49: Chapter 49: Sorting Out the Harvest

"How is this possible?!" The red-haired brawny man retreated in terror, "What kind of Cultivation Technique is this?!"

Xiao Yuan did not answer, piercing his chest with a single sword strike.

The red-haired brawny man looked down at the bloody hole in his chest, opened his mouth, and crashed to the ground.

The remaining people were scared out of their wits upon seeing this scene.

What the hell was the point of fighting anymore?! Even the strongest Half-step Foundation Establishment Peak figure of the vein was killed in a second; wouldn't going up there just be serving themselves as food?

"Run! Run quickly!" Someone screamed in a breakdown.

But it was too late.

Xiao Yuan and Su Li were like tigers entering a flock of sheep, sword lights flashing as flesh and blood flew everywhere.

Screams, pleas for mercy, and the clashing sounds of Magical Artifacts merged into one.

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

The passageway quieted down.

Over twenty corpses lay on the ground, fresh blood converging into small streams, and a heavy stench of blood permeated the air.

By this point, the three successive batches of ore plunderers were completely wiped out.

Xiao Yuan put away his sword, walked in front of the rock wall, pointed his fingers like a sword, and carved a line of large characters:

"Those who cross this line shall die."

The handwriting sank three points into the stone, fierce and murderous.

After collecting the Storage Pouches of these people, the two returned to the mineral vein and picked up their pickaxes once again.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of mining rang out once more.

At the entrance of the passageway, that line of bloody characters looked grim and murderous under the faint light of the illumination stones.

Corpses were sprawled all over the ground, and the bloody stench permeated the air.

Whenever latecomers walked here, seeing this scene and then seeing those characters, all of their expressions changed drastically as they turned around and fled.

How could this be a mineral vein? This was clearly a slaughterhouse!

Several of the largest factions running rampant in the mineral vein all died here, including the strongest Half-step Foundation Establishment Peak figure, and several Half-step Foundation Establishment cultivators; who would dare to go over!

Meanwhile, inside the mine cave, Xiao Yuan and Su Li were mining with great joy.

"This piece has a great quality!"

"Ah, be careful! Don't smash it!"

"Got it, got it… Huh? This piece seems to be High Grade!"

"Really?! Let me see!"

The laughter of the two, along with the sound of mining, echoed inside the mine cave.

Outside was a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, while inside was… happy mining.

This picture looked bizarre no matter how one looked at it.

Yet it was inexplicably harmonious.

Clang! Tang! Bang!

Inside the mine cave, the sound of mining lasted for a full half-month.

When the last piece of Mid-Grade earth Spirit Stone was carefully pried off by Xiao Yuan, he and Su Li let out a long breath simultaneously and collapsed onto the ground.

"Fin… Finished…" Xiao Yuan wiped away his sweat, but a blooming smile blossomed on his face.

Su Li was also exhausted, but her eyes were sparkling.

The two began to tally their spoils of war.

"Mid-Grade Spirit Stones," Xiao Yuan's Divine Sense swept across the colorful pile of small mountains in the Creation Cauldron Space, "Twelve thousand of the metal element, thirteen thousand of the wood element, fourteen thousand of the water element, fifteen thousand of the fire element, sixteen thousand of the earth element… Seventy-six thousand five hundred pieces in total!"

"High-Grade Spirit Stones," his voice trembled slightly, "Twenty-three pieces! All attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth are present, and three pieces are of the rare thunder attribute!"

"Low-Grade Spirit Stones," Su Li took over the conversation, trying hard to keep her voice calm, "One hundred thirty-eight thousand pieces mined from this mineral vein. Added with the one hundred sixty thousand we saved from previously sweeping the mineral vein, plus… uh, forty-two thousand snatched from killing those people."

She counted on her fingers: "Low-Grade Spirit Stones in total… three hundred forty thousand?"

Xiao Yuan corrected: "Three hundred forty thousand and two hundred."

Su Li: "…"

She suddenly felt the numbers were too large, and her brain couldn't quite process it.

Three hundred forty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, seventy-six thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, and twenty-three High-Grade Spirit Stones.

What kind of concept was this?

An ordinary Inner Sect Disciple of the Jade Maiden Palace only received an annual stipend of two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. A Foundation Establishment Stage Elder only got two or three thousand a year.

Their current net worth was enough to support how many Foundation Establishment Elders!

"We've struck it rich…" Su Li muttered, "Truly struck it rich…"

Xiao Yuan chuckled and pulled out a fist-sized High Grade fire Spirit Stone from the Creation Cauldron Space.

