74: Chapter 74 Hey, are you Li Yingzhen's mount?

"Crunch, crunch."

In just a few bites, Approximate devoured the High-Grade Spirit Stone Zhao Yi had given it.

This was a High-Grade Spirit Stone, a treasure worth ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, yet it was chewed up by Approximate as if it were a candy bean.

After swallowing the Spirit Stone, Approximate seemed to have eaten too much; it bounded around the mountains, and after a moment, ran up to Zhao Yi, biting his pant leg to signal that he should follow.

After crossing several mountain peaks, Zhao Yi stopped.

"Silly Dog, are you sure this direction is right?"

"That's a cesspit ahead."

"You can go find food on your own; you don't need to drag me along."

Zhao Yi was dumbfounded.

Usually, when he flew on clouds, he steered clear of this area.

For some reason, this valley was completely covered in foul-smelling yellow mud; from a distance, it really didn't look much different from a cesspit.

Zhao Yi hollered from mid-air, while Approximate dove headfirst into the yellow mud, barking, "Woof, woof, woof!" to signal Zhao Yi to follow.

"Damn it all."

"You enjoy yourself; there's no need to bring me along."

Seeing that Zhao Yi wouldn't come down, Approximate shot back up into the air, shook its fur, and wagged its tail, sending countless splatters of yellow mud flying.

Even though Zhao Yi had used a protective spell and activated a defensive Formation, and even held his breath, the surrounding air still seemed foul.

He had cut off all sensory input, yet he could still smell that stench like rotting corpses.

"Ugh!"

"Silly Dog, stay away from me."

Approximate looked at Zhao Yi with a grievance-filled expression, constantly lowering its head to point at the yellow mud pit below.

"Are you saying there are Spirit Stones down there?"

"Woof!"

Zhao Yi...

No wonder he had searched the entire Lu Mountain and found no ore veins; it turned out the source of the vein was buried right here.

"Move aside!"

"Earth-Shattering Curse."

Zhao Yi crossed his index fingers into a cross shape, chanting, "The Great Void divides the Nine Fields; the Earthly Realm hides the Six Subtleties. The Mysterious Yellow opens Chaos; the Spiritual Root severs the Earthly Axis. Two fingers break the dark soil; a thousand peaks shed their bones and return. The Yin Dragon tears through the underworld; mountain tombs turn to flying dust."

"Break!"

A cross of light shot from his fingers, growing to over a hundred zhang in a moment, plunging directly into the yellow valley.

Then, a monstrous wave of yellow mud was blasted into the air.

Zhao Yi...

"Holy crap!"

"Damn it, it really has become a mountain of crap."

Half of the yellow mud on Lu Mountain had been blasted away by his spell, and the stench was everywhere.

If not for the tall mountain peaks surrounding the valley, Kun County would likely be uninhabitable by now.

However, Approximate didn't care about the yellow mud at all; it even started rolling around in it.

"Who goes there? How dare you disturb this lord's cultivation! Are you seeking death?"

Just as Zhao Yi was at his wit's end, a low, muffled voice came from the yellow mud in the valley.

This sudden voice startled Approximate so much that it stumbled and slid directly into the mud pit.

"Little demon, are you not afraid that I will eat you?"

In the mud pit, a mud monster slowly stood up.

At several hundred meters tall, it was actually taller than the surrounding small hills.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Inside the mud pit, Approximate's muddy fur stood on end; it was hard to tell if it was from fear or from being dropped into the pit.

"Flying Star Technique!"

Zhao Yi's voice rang out from afar, and the mud monster didn't even have time to react before its head was suddenly blown off.

With its head exploded, the mud monster's entire body of yellow mud collapsed like a mountain slide, falling back into the valley.

A monster hovered there above the yellow mud.

"What the hell!"

"What is this thing?"

The monster was covered in dark fur with flowing star patterns, and on its forehead were a pair of short horns that looked like they were condensed from moonlight. It looked like an ox but wasn't, yet its head had soft bangs like a nine-tailed fox, and as its eyes opened and closed, a bewitching, soul-confusing light flowed within them.

"You're the thing! Your whole family is a thing!"

Although the monster had not yet refined its throat bone to speak, it used its Divine Thought with great proficiency.

