Jade Marrow Crystal Vein

"Seventy percent belongs to them."

Bi Qiong patted the bag in her hand. "Where do you think I got information about the Jade Marrow Crystals in the deep mine tunnels? And where do you think my Bewitching Talisman came from?"

Giving Xu Yuan an amused glance, Bi Qiong said, "It's just that a certain important person in the Hidden Moon Sect needs me to do something, so they promised me a few benefits."

"Doing something means digging up their own mine?"

Xu Yuan's mind turned, and then he silently cursed himself for being stupid. What did he mean, their own mine? This belonged to the sect. Public property was not one's own; only what fell into one's own pocket counted as one's own.

Thinking it over, he guessed that when this place had been mined before, some disciple had discovered a hidden vein somewhere but concealed it instead of reporting it. Now that they had the means, they wanted the immortal slaves in the mining district to dig it out for them.

As for why they did not come personally, naturally it was because they feared being discovered by the sect. Only by having the mining slaves do it could they truly pull it off without anyone knowing, like spirits and ghosts at work. Even if it was discovered, no one could trace it back to them.

"What a chain linked within a chain."

He grumbled inwardly, and Bi Qiong's next words confirmed his guess. "That important person cannot come here personally, so they had me handle it. As for the reward, naturally, it is letting me leave this place."

After saying that, she glanced at Xu Yuan again. Though only a few days had passed, she could sense that he had made considerable progress once more. That gave them an even greater guarantee of digging up the Jade Marrow Crystals.

Having settled the matter, neither of them wasted any time. Each picked up a mining pick and hurried toward the mine tunnel.

When they reached the mine entrance, the two once again entered one after the other, one fast and one slow.

However, he did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but as they passed the person in charge, Xu Yuan felt that the man seemed to be sizing him up with a peculiar gaze.

It was not the look one gave a living person. Rather, it was as though he were examining an item for sale—assessing its quality, weighing its value, judging when it could be sold.

"Did you feel it?"

At that moment, Bi Qiong's laughter came from behind him. "People like us, talented or not, are nothing but fish on the chopping block to them."

Xu Yuan answered with a silent hum. Then the two continued winding through the mine tunnels until they reached the entrance leading to the deep mines.

"It's so cold," Bi Qiong complained. She had brought warm clothing as well, but she did not possess Xu Yuan's powerful physique and naturally could not fend off the bitter cold here for long.

Just like Xu Yuan before, she would have had to keep gnawing on flatbread to forcibly endure it for so long.

Passing through the tunnel and entering the deep mine, they found the same boundless darkness below. Cold wind continuously rose from the depths of the earth, devouring their body heat.

At that moment, Xu Yuan suddenly asked, "Was what you promised them real?"

"What?" Bi Qiong glanced at Xu Yuan curiously.

"Those... subordinates of yours."

Without evading the question or denying it, Bi Qiong shook her head naturally as she adjusted her coat. "Of course it was all fake. Even if we escape this place, we'll only become the lowest-ranking disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect. We may only be able to guarantee our own most basic cultivation. How could we possibly have any strength left to look after them?"

They did not continue discussing the subject. Xu Yuan seemed to have known the answer already. After a brief silence, they began making their way down.

"Besides the cold wind, there are also some skeletal ghosts and monsters here. They're drawn to the aura of the living. Be careful if we run into them."

After traveling for a long while, Bi Qiong reminded Xu Yuan of this, then began studying their surroundings. There were traces of the Hidden Moon Sect's past excavations here as well, but they had not dug very deep. It seemed they had searched for a while, found nothing, and given up.

"According to that important person, it should be here."

Pointing at a huge opening ahead, Bi Qiong pulled her coat tighter and looked at Xu Yuan. "Want to give it a try?"

"Mm." Xu Yuan nodded, stepped forward, raised his mining pick, and brought it crashing down. Compared to before, his mining movements had become far rougher, yet he seemed completely unafraid of breaking the pick.

That was because after gaining Innate Martial Bones and giving birth to spiritual qi within his body, his control over his strength had become far greater than before.

As Bi Qiong watched Xu Yuan begin working, she curled up into herself and continuously stuffed pill after pill into her mouth.

Half an hour later, Xu Yuan had dug a passage three zhang long ahead of him, yet there was still no sign of any Jade Marrow Crystal.

"How about... we change directions?" Bi Qiong's weak voice drifted over from behind. Xu Yuan had just opened his mouth to respond when, at the instant his mining pick fell, a layer of white light suddenly appeared in his field of vision within the edge of one zhang.

"I'll try a little more."

With that reply, Xu Yuan dug away the sand and soil before him again. Another quarter-hour later, with a clang, a piece of ore fell out. It looked like crystal on the outside, while something akin to liquid seemed to flow within.

The instant Bi Qiong saw the ore, she sprang to her feet. It was as though much of the chill around her had been blasted away. Trembling, she staggered closer.

But just as she reached out to touch it, streams of almost tangible cold qi suddenly surged from the rock wall Xu Yuan had chiseled open.

Jade Marrow Crystal was already an ore of extreme cold. Where it formed, the minerals connected with the earth veins' qi and created a frigid hollow. In an instant, the temperature throughout the entire space plummeted.

Bi Qiong leaped back again, clutching her coat and shivering violently, looking as though she were about to freeze to death at any moment.

Xu Yuan watched helplessly. There was no way to start a fire in this damned place, so he simply told her to go back up and wait for him first.

Before leaving, Bi Qiong stammered out, "Y-you... don't secretly pocket any, okay? That important person might know the amount of ore. If they ask about it later, I won't be able to explain."

Xu Yuan shook his head. He did not think he could do such a thing. Placing the Jade Marrow Crystal from the ground into a basket, he continued digging forward.

At this moment, the power of the detection pick revealed itself once again. The instant he swung it down, he knew where ore lay hidden, saving him an enormous amount of effort.

And so, roughly four hours later, after Xu Yuan had dug another half zhang in every direction and the detection pick still gave no response whatsoever, he finally became certain that he had mined out all the ore here.

He flexed his body, which was nearly frozen stiff. Ice crystals covered Xu Yuan's forehead by now. Fortunately, he had come only after mastering the Little Blue Mountain Essence-to-Qi Art. If he had come before, he would likely have frozen to death after staying here for only a short while.

With a large basket of ore on his back, he made his way upward. After being dug out, the Jade Marrow Crystals no longer emitted such intense cold, but an ordinary person would probably still suffer frostbite from touching them.

No wonder that person had paid such a great price to have him help.

For immortal slaves who had not cultivated qi and lacked physical conditions like his, mining the ore here was simply courting death.

When he returned to a spot near the mine entrance, Xu Yuan was just about to search for Bi Qiong when her voice suddenly rang out from above.

Xu Yuan looked up and found her surrounded by a group of skeletons, on the verge of being devoured.

The moment she seemed to spot Xu Yuan, she immediately waved her arms desperately. "Brother Xu... no, Father Xu, save me!"