Several days later, one night.
Above Azure Stone Lake, not far from Azure Stone Mountain, a middle-aged man arrived, standing atop a black flying boat.
He held a map in his hand, comparing the locations marked on it while occasionally looking down at Azure Stone Lake and muttering to himself.
"The Ling Clan's Mystic Water Iron Mine should be here."
As soon as the words fell, he crushed a token engraved with the two characters "Hundred Spirits."
Elsewhere, within the Mystic Water Iron Mine.
Ling Ruxian, who was sitting quietly cross-legged atop a Meditation Mat, was startled by the sound of a token at his waist—also engraved with the words "Hundred Spirits"—shattering. Glancing at the broken token, he muttered inwardly.
It should be someone from the Hundred Spirits Sect, here to collect this year's share from the mine.
He immediately rose to his feet and left the mine tunnel.
The moment he shot out from Azure Stone Lake, he saw a middle-aged man standing atop a flying boat in the sky, emanating a formidable pressure.
Ling Ruxian hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and patted the Beast Taming Pouch at his waist. He summoned an Immortal Spirit Crane from within, mounted it, and flew up beside the middle-aged man standing on the black flying boat.
Ling Ruxian examined the middle-aged man before him, his expression shifting slightly. He cupped his hands and respectfully asked,
"Senior, are you from the Hundred Spirits Sect?"
The middle-aged man spoke coldly. "Mm. My name is Zhong Ming. For the next nine years, the remaining forty-five thousand catties of Mystic Water Iron Ore that your Ling Clan must provide the sect will all be collected by me."
Ling Ruxian nodded lightly without saying much. He took out a Storage Bag from his robes