Extreme Yin Transforms into True Gold

The maid knew she had misspoken and shut her mouth, mentioning it no further.

Li Shun, however, seemed not to notice and continued rambling. "What you don't know is that without nourishment from essence blood, this Cold Mountain Grass must absorb the radiance of the cold moon to thrive. So the closer to the surface, the more Cold Mountain Grass there should be. There's absolutely no reason for it to grow deeper underground..."

"You're so noisy!" Yue Shi cried, cutting Li Shun off.

She stared at Li Shun. After pondering for a long while, she finally took a deep breath and made her decision.

She suddenly bent down, grabbed the astonished Li Shun, and forcibly slung him over her back. Then, swift as lightning, she raced straight down the steep shaft toward the pitch-black depths underground.

"Ah, ah, young miss, this simply won't do! This old man cannot bear such honor..." Though Li Shun cried out like that, his hands naturally clamped tightly around Yue Shi's neck, with not the slightest intention of loosening.

Yet as he realized that Yue Shi's relentless dash was carrying him deeper and deeper underground, a trace of gravity rose in Li Shun's eyes.

Inside the Square Inch Space.

The seal on the brocade box had been broken days ago. A strange plant, crystal-clear throughout and radiating silvery light, floated quietly in midair like a miniature half-moon.

The remaining Cold Mountain Grass within the space bowed in submission as though welcoming their sovereign.

"Cold Mountain Venerable..."

Worthy indeed of being a rare wonder seen only once in a century. Merely bringing his divine sense near it, Li Shun felt an incomparably pure, crystalline chill wash through his entire body.

The strength of his divine sense seemed to be increasing strand by strand. Li Shun felt his mind become clearer than ever before, while the speed of his thoughts surpassed that of ordinary days severalfold.

What concerned Li Shun even more was that as his primary consciousness continuously absorbed the Cold Mountain Venerable's aura, his real body gradually detected something amiss with this underground mine cave.

"This place seems to be filled with a cold, yin aura. Not cold in the physical sense, but rather..."

"It is as though some colossal creature is lurking in the darkness, coldly watching every living thing that enters."

The instant such thoughts arose in Li Shun's mind, he felt as if the surrounding chill had come alive, all of it turning to stare at him.

The cold seeped into his body. Even under the protection of the Langhuan Blaze Robe, which constantly emitted heat, Li Shun found it difficult to resist.

His body temperature rapidly dropped.

Yue Shi, who was carrying Li Shun on her back and racing forward with her head lowered, immediately sensed something wrong. She abruptly stopped and turned around. "What's wrong with you?"

"Y-Young miss, d-don't you think... this damned place... is a little too cold..." Li Shun replied through chattering teeth.

Yue Shi furrowed her brows tightly. She could only stop and lay the shivering Li Shun on the ground.

She warily surveyed the surroundings. After a moment, a trace of solemnity finally appeared on her delicate face as well.

After hesitating for a while, she ultimately took out a medicinal pill from her robes and had Li Shun swallow it.

After taking it, Li Shun immediately felt as if a ball of fire had ignited in his stomach, spreading through his entire body in an instant. Not only did the chill recede, but fine beads of sweat even emerged across his forehead.

Seeing that Li Shun had improved, Yue Shi carried him onto her back again and plunged onward toward the depths underground without looking back.

"If you sense the aura of Cold Mountain Grass nearby, remember to call out to me," Yue Shi instructed.

"Young miss, are we still going deeper underground? What exactly is down here..."

"Thank you for saving my life just now. May I ask young miss's surname and given name? If there is ever a chance in the future, this old man will surely repay you..."

Although Li Shun kept trying to distract Yue Shi and slow her pace,

she remained utterly unmoved.

Thus, they inevitably ventured ever deeper into the Cold Mountain Mine Cave.

Not only did the surroundings grow colder and colder, but even the Langhuan Blaze Robe, which had originally still been able to barely emit a red glow, now had its light ruthlessly suppressed. Like a candle flame in the wind, it seemed liable to go out completely at any moment.

More importantly, Li Shun actually caught an aura in the darkness around them that was extraordinarily similar to that of the [Cold Mountain Venerable]!

The two originated from the same source, except this aura seemed somewhat weaker.

"Stop!"

After thinking for a moment, Li Shun called out to Yue Shi beneath him.

"Over there!"

Following the direction Li Shun indicated, Yue Shi wound onward. Before long, at the end of a mine passage, she discovered a flash of blue light suddenly blooming.

The source of that blue light was a gigantic plant resembling Cold Mountain Grass, but nearly five or six times larger.

"This is... unbelievable! How could there be such an enormous Cold Mountain Grass!" Li Shun exclaimed with extreme exaggeration.

