30: Chapter 30: Local Stone Fragments!

"This item..." Shen Yi held the item in his hand; it felt warm and smooth to the touch.

"Is this an Earth Origin Stone fragment?"

The Earth Origin Stone is a Grade 2 wonder of heaven and earth... Its primary function is to absorb Earth Qi and, through subtle influence, slowly convert the Earth Vein of a region into a Spiritual Vein.

Shen Yi was instantly invigorated... he muttered to himself.

"That's it! That's it!"

"The Xu Family is a noble clan; the Geomancers they hire usually possess professional ethics!"

"But if an item is too precious, even a Geomancer cannot help but feel greedy!"

"The value of an Earth Origin Stone varies, often around ten thousand copper coins... What is even more valuable is that this item can be placed within a noble clan's existing Spiritual Vein. Over time, as it merges with it, it can improve the quality of the Spiritual Vein."

"It can make the absorption and emission of Spiritual Qi much denser!"

"Its short-term value is selling it to a noble clan... In any case, it is a massive fortune!"

"I just never expected... the appearance of the diluojiang caused the Demonic Qi here to become unbalanced, which in turn contaminated the Earth Origin Stone, giving birth to Stone Demons and breaking the Restrictions left behind!"

"And then... it benefited me!"

"According to the probability mentioned in the intelligence, there is also a Stone Spirit approaching Grade 2?"

"In other words, these Stone Demons are just a portion and not the most precious ones..."

"Could it be... a whole Earth Origin Stone?"

Shen Yi's breathing began to quicken.

The land deed for Pingshu Town would undoubtedly be a huge loss if he only gained some common folk and able-bodied men.

If he gained a Spirit Farmer, he would break even... after all, he couldn't take this territory with him, nor did he want to.

But if he had an Earth Origin Stone... he could bury it beneath Qinghe Town and receive a bit of feedback from the Spiritual Qi!

The Spiritual Qi array would operate much more smoothly!

And if he had the opportunity in the future to obtain some incomplete Spiritual Vein... he could build Qinghe Town into an Immortal City.

One must know that the popularity of Taiping County is precisely because it has a Grade 1 Spiritual Vein, which can provide cultivation for Immortal Dao Cultivators.

That is why Immortal Dao Cultivators frequently stop there!

Although his heart palpitated, he still suppressed his impatience!

Everyone began to rest...

After resting for about two hours, the Rakshasa Guards all rose to their feet.

This time, heading to where the Stone Demons are does not require the Dead Prisoner Camp to go along.

Going together would only add to the casualties...

The gate gradually opened... Amidst expectant gazes, Shen Yi plunged back into the mist.

The mist swirled in... There were very few Black-skinned Stone Bats around.

Strangely, more than half of the corpses underfoot had also disappeared.

Some bloodstains extended from the No. 1 mine shaft all the way to the deepest part... It looked like they had been dragged in by the Stone Demons?

Wang Meng led his Puppets to clear the path at the front. As the Yao Beasts became scarce, Zhou Xian's vision could reach further...

As for Di the Charcoal, the Rakshasa Guards behind him were carrying large and small bundles, and even water buckets.

Inside were naturally gunpowder and kerosene...

Suddenly, a faint sound came from the mist in front of them...

Wang Meng frowned and hurried over.

A corpse of a Black-skinned Stone Bat appeared before his eyes... but the way it died was somewhat strange.

It seemed to have been drained of its essence blood.

And on the surface of its skin, there were some burn marks!

Seeing this, Zhou Xian said cautiously.

"It seems... this wasn't done by other demons."

"Perhaps... there are others who have come here!"

Shen Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.

He whispered to Zhou Xian.

"You stay at the very back of the team; you don't need to fight... Just hide!"

Zhou Xian understood instantly and nodded quickly.

"Understood!"

The troops continued forward and soon arrived at the end of the tunnel!

In the even thicker mist, the sound of heavy objects stomping on the ground could be heard... Shen Yi spoke and gave orders.