"I shall let you know that I do not belong to the common demon kind; I am the product of the union between the 'Earth Mother Ox' and the 'Spirit Charm Fox'."

"The ox nature is heavy and thick, bearing the foundation for all things to grow; the fox nature is clever and nimble, understanding the mechanisms of the heavens and earth's illusions."

"The two combined to give birth to a rare species in heaven and earth: the Xuanpin Spirit Fox."

"That would be me."

"How about that? Are you afraid?"

"If you're afraid, then that's correct."

"Let me tell you an even more terrifying secret."

"I am also the mount of the Great Yin Immortal Dynasty's Fourth Prince, Li Yingzhen."

"How about it?"

"Are you even more afraid now?"

"Damn, you are Li Yingzhen's mount?"

This time, Zhao Yi really couldn't hold it together.

The Xuanpin Spirit Fox before him, aside from that tuft of hair on its head, was covered in yellow mud, with a large head and a thin body—how did it look like a mount?

It was just a big-headed hybrid.

Li Yingzhen even said it could go toe-to-toe with A-Da and protect his life; Zhao Yi didn't believe that for a second now.

"Since you are Li Yingzhen's mount, that makes things easier."

"I have been ordered by your master to come to Lu Mountain to dig for Spirit Stones."

"I now suspect that the source of the ore vein is right under this valley."

"I ask for your assistance."

Zhao Yi tossed out the document Li Yingzhen had given him; the document hovered in mid-air, emitting endless white light and carrying a faint pressure.

"It really is the master's document."

"Digging for ore?"

"You, a single kid?"

"Has the master lost his mind?"

"How many Spirit Stones can one person dig?"

Upon seeing Li Yingzhen's document, although the Xuanpin Spirit Fox was grumbling, it did not stop him again.

"Zhao."

"It's not that this old fox looks down on you."

"This yellow mud has accumulated over thousands and thousands of years on Lu Mountain and is tens of meters deep; clearing it away is not very realistic."

"And it's a waste of time."

"Zhao, why not try a different direction?"

Zhao Yi shook his head.

"I've already been everywhere else, and I found nothing."

"Must you start here?"

"I must start here!"

The man and the mount were actually at an impasse.

"Hmph! If you can't dig up any Spirit Stones from down there, this old fox will definitely break its vow and eat you, you stubborn mule."

The Xuanpin Spirit Fox grumbled and cursed, and a moment later, after muttering some more, it controlled all the yellow mud in the valley, turning it into a giant ball of yellow mud that lifted off into the air, clearing the valley.

Although the yellow mud was gone, the stench remained unbearable.

Zhao Yi's mind, however, was not on getting rid of the stench; he was wondering what it looked like when Li Yingzhen rode the Xuanpin Spirit Fox.

As he thought about it, Zhao Yi couldn't help but laugh.

Happiness really is a matter of comparison.

But Li Yingzhen's mount was the Xuanpin Spirit Fox, and the one he had just ridden was Approximate.

This seemed like six of one, half a dozen of the other.

A fox and a dog.

Fox friends and dog buddies!?

Zhao Yi realized it; this was fate.

"great sumeru treasure hoe!"

"Grow!"

In the valley, outside the mine, where no forbidden spells were in effect, the hoe, magnified a hundred times, dug into the rock of the valley with a single strike.

"Come out!"

Countless rocks flew up along with Zhao Yi's hoe, crashing and rumbling as they flew outside the valley.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Approximate's figure flashed, and it appeared in the pit Zhao Yi had just dug.

Zhao Yi actually understood it; it was complaining that Zhao Yi had dug too shallow.

And it was cursing quite harshly.

"Silly Dog!"

"Wind rises, clouds surge, the treasure hoe multiplies. With the Primordial Spirit as a guide, the artifact's power is infinite."

"Grow, grow, grow!"

Under the hundred-meter-wide hoe blade, Approximate was dumbfounded.

It forgot to dodge.

Question: What can a hundred-meter-wide hoe dig out?

Answer: A hundred-meter-wide pit, and countless rocks.

Zhao Yi flew down into the rocky pit, and a familiar feeling instantly enveloped him.