107: Arrival at the mining area

At noon, the scorching sun hung high, and the earth was baked hot.

Situ Jun led a team of men stationed at the Spirit Stone Mine Tunnel on horseback, heading towards the mining area in a grand procession.

On the way, his heart stirred, and he checked the System:

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for helping Hong Mei step onto the threshold of cultivation. Rewarding the Host with 500 heavenly luck value.]

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host. Hong Mei's favorability has reached 80. Rewarding the Host with one Advanced lucky draw chance.]

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host. Your Cultivation has progressed, stepping half a foot into the Late Golden Core Stage.]

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host. The Dragon-Phoenix Grand Derivation True Scripture has been promoted to a Profound-grade high-rank Cultivation Technique. The influence of the Cultivation Technique on the Host has increased; please be advised.]

Situ Jun was stunned, feeling his blood and Qi surging throughout his body as a stream of heat coursed through him. For some reason, Lin Suwan's figure surfaced in his mind again, and he actually found himself missing her.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed this yearning, and muttered silently:

"Lucky draw!"

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining a qiankun stone (can be smelted into space-type Magic Treasures to increase the size of the treasure's space).]

A flash of pleasant surprise crossed Situ Jun's eyes. This qiankun stone had come at the perfect time; it could be used to increase the space of his lifebound ring.

He quietly took out the qiankun stone without changing his expression and placed it into his lifebound ring.

Then, his mind and spiritual power surged simultaneously, manifesting a furnace exuding an ancient aura within the ring. He slowly circulated his spiritual power, carefully injecting it into the furnace, attempting to refine the qiankun stone.

He refined it as he traveled, but the qiankun stone seemed to possess great resilience. Even when he reached the mining area, it remained intact, leaving Situ Jun feeling helpless and speechless.

After a moment of thought, he left a wisp of his mind to construct a basic Formation with Spirit Stones to continue the smelting, then ignored it and shifted his attention to the upcoming mining area affairs.

When Situ Jun arrived at the Spirit Stone mine, Zhu Changpo was already waiting at the entrance, his face covered in a fawning smile.

"My Lord, you've finally arrived!"

He greeted him with a broad smile.

"How is the situation over at the Mine Tunnel?"

Situ Jun asked, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"In response to my Lord, everything is proceeding according to plan. Furthermore, we have discovered a very unusual Ore!"

As Zhu Changpo spoke, he pulled out a black, unremarkable Ore from his robes and respectfully handed it to Situ Jun.

Situ Jun took the Ore and examined it closely, his brow furrowing slightly as a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes:

"Do you know what Materials this is?"

"This... your Subordinate does not know either, I just felt it was very special."

Zhu Changpo smiled awkwardly, the expression on his face somewhat stiff.

Situ Jun rubbed the Ore in his hand; the patterns on the surface felt strange to his touch, as if concealing some ancient runes.

He held the Ore up, scrutinizing it against the sunlight. He saw that the jet-black surface actually gave off a faint, deep blue halo, as if a mysterious power was flowing within it.

"In which Mine Tunnel was this mined?" Situ Jun continued to ask.

Zhu Changpo quickly replied:

"This was mined from the Goldflame Stone Mine Tunnel. It had been discarded in a waste yard outside the tunnel. This time..."

His face was full of embarrassment.

Situ Jun's gaze was deep as he tightly gripped the Ore and said in a heavy voice:

"Pass down the order: mining is suspended for today. Gather all the veteran miners from the tunnel; I want to ask them if they have seen this kind of Ore before."

Zhu Changpo complied and left.

Half an hour later, in the Goldflame Stone Mine Tunnel not far from the Spirit Stone mine, the sounds of shouting rose one after another.

By the time Situ Jun arrived, over a hundred veteran miners with weathered faces and calloused hands were brought before him.

These veteran miners bore the marks of time; the wrinkles on their faces were like the ravines in a Mine Tunnel, and the callouses on their hands were as thick as hard rock.

"Has everyone else mined this kind of stone?"

Situ Jun held up the black, unremarkable stone and asked loudly.

The crowd immediately began whispering and discussing amongst themselves, their noisy voices echoing in the Mine Tunnel.

Before long, one of the white-haired elders stared at the Ore, a few hints of doubt flashing in his cloudy eyes as he spoke:

"My Lord, this... this stone should be a dud Goldflame Stone. We can mine about three to five stones like this in a year. They are all thrown in the waste yard or the mountain gullies near the tunnel. The stone houses where the miners live might also have some mixed in."

Hearing this, Situ Jun felt a wave of helplessness.

He knew in his heart that this stone had the property of faintly absorbing light, and it was very likely to be netherworld profound gold, a type of mutated Ore.

If it really was netherworld profound gold, it would definitely be a rare and precious material for refining Spiritual Artifacts or Magic Treasures with dark attributes.

Moreover, his spatial ring needed this kind of yin-attribute material to enhance the stability of the space.

Just then, the sudden sound of rapid and chaotic hoofbeats came from a distance, breaking the brief peace within the Mine Tunnel.

A guard came galloping on horseback. When he reached them, he suddenly flipped off his horse, approached Zhu Changpo, and said hurriedly:

"My Lord! The Lord Guardian of the Spirit Stone mine is asking when to hand over the stationing documents. He has been dispatched to guard the Frontier Town!"

Zhu Changpo frowned, a flash of displeasure in his eyes as he said in a low voice:

"From now on, there is only Lord Situ here. Everyone should call me Manager Zhu."

After speaking, he turned to look at Situ Jun, an inquiring look in his eyes:

"My Lord..."

Situ Jun's eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice:

"You stay here, find these stones, and send them to the Spirit Stone mining area. I will go to the Spirit Stone mining area first to handle the handover."

Having said that, he turned and mounted his horse, galloping toward the Spirit Stone mining area at full speed.

"What are you all standing there for? Go dig these stones out of the gullies, tear down the houses and find them! This time, the reward will be the body tempering pills used by Cultivators!"

Zhu Changpo scolded loudly.

Hearing that there were body tempering pills as a reward, the miners all beamed with joy. They picked up their pickaxes and swarmed toward the waste yard and the gullies, preparing to search for that special stone.

Situ Jun galloped back to the Spirit Stone mining area. The handover talismans and command tokens were already spread out on a makeshift wooden table.

The original guardian of the Spirit Stone mining area was a middle-aged Cultivator with a resolute face. During the handover, his gaze lingered on Situ Jun for a moment, and he said meaningfully:

"The Spirit Stone Mine Tunnel has seemed peaceful over the years, but in reality, there are undercurrents surging. Do not underestimate those abandoned mineral veins and the covetousness of the surrounding Cultivators."

Before his voice had even faded, a deafening sound of a cave-in suddenly erupted from the direction of the Spirit Stone Mine Tunnel. Immediately after, the roar of a wild beast soared into the sky, its voice filled with violence and ferocity.

Situ Jun's pupils constricted, and the spiritual power throughout his body instantly circulated frantically, like a raging dragon churning, as if it were about to burst out of his body.

"That should be a Spirit Beast hiding in the mineral vein to consume Spiritual Qi. There are quite a few such Spirit Beasts or wild beasts in the abandoned veins."

The middle-aged Cultivator said in a calm tone.