The pain came quickly and went quickly.
After the brief pain came a bone-chilling coolness that washed through his entire body. It was as though even the air had become much fresher and clearer, while his body became a hollow shell through which countless streams of air passed.
A few minutes later.
Zhang Ming finally recovered from the pain.
"Did it work?"
He felt the energy of the Marrow Cleansing Flower dissipate, leaving his body extraordinarily cool.
"This feeling... this feeling is truly wonderful."
The room was still the same room, and the tables, chairs, and stools inside were still the same tables, chairs, and stools, yet Zhang Ming felt as though the world had changed.
It was clearer, fresher, brighter, and more vivid.
The colors before his eyes and the scents in the air had all taken on an entirely new appearance.
"It really is wonderful. Perhaps this is how Martial Dao geniuses see the world?"
After muttering a few words, the sticky sensation from the blood and grime covering his body flooded his mind.
"Marrow cleansing, marrow cleansing—it truly cleanses the body. Worthy indeed of being a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure."
Laughing loudly several times, Zhang Ming left the room.
He headed to the ornamental pond at the center of the rear courtyard and jumped in with a splash.
A short while later, as several ornamental fish in the pond floated belly-up, Zhang Ming had washed himself clean and climbed out of the water.
His Vital Energy circulated slightly, white steam rose, and the moisture was evaporated dry.
"Refreshing!"
He was full of spirit, an indescribable sense of refreshment spreading through his entire body.
"So this is what being a Martial Dao genius feels like?"
While washing in the water just now, Zhang Ming had quietly circulated the Mighty Bull Cultivation Method beneath the surface.
Its cultivation speed had surpassed Zhang Ming's imagination.
"I no longer need three months. Two months will be enough for my Vital Energy to reach completion, and within three months, I'll definitely become a Postnatal Martial Artist."
"Three years—no, becoming an Innate Martial Artist within two years will be effortless."
Zhang Ming was brimming with confidence.
Thus, now that he had become a Martial Dao genius, Zhang Ming did not waste any time.
He directly cast all matters at the Mine to the back of his mind and handed everything over to Lin De.
As for himself, he cultivated diligently and enjoyed the cultivation progress and the speed at which his Vital Energy developed and strengthened that a Martial Dao genius ought to have.
Time passed slowly. The sun rose and the moon set, and in the blink of an eye, more than two months had gone by.
That day.
Zhang Ming, whose cultivation had broken through and who had successfully entered the realm of a Postnatal Martial Artist, was in high spirits and glowing with vigor as he inspected the Mine.
The Mine.
Ever since Zhang Ming had arrived at the Mine over two months ago, he had distributed certain benefits, established a reward system, and punished several wicked foremen.
The atmosphere at the Mine had undergone a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
A few incentive systems from his previous life—for example, whichever group mined the most would receive rewards of money, meat, and promotion—were simply unstoppable among a group of commoners who would struggle even to eat their fill after leaving the Mine.
Zhang Ming even suspected that if he picked five hundred people from the more than one thousand at the Mine and told them to slaughter the government office and rebel, it might not be impossible to do so in a short time.
This showed just how loyal the miners now were to Zhang Ming.
"My lord."
"My lord."
"My lord."
As he walked leisurely along, every sort of miner and armored soldier he passed respectfully saluted Zhang Ming, their reverence boundless.
Over these past two months, the changes at the Mine had won everyone over completely.
"Mm, Old Tan's grandson has reached his first month, hasn't he? In a few days, I'll come by for a cup of celebratory wine."
"Brother Song, how is your wife's illness? Has she improved?"
"Sister Wen, how is your husband's leg injury? Bumps and bruises are unavoidable in the mine caves; there's nothing to be done about that.
"Still, the Mine certainly will not abandon your husband, nor will it mistreat anyone who has shed sweat for it."
And so on. Along the way, Zhang Ming chatted with others about family matters and trivial everyday affairs.
Those people, seeing that Zhang Ming, such an important figure, actually remembered the small matters of their households, were naturally overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude. Their favor toward the Mine and toward Zhang Ming soared higher and higher.
One after another, they promised that they would never betray Zhang Ming's trust, that they would work hard and repay the Mine and their great benefactor Zhang Ming.
Along the way.
If someone observant had paid attention, they would have noticed that Zhang Ming had exchanged family pleasantries with at least thirty or forty people, and seemed to know every one of their names and household affairs like the back of his hand.
By looking at one spot, one could see the whole leopard.
Did that not mean Zhang Ming understood the entire Mine and its more than one thousand people inside and out?
His memory was simply inhuman.
However, Zhang Ming knew his own affairs best.
If it had been over a month ago, Zhang Ming naturally would not have possessed such ability, nor would he have had the leisure to remember the family circumstances, life experiences, and other information of all one thousand-plus people in the Mine.
