Mortal: I have a Spirit Gathering Cauldron

After leaving the gate of Huangfeng Valley, Lin Feng headed west.

The Wind-Swept Shuttle transformed into a silver streak, weaving through the clouds. The wind howled, and the mountains and rivers beneath its feet rushed past like an unfolding scroll.

After flying for about a thousand miles, Lin Feng slowed down and, following the location guidance in the mission token, landed in a valley.

The valley is not large, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and connected to the outside world by only a narrow passage.

Twenty or thirty cultivators had already gathered in the valley. Some were sitting cross-legged in meditation, while others were talking in hushed tones. The atmosphere was not tense, but it was not relaxed either.

Lin Feng landed at the edge of the crowd, retracted his shuttle, and glanced at everyone present.

There were cultivators from various sects, with cultivation levels ranging from the late Qi Refining stage to the late Foundation Establishment stage. The leading Foundation Establishment cultivators stood at the front of the crowd, discussing something in hushed tones.

As soon as Lin Feng steadied himself, a white-robed cultivator walked towards him.

The man looked to be in his early twenties, with a thin face, wearing a white robe from the Hidden Moon Sect, and his cultivation level was in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

"From Yellow Maple Valley?" the white-robed cultivator asked, his gaze sweeping over Lin Feng's yellow robes.

"Yellow Maple Valley, Lin Feng." Lin Feng clasped his hands in greeting, took out the mission token and conscription order from his storage bag, and handed them over. "I have been ordered to come and meet you, and to guard the Ancient Wilderness Spirit Mine."

The white-robed cultivator took the token, examined it carefully, nodded, and returned it to him, introducing himself as "Xuan Le of the Hidden Moon Sect. I'm in charge of overseeing the guard duty at the Ancient Desolate Spirit Mine this time. Fellow Daoist Lin, your arrival is just in time; we're almost all here."

Xuan Le, Lin Feng silently repeated the name in his mind.

In the original story, the ending of this Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Hidden Moon Sect was not so good.

"Brother Xuan, you've worked hard," Lin Feng said politely, standing at the edge of the crowd.

After confirming that everyone had arrived, Xuan Le waved his hand, and everyone summoned their flying artifacts, which transformed into various colored streaks of light and flew towards the direction of the Desolate Ancient Plain.

Twenty or thirty streaks of light trailed long tails in the air, like a group of meteors streaking across the sky.

Lin Feng mingled in the middle of the group, keeping his Wind Shuttle speed at a similar level to the others, neither too fast nor too slow.

The scenery beneath my feet is changing.

Rolling mountains, winding rivers, and lush forests.

Occasionally, you can see a few towns inhabited by ordinary people, with houses standing side by side and wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys.

The streets were bustling with people and vehicles, but those ordinary people probably didn't know that a catastrophe was about to befall this land.

Looking down, Lin Feng felt a mix of emotions he couldn't quite describe.

In his previous life, when he read "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality," the demonic invasion was just a plot point in the book. A few supporting characters died, the protagonist fled, and it was a grand and epic story, but ultimately just a tale. Now that he was in the midst of it, he understood what war truly meant.

"There's no use thinking about it so much." Lin Feng shook his head and looked away. "I'm still just a small fry. Let's figure out how to get to the Chaotic Star Sea first."

Just as he was lost in thought, a streak of azure light appeared in the distance.

Xuan Le frowned, probed with her divine sense, then raised her hand to signal the group to stop, and flashed forward to meet them.

Lin Feng narrowed his eyes and looked toward the streak of azure light.

The blue light subsided, revealing a human figure.

Black robes, dark skin, and an unremarkable face.

Old Demon Han arrived late, but he did.

Xuan Le exchanged a few words with Han Li, then took out a mobilization order from her bosom and waved it in front of Han Li.

Han Li glanced at the token, then at the group behind Xuan Le, a hint of helplessness flashing across his face, and nodded.

Xuan Le flew back to the team with Han Li and gave a brief introduction: "This is Junior Brother Han from Huangfeng Valley. He has been ordered to join our garrison mission."

Han Li clasped his hands in a fist salute to the group, said nothing, and silently flew to the back of the line.

Lin Feng thought to himself, "Brother Xuan, you took the initiative to ask Old Demon Han to run a dungeon together. It's your destiny to suffer this calamity."

