Yang Yuan Stone Mine Vein

After continuing deeper for a while, they discovered they were nearing the end of the woods. A faint fishy stench hung in the air, putting them all on alert.

They crouched low and moved forward carefully. Before long, a slightly sunken valley appeared before the three of them.

Lin Dong swept his gaze across the valley, then his pupils abruptly contracted as his eyes fixed on two black figures at its bottom. "Heavenly Origin Stage demonic beasts—Black Iron Demonic Leopards!"

Lin Changqiang looked closely. The two figures were pitch-black all over, like refined iron, gleaming brightly under the sunlight. Their green eyes radiated savagery.

He could not help drawing in a sharp breath, making an outstanding contribution to global warming on the Tianxuan Continent. "Terrifying indeed, terrifying indeed!"

Lin Changqiang looked toward Lin Dong, only to find him lying flat as his right hand continuously felt around the ground, just like an armadillo that had gained sentience.

A few seconds later, Lin Dong suddenly scraped at one patch of ground and dug away quite a bit of dirt, revealing a hole about a foot wide.

The hole had clearly existed for some time, merely buried beneath the surface dirt. Lin Dong impatiently reached inside and began digging around, but all he pulled out were bits of rock and dirt.

He continued digging for a while longer. Just as Lin Dong was beginning to lose patience, his right hand finally touched something warm.

"Found it!" He raised his right hand before the other two, revealing a pale-red stone.

The stone was somewhat rounded. Its entire surface was pale red, yet faintly translucent, and a gentle warmth seeped from the crystal, making one feel quite comfortable.

"Th-this is... a Yang Yuan Stone!" Lin Changqiang furrowed his brows, widened his eyes again and again, and parted his lips, though the corners of his mouth curled upward unnaturally. Looking utterly shocked, he said, "Yang Yuan Stones are said to be born deep within volcanoes. Not only do they absorb Yuan Power from heaven and earth, but after being steeped in lava for long periods, they also absorb traces of Yang Gang Power."

"To experts who have reached the Heavenly Origin Stage, Yang Yuan Stones are practically tailor-made!" Lin Changqiang looked at the astonished Lin Dong, who was preparing to stand, and immediately pressed a hand onto his shoulder. Staring at him with an expression like he wanted to eat him alive, he whispered, "Most importantly, Yang Yuan Stones rarely appear alone. So... there may very well be a Yang Yuan Stone Mine Vein here!"

Lin Dong's mouth twitched, and much of his initial excitement faded. "Stop acting. If acting skill were measured in Spiritual Medicine, your performance would be worth eight Grade One Spiritual Medicines at most."

"Hehe, wasn't I afraid you'd get too excited and make too much noise getting up, alerting those two black leopards?" Lin Changqiang chuckled, then said indignantly, "That damn heaven gave me a handsome face, but it also took away my acting talent!"

He touched his handsome cheek and his forty-two blocks of corn-like abs, seven parts anger, two parts indifference, and one part sorrow hidden in his eyes. With a smile that was not quite a smile, he said, "Maybe it wanted me to learn how to endure."

"Ugh, cut it out." Lin Dong nearly threw up last night's meal. He shot Lin Changqiang a disgusted look, then carefully stood and tiptoed back along the path they had come from. "Hurry up. Let's go back and get reinforcements."

"Got it~" With two Heavenly Origin Stage demonic beasts nearby, Lin Changqiang did not dare keep fooling around. He obediently followed, and the three people and one tiger raced toward where Lin Zhentian and the others were.

In the main hall, Lin Zhentian had only just vented much of his fury after cursing the Lei Family for quite some time. He sat in the seat of honor, his expression gloomy as he calmed his breathing, while Lin Xiao and the others felt equally miserable.

Bang!

The main doors of the hall were suddenly shoved open. Lin Dong no longer cared about etiquette and barged straight inside. Lin Xiao and the others were stunned at the sight of mud-covered Lin Dong. Just as they were about to speak, Lin Dong suddenly pulled a crystal from his clothes and handed it to Lin Zhentian.

"Grandfather, the Lin Family has good news! I found a treasure!"

"A Yang Yuan Stone?!" Looking at the pale-red crystal Lin Dong offered him, Lin Zhentian was initially stunned. Then he took another crystal from his pocket, which looked quite similar to Lin Dong's.

