98: Chapter 98 Unbelievable Gains

"What a Silly Dog. Don't say I didn't give you a chance; I'll give you a ten-minute head start."

Watching the water in the stone pot slowly come to a boil, Zhao Yi formed hand seals.

"Approximation Technique,"

"Within twenty meters,"

"The Great Dao is Simple, approximation is natural... Rounding off, the universe is fixed."

Golden characters formed a panting Approximate.

"Big brother, are you tired?"

"You won't be tired in a moment."

"Damn it, don't blame your master for being ruthless."

"Today, I'll let you die knowing why,"

"First, your work is sloppy. Look at these Gold Essence Stones; which one wouldn't sell for a High-Grade Spirit Stone? Yet you didn't pick up a single one!"

"Negligence is one thing, but you even embezzled Spirit Stones..."

"Damn it, out of 38 High-Grade Spirit Stones, you only left me 9. You're more corrupt than a capitalist."

"No matter what, I can't keep you today. It's the perfect time to try some sliced dog meat."

"Woof~"

Approximate looked at Zhao Yi in shock. With its simple mind, it couldn't understand how Zhao Yi, who was busy mining, knew exactly how many High-Grade Spirit Stones had been dug up.

"The water just happened to boil. Be a good dog in your next life."

Zhao Yi took out a knife from somewhere and was about to slit Approximate's throat.

"Whimper~"

Approximate wailed,

opening its mouth and spitting out a large pile of Spirit Stones.

Zhao Yi counted them; there were exactly 20. Thus, the 38 High-Grade Spirit Stones finally matched the count.

But Zhao Yi didn't plan to let Approximate off that easily.

"Hmph, you only realize your mistake now?"

"It's too late. Today, whether you want to or not, you're going to die..."

Zhao Yi held down the dog's head and swung his knife to strike,

but Approximate's body went limp and transformed into a golden character, sinking into the space between Zhao Yi's eyebrows.

"Holy crap, Dead Dog, you've actually evolved?"

Approximate had never turned back into a character before.

"This Spell has become a spirit."

"How rare."

Zhao Yi gathered up all the Spirit Stones.

In total, he obtained 38 High-Grade Spirit Stones, 403 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, 8632 Low-Grade Spirit Stones, 1 chi yang stone, and some messy Ores that Approximate hadn't sorted out.

Together with the excavated rocks, he pushed them into the Teleportation Array.

"This Silly Dog, what a waste."

Zhao Yi felt a bit of heartache.

But he had no choice but to summon Approximate again.

There was still one good luck card left. Without Approximate's help, Zhao Yi wouldn't be able to deal the maximum damage.

"Silly Dog."

"You can't embezzle the High-Grade Spirit Stones anymore."

"Think about it, a hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones are equal to one High-Grade Spirit Stone. There's no need for you to keep messing with the High-Grade ones, right?"

Zhao Yi pleaded and coaxed, all to save the High-Grade Spirit Stones.

Seeing that the summoned Approximate wasn't very interested, Zhao Yi had no choice but to feed it another High-Grade Spirit Stone.

"What a sin."

Ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones were fed to the dog in an instant.

"Are you ready?"

After eating a High-Grade Spirit Stone, Approximate finally regained its spirited state.

"Woof~"

Approximate barked and turned to leave the Branch Mine.

Zhao Yi...

He was just about to claim his System reward and had to interrupt the process.

"What do you mean?"

"Changing tunnels?"

Approximate had already walked out of the tunnel and turned to look at Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi understood.

It was telling him to hurry up and follow.

"Fine."

Zhao Yi shouldered the great sumeru treasure hoe, looking back every few steps. He was a bit reluctant; after all, he had dug up 38 High-Grade Spirit Stones here.

Would another tunnel be as good as this one?

Filled with doubt, Zhao Yi followed Approximate, who had transformed into golden light, as they sped through the mine.