"Wang Meng..."

"Here!"

"Lead the Puppet guards... and blow up the tunnel at the deepest part of the No. 1 mine shaft!"

Wang Meng didn't understand why, but he still accepted the order!

He rushed down with the Puppets!

Shen Yi then gave orders.

"Di the Charcoal."

"Here!"

"While Wang Meng is attracting the attention of these beasts!"

"Spread the kerosene to cover every corner as much as possible... All the kerosene carried by the sixty men should be enough!"

"Understood!"

Wang Meng let out a loud roar and rushed in first... In the thick fog, a giant gray stone statue noticed the intruder... Looking at the few people, and Wang Meng, who was nearly half his height.

A trace of disdain flashed in the Stone Demon's eyes!

But then Wang Meng roared, and his purple-gold hammer smashed violently into the Stone Demon's calf...

The calf shattered with a boom!

The Stone Demon roared, and its hand, cast from giant rocks, reached out to grab Wang Meng!

Wang Meng crouched and retreated... He didn't linger in battle, but dashed toward the deepest part!

The roars of Stone Demons came one after another from the side!

And taking this opportunity, Di the Charcoal also began to act!

Pouring buckets of kerosene onto the open ground and the walls!

An extremely strange and turbid aura spread through the space!

Every action was seen by Feng He, who was hidden in the shadows!

Feng He, a Grade 1 Geomancer... was quite famous in Linhua Prefecture.

He had very deep connections with the Xu Family!

As a Geomancer, Feng He was responsible for surveying Ore reserves for many noble clans.

To earn a living...

One day, the Xu Family invited him as usual... because the mineral resources here had already been mined out.

Continuing to dig deeper would not only waste manpower, resources, and even Immortal techniques, but also cost a huge amount of copper coins!

Feng He thought it was just an ordinary survey, but at the end of a tunnel, he sensed a faint yet incredibly pure aura!

That was... feedback from Spiritual Qi!

Spiritual Qi dissipated into the air, was restrained by a Spiritual Qi array, and then allowed Cultivators to cultivate.

This is the most basic and simplest form of Spiritual Qi feedback; it is man-made.

Yet in these deep mountains, the Spiritual Qi was feeding back on its own, with extremely high purity.

What did that mean?

It meant that beneath his feet, there was either an Earth Origin Stone or a Spiritual Vein!

And regardless of which one it was, the value was incredibly high!

Naturally, he was tempted!

At the same time, he also realized... the Xu Family had mostly withdrawn from this place, clearly having given up!

The Xu Family was one of the few mineral-focused noble clans in Linhua Prefecture; they were like groundhogs, constantly searching for mineral resources in the Sanchuan Sand Sea to dig for wealth.

Once the mining was done, they would never linger and would immediately move on to the next battle!

It was precisely because he saw this intention that he went along with the flow...

Saying that the mineral resources here had been exhausted.

The Xu Family did not doubt him and soon withdrew...

Afterward, Feng He returned two or three times to investigate more clearly, and he placed Restrictions...

Preventing the Spiritual Qi from dissipating out and being discovered by others!

He wanted... to keep it for himself!

But his motive was too obvious. If he bought it right after the Xu Family sold it, wouldn't that be a classic case of 'there is no silver here'?

As a Loose Cultivator, how could he possibly compete with a noble clan?

So Feng He could only wait for an opportunity...

But the appearance of the diluojiang broke everything...

Feng He felt the Restrictions being broken, and he knew he couldn't delay any longer... He wanted to make a move to take it.

But he heard that it had been sold by the Taiping Branch of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce.

He was anxious and burning with impatience.

Unable to care about anything else, he arrived here...

Until now!

Boom!

Just as Feng He was deep in thought, a huge explosion suddenly drowned out everything!

His eyes were filled with shock.

"What a waste of heaven's treasures!"

"What a waste of heaven's treasures!"

"What are these bumpkins trying to do!!!"

"Are they not afraid of the mountain collapsing?"