Digging Through the Mountain, an Unexpected Discovery

Rumble!

The thunderous sound of great trees crashing down rang out one after another in the dead of night.

In the sky, Zhou Chun pursued the Purple Flame Sable while riding a bamboo-leaf-shaped flying artifact, simultaneously controlling the two Moon Blades split from the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel to attack it in turns.

The Purple Flame Sable was truly incomparably agile. It leaped up and down through the mountain forest, and even though Zhou Chun had locked onto it with his divine sense, it still managed to evade the Moon Blade attacks time and again.

But because it had to dodge Zhou Chun's attacks, its speed inevitably slowed.

Thus, Zhou Zhengyong's Crimson Tail Monkey gradually caught up as well and joined the battle.

Nature always had a way of keeping one thing in check with another.

Although the Crimson Tail Monkey was not considered a particularly powerful Demonic Beast among First-grade High-tier Demonic Beasts, it was perfectly suited for dealing with agile Demonic Beasts like the Purple Flame Sable in a mountain forest.

After it joined the battle, the Purple Flame Sable was first forced to throw away the corpse of the Flame Rat it had been carrying in its mouth. Then, while it was busy dodging the Moon Blade attacks, the Crimson Tail Monkey struck it with one claw, leaving a bloody claw mark across its body.

Having been injured, the Purple Flame Sable became even less willing to fight Zhou Chun and the others. It focused entirely on escaping for its life.

It led one man and one monkey flying through the pine forest, leaving Zhou Zhengyong, who was rushing after them on foot, far behind until he could no longer see them.

After crossing several mountain peaks along the way and suffering several more wounds, the Purple Flame Sable suddenly slipped into a certain cave and vanished directly from the range of Zhou Chun's divine sense.

"Did it hide inside the cave? Then this is most likely its lair!"

Zhou Chun looked at the cave entrance beneath the rocky mountain wall before him, a solemn expression appearing on his face.

The cave entrance was not large. It was just big enough for a seven- or eight-year-old child to crawl through, making it impossible for an adult like him to enter.

Of course, through probing inside with his divine sense, he knew that the space gradually widened farther in, and there were even cave chambers deep inside large enough for one person to stand.

The problem was that with the thick rock walls and mountain body blocking the way, widening the cave to reach its depths was simply not something that could be accomplished in a short time.

Besides, a wily rabbit had three burrows. Zhou Chun did not believe the Purple Flame Sable's lair would have only this one entrance.

So they had to prevent the Purple Flame Sable from escaping through another entrance!

Zhou Chun could not wait for Zhou Zhengyong to arrive. He immediately used smoke to fumigate the cave, then flew into the sky to see where smoke emerged.

With that look, he quickly discovered three places where smoke was rising.

He sent the Crimson Tail Monkey to one location while he and the Rock Earth Turtle blocked the other two, preventing the Purple Flame Sable from slipping away through any of those three places before Zhou Zhengyong arrived.

However, the Purple Flame Sable was more patient than Zhou Chun had imagined. Even after Zhou Zhengyong came panting up the mountain, it still did not emerge from any cave entrance.

"Let's use poisonous smoke. I have some dried Black Spot Stinky Leaf Grass in my Storage Bag. We'll find some fresh poisonous leaves as well, burn them together, and throw them inside. I refuse to believe that beast can truly endure it without coming out!"

After Zhou Zhengyong learned the situation from Zhou Chun, he quickly proposed his solution.

The Zhou Family's Monkey Garden had been rebuilt. Zhou Zhengyong usually took care of the Monkey Garden and some other Demonic Beasts, so he kept various items on hand for disciplining and taming them.

Thus, Zhou Chun was not surprised that he had Black Spot Stinky Leaf Grass, a Poisonous Grass, in his Storage Bag.

This time, Zhou Zhengyong handled everything himself. He soon gathered the materials, lit them, and threw them into the cave.

But to his and Zhou Chun's mutual dismay, even after all the Black Spot Stinky Leaf Grass had been burned, the Purple Flame Sable still did not show the slightest trace.

"Could it have already been smoked unconscious inside?"

Zhou Zhengyong voiced his suspicion with a doubtful expression.

Zhou Chun thought the same, but he said, "We'll have to dig through the mountain. We still have nearly two days. If we only dig one passage, there should still be a chance."

"Good. Then we'll dig through the mountain!"

Zhou Zhengyong gritted his teeth, knowing that this was the only viable method left.

The two of them immediately carried over a great deal of rubble to seal off the other cave entrances, then placed boulders outside the cave to press down on them.

Next, they had the Rock Earth Turtle and the Crimson Tail Monkey take turns digging at one of the entrances.

When it came to digging tunnels, the Rock Earth Turtle was actually highly skilled. Its claws were extraordinarily sharp and hard, and even solid mountain rock shattered with a single strike.

Unfortunately, its body was enormous. It could only help at the beginning; afterward, they had to rely on the Crimson Tail Monkey to claw its way through.

For the sake of Zhou Zhengyong's future wife, the poor Crimson Tail Monkey was reduced to a construction-site monkey, forced to keep using both claws to dig earth and break stone.

Fortunately, after advancing to become a First-grade High-tier Demonic Beast, it had awakened and mastered the Flame Claw spell, which could imbue its claws with flames and enhance their destructive power.

Otherwise, even with a Demonic Beast's constitution far stronger than a human's, its two claws would likely have been ruined after digging for long.

