Longevity starts with dual cultivation

Chapter 220: Sit back and wait, surround and attack

Qingtu Mountain.

This is a relatively remote area on the main island of Cangyu. Not only is it sparsely populated, but it is also not marked on any public maps.

On the surface, this seems to be just a primitive area with high mountains, dense forests and rampant ferocious beasts, but in fact it is the treasure trove of the Cangyu Islands.

One of the largest spiritual stone veins ranked among the top in the Chixue Sea is located inside the mountain here.

Moreover, among the spiritual stones produced here every year, about one tenth are of medium quality.

The output of this spiritual stone vein accounts for nearly 30% of the Cangyu Islands' annual fiscal revenue.

If something goes wrong here, the impact on the top leaders of the Cangyu Islands will be extremely serious.

Therefore, Gu Binglong attached great importance to this place and arranged two True Dan monks and six False Dan monks to stay here all year round. From time to time, a Golden Dan Zhenren would come to inspect.

Moreover, a separate third-level defense formation has been set up here to ensure that even if attacked by external enemies, it can hold out long enough to wait for the sect's reinforcements to arrive.

However, after hundreds of years, the location of the spirit stone mine is no longer a top secret, so much so that even hostile forces have heard of it.

The Hall of Eternal Life had organized people to attack this place more than once in the past, but because the defense of this place was strong enough, the results were minimal.

But today, things seem a little different.

Inside the mountain, passing through several tight defense lines, in a cave with a radius of more than thirty feet, the fake dan elder Su Ti was counting and checking the accounts for this month.

Although it is a cave, the decoration inside is extremely luxurious, with large white jade wall tiles, purple gold columns with dragon, phoenix and cloud patterns, and a gorgeous dome decorated with various gems and luminous pearls. In the corner, the golden tripod is burning the finest spices, and under the exquisite carpet, there is a small spirit gathering magic circle.

Of course, there are also many beautiful girls with fair skin, beautiful looks and cool dresses standing quietly by the side, ready to meet Elder Su's needs at any time.

As a false elixir cultivator, he should be treated with respect no matter where he is. The temporary caves of the two true elixir elders were even more luxurious than his.

Of course, True Dan monks usually don’t care about specific affairs. Their only task is to guard against sneak attacks from foreign enemies and to practice and enjoy themselves.

"...This month, the number of mid-grade spirit stones produced has decreased again. What's going on?"

After a long time, Elder Suti closed the jade account book in his hand and asked somewhat unhappily.

The trusted butler standing at the side bowed quickly and explained carefully:

"Elder, I was just about to report this to you. There really isn't much middle-grade spirit stone ore left in the mines. Some mining sites have even dried up and we have no choice but to give up..."

Although the scale of this spiritual stone vein is large enough, it has been mined for hundreds of years after all, and it is inevitable that the resources are on the verge of running out.

Elder Suti has been in charge here for more than twenty years. He naturally knows that the output of mid-grade spirit stones is getting less and less every year, and it is now somewhat unsustainable.

Moreover, even those low-grade spirit stone ores contain more and more impurities, the refining and purification process is complicated, and the production cost is rising.

This is normal. Over time, no matter how large the mineral vein is, it will eventually be completely mined out.

For example, there is a vein of Skyfire Fiery Copper in the territory of Luhua Palace, which is hidden deep underground and stretches for tens of thousands of miles. Even though the sect deliberately controlled the intensity of mining, it only lasted for a little over two thousand years before it was completely mined out.

"Forget it. I'll report to the Sect Master next time."

Su Ti sighed, knowing that she couldn't blame her subordinates for this matter.

Hundreds of thousands of mortal laborers in the mines died every month from overwork. Even the slave monks died of exhaustion from time to time.

However, the monthly output of spirit stones is still inevitably decreasing.

If the results of his own assessment were correct, perhaps in another twenty or thirty years, this large spiritual stone vein would be completely mined out, and even spiritual sand would not be able to be dug out.

By then, the financial resources of the Cangyu Islands will have been greatly damaged, and it will probably be unable to maintain its current sphere of influence and various interests.

Unless a large spirit stone mine can be found in other territories, the sect’s financial gap can be made up, but this idea is almost impossible to achieve.

By now, Su Ti already understood why the sect leader was so anxious. He would rather gamble the future of the sect and drag other forces into dealing with the Ling family. There was really no better choice.

Only by destroying the Hall of Eternal Life and the Ling Family in Feiyu Sea can we plunder enough territory and resources to ensure the long-term and stable development of the sect.

"... Elder, the guard outside just reported that this month's supply team has arrived and is waiting for you to inspect it!"

Another deacon came in, bowed, and reported.

"understood."

Su Ti glanced at him, put down the jade slip account book, and stood up from behind the desk.

The sect would allocate a batch of supplies every month, especially tens of thousands of young and middle-aged miners. These were consumables, and every time a batch died, they had to be replenished in time.

In the eyes of the top leaders, ordinary people are not considered human beings, but purely tools of production.

