Chapter 341: Chapter 301: The Yunshan Sect Strikes It Rich
Within this rock wall before us lies a vast amount of Spirit Stone Raw Ore, not to mention the possibility of higher-quality Spirit Crystals, and even Spirit Marrow!
Yang Jiye clutched a piece tightly, trembling all over.
"Sect Leader, we’ve struck it rich! Our Yunshan Sect is now prosperous! Who would have thought that beneath this inconspicuous Lingsha City, there would be a Spirit Stone Mine!"
However, Lu Qian shook his head, dousing his excitement with cold water: "A Spirit Stone Mine, indeed, but don’t forget, this place is filled with Soul-Rotting Dark Iron!"
Upon hearing this, Yang Jiye’s heart turned cold.
Right, this place is filled with accompanying Soul-Rotting Dark Iron Ore. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators can’t withstand it for long, how could ordinary cultivators possibly mine it?
Such a treasure mountain, yet tainted with deadly poison. How can there be such a cruel thing in the world!
Most Spirit Stone Veins rarely produce accompanying ores, and harmful ores are even rarer.
Yet, the one beneath Lingsha City is unique, accompanied by Soul-Rotting Dark Iron Ore that severely damages one’s Divine Soul and can only be shielded against with Divine Sense.
Fairy Nishang, however, scoffed: "If not for this, how could this benefit fall into the hands of the Yunshan Sect?"
Fairy Nishang actually refuted someone? Lu Qian couldn’t help but chuckle: "Senior Brother Yang, think about it, how could the Shahe Gang’s rapid wealth not attract the attention of the Xuanguang Sect? If this Spirit Stone Vein were healthy and normal, the Xuanguang Sect would have taken it over long ago. Would they still let the Shahe Gang control this place?"
Fairy Nishang added from the side: "Spirit Stone Veins are such rare resources that any halfway decent sect keeps them tightly within their grasp. There are plenty of Golden Core Sects without Spirit Stone Mines."
Yang Jiye awoke from his wild joy.
That makes sense, if it were a normal Spirit Stone Vein, how could the Shahe Gang, a Foundation Establishment Sect, possess it? However, even with such great damage, the Xuanguang Sect wouldn’t let the Shahe Gang take it, would they?
Lu Qian pointed, and as Yang Jiye looked along, he was shocked.
Earlier, his mind was captivated by the Soul-Rotting Dark Iron Ore and the extensive Spirit Stone Veins, and he failed to notice the piles of white bones, dilapidated machinery, and toppled large puppets under the rock wall.
The corrosion from the Soul-Rotting Dark Iron Ore quickly penetrates defenses, turning into a chronic condition that irreversibly damages the Divine Soul until the cultivator’s death.
From the onset of radiation, it takes about half a year for an ordinary cultivator to die.
"Han Wen mentioned in his letter that to maintain an annual output of one hundred thousand Spirit Stones, nearly a hundred cultivators have to be sacrificed."
"Afterward, the Shahe Gang gets thirty thousand of those Spirit Stones, while the Xuanguang Sect takes seventy thousand."
Yang Jiye opened his mouth wide and listened as Lu Qian continued: "The miners are mostly loose cultivators lured in by the Xuanguang Sect and the Shahe Gang."
So that’s how it is!
This Spirit Stone Vein is far too damaging, and after the Xuanguang Sect figured out the situation, they simply handed it over to the Shahe Gang to manage, leaving the Shahe Gang responsible for the daily mining, merely supplying some loose cultivators as fodder.
Not only did they take seventy percent of the profits, but they also shifted all the danger and blame onto the Shahe Gang!
The profits were extraordinary, so much so that even though they feared leaks, limiting the number of cultivators lost and the mining of Spirit Stones, they still managed to produce one hundred thousand Spirit Stones annually!
Even with just thirty percent of the profits, the Shahe Gang quickly rose and expanded.
Realizing this, Yang Jiye became dejected. The Xuanguang Sect holds an entire county, and the Shahe Gang is a loosely structured organization, capable of sustaining or absorbing the loss of one hundred loose cultivators annually.
