Ten Years Later, A Crisis at the Mine! (4000)

Qie Yunzhou's departure came sooner than Qie Qiong had imagined. Although he couldn't reveal that Qie Qiong had broken through to the Transcendent realm,

it had still been like a shot of adrenaline, allowing Qie Yunzhou to set aside his worries.

Two years after Qie Qiong became Transcendent, Qie Yunzhou finally succeeded in tempering his Dou Qi and became Transcendent as well.

Qie Yunzhou was different from Qie Qiong. After all, he was already forty-five. Though by Title Rank standards, that age could only be considered young.

A forty-five-year-old Transcendent could only be considered an average genius across ten thousand years of history, but in the Thunder Empire these past few years, he was still a genius. The news had only just reached the Thunder Empire's capital.

It took less than a few days for an emissary to arrive and lead him into the Thunder Sacred Land.

Of the three empires' large Transcendent Worlds, all but the Cangyun Empire's were hidden.

Then, three months later, Qie Yunzhou received the legacy left behind by the Qie Clan's Transcendent ancestors.

Because of the Thunder Sacred Land's rules, all he could ultimately bring back to Qie Qiong was the Transcendent method called Thunder's Five Transformation Technique—the Divine Extreme Dou Qi known as Thunder Shadow Dou Qi.

After staying with the Qie Clan for another three months, Qie Yunzhou took Lin Wantang to the Thunder Sacred Land.

There were three ways for mortals to enter the Thunder Sacred Land.

The first was the one Qie Yunzhou and Lin Wantang had previously told Qie Qiong about: being nurtured by the Sacred Land.

The second was to become a Transcendent expert's maid or the like.

The third was the current method: Transcendent experts could bring their mortal relatives and others to the Thunder Sacred Land.

Flying Sky Rank experts could bring a hundred people, Saint Rank experts ten times that number, and Demigods a hundred times the number a Saint could bring!

Though Qie Yunzhou could bring a hundred people, in the end, he brought only Lin Wantang.

After all, he couldn't bring Qie Qiong, who was still, outwardly, a child of little strength.

Though, because he was the only son of a Transcendent, Title Rank experts wouldn't dare offend him in the slightest.

But what if some fool saw that the Qie Clan's "strongest" had left and acted on a hot impulse? That would be quite a show.

So they had to leave people behind to keep them in check.

Two years after his parents left for the Thunder Sacred Land,

news spread from the Qie Clan that its young Clan Head, Qie Qiong—the son of the Flowing Light Knight Qie Yunzhou—had become a Title Knight at the age of sixteen!

This was also laying the groundwork for his future breakthrough.

The news spread, and the outside world erupted.

A sixteen-year-old Title Knight—the entire Cloud Sea Prefecture City and most of the powers in the three empires heard about it.

An uproar broke out. Astonishment, praise, doubt, and jealousy surged in like the tide.

"A heaven-sent genius! The Qie Clan sure is lucky!"

"A sixteen-year-old Title Rank expert—this is another Transcendent expert in the making, isn't it?"

"Hmph, he just has a good father. With a Transcendent father like that, he must have used some heavenly treasure to force his strength up. Even if he breaks through, his foundation will be unstable."

The outside world buzzed with discussion, but things had gone according to Qie Qiong's wishes.

With a Transcendent Knight like Qie Yunzhou there, even a sixteen-year-old Title Rank expert didn't seem as out of place as before.

Whatever the outside world thought, Qie Qiong soon stopped paying attention and devoted all his energy to cultivation.

Before long, six years passed.

The Qie Residence, a quiet chamber.

Qie Qiong sat cross-legged, surrounded by the Metal element of Heaven and Earth.

At twenty-two, the sharpness of youth had faded from Qie Qiong's brow, replaced by a calmness that seemed to have returned to simplicity.

His figure, however, had not changed much.

For six years, Qie Qiong's world had held nothing but cultivation. He had handed a large part of the family's affairs over to Fang Yun and Qi Lingfei.

Fang Yun was the steward of the Qiyun Mountain mine from back then. Now he oversaw everything outside the city, with the Qiyun Mountain mine being the most important responsibility.

As for Qi Lingfei, over these ten years, with Qie Qiong's deliberate support, he had long since become a Silver Moon Knight. Afterward, Qie Qiong handed him the affairs of Cloud Sea Prefecture City.

However, Transcendent cultivation progressed much more slowly than mortal cultivation.

When he was a mortal, there had been few external resources. But after becoming Transcendent, he had nothing at all.

Without external aid, he could only advance one step at a time.

His progress in Dou Qi had been just as Qie Qiong had expected. Over these ten years, aside from switching to Thunder Shadow Dou Qi, he had used the Myriad Existences Realm to temper his Dou Qi.

In all these years, he had only gone from the early Flying Sky Rank to the middle stage.

