Coming to Collect a Debt

Shen Jingchuan then plunged into the deep well from which the Spirit Vein was extracted.

The bottom of the well was empty; the Spirit Marrow had been taken away, and the Spirit Stones on the four walls had been almost completely dug out.

He released his Divine Sense to explore into the distance, and found some scattered fragments, all in places he couldn't reach.

He was too lazy to bother with those things, and he didn't even want them anymore. He flew up on his sword.

Since the Spirit Marrow was taken away, it must be in Tian Chengye's hands.

He found an empty room, sat down in a chair, and took out Tian Chengye's Ring.

The master was dead, and the Divine Sense imprint had dissipated, so he easily probed inside.

Upon seeing this, he raised an eyebrow.

The Ring was completely filled with large chunks of raw Spirit Stone ore.

He understood that the Spirit Stones in the outer room and a half were not enough to fit in the Ring; the rest were all stuffed into it.

Without hesitation, Shen Jingchuan used his Divine Sense to throw all the large Spirit Stones into the light sphere in mid-air, allowing the Ring to absorb them.

He turned the Ring over to its innermost part and paused.

A piece of Spirit Marrow, about ten feet long, lay quietly, warm and lustrous white, the core of the First-Tier Spirit Vein beneath the Wang Household's land.

He collected the Spirit Marrow separately, intending to bury it underground in his spatial dimension for nurturing.

Then, he opened the two Rings belonging to Tian Zheng and Tian Ming.

It was also filled with large pieces of Spirit Stones. How many did they dig out?

He took them out as before and threw them all into the light sphere, thinking to himself, "This time, should it be enough to upgrade the Ring?"

Not long after, he felt the entire space suddenly shake.

After waiting for a full ten minutes, the space finally quieted down. With a thought, he took Little Black Treading Snow into the Ring.

He looked up and froze.

The space expanded again, and its boundaries broadened considerably. At a glance, its diameter was a full eight li, or about four kilometers.

The current diameter of the space is four times that of before; I didn't expect it to be so much larger.

Just as Shen Jingchuan took out the Spirit Marrow, Xian'er floated over.

"You brat, how many Spirit Stones did you feed the Heaven and Earth Ring this time?"

Shen Jingchuan smiled.

"The entire First-Tier Spirit Vein, all they dug out were large, uncut chunks of raw ore, which I fed to my Ring."

"Sister Xian'er, look at this again."

He held the Spirit Marrow in his hands, Xian'er glanced at it and nodded.

"Hmm, not bad, it's intact. Looks like you succeeded."

Shen Jingchuan cupped his hands in greeting.

"Hehe, lucky me, lucky me."

Xian'er scoffed.

"You've learned to be humble now. Come on, I'll take you to bury it."

She floated ahead, arriving at a place about a kilometer away from where he first buried his vein.

"Bury him here."

Shen Jingchuan obeyed without question, drew his magic sword, and dug a large, deep pit.

"Okay, that's about enough."

He carefully placed the Spirit Marrow into the pit, covered it with soil, and tamped it down.

Xian'er nodded. "Alright, that's enough."

After burying the Spirit Marrow, Shen Jingchuan took out the three newly acquired Rings, opened them one by one, and poured out their contents onto the ground.

There are nearly 90,000 Spirit Stone stones alone.

It seems that Tian Chengye brought this specifically to secure the Spirit Vein.

Besides Spirit Stones, there were also a large number of spirit herbs, spirit medicines, pills, and various talismans.

The pills are mainly first-tier Qi Condensing Pills and Qi Gathering Pills, which are all of low quality.

He didn't recognize a few of the bottles, so he called Xian'er to take a look.

Xian'er pointed them out to him one by one.

"This is the Origin Nurturing Pill, used by Foundation Establishment cultivators for daily cultivation to strengthen their true essence."

"This is Spirit Gathering Pill; it can quickly replenish Spiritual Power when it is depleted."

"This bottle contains Spirit Nourishing Pill, which gently nourishes the Divine Sense; it's a level higher than your Spirit Concentrating Pill."

There were also several talismans, all of which were mid-grade second rank: Blazing Sun Talisman, Body Protection Talisman, Divine Movement Talisman, and an Earth Escape Talisman.

