26: Chapter 26 Come on, I'm standing right here, let's see how you want me dead?

"Impressive!"

"Hurry up and go mine the Spirit Stone."

"I've finished setting up the Formation, let's go, I'll go help you."

Zhou Yan picked up the Spirit Stone in front of her and placed it into Zhao Yi's hand.

"Hurry up and put it away."

Zhao Yi felt a sense of relief and placed the Spirit Stone back into Zhou Yan's hand.

"What's yours or mine? It's ours, you keep it."

"Pah!"

"In your dreams! I'm not going to be your maid. You hold onto this Spirit Stone."

"Hmph, I'm not helping you for free, you know. You'll have to pay me wages when the time comes."

As she spoke, Zhou Yan handed the Spirit Stone back to Zhao Yi, then turned around to clear away the rocks Zhao Yi had just dug out.

"Alright then, I'll keep the Spirit Stone for now. If you need it, come and get it."

Zhao Yi stopped dwelling on it; mining Spirit Stones to earn experience points was more important.

The sound of bang, bang, bang echoed throughout the branch mine tunnel.

【You have mined a Medium Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +100.】

"Another Medium Grade Spirit Stone."

Zhou Yan picked up the Spirit Stone from the rocks and handed it to Zhao Yi.

"Mm!"

Zhao Yi didn't stop and continued swinging his hoe.

That day, three Medium Grade Spirit Stones and ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones were all dug out by Zhao Yi.

Night fell.

Zhou Yan was resting, while Zhao Yi directly used the Spirit Stones to restore his True Qi.

At the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage, the speed of absorbing Spiritual Qi from Spirit Stones increased significantly; in six hours, a Low-Grade Spirit Stone would turn into powder.

Yet, the True Qi in Zhao Yi's body had only recovered by about seventy percent.

"No wonder Foundation Establishment Cultivators aren't allowed into the first level of the mine. At this speed, one could just Cultivate directly using Spirit Stones."

Huh, why is the second level of the mine not worried about Foundation Establishment Cultivators cultivating with Spirit Stones?

Zhao Yi realized he seemed to be overthinking it.

"Well, I'm just bored."

"Approximation Technique."

Taking advantage of Zhou Yan's rest, Zhao Yi planned to scout the direction first.

"The Great Dao is Simple..."

"...Heaven and Earth are destined."

"Approximation: Zero."

"This direction is a bust."

Using the Approximation Technique once consumed one-third of Zhao Yi's True Qi.

With his Foundation Establishment Mid-stage cultivation, he couldn't support using the Approximation Technique twice in a row, otherwise, digging for Spirit Stones later would become a problem.

Bang, bang, bang~

Even knowing there were no Spirit Stones here, Zhao Yi dug a six-meter tunnel anyway.

"What are you doing..." Zhou Yan asked.

"I don't like the look of it, so I'm digging a hole."

Zhao Yi couldn't say there were no Spirit Stones here, so he had to force an excuse.

Because he didn't have the Approximation Technique, today Zhao Yi could only rely on pure luck.

In the end, he got eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones, not even a fraction of yesterday's haul.

But this was the true reality of mining Spirit Stones; who knew where they were buried? One could only rely on luck.

In the mine tunnel, the passage of time was unknown.

But Zhou Yan was keeping track.

On the first day, they dug three Medium Grade and ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

On the second day, they dug eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

On the third day, there was a massive haul; Zhao Yi dug twelve Medium Grade Spirit Stones and seventeen Low-Grade Spirit Stones, breaking the record and simultaneously earning back the mining entry fee.

On the fourth day, Zhao Yi dug three Medium Grade Spirit Stones and five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

However, on the fourth day, Zhao Yi only mined for half a day.

In the afternoon, he found Zhou Muyu and returned eleven Medium Grade Spirit Stones.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhou!"

Even after returning the Spirit Stones, Zhao Yi was endlessly grateful; otherwise, without Spirit Stones for the entry fee, everything he had would have been for naught.

On the fifth day, Zhao Yi only dug one Medium Grade Spirit Stone, but he dug forty-eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

"System,"

【Miner: Zhao Yi】

【Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Mid-stage (Insufficient experience points, cannot upgrade)】

【experience points: 2084 / 2560】

【Rewards: None】

In five days, Zhao Yi had gained 1988 experience points, which could be said to be equal to mining 1988 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

"It's a pity, in this second level of the mine, Cultivators can only stay for seven days. We have to go up on the seventh day."

