Sudden Wealth

Upon reaching the plaza outside the spirit stone mine cave entrance, Zhang Tie's tightly strung nerves finally relaxed, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

He had been feeling uneasy, fearing that deep within the mine, these people might learn about the three to four hundred low-grade spirit stones hidden in his storage bag, as well as the three mysterious spheres. He worried they might have the wicked idea to silence him and split the spoils.

Fortunately, now that he was on the plaza, with its conspicuous surveillance magic array, he figured they wouldn't dare make a move. Only then did Zhang Tie feel at ease.

"It's like this, after I killed that monster, I also got some things from its cave," Zhang Tie said, respectfully handing the storage bag to the long-haired youth.

The long-haired youth took the storage bag and swept his divine sense through it. His expression shifted slightly, a flicker of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He then looked up at Zhang Tie before him. "You've done well. You can go back now. Your reward will be delivered to you."

Zhang Tie quickly cupped his fists in a salute and replied, "Yes."

He then turned and left the plaza, walking briskly towards the teleportation array he had arrived on.

Zhang Tie soon returned to his room. Although it was noon, he felt physically and mentally exhausted.

The great battle had brought him to the brink of death, a true escape from the jaws of death. Facing the long-haired youth had required extreme caution, like walking on thin ice, leaving him utterly drained.

"I'm not refining anymore, not refining. I need to sleep well today." With that, he dove onto the bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Zhang Tie slept until the evening of the second day.

He slowly woke up, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Stepping out of his room and looking at the darkening sky, Zhang Tie couldn't help but think about his reward.

Nearly four hundred low-grade spirit stones, the monster's corpse, and the three spheres. He estimated that the three spheres were most likely the monster's eggs and were definitely valuable.

Calculating it all, a reward of a hundred spirit stones should be well within reason.

As Zhang Tie thought, he unconsciously chuckled.

After a while, he gradually calmed his emotions, then turned back into his room, closed the door, got on the bed, and sat cross-legged to continue cultivating the Five Elements Magic Art.

At noon on the second day, while Zhang Tie was cultivating, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Is Junior Brother Zhang Tie here?" a young voice asked.

Zhang Tie got out of bed and walked to the door. He opened it to find a young man in a white robe, with sharp features and bright eyes, standing before him.

"I am Zhang Tie. Greetings, Senior Brother," Zhang Tie said, quickly cupping his fists in a bow, his attitude extremely respectful.

"My name is Gao Jing. I am an inner sect disciple. I've come today to deliver your reward from the mining area," Gao Jing said, a hint of arrogance in his tone. After speaking, he took out a storage bag and casually tossed it to Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie caught it and put it away without looking. He then cupped his fists again. "Thank you, Senior Brother Gao, and thank the sect for its cultivation."

"Also, because your contribution this time was significant, the External Affairs Hall has exempted you from your tasks for the next year. I hope you will cultivate even harder in the future and enter the inner sect as soon as possible." With that, he summoned his flying sword and soared into the sky, riding it.

Zhang Tie was a bit stunned. His outer sect tasks for a year had been waived. This was truly an immense surprise.

Overjoyed and unable to contain himself, Zhang Tie quickly pushed open the door, closed it, got back on the bed, sat cross-legged, and eagerly opened the storage bag he had just received.

Inside the storage bag was a small pile of spirit stones. Zhang Tie counted them carefully. There were exactly one hundred, just as he had guessed.

Next, Zhang Tie saw two porcelain bottles. He took out the two small bottles and opened them, sniffing the contents. They were two bottles of Hundred Herb Pills, with nine pills in each bottle. This was almost equivalent to two years' worth of resources. The sect was truly generous.

Finally, there was a magic artifact shaped like a ruler. Although it was only a low-grade magic artifact, its value was at least fifty spirit stones. It was free, so why not take it?