Yet during this past month or so, after Zhang Ming had used Ignite Comprehension to bring basic skills such as Bows and Medicine and Poison Arts to Grand Completion.
Whenever he had spare time, he set aside a little of it to record in his mind the family situations, names, ages, birthdays, and other information of everyone among the Mine's thousand-plus people.
The benefits of doing so were obvious.
That was, Zhang Ming knew everyone in the Mine and understood their families, pasts, and even certain matters about themselves.
Thus, as the owner, Zhang Ming knew everything about all his subordinates, even the most inconspicuous figures.
Leaving aside how moved his subordinates were by this.
In terms of management alone.
Whether it was personnel, staffing, employee mental health, or arrangements for family circumstances, he handled everything with ease.
Whenever they needed help, offering them a hand would easily earn an outpouring of gratitude and loyalty.
That was also why Zhang Ming dared say that he could casually pull five hundred people from the Mine to defy the imperial court and rebel, and there would still be people willing to follow him.
Making his way through the crowd, Zhang Ming arrived deep within the Mountain Mine.
Upon seeing Zhang Ming arrive, Lin De hurried over and spoke quietly into his ear.
"Young Master, this is Mine Cave No. 13. More than a dozen miners have already perished inside."
"This is Mine Cave No. 13?"
"Yes."
Looking at the mine cave before him, which extended downward beyond sight, Zhang Ming frowned.
The joy of becoming a Postnatal Martial Artist diminished somewhat.
"Young Master, over the last dozen or so days, eighteen miners have died inside one after another. Neither living nor dead bodies have been found. I have already sealed the mine cave and forbidden anyone from entering."
"Young Master was in seclusion earlier, so I did not notify you immediately. I only reported it today because Young Master emerged from seclusion."
"Eighteen people have already died?"
"Yes. At first, there were only twelve. Later, I organized five Armored Soldiers to go down and investigate, but after they went down, they vanished as well. We only pulled up some bloodstains along the rope."
As he spoke, Lin De showed Zhang Ming a length of hemp rope stained with blood.
"They all went down holding onto hemp ropes, but after only a dozen minutes or so, the ropes lost all tension. When we pulled them back up, only bloodstains at the ends showed that they had met with disaster."
Zhang Ming's brows furrowed slightly, curiosity and caution churning in his eyes.
"Five fully armed Armored Soldiers could all mysteriously vanish?"
Lin De nodded, unease filling his eyes.
"Young Master, could it be a Demon? Or perhaps a Ghost?"
"A Demon? A Ghost?"
There were rumors among the common people—no, not merely rumors among the common people. The Martial Arts Hall had records of it as well.
There were Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, and Oddities in this world.
Setting Ghosts aside for now.
As for Demons, their numbers were exceedingly small, especially in the heartland of the human race, where they were so few as to be pitiful.
Because of one extremely important factor.
Demons were great tonics!
Demons were great tonics!
Demons were great tonics!
They were immensely beneficial to Martial Dao cultivation.
Any trace of a Demon's appearance would draw crowds of jianghu wanderers to hunt it down.
If the Demon was powerful and numerous, even Martial Saint Sects would step in.
Ghosts, however, were the complete opposite. To Warriors, they were entirely a losing proposition.
"A Demon, a Ghost?"
Intense interest arose in Zhang Ming's eyes as he raised a hand and ordered Lin De.
"Call ten Armored Soldiers. Fully arm them with the latest Fish Scale Armor, Strong Crossbows, shields, Great Sabers, and the like. They will accompany me down into the mine."
Although Zhang Ming had spent most of these past two months cultivating.
His transactions with the Mysterious Buyer had not stopped.
And the Mysterious Buyer's demands to continue expanding production, improve quality, and increase bows and crossbows production.
Zhang Ming had also been carrying out in an orderly fashion.
Before Zhang Ming, a transmigrator who possessed the wisdom of his previous life and basic knowledge of steel, minerals, chemistry, mechanical mechanisms, and the like.
Coupled with an enormous amount of help from Ignite Comprehension, such matters as expanding production and raising output and quality.
Could be accomplished with effortless ease.
However, though Zhang Ming could accomplish them easily.
He did not upgrade everything or reveal everything all at once. That would have been far too foolish.
So Zhang Ming chose to slowly, gradually reveal one technology after another and improve step by step.
Speaking of which, to be honest.
Given enough time, it would not have been a problem for Zhang Ming to craft firearms and cannons.
There was simply no need for it, at least not yet.
One's position determined one's stance. Now that Zhang Ming was a Warrior, he naturally did not wish to see weapons that made all living beings equal—guns and cannons—appear.
At least until he could withstand guns and cannons, Zhang Ming would absolutely not develop firearm and cannon technology.
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