Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Thunder Stone Mine
But it was too generous.
No one could refuse such a rewarding offer.
It’s said that the one who masters the Secret Technique holds all the power.
It wouldn’t have been unreasonable for the Longevity Sect to propose a seventy-thirty or even an eighty-twenty split.
Everyone knew that Second-Rank Spirit Grass wasn’t in the same price range as First-Rank, and it had a much better market.
A fifty-fifty split...
Deep down, Dong Yulan had already anticipated something like this.
A sliver of the Longevity Sect’s ambition was beginning to show.
’But on what grounds?’
Dong Yulan smiled wryly to herself. "I want to go take a look," she said.
With the True Master away and Du Lixin in seclusion, Dong Yulan was, to put it bluntly, the one with the most authority.
If she gave the final word, the matter would be settled.
Su Huanli nodded. "Of course."
After Dong Yulan left, Su Huanli and Shui Ping lagged behind, murmuring to each other.
Shui Ping said, "Should we call Master out for something like this?"
Su Huanli replied, "I don’t think so. This is just a small matter..."
It’s a good thing, and it doesn’t affect the Sect’s survival.
It hasn’t reached the point where Du Lixin absolutely has to come out of seclusion.
Dong Yulan went for a stroll around Wang’an County.
She deliberately concealed her aura, walking the streets of Wang’an County like any other unfamiliar Cultivator.
The players bustled about, working with fiery enthusiasm. The dusty gray city wall grew ever higher, its immense shadow stretching over the entire county town, casting a novel sense of pressure over Dong Yulan that she had never felt before.
Watching the Longevity Sect’s disciples, she sensed something was off.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
’What was the Longevity Sect like before?’
’Just an Old Sect Master and a little boy.’
’It’s only been a few months, and the Longevity Sect has gained so many people.’
’Do Su Huanli and Shui Ping think that disciples with Spirit Roots are as common as cabbages by the roadside?’
The Longevity Sect was now clearly anything but normal.
’Should I interfere?’
’But it seems I can’t do anything about it anyway.’
She couldn’t quite put her finger on the problem with the Longevity Sect. All she could see was that their financial resources were a mystery and that they were unusually invested in mortal affairs.
As she walked, she spotted Zhai Xiaotian.
He was sitting inside a tavern, drinking. He looked tipsy, but his eyes were clear.
A black pig sat at his feet, snorting as it watched him. When Zhai Xiaotian finished his wine, he tipped the last couple of drops into the pig’s mouth.
The pig opened its mouth wide to drink the Spiritual Wine. Just as it swallowed, Zhai Xiaotian’s hand trembled slightly, and the wine bottle vanished.
A female disciple from the Longevity Sect called out, "Senior Zhai, have you been feeding it wine again?"
Zhai Xiaotian let out a hearty laugh. "Not at all, not at all! It just got here."
The female disciple looked at Zhai Xiaotian suspiciously. Despite her cultivation being clearly lower than his, she showed no fear, chiding him like a friend would. "Please don’t give it wine. Last time it got drunk, it trampled all over Senior Sister Miao Miao’s Spirit Field. I got chewed out for it, and the pig was nearly turned into a roasted suckling pig! Its father had to pay a fortune to save it."
Zhai Xiaotian said, "Alright, alright, I get it."
After the female disciple left, Dong Yulan approached, somewhat surprised. "Senior Zhai."
She remembered Zhai Xiaotian arriving many years ago.
She had still been very young back then.
Zhai Xiaotian looked exactly as she remembered him.
Dong Yulan knew he was no ordinary person.
For all these years, he had never left Wang’an County, yet he rarely interacted with mortals or other Cultivators. She never expected him to be getting along so well with the people from the Longevity Sect now.
Zhai Xiaotian squinted, sizing her up, then smiled. "Ah, it’s you. You’re back from Demon Cave Valley?"
Dong Yulan stepped inside. "With something this big happening, I had to come back."
Zhai Xiaotian was unconcerned. "It’s a small matter, and it’s all been resolved. Not even close to what happened a few decades ago."