They took sharp turns all along the way. If the Main Mine Tunnel hadn't been much wider than the branch tunnels, Zhao Yi would have definitely gotten lost.

"It's been a whole day."

"Damn it, Dead Dog, are you playing with me?"

Zhao Yi was about to break down. Was the Jishan Spirit Stone Mine really this big?

He now had to suspect that Approximate was leading him in circles.

But after squeezing through a tunnel only one person wide, Zhao Yi shut his mouth.

He had definitely never been to this place.

There was no small Teleportation Array here, nor any heavenly light stones.

It was completely deserted.

A deserted area within the mine.

Zhao Yi didn't know why, but his scalp felt numb, as if there was some great terror ahead.

"Holy cow!"

"Silly Dog, are you sure there are Spirit Stones here?"

"Why do I feel so creeped out?"

Taking out a heavenly light stone, he illuminated the surroundings. Approximate was circling the area continuously.

Upon seeing the light, it sat down by the southern mine wall. That wall was completely different from the ordinary ones.

Ordinary mine walls, due to the Branch Mine Formations, wouldn't look like this even if they were uneven.

The rocks were jagged and appeared entirely natural, with no trace of human intervention.

"How strange!"

Zhao Yi placed heavenly light stones around. It wasn't that he couldn't see, but he was used to having light.

He hadn't claimed the good luck card yet.

Zhao Yi swung his hoe into the mine wall.

How should he put it?

It was very soft, almost feeling like it was sticking to the hoe.

This was the first time Zhao Yi had encountered such a sensation in all his years of mining.

Yet the excavated rocks weren't wet at all, appearing no different from ordinary rocks.

Except for the egg-sized Spirit Stone among the rocks, which was particularly eye-catching.

"A Mid-Grade Spirit Stone?"

Zhao Yi didn't expect to dig up a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone with just a random swing.

Thinking about it, although Approximate had embezzled all sorts of Spirit Stones, it had never failed at finding Ore. He gritted his teeth.

Zhao Yi said in his mind, "System, claim reward."

A 300-second countdown appeared in Zhao Yi's vision.

When the countdown reached 290 seconds, a System notification sounded in Zhao Yi's ears.

【You have mined a High-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.】

【You have mined a High-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.】

...

The notifications were continuous, much more frequent than last time.

When the countdown reached 216 seconds, a notification that delighted Zhao Yi finally appeared.

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

A Top-Grade Spirit Stone!

Zhao Yi had finally seen a Top-Grade Spirit Stone once again.

Dig, dig, dig!

Dig until you can't dig anymore...

Zhao Yi gritted his teeth, putting every ounce of strength he had into it.

【You have mined a High-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.】

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

【You have mined a High-Grade Spirit Stone, experience points +1.】

...

The System notifications didn't disappoint Zhao Yi. Although most were High-Grade Spirit Stones, he estimated there were quite a few Top-Grade ones—at least seven or eight.

3, 2, 1...

There were no surprises this time; the 300-second good luck card ended.

Zhao Yi flopped down onto the rocks.

Two 300-second bouts of extreme exercise in one day had completely drained him.

Without looking at the Spirit Stones behind him, Zhao Yi first called up the System panel.

"System."

【Miner: Zhao Yi】

【Cultivation: Void Refining Early Stage (Can be upgraded)】

【experience points: 1368/400】

【Reward: None】

"Holy crap!"

Looking at those 1,343 experience points, although Zhao Yi was mentally prepared, he was still dazed by the shock.

His experience points had surged from 143 to 1,368, meaning Zhao Yi had mined the equivalent of 1,225 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

He turned to look at the four piles of Spirit Stones, and sure enough.

8 Top-Grade Spirit Stones, 425 High-Grade Spirit Stones, 8,732 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, and 11 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

"What a Heaven-Defying harvest."

Zhao Yi felt it was a bit surreal. Damn it, all these Spirit Stones were dug up in just five minutes.

Who would believe it if I told them?