Red Maple Flowing Fire

Several days later.

In a hidden mine.

If anyone else had been present and seen this scene, they would probably have cried, "Demonic cultivator!"

Inside the mine, the young man took out an enormous syringe filled with pale pink medicine.

He aimed it at his neck and plunged it in without hesitation, the pale pink liquid slowly flowing into his body.

Immediately afterward, his body began to twitch slowly yet rapidly.

"Damn..."

"So good!"

Waves of stimulation spread from his meridians to his head, all the way into the sea of consciousness between his brows.

Jiang Ran shook his head, trying to shake off that strange exhilaration, but it was useless.

[Kehua Level-One Mental Replenishment Supplement (No. 3)], worth 3,500.

Now he understood why Flying Sword Network strictly restricted the sale of mental spiritual items, including mental medicines.

Under the laws of the Heavenly Lu Kingdom, all major platforms and offline retailers tightly controlled mental spiritual items and medicines. Buyers had to possess a prescription issued by a professional doctor, and even with a prescription, the amount they could purchase at one time could not exceed the limit.

As a high school student under twenty, Jiang Ran faced even stricter restrictions.

Flying Sword Network had informed him that he could not purchase any mental spiritual items and could only buy "supplement-type" mental medicines.

[Kehua Level-One Mental Replenishment Supplement (No. 3)] was already the highest-grade mental medicine he could buy.

After taking a shot, Jiang Ran even suspected that he was inhaling some indescribable substance.

That feeling was utterly irresistible.

He circulated his spiritual power, forcing himself to calm down.

The Qi Nourishment cultivation method revolved rapidly, absorbing every last bit of the medicine's potency.

In just half an hour, Jiang Ran's Soul Nourishment progress visibly surged by a large margin.

"What a pity..." Jiang Ran opened his eyes, still savoring the afterglow.

"I can only buy ten per month. If I could buy more, I'd reach Qi Nourishment Perfection this month!"

Soul Nourishment was the final stage of Qi Nourishment cultivation. Once Soul Nourishment was complete, body and soul would become one, and one would officially enter perfection.

Perhaps it would not compare to Zhuang Beiluo's extreme perfection, but by then, Jiang Ran could fight for a place on the Mining Leaderboard and attempt Qi-Consuming Initiation!

It was still early, so Jiang Ran continued cultivating in silence.

There were at least another one or two months before the Mining Leaderboard was finalized. The exact timing depended on the sect's arrangements.

Setting aside all the pay-to-win factors, the cultivation environment in the Grand Ruins Realm was far superior to Pingjiang's. From now on, his cultivation focus would be placed in the Great Ruins.

It was worth mentioning that even without the assistance of the "Kehua Mental Replenishment Supplement," Jiang Ran's cultivation speed remained astonishing, far beyond what it had once been.

Naturally, all of this was thanks to the Spirit Root Transplant Surgery he had just undergone.

The Mid-Grade Spirit Root he had spent over two million to purchase had indeed not disappointed Jiang Ran.

The changes brought by a Mid-Grade Spirit Root were comprehensive: his dantian, meridians, physical body, spiritual energy absorption rate... it had even enhanced his comprehension to a certain extent.

Not only had the cultivation speed of his Qi Refining methods increased dramatically.

Even his progress in the Qi Nourishment Realm had clearly accelerated by quite a bit.

As the Mid-Grade Spirit Root fused with his body, Jiang Ran's soul was nourished at every moment. The most direct result of that nourishment was the rapid rise of his Soul Nourishment progress.

For ordinary people, such as Iron Ox from the Liu Household, who had practiced martial arts for more than a decade since childhood, Soul Nourishment had taken several years before he had barely touched the threshold of Qi Nourishment Perfection.

Jiang Ran had only been cultivating Qi Nourishment for a few months, and the final hurdle of Soul Nourishment would not trap him for long.

Qi-Consuming Initiation was within arm's reach.

