As soon as Elder Lin Mo finished speaking, Lin Changge's heart sank.
An old proverb said that one could only eat as much as one's stomach could hold...
Ten billion taels of silver-the Lin Household's foundations and strength were barely enough to swallow that without much trouble!
But two hundred billion taels of silver... even if it burst the Lin Household's belly, the household could not swallow it...
Heaven-sent riches were wonderful, but extremes bred reversals. When sudden riches exceeded what one could bear, those so-called riches... became a great calamity.
As the patriarch, Lin Changge instantly understood the stakes!
Immortal cultivators were often uninterested in worldly gold and silver... but if there was enough of it, even the legendary "immortals" would be tempted.
Around Zichuan City, there were quite a few powers whose foundations were comparable to, or even surpassed, those of the Song Household!
The Su Household, the Mu Household, the Yu Household... the foundations and strength of these households were not much different from those of the Song Household!
If these powers learned that there was a large silver vein near Clear Spring Town, they would definitely come to claim a share of the spoils.
Apart from those households, the power that worried Lin Changge most was the Blood Wolf Hall!
The Lin Household could still maneuver against powers like the Song Household and the Su Household, and would not be left without any benefits.
But the Blood Wolf Hall was different!
The Blood Wolf Hall was a power with Spirit Nourishing Realm cultivators holding down the fort.
At the height of its power, the Song Household had been qualified to contend with the Blood Wolf Hall. However, after the Song Household's Spirit Nourishing Realm ancestor fell, the Blood Wolf Hall had effectively become the strongest power within ten thousand li!
The Su Household, the Yu Household, and even the present-day Song Household had to pay tribute to the Blood Wolf Hall every year...
The territory directly controlled by the Blood Wolf Hall stretched across a full six thousand li...
The Blood Wolf Hall had four Spirit Nourishing Realm cultivators in all! Its hall master was even a Late Spirit Nourishing Realm expert!!
If the Blood Wolf Hall made a move to seize the silver vein the Lin Household had discovered, the Lin Household would probably have difficulty finding a way to deal with it.
At this thought, Lin Changge sighed softly to himself. Still, he held on to a sliver of hope and asked Elder Lin Mo in an even voice,
"How many others know about this silver vein?"
Hearing Lin Changge's question, Elder Lin Mo took a deep breath and spoke somewhat helplessly.
"I only discovered this silver vein because there was an earthquake here..."
"By the time I arrived, quite a few mountain folk from the villages had already picked up and taken away unmined, unrefined silver ore!!"
"I also mobilized some armored guards at the time and tried to keep the news from spreading."
"But it was already too late. News of the silver mine has probably spread everywhere by now..."
"Even if our Lin Household sends out armored guards now and bathes the villages around Clear Spring Town in blood, there's no way to suppress the news of the silver mine."
At this point, Elder Lin Mo paused, then continued.
"However, our Lin Household should be the only one that knows the size of this silver vein."
"But powers like the Song Household will probably send teams to survey it soon."
"So it will be difficult for our Lin Household to keep the secret of this silver vein, much less swallow it quietly..."
Hearing this, Lin Changge fell silent for a moment.
Then he decisively gave an order.
"Everyone, stand guard here!!"
"Whichever power sends a team to survey the site, delay them for as long as you can..."
"I must return at once to see the ancestor!"
"This matter is of great importance. The ancestor must decide how to handle it..."
After speaking, Lin Changge swung himself onto a horned beast. Without resting for even a moment, he set off toward Zichuan City at full speed...
He knew very well that the Lin Household's foundations and strength were nowhere near enough to swallow this silver vein.
But he was unwilling to give it up entirely!!
Traveling through the mountain forests amid the boundless wind and snow, Lin Changge could no longer spare a thought for his exhaustion...
Only after another day and night had passed did Lin Changge drag his weary body back into Zichuan City.
After entering the Lin Household's ancestral grounds in Zichuan City, he dared not waste any time and hurried toward the small courtyard where Lin Xiye was cultivating in seclusion.
By then, Lin Xiye, who was sitting cross-legged in the courtyard, had broken through to the Organ Refining Realm Perfection! Although his hair was still white, the vitality within his body was growing ever more vigorous!
He was only one step away from breaking through to the Spirit Nourishing Realm.
But that final step was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Across the three prefectures and seventy-two commanderies of the Jin Kingdom, there were countless immortal cultivators at the Organ Refining Perfection Realm... yet fewer than one in ten thousand could break through to the Spirit Nourishing Realm!
Take the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect, for example. The entire sect had tens of thousands of disciples, but only two or three hundred Spirit Nourishing Realm cultivators...
It was worth noting that, aside from the few disciples who had joined the sect using Immortal Ascension Tokens, most Falling Rosy Clouds Sect disciples had far greater aptitude than the Rogue Cultivators outside.
As for the thousands of immortal cultivators within ten thousand li of Zichuan City... only the Blood Wolf Hall had four Spirit Nourishing Realm cultivators.
It seems I should return to Qiao Town, then go to a larger immortal cultivation marketplace to sell that hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass and exchange it for some cultivation resources...
Lin Xiye slowly rose from the Spirit Gathering Formation, ending his cultivation...
With his Profound-grade Spirit Root, if he had no pills or other resources to aid him and continued absorbing and expelling Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi bit by bit like this, it would take at least ten years before he had any hope of advancing to the Spirit Nourishing Realm.
Though he seemed to be only one step away from breaking through to the Spirit Nourishing Realm, crossing that final step required almost ten times as much Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi as cultivating from a mortal to Organ Refining Perfection!
After ending his cultivation, Lin Xiye sorted through everything he owned.
Aside from a pile of Cultivation Methods, two Five Thunder Talisman Treasures, and two Law Treasures, all he had left that could actually help him improve his cultivation... were two Spirit Stone fragments and a stalk of hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass.
Lin Xiye intended to reward the ferocious giant tiger with the two Spirit Stone fragments when he returned to Qiao Town.
After all, Lin Xiye had promised it before that as long as it guarded Qiao Town well, he would give it more rewards when he returned.
Just as Lin Xiye finished gathering everything he had and was preparing to leave the courtyard, Lin Changge's weak voice suddenly rang out from beyond the gate.
"Ancestor..."
"This junior has something important to report!"
Inside the courtyard, upon hearing Lin Changge's extremely weak voice, Lin Xiye waved his sleeve, stirring up a gentle breeze that pushed the courtyard's wooden gate open.
"What happened to you?"
Looking at Lin Changge, who was covered in ice and snow and could faint at any moment, Lin Xiye gently waved his sleeve, sending out a wisp of the power of Qi and Blood and guiding it to the spot between Lin Changge's brows.
In an instant, the ice and snow covering Lin Changge gradually melted and evaporated... and color gradually began to return to his pale face.