I flew on a sword at the magic academy

"There must be spirit stones in this place, but unfortunately, we are not strong enough to break through this layer of hard black granite on the outside," sighed the elderly man with white hair and beard.

"Sigh, this area has basically been mined out. Even if there are still spirit stones, there probably won't be many."

"Let's go look around elsewhere."

A dozen or so people rode camels into the distance.

After they had gone far away, Shi Daohan came to the stone mountain and carefully observed it. Her expertise in feng shui was already at the master level, but she could not see any characteristics or information about the stone mountain containing spiritual stones.

Finally, she flicked her fingers and unleashed dozens of sword beams, shattering the stone mountain. Earth and rocks flew everywhere, and a spiritual vein was indeed exposed.

She started digging and obtained fifteen catties of spirit stones.

"Unbelievable! Even I couldn't see a small spiritual vein here, but that old man could."

Shi Daohan was quite surprised, feeling that these local people who had lived on this land for generations must have mastered some unseen methods in the field of finding spiritual veins.

Just then, dust billowed in the distance, and the group of people returned after hearing the commotion.

When they saw that the entire stone mountain had been broken open, and a girl in white who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old was standing there, everyone was shocked.

"Greetings, fairy." The old village chief, who was leading the group, jumped off the camel and bowed deeply to Shi Daohan.

Seeing this, the other middle-aged men also dismounted from their camels and bowed respectfully to Shi Daohan.

"There's no need for that." Shi Daohan raised his hand and used an invisible palm force to support those people.

The most quick-witted of them all was a boy around eighteen years old. He immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and cried out, "Please, fairy, save us! We have no way to survive!"

The others also realized what was happening and knelt down before Shi Daohan, saying, "The bandit leader of Luhe Village wants us to hand over ten catties of spirit stones within three days. If we can't, he will kill all the villagers, young and old."

But this area has already been completely mined out. Where are we supposed to find ten catties of spirit stones? Please, fairy, have pity on us and save the lives of our entire village!

A boy of about fourteen years old, even with his forehead bleeding from kowtowing, continued to kowtow forcefully, crying and pleading with Shi Daohan, "My sister has been captured by those bandits! Please, fairy, have mercy and save my sister! Save us!"

The old village chief also knelt down, kowtowing helplessly, and said, "Those beasts threatened to kill all the men in our village if we don't hand over ten catties of spirit stones within three days. We really have nowhere else to turn..."

Shi Daohan looked at them. She didn't want to cause herself unnecessary trouble, but she wasn't in a state of mind to be indifferent.

"Well, if they're a difficult group to deal with, it's not too late to choose to protect ourselves then," Shi Daohan thought to himself. Then, he used a burst of palm force to help the people kneeling on the ground to their feet, and came to the old village chief, saying, "Tell me, what kind of people are they?"

"A band of bandits who ruled the mountains, committing all sorts of evil deeds!"

"They lack the integrity and courage of the Nine Great Thieves; they prey on the weak and are worse than animals!"

A group of people explained the whole story in their own words.

Three years ago, that group of bandits came to Luhe Village and killed everyone in the village. After that, they used Luhe Village as their base and bullied several surrounding villages. They would often draw their knives and kill people, committing all kinds of evil deeds.

"Among those bandits were cultivators at the Golden Core stage, while the strongest in our Black River Stronghold was only at the Foundation Establishment stage. We simply couldn't compete with them."

"Just half a month ago, these beasts came to our village and raped my daughter in front of the whole village!" A middle-aged man clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot as he recalled what happened that day.

As a father, watching your daughter being humiliated and violated, and being unable to do anything about it, is the most devastating and desperate thing.

"Where is your village? I'll go back with you first," Shi Daohan said.

"Thank you, fairy!" The group was extremely excited and bowed deeply in gratitude once again.

"You don't need to do that," Shi Daohan said, and they returned to the village.

Along the way, she humbly sought advice from the old village chief, asking him how he had discerned the spiritual vein within the rocky mountain.

"The whole of that rocky mountain looks like a half-clenched hand, and the sun was in the east at the time..." The old village chief described many features, but Shi Daohan only found them novel.

