This is a cultivation game, but the operation is bad

You have entered the free map—the Myriad Spirits Mine Secret Realm.

[Secret Realm Layering Hint: The Secret Realm is divided into four layers: Outer Layer (Mineral Plains), Middle Layer (Underground Mine Caves), Deep Layer (Mineral Canyon), and Core Layer (Original Mineral Zone). The deeper the layer, the higher the level of the mineral spirit, the better the quality of the spirit stone ore, and the higher the probability of triggering special gameplay.]

[Common mineral veins: mainly distributed in the outer layer, with a base drop rate of 0-5 spirit stones per mineral spirit]

[Rich mineral veins: Mainly distributed in the middle layer, with a base drop rate of 5-10 spirit stones per mineral spirit]

[Top-grade mineral veins: mainly distributed in deep layers, with a base drop rate of 20-50 spirit stones per mineral spirit]

[Original Ore Vein: Exclusive to the core layer, with a single Ore Spirit having a base drop rate of 100 million+ Spirit Stones]

[Exclusive gameplay of the Myriad Spirits Mine Secret Realm - Spirit Vein Progress: After accumulating 1000 Resonance Points in the outer area, the middle area will be unlocked; after accumulating 2000 Resonance Points in the middle area, the deep area will be unlocked; after accumulating 10000 Resonance Points in the deep area, the core area will be unlocked]

[Exclusive gameplay of the Myriad Spirits Mine Realm - Mine Resonance: Each Mine Spirit killed accumulates 1 Resonance Point. When the Resonance Point reaches 100, it triggers - Basic Resonance, granting a 10-minute buff that doubles the Spirit Stone drop rate. When it reaches 500, it triggers - Intermediate Resonance, granting a 30-minute buff that doubles the drop rate. When it reaches 1000, it triggers - Advanced Resonance, granting a 1-hour buff that triples the drop rate. Resonance Points are reset to zero upon death.]

Jiang Liu: “.”

Looking at the system notifications flooding the screen, Jiang Liu couldn't help but feel speechless.

No wonder this map is free to enter; it turns out there are so many restrictions.

To enter the middle area, you must first defeat 1000 monsters in the outer area.

To enter the deeper areas, you must first defeat 2000 monsters in the middle areas.

To enter the core area, you must first defeat 10000 monsters in the deepest part.

It’s so troublesome!
It would be better to let him pay to get in!

The drop rates of mineral spirits in the outer layer and the core layer are vastly different, so farming monsters in the outer layer is a complete waste of time.

"Forget it, I'll just consider it as farming resonance points."

Jiang Liu sighed. He might as well brush the outer layer for a while. Anyway, there would still be resonance value effect, which could be considered as compensation for the time.

Outer layer, 1000 monsters, let's start farming!
Jiang Liu walked into the outer mine pit, his Righteous Qi Sword casually slicing across the edge of the pit wall, instantly severing more than a dozen spirit stones embedded in the stone wall. The spirit stones fell to the ground with a crisp collision sound, followed by a system notification.

You have obtained 150 Spirit Stones.

Holy crap, what an amazing map this is! You can pick up spirit stones just by walking around.

This amount of spirit stones was nothing to him, but it was enough to make him even more excited.

Jiang Liu's gaze swept over the mining spirits traversing the plains, and he quickly locked onto his target.

A group of early-stage fusion-level mining spirits huddled together beside the mine.

These mineral spirits were formed entirely from light blue spirit stones, standing about two meters tall with limbs as thick as stone pillars, and their bodies covered with an irregular layer of crystal armor.

They wielded weapons modified from mining picks, the picks gleaming with a sharp, spiritual light. Each swing of the picks could carve deep pits into the mine walls, just like seasoned mining slaves relentlessly digging.

No, calling them mining slaves is too insulting. Mining slaves dig for their masters, while these animals dig for themselves.

Mining and eating at the same time, it seems these mining spirits really consider this map their own territory.

hateful!

Stop eating! You're all eating my mine's mineral resources!

Seeing the mineral spirits devouring spirit stones, Jiang Liu felt a pang of heartache. He pushed off the ground, and his figure instantly transformed into a blur as he charged towards the group of mineral spirits.

The mine spirits sensed someone approaching, immediately stopped eating, turned around and roared at Jiang Liu with hoarse and piercing voices. Then they raised their pickaxes and smashed them down at Jiang Liu in unison!

Dozens of pickaxes, accompanied by howling winds, launched a dense barrage of attacks, blocking all of Jiang Liu's escape routes. If it were an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, they would probably have to withstand this wave of attacks, and would be severely injured even if they didn't die.

"The Tenth Heaven of the Soaring Clouds!"

Click!

A series of crisp cracking sounds rang out. The pickaxes shattered into fragments the moment they touched the sword energy. The sword energy, undiminished in its force, struck the mineral spirit's crystal armor directly. The armor shattered, and the mineral spirit's body disintegrated, turning into piles of pale blue spirit stones, shimmering with spiritual light.

