Discovery

Zhang Tie returned to his room, his gaze sweeping over the meager contents of his storage bag, and he had already made up his mind.

Although he still had a month of rest time, his pockets were empty, and he was truly broke.

Moreover, his Body Cultivation realm had now reached the late Body Tempering stage, so mining was effortless for him, not even requiring the expenditure of spiritual power.

More crucially, his dantian was currently empty of spiritual power, and any trace of spiritual power that was just generated would be instantly absorbed by the Undying Pearl.

Therefore, Zhang Tie decided without hesitation to head to the spirit stone mining area to continue mining the next day.

The next day, as dawn broke in the east, Zhang Tie arrived at mining cave number three in the spirit stone mining area very early.

He familiarized himself with the process of collecting a storage bag and, with light steps, headed straight for the depths of the mining cave. Casually picking a fork in the path, he strode in.

Upon entering, Zhang Tie quickly took out his pickaxe, swinging his arms like a storm.

For Zhang Tie now, doing this kind of mining work was simply overkill. In about two hours, relying on his astonishing strength and skillful technique, Zhang Tie had pushed this narrow mining cave forward by another hundred feet.

As he continued to dig, the entire mining cave became increasingly dark. In these short two hours, Zhang Tie had already dug up three low-grade spirit stones.

Just then, a bold idea suddenly flashed through Zhang Tie's mind. Although there was a monitoring formation array set up here, if he dug deep enough and far enough, would the array still be able to detect him? After all, formations must have range limitations.

Furthermore, did this storage bag also hide some secrets? Otherwise, how would they determine if someone had used the spirit stones they dug up for cultivation, or if someone was sitting in the cave cultivating privately?

Zhang Tie couldn't help but recall the thrilling scene of his battle with the one-eyed ice scorpion during his last mining trip. That one-eyed ice scorpion had laid eggs here, indicating it had been in this mining cave for an unknown amount of time, yet the monitoring formation array hadn't detected it?

It was only later, when he and the one-eyed ice scorpion fought, causing intense spiritual energy fluctuations, that they were detected.

With this thought, Zhang Tie decided to take a risk. If he were discovered, it would be his first offense, and he probably wouldn't be expelled from the sect. But if his idea succeeded, it would be no different from discovering his own gold mine.

Without further ado, Zhang Tie first carefully removed the storage bag. At his current location, he dug a small hole about a meter deep and slightly larger than his fist into the rock wall close to the ground. Then, he securely placed the storage bag inside and sealed the hole tightly with stones.

Next, he began to change direction in the mining cave he had just excavated, digging forcefully towards the lower right.

He dug for over an hour, but Zhang Tie still felt uneasy, so he continued to dig down for another two hours, and then forward for another hour before finally stopping.

Zhang Tie returned to the exit of this underground mining cave, found a large rock, and used it to completely cover the cave entrance. Then, he scattered some small stones as camouflage before confidently walking out of the mining cave.

Afterward, he switched to a different branch tunnel and continued to dig. This time, Zhang Tie had good luck, and after several hours, he dug up five low-grade spirit stones.

He wrapped these spirit stones in his removed shirt and carried them in his hand, returning to the entrance of the cave he had dug earlier.

He gently swept away the loose stones, picked up the large rock, and slowly walked in. Upon entering, he placed the large rock back to cover the entrance.

Soon, Zhang Tie reached the end of the cave entrance. He eagerly sat down cross-legged, took out the spirit stones wrapped in his shirt, gripped one in each hand, and began to circulate the Five Elements Cultivation Technique, fully refining the spirit stones.

Time flowed by quietly, and after an unknown period, Zhang Tie finally slowly opened his eyes.

All five spirit stones had been absorbed and refined by him, and the Undying Pearl in his mind also seemed to have become slightly more solidified. Next, he could only wait and see if he would be discovered.

Zhang Tie returned to the main path of the mining cave, carefully marking his way along the route, and then continued to go deeper, looking for new cave entrances to mine.

Thus, Zhang Tie dug for spirit stones day after day. Every so often, he would change locations to continue his work.

Unknowingly, Zhang Tie didn't know how long he had been digging; he estimated it had been at least half a month.

It wasn't that he didn't want to continue digging, but the spirit stones he had dug up had already filled his shirt and pants.

His shirt contained over thirty spirit stones, and his pants, tied at the opening, held over eighty. Zhang Tie acted cautiously, listening to the sounds around him, found his underground cave, and then poured out the spirit stones in one go.

A pile of low-grade spirit stones, like a small mountain, lay on the ground. Zhang Tie couldn't help but swallow hard.

He carefully counted them: a total of one hundred and twenty-two low-grade spirit stones. Zhang Tie's excitement was almost uncontrollable.

After calming himself down a bit, Zhang Tie decided to leave this place. Then, he picked up four low-grade spirit stones from the pile, put on his clothes, and turned to leave.

He left the underground entrance, concealed it properly, then dug out the storage bag, placed the four low-grade spirit stones inside, and then returned along the main cave route, walking steadily.

Zhang Tie counted his steps along the way, paying attention to the number of luminous pearls on the ceiling. Before long, he walked out of mining cave number three.

He walked to the management team, handed over his storage bag and task token, and then looked up at the time formation disk. Twenty days had already passed.

Zhang Tie took back the task token, sat down cross-legged, and began to pretend to rest. At the same time, he took a high-grade grain-abstaining pill and closed his eyes to rest.

Time in the mines passed without notice. In the blink of an eye, two months had quickly gone by. On this day, Zhang Tie handed his storage bag to the management team, took back his token, and then left the spirit stone mining area.

He returned directly to his residence and collapsed onto his bed, starting to recall the fruitful gains of his past two months.

Over these two months, he had absorbed nearly three hundred low-grade spirit stones. The Undying Pearl had also finally been refilled with energy, transforming into a crystal clear and solid small green bead, quietly floating in his mind.

It was just that this bead seemed a little larger than before. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, as he had absorbed such a massive amount of spiritual energy this time.

At the same time, Zhang Tie also took advantage of this rare opportunity to raise his Qi Cultivation to the peak of the sixth layer of Qi Refining. He was filled with anticipation, hoping that next time he used the Undying Pearl to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Undying Body, he could break through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining in one go.

Compared to the immense improvement in his cultivation, the gains in spirit stones seemed insignificant now, almost negligible.

However, even so, every time Zhang Tie thought of this, he would wake up laughing in the middle of the night from his dreams.

With the Undying Pearl full of energy and him having spiritual power, his next step was to start his money-making plan!