Mystic Water Iron Mine

Because of the Ink Cloud Poisonous Snake's earlier sneak attack, Ling Pengyun feared that another Demon Serpent might still be hiding in the nest. He cautiously extended his divine sense inside. Only after sensing no aura within did he follow the nest passage deeper inside.

As for the Azure Scale Water Python's corpse, it was far too enormous—three zhang long and as thick as a millstone. His Storage Bag was not large enough to hold it, so he planned to scour the Demon Serpent's nest first, then drag the corpse away when he returned.

It was rather strange. Although the entrance to the Azure Scale Water Python's nest lay at the bottom of the Underground River, once the passage extended beneath the cliff wall beside the river, it sloped upward.

After traveling upward for roughly a dozen zhang, the water vanished. He proceeded another several dozen zhang before Ling Pengyun finally followed the passage into the Demon Serpent's true nest.

Ling Pengyun summoned a fireball for light.

The Demon Serpent's nest had likely been excavated by the serpent itself. It was circular in structure, with a space of only around a dozen zhang. Though the ground was uneven and pitted, there were not many loose stones.

The moment Ling Pengyun entered the nest, his gaze turned toward the direction from which he had previously sensed spiritual energy.

There, he saw another passage within the nest, roughly one zhang wide.

Now that he was closer, Ling Pengyun sensed that the spiritual energy flowing from that inner passage was extremely pure Water Spiritual Energy, untainted by any of the other Five Elements spiritual energies.

"A water-element spirit object?" Ling Pengyun said joyfully.

Ling Pengyun's primary cultivation art was the water-attributed Azure Water Art. To him, water-attributed spirit objects were far better than the other four kinds of Five Elements Spirit Objects.

Unable to wait any longer, he immediately entered the passage, which was more than a zhang wide.

After advancing nearly a hundred zhang, he still had not reached its end.

Yet the Water Spiritual Energy in the surroundings grew ever purer and denser, making Ling Pengyun increasingly eager to discover what spirit object lay beyond the passage.

After another dozen or so zhang, the passage finally came to an end.

There were no spirit plants here, only shattered blue iron chunks scattered across the ground.

Seeing that the spiritual energy that had drawn him here was emanating from those blue iron chunks, and recalling that he had seen this type of iron before, Ling Pengyun's brows immediately furrowed.

He picked up a blue iron chunk and inspected it closely. Then he used the Black Iron Flying Sword to strike it, producing a harsh clang of metal against metal.

Yet the point struck by the flying sword was only slightly dented.

Such hardness confirmed Ling Pengyun's suspicions.

Something capable of withstanding an attack from a First Grade Middle Rank Black Iron Sword was certainly no ordinary object.

After pondering for several breaths, he cried out in shock.

"Mystic Water Iron Ore!"

His eyes shifted as he summoned a ball of flame. Only then did he discover that the entire area around the end of the passage was filled with Mystic Water Iron Ore.

"A Mystic Water Iron Mine!" Ling Pengyun cried out again.

The corners of his lips rose unconsciously, and he burst into laughter.

Mystic Water Iron Ore was a First Rank Middle Grade spirit ore. Even the lowest-quality Mystic Water Iron Ore, after refinement, could be purified into First Rank Middle Grade Mystic Water Iron, which could be used to forge First Grade Middle Rank Magic Tools.

The higher-quality Mystic Water Iron Ore deeper in the mine could, after refinement, serve as material for forging First Rank High Grade water-element magic tools.

There might even be Mystic Water Iron Matrix, spirit iron that could serve as the primary material for second-grade magic tools.

Even the poorest First Rank Middle Grade Mystic Water Iron Ore could sell for five spirit stones per jin after being refined into Mystic Water Iron.

If it were forged into magic tools, it would be worth even more.

A mine meant spirit stones. With enough spirit stones, Ling Pengyun would no longer need to hesitate over the expensive Spirit Peaches, which were more effective than Yellow Sprout Pills!

"I just wonder how large this mine is?" Ling Pengyun said in delighted surprise, his eyes shining.

Mines in the Cultivation World were generally divided into five grades. From smallest to largest, they were remnant veins, miniature veins, small veins, medium veins, and large veins.

A remnant vein had no guaranteed size. It might extend only one zhang, or even a single inch. Any mine within a scale of one hundred zhang could be called a remnant vein.

Small, medium, and large mines each had their own standards and could only be called such upon reaching a certain scale.

But to Ling Pengyun personally, even if this Mystic Water Iron Mine were merely a broken remnant vein extending only one zhang, he would still be overjoyed.

That would mean he could earn at least a hundred spirit stones from it.

Naturally, he hoped the mine would be as large as possible.

To uncover the answer, he only needed to probe with his divine sense.

