A million

Time passed unnoticed in the mines.

In the blink of an eye, another half a year had passed, and the number of Spirit Stones Fang Yu had mined had surpassed the million mark before he knew it.

During that time, aside from mining, he also used his trips to hide the Spirit Stones to return to the Dao of Qi Ingestion and sense how the sparks were spreading.

The mortals he had enlightened had now grown into a sizable force spread throughout Anping Prefecture. Though their development remained confined to the countryside for now, they had formed a stable secret society.

At the same time, they began clearing out and taking in the surrounding mountain bandits, local tyrants, bullies, and other such forces, making the secret incantation of "Great Peace Village" resound throughout the countryside.

Some had also been suppressed by other powerful forces, and many village heads had died, but overall, the movement was still spreading. One branch had even been accepted by Embroidered Tiger, who had tacitly permitted it to govern the countryside in exchange for providing him with money and grain.

When Fang Yu sensed this change, the worry hanging over his heart eased considerably. Embroidered Tiger was a child of fortune, and his acceptance of Great Peace Village and cooperation with it meant that Fang Yu's Great Peace Village would not suffer an overwhelming blow from Mount Longmen in the short term, or at least not before Embroidered Tiger unified Anping Prefecture. At most, it would face some Rogue Cultivators.

"Hmm, I'll dig up another million before returning to the Dao of Qi Ingestion. It won't be too late!"

Fang Yu had become somewhat addicted to mining. He murmured to himself, held out a hand, and calculated on his fingers.

"Great calamity!"

The next moment, his brows drew together tightly.

"If I keep digging, my life will be in danger!"

Fang Yu tightened his grip on his pickaxe, hesitating. Everything had been going so well-how had it suddenly become a great calamity? Could another second-tier Demon Beast at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage have appeared in the mine?

Forget it. Better not gamble. This million is enough to last me a long time. I can't be too greedy.

Besides, leaving the mine doesn't mean I can't come back. I can return and dig again after some time has passed.

With that thought, Fang Yu turned his hand over and took out an Earth Escape Talisman.

As Law Power poured into the Earth Escape Talisman, it gave off a yellow light that enveloped him. He turned and escaped toward the buried passage behind him, his body merging directly into the pile of earth.

The Earth Escape Talisman was only first-tier and could be used to travel through earth and stone, but it was limited to ordinary earth and stone. Hard areas rich in spirit ore were completely impassable; he could only travel through loose earth that he had already dug up and that contained no spirit ore.

Fang Yu did not travel very quickly through the earth. It took him more than four hours to reach an intersecting tunnel entrance he had encountered before and emerge from the mine tunnel he had dug himself.

"Phew!"

Taking a deep breath, Fang Yu checked the two thousand pieces of spirit ore in his Storage Bag and flew toward the exit.

"Squeak, squeak..."

Suddenly, a shriek rang out in Fang Yu's mind, making his body sway as the spiritual light around him dissipated.

This is bad, it's a mental attack!

With a thought from Fang Yu, the Yuanchen Pearl spun, and his cultivation switched from the Qi Refining Eighth Layer to the Dao Foundation.

At the same time, a huge figure charged at him. It was an enormous Night Sha with a wingspan of ten feet, its sharp claws like iron hooks as they reached for Fang Yu's chest.

"Screech..."

A piercing sound rang out. The light of the Sun Gold Wheel that had appeared before Fang Yu dimmed, and he felt the tremendous force of the impact.

"Go..."

He formed a sword gesture and pointed at the Night Sha. A red light appeared and struck it in an instant, but the "Profound Grade Flowing Flame True Fire Sword," which had always overcome every obstacle before, penetrated only half an inch this time and could go no farther. When the searing Flowing Flame True Fire spread over its body, it too was blocked by a layer of black light.

"A second-tier Night Sha at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage!"

Fang Yu's expression turned grim. His reading really had been accurate-it truly was a great calamity. He had not even continued digging; he had only just been about to leave when he ran into a second-tier Demon Beast.

Wasn't this thing already killed by the Cloud Spirit Sect's Law Enforcement Team? Why is it still here?

Could it be a second one? No, although the Night Sha's Qi is at the late second tier, it's actually much weaker. Otherwise, that strike just now would have broken my Sun Gold Wheel.

"Damn the Cloud Spirit Sect's Law Enforcement Team, and damn Elder Tianxing! They actually spread false news. They clearly only wounded it, yet told everyone they'd killed it. Aren't they getting people hurt?"

Fang Yu cursed and turned his hand over. A talisman treasure-the Phoenix Cry Talisman-appeared in his hand, transforming into a sparrow that flapped its wings and flew toward the Night Sha.

Inside the mine tunnel, there was nowhere to dodge and no room to maneuver. As the saying went, when enemies meet on a narrow road, the brave one wins. He was not about to hold anything back; he unleashed everything he had, hoping to kill this second-tier Demon Beast in one attack.