Su Ti flicked his sleeves and strode out of the cave, followed in time by a group of followers.

After passing through several lines of defense and the light curtain of the protective formation, Elder Suti, surrounded by the crowd, came to the outside of the mining area and saw more than a dozen large sky boats had landed in the square.

Teams of young and middle-aged mortals with dull expressions and wearing coarse clothes were driven off the ship. Many monks with whips in their hands and fierce looks shouted loudly around them and roughly ordered them to stand in square formations.

These mortals said nothing, and like the most docile lambs, they silently obeyed the monks' arrangements.

Although these cultivators are generally only at the Qi training stage, in the eyes of unarmed mortals, they are nothing less than demons, whose life and death can be decided by a single word.

The hull of the Tianzhou Tower ship is engraved with the sect's emblem, and the monks who maintain order are all disciples of the sect. The deacons and incense masters who lead the way are all familiar to Elder Suti.

After taking a look around and finding that there was no problem, Elder Suti breathed a sigh of relief and began to communicate with the deacon who came forward.

"...Deacon Luo, are we still sending 10,000 people this time?"

Suti asked calmly with her hands behind her back.

The deacon Luo Kai who was in charge of sending people here was only at the initial stage of foundation building. He naturally did not dare to neglect the fake elder and said with a smile:
"Elder Su, please understand. There are a total of 12,000 miners this time. Elder Gu knows the difficulties here, so he sent more people to work. I just hope that the output here will not drop too obviously in the past two years..."

Su Ti frowned, with a slightly unhappy tone:

"Of course I will do my best, but... never mind, why am I telling you all this? I will just go and talk to Elder Gu next time."

"Yes, yes, I am only responsible for sending people here. As for other matters, I have no say in them."

Deacon Luo Kai responded quickly, and handed over two large-capacity storage bracelets with both hands, saying:

"This is the resources allocated by the sect. Elder Su, please check it."

Su Ti raised his hand to take it, and then he used his spiritual power to explore it briefly, and he knew the types and quantities of the materials inside.

"Okay, that's it..."

Before Suti finished speaking, she saw a hand appear out of nowhere and easily grab the two storage bracelets.

The next moment, a beautiful young man in black with red lips, white teeth and stern eyes appeared and gave him a meaningful smile.

"Who is this?! How dare you come here and make trouble?"

Elder Suti shouted angrily, feeling a chill all over his body. How powerful could this uninvited guest be to be able to snatch things from his hands so easily?
His body was shining with spiritual light, and several protective measures were hastily activated. His innate flying sword also left his body and slashed towards the opponent like a black rainbow.

"too weak!"

Ling Changqing shook his head, raised his hand and grabbed the flying sword of the top-grade spiritual weapon level, and with a rub of both hands, he broke it into two pieces.

With his current cultivation level of the middle stage of the Golden Core, and the high-level physical cultivation techniques at his disposal, this spiritual weapon-level flying sword really cannot cause any harm to him.

"How is this possible? You... who are you?" Su Ti's face turned pale, blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth, and her aura was noticeably weakening.

"The dead don't need to know too much. Let's get going!"

As Ling Changqing spoke, the Yunjiao Sword in his body flew out at a speed as fast as a rainbow piercing the sun, cutting through space, breaking Su Ti's defense with unparalleled sword intent, and beheading him with a single sword strike.

In mid-air, a vortex of spiritual power seemed to appear and disappear in an instant, easily swallowing up Su Ti's soul.

It was not until this moment that the guards and followers around reacted, roaring, drawing their weapons and attacking.

The shrill alarm bells echoed in the space, and the brightness of the light curtain of the protective formation was increasing rapidly. It would take only ten more breaths to fully open.

Unfortunately, Ling Changqing's movements were obviously faster. He turned into a stream of light and instantly broke through the blockade and disappeared into the depths of the cave. Only a group of cultivators were left standing there looking at each other in bewilderment.

The highest among them is only at the Foundation Establishment stage, how could they possibly stop a Golden Core True Person?
"…Where are you going, little thief?"

At this moment, two middle-aged men in black Taoist robes and with cold expressions appeared in front of Ling Changqing. The aura they exuded showed that they were both in the middle and late stage of True Dan cultivation.

"It's a bit powerful, but it's still not good enough!"

Ling Changqing made a sword gesture, and hundreds of hazy sword shadows enveloped the area, cutting across and crisscrossing, turning the area within a few dozen feet in radius into a kingdom of dense sword energy. The two guys were beaten so hard that their faces changed drastically and they tried to parry in a panic.

The power of the true interpretation of the earth-grade sword technique is extraordinary. Combined with Ling Changqing's own cultivation advantage, he can completely crush these two True Dan cultivators.

"May I ask who exactly you are, fellow Taoist? What grudge do you have with our Cangyu Islands?"

One of the guys questioned with gritted teeth, and at the same time, he summoned an iron umbrella that shone with black light. Several layers of light curtains were instantly formed inside and outside, barely resisting the layers of cold sword energy that covered the surroundings.