Ling Pengyun spread his divine sense through the surroundings, only to discover that everything within the sixty-five-zhang range he could examine was Mystic Water Iron Ore. There was not a single ordinary stone, which showed that this Profound Water Mineral Vein was no small one and that its mineral reserves were exceptionally rich.

"At this scale, it is at least a relatively good miniature mine. Who knows? This mine may exceed one hundred zhang in size and reach the scale of a small mine!" Ling Pengyun said in ecstatic surprise.

Yet after only Three Breaths of joy, Ling Pengyun's smile faded, and he began to mutter to himself.

"With so much mineral wealth, should I keep it for myself, or report it to the clan?"

Everyone had selfish desires. Ling Pengyun was no saint.

"If I keep it for myself, I can indeed become rich—at least several thousand spirit stones richer. But merely mining the Mystic Water Iron Ore within this sixty-five-zhang area would probably take me years alone. If I wanted to refine the raw ore into Mystic Water Iron, it would take even longer. Without spending ten years wholeheartedly digging ore, this grand plan of getting rich would likely never be completed!"

"But this ten-year plan to get rich would also mean that my cultivation would not advance an inch during those ten years!"

"I already have no confidence in reaching Qi Training Completion before turning sixty. If I delay another ten years, then even with several thousand spirit stones to buy cultivation resources, I likely would have little hope of reaching Qi Training Completion before sixty!"

"If I report it to the clan, I will not need to take part in the mining, but I will receive only ten percent of this mine's profits!"

"Judging from the richness of this mine within the range of my divine sense, it is highly likely to stretch for a hundred zhang!"

"A Mystic Water Iron Mine a hundred zhang long is likely worth over ten thousand spirit stones. To give that up..."

After countless predecessors had explored the Cultivation World over countless years, it had long been determined that cultivators had the greatest chance of reaching Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty. After sixty, their vitality and blood declined. Unless they used spirit objects to replenish their vitality and blood, their chances of reaching Foundation Establishment would become extremely low.

According to the Ling Clan's rules, if someone reported the discovery of a mine and the clan mined it, the discoverer could receive only ten percent of the mine's proceeds. This had long been established.

Facing these two difficult choices, Ling Pengyun hesitated for nearly a hundred breaths before finally deciding to report the mine to the clan. Though he would receive fewer benefits this way, he could obtain a considerable sum of resources without lifting a finger.

At the same time, this merit could pave the way for him to assume a high position in the clan in the future.

Having made up his mind, Ling Pengyun did not intend to linger. He gathered the hundred jin of Profound Water ore scattered across the ground, intending to use it later to commission a Weapon Refiner to forge magic tools.

Afterward, he followed the passage by which he had arrived, left the place, returned to the Demon Serpent's nest, and then followed the entrance passage out into the Underground River.

In the Underground River, Ling Pengyun looked at the enormous Azure Scale Water Python corpse by the nest entrance, his expression shifting as he secretly guessed.

"This Azure Scale Water Python must have broken through to this realm because of the dense Water Spiritual Energy within that Mystic Water Iron Mine. If it had been given another few years, or even a dozen years, it might have used the mine's spiritual energy to cultivate to the Qi Training Late Stage!"

"It was its misfortune to encounter me, but my fortune to encounter it!"

"Still, I must admit that this Demon Serpent's luck was not bad. To find a mine in such a place truly was a heaven-sent opportunity!"

Ling Pengyun said with a smile, then dragged the Demon Serpent's corpse and swam outward with the current of the Underground River.

When he had entered the Underground River, he had traveled against the current. On his return, he traveled with it, and his speed increased considerably.

In less than One Incense Stick's time, Ling Pengyun emerged from Azure Stone Lake and returned to Azure Stone Village.

He placed the Demon Serpent's corpse before the villagers, reassuring them that the Demon Serpent in Azure Stone Lake had been removed and telling them not to worry. He left five jin of Demon Serpent flesh for Ling Dong as a reward for luring out the Demon Serpent, informed Ling Dong that he would be leaving for a while, and told him to lead the Lingxiao Guard in strengthening their patrols around Azure Stone Village. Only then did he return to Azure Stone Mountain.

Once he entered Azure Stone Mountain, he placed the Demon Serpent's corpse inside a cave halfway up the mountain. He summoned a large mass of ice and froze the corpse, preventing its flesh and blood from rotting while he was away.

Afterward, he climbed to the mountaintop and used the Cloud Rain Technique to water the six mu of Spirit Fields. He activated Azure Stone Mountain's Mountain Protection Formation with spirit stones, then cast the Light Body Technique upon himself and hurried toward Lingxiao Mountain, the Ling Clan's ancestral mountain, intending to report the mine to the clan.

He was somewhat uneasy about using the Thousand Mile Transmission Talisman in his possession to notify the clan, fearing that it might be intercepted by another cultivator and allow news of the mine to spread.

Thanks to: Dream... World for the reward

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