Xunmiao, cut them all down!
Gu Ze felt as if the mountain’s air turned several degrees colder in an instant—even though Li Xunmiao had yet to draw her sword, her presence was already so fierce and sharp.
He hurriedly reached out to ruffle Li Xunmiao’s hair, breaking the heavy atmosphere.
Her hair was warm to the touch. The girl’s cheeks flushed slightly, one eye squeezed shut in protest, her cheeks puffed as she glared at Gu Ze.
Her smile was bright and adorable—surely that chilling murderous intent she’d just shown was only Gu Ze’s illusion.
Yes! It must have been an illusion! Gu Ze tried to convince himself.
Earlier, the two of them had accepted a commission to explore the earth vein, at the same time the client sensed that someone had taken up the bounty.
When the three finally met, Gu Ze looked at the familiar middle-aged cultivator before him and couldn’t help but sigh at how small the Yunhai Immortal Pavilion was.
There were clearly tens of thousands of cultivators on Songhuo Peak, yet he had managed to accept Lin Tianya’s commission so precisely.
But—why did the other party look so gloomy? As if Gu Ze owed him a thousand and one spirit stones.
“Senior Brother Lin, it’s been a while.” Abiding by the principle of not hitting a smiling man, Gu Ze cupped his hands and greeted him proactively.
Li Xunmiao also imitated the gesture, though in her heart she wondered, Who is this person? Have I met him before?
Lin Tianya sighed, but didn’t bring up spirit stones. He wasn’t actually short on money—otherwise, he wouldn’t be hanging a commission on the bounty board.
***
A few days ago, after he successfully forged three mid-grade artifacts, his spirits soared. The bottleneck that had plagued him for years finally loosened, and he broke through to the sixth level of Qi Refinement.
Now, Lin Tianya would be even more confident in crafting mid-grade artifacts in the future.
This time, he was preparing to head deep into the earth vein to collect some Iron Marrow.
This Spirit Ore had to be smelted into a blank directly in the earth vein depths—only when it took initial shape could it be extracted from the ore vein.
Otherwise, if it left the earth vein, it would instantly lose its spiritual energy and turn into an ordinary lump of iron.
“Shidi Gu, I’m glad to see you both again as well. For you to travel a thousand miles from Biluo Peak just to accept my bounty—this is truly fate.”
“But exploring the earth vein’s depths might mean encountering demonic beasts. Without at least mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivation, it’ll be hard to protect oneself. Honestly, I was hoping to find cultivators with higher cultivation.” Lin Tianya said frankly.
He really was happy to team up with these two, but their cultivation levels simply didn’t meet his standards. Too weak, and he’d have to spend effort protecting them instead.
“Senior Brother, you’re mistaken. If it’s just for mining, isn’t having a good artifact enough?” Gu Ze said, then took out the Frost Dust Mirror bestowed upon him by the Qingquan Immortal Venerable.
The almost flawless luster of the artifact appeared. Lin Tianya’s eyes widened instantly, bending down to stare fixedly at the small mirror in Gu Ze’s hand.
“Perfect! That’s actually a supreme-grade artifact. With this for protection, exploring the earth vein won’t be a problem at all. But…” Lin Tianya still had some doubts in his heart.
Gu Ze revealed a supreme-grade artifact without hesitation. If he already possessed such a treasure, why would he bother to accept such a low-paying commission?
Or, was Gu Ze simply looking for an excuse to enter the earth vein?
Even as the possibility occurred to him, Lin Tianya didn’t pry into Gu Ze’s secrets.
It was best for each to take what they needed.
Gu Ze was willing to use his precious supreme-grade artifact to help complete the commission—Lin Tianya would gladly accept it and not invite any other trouble.
“Both of you, Iron Marrow is precious—if we go too late, we might miss it. Let’s set out right away.” He closed the door of his workshop behind him, set a restriction, and immediately led the two away.
***
On another distant mountain, two sneaky figures were gazing in their direction.
