Desperate Saburo

Cheng Buzheng looked over toward the burly man mining nearby. He noticed quite a few irregular chunks of Spirit Stone Raw Ore embedded here and there in the rock, each glimmering faintly.

Seeing this,

he didn't immediately start mining. Instead, he watched the burly man at work to see how he did it.

The man raised his Mining Pick high, swinging from his waist, then his shoulders, then his wrists. Gripping the pick, he struck the rock wall with all his might and pried an irregular chunk of Spirit Stone Raw Ore free.

After watching for a while, Cheng Buzheng saw that the man simply repeated those same few movements, with nothing particularly special about them. He then turned and left.

He had no intention of mining alongside the man.

First, there was the question of whether the man would even agree. After all, with more people here, there certainly wouldn't be enough Spirit Stone Raw Ore to go around. It wasn't as if the whole Mine Cave was full of ore for people to dig up wherever they pleased.

Some places were rich in Spirit Stone Raw Ore, others were rather barren, and most places didn't have a single chunk.

Second, he hadn't come here to mine in earnest. He had come to cultivate in seclusion and replenish Small Plate's Spiritual Power Value, so he needed to find a secluded spot with no one around.

After taking a distant look at the burly man mining, Cheng Buzheng turned and walked away.

He continued down the Little Daoist path. Before long, he sensed waves of Spiritual Power fluctuations in the distance.

"Boom, boom."

An angry shout came from afar. "Wang Daba, didn't you already send someone to collect the Spirit Stones once?"

"My big brother's used up more this month. There isn't enough Spirit Stone Raw Ore, so this time we'll count it toward next month!"

A young man's arrogant voice rang out in the distance.

"No way... I've got just enough Spirit Stone Raw Ore for this month's quota. Otherwise, my reward will be cut in half, and then cultivators from the White Cloud Sect will come investigate!"

"No way? It'll happen anyway. You're handing it over today!"

Another fierce clash rang out.

"You dare to rob me? I'll fight you to the death!"

Hearing this, Cheng Buzheng furrowed his brows and thought to himself:

Could it be the White Cloud Sect's patrol cultivators don't care about this sort of thing?

He decided to go see what kind of person Wang Daba was. Of course, it wasn't because he wanted to stick up for anyone. He only meant to quietly gather some information, so he couldn't show himself openly. Better to play it safe in everything.

With a thought, yellow Spiritual Power enveloped him, and in the blink of an eye, he sank beneath the hard rock floor.

Three zhang below the rock layer, a miner below Qi Refining Level 7 couldn't possibly detect him unless he deliberately searched.

After all, rock was denser than soil, making it harder to probe with Divine Sense. His usual warning range could reach two zhang underground.

Now, he guessed, even sensing one zhang underground would be difficult.

Of course, if a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator came here, it would be easy for them to notice someone spying. The higher one's cultivation, the stronger one's Divine Sense and the wider one's warning range.

Beneath the rock, Cheng Buzheng swam silently toward the two like a fish.

A short while later,

six zhang from the pair, at a bend in the passage, Cheng Buzheng extended his Divine Sense and watched them from afar.

One was a weather-beaten burly man. Judging by the Spirit Pressure radiating from him, he was a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator. At that moment, he was glaring furiously at another young cultivator.

The other young cultivator was looking at the middle-aged man with an arrogant expression. From the Spirit Pressure he gave off, Cheng Buzheng judged that he was also at Qi Refining Level 2.

Neither of them had stopped what they were doing. Each was forming Spell Techniques, and a glittering Gold Sword was clashing with a fireball the size of a human head.

Like two sources of light, they illuminated the mine passage as brightly as day.

Less than a breath later,

"Boom!"

The air exploded. The fireball and Gold Sword broke apart into countless golden and red specks, vanishing into the passage.

Seeing this,

the middle-aged man didn't hesitate. His expression turned ruthless, and he paid no heed to his own safety as his right hand formed a Spell Technique. A dark-red fireball, the size of a human head, took shape at once.

The arrogant young man wasn't about to back down either. A glittering Gold Sword formed before him, trailing sharp Sword Qi as it slashed toward the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man seemed not to see the sharp Sword Qi hurtling toward him. The dark-red fireball radiated astonishing heat, making even the air seem aflame.

He controlled the head-sized fireball like a nimble serpent, guiding it past the Sword Qi. Then it suddenly seemed to accelerate, shooting straight toward the arrogant young man.

The arrogant young man had assumed it would be another clash between two Spell Techniques. When the dark-red fireball passed his Sword Qi Technique, he immediately thought, This is bad!

He didn't hesitate. His right hand shifted to a different Spell Technique, and the glittering Sword Qi wheeled around to pursue the dark-red fireball.

He didn't want to die alongside the middle-aged man.

At the same time, he hurriedly dodged to the right. Stamping his foot, he leaped like an ape onto the rocky wall of the mine passage.

Feeling the scorching heat behind him, he was terrified. He leaped again and again, and in the blink of an eye, countless afterimages appeared in the passage as he dodged the fireball close behind him.

Under the middle-aged man's precise control, the dark-red fireball didn't collide with the rock wall. Instead, it kept pursuing Huang Li.

In less than a breath,

the glittering Sword Qi appeared in front of the arrogant young man. With a thought, he sent it, sharp and gleaming, crashing into the dark-red fireball flying toward him.

The fireball's pursuit had just left him shaken. Seeing the middle-aged man forming another Spell Technique, he hurriedly called out,

"Wait. Hear me out first. If you still don't agree, you can attack after I'm done!

"Besides, I'm only responsible for collecting the Spirit Stone Raw Ore. If you won't hand it over today, fine. I'll leave the ore here and go right now.

"But think it through. If I can't collect it today, Wang Daba will definitely come next time. He's a Qi Refining Level 4 cultivator. Let's see if you'll still fight to the death then!

"If you die at his hands, don't say I didn't warn you!

"Anyway, as long as the Spirit Stone Raw Ore is handed over in full and the patrol cultivators don't see it, they couldn't care less about us miners dying—as long as it isn't a cultivator from the White Cloud Sect!"

Seeing the middle-aged man remain motionless, Huang Li spoke pleasantly.

"What have you decided? If you don't agree now, I'll turn around and leave at once. I won't stay another moment."

After hearing this, the middle-aged man looked deeply conflicted. The desperate air he'd had moments ago was gone. He let out a long sigh and said bitterly,

"Take it!"

At this,

the arrogant young man's expression changed. Grinning cheekily, he teased the middle-aged man,

"If you're unhappy about it, I can leave it here!"

By now, he no longer looked shaken.

"Get lost... If you don't get lost, I'll fight to the death and take you down with me!"

"Fine... I'm going~"

As he watched the spectacle, Cheng Buzheng silently assessed the two men's strength.

If he used his trump card, neither of them would last a single move against him. But without it, all he could do was flee underground. After all, he only knew one offensive spell.