What the hell, this hooked fusion mineral spirit, obediently come into my backpack!
You have killed a novice Miner.

You have killed a novice Miner.

You have killed a novice Miner.

You have obtained 25687 Spirit Stones.

You have obtained 36510 Spirit Stones.

You have obtained 12 Spirit Stones.

Jiang Liu: “????”

Damn, it actually dropped 12 spirit stones?
Who is this? Which idiot miner is so poor?

Jiang Liu picked up the spirit stones from the ground while cursing. Just as he was about to search for the next batch of mineral spirits, he suddenly discovered a slightly glowing mine pit under his feet. Without any hesitation, he jumped in.

[You have entered the Mining Spirit's Nest (Beginner Level), Spirit Stone Drop Rate +50%]

With only a 50% drop rate for spirit stones, I thought it was some kind of hidden map.

Jiang Liu listened to the system notification in his ear, pursed his lips, and wanted to leave as soon as he came in.

However, when he looked up, his eyes lit up instantly.

The inside of the nest was even darker than the outside. The walls were inlaid with glowing spirit stones, illuminating the entire cave. A dense swarm of early-stage Nascent Soul mineral spirits huddled deep inside the cave, and several mid-stage Nascent Soul mineral spirits could even be seen perched in the center of the nest, gnawing on a giant spirit stone the size of a washbasin.

"Wow, this density is top-notch, and the drop rate is even increased by an extra 50%. I'm definitely going to make a killing today!"

Jiang Liu raised his hand and swung his sword again. This time, he still used the Tenth Heaven of Soaring Heaven. Golden sword energy soared into the sky and condensed into an overwhelming sword shadow, slashing towards the group of mineral spirits deep in the nest!

The moment the sword shadow fell, all the mine spirits in the entire mine pit were instantly killed, without even a chance to struggle, turning into a rain of spirit stones. The system notification sound refreshed the screen again, and the resonance value also skyrocketed.

You have killed a low-level Miner.

You have killed a novice Miner.

You have obtained 47777 Spirit Stones.

You have obtained 30001 Spirit Stones.

You have obtained 147 Spirit Stones.

"Awesome! So awesome!"

Jiang Liu became more and more excited as he fought, with spirit stones raining down like raindrops. This map is just too amazing!
Killing a monster only takes two seconds, but picking up spirit stones took him a whole minute!

After collecting the spirit stones, Jiang Liu happily jumped out of the mine and rushed towards another pile of mine spirits.

He raised his hand and unleashed a sword strike!
[Current resonance value: 82]

[Current resonance value: 101]

[Current resonance value: 115]

At this rate, it won't be long before we reach the middle level!
The middle-level area is even more festive!
Jiang Liu's frantic monster-hunting antics naturally did not escape the notice of the other cultivators in the secret realm.

Beside a mine pit not far away, five cultivators were gathered together cleaning up the mine spirits; they were all at the mid-stage of the Integration Realm.

The leader was a burly man with a full beard, holding a heavy black iron hammer. His name was Zhao Hu, an elder from a nearby sect. He had come to the secret realm with several friends to farm spirit stones and had been there for three days, only managing to collect tens of millions of spirit stones in total, a pitifully low efficiency.

They were aware of the existence of the Mineral Spirit Nest, but the density of Mineral Spirits inside was too high. Even with the five of them working together, they had to be extremely careful to clear it out, and it would take them half a day to kill only a few dozen. They simply didn't dare to charge around like Jiang Liu.

Zhao Hu had noticed Jiang Liu earlier, but at first he didn't take it seriously, thinking he was just a young cultivator from some sect. But when he saw Jiang Liu kill dozens of mining spirits with a single sword strike, and the piles of spirit stones dropped by the mining spirits piled up like small mountains and went straight into his storage bag, and even directly break into the mining spirit's nest to harvest them, Zhao Hu's eyes instantly turned red, and he almost dropped the black iron hammer in his hand.

"Brother Zhao, look at that kid. What level is he? He looks like he's in the early stage of the Fusion Realm, but he's killing monsters more than ten times faster than us mid-stage Fusion Realm cultivators. He even dares to force his way into the Mining Spirit's Nest. That's too outrageous!"

A tall, thin cultivator leaned closer to Zhao Hu, his tone filled with shock and envy. His eyes were fixed on the pile of spirit stones on Jiang Liu's side, and he was practically drooling.

Another round-faced cultivator nodded in agreement: "Yes, Brother Zhao, he's only been here a few minutes and he's probably already collected over a million spirit stones. If we could be this efficient, we could gather enough spirit stones to break through to the next realm in less than half a month."

Zhao Hu frowned, his eyes fixed on Jiang Liu's back with a sinister gaze. His fingers unconsciously rubbed the handle of the black iron hammer as he plotted something wicked.

"To have this strength at the early stage of the Integration Realm, he must either possess a top-tier cultivation technique or a superior magic weapon. Perhaps he even has a mineral spirit core hidden in his storage bag. The five of us are all at the mid-stage of the Integration Realm. If we join forces, dealing with an early-stage Integration Realm cultivator like him will be a piece of cake. Once we kill him, all his spirit stones, magic weapons, and cultivation techniques will be ours!"

