45: You've struck it rich!

"Venerable Jin Sheng?"

Yu Xuzi picked up the longsword that the person had been holding moments ago.

It was a Tier 1 High Grade Magical Artifact, entirely gilded and dazzling, with the characters “Jin Sheng” engraved on both sides of the blade.

"It really was him!"

Yu Xuzi opened his Storage Pouch with a strange expression.

Nearly two hundred Spirit Stones, several bottles of Medicinal Pills, more than ten Talismans, a few pieces of Low-Tier Spirit Gold Ore, a few Spirit Medicines, and some miscellaneous items like clothes.

For a Loose Cultivator, even one at the Peak Qi Refining cultivation level, this was already considered quite wealthy.

"Not bad, not bad. I've struck it rich."

Yu Xuzi was in high spirits. After putting away the Storage Pouch, he continued toward Hunyuan Mountain.

Judging by Venerable Jin Sheng's appearance, the attack on Hunyuan Sect might not have gone smoothly, or perhaps it had already failed.

However, seeing it with his own eyes would put him more at ease.

If Hunyuan Sect had not been breached and everything was as usual, he would return to Cangqing Mountain.

With True Person Yanling of Kang Country Pass Away, he sensed that the Cultivation World might face massive turmoil.

Especially the Yellow Heaven Cult.

He always felt that True Man Huang Tian would not stand idly by.

Therefore, he planned to hide first and observe the situation.

If Hunyuan Sect had already been breached, then he would have to see if there was a chance to get a piece of the action... October 13th, Hunyuan Mountain.

Twilight.

A Wind-Chasing Golden Eagle with a wingspan of five zhang broke through the clouds, silently circling high in the sky, its sharp golden eyes constantly sweeping over the devastated Immortal Mountain below.

Everything visible to the naked eye bore traces of battle.

Collapsed palaces, dense pits, scorched trees, dried bloodstains... "Hunyuan Sect, it really was breached?"

Yu Xuzi's expression was solemn, but he did not rashly enter.

Whoever could force Venerable Jin Sheng to flee in such a sorry state must have been superior in skill.

It might even have been more than one person.

He looked at the Female Eagle not far away. "Fuyao, go keep watch high above. Alert me immediately if anything unusual happens."

Fuyao was the name he had given the Female Eagle.

As for the Male Eagle he rode, he named it Lanxing.

Fuyao let out a long cry, flapped her wings, and soared into the sky, beginning to patrol the high altitudes.

"Lanxing, come down with me."

Yu Xuzi concealed his aura, deployed the Breath Concealment Technique, and silently infiltrated the depths of Hunyuan Mountain, as if merging into the mountain shadows.

Among the ruins, two or three dozen corpses lay scattered.

"They are all wearing Hunyuan Sect Disciple robes..."

"A disaster that wiped out the Sect."

"But where did the people go?"

He stood up, vigilantly scanning his surroundings.

Suddenly, a slight tremor came from beneath his feet.

He quickly poured his magic power into the Meridians of his ears and listened close to the ground.

"Dong~ Dong~ Dong~"

"Underground... Is this a Spiritual Vein?!"

Yu Xuzi's pupils contracted sharply. He instantly understood—someone was excavating Hunyuan Mountain's Spiritual Vein.

"As expected of a Loose Cultivator's style!"

Yu Xuzi continuously calculated in his heart.

Generally speaking, Spiritual Veins are buried deep underground. The Spirit Stones within are not only extremely difficult to mine, but mining them also permanently damages the Earth's Qi.

Sects with even a small amount of foundation and moral integrity would not engage in such short-sighted, destructive behavior.

The person currently here clearly didn't care, proving they were a ruthless Loose Cultivator.

"Based on the sound, there should only be one person. The fact that Jin Sheng could escape means their strength is, at most, Peak Qi Refining, definitely not a Dao Foundation Cultivator.

They must have gone through a bitter battle earlier, and might even be injured..."

Yu Xuzi continuously calculated in his heart, his expression changing rapidly, finally hardening his resolve.

"I'll do it!!!"

If a Tier 1 High Grade Spiritual Vein were completely dug out, it would yield at least ten thousand Spirit Stones.

The profit was too great; it was worth taking action himself.

Furthermore, as long as it wasn't a Dao Foundation Cultivator in front of him, even if he couldn't defeat them, he could still escape.

