72: Large-scale magnetic ore vein

“What a pity... my Soul-Searching Secret Art is vastly inferior to my main body; I can barely glean fragmented information.”

The Soul-Searching Secret Art is recorded in the Yellow Springs Free and Unfettered Wonderful Method.

This art is incredibly profound.

The Yuan Lian Avatar has not cultivated the Yellow Springs Free and Unfettered Wonderful Method.

Even with Gu Changsheng's guidance, explaining the key points of the secret art, and the blood essence pearl enhancing his Realm, his skill level was still not high.

Fortunately, it was enough to handle the current situation.

Ten breaths later.

The large hand loosened, and the snake head in its grasp fell to the ground, completely devoid of life.

Whoosh—

The Yuan Lian Avatar exhaled, a hint of realization flashing in his eyes.

“A True Core Realm Great Demon... Howling Moon Wolf... so this area, three thousand li in circumference, is all his sphere of influence.”

This crested serpent had low intelligence, and the valuable parts of its memory fragments were very few.

Besides that, there were only a few scattered Heaven And Earth Treasures growing nearby.

Such as cockscomb flowers and sour grass.

They were not yet mature and could not be harvested.

“This demon hasn't traveled far, just guarding his small plot of land.”

The Yuan Lian Avatar sighed, his eyes darting around. He formed a hand seal, and a ray of light fell upon the crested serpent's body.

Immediately, its flesh and blood dissolved, leaving only a soft, collapsed skin.

It was the Skinning Art.

“Thankfully, cultivating this art is much simpler.”

Black Qi poured in, and the snake skin fragmented, adhering to his skin.

Gradually, his flesh and blood became full.

He was no different from that crested serpent from before.

Walking within the inner reaches of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains, it was safer to use a demonic facade combined with the Shrouded Sea Divine Ability, a double layer of protection.

For the next half month.

The Yuan Lian Avatar successively killed more than a dozen demons, and the scattered memory fragments he obtained finally pieced together a lot of useful information.

For instance, the demonic overlord of this place, Howling Moon Wolf, was an ancient variant, possessing the innate secret art of howling at the moon.

With his Early Stage True Core Realm cultivation, he could contend with Middle Stage True Core Realm demons.

Furthermore, he had eight thousand demon soldiers under his command, guarding eight valuable resource points.

One of these was a Yuanci profound Ore vein discovered a year ago.

Currently, large numbers of demons were being dispatched into the Ore vein to excavate the Ore, used to refine profound armored demon soldiers.

“I didn't expect this Ore to be intercepted by demons...”

The Yuan Lian Avatar's face darkened.

He had come with a mission.

To collect Yuanci profound Ore and refine top-grade Evil Qi.

This strand of Evil Qi was crucial for his True Core to advance to the second grade and for a powerful Divine Ability—the Two Forms Yuanci Mysterious Light.

“I hope this Ore vein isn't a miniature one...”

Although the demons' mining tools were crude, they often relied on sheer brute force, far surpassing ordinary Mortals and Cultivators.

A miniature Ore vein wouldn't last long under their exploitation.

Three days later.

Near the Yuanci profound Ore mine.

A nine-foot-tall, half-human, gray-skinned, one-eyed wolf demon walked out of the mine. A token hung from his waist, and he carried a silver xuana-bladed axe on his shoulder.

As soon as he exited the cave, he darted into the deep grass.

Accompanied by the sound of trickling water, the one-eyed wolf demon felt a surge of relief in his heart.

Suddenly, a wisp of gray ghostly light appeared before his eyes.

Immediately after, his consciousness plunged into eternal darkness.

This place was close to the mine, with many demons gathered.

To avoid exposure, the Yuan Lian Avatar directly greeted him with a Nine Nether Soul-Seizing Underworld Light, silently extinguishing the wolf's soul.

“It seems... I should have waited a bit...”

The Yuan Lian Avatar frowned, looking at the wolf demon lying in a puddle of urine.

He formed a hand seal, and the Skinning Art was activated again.

A few breaths later, the wolf demon stood up again.

However, a hint of intelligent brilliance gleamed in his eyes.