"Hehe, little fellow, you're quite lucky to have found a Yang Yuan Stone." Lin Zhentian smiled without paying it much mind. He picked up the teacup beside him, took a light sip, and set it back down.

"Grandfather, Changqiang, Qing Tan, and I dug this up while exploring deep inside Ironwood Manor. There may be a Yang Yuan Stone Mine Vein in the depths of Ironwood Manor!" Lin Dong's face flushed with excitement.

Crack!

Lin Zhentian crushed the teacup in his hand. He abruptly rose to his feet and stared tremblingly at Lin Dong. "What? A Yang Yuan Stone Mine Vein?! Where is it? Take us there at once!"

Lin Xiao and the others were also overwhelmed with surprise and delight. As Heavenly Origin Stage experts, no one understood the use and value of Yang Yuan Stones better than they did.

Lin Dong immediately nodded. "Getting there won't be a problem, but there are also two Heavenly Origin Stage Black Iron Demonic Leopards there."

"Black Iron Demonic Leopards?" Lin Zhentian frowned slightly, but soon relaxed. "They're only two beasts. We have three Heavenly Origin Stage experts here, plus you and Lin Dong, two Earthly Yuan Stage cultivators. Wouldn't dealing with two Black Iron Demonic Leopards be as easy as turning over a hand?"

"Compared to a Yang Yuan Stone Mine Vein, forget two black leopards—even if there were more demonic beasts, we would still have to find a way to eliminate them!"

Seeing this, Lin Dong said no more. He nodded, turned, and left the hall, leading Lin Zhentian, Lin Xiao, and Lin Ken as they rushed toward the depths of the manor.

Moving at full speed, the group reached the place where the Yang Yuan Stone had been found in little more than ten minutes. There, they encountered Lin Changqiang, who had tried to slack off and had not continued running back, along with Qing Tan, who could not bear to leave the air conditioning.

"They really are Black Iron Demonic Leopards!" Lin Zhentian stood above the mouth of the valley, gazing gravely at the two black leopards below.

Although he had made it sound easy earlier, the two black leopards were equivalent to two Heavenly Origin Stage experts after all, so dealing with them would still be troublesome. After considering it, everyone decided to first confirm whether there truly was a mine vein before making a decision.

Lin Zhentian turned around. Behind him, Lin Xiao and Lin Ken held shovels and were vigorously digging at the hole Lin Dong had indicated. This matter was too important to let others know for now, so the two could only handle it personally.

Watching the two of them become laborers, Lin Dong could not help laughing again.

"So why aren't you using Yuan Power to directly lift away the dirt in this area?"

Lin Changqiang looked at them with a puzzled expression. He had found this strange even when reading the original novel. Some people said they were worried about alerting the black leopards, but after Lin Dong discovered the Yang Yuan Stone Mine Vein, Lin Zhentian had directly used Yuan Power to lift the dirt away.

"And even if you really want to dig with shovels, you can still use Yuan Power. Why dig with sheer strength like ordinary people?"

At his words, Lin Dong and the others suddenly stiffened. Then they all turned around and blankly looked at Lin Changqiang.

Lin Zhentian was the first to recover. He suddenly leaped into the pit, circulated the Yuan Power of the Late Heavenly Origin Stage, and swept his sleeve. A violent gale surged forth, overturning layer after layer of dirt.

As the dirt receded, a layer of red light entered their view. It was a pale-red rock layer, with pale-red crystals of varying sizes embedded deep within it. Under the sunlight, the crystals shone brilliantly.

Bathed in the red glow, everyone could not help opening their mouths wide as they gazed dazedly at the magnificent crystal mine. For a time, none of them could speak.

"It really is a Yang Yuan Stone Mine Vein..." Lin Xiao muttered, his body suddenly beginning to tremble uncontrollably. "Our Lin Family will be changed because of this!"

"Heaven has blessed the Lin Family!"

Lin Zhentian raised his head and shed tears he had not shed in many years. With this Yang Yuan Stone Mine Vein, the Lin Family's development would inevitably soar. When that time came, forget Qingyang Town—even across all of Flame City and Tandu Prefecture, the Lin Family would hold a place of its own. And his dream of returning to the clan and returning to his roots now had a far greater chance of becoming reality.