137: Chapter 137 Holy crap, what did we dig up?

"With so many Spirit Stones right in front of you, you can't dig them out yourself, yet you blame me?"

Looking at Approximate's expression,

Zhao Yi was almost driven mad; he brandished the great sumeru treasure hoe, which whistled as it swept past Approximate's scalp.

"Fine, fine, fine!"

"Damn you, I'll work hard, but if I still can't dig anything out, I'm definitely stewing you! Even if you're just a manifestation of a Spell, I'm going to have a taste."

Zhao Yi turned around and swung the great sumeru treasure hoe, emptying his mind, wanting neither gain nor loss.

In the blink of an eye, another year passed.

"Hehehe~"

"Silly Dog, what else is there to say?"

Zhao Yi put down the hoe and, without a word, immediately set up a pot and heated the oil.

Seeing that things were going south, Approximate instantly transformed into a golden character and vanished into the space between Zhao Yi's brows.

"Running?"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Approximation Technique..."

Approximate, composed of golden characters, had just manifested a physical form before turning back into characters and returning to Zhao Yi's Sea of Consciousness.

After tossing and turning like this four or five times, Zhao Yi finally gave up, and the irritability in his heart vanished.

"Old Ancestor Zhao, please take me as your Disciple!"

Seeing that Zhao Yi had calmed down, Wu Chuan knelt before him once more and said hopefully.

Over the past three years, Zhao Yi had seen everything Wu Chuan had done.

"Sigh!"

Zhao Yi glanced at the mine cave.

A prayer mat, a stone bed, and a stone chair,

all had been worn smooth by time.

As his irritability receded, Zhao Yi's mind became clear, as if some sort of shackle had been removed. He looked at Wu Chuan again.

Reflecting from him to himself, Zhao Yi sighed.

"Sigh!"

"What a foolish child."

"You may stand up."

"Ah?"

Wu Chuan was a bit dazed; did he agree or not?

Then, Zhao Yi's voice came again.

"I agree."

"Ah?"

Wu Chuan was overjoyed beyond words.

"Thank you, Old Ancestor! Thank you, Old Ancestor!"

Zhao Yi's expression turned stern.

"You're still calling me Old Ancestor?"

Wu Chuan reacted immediately and respectfully kowtowed three times, his head hitting the ground with a thud.

"Thank you, Master!"

"Mm, stand up!"

Zhao Yi nodded; this could be considered his first-ever Disciple.

He wanted to give Wu Chuan an initiation gift, but suddenly remembered he was empty-handed.

How embarrassing~

Thick-skinned as Zhao Yi was, he still felt a bit uneasy.

Looking at Wu Chuan, the massive mine cave behind him, and the long mine tunnel, a sudden flash of inspiration hit Zhao Yi.

If he mined now, he would surely get a Top-Grade Spirit Stone.

"Disciple, step back."

"Come!"

"Grow!"

The great sumeru treasure hoe appeared in Zhao Yi's hand and then suddenly grew larger as he struck directly at the mine wall.

The System's notification sound rang in his mind at the same time.

[You have mined a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.]

Hearing this, Zhao Yi breathed a sigh of relief. This time it came through, sparing him from losing face in front of Wu Chuan.

Pulling the Top-Grade Spirit Stone out from the rocks, Zhao Yi threw it directly to Wu Chuan.

"Don't say your Master is stingy; this is your initiation gift."

"As you can see, it's fresh, just dug up."

Wu Chuan...

Well, it was indeed fresh, but was it appropriate to use that word to describe a Spirit Stone?

Besides, what kind of proper Master gives a Spirit Stone as an initiation gift? And a Top-Grade Spirit Stone at that?

Holding the Top-Grade Spirit Stone as if it were a bomb, Wu Chuan said with a bitter face, "Master, this is too precious, I don't dare accept it."

"Do you have any Magical Artifacts?"

"Just give me one of those instead?"

Zhao Yi...

"I don't. This is the gift. Why do you want a Magical Artifact?"

"A Level 3 Magical Artifact only costs a hundred Medium Grade Spirit Stones. One Top-Grade Spirit Stone is enough to buy a hundred of them. Go buy them yourself."