The Spirit Stone was crimson throughout, and it looked as if flames were flowing inside, exuding fire element Spiritual Qi that was refined to the ultimate degree.

He brought the Spirit Stone close to Su Li's face and compared them: "Look, this color matches you."

Su Li's face blushed red as she slapped away his hand: "Hateful, you only know how to bully me!"

Yet the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upwards.

This half-month, although tiring, had been fulfilling.

The two mined together, ate together, and Cultivated together at night — of course, including "Dual Cultivation".

Su Li's cultivation had already stabilized at the Half-step Foundation Establishment Peak, only a kick away from Foundation Establishment. If she had a foundation establishment pill, she believed her chances of advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage were very high.

Xiao Yuan's Five Elements Cultivation Technique was also progressing steadily; although he hadn't broken through to the 12th layer yet, his spiritual power was becoming increasingly solid.

What made her even more at ease was that no one came to disturb them during this half-month.

It wasn't that no one wanted to come — the temptation of a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone mineral vein was simply too great. During this period, a few unaware fellows did sneak over, wanting to pick up scraps.

But as for the results…

That pile of newly added corpses at the entrance of the mine cave was the best warning.

Su Li had killed seven people in the past half-month, all of whom were experts above the Qi Condensation 9th Layer.

Killing until later, this area became a forbidden zone; even if someone discovered that the concentration of Spiritual Qi here was problematic, no one dared to come anymore.

Coupled with the line "Those who cross this line shall die" carved by Xiao Yuan on the rock wall and the uncleaned corpses all over the ground, latercomers fled immediately upon seeing this scene from afar.

So much so that the latter half of their mining was extremely peaceful.

"However…" Su Li suddenly thought of something, her smile vanished, and her eyes revealed worry!

"With so many Spirit Stones, how are we going to carry them out?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yuan smiled mysteriously. He raised his hand and poured out all the other Spirit Stones stored in several Storage Pouches, and amidst Su Li's stunned gaze, he collected them all into the Creation Cauldron Space.

Even those Storage Pouches were taken in together. He only left behind the Spirit Stones needed to pay for Su Li's sentence.

Although Su Li still had sixteen years left in her sentence, as long as she paid enough Spirit Stones, her sentence could also be ended early.

Calculating the sixteen-year sentence, she had to pay over sixty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Looking at the Storage Pouch handed over by Xiao Yuan and sensing the more than sixty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones inside, Su Li felt as if she were dreaming.

If it were in the past, she truly wouldn't even dare to imagine it. Let alone over sixty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, she hadn't even owned six hundred pieces.

Almost all the Spirit Stones she mined were handed over, and every year it was still not enough. She didn't even have Spirit Stones to Cultivate. As for Spirit Stones to buy daily necessities in the mineral vein, she barely managed to scrape them together.

Otherwise, over the years, she might have starved to death right here. During her hardest times, she had even eaten Spirit Stone bugs found in the mineral vein.

Ever since she began following Xiao Yuan, not only did she have a perfect-grade Medicinal Pill to help her improve her cultivation, but she also lacked nothing for food and drink. She didn't even have to worry about Spirit Stones.

Her gaze towards Xiao Yuan was filled with gratitude. As for where Xiao Yuan put the Spirit Stones, she didn't open her mouth to ask, nor did she raise the idea of sharing the Spirit Stones with Xiao Yuan.

Although Xiao Yuan had said before that he would split the Spirit Stones with her half-and-half, and had indeed done so, would she care about these things now? Even if Xiao Yuan split the Spirit Stones with her, could she carry them out?!

"Let's go… It's time for us to leave!" Holding the Storage Pouch handed to her by Xiao Yuan, Su Li's shining eyes gradually turned cold and fierce!

Hearing this, Xiao Yuan nodded, then gently stroked Su Li's beautiful hair. It was also time for him to leave.

Nowadays, although he could not compare to Chen Yin's grandfather, he still didn't put Zhao Tianlei in his eyes. If they really started fighting, who would live and who would die was still up in the air!

Moreover, relying solely on Dual Cultivation with Su Li to increase his cultivation was still a bit too slow. He had to think of a way to get Medicinal Pills of the Foundation Establishment Stage to accelerate his Cultivate progress.

Of course, both Su Li and he needed the foundation establishment pill. There was also Luo Ziyan; that girl hadn't been seen in three years, and he didn't know what stage her cultivation had reached. Perhaps she had also reached the time when she needed a foundation establishment pill.

Once their cultivation was elevated to the Foundation Establishment Realm, if they replenished energy for the small tripod, he wondered what kind of changes it would bring to the small tripod.