Turning to the very bottom, inside a jade box, lay a single elixir.

Xian'er glanced at it and smiled.

"You should recognize this one. This is a low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill."

"You don't need this right now."

Even if you put it into a light sphere and upgrade it by one level, it will only be a mid-grade item.

She paused.

"But it'll be useful to keep it. If it's upgraded to a mid-grade, it'll be just about enough for those around me to Foundation Establishment in the future."

Shen Jingchuan nodded.

With a thought, he picked up all the items he had seized, except for the Spirit Stones.

Pills, Law Artifacts, and even the Foundation Establishment Pill were all thrown into the light sphere in mid-air, where they were all enveloped by the green light.

In the past, he would have had to think twice. He was afraid that if there were too many upgrades, the energy in the light orb would be insufficient, and the Ring would be depleted and shrink back.

He wasn't worried at all now.

The energy gained from this wave of spoils is sufficient; even if there's a slight loss initially, such a large area won't cause any fundamental damage.

He then took in his surroundings.

The space has expanded, but the Spiritual Qi hasn't increased accordingly; in fact, it's thinner than before, as if it's been diluted by this eight-mile stretch of land.

He wasn't in a hurry. The newly buried Spirit Vein would slowly release Spiritual Qi, and over time it would naturally become richer.

In the nearby spiritual field, Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua were squatting in the ground, busy with their work.

The two sisters pressed the seeds of spirit medicine and various kinds of spiritual grass seeds into the soil one by one.

Shen Jingchuan walked over and rolled up his sleeves.

"I'll lend a hand too."

He joined the two well-behaved girls in planting the plants.

Xian'er floated on the ridge of the field, pointing things out from the side.

"Bury this row shallower, water that row with some stream water, and cover it evenly with soil..."

As Shen Jingchuan worked, he listened attentively and learned a great deal about Spirit Plants.

After finishing his work, Shen Jingchuan walked to the edge of the spirit field and sat down.

Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua approached him from either side.

Su Qinghua pointed to a corner in the distance.

"Brother, the space is so much bigger now! We don't feel cramped at all inside."

"Those things piled up over there, were they all prepared by you for the mountain stronghold?"

Shen Jingchuan glanced at it and nodded.

"Um."

He figured it was time to go back. His next trip would be to the Zhao Household to retrieve the resources he was entitled to. He didn't need to go to the Qi Kingdom's markets this time; what he had on hand was enough for him for a while.

He chatted with the two girls for a while longer before they went back to their own cultivation.

Finally, he took out a lot of Cultivation Resources and pushed them in front of the two sisters.

"Take these and use them freely, don't be stingy."

Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua were overjoyed as they looked at the pile of pills in front of them.

This was the first time in their lives they had seen so many nice things. Remembering how easily her brother could produce so much, they decided they would no longer be stingy this time.

Shen Jingchuan sat cross-legged and began circulating his Cultivation Method, not knowing how many cycles he had completed.

When he finished his practice and probed outwards with his Divine Sense, the sun had already passed noon.

He left the space with a single thought.

When he arrived at the deep well from which the Spirit Vein was drawn, he looked around.

With a wave of his hand, he knocked down several empty houses nearby, and also knocked down the well curb, covering the pit opening with rubble and bricks, roughly concealing it.

After doing all this, he summoned Little Black with a Divine Sense.

He mounted the horse and patted her neck.

"Let's go to the Zhao Household."

Little Black took off from the ground, soaring into the air and flying in the direction left by Zhao Jiufeng.

The Zhao Household wasn't far away; at Little Black's pace, it would only take him fifteen minutes to get there.

From a distance, a small hill rises gently, surrounded by a wall. It is about the same size as the Wang Household's, but looks quieter, with not a single person in sight on the street.

Shen Jingchuan had Little Black land far away from the Zhao Household, as he didn't want to attract too much attention.

Shen Jingchuan dismounted, and with a Divine Sense, he put Little Black back into his spatial storage, then released Big Black.

As soon as Big Black came out, it shook its head, snorted, and rubbed its big head against him.

Shen Jingchuan mounted his horse without urging it on, letting it trot slowly toward the Zhao Household's gate.

As soon as Shen Jingchuan dismounted, a man came out from the mountain gate to greet him; it was Zhao Jiufeng.