Dong Yulan said, "But without the Longevity Sect, it might not have been resolved. I don’t think we could have held them off."
If the Longevity Sect hadn’t been holding the line, Wang’an County would have been the first to fall.
Zhai Xiaotian glanced at her. "There are no ’what ifs.’ If something exists, it has its reason for being."
Dong Yulan froze.
Zhai Xiaotian suddenly reached out and tapped her lightly. "Go back to Demon Cave Valley. I see fluctuations in your Spirit Sea. Perhaps your opportunity is coming."
Dong Yulan’s heart instantly began to pound like a drum.
"Senior... you..."
Zhai Xiaotian just smiled, then shouted loudly, "Waiter, bring more Spiritual Wine!"
The waiter’s voice drifted up from downstairs: "Right away!"
Dong Yulan stood up and left, still in a bit of a daze.
’The senior was guiding me.’
’Perhaps my Golden Core is within reach, but he wants me to stay out of the affairs here.’
’And with Du Lixin in seclusion and no word from Master at all...’
Dong Yulan gave a wry smile. After returning to the Sect, she found Su Huanli and said, "Agree to the Longevity Sect’s proposal. Let’s finalize the cooperation. Tell the Sect’s Steward that I approved all of this."
Su Huanli and Shui Ping stared at each other, not expecting Dong Yulan to agree so quickly.
’Did she have a complete change of heart just from one trip outside?’
Su Huanli and Shui Ping didn’t overthink it. Her agreeing could only be a good thing.
They eagerly went to discuss the matter with the Longevity Sect.
Meanwhile, Zhou Xiao announced the good news in the internal Sect chat.
[Zhou Nvzi: The Feique Sect has agreed to cooperate with us on cultivating Spirit Grass. From now on, consider the Feique Sect one of us, but don’t say anything you’re not supposed to.]
[Fan Guzhou: The Feique Sect actually agreed to the terms I suggested to Miao Miao before?]
[Zhou Nvzi: @Fan Guzhou, yes.]
[Han Tian: The Feique Sect doesn’t see the problem with this? By the time we’re done, all their people will be ours.]
[Zhou Nvzi: Maybe they see it but don’t want to fight it...]
[Zhen Weida: Excellent, excellent! The great development can proceed! We can build the aerial walkway now!]
[Su Daqiang: What aerial walkway??? What have you guys discovered now that we don’t know about?]
[Zhen Weida: Hehe...]
The "aerial walkway" Zhen Weida mentioned was a discovery made by the players who focused on Artifact Refining.
Among the spiritual ores, there was a common but rarely used type called ’Thunder Stone’.
Thunder Stone melted more easily than other spiritual ores and reached higher temperatures.
However, it was the least popular of all the ores.
This was mainly because the Spiritual Energy within it was unstable.
This ore was unique in that it would explode on its own, even if left untouched.
The reason for the explosions was currently a mystery. Some Cultivators believed it was due to temperature, while others thought it was related to the weather.
But using it for Artifact Refining resulted in a ninety-percent explosion rate, with a high probability of injuring the Cultivator.
And yet, Thunder Stone was found everywhere.
The Feique Sect even had its own Thunder Stone Ore Vein.
It was just that it was so unpopular that no one bothered to mine it, and it didn’t sell for much money anyway.
While studying it, the players discovered something odd: why didn’t it explode inside the ore vein, but was guaranteed to explode once mined?
After consulting with experts in related fields back in the real world and combining it with their own speculation, the players determined the cause. The formation of Thunder Stone was actually in conflict with Spiritual Energy. However, the environment within a Thunder Stone Ore Vein was generally stable. Once the stone was mined and the environment became unstable, the Spiritual Energy inside the Thunder Stone would begin to fluctuate, and the slightest stimulus would cause it to detonate.
Other Cultivators had surely discovered this problem, which was why they generally left it alone.
But the players discovered something else.
This Thunder Stone stuff automatically released its Spiritual Energy.
Even mortals could use it.
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