"But I still can't act rashly. It's best to find a way to lure him out first. If he doesn't come out, I'll think of another method."

Yu Xuzi looked toward the Golden Eagle Lanxing beside him... Somewhere on the slope of Hunyuan Mountain, there was a tunnel one zhang wide, leading diagonally downward straight to the core of Hunyuan Mountain.

The tunnel was about seven or eight hundred zhang long, ending in a massive cavern illuminated by milky white light.

Venerable Hua Yue was breathlessly digging for Spirit Stones, continuously swinging sharp Sword Qi.

The Spirit Stones and their accompanying rock layers were too hard; they were incomparable to ordinary soil and stone, comparable to some Spirit Gold Ore!

That was why she was so exhausted.

She didn't even have time to carefully divide them, only stuffing large chunks of Spirit Stones into her Storage Pouch.

Furthermore, because the Spirit Stones were too dispersed underground, she had been digging here for over a day, creating a cavern hundreds of zhang in diameter, yet she only had about two or three thousand Spirit Stones.

That was probably less than half the total.

"Faster!!"

The longer this dragged on, the more likely unexpected situations would arise.

After all, Venerable Jin Sheng had fled, severely injured.

Venerable Hua Yue once again mobilized her magic power and started digging laboriously.

But right at that moment.

She suddenly frowned, and the movement of her hands immediately stopped.

The warning Restriction she had left outside was triggered.

"Someone is here?"

"Mortals shouldn't dare to come up. Is it a passing Cultivator? Or has that fellow Blood Hammer returned?"

Just as her expression was rapidly changing, several sharp Eagle Cries came from outside the cavern.

"A Yao Beast?"

Venerable Hua Yue instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

But immediately afterward, her mind instantly became tense.

"Something's wrong!"

"How could a Yao Beast appear at a time like this? And a Golden Eagle?"

"Could it be the Thousand Spirits Sect?"

Venerable Hua Yue almost instinctively assumed it was a Disciple from the Thousand Spirits Sect coming to investigate.

To be safe, she decided to go out and take a look.

If the situation was unavoidable, she would prepare to flee.

A moment later.

Venerable Hua Yue cautiously approached the entrance. She saw a Golden Eagle with a wingspan of five zhang flying cautiously at low altitude around Hunyuan Mountain.

Not far away on the ground, there was also a young Cultivator.

He looked to be barely twenty years old, and his aura was only Early Stage Qi Refining.

"A Wind-Chasing Golden Eagle?"

"This junior, it seems he really is a Disciple of the Thousand Spirits Sect."

Venerable Hua Yue instantly relaxed, openly released her aura, and walked out of the cavern.

The young Cultivator also noticed her presence at this moment, and likely sensed her Peak Qi Refining aura, immediately turning pale and trying to flee.

Venerable Hua Yue chuckled and chased after him directly.

She seemed to be teasing him, full of confidence.

She was too careless.

"Hehehe, you little fellow, why are you running—"

Before she finished speaking.

The distance between the two was now less than ten zhang.

Yu Xuzi, whose back was turned, instantly drew his sword!

In the next instant, his Late Stage Qi Refining cultivation burst forth.

The yu king sword was fully unsheathed.

As soon as he attacked, he used his full, unreserved power, instantly draining more than half of the magic power in his body, leaving only enough for escape.

He aimed to kill the enemy in one strike with the swiftness of thunder.

If the single strike failed, he would decisively retreat!

"Zheng~~"

Dazzling Purple-Gold Sword Light appeared like a fleeting glimpse of a swan, tearing through the gloom of the twilight sky.

It was too late when Venerable Hua Yue sensed the killing intent.

The Purple-Gold Sword Light had already reached her neck.

"You—"

Her expression changed drastically, her pupils constricted, and a layer of Spiritual Shield Barrier unconsciously lit up on her body.

"Puchi!"

The sword light sliced through the Spiritual Shield as easily as cutting rotten paper, flashing past her white neck.

A head shot up into the sky.

The expression of horror and confusion was still frozen on her face.

The headless corpse swayed, spewing fresh blood before collapsing to the ground.

"The Breath Concealment Technique from the Huang Tian True Scripture is truly useful."

"I've struck it rich!"

These were the only two thoughts currently in Yu Xuzi's mind.