The rules of the mortal world were too stable, so progress was far slower than in a Transcendent World.

But he knew that this was a price he had to pay.

Only by keeping the news that he had become Transcendent secret could the Qie Clan and he remain safe.

Yet his comprehension of True Meaning had advanced much faster, since the mortal world did not interfere with comprehending True Meaning.

Ten years ago, Qie Qiong had already reached the third level of the Myriad Existences Realm of Metal and the first level of the Myriad Existences Realm of Thunder. Of these, Metal of Myriad Existences was only a hair's breadth away from a True Meaning Embryo.

Over these ten years, he had studied the Golden Light secret manual day and night. Step by step, he had formed a True Meaning Embryo of Metal, and just moments ago, he had comprehended the complete first level of the True Meaning of Metal.

But for some reason, Thunder of Myriad Existences was still at the first level, at most having reached its peak.

Mastering a complete True Meaning would still gradually improve...

As one's realm grew higher, once it reached its limit, one could condense a True Body Deity Heart.

Of course, Qie Qiong wouldn't use the True Meaning of Metal to condense a True Body Deity Heart. After all, the True Meaning of Metal was only a Grade Six True Meaning.

With a True Body Deity Heart formed from it, he would have no chance of becoming a Deity.

However, just as Qie Qiong comprehended the complete True Meaning of Metal, the Golden Light secret manual finally revealed all its contents.

The silver portion that had never been revealed before contained everything about space, just like the golden portion!

That was space. Once comprehended, it belonged to the realm of Grade Two True Meaning. A True Body Deity Heart formed from it would guarantee that he could become a Deity.

It might even allow Qie Qiong to become the lord of a Material World!

As long as he comprehended the complete True Meaning of Space, he could roam freely across the Cang Yun Material World.

By then, even the three imperial houses' divine artifacts sent down by their three Deities—or whatever else they had—would be useless.

Qie Qiong slowly rose to his feet.

With a light tap of his fingertip, a faint golden glimmer appeared in his palm.

The quiet chamber's wall was pierced clean through, the cut smooth as a mirror.

With the first level of the True Meaning of Metal, his Dou Qi was only at the middle stage of Flying Sky Rank, but empowered by True Meaning, his strength was enough to crush an ordinary Peak Saint Rank expert.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Qie Qiong's mouth.

Although Qie Qiong's Dou Qi realm had barely advanced in these six years because of the lack of resources, his cheat had ultimately given him its greatest gift.

Qie Qiong walked out of the quiet chamber and was about to take his usual stroll around Cloud Sea Prefecture City.

Qi Lingfei hurried over, holding a damaged token.

"Master, the token from the Qiyun Mountain mine has shattered."

This was the very token Qie Yunzhou had given Steward Fang Yun back then.

Because the Qiyun Mountain mine produced Transcendent resources, the Qie Clan's forces there were strong. Yet he had still crushed the token to call for help, so the enemy's strength should not be weak.

So even if they sent reinforcements from the Qie Clan, it might not help.

Otherwise, Qi Lingfei wouldn't have come to find him.

Thinking this, Qie Qiong said to Qi Lingfei, "Don't worry. I'll go take a look."

After hearing this, Qi Lingfei said nothing more. He bowed to Qie Qiong, then withdrew to attend to his own business.

He was the only person in the Qie Clan besides Qie Qiong's parents who knew Qie Qiong's true realm.

In his view, if Qie Qiong couldn't handle it, then worrying wouldn't help.

One month earlier.

Deep in a mine tunnel in the Qiyun Mountain Range.

At the very deepest part of the mine, where no one noticed, at the end of an abandoned tunnel several miles from the main excavation area,

a sudden change occurred.

The air rippled without warning, like water disturbed by a thrown stone.

Immediately afterward, an irregular, dark-silver curtain of light about two people tall appeared out of thin air and quickly stabilized—clearly, it was a Space Gate!

It stood there quietly. Since the tunnel had been abandoned, no one noticed it.

While Qie Qiong was breaking through in the quiet chamber,

deep in the Qiyun Mountain Range,

everything was orderly. Hundreds of miners worked in an organized fashion, extracting and hauling ore under the overseers' watch.

The guard squad patrolled the mine and surrounding area in an orderly manner.

Fang Yun, the steward Qie Yunzhou had entrusted with a major responsibility back then, was now the Qie Clan's chief manager of resources outside Cloud Sea Prefecture City.

He stood on the lookout tower, surveying the bustling mining district as the sounds of digging echoed from within the mine.

However, at the abandoned tunnel that no one paid attention to, the Space Gate that had appeared a month ago suddenly changed.

A figure two and a half meters tall, clad in dark-red armor and wielding a giant axe, rushed out.

If Qie Qiong had been there, he would have sensed the man's completely unrestrained aura at once—it was the aura of a Title Rank expert.

