle Breathing Technique. Although there was an energy bonus, the energy was too little, and the cultivation speed was relatively slower.

One month later.

In the stone room, a layer of faint gray halo suddenly appeared around Xiao Yuan's body.

The halo slowly diffused, becoming lighter and lighter, until it was almost transparent, blending into the air.

And with his eyes closed, the world he "saw" was completely different.

Perception spread like a tide —

One hundred meters, two hundred meters, three hundred meters...

Four hundred meters, five hundred meters!

Within a range of five hundred meters, everything was crystal clear!

Thirty meters deep into the rock strata ahead, there was a small patch of Spirit Stone mineral vein, about two thousand pieces.

In the rock crevices above his head, a nest of blind mineral insects was spawning.

He could even "see" the flow direction of Spiritual Qi in the air — where it was rich and where it was sparse was clear at a glance.

"Is this... the Divine Sense threshold of the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment?" Xiao Yuan opened his eyes, a gray light flashing past his pupils.

He stood up and stretched his muscles and bones.

Five hundred meters of perception, in this intricate mineral vein, was simply a dimensionality reduction strike.

"Alright," Xiao Yuan grinned broadly, "Now starting —"

"Shopping spree time!"

He walked out of the stone room, appeared in the mineral vein, and immediately, facing the depths of the mineral vein, his perception fully unfolded.

Within a range of five hundred meters, all Spirit Stone mineral points, like lights in the dark night, were clearly visible.

"The first point, three hundred and twenty meters in the southeast direction, fifteen meters in depth, about one thousand five hundred Spirit Stones."

"The second point, four hundred meters in the true west direction, twenty meters in depth, about eight hundred pieces."

"The third point..."

Although perception was suppressed here, the perception cultivated by the Great Turtle Breathing Technique seemed to be largely unaffected.

Xiao Yuan licked his lips and took out a pickaxe.

"Mineral vein babies, daddy is here!"

His figure flashed and he plunged deep into the mining tunnel.

The real mining craze has begun.

Deep inside the mining tunnel, Xiao Yuan was sticking his butt out and mining.

The pickaxe in his hand swung wildly, and he hummed a tune out of tune: "Dig, dig, dig, digging up Spirit Stones makes me laugh haha..."

With five hundred meters of perception fully open, it was like having a perspective cheat. Which rock layer had Spirit Stones behind it, and which fork led to the rich mine was clear at a glance.

This past month, the Spirit Stones he dug up had already filled a small corner of the Creation Cauldron Space — at least fifty or sixty thousand pieces.

If not for the fact that this mineral vein was about to dry up, he would have dug even more.

"At this speed, gathering enough Foundation Establishment Stage resources in two years is stable!" Xiao Yuan thought happily, and with a pickaxe down —

Rumble!

The rock strata ahead was dug through, revealing another mining tunnel behind.

Xiao Yuan was just about to poke his head out to look when his ears moved.

There is movement.

The sound of fighting, the sound of Spiritual Qi collision, and also... a woman's cold shout?

He immediately restrained his aura, circulated the Great Turtle Breathing Technique, and his whole person seemed to melt into the shadows. Perception spread along the breach —

Fifty meters ahead, in a natural mineral cave, a good show of four against one was being staged.

Xiao Yuan's eyes lit up.

Old acquaintances!