Only after the Crimson Tail Monkey's magic power and physical strength had been completely drained, leaving it unable to dig any farther, did Zhou Zhengyong put it into the Spirit Beast Pouch. He then cast Great Strength Technique on himself and personally began digging with tools.

After Zhou Zhengyong had also used up more than half his magic power and physical strength, Zhou Chun took over and continued digging.

After digging in turns for a day, the Crimson Tail Monkey had rested and recovered some of its physical strength and magic power, so it was released again to take over the digging.

With the two men and one monkey working in relays, they finally dug out a passage more than thirty zhang deep in roughly a day and a half.

Once they reached the depths of the cave, more than thirty zhang underground, the passage was wide enough for one person to walk through while bent over.

After discussing it, the two decided that Zhou Chun would enter the cave to find the Purple Flame Sable while Zhou Zhengyong kept watch outside in case anything went wrong.

Inside the cave, Zhou Chun held a Sunlight Stone for illumination in one hand and the black iron shield artifact in the other, walking slowly step by step toward the depths with his head lowered and body bent.

The Sunlight Stone in his hand was a unique type of stone native to this world. It could absorb and store sunlight on its own, then release a bright glow in dark environments. Cultivators often used it for illumination in special circumstances.

After slowly making his way into the depths of the cave, Zhou Chun's divine sense, which he kept on constant alert, immediately detected the Purple Flame Sable pouncing toward him.

He hurriedly sent the black iron shield artifact flying to block his front, then, still uneasy, formed hand seals and cast the Five Elements Spirit Armor Art, covering himself in golden, yellow, and cyan spiritual-light armor.

Boom!

A mass of purple-red flames spewed from the Purple Flame Sable's mouth, surging straight toward Zhou Chun's face.

The black iron shield artifact blocked most of the flames, but the rest slipped through the gaps and licked across Zhou Chun's body behind it.

In an instant, Zhou Chun looked like a firefighter walking against a raging blaze, his entire body swallowed by flames.

Fortunately, although the sight was terrifying, the spiritual-light armor protecting his entire body easily kept the flames and heat outside.

Zhou Chun was not the kind of person who took a beating without fighting back. Seeing that the spiritual-light armor's defensive power was even greater than he had expected, he immediately slapped the Storage Bag at his waist and took out the Moon Blade Meteor Wheel.

The cave's interior was too cramped for Zhou Chun to move easily, but it likewise restricted the Purple Flame Sable's ability to maneuver.

Under Zhou Chun's control, the two Moon Blades attacked from both sides, quickly severing the Purple Flame Sable's right hind leg.

After suffering such a grievous wound, the Purple Flame Sable seemed to realize that death was inevitable. Its ferocity was aroused, and it suddenly pounced viciously at Zhou Chun, opening its mouth to spit out a human-head-sized fireball that blasted toward him.

Bang!!

A violent explosion rang out from the depths of the cave. Outside, Zhou Zhengyong's body instantly went rigid, and he stared anxiously toward the entrance through which Zhou Chun had entered, pacing in circles like an ant on a hot pan.

"He should be all right, right? Thirteenth Brother is so strong that even late Qi Refining stage cultivators aren't his match..."

He muttered to himself. Soon, he clenched his teeth and said with a resolute expression, "No. Even if I can't marry my wife, Thirteenth Brother absolutely cannot come to harm!"

Then, without another thought, he crawled into the cave entrance after him.

By the time Zhou Zhengyong followed the passage into the cave and found Zhou Chun, he discovered that Zhou Chun was not only unharmed but was actually controlling his artifact to dig through the cave wall.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhengyong first relaxed, then looked at Zhou Chun with undisguised curiosity and asked, "Thirteenth Brother, are you all right? What are you doing?"

"Brother Yong, why did you come down?"

Zhou Chun replied instinctively, then quickly guessed the reason himself. His heart warmed, and he waved his hand. "Forget it. You came down at just the right time. Quickly, take a look at my unexpected discovery here."

With that, he squatted down and selected several black-and-crimson stones from a pile of excavated rubble and dirt, handing them to Zhou Zhengyong.

"What is this...?"

Zhou Zhengyong looked at the ore in Zhou Chun's hand in astonishment. He took it and examined it carefully.

After a moment, he said in a low, uncertain voice, "This Stone looks somewhat like Crimson Radiance Iron Ore."

"Right? You think it looks like Crimson Radiance Iron Ore too, Brother Yong."

A sharp glint flashed through Zhou Chun's eyes, and he said something that made Zhou Zhengyong's heart race.

"I suspect there is a mineral vein here from which Crimson Radiance Iron Ore can be mined!"

Zhou Chun and Zhou Yang had different starting points and different circumstances, so naturally, there would be differences in how they handled certain matters. I was writing two different protagonists, and I knew that perfectly well. They could resemble each other in many ways, but they had to show differences in certain areas. For example, although Zhou Yang had also transmigrated and been reborn, he had been reborn from birth and was essentially no different from a native. He had grown up over more than a decade under the subtle influence of his surroundings, and both his parents were cultivators, so the way he spoke and acted would certainly be completely indistinguishable from that of a native.

Zhou Chun, on the other hand, had transmigrated by possessing another body. He had only spent a few years in the Cultivation World and had never personally experienced this world's education, so his thoughts and actions at the beginning would inevitably still bear traces of a modern person.

Some readers might say that certain modern terms in the book felt jarring and pulled them out of the story. Little did they know that this was precisely what made Zhou Chun special at this stage. Otherwise, would I have written these modern terms when describing the desert?