What Happened
After reading the inscription on the Animal Skin that described the presence of Copper Source Essence beneath the cave, Steward Song, though unaware of what Copper Source Essence was or what its uses were, understood...
But considering that the person who died here was able to expend so much effort to open up a passage leading directly to the depths of the earth, and that upon discovering that the Copper Source Essence was not fully formed, he preferred to wait to die here rather than destroy Copper Source Essence, he knew that the Copper Source Essence was not a simple thing.
After leaving the cave and re-concealing the area, Steward Song returned to his residence and painstakingly searched ancient texts. He finally found an introduction to the Copper Source Essence in an ancient book of introductory materials.
I learned that Copper Source Essence is an extremely high-grade refining material. In the Dou Qi Continent, it can be considered one of the top refining materials.
After learning about the value of the Copper Source Essence, Steward Song considered reporting the information to the academy. However, after careful consideration, Steward Song ultimately decided to consume the Copper Source Essence himself.
Steward Song knew that after reporting the information about the Copper Source Essence to the academy, although the academy would give him a reward, the academy would definitely get the lion's share of the benefits.
The benefits he received would at most allow him to reach the Dou Ling level in his lifetime. Breaking through to become Dou Wang Dou Ling absolutely impossible.
But if I swallow the Copper Source Essence, it will be a different story. The Copper Source Essence is a top-tier material, and I will definitely be able to exchange it for relatively high-level cultivation resources. Then I will still have a chance to try and become Dou Wang in this lifetime.
In this Northwest Continent, becoming Dou Wang is the limit that ordinary people can imagine. As for anything higher, they cannot reach it.
After learning about the Copper Source Essence, Steward Song became greedy and wanted to swallow Copper Source Essence himself. However, the description recorded on the Animal Skin was one thing, and the reality was another.
Therefore, to be on the safe side, Steward Song did not personally go down into the cave to search for the Copper Source Essence.
From the moment Steward Song entered the cave, the skeleton of the deceased turned to ashes, indicating that this deep underground tunnel had been dug for countless years.
In such a long time, who knows what the situation is down below? What if there's some danger down there? Wouldn't continuing like this be suicide?
Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to wait until later; I'd have to give up my life here prematurely.
Therefore, Steward Song did not immediately go down to search for the Copper Source Essence. Instead, he spent some more time corrupting two people in the Mine, turning them into his own people. Then, he arranged for the two people to go down into the tunnel at different times to explore what was inside.
Ultimately, the two successfully returned and each told Steward Song what they had seen at the bottom of the tunnel. Steward Song compared their descriptions and found that their accounts matched.
Only then did Steward Song feel relieved. He then went down into the tunnel himself and saw something exactly like the Copper Source Essence described in the ancient book. He was so overjoyed that he burst into tears.
Song Yougui had lived a simple and hard life for half his life without any great opportunities. His talent for cultivation was only average; otherwise, he wouldn't have only reached the Da Dou Shi level after half a lifetime.
He had already given up struggling, which is why he took on this job guarding the Mine, which no one else was willing to do.
But he never expected to encounter such a great opportunity in this desolate Mine. How could Steward Song not be happy and excited?
After his initial excitement, Steward Song naturally started thinking about how to mine the Copper Source Essence and exchange it for the resources he needed. Discovering the Copper Source Essence was one thing, but mining Copper Source Essence was another.
Copper Source Essence is something that is created by absorbing the essence of an entire copper mine. If the Copper Source Essence mine will be affected, and if others notice the anomaly, things will be very bad.
Moreover, as a top-grade material, even with Steward Song's cultivation level as a Da Dou Shi, he couldn't directly mine this entire piece of Copper Source Essence.
Therefore, after some planning by Steward Song, it was decided to gradually acquire the Copper Source Essence. Just like mining copper ore, a certain amount of Copper Source Essence would be extracted each year. The extracted Copper Source Essence would then be exchanged for resources to improve cultivation.
Once my cultivation level is high enough, I'll dig out the remaining Copper Source Essence. Then I'll run away to a place where nobody knows me, live a carefree life, and use the remaining Copper Source Essence to exchange for resources to further enhance my strength.
If one day I can reach the level of Dou Emperor, or even Dou Zong, and have the confidence to resist Jia Nan Academy, then it won't be too late to come back.
Steward Song thought this way and did this way. His cultivation level also increased rapidly over the past two years as he exchanged the Copper Source Essence he mined for the cultivation resources he needed.
Because of the necklace he obtained from the skeleton, Steward Song's cultivation level, although not above the Six Stars of Dou Ling as Lin Ming had sensed and guessed, had reached the level of Four Star Dou Spirit.
This is an extremely exaggerated improvement for Steward Song.
If you look at the original novel, Lin Xiuyai, who was ranked second on the Inner Academy's Strong Ranking, was already Da Dou Shi when he entered the Inner Academy. However, with the blessing of the Fallen Heart Flame, a cultivation cheat device, he was only at the Dou Ling Peak when Xiao Yan entered the Inner Academy.
