Time to Mine Again (Seeking Follow-ups, Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Junior Sister Luo Siqing has arrived. No need to be nervous. Let her in."

A handsome young man dressed in cloud-patterned ritual robes spoke in a clear voice, his words carrying far into the distance.

The next instant, the light barrier covering the summit rippled slightly and split open with a gap.

Luo Siqing piloted the flying boat through the opening. As they neared the mountaintop, she withdrew her hand seals, and the flying boat vanished in a flash. Lu Lin and the others immediately surged their blood and qi, landing steadily on the mountain summit.

After they entered, the light barrier quietly closed, fitting seamlessly together without leaving the slightest trace.

"With Junior Sister Luo here to lend a hand, our side's odds of victory have risen a few more points." The young man came forward to meet them, a smile on his face.

"She's only at the eighth level of Qi Refining. What use can she be? Zhu Yun, if you want to fawn over her, do it in private. Don't disgust people here."

Nearby, a burly man sneered, his tone full of disdain.

"What did you say?" Zhu Yun's gaze abruptly turned cold as he fixed it on the burly man.

"What? Want to fight? I'll keep you company!" The burly man showed no fear at all and glared right back.

Rumble, rumble!

Two powerful surges of spiritual energy suddenly stirred, and the atmosphere instantly grew as tense as drawn swords and bent bows.

Just then, an exceedingly cold aura swept over. Wherever it passed, a layer of pitch-black ice crystals rapidly formed on the ground. Grass and trees, once covered by the ice crystals, withered and rotted at high speed, giving off a heart-palpitating aura.

The expressions of Lu Lin, Fang Hong, and the others shifted slightly. They hurriedly circulated their blood and qi to protect themselves, only then barely resisting the chill.

Zhu Yun and the burly man's expressions also tightened. As if by prior agreement, they restrained their spiritual energy and looked in a certain direction.

They saw a man with blood-red hair and a black robe walking over slowly, his gaze deep and his presence oppressive.

"Dongfang Yu!" Luo Siqing murmured, revealing the newcomer's identity.

"Senior Brother Dongfang!"

Zhu Yun and the burly man instantly reined in all their arrogance and hurriedly cupped their hands in salute, their postures respectful.

Dongfang Yu, at perfected Qi Refining cultivation. Rumor had it he was only one step away from Foundation Establishment. He was the commander guarding the Red Gold Mine this time, leading all the Demonic Sect's Qi Refining disciples in this place.

"I don't care how you normally struggle against each other," Dongfang Yu said. His voice was not loud, yet it carried a bone-piercing chill. "But right now is an extraordinary time, and a great enemy stands before us. If infighting delays the sect's major affairs, I will hold you accountable."

"Yes, yes!" Zhu Yun and the other man answered repeatedly, cold sweat already seeping from their temples.

Never mind Dongfang Yu's elegant and handsome appearance—everyone present knew how ruthless his methods were.

Only then did Dongfang Yu turn his gaze toward Luo Siqing. He revealed a faint smile and said, "Junior Sister Luo, according to the rules, all of these guards of yours must go down into the mine to extract red gold. Although we currently occupy the vein for now, the Green Duckweed Sword Sect could attack at any moment. We must seize every moment and mine out the red gold as quickly as possible."

Mining?

As soon as he heard the word "mining," Lu Lin's spirits immediately lifted.

There was such a good thing?

He could not ask for more!

Luo Siqing, however, frowned slightly. "No. I need to leave two people behind to handle matters for me."

"Two? Very well." Dongfang Yu nodded in agreement.

Luo Siqing's gaze swept over Lu Lin and the other eleven people.

Don't pick me. Please don't pick me... Let me go mine... Lu Lin silently chanted in his heart.

Perhaps his prayers worked, because Luo Siqing's gaze finally landed on Fang Hong and Lan Zhu. "Fang Hong, Lan Zhu, stay. The rest of you, down into the mine."

"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.

Afterward, Dongfang Yu instructed a disciple to lead Lu Lin and the others toward the mining pit.

The mining pit was located at the center of the summit.

Those who had come this time to mine the red gold were no longer the ordinary menials from the Black Iron Vein. Almost all of them were martial artists above the seventh level of Body Tempering, including members of the Martial Army as well as the personal guards of various immortal masters.

Every one of them possessed immense strength. Because of this, although the vein had only been discovered a few months ago, a huge mining pit had already been excavated at the mountaintop, with multiple mine tunnels winding and twisting as they slanted deep into the mountain's belly.

Around the mining pit, eight cultivators patrolled and supervised. One of them handed iron picks and bamboo baskets to them, warning sternly, "Anyone who leaves the mine tunnel will be searched! Anyone found privately hiding red gold or spirit stones will be killed without pardon! Do you understand?"