At dusk, the commotion outside the mine startled Jiang Ran awake.

"What are they gathering for at this hour?" He rose with a frown.

A crowd had gathered on an earthen slope nearby, where three mine entrances stood.

They surrounded a middle-aged man, talking animatedly.

"You want to trade a few fist-and-kick manuals for ore? That's just wishful thinking!"

"Exactly, exactly. We all have Qi-Consumption Cultivation Methods. Who'd care about..."

"I heard this guy came from out of town. His methods might be... Should we take a look?"

Suddenly, derisive murmurs rose from the crowd, cutting off all discussion. "Let's go. Don't bother with him."

"Zhuang Beiluo and Li Yi personally crippled him. Who would dare buy his ore?"

Upon hearing the names "Zhuang Beiluo" and "Li Yi," everyone's expressions changed. They fell silent as cicadas in winter.

Before long, the crowd dispersed. No one dared speak to this ill-starred man again.

The top three on the Mining Leaderboard—Zhuang Beiluo, Li Yi, and Qin Shuang—were renowned throughout this mine. Zhuang Beiluo and Li Yi in particular both came from Gold-Splitting Town, and both possessed formidable strength.

Early on, the two had joined forces, gathering a large group of subordinates to serve them as they scraped every last scrap from the other miners.

After all this time, relying on the vast quantities of ore they had extorted, Zhuang Beiluo and Li Yi had firmly occupied the top ranks of the leaderboard.

More than seventy percent of the miners had been threatened by them.

In the beginning, several other groups had been able to contend against them.

But as Zhuang Beiluo grew stronger and stronger, every formidable rival had been defeated.

The middle-aged man slumped before them was one of those defeated men.

Sun Qianhan, at Qi Nourishment Perfection, had once been a popular candidate to enter the Hundred Yue Sect. Now both his legs were broken, and he could not even dig out a single piece of ore.

"May I take a look?"

Jiang Ran's voice rang out.

Sun Qianhan froze for a moment, then forced out a bitter smile.

"Feel free."

Once defeated, Sun Qianhan's ore had long since been plundered clean by Zhuang Beiluo's group. Not a single piece had been left behind.

Zhuang Beiluo had not killed him. What he wanted was to make an example of him.

At the next ore submission, someone like Sun Qianhan, who had reached Qi Nourishment Perfection, would be unable to complete his task and would be wiped out on the spot by the sect's immortals.

Jiang Ran paid no attention to any of that and carefully examined the items on the ground.

[Sand-Flying Footwork], [Foundation-Nurturing Qi Nourishment Formula], [Qi Collection: Red Maple Flowing Fire]...

Several cultivation manuals, along with a glowing light that slowly rose and fell—True Qi.

He was even offering True Qi in exchange for ore?

Jiang Ran was somewhat surprised. This man had truly reached the end of the road, where mountains and rivers were exhausted.

"How do you want to trade?" Jiang Ran asked.

To be honest, these cultivation manuals were not particularly impressive and held little appeal for him.

One Qi Nourishment cultivation method was enough, while Qi-Collection Methods were even more useless than chicken ribs.

Only this copy of Sand-Flying Footwork looked somewhat interesting, though only somewhat.

But what he had not expected was that the middle-aged man was unexpectedly frank and did not name an outrageous price.

"You can see my situation." Sun Qianhan smiled bitterly.

"Three jin of ore for one item, or you can give me whatever you like..."

Jiang Ran raised his brows slightly, somewhat surprised. "That won't be necessary."

He picked up the Sand-Flying Footwork manual and casually tossed over a small piece of ore.

"Take it. I hope you survive."

After a while, movement sounded behind him.

"Brother, please wait..." Sun Qianhan struggled to his feet.

"You gave too much. You might as well take one more item."

"This Qi-Collection Method can gather fifth-rank Red Maple Flowing Fire Qi. It can make up for your ore!"

Jiang Ran turned back, his gaze locking onto him.