Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 473 Unexpected Gain - Arrival at Jinxia Sect

In the Jingkong Sea, at the Xuanxi Spirit Mine, the largest mine in the area, nearly two hundred Golden Core cultivators are working diligently in different teams.

Most of them were independent cultivators who came because of their reputation.

Hoping to seize this treasure hunt opportunity, I might unearth a special spiritual ore and become the next lucky person to become rich overnight.

Don't be fooled by the fact that two hundred people seems like a lot.

For Xuanxi Ling Mine, which has a total of eight main mine shafts and dozens of mine tunnels, each of which is anywhere from a dozen miles to over a hundred miles long.

On average, you have to travel dozens of miles between each cultivator.

The actual situation is even more sparse.

Because many independent cultivators who are familiar with each other will choose to form teams and travel together in groups of three or five.

Taking turns digging and meditating to regulate breathing ensures safety and provides a relaxing companion to talk to.

In the Chenwu Mine Passage of the Bingsan Mine, there was a temporary team of three cultivators.

One of the elderly men, dressed in brown, was meditating with his eyes closed, focusing entirely on restoring his vital energy.

Another middle-aged man dressed in black beside him was meditating with his eyes open.

While slowly restoring his true energy, he was also keeping watch for the three of them.

The last middle-aged cultivator, dressed in white, was wielding a specially made pickaxe-like spiritual weapon, diligently digging into the thick rock beneath his feet.

This is a special tool they rented from the three major families.

It is especially effective when mining fourth-order spirit ore, and is much more useful than ordinary flying swords.

Of course, due to the limited number of pickaxes, the rental price is also very high, almost equivalent to the total price of the spirit ore they dig out in a day.

In other words, if you choose to rent such a specific tool.

Without finding any special spirit ore, it's like working for nothing.

"Dang~!"

The middle-aged man in white smashed another piece of ore. Catching his breath, he couldn't help but ask, "Old Master Liu, are you sure you've got it right?"

"We've been digging here for three days and three nights, but we still haven't seen a single thing."

Beneath the rock strata lies another rock strata, with no indication whatsoever of any special minerals.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, don't be impatient. I have already calculated it several times. There is definitely a surprise down there."

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately reassured him, "Actually, I came here once thirty-seven years ago."

"Aren't you curious why there are already four large pits nearby?"

"That's actually the mine pit left behind when I and three other fellow Daoists came to dig last time."

"Unfortunately, the three major families gave us too little time last time, and we didn't have time to find the mineral treasure."

"But with the foundation laid last time, we're sure we'll make it in time!"

However, after he said that, the fellow Daoist Zhang became even more suspicious: "There really is such a thing?"

"Since we came back empty-handed last time, why bother coming back this time?"

If he had known it would turn out like this, he shouldn't have just made do with the team in the first place.

“Fellow Daoist Zhang, please come up and rest for a while. I’ll go down and dig two more layers.”

The black-clad cultivator quickly intervened to smooth things over: "After all, the time for returning the spirit pickaxe has already passed. In that case, why don't we try for a few more hours?"

As he spoke, he jumped into the mine pit, replacing that fellow Daoist Zhang.

Then, guide the true essence into the spirit pickaxe and continue digging downwards.

In a short while, they dug down another five or six feet.

"Ding!"

Suddenly, a crisp sound, completely different from the previous one, came from under the spirit pickaxe.

The black-clad cultivator quickly swung his spirit pickaxe, thoroughly excavating the nearby rock strata.

The other two cultivators, hearing the unusual commotion, also looked over.

Beneath the rock strata lay a pumpkin-sized, sea-blue spirit ore.

As the surrounding rock layers peeled away, it began to emit distinct spiritual energy fluctuations.

"Hypogeanium!"

The old man surnamed Liu's eyes widened with excitement, and even his beard trembled: "This is definitely the Mother of the Sea Stone! We're going to be rich!"

"This is fantastic! I knew we'd find something good here!"

