Black Stone

It was here.

Li Gan did not make a single move.

Deep within his mind, the phantom of a bell glowed faintly, suppressing his presence entirely.

At this moment, he stood as still as a statue.

The three miners began to pace about uneasily.

Although they could not hear the movement beneath the ground, they were inexplicably overcome by a hair-raising sense of dread.

It was an instinctual reaction of a living creature to an unknown danger.

Suddenly.

Ten feet away from the three miners, the ground shook violently. Following a spray of gravel and dirt, a dark shadow burst from the earth and lunged toward them.

Li Gan took a direct look. It was a creature resembling a giant python, its body composed of segmented rings like a retractable spring. It was pitch black, covered in hair as stiff as steel needles.

Its gaping mouth was lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth.

An earth dragon exotic insect. Good heavens, to think it could grow this large.

This was the first time Li Gan had seen a living exotic insect, let alone one mutated from an earthworm.

Judging by its appearance alone, it was as thick as a water bucket.

The portion that had lunged out was already several meters long, and there was no telling how much more remained beneath the ground.

With the aid of the dim light in the mine shaft, the three miners could barely make out the dark shadow. Combined with the hissing roar the earth dragon exotic insect emitted as it lunged, they were instantly terrified and began to scramble in a panic.

Whoosh!

A flash of sword light suddenly ignited.

It illuminated the entire mine shaft.

Li Gan had made his move.

Although he was somewhat shocked by the size and ferocity of the earth dragon exotic insect, he was not slow to act.

As his figure flickered, he flicked his sword, and a sharp, biting sword glow surged forth.

As the earth dragon exotic insect hissed, its body suddenly contracted. It abandoned the three miners, and the four or five meters of its body that had emerged suddenly retracted by more than half.

This reaction speed was truly astonishing.

No wonder Ling Xingfeng and his group couldn't necessarily intercept the earth dragon exotic insect even after spotting it.

However, Li Gan's target was not the part of the earth dragon that was exposed.

He released his powerful illusion-level martial intent, which permeated the ground and locked onto the entire earth dragon.

This earth dragon was over ten meters long.

Its size was truly astonishing.

The next moment, Li Gan thrust his long sword downward violently.

The tough floor of the mine, in the face of his sharp sword radiance, was like tofu.

Hiss!

The earth dragon exotic insect let out an angry hiss and struggled violently. The entire mine began to shake and vibrate as the ground cracked open.

Li Gan's gaze was sharp. With a slash of his long sword, the flickering sword radiance sliced the entire earth dragon exotic insect in two.

A large amount of black blood gushed out, seeping into the ground, and the entire mine was filled with a foul, pungent stench.

The earth dragon exotic insect, now split in two, struggled for a long time before finally falling still.

Li Gan had no intention of capturing the earth dragon exotic insect alive.

It was too much trouble.

Killing it directly was clean and efficient.

However, this earth dragon exotic insect was not as strong as he had imagined; it was even a bit weak.

"Huh, what is this?"

Li Gan's mental perception swept over, and he discovered that hidden within the two halves of the earth dragon exotic insect's body was a very peculiar ore.

He waved his palm, and a surge of true qi blew away the cracked ground, pulling the two halves of the ten-meter-long earth dragon exotic insect carcass directly out from the collapsed earth.

He then reached into the black blood and grabbed a stone the size of a dragon's eye.

This stone was also black.

If not for his mental perception, he would never have been able to spot this black stone amidst the viscous black blood with the naked eye alone.

In his mental perception, this black stone seemed to be constantly emitting a very special type of energy. Although it was very faint, he could still sense it clearly.

This energy was different from heaven and earth origin qi.

He did not dare to absorb it.

He wasn't sure if this energy was beneficial or harmful.

Fortunately, he had cultivated the immaculate sword body, which possessed the trait of being leak-proof. As long as he didn't actively absorb it, he would not be disturbed or corrupted by this energy.

