Yin-Yang Ore Vein, Fighting for Spirit Crystals

Su Yan and Guo Hongtao saw the familiar smile on Jiang Yuan's face, and the same thought surfaced in both their minds: Someone was about to have very bad luck.

"Brother Yuan, that smile of yours... it's making me nervous." Guo Hongtao swallowed.

"Don't be." Jiang Yuan patted him on the shoulder, then looked at Su Yan. "Miss Su, do you trust me?"

Su Yan looked into Jiang Yuan's bright eyes and, as if possessed, nodded.

"Good. Get ready. When I give the signal, rush into that fissure as fast as you can!" Jiang Yuan said concisely.

Before the two could ask anything else, Jiang Yuan abruptly turned around. Facing the steadily advancing Celestial Pivot Squad, he actually took the initiative to charge at them.

"With just this much skill, you think you can catch me?" Jiang Yuan roared. The Thunderfire Broken Sword in his hand drew a dazzling golden arc as it smashed viciously into the mine wall!

Boom!

Broken stones flew everywhere, and the entire tunnel shook.

"He wants to destroy the tunnel! End this quickly!" The Celestial Pivot leader frowned and issued his final order.

The five-person squad no longer held back. The Meridian-Sealing Short Staffs in their hands flared brilliantly as five force fields connected completely, forming an invisible wall of energy that crushed toward Jiang Yuan!

At that moment, Steward He's shrill, furious cry came from the other end of the tunnel.

"Jiang Yuan! You little bastard, let's see where you can run today!"

Steward He had led a large group of Evil Union Sect disciples to block their retreat, forming a pincer attack with the Celestial Pivot Squad.

"Another one here to die?" The Celestial Pivot leader did not even glance at Steward He. To him, these so-called sect cultivators were nothing more than primitives wielding cold weapons.

Yet Steward He paid the Celestial Pivot Squad no heed at all. Her eyes held only Jiang Yuan, that "top-grade furnace" she both loved and hated.

"Boy, didn't expect this, did you? Once you fall into my hands, I'll teach you what it means to crave pleasure beyond life and death!" Steward He licked her lips. With a flicker of her body, she transformed into a fragrant gust of wind and lunged at Jiang Yuan ahead of everyone else.

She was astonishingly fast. Before she even arrived, a peculiar fragrance had already slipped into Jiang Yuan's nostrils.

"Young Master Jiang Yuan, watch out for her Union Powder Hand! One touch and you're hit!" Su Yan warned urgently.

Steward He's palm seemed to drift lightly toward Jiang Yuan's chest, but it concealed deadly intent. The moment their skin touched, her domineering, frigid true qi would invade him, throw his mind into chaos, and lock his meridians.

She could already imagine Jiang Yuan struggling helplessly in her embrace, left entirely at her mercy.

However, her fingertips had only just brushed Jiang Yuan's waist.

A mountain-heavy rebounding force exploded through her fingertips!

Baxia · Stone-Metal Body!

"Ah!"

Steward He let out a short cry of pain. Her entire arm instantly went numb, as though she had not touched a human body, but a piece of ten-thousand-year dark iron heated red-hot! The immense force sent her flying backward, and she crashed to the ground in utter humiliation.

"How is that possible?!" She stared at her slightly blackened fingers, her face full of disbelief.

The three factions formed a strange balance in that narrow mine tunnel.

Then the balance was broken.

"Clear all obstacles!"

The Celestial Pivot leader gave the order coldly. The Meridian-Sealing Short Staffs in their hands pointed at everyone present, including Steward He and her group who had just arrived.

"You're courting death!" Steward He flew into a rage.

For a moment, dark-blue meridian-sealing beams, frigid and sinister Harmonious Union true qi, and Jiang Yuan's incomparably domineering Nine-Yang Sword Qi collided violently within the tiny tunnel!

Rumble—!

The entire mine shook violently under the impact of the raging energies. Huge chunks of rock fell from above, while spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground beneath their feet.

"Now! Go!" Jiang Yuan shouted. He grabbed Guo Hongtao and shoved him into the bottomless fissure.

Su Yan followed immediately after him.

Jiang Yuan was about to follow when the ground beneath his feet suddenly gave way!

It had collapsed!

The rock strata throughout the entire area crumbled completely. Everyone present—whether Jiang Yuan, the Celestial Pivot Squad, Steward He, or her disciples—lost control of their bodies and fell deeper underground amid startled cries!

