Deep Mine

Slap~ Slap~ Slap.

In the deep, pitch-black mine shaft, the sound of cloth boots striking the ground rang exceptionally clear, accompanied by an ever-growing chill.

Using a grass rope to bind his coat tightly around himself, Xu Yuan showed not the slightest hint of retreat in his eyes. Gripping his pickaxe, he walked out of the long tunnel and entered the deeper mining area.

It was not so dark that one could not see one's hand before one's face. On the contrary, it was somewhat brighter here than inside the tunnel. Xu Yuan leaned forward and looked down into the mine shaft below, its depth unknown. A dim blue light was emanating from there.

Beyond the long tunnel, he stood upon an ashen-white platform. Countless such platforms spiraled downward, forming a long staircase.

The surroundings were all incomparably hard rock walls. To accomplish such an undertaking in a place without any machinery went without saying—those immortal sect elders, whose mighty power belonged to themselves, must have lent a hand.

"According to some old hands in the mining area, this used to be a Jade Marrow Crystal mine. What us immortal slaves dig outside are all its associated ores. If that's the case, then the bottom is probably where Jade Marrow Crystals were produced. Unfortunately, after so many years, the Jade Marrow Crystals inside have likely long since been mined clean."

Muttering to himself, Xu Yuan did not dwell on it. After all, he had not entered the deep mine shaft this time for the so-called Jade Marrow Crystals.

Iron Bone Stone and Crimson Blood Stone—those two spirit ores were his true targets.

He raised his pickaxe and struck the stone wall, his senses continuously extending along the pickaxe. Here, he saw quite a few ores that he had previously only encountered in the mining area handbook.

There were several precious kinds among them, and he dug those out as well.

Unlike the outer layer, perhaps because the rock walls deep below had been eroded by the cold wind in the cave for so long, Xu Yuan not only had to use greater strength while digging, but also had to prevent the pickaxe from snapping outright under the force.

Of course, the greatest obstacle was still the cold wind that periodically blew in from the depths of the mine shaft. It chilled the spirit and froze the bones, as though it wanted to turn all the blood in his body into ice crystals.

After working for a while, Xu Yuan took out the cold flatbread he had prepared beforehand. Though it wore his teeth down and was hard to swallow, after eating half a piece, he still felt much of the chill recede.

"If only the Trait could change the flavor while it was at it."

After grumbling, Xu Yuan casually struck the rock beside him with his pickaxe. The next instant, a look of delight suddenly appeared on his face.

"Found it!"

At the edge of the area his thoughts could reach, a crimson-red ore abruptly appeared within his field of view.

There was no doubt about it—this was Crimson Blood Stone, one of the two ores he needed to find.

Swinging his pickaxe, Xu Yuan smashed it directly into the rock wall. Amid continuous strikes, roughly half a shichen later, a crimson-red ore clattered to the ground.

Stepping forward to pick up the ore, Xu Yuan could not help but let out a breath of relief. With this, he was only one last type of ore away from the Innate Martial Bone Trait.

Meanwhile, while Xu Yuan was digging deep within the mine shaft, outside, Lou Fan and the vice president of the Seek Immortals Society arrived at the place where he often mined.

Looking at the empty mine shaft, the vice president cast Lou Fan a cold glance. "You said—where is he?"

"He... he's usually here." Lou Fan did not dare meet the other man's eyes. He stammered out his reply, then pointed at the fresh earth on the ground. "Look, this dirt hasn't even dried yet. He clearly dug it up yesterday."

Pinching some of the dirt between his fingers, the vice president confirmed that Lou Fan was probably not lying. But this also meant that they had indeed temporarily lost track of Xu Yuan.

He had not used his contribution points for a year. If they could make him hand them over willingly, the young miss's chances of entering an immortal sect would be far greater.

"Hmph. A monk may flee, but the temple remains. You can avoid us today, but can you avoid us tomorrow? The day after?"

He spoke coldly, then removed the pickaxe from his back. Under Lou Fan's astonished gaze, he swung it and smashed it into the rock wall ahead.

"What are you looking at?" The vice president frowned, then immediately gestured to Lou Fan. "Hurry up and start mining. Do you think contribution points will run into your account by themselves? The president is still waiting for our contribution points."

"Ah... oh."

And so, the two men who had originally been hunting Xu Yuan began their day's labor in the mine shaft where Xu Yuan had once stayed.

Ding!

After the refined iron pickaxe had struck the rock wall an unknown number of times, Xu Yuan withdrew his thoughts. His eyes were already somewhat weary.

Using the pickaxe to probe the rock layers did not actually consume much mental energy, but there had simply been too many times.

Three shichen had now passed since he entered the deep mine shaft, and to ward off the cold, he had eaten three pieces of the cold flatbread he had brought.

At first, half a piece of cold flatbread could keep his body warm for one shichen. But just now, he had eaten a full piece and a half before he felt his body warm up somewhat.

"Should I head out?"

Xu Yuan glanced at the entrance above his head, where he had come in, and pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

No one knew when the so-called Seek Immortals Society would come knocking. He did not believe their claim of "in a few days." For all he knew, members of the Seek Immortals Society might be blocking his doorstep right now.

The mining area only prohibited people from killing one another. As for other unfathomable methods—whether the mining area could control them, or would control them—that was another unknown.

Otherwise, that so-called president would not have been able to gather a whole crowd under him.

"I should go deeper. One of the conditions for Iron Bone Stone to form seems to be a cold environment. The chances of finding it below should be higher."

Putting away his pickaxe, Xu Yuan stopped probing around up here and instead began walking downward along the spiral passage.

As he made his way down, he could still see traces of past excavation by Hidden Moon Sect disciples. He even saw quite a few white bones.

text
[Item: Unknown White Bone]

[Status: Weathered dry and brittle]

[Current Trait: None]

[Traits That Can Be Added: 0/1]

[Selectable Trait: Hard (Gray): At the very least, it will not break so easily now. Cost: Three taels of silver.]

[Nutrient-Rich (White): I wasn't lying to you—the nutrients are all in there. Cost: three taels of gold.]

"What the hell is 'nutrient-rich'? You want me to eat bones?" Xu Yuan grumbled inwardly, never having expected that even human bones could have attributes added to them.

Just as Xu Yuan's vision was filled with the addable attributes of assorted junk, several different lines of text suddenly leaped into his sight.

[Item: Evil-Warding Iron Talisman]

[Status: Slightly damaged, spirituality weakened]

[Current Attributes: None]

[Addable Attributes: 0/1]

[Selectable Attributes: Hard (Gray): Don't worry about whether it's useful—just tell me, isn't it harder now? Cost: one tael of silver.

Consecrated by an Eminent Monk (Green): The iron talisman has been consecrated by a temple master, greatly increasing its spirituality. Cost: one piece of white jade ore, ten taels of gold.]

"Huh." A flicker of surprise crossed Xu Yuan's eyes. He quickly picked up a round object from the corner.

There was also a pile of white bones beside this iron talisman. Judging by their color, the person seemed not to have been dead for very long.

"So here's the question," Xu Yuan said, looking at the iron talisman in his hand. "How did he die?"