Mine Cave No. 13 That Killed Several People

The pain came quickly and left just as 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 far fresher and clearer, while his body had turned hollow, allowing countless currents of air to pass straight through it.

A few minutes later.

Zhang Ming finally recovered from the pain.

"Did it work?"

As he felt the energy of the Marrow Cleansing Flower disperse, his body became exceptionally cool.

"This feeling... this feeling really is wonderful."

The room was still the same room, and the tables, chairs, and benches were still the same tables, chairs, and benches. Yet Zhang Ming felt that the world had changed.

It was clearer, fresher, brighter, more vivid.

The colors before his eyes and the scents in the air had both been completely renewed.

"It really is wonderful. Perhaps this is how the world looks through the eyes of a martial arts genius?"

After murmuring a few words, the sticky sensation of blood, sweat, and grime on his body filled his mind.

"Marrow cleansing, marrow cleansing—it truly cleanses the body. Worthy of being a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure."

With a burst of laughter, Zhang Ming left the room.

He headed to the small ornamental pond in the center of the rear courtyard and jumped in with a splash.

A little time passed. As some of the ornamental fish in the pond floated belly-up, Zhang Ming finished washing himself and climbed out of the water.

His Vital Energy circulated slightly, white steam rose from his body, and the moisture was evaporated dry.

"Awesome!"

He was brimming with energy, an indescribable sense of refreshment flooding his entire body.

"So this is what it feels like to be a martial arts genius?"

While washing in the water just now, Zhang Ming had quietly circulated the Mighty Bull Cultivation Method to cultivate.

The speed of his cultivation had far exceeded his imagination.

"I no longer need three months. Two months will be enough for my Vital Energy to reach perfection, and I'll definitely become a Postnatal Martial Artist within three months."

"Three years—no, becoming an Innate Martial Artist within two years will be effortless."

Zhang Ming was filled with confidence.

Thus, now that he had become a martial arts genius, Zhang Ming wasted no time.

He directly cast all matters concerning the Mine to the back of his mind and handed them over to Lin De.

As for himself, he focused on cultivation and enjoyed the cultivation progress and the speed at which his Vital Energy grew and strengthened—the things a martial arts genius deserved.

Time passed slowly. The sun rose and the moon set, and in the blink of an eye, more than two months had gone by.

This day.

With joyous events lifting his spirits, Zhang Ming had broken through in cultivation and successfully stepped into the ranks of a Postnatal Martial Artist. Brimming with vigor and radiance, he inspected the Mine.

The Mine.

Ever since Zhang Ming had arrived at the Mine over two months ago, he had issued certain benefits, established a reward system, punished several vicious overseers, and employed other measures.

The atmosphere at the Mine had undergone a complete reversal.

A few incentive systems from his previous life—for example, whichever team mined the most would receive money, meat, and promotion rewards—were simply devastating among commoners who would struggle even to eat their fill after leaving the Mine.

Zhang Ming even suspected that if he pulled five hundred people from the Mine's thousand-odd workers and told them to slaughter the Government Office officials and rebel, it might not be impossible to do so in a short time.

This showed just how loyal the miners had become to Zhang Ming.

"My lord."

"My lord."

"My lord."

As he walked slowly along, every miner, Armored Soldier, and other worker he passed respectfully bowed to Zhang Ming, their admiration evident.

Over the past two months, all the changes at the Mine had left everyone completely convinced.

"Mm. Old Brother Tan, your grandson has reached his first month, hasn't he? In a few days, I'll come by to ask 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 scrapes are unavoidable in the mine caves—there's nothing to be done about that.

"But the Mine will definitely not abandon your husband. It will not mistreat anyone who has shed sweat for it."

And so on. Along the way, Zhang Ming chatted with people about their families and trivial everyday matters.

When those people saw that Zhang Ming, a man of such standing, actually remembered the little details of their lives, they were naturally overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude. Their favor toward the Mine and toward Zhang Ming rose sharply.

One after another, they promised that they would not disappoint Zhang Ming's trust, that they would work hard and repay the Mine and their great benefactor, Zhang Ming.

Along the way.

If an attentive person had observed him, they would have noticed that Zhang Ming had chatted familiarly with at least thirty or forty people, and seemed to know every person's name and family affairs like the back of his hand.