The group nodded silently, shouldered their bamboo baskets, picked up their iron picks, and each chose a mine tunnel to enter.

"The rock here is crimson, and its texture is very different from the Black Iron Vein." Inside the mine tunnel, Lu Lin observed carefully.

But that did not mean Mining Essentials had lost its effect.

Although different mineral veins had their own variations in grain, channels, and ore color, there were always commonalities between them.

Lu Lin had already cultivated Mining Essentials to perfection; it could be said that once one principle was understood, a hundred became clear. After a brief observation, he had a preliminary grasp of the Red Gold Mine's characteristics.

Of course, it still needed to be verified through practice.

He followed the mine tunnel deeper in. After a moment, he suddenly stopped and swung his pick before a section of the rock wall.

The rock here was several times harder than that of the black iron mine, but fortunately, Lu Lin was not what he used to be. Digging was not difficult for him. In just a short while, he dug out a pit one meter deep, and a fist-sized piece of crimson metal ore fell into his hand.

Red gold ore!

This stone was extremely dense and felt heavy in the hand. Such a small piece actually weighed over a hundred jin.

Of course, this was only raw ore, filled with many impurities. It needed to be transported back to the Demonic Sect and go through multiple rounds of smelting and refinement before pure red gold could be obtained.

It was said that from a hundred jin of ore, only one liang of red gold could be refined.

[Inferior spiritual energy detected. Can be exchanged for one year of bitter cultivation. Exchange?]

A prompt suddenly came from the Martial Dao Melting Furnace.

"There's actually spiritual energy contained within red gold!" Lu Lin's eyes abruptly lit up.

That was right. Red gold was a treasure of heaven and earth, something that could serve as the main material for a magic artifact. It was absolutely not something black iron could compare to.

Black Iron Ore, after smelting and purification, produced pure black iron, but even that could not become material for a magic artifact. It still had to be tempered a thousand times and refined a hundred times, ultimately becoming Hundred-Refined Black Iron before it could barely serve as an auxiliary material for a magic artifact.

Compared to red gold, it was the difference between heaven and earth.

Because there was no spiritual energy in black iron at all.

"One year of bitter cultivation is comparable to one Low-grade Spirit Stone, five thousand taels of silver, and roughly the same value as one liang of red gold."

Lu Lin nodded. After confirming there was no one around, his thoughts moved. "Exchange!"

The red gold ore in his hand instantly lost all its luster and turned into an ordinary stone. Meanwhile, the cultivation time on the Martial Dao Melting Furnace increased by one year.

"As expected, my mining experience still applies here!"

Lu Lin's spirits surged, and he swung his pick even more diligently.

Based on his experience, there should still be ore deposits in this area. Sure enough, a short while later, he dug up another piece of red gold ore of a similar size.

What delighted him even more was that beside the red gold ore, there was actually a companion piece of... Low-grade Spirit Stone!

That was right. It was a Low-grade Spirit Stone!

Since even Black Iron Ore could nurture Inferior Spirit Stones and a small number of Low-grade Spirit Stones, a Red Gold Mine rich in spiritual energy would naturally be even more likely to have spirit stones accompanying it, and the probability of Low-grade Spirit Stones appearing would greatly increase. Perhaps... there might even be Mid-grade Spirit Stones?

Lu Lin put the Low-grade Spirit Stone into his inner space, while the red gold ore was directly exchanged for cultivation time.

After that, he dug here for a while longer. Finding nothing new, he decisively moved to another spot.

Before long, he gained something again...

During this period, the Green Duckweed Sword Sect did not come to attack, giving Lu Lin a good opportunity to mine in peace.

In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.

The cultivation time displayed on the Martial Dao Melting Furnace panel had already reached three hundred eighty-two years and two months.

Over these ten days, he had obtained a total of three hundred twenty years of bitter cultivation time, along with one hundred and eight Low-grade Spirit Stones and two hundred eighty Inferior Spirit Stones.

It could be called a bountiful harvest.

Lu Lin wished he could dig here to his heart's content for a few years.

Unfortunately, things went against his wishes...

Dong! Dong! Dong!

War drums thundered, shaking the mine tunnel until it buzzed.

A deep, powerful voice came from outside, penetrating into the depths of the mine tunnel. "The Green Duckweed Sword Sect is attacking the mountain! All martial artists, leave the tunnels at once and stand guard!"

P.S. Brothers, please help with follow-up reads and monthly tickets. During the new book period, follow-up reads and monthly tickets are extremely important. Please read along every day, and absolutely don't stockpile chapters. Old Mu thanks you all, truly grateful.