There was a five-year gap between Lin Xiuyai entering the Inner Academy and Xiao Yan entering Lin Xiuyai, who was not lacking in talent and had the support of the Fallen Heart Flame, still spent five years raising his cultivation from Da Dou Shi to the Dou Ling Peak.
However, Steward Song's Cultivation Talent was only average; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to remain at the Da Dou Shi level at fifty years old, yet in just two short years, he had raised his cultivation from the Dou Master Six Star to the Dou Spirit Four Stars level.
This is basically a one-star increase in cultivation level every three months. It's almost comparable to Lin Ming's improvement speed as Dou Master. Lin Ming's talent can be said to be top-notch in this world, and given his current low cultivation level, it's only been a little over two months to increase one star.
After reaching the Da Dou Shi, Lin Ming knew that without external help, it would be virtually impossible to advance another star in two or three months.
The higher one's cultivation level, the more Dou Qi is needed to advance one star, increasing exponentially. There are many people who have reached the Dou Emperor who cannot advance even one star in a year or even several years.
Steward Song has improved significantly over the past two years thanks to the resources he has gained from exchanging Copper Source Essence. If it weren't for Lin Ming and the others discovering some anomalies and returning to report, it would have been a huge improvement.
More importantly, even if Lin Ming hadn't encountered the Cui Brothers' ambush, and then returned to the academy, Lin Ming would have reported his suspicions to Elder Huo, who then dispatched a Dou Wang to investigate. Whether they could discover Steward Song's abnormality was still uncertain.
According to Steward Song's confession, the Cui Brothers were indeed in league with him, and he was the one who orchestrated their ambush.
Steward Song's original intention was to prevent Lin Ming and his group from reporting their discovery, so he had the Cui Brothers, with whom he had a cooperative relationship, intercept and kill Lin Ming and his team halfway.
Because deaths are commonplace in the Black Corner Region, no one would suspect anything. Besides, this wasn't the first time the Cui Brothers had killed students from the Jia Nan Academy. The fact that Lin Ming and his group were killed this time could only be attributed to bad luck in the presence of the Cui Brothers.
No one would suspect that Lin Ming and the others' murder was related to him, who was far away at the Mine.
Even if they suspect that the problem arose because of the mission, and they send someone else, as long as they don't go into the mine, he, Steward Song, is not afraid.
Even a simple copper mine can withstand scrutiny from Steward Song. The minor discrepancies that Lin Ming and his team found this time could be attributed to Steward Song's deliberate arrangements.
Steward Song's original intention was to let you find a minor problem so you could go back and report, and then he would apologize and entertain you, and everyone would be over it.
Those of you who came to investigate, go back to your own academies to continue your studies, while Steward Song stays at the Mine to continue collecting Copper Source Essence and exchanging it for cultivation resources. Everyone is happy.
However, at the last minute, Lin Ming and his group wanted to go down into the mine, forcing Steward Song to change his plans. Steward Song knew that some people with Gold Element could sense mineral deposits; otherwise, how would the academy have known the size of the mine and set a thirty-year mining period?
So after Lin Ming and the others left, Steward Song went to find his partners, the Cui Brothers. The Copper Source Essence that Steward Song produced was exchanged through the Cui Brothers.
Every time Steward Song exchanged for Copper Source Essence, the Cui Brothers would also receive a portion of the resources. Therefore, after Steward Song realized that things might be exposed, the Cui Brothers readily agreed to kill Lin Ming and his group without hesitation.
If their scheme were exposed, the Cui Brothers' source of income would be cut off. Of course, they didn't want that.
After the Cui Brothers agreed to kill Lin Ming and his companions, Cui Brothers Steward Song told them everything about the academy's location near the stronghold and the Griffon Beast's blind spots. This explained why the Cui Clan's Eldest was so familiar with the academy when they were chasing Cui Clan's Eldest, allowing him to escape with ease.
After listening to Steward Yang's explanation, Lin Ming was deeply moved and remained speechless for a long time. He never expected that what he had originally intended as a simple training mission would escalate into such a major incident.
Although I didn't experience those things myself, just listening to them was still thrilling.
It's fair to say that without Lin Ming, Chen Yuanlong and the others would likely have perished at the hands of the Cui Brothers. Even if the academy were to send personnel to inspect the mine again, they would probably just find a minor problem and then return to the academy on their own, just as Steward Song had planned.
Steward Song was still able to quietly mine Copper Source Essence in the mines, exchange it for resources, and improve his cultivation. Finally, he simply fled far away, living a life of freedom.
"Brother Yang, what's the current situation with the Copper Source Essence? How much has Steward Song mined?" After listening to Steward Yang's explanation, Lin Ming asked Steward Yang this crucial question.