"Don't waste time and delay my mining."

Wu Chuan...

He looked at the Top-Grade Spirit Stone in his hand, feeling like it was all a bit surreal.

In his two hundred years of Cultivation, this was the first time he had ever touched a Top-Grade Spirit Stone.

Bang bang bang~

On Zhao Yi's side, after giving Wu Chuan a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, he turned his attention to mining Spirit Stones.

As for his new Disciple...

Well, he'd learn how to teach him as he went!

With every swing of the hoe, the System notified him once.

At first, Zhao Yi's mind was wandering a bit, but he soon realized something was wrong.

[You have mined a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.]

[You have mined a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.]

...

"System,"

[Miner: Zhao Yi]

[Cultivation: Late Integration Stage (Insufficient experience, cannot be upgraded)]

[experience points: 6/100]

[Reward: None]

Six experience points. If Zhao Yi remembered correctly,

he had only swung the hoe eight times.

Six Top-Grade Spirit Stones in eight swings—what kind of probability was that?

"My goodness, what did I dig up?"

"I've never heard of Top-Grade Spirit Stones coming in clusters?"

Bang!

Another swing of the hoe, and the System notification sounded again.

[You have mined a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.]

Seeing Wu Chuan in a fluster, Zhao Yi got angry.

"Approximate, you Dead Dog, why aren't you coming out to pick up the Spirit Stones?"

Approximate wagged his tail happily and picked up the Top-Grade Spirit Stone from the rocks with his mouth.

When it came to picking up Spirit Stones, Wu Chuan really was no match for him.

Looking at the Top-Grade Spirit Stone in his hand,

Wu Chuan felt as if he were in a dream.

So...

"Is this my Master's true power?"

At this thought, his whole body trembled. Ignoring the fact that Zhao Yi was mining,

he dashed over to Zhao Yi and knelt, saying, "Master, I want to learn this..."

Zhao Yi looked at the kneeling Wu Chuan, a bit confused.

"What do you want to learn?"

"Mining Spirit Stones?"

"Is this something you even need to learn? Don't you just pick up a hoe and do it?"

Wu Chuan...

He felt a bit ashamed and lowered his head.

"Master might not know, but I was once forced by Bai Chuanyu to mine. In three years, I only dug up seventy-three Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

"?"

Zhao Yi suspected he had misheard and glared at Wu Chuan.

Was he being sarcastic about Zhao Yi blanking for the first three years?

Zhao Yi's sudden flare-up almost made Wu Chuan faint from fright.

"Master, I was wrong."

"I won't learn it anymore."

"I'll go haul the rocks right now."

Zhao Yi...

Now wasn't the time to teach Wu Chuan; mining Spirit Stones was the priority.

After three years of frustration, now was the time to soar.

Another swing of the hoe, and the System notification sounded again.

[You have mined a Top-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.]

This feeling—Zhao Yi just wanted to say,

Awesome!

But he didn't know if it was just his imagination, but the rocks in front of him seemed to be getting harder and harder.

Even with the sharpness of the great sumeru treasure hoe, the impact made his hands ache.

But the continuous stream of Top-Grade Spirit Stones numbed Zhao Yi to the pain.

Neither the two people nor the dog noticed that the excavated rocks were becoming whiter and whiter, looking less and less like ordinary mountain stone.

"Whew, whew~"

"Damn, I'm exhausted."

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Zhao Yi's arms felt sore and numb, to the point where he couldn't even lift the great sumeru treasure hoe.

Turning around, Wu Chuan was also panting heavily.

"Master, these rocks are getting heavier and heavier. I can barely move them anymore."

Meanwhile, Approximate was buried in a pile of rocks; he hadn't managed to dig out the Top-Grade Spirit Stone from just now.

Looking closely at his disheveled fur and the scratches all over his body, it was clear that getting the Spirit Stones out from these broken rocks was no easy task.

Turning back to look at the pure white rocks in front of him,

Zhao Yi picked one up from the ground; it was ice-cold and heavy to the touch.

Despite being only the size of a palm, Zhao Yi estimated it weighed twenty or thirty catties.

"My goodness, what did I dig up?"