With Chen Lang’s eighth level Qi Refinement concealing their presence, it was enough to avoid Gu Ze and Li Xunmiao’s notice while observing their movements.
“Who would’ve thought he’d have a supreme-grade artifact in hand.” Chen Lang stroked his chin, finding it utterly incredible.
If Li Xunmiao produced a supreme-grade artifact, he wouldn’t be so surprised—a direct disciple of the Peak Lord naturally had treasures.
But Gu Ze was only a retainer, not a true personal disciple.
Supreme-grade artifacts—he himself, a main refining disciple of Songhuo Peak, had never even touched one.
The reason was simple: supreme-grade artifacts were mostly crafted by Foundation Establishment cultivators and required vast amounts of rare materials.
Why would a Foundation Establishment expert bother to make an artifact that couldn’t even withstand an attack from a cultivator of the same level?
Unless a sect elder specifically bestowed such an item to a junior, ordinary disciples at most only had high-grade artifacts.
Seeing Gu Ze take out his treasure, Bai Yazhi too was moved by greed.
The two exchanged glances. Bai Yazhi seemed to sense the shock and envy in Chen Lang’s eyes and spoke first, “That Gu Ze is all honeyed words day to day—he must have fawned over Li Xunmiao and her master to get a treasure like that.”
“If you ask me, Senior Brother, why not just take it from him? Let Gu Ze see his true place—such a treasure is not for a rootless disciple like him to possess.”
Chen Lang felt something was off—Bai Yazhi was deliberately trying to provoke him into making a move.
That supreme-grade artifact could resist any attack during Qi Refinement. If it really came to a fight, Chen Lang had no good way to break through.
But… Songhuo Peak cultivators had many techniques designed to counter artifacts; if he struck unexpectedly, he might not be completely without hope.
“This kind of treasure really should be mine…” In the end, greed won out over reason.
Even if he failed to seize it, Chen Lang could always pin the blame on Bai Yazhi.
He’d already realized Bai Yazhi was ruthless.
Keeping her around might end up backfiring on him in the future. But for now, their interests aligned—once they settled this score, he could distance himself from her.
***
Songhuo Peak earth vein.
A massive mining tunnel plunged straight down toward the earth’s core; occasionally, cultivators would fly out with their backs loaded with large chunks of raw ore.
The place was vast and open, even underground, light still shone from above, and the air grew noticeably cooler.
Li Xunmiao looked around at the glimmering fragments of Spirit Ore scattered everywhere, her face returning to that usual look of curious innocence.
“Senior Brother Gu, I feel the Yulong Jade in my arms faintly trembling. Is something about to happen?” She leaned in close to Gu Ze’s ear and whispered.
Gu Ze’s gaze deepened. The opportunity was indeed coming, just as he’d predicted.
Li Xunmiao’s Dragon Pendant was also an artifact. During the Qi Refinement stage, it could provide her with dragon energy to temper her body and strengthen her physique.
But after passing Qi Refinement, the effect of the dragon energy’s support would wane.
The earth vein of Songhuo Peak lacked the water element—it was because the Dragon Vein sealed deep underground was frantically absorbing water element to complete itself, waiting to burst forth as a true dragon, soaring to the heavens.
Dragons belonged to water—they should be born in the sea. Trying to nurture an innate true dragon within the earth was incredibly difficult.
Li Xunmiao only needed to bring the Yulong Jade deep into the earth vein to absorb a thread of pure, innate dragon energy, thus upgrading the pendant to a Spirit Treasure.
Once it reached lower-grade Spirit Treasure level, it would be considered the domain of Foundation Establishment, and its powers would become even greater.
Then it wouldn’t just aid cultivation—it could invoke dragon energy as protection, so that only attacks from Foundation Establishment cultivators could barely harm her.
“Don’t worry, junior sister—it’s just your jade pendant resonating with the Dragon Vein here. Your opportunity has arrived,” Gu Ze said calmly.
He’d already brought Li Xunmiao here; there was no hiding the existence of this opportunity.