The other guy released four burly Taoist puppets wearing golden helmets and armor. They brandished heavy swords and took big strides to attack Ling Changqing.

"A quasi-third-level junk? How dare you bring it out and embarrass yourself?"

Ling Changqing said disdainfully, waved his hand lightly, and threw out four Taoist puppets, all of which were top-grade third-grade stuff.

The eight Taoist puppets were entangled together, and soon the winner was determined. The opponent's four puppets were beaten back step by step, with wisps of black smoke coming out of their bodies. It seemed that they could not hold on for much longer.

"..."

The True Dan monk's face suddenly turned pale, and it was unclear whether it was because of anger or fear.

Ling Changqing wielded his sword like the wind, and his sword energy attacks were like raging waves, one after another, without end. The Qinghong armor on his body burst into a layer of mist-like light curtains, blocking the two guys' desperate counterattacks.

"Boom!"

A thick red bolt of lightning smashed down from the sky, and the light curtain outside the iron umbrella dimmed rapidly.

"Let me see how many hits you can take!"

Ling Changqing smiled, casually pinched the spiritual formula, and red thunders with astonishing lethality fell one after another.

Not far away, along with the shouts of shock and anger, several fake Dan monks guarding the mining area also arrived.

However, they had no chance to rush over to help, as they were stopped by Ling Qiuyue who suddenly appeared halfway, and the overwhelming sword light immediately covered them.

Blood spurted out, and the shrill and resentful shouting and cursing stopped abruptly.

As the incomplete bodies collapsed to the ground, the souls of these guys were also devoured by the Era Star Palace, leaving them no chance of escape.

On this side, Ling Changqing had already broken the defense of the Zhendan cultivator opposite, and the Yunjiao Sword turned into a waterfall and poured down, cutting off one of his arms.

"don't want……"

As the guy looked horrified, another red lightning struck, turning his head and soul into nothing.

The remaining True Dan cultivator flew back quickly without saying a word, obviously planning to escape.

However, Ling Changqing, who had freed his hands, did not give him any chance and easily intercepted him.

No matter how hard this guy fought, after only three or five rounds, Ling Changqing chopped off his head, and the essence of his soul was devoured by the Epoch Star Palace.

"Is that it?"

Ling Changqing looked around and saw that the four Taoist puppets had been chopped into pieces and all the enemy monks had turned into corpses.

"They are just a few guys who are not presentable. Isn't it normal to be dealt with?"

Ling Qiyue smiled and had a dozen storage instruments in her hands, all of which were spoils she had collected from those fake alchemy monks.

If she wasn't worried about accidents, Ling Changqing alone could take care of all the cultivators in the field. It would just take a little more time and she wouldn't need to take any action.

As for Luo Qingxuan, the Yuanying Zhenjun, he didn't even get the chance to make a move.

"Husband, what do you think we should do now?"

The Dragon Princess' tall, plump, enchanting and hot body emerged, and she hugged him and kissed him.

Ling Changqing pondered: "Let's loot the treasures here first, and then... wait for their reinforcements to arrive, right?"

Outside the formation, those low-level cultivators had already fled by now. It was estimated that the top leaders of the Cangyu Islands would receive the news soon.

Therefore, among the next wave of monks coming to support, there will definitely be Jindan Zhenren, and maybe more than one.

"Okay, let's go and search for treasures first. Since this is a spiritual stone vein, there must be a lot of purified and cut spiritual stones."

Ling Qiyue said with a smile.

The three of them then patrolled and searched deep within the mining area, stuffing all valuable resources into storage bags and packing them up and taking them away.

If any remaining monks are found, they will be killed without leaving a single one, but there is no need to make things difficult for the civilians.

The mining area is extremely large, like an underground city. After hundreds of years of mining, the entire mountain range has been almost hollowed out, and many wide tunnels have penetrated hundreds or thousands of feet into the ground.

After several hours of searching, the treasures finally obtained were not as much as expected, especially the spirit stones.

Even if all the money and property embezzled by those monks were counted, the total amount would be only about 20,000 medium-grade spirit stones.

After all, this vein has been mined for hundreds of years, and all the oil and water have been squeezed out.

"It's not bad, it can be considered as a windfall."

Ling Changqing muttered.

Ling Qiyue pondered and said, "Take down the core of this third-order formation and take it away. We must not leave it to them."

"Indeed."

Ling Changqing agreed and said that a set of third-level formations was of great value and not easy to buy. It would be perfect to bring it back to guard some important areas of Changqing Island.

A day later, reinforcements from the Cangyu Islands arrived in full force.

Gu Binglong led the team personally. Together they included four Jindan Zhenren, three Zhendan cultivators, and nearly a hundred people including Jiadan and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

As for the important area of ​​the mountain gate, he only left two Jindan and two Zhendan cultivators to guard it.

"…What's the situation in there? How many people are there?"

Seeing several disciples hiding deep in the mountains and forests coming out to pay their respects, Gu Binglong questioned them with a cold face.

(End of this chapter)