Return to the Mining District

By the time the flying vessel landed in the mining district, the sun was already slanting westward.

The mine managers handed out mining tools and ore baskets, then led everyone toward the mine tunnels.

"I'll emphasize the rules once more. First, no storage artifacts may be brought into the mine. If anyone has one, hand it over now for the mining district to hold."

"Second, all ore mined must be handed over to the mine managers. No one may privately take any out of the mining district."

"Third, every hundred jin of Red Copper Ore earns one Spirit Stone, with no upper limit. If you are lucky enough to dig up Red Copper Essence, every jin earns one Spirit Stone. You may leave the mine and turn in ore at any time."

Once the manager finished speaking, the crowd stirred slightly. Qin Huaian saw the heated gleam rise in some people's eyes.

Qin Huaian had mined for several days before. He knew that, let alone Red Copper Essence, even ordinary Red Copper Ore was not easy to excavate. Often, one had to dig through stone for a long time just to obtain a piece of Red Copper Ore weighing a few jin.

As they entered the mine, Qin Huaian felt a sweep of Divine Sense. It was not concealed, so every cultivator could sense it, and it served as a deterrent.

Qin Huaian was relieved as well. The cultivators here had not discovered the Seed Space.

After entering the mine, they found multiple branching passages leading deeper into the mineral vein.

"I'll leave you here. Choose your own mining passageways, everyone. May fortune favor you." With that, the manager left the mine.

There were seven or eight side passages here. Once inside each one, they further split into countless smaller branch tunnels. The entire mountain and its underground depths had been carved apart by densely packed tunnels, like a honeycomb.

After a brief hesitation, the people in their group formed teams of two or three and chose different passages into the depths of the mine.

"Which path are we taking?" Wang Baole asked.

"We'll take this one. I mined quite smoothly in this tunnel last time," Qin Huaian said. His previous haul had indeed been good, and he wanted to try that spot again.

Other than Wang Baole, the rest were here for the first time. No one objected.

After passing several forks, the group arrived at the place where Qin Huaian had mined last time. It was a relatively large open area, with more than ten small tunnel entrances stretching out around it.

"This is the place. Everyone can choose a small mine tunnel and dig freely." After speaking, Qin Huaian picked one and went inside to start mining.

"If anything happens, shout for help. We'll support each other!" Wang Baole hurriedly added.

After the others nodded in agreement, they too chose mine tunnels and entered.

A day later, Qin Huaian's ore basket was already half full, containing an estimated five hundred jin of ore. In truth, only half of that had been mined that day. He had silently placed the rest into the Seed Space. If he had not feared arousing suspicion, he would have stuffed every piece of ore he mined into the Seed Space.

This mineral vein truly was as rumored—it had reached a rich ore zone. The amount he mined in a single day now exceeded what he had mined over two days last time.

Qin Huaian swallowed a Grain-Repelling Pill and continued digging. His Mirror Body had been continuously circulating the Azure Splendor Art, absorbing spiritual energy without end. As a result, Qin Huaian did not feel tired at all, and the true qi in his Dantian was even slowly increasing.

A true humanoid machine, a sacred body born for mining!

Half a day later, Qin Huaian's ore basket held around eight hundred jin of ore. Then, when he swung his mining pick down, a flash of reddish gold was exposed in the tunnel wall. Red Copper Essence! Qin Huaian carefully cleared away the surrounding rubble and dug out a fist-sized piece of Red Copper Essence.

It was not large, but it was incredibly heavy in his hand, weighing more than twenty jin! Though he did not know the market price of Red Copper Essence, judging by the reward ratio offered by the mining district, it should have been worth more than a hundred times ordinary ore. Qin Huaian silently stored it in the Seed Space and continued swinging his pick.

More than half a day passed. The ore basket was nearly full, and he did not find any more Red Copper Essence. Then Wang Baole's voice came from outside.