After cleaning the black blood off the black stone, Li Gan examined it for a moment before tucking it into his robes. He planned to take it back to study properly; perhaps his knowledgeable master would know the origin of this black stone.

However, he suspected that the reason the earth dragon exotic insect had mutated was likely related to this black stone.

He then turned his attention to the three miners.

All three were curled up in the corner of the mine tunnel, shivering in fear.

"You don't need to worry. I have already cleared out the earth dragon exotic insect."

Li Gan soothed the miners' fearful emotions.

After the three miners tremblingly lit their torches and saw the massive earth dragon exotic insect split into two halves, their fear was eclipsed by an even greater sense of awe toward Li Gan, the expert who had slain the creature.

Just like that, with the three miners following behind holding torches, Li Gan walked toward the nearest mine exit, carrying his sword on his back and dragging one half of the earth dragon exotic insect's carcass in each hand.

Outside the mine.

A group of people was waiting.

Aside from Steward He and several inner disciples of the Divine Sword Sect like Ling Xingfeng, the head of the Ming family—the owner of the Xiwu mine—had also rushed over immediately upon hearing the news that the Divine Sword Sect had sent an innate expert.

"It's been so long. Could he have failed as well?"

One of the mine overseers couldn't help but speak up.

Ling Xingfeng remained silent.

If even a core disciple at the innate level couldn't handle the earth dragon exotic insect, then only a sect elder would be able to deal with it personally.

If word of this got out, they would likely become the laughingstock of the other great martial sects.

Steward He glared at the man.

The man immediately realized he had spoken out of turn and quickly shut his mouth, though his heart remained filled with trepidation.

Suddenly, Ling Xingfeng seemed to hear something. His body flashed, and he arrived at the entrance of the cave.

The other inner disciples of the Divine Sword Sect only then reacted.

While Steward He and the others were still dazed, they heard movement at the cave entrance, and then Li Gan walked out, dragging the two halves of the earth dragon exotic insect's carcass.

"Patriarch, look! Master Li has killed the earth dragon exotic insect."

Seeing the two halves of the terrifying earth dragon exotic insect carcass, Steward He was overjoyed.

The head of the Ming family was also overjoyed.

With the earth dragon exotic insect eliminated, the Xiwu mine could resume operations.

The Ming family head immediately trotted forward, cupped his hands toward Li Gan, and said, "Master Li, I am Ming Rang, head of the Ming family. Thank you for ridding the mine of such a great menace."

"Family Head Ming, there is no need for such formalities. I accepted the mission, so it is my duty."

Li Gan said with a light chuckle.

He then looked at Ling Xingfeng, "Junior Brother Ling, I will have to trouble you to transport the corpse of this earth dragon exotic insect back to the sect."

The corpse of the earth dragon exotic insect was too large and quite heavy.

It would be very troublesome if he were to take it back himself.

Moreover, the stench was far too pungent.

"Please rest assured, Senior Brother Li, I will arrange it as soon as possible," Ling Xingfeng said quickly.

As an inner disciple of the Divine Sword Sect stationed in Ye City, he was responsible for the transport of all important sect supplies.

"Family Head Ming, since the earth dragon exotic insect has been cleared away, I will not stay any longer."

Li Gan cupped his hands.

Riding a fast horse back to the Divine Sword Sect would take little more than a day; the entire mission would have taken no more than three days in total.

"Master Li, you have come from afar to solve such a major problem for us, and we haven't even had the chance to properly host you yet," Ming Rang said hurriedly.

This was a golden opportunity to build a relationship with a promising core disciple of the Divine Sword Sect, and he naturally could not let it slip by.

"There is no need, Family Head Ming."

Li Gan waved his hand, easily seeing through the man's intentions.

He did not want to waste his time on such useless social pleasantries.

Returning to ring the bell and cultivate was the true path to success.

He was only a tiny bit away from breaking through to the late stage of the xiantian true qi realm.

Furthermore, he was very curious to know what that black stone was.