He said with a greedy look on his face.

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the four cultivators beside him lit up instantly. The tall, thin cultivator nodded hurriedly: "Brother Zhao is right! This kid must be from a rich family, he has a lot of treasures on him. If we join forces to kill him, we won't have to work so hard mining in the future!"

"But what if he has powerful connections? If we kill him, his backers will come after us, and we can't handle that."

The round-faced cultivator hesitated for a moment, then whispered a reminder.

Zhao Hu scoffed and waved his hand dismissively: "What's there to be afraid of? This Myriad Spirits Mine Secret Realm is so vast, murder and robbery happen every day. Who would know it was us? Besides, he's just a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stages. Even if he has a background, how strong can he be? If the five of us join forces, even if he has a high-grade Dao artifact, he definitely won't survive!"

The other four cultivators thought it made sense; fortune favors the bold, and as long as they could get the kid's spirit stones and treasures, taking a risk was worthwhile.

The group nodded in agreement. They exchanged glances, seeing greed and ruthlessness in each other's eyes. They quietly put away their weapons and crept towards Jiang Liu's direction.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mineral plain, near a top-grade mine, three late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators also noticed Jiang Liu.

The leader was a middle-aged man in a purple robe named Li Xuan. He was an elder of a large sect, at the late stage of the Integration Realm, and possessed formidable strength. He had already killed many mine spirits in the outer secret realm and even ventured into the middle-level underground mine complex, reaping considerable rewards.

The two cultivators beside him were his junior brothers, both at the late stage of the Integration Realm, and their strength was also extraordinary.

Li Xuan leaned against a pile of spirit stones by the mine, toying with a top-grade spirit stone in his hand. He looked at Jiang Liu with a gloomy gaze and a cold smile on his lips: "This kid is quite capable. He can kill monsters with this efficiency in the early stage of the Fusion Realm and easily break into the mine spirit's nest. He must have a lot of good stuff on him."

"Those five useless cultivators at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, Zhao Hu, have already gone over there. They probably wanted to rob him, but with their strength, they probably can't take down this kid. We can just sit back and reap the benefits. Once they're both exhausted, we'll make our move and kill them all. All the spirit stones and treasures will be ours!"

Upon hearing this, the two junior brothers next to him immediately nodded in agreement: "Senior brother is brilliant! Zhao Hu and his gang are just a bunch of brutes, they definitely can't beat that kid. Let's wait until they've fought enough before we make our move, and we can easily take them down. At that time, we can not only get that kid's treasure, but also swallow Zhao Hu and his gang's storage bags, killing two birds with one stone!"

Li Xuan nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand: "Let's go, let's follow them quietly without being discovered. We'll wait for them to make their move before we act."

As they spoke, the three figures flashed, turning into three afterimages, following Zhao Hu and the others at a distance, their eyes fixed on Jiang Liu, like lurking hungry wolves, waiting for the right moment to strike.

At this moment, Jiang Liu was completely unaware that he was about to be robbed again. He was still frantically farming mineral spirits in the mineral spirit's nest. He swung his Righteous Qi Sword faster and faster, with sword energy crisscrossing. The corpses of mineral spirits piled up like mountains, and piles of spirit stones gathered around him like small mountains, which were then quickly collected into his storage bag.

The initial resonance buff had just ended, and his resonance value had accumulated to 520 points, prompting the system notification to sound again.

When the mineral vein resonance value reaches 500 points, a mid-level resonance buff is triggered: Spirit Stone drop rate x300%, lasting 30 minutes.

The drop rate has tripled again!
Jiang Liu watched the number of spirit stones in his backpack steadily increase, and the system notification sounds kept ringing out. Each sound made him feel happy, and he couldn't help but hum a little tune.

"Today is a good day; all my wishes will come true!"

at this time!

Zhao Hu and his four companions came together!

Zhao Hu, gripping the black iron hammer, stood at the front, staring fiercely at Jiang Liu, and shouted, "Boy, stop right there! Hand over all your spirit stones and storage bags, and I'll spare your life. Otherwise, you'll die here today!"

"The common people these days are truly, truly, truly amazing!"

Jiang Liu's humming tune was abruptly interrupted. He frowned as he looked at the five people in front of him, his eyes full of speechlessness.

So I'm going to have a run for my money with a robber?
I just escaped being robbed by players, and now NPCs are trying to steal my money. Is this game even playable anymore?
The Central Plains are a righteous place with simple and honest people. Even the players are being corrupted. Can the Taiyi Immortal Alliance do something about this? If not, give me the alliance leader and I'll take charge!

He glanced at the personal information of Zhao Hu and the other four, shaking his head and sighing.

Zhao Hu: Mid-stage of the Fusion Realm.

Passersby A, B, C, and D: Mid-stage of integration.

Five mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators dare to rob me? Didn't you see how easily I killed the mine spirit just now? (End of Chapter)