The other two were initially somewhat surprised and uncertain.

Although they had a premonition, their limited eyesight prevented them from recognizing whether the item was valuable or not.

It wasn't until they heard that the old man surnamed Liu was about to make a fortune that they became excited.

The white-robed cultivator immediately jumped into the mine pit: "Let me see what this treasure looks like."

The black-clad monk hesitated slightly upon hearing this, but did not stop him.

Instead, he stepped aside to make way, smiling as he said, "We should take a look."

"We went through a lot of trouble to dig it out, so we should at least have a look at it first before handing it over to get the reward."

“Grandpa Liu, why don’t you come and take a look too, and help me estimate how many spirit stones this thing is worth?”

"We need to be aware of the situation, lest we get tricked by the three major families."

It's good that he has this awareness of prevention, but unfortunately he didn't think it through enough and was ultimately not prudent enough.

"We're going to strike it rich! This time we're really going to make a fortune!"

Before long, Old Master Liu completed his preliminary assessment: "I estimate that this spirit ore should be worth between eighty and nine hundred thousand spirit stones."

Upon hearing this, the other two couldn't help but smile.

For them, this was already a huge sum of money.

After careful discussion, the three decided to end the excavation early and, while there were still people in the center of the stronghold, take their spirit pickaxes back to hand over the ore in exchange for rewards.

They then split the spirit stones equally on the spot and left Xuanxi Spirit Mine together to avoid being targeted by other rogue cultivators who found out about the situation.

However, when they arrived at the center of the stronghold with great enthusiasm.

However, the Chu family elder stationed there told them, "Oh dear, what a pity, the mine has limited reserves of spirit stones and can't produce so many at once."

"If you are willing to wait, you can put the spirit ore into the warehouse first."

"I'll give them to you after the spirit stones are allocated in a few days."

None of the three were willing.

Their reaction was exactly what the Chu family elder had expected: "Since you're worried, how about this, you come back to the clan with me."

“Let’s go to the account in that warehouse over there and take out a sum of spirit stones from the clan’s treasury.”

"However, doing this would require reconciling accounts on both sides and troubling the other side to organize the warehouse, so we'd definitely have to give them a token of appreciation."

"The account will still show 900,000 spirit stones, and all three of you will have to sign it. You also have to say that to outsiders."

"But in reality, we have to leave 10% as a hard-earned bonus for them."

"You three discuss it, and if you're willing, we can get it done today."

"If you're still not willing, then go back and wait for news. Once the spirit stones are allocated back, we'll invite an appraiser to come and value the spirit ore."

He said this.

Almost simultaneously, all three of them cursed "bastard" in their hearts.

However, this makes people think that the other party just wants to make some money privately, and it doesn't seem like there's anything else wrong.

So the three of them discussed it quietly and decided that they couldn't wait, even if it meant losing a little spirit stone, lest things get complicated and things change.

Therefore, he nodded in agreement and requested that the exchange be carried out today.

"Okay, then it's settled. You can't go back on your word, and you're not allowed to tell anyone."

The Chu family elder smiled slightly before revealing his true purpose: "Moreover, this matter should not be known by too many people."

"So you all follow me later, we'll go around to the back gate of the manor together."

The three assumed it was for secrecy and didn't suspect anything. They followed the other party, avoiding the sight of others, and quietly returned to the Chu family compound.

Sure enough, after entering through the back door and turning a few times, we arrived at the front hall of the family warehouse.

"Please wait a moment, I'll go and call the steward."

Upon entering, the Chu family elder's smile vanished. He hastily uttered a single sentence and closed the door before leaving.

The three of them sat there somewhat uneasily for a short while.

Suddenly, a series of footsteps were heard outside the door, followed by five Golden Core cultivators filing in one after another.

In addition, a Golden Core cultivator stood guard outside the door in perfect unison.

They ranged in age, including both the elderly and middle-aged.

Apart from the clan elder, everyone else was wearing a spirit robe with the character "Chu" embroidered on the collar.

