Green Entries

Back in his previous life, Xu Yuan had heard a theory: if a gun appeared in a book, then before long, that gun would definitely go off.

Then, if he picked up this iron talisman now, did that mean he would be needing it soon?

"Peh, peh, peh."

After spitting several times onto the ground, Xu Yuan hurriedly consoled himself. "This is Hidden Moon Sect territory. No matter how unreliable this immortal sect is, no matter how little we immortal slaves count for, surely they wouldn't leave ghostly things inside the mine tunnels uncleared, would they?"

Of course, that thought was not based on the benevolence of some great immortal sect. It was merely because immortal slaves like them still had a tiny bit of use to Hidden Moon Sect.

After a year here, he already had a rough idea of what the so-called Hidden Moon Sect was like.

After examining the iron plaque, Xu Yuan remembered that he seemed to have dug up white jade ore from it earlier. As for gold, he still had quite a bit of that.

Perfect. He could first see what the green entry's effect was like.

Holding the iron plaque in one hand, Xu Yuan placed the gold and white jade ore on the ground at the same time. Once he gave his consent, the gold and white jade ore on the ground slowly vanished. Then, the evil-dispelling iron talisman in his hand suddenly flared with a burst of intense light.

When the bright light faded, Xu Yuan held it again and could clearly sense the difference. The entire iron talisman now felt warmer and smoother to the touch. It no longer resembled refined iron, but rather jade.

Moreover, the Buddha image on the evil-dispelling iron talisman wore a more benevolent smile, as though it might come alive at any moment.

"A green entry can alter some of its fundamental nature?"

Xu Yuan studied the new evil-dispelling iron talisman for a while, then hung it around his neck. With this thing on him, he felt a little more at ease exploring the cave.

After descending another ten zhang or so, the number of bones gradually increased. Some were fresh, some old, while most had already weathered away.

From what the immortal slaves passed around by word of mouth, only a small portion of those mining here back then had been Hidden Moon Sect disciples. Most had been descendants of the Wang Family, a cultivation clan of no small size. Yet because they had offended Hidden Moon Sect, not only had their ancestral land been uprooted by one of the sect's great powers, but every member of the family had also been reduced to Hidden Moon Sect slaves.

Those weathered bones might have once belonged to them.

The farther down he went, the heavier the chill became. When the temperature around him seemed to have reached about the limit of what he could endure, Xu Yuan stopped.

Picking up his mining pick again, he resumed his clinking strikes. Perhaps because he was closer to the bottom of the mine, there were visibly more ores here. However, Xu Yuan did not waste his strength excavating them. Instead, he continued focusing on finding the last type of ore.

Time trickled by. The cold wind rising from the depths of the cave constantly gnawed at Xu Yuan's body. Finally, when he had nearly searched the entire rock wall at this level, the hand holding his pick suddenly stopped. His lips, nearly drained of all color, curled upward uncontrollably.

"Finally found you!"

With an excited shout, Xu Yuan hurriedly swung his pick and smashed it hard into the rock wall.

This ore was also embedded rather deep. Luckily, he had not excavated the other ores earlier, or he would not have had the strength to dig this one out now.

Pick strike after pick strike, Xu Yuan worked with all his might. Just as he became absorbed in his labor, a pallid white patch suddenly emerged from the place he was digging. Then rubble continuously fell away, revealing a skeleton embedded within the rock.

Xu Yuan: "?"

Cursing his bad luck under his breath, Xu Yuan moved to shift the skeleton aside. But at that moment, the skull that had been utterly still slowly turned toward him.

Then, with movements too fast for Xu Yuan to see clearly, its hands abruptly shot out from the stone walls on either side, reaching to seize his hands.

His eyes widened to their limit as Xu Yuan instinctively tried to dodge. Yet the skeleton was faster than he could have imagined. The thought of evasion had only just arisen when its cold rigidity touched his skin.

At that instant, the evil-dispelling iron talisman against his chest suddenly began radiating astonishing heat, and the formerly compassionate Buddha image transformed into a wrathful Vajra.

With a boom, dazzling golden light erupted, completely enveloping Xu Yuan.

The part of the skeleton that had touched Xu Yuan did not even have time to withdraw before it was reduced to ashes by the golden light protecting his body. Then, its entire body was yanked away by a tremendous force and hurled to one side.

"This is..." Xu Yuan came back to his senses in a daze and reached for the iron talisman on his chest. The protective talisman was currently humming, maintaining the layer of Buddhist light around him.

As for the skeleton he had just dug out, it now hovered off to one side, not daring to approach. Yet it also seemed unwilling to give up, merely staring at Xu Yuan with its hollow black eye sockets.

Xu Yuan did not know whether to call himself a crow's beak or praise himself for how right he had been to strengthen the iron talisman earlier. He glanced at the skeleton, then at the rock wall before him, which he had nearly excavated halfway through. After swallowing, he still chose to keep digging.

For a time, the clanging of metal against stone echoed continuously through the silent space.

As though in response, noises began sounding from within the surrounding rock walls. Then, one skeletal arm after another stretched out from them.

Clack, clack. The arms swayed and danced through the air, their sounds drowning out Xu Yuan's digging until they gradually became the only note in this place.

Skeletons continuously clawed their way out from the walls. Quite a few remained stuck in the rock walls, able only to wave their hands futilely or thrash their skulls wildly.

Faced with such an eerie and terrifying sight, someone else might have been scared out of their wits. Yet Xu Yuan, standing in the middle of it all, merely kept his attention fixed on the rock wall before him.

Finally, with his last strike, the rock in front of him loosened, revealing a cold white ore—the Iron Bone Stone he had been searching for.

At this point, the conditions for adding a green entry to himself had been fulfilled.

After putting away the Iron Bone Stone, Xu Yuan found himself nearly surrounded by skeletal remains. Yet no matter how many there were, none dared approach him for the moment.

Raising the evil-dispelling iron talisman above his head, Xu Yuan stepped forward. The skeletons before him automatically made way, but as Xu Yuan left, they instinctively followed behind him again.

Xu Yuan: "..."

Fortunately, these ghostly things did not follow him forever. Just as Xu Yuan was about to reach the passage he had come through, they gradually stopped, then began heading downward.

Letting out a long breath, Xu Yuan had truly feared that these skeletal remains would keep following him.

Once he passed back through the tunnel and returned to the outer layer, a powerful sensation of warmth enveloped him in an instant.

After checking the items in his basket once more, Xu Yuan smashed open the concealed spot he had hidden in the rock wall and retrieved the spirit crystals and demon beast blood.

Now, it was time to obtain the green entry.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

The Vice President and Lou Fan had finished a day of labor and were staring at each other. "That kid actually still hasn't come back?"

"Forget it. We need to be patient."

The Vice President took a deep breath, then looked at the fruits of their labor for the day. At the very least, they had dug up quite a bit of ore today. That still counted as a gain.