Medium-grade Spirit Stone

Zhang Tie's entire body was currently surrounded and wrapped by a layer of earthy-yellow spiritual power. That spiritual power resembled a hazy gauze garment, closely connecting him to the surrounding soil.

His whole person seemed to merge with this soil. That feeling was somewhat similar to walking in water, only the resistance he faced was far from being as immense as in water.

As he continued to descend and the distance gradually increased, he keenly felt the concentration of surrounding spiritual power rising significantly. In his heart, he could not help but ponder secretly: It seems Jiang Yun that brat spoke the truth; a spiritual vein definitely exists down here. If I can make some gains, it will still count as an added layer of security within this mystic realm.

After descending a distance of more than ten zhang, Zhang Tie's figure suddenly came to a halt because he encountered a layer of hard rock. Zhang Tie was far too familiar with this kind of rock; this was precisely the kind of rock commonly found in spirit stone mines.

He swiftly took out the spirit tool gloves and put them on his hands, a trace of excitement and anticipation flashing across his eyes as he thought: Let me see just what the quality of this spiritual vein is; if it is a high-grade spiritual vein, then I have truly struck the jackpot.

Then he began to excavate without the slightest hesitation. Zhang Tie took out another Storage Pouch, stuffing all the excavated rock fragments into it. Under the powerful might of the middle-grade spirit tool, excavating rock was not quite as easy as digging tofu, but it was practically the same; it was simply using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Zhang Tie cast an illumination talisman, and the soft radiance instantly illuminated the surroundings. While excavating, he advanced deeper along the direction where the spiritual Qi concentration was higher, mentally calculating the distance.

Half an hour passed in a flash, and he had already dug dozens of zhang deep. During this excavation process, he actually dug out dozens of low-grade spirit stones.

If he were back in the Flowing Cloud Sect, Zhang Tie surely would have danced with joy. However, at this moment, he merely furrowed his brows slightly, feeling somewhat unsatisfied in his heart. Still, disdain aside, what needed to be collected still had to be gathered; after all, even a mosquito's legs were meat no matter how small.

In the blink of an eye, another quarter of an hour passed. Zhang Tie estimated in his heart that this was eight-tenths likely a low-grade spiritual vein. Just as he was preparing to return by the same route, he suddenly saw a diamond-shaped crystal the size of a pigeon's egg on the mine wall.

Although this spirit stone was slightly smaller in volume, it looked even purer and clearer. Zhang Tie's heart stirred, and he quickly stepped forward, using one hand to forcefully pry it out.

Even through the glove, Zhang Tie could clearly feel the vast and pure spiritual power contained within it. Zhang Tie did not hesitate to remove his right-hand glove, his mind stirring as he circulated the five-elements cultivation technique, beginning to refine and absorb this spirit stone.

Very quickly, that torrential spiritual power surged wildly into Zhang Tie's body like a breached, turbulent flood. Zhang Tie only felt his entire body's meridians filled with this powerful spiritual power, his heart brimming with pleasant surprise: This is definitely not a low-grade spirit stone; it should be a medium-grade spirit stone!

Zhang Tie wore an expression of excitement, having already ascertained that this was definitely a medium-grade spiritual vein, and the piece in his hand was precisely a medium-grade spirit stone. He carefully put away the spirit stone, put his gloves back on, and continued digging deeper.

As he continuously deepened, the surrounding spiritual Qi concentration grew higher and higher, and the medium-grade spirit stones he discovered became more and more numerous. After digging for roughly another hour or so, Zhang Tie decided to return to the surface for no other reason than the fact that his Storage Pouch was already packed with rock fragments.

Zhang Tie headed back along the path he had taken, calculating his harvest this time in his heart: With these medium-grade spirit stones, I can have a few more ounces of confidence in this mystic realm.

He quickly reached the entrance of the mine cave. He once again took out an Earth Evasion Talisman, infusing spiritual power into it to activate it, and then a ball of earthy-yellow spiritual power similar to the previous one instantly wrapped around his entire body. Under Zhang Tie's control, he rapidly ascended toward the ground.

