261: Extreme pull

Many years ago, when Qingyang first arrived at Bei Guan City and encountered the Precious Crystal Spring Mine for the first time, he knew that even powerful figures like the Zi Xuan Three Brothers, who had struggled in the Inner Realm for over three millennia, only managed to control five Precious Crystal Spring Mines.

However, in this battle, the Shiyan Beast City Lord alone possessed six Precious Crystal Spring Mines, in addition to one from each of the other four City Lords.

Upon learning this, Qingyang finally understood the meaning of Purple Xuan's 'great victory.'

After a brief discussion with Purple Xuan, Qingyang learned that the hundred-year Change City Boundary Meet was two years away. Qingyang immediately returned to the Precious Crystal Spring Mine and reunited with Mao Qiu and the others.

After many years apart, the Precious Crystal Spring Mine had been meticulously organized and mined by Mao Qiu's hundreds of millions of subordinates.

All Precious Crystal Spring Mines are unique; some stretch for tens of thousands of miles, while others are winding straight lines.

The Precious Crystal Spring Mine that Qingyang and his companions took over back then was an irregular circular spring mine with a diameter of thirty thousand miles.

Over the years, with a sufficient number of subordinates, Mao Qiu had successfully regularized the mining of the irregular circular area, starting from the periphery and moving inward.

No other faction in the entire Inner Realm could achieve such an arrangement.

After all, when mining Precious Crystal Spring Mines, one would naturally focus all efforts on areas with abundant zhen crystal, and no one would waste manpower on areas that were essentially barren.

But Mao Qiu could.

At the very center of the enormous thirty-thousand-mile diameter Precious Crystal Spring Mine, Mao Qiu and his companions had also spent a certain amount of zhen crystal to construct a magnificent palace.

Because Mao Qiu was the main architect of this palace, there was only a single throne at the very top, seemingly long prepared for Qingyang.

When Qingyang arrived at the palace in the core of the Precious Crystal Spring Mine and entered to reunite with everyone, he immediately noticed the black-gold throne, which was almost identical to Qingyang's true form.

“Qing Yang, these past years, we’ve followed your instructions not to be too aggressive, so our mining output has always been maintained at a level that matches consumption.

Now that Huang Shan says you’ve all come down, what should we brothers do next?”

Facing Mao Qiu's inquiry, Qingyang surveyed the surroundings and asked curiously, “Where is Qingtian? And that little fellow Shidian?”

Upon hearing this, Blood Dragon, clad in red battle armor with a blood-colored cape flowing behind him, said domineeringly, “Qingtian suddenly left a few years ago, saying his partner had returned.

He also took little Shidian with him, saying he wanted to properly train him.”

Beside him, Qingyang slowly nodded.

Next, Qingyang observed that Mao Qiu, Blood Dragon, Bai Rou Rou, Hong Zong, Jin Hua, and Jin Sheng had all broken through to King-level. Qingyang then began to inquire Huang Shan about his current situation regarding absorbing zhen crystal.

The final result left Qingyang somewhat disappointed.

Because if Xuan Ming could only absorb one percent of the purest energy, then Huang Shan and Yin Li could only absorb one-tenth.

However, the moment Mao Qiu casually pulled out an even deeper, almost blue-black treasured crystal from his pocket, everyone present instantly stared wide-eyed.

Even Qingyang couldn't help but look at the strange treasured crystal in his hand and ask, “What is this?”

Hearing the question, Mao Qiu chuckled, casually tossed the intensely energetic treasured crystal to Xuan Ming, and began to explain.

“I haven't been idle these past few years. A few years ago, I accidentally learned that whenever a 'Chu' Battle Power appeared, the moment they descended into the Inner Realm,

their inherent integrated form made it absolutely impossible for them to absorb the zhen crystal imbued with the Inner Realm's aura, or rather, they would need to be purified before absorption.

Later, after much inquiry, I discovered there's something called a 'Precious Source,' or 'crystal source'—it has many names, but it’s what Xuan Ming has in his hand.

How to put it, this thing's price outside is equivalent to a thousand zhen crystal per piece, and it's still hard to find. Over the years, while mining the Precious Crystal Spring Mine, I did indeed unearth some,

but the quantity is minuscule. They are like the most refined essence of zhen crystal, completely pure. You should be able to absorb them directly.”

While Mao Qiu was introducing the crystal source, Xuan Ming had already grasped the entirely blue-black crystal source with one hand and absorbed it directly.

Then, as everyone watched Xuan Ming, waiting for his feedback, Xuan Ming slowly opened his eyes and nodded heavily, saying, “It’s truly as Mao Qiu said; it can be absorbed completely.”

“Whew~”

As soon as Xuan Ming finished speaking, Qingyang let out a heavy sigh of relief.

When Qingyang left, the daily amount of zhen crystal mined by Mao Qiu and others was around five million, just enough to sustain their daily consumption.

Later, as Mao Qiu and the others' strength increased, the amount of zhen crystal mined also increased proportionally. Now, it has reached about fifteen million per day.

When he returned, Purple Xuan had already informed Qingyang that this Precious Crystal Spring Mine was now completely Qingyang's, meaning that from now on, no more zhen crystal needed to be submitted.

Additionally, Purple Xuan, perhaps to curry favor with Qingyang, also told Qingyang that out of all the Precious Crystal Spring Mines under his command,

including one from each of the four City Lords and the six from the Shiyan Beast City Lord, totaling fifteen Precious Crystal Spring Mines, Qingyang could prioritize choosing five.

But Qingyang was not in a hurry to take over the other four Precious Crystal Spring Mines; he had more important matters to attend to.

That was to find all his scattered companions in the Inner Realm.

To this end, Qingyang directly told Mao Qiu, “Now, your Rat Calamity Domain’s quantity and quality are probably sufficient to support the mining of an even larger amount of zhen crystal.

From today onwards, mine one hundred million zhen crystal daily.”

After saying this, Qingyang turned again to Jin Hua and Jin Sheng, the two brothers.

“Jin Hua, I will give you images of our other companions later. Secretly release messages to try and find them. Anyone who provides information will receive one hundred million zhen crystal, and anyone who successfully brings back a companion will receive one billion zhen crystal.”

One hundred million zhen crystal might not be much for King-level powerhouses, but for beings below the sixteenth tier, it was an astronomical sum.

As for the resources worth one billion zhen crystal, even King-level powerhouses would surely be tempted.

“Jin Sheng, while your brother is releasing messages, you should secretly acquire crystal sources throughout the entire North Faction. In all the major cities’ auction houses,

and through clandestine channels, as long as there’s stock, don’t just stick to a thousand-to-one ratio; we can accept an even higher one.”

Upon hearing Qingyang's arrangements, Jin Hua and Jin Sheng, the two brothers, immediately nodded heavily and turned to leave.

If Mao Qiu and Hong Zong's strength were to be strictly classified, they were not truly 'Chu' Battle Powers; they were only slightly stronger than others of the same rank.

However, relatively, their strict requirements for absorbing zhen crystal and other energies were not as high.

As for Blood Dragon, he was exactly like Huang Shan and the others, also needing crystal sources rather than zhen crystal.