Seeing one spot through a bamboo tube.

Did that not mean Zhang Ming knew the entire Mine and its thousand-odd people inside and out?

His memory was simply inhuman.

However, Zhang Ming knew his own affairs best.

A little over a month ago, Zhang Ming naturally had not possessed such ability, nor had he been in the mood to memorize the family circumstances, life experiences, and other information of the Mine's thousand-odd people.

But over the past month or so, after Zhang Ming had used Ignite Comprehension to bring foundational skills such as Bows and Medicine and Poison Arts to great perfection.

Whenever he had free time, he had taken a little of it to memorize the family circumstances, names, ages, birthdays, and other information of every one of the Mine's thousand-odd people.

The benefits of doing so were obvious.

Zhang Ming knew everyone at the Mine, as well as their families, pasts, and even some of their personal matters.

Thus, as the boss, Zhang Ming knew everything about all his subordinates, even the most inconspicuous figures.

Not to mention how deeply grateful his subordinates were for this.

In terms of management.

Whether it was personnel, staffing, employee mental well-being, or arrangements concerning family circumstances, he handled everything with ease.

Whenever they needed help, offering a helping hand would easily earn him tremendous gratitude and devotion.

This was also why Zhang Ming dared to say that he could casually pull five hundred people from the Mine to resist the imperial court and rebel, and people would still follow him.

After passing 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 sloped downward so far that its depths could not be seen, Zhang Ming frowned.

The joy of becoming a Postnatal Martial Artist faded somewhat.

"Young Master, over the past ten days or so, eighteen miners have died inside one after another. No bodies have been found, dead or alive. I've already sealed the mine cave and forbidden anyone from entering."

"Young Master was in seclusion some time ago, so I did not notify you immediately. I only informed you today because you have come out of 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 without a trace. We only pulled up some bloodstains along the rope."

As he spoke, Lin De showed Zhang Ming a section 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 misfortune."

Zhang Ming frowned slightly, curiosity and caution stirring in his eyes.

"Even five fully armed Armored Soldiers could mysteriously disappear?"

Lin De nodded, unease filling his gaze.

"Young Master, could it be some kind of monster? Or a Ghost?"

"A monster? A Ghost?"

There were tales among the common folk—no, not merely tales among the common folk. The Martial Arts Hall had records of them as well.

Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, and Oddities existed in this world.

Setting Ghosts aside for the moment.

As for Demons, their numbers were extremely small, especially in the heartlands of humanity, where they were scarce to a pitiful degree.

Because of one very important factor.

Demons were immensely nourishing!

Demons were immensely nourishing!

Demons were immensely nourishing!

They were greatly beneficial to martial cultivation.

Any trace of a Demon would draw a crowd of Jianghu Wanderers seeking to hunt it down.

If the Demon was powerful and numerous, even Martial Saint Sects would step in.

Ghosts, on the other hand, were the exact opposite. To Warriors, they brought nothing but losses.

"A monster, a Ghost?"

A strong interest rose in Zhang Ming's eyes. He raised a hand and instructed Lin De.

"Call ten Armored Soldiers. Have them fully armed with the latest Fish Scale Armor, Strong Crossbows, shields, Great Sabers, and the rest. They will go down into the mine with me."

Although Zhang Ming had spent most of the past two months cultivating.

His dealings with the Mysterious Buyer had not stopped.

The Mysterious Buyer's demands to continue expanding production, improve quality, and increase the number of Bows and Crossbows were also being carried out by Zhang Ming in an orderly fashion.

Before Zhang Ming—a transmigrator who possessed the knowledge of his previous life and basic understanding of steel, minerals, chemistry, mechanical mechanisms, and more.

Together with a tiny little bit of help from Ignite Comprehension, things like expanding production, increasing output, and improving quality.

Could be accomplished with effortless ease.

However, although Zhang Ming could achieve them easily.

He did not upgrade everything and reveal it all at once. That would have been far too foolish.

So Zhang Ming chose to slowly reveal one technology after another, improving things step by step.

That said, to be honest.

Given enough time, it would not have been a problem for Zhang Ming to cobble together 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 lives equal—guns and cannons—appear.

At least until he could resist guns and cannons, Zhang Ming would absolutely not develop firearm and cannon technology.