The moment Zhang Tie poked his head out from underground, Jiang Yun, who was sitting cross-legged in cultivation, opened his eyes, cast his gaze over, and then stood up and walked over to ask: "Brother Zhang, did you discover a spiritual vein?"

Zhang Tie's thoughts raced as he replied: "Naturally I discovered one. I tried digging for a stretch and found only low-grade spirit stones."

"Then viewed this way, the spiritual vein down here should merely be a branch vein. The dense spiritual Qi here ought to be the effect of this massive Spirit Gathering Formation," Jiang Yun said.

"Brother Jiang, what are your plans?" Zhang Tie asked.

"I plan to cultivate right here. Not only is the spiritual Qi dense here, but it is also much safer compared to the outside world. The token is still in Brother Zhang's hands; as long as Brother Zhang remains safe and sound, I presume I won't have any trouble either." Jiang Yun smiled and continued: "Moreover, I wish to borrow the dense spiritual Qi here to try and see if I can achieve Foundation Establishment."

"Could it be that Brother Jiang has a Foundation Establishment Pill on hand?" Zhang Tie asked.

"Brother Zhang, what kind of joke is this? A Foundation Establishment Pill is not Chinese cabbage to be found everywhere; how could it be so easy to acquire? And even if I had one, I wouldn't bring it into the mystic realm to present someone else with a grand gift." Jiang Yun replied with a wry smile.

"Then without a Foundation Establishment Pill, how will you establish your foundation? Could it be that Brother Jiang possesses Heavenly Spiritual Roots?!" Zhang Tie asked doubtfully, a trace of suspicion flashing in his eyes.

"Brother Zhang, please don't poke fun. If I truly possessed Heavenly Spiritual Roots, how would I ever come to this mystic realm? I would have long since been put into storage as a treasure by the sect. Although there is no Foundation Establishment Pill, there are tier-3 spiritual herbs here. Although directly swallowing spiritual herbs has certain drawbacks—making the spiritual Qi insufficiently pure and causing a massive loss of the herbs' medicinal efficacy—since there are so many tier-3 spiritual herbs here and they cannot be carried away, I might as well give it a bold try." Jiang Yun replied.

Hearing these words, Zhang Tie's heart could not help but stir. Keeping his expression unchanged, he slowly said: "Then I wish Brother Jiang success in your Foundation Establishment."

"Thank you for your auspicious words, Brother Zhang. What are Brother Zhang's plans next?" Jiang Yun asked.

"I will adjust my condition here for a few days, and then follow the coordinates on the map to explore the location marked by the circle."

Jiang Yun nodded and said nothing more, returning to sit upon the rush cushion as he began to close his eyes and cultivate.

Zhang Tie walked over to a nearby spot, took out the Storage Pouch filled with rock fragments, and dumped all the rocks inside out in one go. Just as he was preparing to make another trip down, he suddenly remembered something. He took out the Storage Pouches he had just looted from the Joyful Union Sect brothers along with one of his own, and thoroughly sorted through the items inside. In this way, he ended up with three vacant Storage Pouches.

Following that, he walked over in front of Jiang Yun. Sensing the sound of footsteps approaching, Jiang Yun hastily opened his eyes, stood up, and asked: "Brother Zhang, is there still something you need?"

"I wonder if Brother Jiang might still have spare Earth Evasion Talismans, illumination talismans, and Storage Pouches? I would like to borrow them for a use," Zhang Tie said.

Seeing this, Jiang Yun swiftly produced three Storage Pouches. After briefly sorting and organizing them, he finally tossed one Storage Pouch over to Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie caught the Storage Pouch and opened it to take a look; inside were five Earth Evasion Talismans and twenty illumination talismans. Zhang Tie cupped his fists in thanks, then turned and left, returning to the spot where he had just come up.

Zhang Tie skillfully drove the Earth Evasion Talisman, returning with familiar ease to the spirit stone mine cave from earlier. Swiftly walking to the very end and casting another illumination talisman, he continued mining away in full swing.

Within just those past few hours, Zhang Tie had already dug out more than fifty pieces of medium-grade spirit stones alone. Zhang Tie thought to himself that he should take advantage of this rare opportunity to dig up a few more to keep on his person, so that his safety margin within the mystic realm would increase by another fraction.

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