But how could the current Yunshan Sect possibly manage that?
Seeing such a treasure mountain right before him with no solution, Yang Jiye anxiously paced in circles, breathing heavily.
Lu Qian smiled and said, "Senior Brother Yang, no need to rush, we can find a way. For example, if cultivators can’t mine, what if we use puppets?"
"Puppets?" Yang Jiye brightened with hope but questioned, "If we thought of it, wouldn’t the Xuanguang Sect have thought of it too?"
Lu Qian pointed to the puppet shells on the ground: "The Xuanguang Sect did consider it and tried several times. Unfortunately, the ordinary puppets they used are controlled by Divine Sense, and this Soul-Rotting Dark Iron specifically harms Divine Sense. Once ordinary puppets enter, they immediately shut down."
Yang Jiye was more puzzled: "Ordinary puppets? Are there non-ordinary ones? Even if such puppets exist, the Xuanguang Sect lacks the technique to make them. Where would we find them?"
Lu Qian smiled without a word. Just because they don’t exist now doesn’t mean they won’t in the future. Just because the Xuanguang Sect doesn’t have them doesn’t mean Jichuan Profound Monarch doesn’t!
The gaze swept around once more and saw a sudden recess in the rock wall, opening into a stone chamber.
After unraveling multiple arrays, inside the stone chamber were layers of pink drapes, enclosed within which lay a beautifully carved floral bed, as if awaiting its owner.
"Why does this look like a woman’s boudoir?" Yang Jiye asked in confusion.
This is indeed a woman’s boudoir.
Lu Qian sighed inwardly. This was where the Third Lady had lived in seclusion for years, the place Han Wen had fought desperately to return her to.
Who could have guessed that what would cause ongoing corrosive damage to an ordinary person’s Divine Soul could serve as the life-sustaining material for the Third Lady?
Nobody knew from when the Third Lady contracted a strange illness, which no renowned healer could cure. It was accidentally discovered that the abundance of Soul-Rotting Dark Iron here could halt the progression of the Third Lady’s illness. Otherwise, she might have perished long ago.
Since this discovery, Han Wen had placed the Third Lady here until Master Yeguang suddenly attacked, forcing Han Wen to take her away.
The Third Lady was more important than Han Wen’s own life and mustn’t be allowed to fall into enemy hands. Thus, Han Wen, during his lifetime, did not trade or discuss terms, extracting a promise from Lu Qian to keep the Third Lady safe.
It wasn’t just about exposing the Spirit Stone Vein, but entrusting someone more important than his own life to Lu Qian’s care.
It’s all in the past now.
Now that Han Wen and his wife are reunited in the afterlife, they can finally be together in another world, while everything here belongs to the Yunshan Sect.
"Let’s leave. Keep this place a secret for now. We’ll reopen it once I figure out a solution."
Exiting the tunnel, outside, the crescent moon hung high, and Lu Qian felt waves of dizziness overwhelming him, his body barely holding on.
Yet, he dared not rest easy, with his disciples and cultivators from the Shuangye Alliance all gathering toward Lingsha City, and most importantly, the uncertainty of the casualties in the battle between Chongming County and Sanshan County at Fucang Mountain.
At this moment, on Kongming Mountain, Chongming County had established a new defensive line.
The vast camps that once spread across Fucang Mountain and surrounding areas had greatly shrunk.
The once oceans of Spiritual Power light from cultivators had dimmed, and atop Kongming Mountain, only five heavily damaged floating battleships remained sparsely.
"Supreme Elder, no traces of Yunshan Sect or Zhou Family cultivators have been found on or around Kongming Mountain; they seem to have fled early. We lack manpower and must guard against another invasion from Sanshan County, leaving us unable to expand our search range."
The Second Elder knelt on the ground, too afraid to look at the blood-covered Golden Core Master sitting above him.
The surrounding six remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators, all gravely injured, cast their gazes to the ground, not daring to meet Master Fengfeng’s expression.
"Rest for a night. Tomorrow, I will personally take Lu Qian’s head, then skin and dismember him!"
