8: Chapter 8: Why Me?

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

As soon as the hoe struck, the System's notification immediately rang in his ear.

Following that, every one or two strikes of the hoe was bound to be accompanied by the System's notification.

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

...

"This should be the last one."

"Finally finished mining."

Looking at the mountain rocks before him, Zhao Yi gave up on the idea of using the Approximation Technique again.

It would be fine if there were no Spirit Stones, but what if there were?

He didn't have time to mine them anymore.

"Oh no, I really am out of time."

Channeling the Spiritual Qi of his entire body into his legs, Zhao Yi turned into an afterimage and vanished from Branch Mine No. 7787.

"Last minute! Anyone who hasn't left the Spirit Stone Mine will be executed on the spot."

Zhao Yi felt like his legs were about to snap from running, but he finally managed to rush to the mine entrance at the very last moment.

"Zhao Yi, eighteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Wages: one Low-Grade Spirit Stone and eighty purple gold coins."

Zhao Yi took the Spirit Stones and purple gold coins, feeling a lingering fear. He definitely couldn't push himself this hard in the future.

Spirit Stones were important, but his life was even more so. If he were killed because he was late, that would be a true tragedy.

"I'm exhausted, System."

Returning to the cultivation room, Zhao Yi didn't pause and directly opened the System.

[Miner: Zhao Yi]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Seventh Layer (Can be upgraded)]

[experience points: 163/160]

[Reward: None]

"Upgrade cultivation!"

Only when his body was filled with Spiritual Qi that appeared out of thin air did Zhao Yi remember that he seemed to have forgotten something.

But no matter what it was, Zhao Yi couldn't care about it now. The surging Spiritual Qi in his body forced him to focus all his mental energy on circulating the Azure Spirit Scripture.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Zhao Yi finally woke up from his Breakthrough.

"The Dantian is ninety percent full of Spiritual Qi; there's no doubt I'm at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer. Once the Dantian is full of Spiritual Qi, I can prepare to liquefy it and achieve Foundation Establishment."

"A Foundation Establishment Cultivator has a lifespan of two hundred years; one could say they have officially transcended the mortal Realm."

"System!"

[Miner: Zhao Yi]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Eighth Layer (Insufficient experience, cannot upgrade)]

[experience points: 3/320]

[Reward: None]

Looking at the experience points column, Zhao Yi remained silent for a long time.

His cultivation was rising truly fast, but the experience points required were increasing even faster; it had already doubled to three hundred and twenty.

"I need to mine three hundred and seventeen Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

To Breakthrough to the Qi Condensation Ninth Layer, the experience points needed were more than all the previous times combined.

"This System..."

When it came to breaking through to Golden Core or Nascent Soul, how much experience would be needed? How many Spirit Stones would he have to mine?

Zhao Yi shook his head, quickly driving these messy thoughts out of his mind.

Stepping out of the cultivation room, he asked around randomly and found out that a day and two nights had already passed.

The Spirit Stone Mine.

As soon as Zhao Yi entered the Spirit Stone Mine, he turned into an afterimage. Many Cultivators only felt a gust of wind blowing past them.

"Is he crazy, running so fast in the Spirit Stone Mine?"

"Isn't he afraid of crashing and dying?"

How could Zhao Yi care about others?

His time was very tight.

At Branch Mine No. 7787, Zhao Yi arrived panting. His Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivation made him about fifteen minutes faster than yesterday.

What Zhao Yi didn't know was that by running like this, he had accidentally shaken off the tails behind him.

Except, of course, for that graceful figure.

"Who's there?"

Just as Zhao Yi was about to perform the Approximation Technique, he suddenly heard a sound behind him.

"It's me."

Zhou Yan walked over from not far away, her face slightly flushed and her hair messy; it was obvious that following him hadn't been easy.

"Liar."

"Didn't you say you were going to treat me to a meal?"

"You made me wait so long for the past two days..."

Zhao Yi felt embarrassed; after all, he had promised her.

"Well..."

"I've been busy with secluded cultivation lately."