These past few days, Zhao Yi had hardly rested.

Although True Qi could be replenished with Spirit Stones, there was nothing to replenish his mental energy.

The mental exhaustion was almost more than Zhao Yi could bear.

"Zhou Yan, don't you find it strange? In this branch mine tunnel, I've mined so many Spirit Stones, why haven't there been any Lesser Strange Demons?"

Especially that day when he dug up twelve Medium Grade Spirit Stones; Zhao Yi's heart had been in his throat, but in the end, nothing happened.

"Maybe you're just lucky."

"Although Lesser Strange Demons appear along with Spirit Stones, it's not absolute."

"Don't tell me you're actually hoping for a Lesser Strange Demon to appear?"

"Pah, pah~"

"Nonsense, I certainly don't have any such thoughts."

Zhao Yi spat repeatedly.

Just as Zhao Yi thought this mining trip would end uneventfully, something happened.

That night, just after Zhao Yi had used Spirit Stones to restore his True Qi and was preparing to close his eyes to recover his mental energy, footsteps suddenly came from the main mine tunnel.

"Who is it?"

Zhou Yan woke up simultaneously.

"Senior Brother Zhao, help, help me..."

"Junior Sister Mi?"

Zhao Yi held a heavenly light stone in his hand. Sure enough, it was Mi Yao in the main mine tunnel.

However, the Mi Yao before him was covered in blood.

Seeing Zhao Yi, she seemed to heave a sigh of relief and said weakly, "Senior Brother Zhao, go quickly and save Senior Brother Zhou. He was ambushed by Bai Chuanzhi and his men..."

After speaking, Mi Yao's head tilted to the side and she fainted.

"Junior Sister Mi?"

Just as Zhao Yi was about to support her, Zhou Yan stepped forward first.

After checking, Zhou Yan said, "She was slashed across the back. It didn't damage her bones or muscles, she just lost too much blood and fainted!"

"I've got this here, you should hurry and go save him."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Zhou Yan dragged Mi Yao into the branch mine tunnel, waved her hand, and a beam of light suddenly appeared.

Then, the entire branch mine tunnel disappeared from Zhao Yi's sight.

"This is a Concealment Formation. It won't be a problem to hide for two or three hours."

"Alright then, be careful."

Zhao Yi grabbed his hoe and walked toward the depths of the mine tunnel.

Although it was called walking, he was actually using the Collapse Step, moving at lightning speed.

A dozen minutes later, Zhao Yi heard the sounds of fighting, and the smell of blood in the air grew heavier.

By the time Zhao Yi arrived, only Zhou Muyu remained, struggling to hold on amidst the crowd, with corpses scattered everywhere around him.

Zhao Yi rushed out, swinging his hoe.

The hoe, covered in True Qi, was comparable to an ordinary Magical Artifact.

It hit the Cultivators surrounding Zhou Muyu, killing or wounding them instantly.

"Ah, ah~"

Screams rang out one after another.

Zhao Yi fought his way directly to Zhou Muyu.

"Senior Brother Zhou, are you alright?"

Zhou Muyu's face was deathly pale, and he shook his head.

Over there, Bai Chuanzhi crawled off Cai Qin, pulled up his pants, and looked over with an expression of surprise.

"Foundation Establishment Mid-stage?"

"No wonder I didn't see you. I thought you were afraid, but it turns out you were working alone."

Zhao Yi glanced at Cai Qin; her clothes were disheveled, and she no longer had any breath of life.

"You are truly a piece of trash, you deserve to die!"

"I deserve to die?"

"In the cultivation world, the weak are prey to the strong; what's so strange about that? I have the bigger fist, so I'm in the right!"

"What? You have a problem with that?"

Bai Chuanzhi looked completely indifferent.

In the corner, only the upper half of Hu Kun remained, his eyes wide open, clearly dying with deep resentment.

Zhao Yi's fingers gripping the hoe had turned white.

"Heh, heh, heh..."

"Good, good, good, a 'the weak are prey to the strong,' a 'bigger fist.' Today, you are all going to die!"

Bai Chuanzhi pointed at himself.

"We're all going to die?"

"You're hilarious!"

"Come on, come on, I'm standing right here, let's see how you plan to make me die?"