The feeling of weightlessness lasted only a few seconds.

Plop! Plop!

Like dumplings dropped into a pot, everyone fell one after another onto a soft "ground."

Jiang Yuan was the first to steady himself. He looked around, stunned by the sight before him.

They were currently inside an incomparably enormous underground cavern.

And the entire cavern—or rather, everything beneath their feet—was piled high with crystals like mountains!

Half of the crystals radiated scorching crimson light, while the other half glowed with icy blue-green brilliance.

One yin and one yang, two utterly different energies converged and collided in this space, forming a dazzling ocean of spiritual energy!

Yin-Yang Spirit Crystals!

This was actually an entire, complete Yin-Yang Spirit Crystal ore vein!

"Hahaha... Hahahaha!"

A burst of crazed laughter shattered everyone's shock.

It was Steward He! She crawled out from the crystal pile, looking completely unhinged.

She did not look at Jiang Yuan. Instead, she turned toward the Celestial Pivot leader, who had also been thrown senseless by the fall. She took a black token from her robes and held it high.

"Look carefully! This is the highest command token of your Celestial Pivot Industries!"

The Celestial Pivot leader's expression changed drastically upon seeing the token. "How do you have that?!"

"How do I have it?" Steward He's smile grew even more smug. "Your Celestial Pivot Army conducted so many 'experiments' on our Harmonious Union Sect, taking away so many gifted disciples as 'test subjects.' In exchange, our Evil Union Lineage obtained the right to mine this Spirit Crystal ore vein. Is that so hard to understand?"

"Our deal was to exchange the lives of these sisters for the Spirit Crystals in this ore vein!"

The moment those words were spoken, every Evil Union Sect disciple present revealed a horrified expression.

Jiang Yuan and Su Yan understood as well. So this so-called cooperation had been such a filthy transaction.

"Now, the transaction is over!" Steward He abruptly crushed the token, then plunged both hands into the crystal pile beneath her feet!

"This ore vein—and all of you—will become stepping stones for me to reach a higher realm!"

Boom!

An enormous amount of yin-yang spiritual energy, as if finding an outlet, surged madly into Steward He's body!

Her aura rose higher and higher, breaking through a bottleneck in the blink of an eye!

Powerful true qi burst uncontrollably from her body. Her already luxurious robe shattered inch by inch, revealing the body beneath it, which was covered in strange patterns.

Scarlet-red markings spread from her neck like living venomous snakes, rapidly crawling across her entire body.

"Come, little one. Let me see how you'll still be a match for me now!" Feeling the unprecedented power within her, Steward He stuck out her tongue and licked her lips, her gaze locking onto Jiang Yuan once more.

Jiang Yuan looked at her without the slightest change in expression.

"You talk too much."

Before his words had even faded, he had already charged out. A dark current surged over his right palm.

Profound Heaven · Shattering Bone Hand!

"You overestimate yourself!" Steward He sneered. A protective force formed instantly before her, composed of yin and yang qi.

However, Jiang Yuan's palm twisted around her strongest point of defense at an extraordinarily strange angle and struck precisely at the weakest link in her protective force!

At the same time, a clear, icy sword light swept in from the side and slashed accurately at a point within the crystal pile!

It was Su Yan! She had severed Steward He's spiritual energy connection to the ore vein!

Crack!

The protective force shattered instantly!

"Pfft!"

Jiang Yuan's palm struck Steward He squarely in the chest. She flew backward like a kite with its string cut, spraying out a mouthful of blood.

"You... you..." She clutched her caved-in chest, her eyes filled with venomous hatred. "Just you wait... Elder Gu and Young Master Chu He... will be here soon! When that happens, none of you will leave alive!"

With that, she plunged headfirst into the depths of the crystal pile and vanished in the blink of an eye.

While everyone's attention was on Steward He, a short, plump figure was busily digging through the crystal pile with remarkable speed.

"I'm rich, I'm rich! I'm really rich this time!" Guo Hongtao clutched three head-sized, top-quality Yin-Yang Spirit Crystals tightly against his chest, drool nearly spilling from his mouth.

Just then, the long-absent system notification sounded in Jiang Yuan's mind.

[Ding!]

[Prerequisite condition "Obtain a high-concentration yin-yang energy core" has been met!]