"Fellow Daoists, is anyone going to turn in ore together?"

"I'm going."

"I'll come too."

Several people emerged from their small mine tunnels, and Qin Huaian came out as well. He swept his gaze around. Wang Baole's ore basket was already full, while the others had each filled more than half of theirs.

"Good luck today. The mining speed is much faster than before." Wang Baole saw that he had mined the most ore and chuckled smugly.

The group headed together toward the place where ore was turned in. After the managers weighed their ore, they readily handed them Spirit Stones.

Wang Baole received thirteen Spirit Stones, Qin Huaian received twelve, Jiang Yuan received twelve, and the other two cultivators who had come with them received ten and eleven respectively.

On the way back to the mine, everyone was excited. How could they not be? At this pace, earning more than a hundred Spirit Stones a month would be effortless.

Most of those who came to mine were Qi Refining Early Stage cultivators. Without some special skill, earning Spirit Stones was exceedingly difficult for them. Mining here carried little risk; it merely required some labor. Of course, it also delayed their precious cultivation time.

Who told them they were Rogue Cultivators? Who told them they were poor?

After returning to the mine, they once again entered their respective small tunnels.

Qin Huaian still did not have enough Spirit Stones to deduce the Azure Splendor Art to the Minor Success realm, but he did not leave his Spirit Stones lying idle. He chose to cultivate with them directly.

The spiritual energy within Spirit Stones was exceptionally pure and easier to absorb. For Qi Refining Early Stage cultivators, cultivating with Spirit Stones was two or three times faster than absorbing the spiritual energy of nature. With medicinal pills assisting cultivation, the speed would be even greater. Many direct descendants of great Lineages could be piled up to the Late Qi Refinement Realm with resources, even if their aptitude was somewhat lacking.

Qin Huaian had the Mirror Body cultivate while holding Spirit Stones, while his true body mined outside. After two days of cultivation, Qin Huaian discovered that the Mirror Body could absorb four Spirit Stones per day. Two days later, Qin Huaian looked at the system interface again:

Cultivation: Qi Refining (Second Layer 13/100)

Cultivation Art: Azure Splendor Art (Proficient 1/100, can be deduced)

After absorbing eight Spirit Stones, the progress of the Qi Refining Second Layer had increased by two points. If he cultivated solely by absorbing Spirit Stones, he would need roughly another three hundred and forty-eight Spirit Stones and eighty-seven days. If his true body cultivated alongside it, would he not reach the Qi Refining Third Layer in less than two months?

Without the Mirror Body deducing the cultivation art, and with it cultivating alongside his true body, it would take nine years to reach the Qi Refining Third Layer without using Spirit Stones or medicinal pills. But now, the speed was simply too fast! Was this the charm of cheats combined with spending money?

Soon, a month passed. Qin Huaian was fortunate enough to dig up another fist-sized piece of Red Copper Essence. Naturally, he stored it in the Seed Space again.

That day, Wang Baole also dug up a piece of Red Copper Essence weighing more than thirty jin. Qin Huaian and Wang Baole went to turn in their ore together. On the way back, Little Fatty was ecstatic.

"Haha, Brother Qin, the mine tunnel you picked for us is amazing. When we return to the market, I have to treat you to a proper meal."

Qin Huaian and Little Fatty had become quite familiar with each other, so they no longer spoke with such distant politeness.

"Fatty, then we'd better find a good restaurant," Qin Huaian teased.

"Of course. We're not short on Spirit Stones. Hehe, now whenever I rest and meditate, I cultivate by directly absorbing Spirit Stones."

"Fatty, I'm planning to return to the market in the next couple of days. Want to come with me?"

"I won't be going back. I prepared plenty of supplies this time. I'll return next month."

The next day, Qin Huaian left the mine alone with half a basket of ore on his back. After turning in the ore, he went to wait for the flying vessel at the entrance of the mining district.

He was going back to cash in the ore in his Seed Space!