"I can see that. Qi Refining Eighth Layer, you're quite impressive."

Zhao Yi stared intently at Zhou Yan. Back at the Cultivation Academy, he had spent a large sum to learn the Realm Mimicry Technique; unless someone was two major Realms higher than him, they shouldn't be able to see through his cultivation.

"Don't misunderstand, I sensed it from your speed."

"In the Spirit Stone Mine, a place where magic is restricted, it's impossible to run that fast unless you already have the cultivation of the Qi Refining Eighth Layer."

As if sensing Zhao Yi's doubt, Zhou Yan quickly explained.

Zhao Yi...

Fine, it was his oversight. He only thought about getting to the mine tunnel quickly and forgot to control his speed.

"This mine tunnel is quite large, can I mine here?"

Zhao Yi shrugged.

"As you wish."

Thump, thump, thump sounds rose.

Zhao Yi turned and walked toward the direction where Spirit Stones had appeared yesterday, swinging his hoe and beginning to dig.

This place was too far from the mine exit; time could not be wasted.

An hour passed.

Zhao Yi had gained nothing.

Looking in Zhou Yan's direction, he steeled his heart.

He pressed himself against the wall.

"Damn it."

"Approximation Technique,"

"Within twenty meters,"

"The Great Dao is Simple, approximation is heaven-made... rounding off, the universe is fixed."

"Approximate: Zero."

"Pah!"

"It really is trash~"

Zhao Yi swung his hoe and started his tunnel-digging mode.

After twenty meters, he performed the Approximation Technique again; it was still 'Zero'.

Zhao Yi was stunned.

Even with a Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivation, he didn't dare to use the Approximation Technique three times in one day.

"I'll dig twenty meters first, then change direction."

Left with no other choice, Zhao Yi could only adjust his plan.

The entrance to this branch mine opened to the south, so he could only dig in the east, west, and north directions.

Now that the east was a bust and Zhou Yan was in the north, Zhao Yi could only go to the west.

As a result, he ended up with nothing that day.

"It's okay, it's normal not to find any Spirit Stones."

"I had good Luck today and mined three Low-Grade Spirit Stones. I'll treat you to a drink tonight."

On the way out of the mine, Zhou Yan comforted him.

"Then I'll be eating off a rich person tonight."

The two of them walked side by side, carrying their hoes.

The surrounding scenery receded frantically, indicating that neither of them was slow.

"Wait for me at Dahe Tower, I'm going back to change my clothes."

Zhao Yi nodded. Female Cultivators were always more meticulous, unlike him; after leaving the mine, he just used a Cleansing Technique to get it done.

"Stop right there!"

Not long after parting with Zhou Yan, before reaching Dahe Tower, Zhao Yi was called out to.

He turned around to see an acquaintance.

"Bai Jia Gang?"

Bai Jia Gang, leading over a dozen Cultivators, completely surrounded Zhao Yi.

The originally sparse street was instantly cleared.

"You owe me ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones and kicked me once. Don't you plan to pay for the medical expenses?"

"And..."

"Why were you running so fast in the mine today?"

"Couldn't wait for my brothers?"

Zhao Yi...

He really...

When encountering a brain-dead person like Bai Jia Gang, he didn't want to say a single word more.

"Get out of the way~"

"Oh ho!"

"You really aren't showing Master Bai any respect."

"You originally owed me ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and the medical expenses are also ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones. That's twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones in total. Give them to me quickly~"

"Don't tell me you don't have them; I know you do."

"And don't tell me you won't give them. I brought fourteen brothers with me today. If you don't give the Spirit Stones, be prepared to be turned into meat paste."

Bai Jia Gang was certain he had Zhao Yi cornered. It was no wonder he was so confident; the cultivation Zhao Yi displayed was only the Qi Refining Third Layer.

Among the lackeys he brought, the one with the lowest cultivation was also at the Qi Refining Third Layer, but there were fourteen of them. They could beat Zhao Yi to death with just their fists.

"Why me?"