At this moment, they all looked menacing, with the two leading figures even taking out their spirit shields and holding them in their hands beforehand, clearly indicating that they were up to no good.

"What are you going to do?!"

The black-clad cultivator immediately realized something was wrong: "We're here to redeem rewards, so don't do anything reckless!"

However, the elderly man surnamed Liu seemed to have already figured something out.

A look of despair immediately appeared in his eyes: "I understand now. I was wondering why the rumors circulating in the market over the years have always been so vague. Now I understand everything."

"From the very beginning, this was a trap, wasn't it!"

"You beasts! You've already seized most of the resources, yet you're still secretly killing and robbing like bandits! You'll get your comeuppance sooner or later!"

The Chu family cultivators paid no attention to the old man's accusations.

Some people snorted, some wore sneers, and some even showed smug smiles.

Another elder from the Chu family, who was leading the group, spoke calmly: "Yunwen, Yunwu, now it's time to test the results of your daily cultivation."

"Let's all go together and kill this old man who's spouting nonsense first."

"Be bold, don't be afraid, all your uncles and elders are here to help you."

Judging from his words, he was clearly using the three people he had tricked into coming as human test stones for the younger generation of the clan, to be used for practical combat training.

Although all three of them were Golden Core cultivators, at first glance they seemed to possess a certain degree of resistance.

But don't forget, this is the Chu family's territory.

They have a large warehouse formation inside and a family defense formation outside. They also have an absolute advantage in numbers and magical artifacts.

Let alone three Golden Core cultivators, even thirty Golden Core cultivators wouldn't be able to cause any trouble under the suppression of the defensive array.

Therefore, the Chu family had secretly arranged such a fake combat exercise long ago to completely squeeze out the last bit of value from these deceived rogue cultivators.

"Wait a moment!"

The black-clad monk was still somewhat incredulous: "You are from a prestigious family, yet you would do such a despicable and beastly thing."

Do you have any conscience at all?

"Aren't you afraid of being discovered by other prestigious sects?"

"Aren't you afraid that you will suffer divine retribution for doing too many evil deeds?"

"I tell you, if you don't want others to know, then don't do it in the first place!"

"If you dare to lay a hand on us, you will be exposed sooner or later, attracting the wrath of righteous elders and masters." "At that time, it will be a disaster that wipes out your entire family!"

However, the leading elder of the Chu family turned a deaf ear: "How noisy!"

"Yunwen, Yunwu, what are you two waiting for? Hurry up and make your move!"

Upon hearing this, the two young men at the front, each wielding a spirit shield, immediately rushed forward and began to fight, using their family's skills.

Despite being outnumbered two to three, they gained the upper hand thanks to their superior techniques and better spiritual shields.

They were practically dominating the three rogue cultivators.

The other Chu family Golden Core cultivators stood nearby watching, occasionally offering comments and providing on-the-spot combat guidance.

"Boom!"

The mother-of-pearl was thrown on the ground.

The white-robed cultivator pleaded, "We are willing to hand over the spirit ore and leave the Pure Sky Sea forever, never to return."

"I can swear to God that I will never tell anyone what happened today."

"We're willing to do anything, please let us go!"

However, the Chu family members didn't care at all what they were saying.

Two quarters of an hour passed quickly, and the battle was basically coming to an end.

Old Master Liu was panting heavily; his supply of true energy was already insufficient.

The white-robed cultivator's face was completely devoid of color, even whiter than his white robes.

The black-clad cultivator suffered from reversed blood flow, which disturbed his heart and lungs, causing him to vomit several mouthfuls of blood on the spot.

At this rate, all three of them will die in about fifteen minutes.

But at this time.

Suddenly, a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the Great Perfection stage rushed to the warehouse gate in a great hurry.

He shouted at the top of his lungs, almost without regard for anything else, "Elder, something terrible has happened!"

"Two hours ago, someone saw a burst of heavenly fire on the island where the Wen family lives."

