Metal Ore Vein

At the border of the Heavenly Soul Empire lay Cangwu City.

It was a few dozen kilometers from the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Large numbers of Soul Masters had gathered at the city's mission hall.

Their levels, however, were generally low.

Looking around, there were only a handful of Four-Ring Soul Masters, and not a single Five-Ring Soul Master.

Under normal circumstances, a Five-Ring Soul Master's combat strength was enough to make them the mainstay of a small clan.

Low-level Soul Masters like these, with two or three rings, took on Soul Hunting bounties issued in the city to put food on the table.

Hui Ye squeezed through the crowd, searching the notice board for missions involving metal ore veins.

Times had changed. The major clans had carved up every metal ore vein, big and small, leaving none to spare.

At the root of it was the rapid development of Soul Tools, which had driven demand for large quantities of metal beyond the supply.

Finding an unclaimed ore vein was no easier than having a Soul Bone drop.

"Damn it, who elbowed me this time?"

Hui Ye squeezed out of the crowd, his face covered in dust. At just ten years old, he really was a bit short.

He leaned against the door, wearing a long face and feeling annoyed as hell.

Just then, the Zhou Clan's steward strode into the hall, held a notice over his head, and called out:

"The Zhou Clan is hiring a large number of Soul Masters to exterminate the Soul Beasts in our hematite mine. Most of them are Metal-Devouring Rats, Earth Armored Dragons, and the like.

"The Soul Beasts are generally no older than 1,000 years, and the pay is generous. Those interested should register at once."

The crowd swarmed around him with a roar.

"I want to sign up! I want to sign up!"

"Out of the way, all of you! Our Lie Hu Mercenary Corps is taking this job," the Lie Hu captain said sharply as he stepped out of the crowd.

The Zhou Clan steward asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "How many people are in your mercenary corps?"

"Forty-eight. Counting me, we have two Four-Ring Soul Ancestors in all. That's more than enough to deal with thousand-year Soul Beasts," the Lie Hu captain said, thumping his chest.

"You alone aren't enough," the steward said, shaking his head.

The Lie Hu captain frowned. "Doesn't the Zhou Clan recruit fifty mercenaries every year to clear the Soul Beasts out of the mine?"

"That was in previous years," the steward said. "This year is different. The Zhou Clan intends to wipe out all the Soul Beasts in the mine.

"Besides... you have no idea how much our mine has expanded."

When the crowd heard that, they thought, The Zhou Clan is going to strike it rich. They must have a massive sales channel.

"Then how many people do you need?"

The steward held up five fingers. "Five hundred Soul Masters, at least two rings. All right, did everyone hear that? Go register and get ready. We're heading down into the mine tomorrow."

The Lie Hu captain fell silent and led his team over to register, lining up behind a ten-year-old boy.

He frowned and shoved the boy aside. "Get lost, brat. Have you even grown all your hair yet, coming out here to make a living?"

Hui Ye instantly activated Martial Soul Possession, and two gray Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.

"You dog, are you tired of living?"

The Lie Hu captain was taken aback. He hadn't expected Hui Ye to actually be a Two-Ring Soul Master.

Although Hui Ye's second ring wasn't complete, it was still good enough to make up the numbers.

The registrar barked, "What are you doing? If you don't want to register, get lost. Stop wasting time."

The Lie Hu captain was about to flare up, but one of his men held him back and talked him down.

When it was Hui Ye's and the Lie Hu captain's turns to register, the registrar raised his brows and glanced at them, laughing inwardly.

Go on, fight. You're just a bunch of cannon fodder. When has the Zhou Clan ever been short of low-level Soul Masters? Heh...

The next day, five hundred Soul Masters gathered at the entrance to the hematite mine.

A Five-Ring Soul King of the Zhou Clan waved his hand. "Into the mine!"

At his command, the crowd poured into the mine.

Outside, a Six-Ring Soul Emperor and a Five-Ring Soul King watched them go and exchanged smiles.

"How many of those five hundred do you think will make it out alive?"

"Better if they all die. That'll save us from having to pay them afterward."

"Hahaha, if they all die, who'll be the bait to lure that Earthquake Beast out?"

"Let them die. As long as they're not our people."

"Leader, there's a branch tunnel over there. Let's take that way," someone suggested.

The Zhou Clan's Five-Ring Soul King said, "The Zhou Clan has already cleared out the Soul Beasts in the branch tunnels. Everyone, keep moving along the main tunnel."

"Oh. All right."

Seeing that the other man was taking the lead, the one who had made the suggestion said no more.

The group continued forward, the Lie Hu captain leading his men close behind Hui Ye.

Whenever Hui Ye looked back, he could see the man grinning with a mouthful of big yellow teeth.

Hui Ye didn't seem to get tired, either, holding up his middle finger ahead of them and provoking him nonstop.

The Lie Hu captain ground his teeth in anger. "Brat, you'll be crying soon enough."

"Your parents really weren't filial enough, giving birth to a brain-dead thing like you. Tsk, I guess you can only feel important by bullying children."

"Brat, I'll break your fingers one by one and watch until you die of pain!" The Lie Hu captain's eyes were bloodshot.

"A brain-dead thing like you can be a captain? Your lackeys must really be blind as dogs."

As the two bickered, a commotion came from deep within the mine.

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!"

A horde of Metal-Devouring Rats came scurrying out, several thousand strong.

The one leading them was the largest, as stout as a domestic pig, with strength at around the 800-year level.

The crowd met them in battle.

With so many people there, only two ten-year Metal-Devouring Rats reached Hui Ye. After dealing with them, he absorbed their Soul Rings into his body while no one was looking.

The corner of Hui Ye's mouth twitched. That was far too little; it wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

If all those thousands of Metal-Devouring Rats were mine, I could max out my metal attribute to 5,000 years in one go.

"There's no challenge at all. This is too easy. Everyone, get ready to go back and collect your rewards."

The crowd laughed and joked, completely unaware that disaster was about to befall them.

Half an hour after they had gone deeper into the mine, someone noticed something was wrong.

It was too quiet. They hadn't encountered a single Soul Beast along the way.

Unfortunately, it was too late. At some point, the Zhou Clan's Soul King had fallen to the very back of the group.

Crack! Crack!

Strange sounds suddenly came from the rock walls on both sides.

Everyone's expressions changed drastically.

Boom!

The rock walls exploded, and a large number of Earth Armored Dragons burrowed out of them and pounced on the crowd.

These Soul Beasts were stronger than the Metal-Devouring Rats from before. There were more than a dozen Soul Beasts over 1,000 years old alone.

Once all the Earth Armored Dragons had emerged, another huge horde of Metal-Devouring Rats came swarming in.

It was as if they had planned it together: each Earth Armored Dragon stood at the front to draw fire while the Metal-Devouring Rats waited for a chance to launch sneak attacks.

"The Zhou Clan tricked us! This is a trap! There are too many thousand-year Soul Beasts. Run!"

A Soul Master at the rear of the group cried out in alarm and tried to retreat, only to see the Zhou Clan's Soul King standing in his escape route, smiling coldly at him.

"You..." The Soul Master was both shocked and furious.

The Soul King threw a Fixed-Installation Soul Guidance Bomb ahead, and with a thunderous boom, it blew the mine tunnel apart.

When the dust cleared, the Soul Master saw that the way back had been blocked. He rushed to the rubble and frantically clawed at the broken rocks, the sharp fragments cutting his hands until they streamed with blood.

"It's over. We're all finished! Bastards, Zhou Clan, I curse your entire clan to die without descendants and meet miserable ends!"