Down the Mine

The next day.

After a night of celebration, Fang Yu stepped out of the Wondrous Sound House and headed for the entrance to the mining area.

In no time, he arrived inside the enormous cavern at the entrance.

"The outer mining area needs one more fellow Daoist at the Qi Refining Third Layer..."

"Central western area, looking for fellow Daoists at the Qi Refining Middle Stage. Those with pickaxes get priority..."

"A Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator is personally leading a team to the core mining area. Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators only, pickaxes required..."

The moment Fang Yu entered the cavern, a chorus of voices greeted him. He glanced around and saw that quite a few people had a Shouting Talisman over their heads, endlessly repeating their calls.

His eyes lit up. These Shouting Talismans are rather good. I wonder which talisman cultivator made them. They must have earned quite a lot!

Last night, while locked in a no-holds-barred battle with Liu Ershiliujie, he had learned that the Wondrous Sound House's Ancestor, Liu Sanjie, had made her fortune mining. Supposedly, she had been rather lucky and found a rich vein, digging out more than a hundred thousand Spirit Stones in one go and vastly increasing her wealth.

Afterward, she bought a large quantity of pills to improve her cultivation, then went into seclusion in the mine. Without a Foundation Establishment Pill, she actually succeeded in reaching Foundation Establishment and became a Foundation Establishment Ancestor in one leap. The Cloud Spirit Sect then recruited her as a guest elder, giving her a place in the Autumn Moon Mountain Market.

Fang Yu had been quite astonished when he heard that. He had then counted on his fingers, drawing on the karmic connection brought about by his physical link with Liu Sanjie. After expending thirty percent of his Primordial Qi, he successfully deduced how she had actually made her fortune.

It was true that she had dug up a large number of Spirit Stones, bought pills, and gone into seclusion in the mine to attempt Foundation Establishment. But the claim that she had not used a Foundation Establishment Pill was false. He had also deduced that a Foundation Establishment cultivator had provided her with a Foundation Establishment Pill and stood guard for her, allowing her to become a Foundation Establishment Ancestor.

Fang Yu had wanted to deduce some information about the Foundation Establishment cultivator behind Liu Sanjie, but unfortunately, the gap between their cultivation levels was too great.

Moreover, he had no connection with that person whatsoever. When he tried to deduce it from nothing and felt how much Primordial Qi it would take to get a result, he stopped at once.

After all, using up all his Primordial Qi just to satisfy his curiosity was hardly worth it.

Besides, his Sun Gold Wheel, talisman treasure, flying sword, and other items still needed to be nurtured with Primordial Qi.

More importantly, if he used it all up, he would have cultivation but no Law Power when he transformed into his Dao Foundation, leaving a brief but fatal gap in his combat strength.

Although he had not figured out who the Foundation Establishment cultivator behind Liu Sanjie was, he reckoned that person was at least at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Otherwise, why would it take so much Primordial Qi?

Thinking of how he had run out of Spirit Stones and needed a large number of them to buy pills and spiritual items, he turned his thoughts to mining. So he performed a divination for himself and got the result:

[Great success and favorable prospects. Minor fortune]

Since it was minor fortune, he decided to come into the mine and do some digging. He was not greedy; a hundred or two hundred thousand Spirit Stones would be enough.

It's my first time in the mine. I'd better find an old hand to show me the ropes!

The thought flashed through Fang Yu's mind. His ears twitched slightly as he walked toward three people who were recruiting teammates.

"I am Zhao Da. This is my first time entering the mine. Might you three fellow Daoists let me come with you?"

The three had already turned to look at him. Upon hearing his words, one of them frowned slightly. "Your Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivation is acceptable, fellow Daoist, but second-tier Demon Beasts occasionally appear in the core mining area. If you're unfamiliar with the mines, you won't even know which way to run."

Fang Yu smiled at once. "Life and death are ruled by fate, wealth and honor by heaven. I came here to take a chance!"

The three exchanged glances. One of them said, "All right. Since you aren't afraid of death, fellow Daoist, come down the mine with us."

"Sorry for the trouble!" Fang Yu cupped his fists and thanked them.

The group then introduced themselves. Fang Yu learned that the three called themselves Great Cultivator Yang, Old Liu, and Strongman Zhang.

Great Cultivator Yang had the highest cultivation among them, at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer Great Perfection. The other two were both at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, but their Qi was much denser than Fang Yu's. They should both have reached the middle or late part of the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

"This is a map of the mines in the core area. Memorize it well, fellow Daoist, so you don't take a wrong turn and will know where to flee if you run into danger. But the mines are constantly changing: some tunnels collapse, and others change course, so you can't put all your faith in this map!"

"Many thanks, fellow Daoist Yang!"

Fang Yu took the mine map Great Cultivator Yang handed him. Looking at the densely packed, winding routes, he immediately committed them to memory.

The map was certainly not the latest version, but it was decent of the man to give him an old one. Using it as a basis, he would be able to draw an up-to-date version himself after going in a few more times.

The four waited another half day, but no more Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators arrived, so they decided to wait no longer.

"Let's go..."

With that, Great Cultivator Yang rose first and flew toward a mine tunnel. The others promptly followed, flying close to the ground.

The tunnel was quite large. There were countless excavation marks on its walls, and every so often they could see mottled bloodstains and scattered bones.

As the four ventured deeper, Fang Yu could clearly sense the concentration of Spiritual Qi increasing. He also saw cave abodes carved out near some of the tunnel entrances. Presumably, there were cultivators who cultivated directly inside them.

"Demon Beasts appear up ahead!"

At Great Cultivator Yang's words, Fang Yu stirred his thoughts, and a small fire dragon appeared beside him and followed him. Spiritual light also lit up around the others.

After they had flown a little farther, a black shadow suddenly flew out from ahead and charged at Great Cultivator Yang, who was in the lead. Before it could get close, a willow-leaf-shaped wind blade flashed past and cleaved it in two.

"Damn it, how did we run into Night Sha as soon as we came in?"

Great Cultivator Yang cursed. Spiritual light appeared around him, and a small shield materialized in front of him. At the same time, the others each deployed Law Artifacts to protect themselves.

Old Liu, who was flying fairly close to Fang Yu, offered a warning. "Night Sha always travel in groups. If one appears, it means there's a whole group nearby, and there could even be first-tier Night Sha Demon Beasts among them."

"Thanks for the warning!" Fang Yu said. Two more flame dragons appeared to guard him.

Just then, a series of fluttering sounds rang out, and bat-like Night Sha Demon Beasts poured out from ahead. They formed a vast, dark mass, like a black cloud.

The spiritual light around the group flared brightly, keeping the Night Sha from getting close. But no one used any other means, instead pushing on deeper into the mine against the swarm of Demon Beasts.

Seeing this, Fang Yu instantly understood the three men's intention.

With a movement of his spiritual sense, the flame dragons beside him flew out. Their bodies swelled, setting the Night Sha alight one after another.

"Screech, screech, screech..."

Piercing shrieks rang out at once. Night Sha fell like rain, carpeting the ground in a thick layer. In just a moment, the Night Sha surrounding the four had been wiped out.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, what fine fire magic!"

"Well burned!"

"Impressive technique, fellow Daoist!"

Praise rang in Fang Yu's ears. He could clearly feel that the three men's attitude toward him had changed.

Sure enough, in the cultivation world, strength did the talking.