“An hour ago, a stranger, a Nascent Soul True Monarch, came to the Zhao family seeking revenge.”

"There's a lot of talk outside right now..."

At this point, the Foundation Establishment cultivator choked up with fear: "Everyone is saying that it will be our Chu family's turn next."

Ok?
The sudden change stunned everyone present.

Before the Chu family cultivators on the warehouse could react...

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth surrounding the entire Chu family compound began to converge frantically into the air.

First, a bright red light appeared in the clouds, followed by a rapid increase in temperature and intense pressure.

Finally, before the defensive formation could be fully deployed, raging flames descended from the sky, mercilessly incinerating everything in their path.

Even the Golden Core cultivator who was standing outside the gate just in case was not spared.

However, it avoided the family warehouse with exceptional precision, without even harming the Foundation Establishment cultivator who was standing inside the threshold delivering the message.

Clearly, this is not some kind of irreparable natural disaster.

Instead, it's fire magic that's almost as easy to control as an limb.

"Wow, there are so many people hiding in here!"

As Xiao Chen slowly landed, he saw that there were actually eight Golden Core cultivators and one Foundation Establishment cultivator in the warehouse, making a total of nine people.

But upon closer inspection, it seems they are not the same group.

It didn't even seem like an internal conflict, because three of them were dressed like rogue cultivators, completely different from the other six.

"Hahaha, karma's come!"

Grandpa Liu suddenly burst into laughter: "Evil deeds bring evil consequences; truly, the cycle of karma is real!"

"Haha, cough...haha."

Seeing the Chu family's misfortune, the black-clad cultivator couldn't help but gloat: "I never thought I'd witness this day when you're punished by heaven."

"Even if I die here today, it's worth it."

He was actually quite badly injured, but now he felt much less pain and felt much more comfortable.

Only the white-robed cultivator silently took a step back.

They didn't dare to go too far, afraid of being misunderstood as running away, and stood obediently on the edge to observe the situation.

"A simple little problem."

Xiao Chen pointed at the three rogue cultivators from a distance: "You three shouldn't be cultivators from the Chu family, right?"

While it's important to conduct a thorough investigation, innocent people should not be harmed.

The elderly man surnamed Liu immediately shook his head and recounted the whole story as simply as possible.

During this time, the Chu family cultivator mustered up his courage and spoke up to refute.

However, just as they had previously ignored what the rogue cultivators had said.

Xiao Chen didn't bother to pay any attention to their sophistry.

After confirming that the three rogue cultivators were indeed not members of the Chu family, he immediately raised his hand and delivered a follow-up blow.

They precisely burned the other six cultivators, who were wearing the Chu family's standard spiritual robes, to ashes.

After finishing, he also cast a Great Rejuvenation spell, which almost instantly healed the injuries of the remaining three rogue cultivators.

"Are you still selling your spirit ore?"

Xiao Chen also saw the Sea Wave Stone Mother that had fallen to the ground: "I can also give you 900,000 spirit stones."

"Of course, if you don't want to sell, that's fine too. I'm not the kind of person who forces people to buy or sell."

The three men were already planning to sell the spirit ore, so they had no reason to disagree upon hearing this.

They immediately nodded, indicating that they were willing to trade.

So Xiao Chen waved his hand and took out 900,000 spirit stones before putting the Sea Wave Stone Mother into the Vast Ocean Ring.

In retrospect, this was an unexpected bonus.

Moreover, it was the most valuable single item among all the spiritual objects he had acquired today.

According to relevant records, only one mother sea wave stone is formed from approximately 20 million kilograms of sea wave stone.

This thing can greatly stimulate spiritual power and has a good guiding effect on spiritual power of different attributes.

It is a versatile spiritual material that is very useful for both refining weapons and setting up formations.

After the transaction was completed, Xiao Chen immediately announced that the three rogue cultivators were free to leave.

Then they entered the Chu family warehouse.