"Screech..."

A clear phoenix cry suddenly rang out. The fire sparrow's body swelled without cease, filling the entire mine tunnel in an instant and engulfing the Night Sha.

"Boom..."

A faint wail sounded amid the tremendous explosion. The Night Sha tried to flee through the flames that filled the air, but after flying only a thousand meters, it fell to the ground. Its batlike wings had been scorched dry, and its body seemed cooked, giving off the aroma of meat.

With a movement of Fang Yu's spiritual sense, the Phoenix Cry Talisman flew back into his sea of consciousness and entered the Yuanchen Pearl to continue being nurtured.

He put away the corpse of the late second-tier Demon Beast, the Night Sha, and raced madly toward the exit.

The Qi around him changed, and he once again became a Dao of Qi Refining cultivator at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

A short while later, he reached the exit, threw out half the spirit ore in his Storage Bag, and left the mining area without trouble.

"Phew..."

Fang Yu glanced back at the mining area and breathed a sigh of relief, then hurriedly calculated his fortune from that point onward.

The next moment, his escape light turned into a red streak as he raced madly out of Autumn Moon Mountain Market. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before Autumn Moon Mountain's protective formation. The ring on his finger shone, and an exit opened.

Fang Yu passed through it. Only after he had traveled a thousand li away from Autumn Moon Mountain Market did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Even if I stayed in Autumn Moon Mountain Market, it would still be a great calamity!"

Only now did Fang Yu have time to sort through the result he had sensed.

He had originally planned to return to his cave abode for a rest, then use Spirit Stones to buy the pills and spiritual materials he needed for cultivation. Who would have thought that when he checked, it would still be a great calamity?

What about now?

Fang Yu made another calculation and immediately sensed the result:

'Peril-fortune or calamity undetermined'

"Damn, even if I stay here, fortune or calamity is still undetermined. Then this danger must be coming from Autumn Moon Mountain Market."

Fang Yu murmured to himself and continued away from Autumn Moon Mountain Market, heading toward Medicine King Mountain.

Inside the mine.

A team of law enforcers arrived before a collapsed mine tunnel.

An old man with white hair and a white beard had a keen gleam in his eyes. "I didn't expect one of the miners to possess a talisman treasure. I'm afraid that wretched beast we've been searching for so long has already been killed and carried away by that person."

"The inner core of a second-tier Demon Beast is the main ingredient for a Foundation Establishment Pill. How could we let a mere Rogue Cultivator take it away?"

One of the team members spoke up. "Elder, that person probably hasn't left the market yet. Should we seal it off and find them?"

Tianxing shook his head. "It should already be too late to seal it off. Besides, a mere second-tier Demon Beast core isn't worth making such a great fuss over. We can check the records of those who left the mine and the market later; we should be able to find that person."

"Wise as ever, Elder!"

Elder Tianxing stroked his beard and led the way out, with the others following.

Just then, a mouse's head poked out from a team member's waist and began squeaking.

The team member immediately spoke up. "Elder, there seems to be a treasure here. My Spirit-Seeking Mouse has never squeaked like this before. It must be something good!"

Elder Tianxing stopped and glanced back at the mouse squeaking urgently. He smiled and said, "Then let it search and see just what treasure it is!"

"Yes!" the team member answered, releasing the Spirit-Seeking Mouse from his hand. The mouse immediately scurried off in one direction.

Everyone hurried after it and arrived before a tunnel covered in loose earth.

Elder Tianxing frowned and said, "You stay here. I'll go take a look!"

The next moment, a yellow light appeared around him, and he escaped into the passage after the mouse.

Soon, he reached an open space at the very end of the passage, where he saw the mouse anxiously circling before a tunnel wall covered in pickaxe marks.

Elder Tianxing pondered briefly, then took out a pickaxe and began digging.

In only a short while, he had dug more than ten feet deep. As a rock fell away, it revealed a piece of spirit ore emitting a milky-white glow.

Elder Tianxing's breathing suddenly slowed. He stepped forward and reached out to touch the spirit ore, saying in a trembling voice of disbelief, "Th-this is actually mid-grade spirit ore!"

"Pfft! Squeak, squeak!"

The next moment, the Spirit-Seeking Mouse let out a miserable cry as Elder Tianxing crushed it to death.

A terrifying gleam shone in his eyes.

A short while later, Elder Tianxing returned to the entrance and said sternly, "Pass on my order: activate the grand formation at once and seal off the whole of Autumn Moon Mountain Market. No one is permitted to leave. Kill anyone who disobeys without mercy."

He then added, "Including you!"

The law enforcers all trembled at his words. Feeling the murderous intent emanating from Elder Tianxing, none of them dared to question him. They answered in unison, "Yes!"