Chapter 244: Chapter 106: Mysterious Faction, Prince Qing Returns to the Manor
That gentle breeze was, of course, Li Xuan.
Upon entering, he saw that the pit was also filled with fog.
This fog resembled choking thick smoke.
The oil lamps on the earthen walls flickered slightly, emitting an extremely weak yellow light, creating a precarious halo that looked like a dying firefly.
Li Xuan walked forward along the main mine path.
In his own fog, his vision was not affected at all, and he could see everything around him clearly.
Ore carts were scattered on the ground, some already loaded, others only half full. The ores were Ice Crystal Ore, materials capable of somewhat restricting ordinary young demons.
But these were not the materials Li Xuan was searching for.
He continued forward, along a hidden path, and after a long journey, finally located the "Ice Jade Mine."
Ice Jade could suppress the existence of a "Devil Shape," or a Tier One mid-stage demon.
The Ice Jade robe he wore previously was also made from the ore here.
But this was still not Li Xuan’s destination.
However, though it wasn’t his destination, there was no road ahead.
The mining stopped here.
Li Xuan stood in the empty underground mine, the surroundings quiet and vague, the ghostly blue crystal light exuding a slight chill, subtly suppressing his demon blood.
He stared at the mine wall.
The wall was full of pits and dents, cluttered with marks left by chisels, pickaxes, and shovels.
Even soldiers in the army found it far from easy to mine this icy ore.
Therefore, the overall mining progress was extremely slow.
The tunnel connecting the "Ice Crystal" and "Ice Jade" was over ten feet long, but the Ice Jade Mine had penetrated less than two feet.
Li Xuan took out an iron cylinder from his bosom and picked out three sticks of incense, igniting them with a touch of his finger.
The burning incense curved, blending into the fog.
The next moment, the outline around Li Xuan emerged in golden light.
Inside the fog, a continuous golden path of incense appeared.
The path of incense snaked like a serpent, reaching the end of the Ice Jade Mine without any hindrance, already continuing into the rock behind it.
Li Xuan’s sight followed into the rock.
This penetration took much more effort than normal incense, but as long as the position was accurately measured, Li Xuan could afford the consumption.
Thus, the incense continued forward for an unknown length of time when suddenly, Li Xuan felt a significant increase in the consumption to support the path of incense.
His heart skipped a beat, a look of delight on his face, thinking: ’Could it be true!’
He concentrated fully, pushing the incense inward.
His vision followed, observing.
However, all he could notice was a change in the texture of the ore.
Previously a mix of Ice Jade rock, it now seemed to transform into another metal.
The deeper the incense penetrated, the greater the consumption.
Perhaps sensing he was getting close.
Li Xuan dispersed the incense, then abruptly maneuvered.
Whirlpool!
A large piece of ore appeared before him, emerging with the retracted path of incense.
It was a mass of purple ore, cold to the touch, with a texture like copper, but it was certainly not copper. At least Li Xuan had never seen this metal before.
’Let’s call it Purple Copper for now.’
Li Xuan thought to himself, then held the mass of Purple Copper in his arms, as if trying on new clothes.
He felt his whole body begin to cool down, the fire poison seemed to subside, as if repressed.
’It’s indeed promising!’
Li Xuan’s interest was piqued.
He continued to dig deeper with the incense, probing left and right, but once it passed through the Purple Copper Mine, it returned to normal, clearly marking the limit of the mine.
Moreover, the Purple Copper Mine itself was not extensive; Li Xuan spent most of a night, emptying the Purple Copper Mine entirely, with the accumulated ore barely the height of a person.
Seeing the task completed, Li Xuan lit more incense to spread from the underground to outside the military town, ensuring it was well outside before he left with the pile of Purple Copper, walking the golden incense path.
He emerged in a forest.
After a few ups and downs, Li Xuan reached a secluded place and finally sat down to rest.
Looking at the bunch of Purple Copper, he marveled privately: ’Incense is truly amazing; with or without incense, it’s a completely different level.’
This is precisely why he temporarily dismissed the idea of recklessly entering the Incense Fire Divine Realm, especially after seeing the message from the Drought Demon.
The waters of the Incense Fire Divine Realm ran too deep, and particularly with "the Deceased" added to the name, it felt even more sinister.
The gentle breeze continued, with the fog still lingering.
He glanced again at the ox-carts from before.
The ox-carts were resting on the plain, yet to enter the town.
...
Several days later.
The ox-carts reached the border of Great Yin, arriving at the edge of a desolate plain.
Li Xuan knew this plain was the famous Bronze Plain, whose abundant mineral resources ignited the conflict, turning Great Yin and Great Yong from brotherly nations to sworn enemies.
The next moment, he suddenly saw the charioteers of the ox-carts all bowing towards the north.
Li Xuan was taken aback, a chill rising in his heart.
To the north, there was nothing!
What were they bowing to?
Then, something even more astounding happened.
The charioteers and the ox-carts suddenly vanished from his perception.
He could still sense the surrounding vegetation, but the nine ox-carts were undetectable.
Li Xuan frowned, his pupils constricting.
However, he quickly realized he couldn’t sense the withered grass beneath the ox-carts either.
This brought some relief to Li Xuan.
The disappearance of just the ox-carts and everything within their range was a different concept.