Because what the other party said has deviated from the basics of Feng Shui, but it is indeed practical. This is the accumulated experience of generations of people in Huangzhou.

"It's a pity that I've only learned a little bit of what our ancestors passed down to me, even though I'm already halfway to the grave," the old village chief sighed, shaking his head.

"The old village chief's ancestors were renowned dragon-finding masters!" a young man said proudly.

"What? Really?!" Shi Daohan exclaimed in surprise.

The Dragon Seeker is a master in the field of Feng Shui. This seemingly ordinary old man in his sixties is actually a descendant of the Dragon Seeker.

"So you are a descendant of the Dragon Seeker. I have been disrespectful." Shi Daohan quickly cupped his hands and bowed to the old man.

The old village chief waved his hand and said, "That was all in the past."

According to him, if the Dragon Seeker is considered the first generation ancestor, then there have been forty generations since then.

The lifespan of a cultivator is at least two or three hundred years, which is indeed a very long history.

"It's a pity that the 'Dragon Seeking Manual' has been lost. It's because we, the descendants, are so unworthy that we failed to preserve the legacy left by our ancestors," the old village chief sighed softly.

"Old man, if I may ask, I've heard that Dragon Seekers usually don't have a good ending in their later years. Is that true?" Shi Daohan inquired.

"Making money under the master's tutelage is easy, but one day it will cost you your life." The old village chief said only this and then said nothing more.

Shi Daohan didn't press the matter further, as it was a family affair and she, as an outsider, had no right to interfere.

Just then, dust billowed on the horizon ahead, and dozens of riders sped toward them.

"Oh no, they're bandits!" The old village chief's expression changed.

These bandits' mounts were all extraordinary, running faster than flying, and they quickly arrived and surrounded Shi Daohan and his group.

A dark-skinned middle-aged man shouted, "Hand over all your spirit stones, or we'll kill you right here!"

This is the desolate state, where bandits and robbers run rampant in broad daylight, readily committing murder and robbery.

"My lord, we haven't found a single spirit stone today," a young man standing next to the old village chief said with a bow and a forced smile.

"Stop talking nonsense and hand over the spirit stones! This big sword in my hand doesn't have much patience!" the dark-skinned middle-aged man carrying the big sword shouted.

"Sir, we really didn't find anything today. If you don't believe me, then search us." The old village chief said with a helpless bow.

"Search him?" The eyes of the group of bandits all fell on Shi Daohan, their gazes burning with desire.

"Young lady, you are quite pretty. Come, let me give you a thorough examination."

"It's been a long time since I've seen such a beautiful woman. Hehe, brothers, we're in for a treat today."

Hearing the bandits' foul language, the old village chief and the able-bodied men of Heihe Village all turned pale.

"My lords, please have mercy..."

The old village chief was interrupted as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Get out of my way, you old geezer! We'll deal with you after we've finished examining this young lady!"

Shi Daohan patted the old village chief on the shoulder and said, "You take everyone to the front and wait for me."

After saying that, she used her magic to teleport the old village chief and the others, along with their camels, a hundred miles away.

Then, she turned to look at the dark-faced bandit, grabbed him from under the beast with one hand, her five fingers like iron hooks almost piercing through his throat and neck.

"So it was you, you piece of trash, who said you wanted to search me and check my body?" Shi Daohan's face was filled with a cold smile as he slowly tightened his grip, making the dark-faced bandit feel like he was suffocating. His face turned red, and he couldn't make a sound.

She didn't kill him outright; she still had many questions to ask.

But seeing that their leader had been captured, the remaining bandits immediately realized that the girl in front of them was a powerful cultivator. Without any hesitation, they turned their beasts around and fled in all directions.

"Did I say you could leave?" Shi Daohan flicked his finger, unleashing several sword beams that pierced the heads of the eight men one after another.

The eight bandits didn't even manage to utter a sound before collapsing off the strange beast and never getting up again.

These bandits were merely Foundation Establishment cultivators, utterly insignificant to Shi Daohan.

The bandit whose neck was being choked turned pale, realizing he had kicked a hornet's nest this time.