Besides, the trip was for her to begin with.
“Is it another coincidence this time?” Li Xunmiao asked softly.
She’d already been suspicious since their trip to the Yellow Springs Valley.
This time, Gu Ze had mysteriously brought her to yet another place she knew nothing about—it was obvious he had planned ahead.
“Ahem… just a coincidence.” Gu Ze averted his gaze.
Li Xunmiao clutched her jade pendant tightly to her chest. The earth vein also seemed to sense this dragon energy—Songhuo Peak itself began to tremble.
Lin Tianya hurriedly stopped and motioned for them to be on guard.
“There’s some anomaly in the earth vein here. Could there be a treasure about to emerge underground? Shidi Gu, let’s pick up the pace, or we’ll be beaten to it!” Lin Tianya was overjoyed.
As a native of Songhuo Peak, he could naturally distinguish good from bad when it came to the earth vein’s vibrations.
If sounds of collapsing earth and rock echoed from below, it meant a cave-in underground—in which case, entering would be extremely dangerous.
If the sound was metallic and spiritual energy thick, it must mean rare Spirit Ore was about to appear.
But to find a single small piece of Spirit Ore in the vast earth vein was no easy feat—sometimes cultivators would dig for half a month with nothing to show for it.
“Senior Brother Lin, isn’t seizing this opportunity a little too dangerous? Junior sister and I don’t really have any fighting power.” Gu Ze poured some cold water on Lin Tianya’s excitement.
His thoughts weren’t on the Spirit Ore; it’d be nice to obtain it, but he wasn’t about to risk everything for it.
To throw himself and Li Xunmiao into danger for a small opportunity was not worth it.
Gu Ze was cautious, but Li Xunmiao was itching to try.
“Senior Brother Gu, do you want Xunmiao to grab the treasure? I’ve been practicing with the Zangtian Sword these past days and haven’t even had a chance to draw it yet.”
She still didn’t know what her opportunity was—she assumed it was the Spirit Ore causing the earth vein to tremble.
“No need, Xunmiao—you focus on protecting yourself first.” As Gu Ze spoke, he stuffed the Frost Dust Mirror into Li Xunmiao’s hands as well.
“Keep this with you. Against any opponent below Foundation Establishment, you’ll be fine.”
“Then what about you, senior brother?” Li Xunmiao immediately tried to return the artifact, but Gu Ze simply clasped his hands behind his back, refusing to let her give it back.
“I have other ways to save my life.”
He still had a system reward—his full-power strike at the peak of Qi Refinement. If things truly got dangerous, he could still put up a fight.
The three picked up their pace, but were quickly stopped by a bottomless chasm blocking their way.
Heavy spiritual energy billowed from within the abyss—it was both a chasm and a mire of concentrated spiritual power.
“This crevice is bottomless. I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Lin Tianya stared into the darkness below, heart pounding, “Such a natural barrier—you have to be careful when flying across. If you fall in, you could be pulled into the depths by the dense earth spiritual energy and never climb out again.”
With that, Lin Tianya was the first to fly across the chasm, Li Xunmiao followed, and Gu Ze brought up the rear.
But the instant Gu Ze leapt into the air, a sudden change occurred.
A sword light flashed behind him, slashing straight toward his body.
Hidden not far behind, Chen Lang was also startled out of his wits—he’d never imagined Bai Yazhi would dare to strike in a place like this.
Mad! This woman is truly mad.
Harming a fellow disciple—if caught, it wasn’t as simple as expulsion from the sect.
At best, one’s cultivation would be crippled; at worst, one’s foundation would be destroyed forever, condemning their descendants to mortal lives.
Bai Yazhi, however, fixed her gaze on Gu Ze’s storage pouch at his waist, feeling a strong aura of treasure within. Unbeknownst to her, it was actually a Peak Lord’s command token kept inside.
“Senior brother, I helped you seize his treasure!” Bai Yazhi’s eyes glittered with fanaticism, causing Chen Lang to break out in cold sweat.