"This is Cold Mountain Lord. Cold Mountain Grass has a one-in-a-hundred-thousand chance of mutating into it. Though it is not as valuable as the Cold Mountain Venerable, it is still worth far more than ordinary Cold Mountain Grass." Yue Shi finally explained.

Yet strangely, her attention did not linger long on that Cold Mountain Lord. Instead, her gaze repeatedly swept the surrounding stone walls with painstaking care.

A moment later, she seemed finally to have found her target, and a flash of delight appeared between her brows.

Just as she was about to carry Li Shun onward, she suddenly heard him carefully point at the Cold Mountain Lord ahead and say, "Young miss, may this old man pick this thing?"

"This old man has cultivated Cold Mountain Grass his entire life, yet has never seen such a marvel. My heart is truly itching unbearably..."

Yue Shi had originally not wished to stir up needless complications, but when she caught sight of Li Shun's incomparably sincere and earnest gaze, she hesitated briefly before ultimately nodding lightly.

Then Li Shun happily used the Farmer's Spirit-Splitting Life-Birthing Art to collect that Cold Mountain Lord.

The two then continued onward.

Along the way, Li Shun vaguely sensed the auras of several Cold Mountain Lords, yet did not speak up to remind her.

He merely let Yue Shi carry him as she raced ahead.

And Yue Shi, by some unknown method, seemed to know the precise layout of the underground mine tunnels.

She headed straight for her target without the slightest hesitation.

When they were nearly there, she suddenly stopped.

"Follow me." After putting Li Shun down, she spoke in a low voice.

Li Shun nodded and followed her forward with his back hunched.

At the end was a narrow passage faintly giving off a green glow.

"This should be the place."

The maid was somewhat uncertain, yet for some reason did not dare continue forward.

She could only wait patiently for the others to arrive.

Less than half a day later, another five maids arrived one after another.

Their gazes met, and they seemed finally to have confirmed their target.

They then sent word to the Changle Marquis.

In less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, the Changle Marquis had arrived from the surface.

She looked into the depths of the passage where green light swayed, then glanced at the laborers around her, terror filling their eyes. She waved a hand. "Take them back. Issue orders to seal this place. No one is to enter even half a step!"

The maids respectfully accepted the order and immediately escorted the laborers back the way they had come.

The Changle Marquis, meanwhile, entered the dark passage alone.

The farther inside she went, the more violent that chill became, stripping away all life.

As far as the eye could see, the path beneath her feet and the stone walls on both sides were sealed beneath layers of ice.

Yet the Changle Marquis feared none of this icy cold. Treading upon solid ice, she walked step by step to the very core of the mine cave.

There, a nearly transparent, barely discernible blurry green-blue figure floated quietly in midair.

It seemed to be immersed in some memory, merely staring blankly at the void ahead. It showed not the slightest response to the Changle Marquis's uninvited arrival.

The Changle Marquis looked at the green figure before her, and a trace of reverence flashed through her eyes.

She then continued moving forward.

The closer she came to the green figure, the more bone-piercing the surrounding chill became. Gradually, even with her strength, she began to find it difficult to endure. Frost condensed upon her brows, and her body began trembling completely beyond her control.

Upon reaching the limit of what she could bear, the Changle Marquis finally stopped.

"This unfilial daughter, Si Zhanqing, pays respects to her ancestor!" Grief on her face, the Changle Marquis bent her knees and fell heavily to the ground.

The green figure remained unmoved.

Only after a long while did Si Zhanqing rise.

The grief in her eyes had already faded, replaced by a thread of exhilaration.

"The yin force here should be enough."

Ignoring the bone-deep cold of the ground, Si Zhanqing sat down cross-legged. She then took a green gourd from her robes.

The gourd floated in midair as Si Zhanqing chanted under her breath.

"Nine Nether earth veins, Supreme Yin descends.

Steal fortune and seize opportunity, secretly covenant with heaven's heart.

Condense emptiness into substance, transform qi into silver.

Radiant Five Elements, extreme yin births gold!"

As Si Zhanqing chanted, ripples began to appear in the surrounding air.

Like droplets of water, they fell one after another.

Then the rain grew heavier and heavier, until it became a torrential downpour.

A drop of liquid gleaming with golden light was born amid that rain.

It fell into the green gourd below.

Then more followed without end, dripping down one after another.

Three days later.

Si Zhanqing returned to Cold Mountain County laden with harvest.

The cold yin aura that had originally blanketed Cold Mountain also began silently and gradually dispersing.

"Congratulations to the Changle Marquis for having her wishes fulfilled!" The county magistrate Fang Xun read her expression, bowed deeply, and saluted her with clasped hands.

Then he covertly probed, "My Lady, as for those laborers, should we..."