However, he discovered that even if the three family warehouses were combined, they still couldn't compare to the wealth of the Tianyin Sect.

"Sigh~, it feels like the two sides are not even in the same league."

Xiao Chen sighed softly: "What three major families? They only have a decent number of low-grade spirit stones, and not even a few mid-grade spirit stones."

He did some mental calculations.

This purge of the three major families resulted in a total of 10.98 million low-grade spirit stones.

And 64,320 mid-grade spirit stones.

At the same time, they didn't possess many fourth-tier spiritual items, only about thirty in total, and they were all low-grade fourth-tier spiritual items.

As for even better fourth-tier spiritual items, not a single one was seen.

Objectively speaking, this is quite normal. After all, the three major families are all servants of the Pagoda True Lord, so they would naturally offer them any good things they could find.

The remaining portion was probably given to them as a reward because the Pagoda True Lord didn't think much of it.

After all, for a Golden Core cultivator, even a fourth-tier spiritual item is already quite good.

Moreover, even if we take a step back, we can't really expect to seize some rare treasures from a group of Golden Core cultivators.

Moreover, the fact that they were able to unexpectedly acquire a piece of mother-of-pearl this time is already considered quite lucky.

Xiao Chen was quite satisfied with this: "With this, I have more than enough low-grade spirit stones to break through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm."

"Next, there will be a gap period after attending the Spirit Fish Banquet, but before the exchange meeting begins."

"This is a perfect opportunity to continue rapidly condensing true essence using the 'Spirit Devouring and Essence Devouring Technique'."

"If everything goes smoothly, I might be able to break through to the late Nascent Soul stage before the Vast Ocean Secret Realm opens."

I heard that at that time, the top Nascent Soul True Monarchs from the other domains will enter the inner world.

If one can improve their cultivation level and acquire a new Hextech, it will undoubtedly be more advantageous in the competition within the inner realm.

Of course, this depends on the specific time when the inner realm opens.

The information Xiao Chen had previously obtained indicated that the latest possible date would be the end of next year.

However, the exact opening time is still uncertain and requires further observation and calculation.

"But even if it opens early, it's okay. Let's go to the Golden Cloud Sect first."

Xiao Chen's current combat strength is also quite remarkable, and he is well aware of this.

Although he wouldn't dare to boast that he's absolutely invincible below the Nascent Soul stage, he has the confidence to escape unscathed no matter who he faces.

So I'm not too worried about it.

After leaving the warehouse, he determined his location and headed straight for Xilai Kingdom.

"Speaking of which, I don't think I have any enemies in Xilai Kingdom, do I?"

As Xiao Chen traveled, he carefully recalled the past to make sure he didn't miss anything.

He had already decided to carry out a major purge before returning to the Storm Sea.

That means revenge for every wrong done to us, and no one should be left out.

However, after thinking it over carefully, he realized that there really wasn't one here.

After all, the time spent here was actually very short, making it difficult to make enemies.

Jingkonghai and Xilai Kingdom are not far apart.

Not long after, Xiao Chen arrived at Mount Shengxia, where the Golden Cloud Sect was located.

Unfortunately, we arrived at noon and missed the morning's spectacular sunrise over the mountains.

Instead, we saw a flock of rather beautiful white cranes circling above the mountain stream.

On the other side, there were ten Sky-Crossing Birds, all of them adult Golden Core spirit beasts.

These two flocks of birds circled around, coupled with the otherworldly beauty of Shengxia Mountain itself.

This made the Jinxia Sect appear very grand, at least looking like a blessed land of immortals and a prestigious sect.

This attracted many low-level cultivators and even mortals to the foot of the mountain to worship along the mountain path, bowing every few steps, just to seek a 'fate to immortality'.

However, for a Nascent Soul Grandmaster like this, simply having a spiritual root is not enough.

At the very least, one must have three spiritual roots.

If a cultivator possesses four spiritual roots, or even a mixed spiritual root, they can't even get a menial disciple position.

(End of this chapter)