As soon as he appeared, those behind him followed close on his heels.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Dozens of figures streamed out one after another.

Their auras were not as terrifying as the leader's, but even the weakest was at Earth Rank Knight level.

The strongest among them radiated the aura of Silver Moon experts.

They were bare-chested, wearing only animal hides around their most vital parts. But they all shared two things: they were far taller than the people of the Cang Yun Material World, and by ordinary standards of beauty, they were all hideously ugly.

"Spread out. Kill every living thing you encounter!" the heavily armored warrior at their head ordered. His voice echoed through the abandoned mine tunnel.

At his command, these Transcendents who had appeared out of nowhere spread out from the abandoned tunnel in every direction.

Although this mine tunnel had been abandoned, it was not far from the active workings. Before long, several knights found miners who were still working.

The moment they saw the miners, they pounced without hesitation.

Facing Transcendents who were all at least Earth Rank,

this group of ordinary miners had no time even to scream before they fell into pools of blood beneath swinging axes and flashing swords, silent and still.

As the slaughter continued, most people were killed before they could even react.

But some still managed to scream. Though faint, their cries carried through the tunnel and alerted the Qie Clan guards patrolling nearby.

"Hmm, what's happening deeper inside?" A Meteor Rank guard captain was the first to hear the sound.

He abruptly stopped and listened carefully, his expression turning grave in an instant. "It doesn't sound like a cave-in. Those are screams. There's a riot."

He said to one of his men, "Notify the commander. Go on alert!"

The news quickly reached the mine entrance. Fang Yun's face changed dramatically. Although he had no idea what exactly was happening inside the mine,

whether it was a riot or something else, he would ultimately be unable to escape responsibility.

"Commander Li, take a squad inside and investigate immediately. Execute anyone causing trouble on the spot." Fang Yun gave the order decisively, without the slightest hesitation, dispatching the mine's strongest squad to go in and assess the situation.

Yes, assess the situation!

In Fang Yun's view, someone among the miners was trying to rebel. After all, no one could have imagined that outsiders would suddenly appear inside the mine.

The guard commander, Li Kui, was one of only two Silver Moon Knights in the mine. He knew that if anything happened in the mine, he would not escape blame either.

Daring not to delay, he immediately led his five Meteor Rank experts, weapons in hand, and raced toward the direction the sound had come from.

However, as time passed,

neither the sounds of fighting nor any warning cries came as expected.

The atmosphere at the mine entrance grew increasingly tense. Fang Yun stood there, brows tightly furrowed.

The unease in his heart rose sharply.

The guards had been inside for some time now.

By rights, given their strength, even if every miner had rebelled, they should have sent back word by now.

Just then,

a guard, his face deathly pale and his body covered in blood, came tumbling and crawling out from deep inside the mine.

"Supervisor, something's wrong!" He had clearly just escaped the slaughter by the skin of his teeth.

"K-killing... they're killing people. A group of Savages suddenly appeared deep inside the mine. They're killing everyone they see." The guard spoke haltingly. "Commander Li and the others... they... they're all dead."

By the end, the guard was already speaking through sobs.

Though Fang Yun was horrified by what the guard had said,

he still forced himself to calm down and immediately gave a hoarse order:

"Everyone outside the mine, form ranks! Quickly! Use every defensive position! Also, distribute all the Star-Breaking Crossbows and Moon-Breaking Crossbows. Aim every one of them at the exit."

Li Kui and his squad, who had gone inside, were already the strongest squad in the mine. They, along with the guards who had been inside the mine already, had all been wiped out.

There was no point sending in the rest of the people outside the mine.

At Fang Yun's command, the entire area around the mine entrance descended into chaos.

The guards stationed at the mine were all Qie Clan elites.

They quickly completed their preparations.

Everyone stood ready.

Suddenly, a terrifying pressure came from deep inside the mine.

A dark-red blade of Dou Qi shot out first, cutting down the guard at the very front.

The heavily armored warrior charged out first, blood still dripping from his axe blade.

Behind him came the bare-chested warriors.

"Loose arrows!" Fang Yun ordered without the slightest hesitation.

But the scene he had imagined did not unfold.

Faced with a rain of crossbow bolts, the heavily armored warrior let out a disdainful roar.

He swung the giant axe in his hand, and an enormous Dou Qi axe instantly took shape, smashing the bolts to pieces before continuing toward the guards without losing momentum.

The ordinary guards were torn apart with ease before that Dou Qi.

The bare-chested warriors, too, were like tigers plunging into a flock of sheep.

Fang Yun directed the fighting from the rear. Seeing this, he knew they would not be able to hold out for long.

Fang Yun clenched his teeth. The only person in the city who could turn the tide now was that young family head of Title Rank.

Without hesitation, he took out an ancient-looking token and crushed it in his hand.