Shi Daohan found two jin of spirit stones on the bandit and couldn't help but frown and complain, "You have the nerve to be a bandit with just this little bit of spirit stones?"

Half an hour later, Shi Daohan caught up with the group from Heihe Village, dragging the corpses of several strange beasts. The dozen or so young men were very envious, as the flesh and blood of these strange beasts were a great tonic.

"Bringing these strange beasts back to the village as mounts would be too conspicuous and might cause you inconvenience, so I simply slaughtered them all and roasted them for us to eat." Shi Daohan handed the carcasses of the strange beasts to the young men and then asked the old village chief.

"There must be quite a few sects and factions in the desolate state, right? Why hasn't a single one stepped forward to suppress the bandits?"

Shi Daohan couldn't understand it. If all the sects and factions had stood up to suppress the bandits, even if the desolate state couldn't be completely pacified, it wouldn't be in such chaos.

"It's useless. Why do you think those bandits and robbers are so rampant and lawless? They're all backed by a sect or religious group."

"If we delve deeper, we'll definitely find the shadows of those powerful and influential forces and aristocratic families behind it all."

"I once heard that one of the Nine Great Thieves was once supported by the imperial court, but later abandoned the court because his power grew."

Hearing this, Shi Daohan gained a deeper understanding of the desolate state. The reason why this land was so chaotic was largely due to the open and covert struggles between various transcendent powers.

They returned to the village before sunset. The village consists of several dozen households, totaling only two or three hundred people, which is not a large area.

Due to their living environment, the people here are very fierce. Whether they are old or young, women or children, they are basically armed and ready to fight at any time, with a murderous look in their eyes.

This scene was unlike anything Shi Daohan had ever seen in other states; it was truly awe-inspiring.

"The village chief and the others are back." The villagers breathed a sigh of relief after recognizing the faces of the newcomers.

"Sigh, the bandits from Luhe Village came again today. They said if we don't hand over the spirit stones by the day after tomorrow, they'll slaughter our entire village."

The villagers all looked worried and sighed.

"The other teams that went out also gained nothing."

"This area has been basically mined out. Where are we supposed to find ten catties of spirit stones for them in just three days?"

In the cultivation world, ten catties of spirit stones may not be much to most people. However, when Shi Daohan was refining pills and weapons in Mount Shu, he could throw hundreds of catties of spirit stones with a wave of his hand.

But in the desolate state, a land rich in spirit stones, ten catties of spirit stones are enough to make an ordinary cultivator feel suffocated. How ironic.

Shi Daohan settled down in the village. The old village chief arranged a very clean place for her, which had obviously been carefully tidied up.

That night, the villagers slaughtered the carcass of a strange beast, and a group of people sat around the campfire, eating roasted meat and drinking the strong liquor unique to the desolate state.

Shi Daohan slaughtered all the bandits' mounts today, and there was far more food than could be eaten in one day. However, because they were stored in a storage ring, there was no need to worry about them rotting and smelling bad.

That very night, following the locations provided to her by the dark-faced bandit during the day, Shi Daohan found three bandit strongholds and wiped them all out in one fell swoop.

However, the result greatly disappointed her. These bandits were not wealthy at all; after raiding three strongholds, their final haul was less than ten catties of spirit stones.

"Even refining a pill is too much trouble. It seems I can't rely on this petty thief. I need to find a more powerful bandit to take down," Shi Daohan muttered to himself.

She's now starting to miss the area outside the Immortal Spirit Ancient Domain where Wuyang Mountain was mining spirit stones, regretting that she didn't make more back then.

Because of the tension at the time, she only collected a little over a hundred catties of low-grade spirit stones and was thinking of making a quick getaway. She didn't think of taking advantage of the chaos to get some high-grade spirit stones as well.

She is currently in dire need of spirit stones. Many things, such as alchemy, talisman drawing, and weapon forging, require a large amount of spirit stones, and the few low-grade spirit stones she obtained from the Wuyang Mountain spirit stone mining area are simply not enough.

On their return to Heihe Village, Shi Daohan noticed a massive mountain, estimated to be several thousand meters high, surrounded by an empty expanse for miles around, with no other peaks exceeding its height. (End of Chapter)