The Yuan Lian Avatar picked up the xuana-bladed axe from the ground, marveling, “It's actually forged from refined Yuanci profound Ore. This Howling Moon Wolf is truly generous.

It's just that the refining method... is a bit crude...”

Yuanci profound Ore is a rare and precious mineral.

Ordinary Cultivators, upon acquiring it, often refine it into mountain or seal-type Magical Artifacts.

After a hundred years of nurturing, there is hope for them to advance to Magic Treasures.

“It seems the grade of this Ore vein is not low.

Otherwise... Howling Moon Wolf would certainly not be so wasteful.”

Soon, the Yuan Lian Avatar swaggered into the mine.

He had observed this place for many days and already knew that the demons inside the cave were all in the capacity of mine demons.

“Wolf Thirteen, why are you taking so long to pee?

The Great Commander has given orders.

This month's Ore quota must be increased by at least thirty percent.

If you can't deliver... hmph, you'll all be sent to Wang Yue Cliff to become fertilizer for the Qilan Sweet Olive Tree!”

A mountain-like hyena-toothed pig demon nudged his thick pig snout, seemingly smelling something, and showed a disgusted look.

The wolf demon, transformed by the Yuan Lian Avatar, gave an awkward smile, nodding and bowing, “Yes, yes... I'll get to work immediately...”

After the hyena-toothed pig demon left, a hint of solemnity appeared in the Yuan Lian Avatar's eyes.

‘Strange, why is this Howling Moon Wolf's demand for Yuanci profound Ore so high?

Desperately mining, forging demon soldiers... it seems... it's a prelude to war.

Well, these are not for me to worry about.

I just need to be cautious and quietly mine...’

The Yuan Lian Avatar took a mining pick and an iron Ore basket, then walked into the deep mine.

Along the way, there were dense, abandoned mine shafts.

Many of them faintly reflected specks of silver light.

“These are abandoned mine shafts?”

The Yuan Lian Avatar was surprised.

He approached to inspect; the Yuanci profound Ore remaining in the abandoned mine shafts was of no low quality.

The worst was Low Grade.

However, no demons were mining it.

“It seems the grade of the Ore here is even higher than I expected...”

The Yuan Lian Avatar continued deeper, green demon fires fueled by demon oil were stuck to the surrounding walls, extending all the way to the depths of the mine.

The mine was a labyrinth of passages. To avoid drawing attention, he deliberately avoided the other demons and chose a rarely trodden path.

After a cup of tea's time.

The Yuan Lian Avatar's eyes burned with fervor, his heart pounding.

The Ore wall before him was embedded with abundant Yuanci profound Ore, like countless silver gems.

“Medium Grade... and even a few High Grade Ores mixed in.

This place is actually a large-scale Yuanci profound Ore vein...”

Yuanci profound Ore is rare in the world.

Especially a large-scale Ore vein, which is even unheard of.

If a Cultivator specializing in Artifact Refining were to see this, their eyes would surely pop out.

He stretched out his palm and pressed it against the Ore wall. A mysterious suction force emanated from his palm, and immediately, the Ore wall before him trembled like tofu.

Blocks of Yuanci profound Ore easily peeled away from the wall.

“This Mountain Refining Art is truly useful.

Unfortunately, my half-baked skill is less than one percent of my main body's.”

The Yuan Lian Avatar sighed.

Even so, his mining efficiency was more than a hundred times that of an ordinary demon Cultivator.

In no time, a small mountain of Ore had piled up in front of him.

Among them, there was no lack of High Grade Yuanci profound Ore.

“In just a short while, I've gathered the equivalent of an ordinary demon Cultivator's month's worth of mining.

However... it's still far from the amount of Ore my main body needs...”

The Yuan Lian Avatar pulled out his feather pouch, putting ninety-nine percent of the Ore into it, then tossed the remaining scraps of Ore into the iron Ore basket behind him.

Immediately after, he walked deeper into the mine.

At this moment, the Yuan Lian Avatar felt like a rat that had found its way into an oil jar, an indescribable joy in his heart.

He immediately made up his mind to stay for at least three years, filling his feather pouch completely before leaving.