The procession continued onward.

Han Lifei was at the back of the line. After greeting Lin Feng, he fell silent, but his eyes kept observing the surrounding environment, as if he was assessing something.

"He's definitely a cautious person." Lin Feng withdrew his gaze from him and stopped looking at him.

After flying for half a day, a huge crack appeared on the horizon ahead.

Duanlong Gorge.

We've arrived at the Ancient Wilderness Spirit Mine.

The group landed above the canyon and, led by Xuan Le, passed through a concealment array that shrouded the canyon entrance and flew into the canyon.

At the entrance to the mine, an old man in the early Foundation Establishment stage from Tianque Fortress led several Qi Refining cultivators to greet them.

The old man's surname was Yu, and his given name was Xing. He was a resident cultivator sent by Tianque Fortress to guard the Desolate Ancient Spirit Mine, and he had been here for more than ten years.

"Fellow Daoist Xuan, you've finally arrived." Yu Xing greeted them, cupping his hands in greeting. His voice was hoarse, carrying a hint of relief. "Things have been tense lately, and this old man has been guarding this mine alone. I've been quite worried."

Xuan Le returned the greeting and said politely, "Fellow Daoist Yu, you've worked hard. The sect has ordered us to strengthen the defenses of the Desolate Ancient Plains. We will be responsible for guarding it for the next year, so Fellow Daoist Yu can take a good rest."

Yu Xing nodded repeatedly and led everyone into the mine.

Upon entering the mine, Xuan Le immediately took out a set of array flags and array plates from his storage bag and handed them to a disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect beside him.

The disciple took the array flag and, along with several Qi Refining stage cultivators, began setting up the array around the mine.

"This is the Four Fiends Formation, which can be used for both offense and defense. It's much stronger than the original one," Xuan Le said to everyone.

It took more than half an hour to set up the Four Fiends Formation. With the infusion of spiritual energy, a light blue light shield rose from the formation flags, enveloping the entire mine.

The surface of the light shield had faint runes flowing around it, exuding a calm and profound aura.

Xuan Le nodded in satisfaction and then began to arrange for the Foundation Establishment cultivators to take turns guarding the area.

Lin Feng was very satisfied with Xuan Le's decisive and efficient work style.

He could finally openly dig a tunnel to find a teleportation array.

"Among everyone here, no one knows more about mining than me." Lin Feng, who had spent more than ten years in the Spirit Mine Cave, secretly felt proud and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

The days spent guarding the mine were monotonous and tedious.

Besides patrolling and guarding, he spends his days meditating and cultivating himself.

But Lin Feng's mind wasn't on cultivation.

Every day, during his patrol time, he would lead a group of puppets deep into the mine, digging like a groundhog.

Those wolf-shaped and leopard-shaped puppets were specially prepared by him for this mining mission.

Even when he was crafting these puppets, Lin Feng had already considered the possibility of mining in the future.

He changed the refining material for the puppet minions from ordinary broken rocks to the upgraded Spirit Gathering Cauldron's Shattered Rock Crystals.

Rock crystals are hard and extremely sharp, making them more than twice as efficient at breaking through rock and soil layers as ordinary materials.

The upgraded goblin claws gripped the rock face as easily as grasping tofu, creating a large crater with each claw strike.

Even hard granite is no match for them; a few claws are enough to dig a hole big enough for a person to pass through.

Lin Feng always brought ten puppets with him when he went down into the mine. With a thought, the ten puppets started working simultaneously, digging at a speed more than ten times that of a single person.

One day, two days, three days...

Lin Feng's network of mine tunnels spreads underground, extending in all directions like a spider web.

He spent his patrol time in the mine every day, digging tunnels, exploring, and recording the terrain with the puppets.

The miners had a very good impression of this newly arrived Foundation Establishment Master.

"Uncle Lin is really diligent; he personally patrols the mine every day."

"That's right. Since Uncle Lin came, the number of monster attacks in the mine has decreased by 90%. Before, we would be bitten by monsters every few days, but in the past month or so, there hasn't been a single one."

"I heard that Uncle Lin used to be a miner and is very familiar with the terrain of mines."

"No wonder, no wonder, everyone needs to have a skill."

Lin Feng remained outwardly calm upon hearing these comments, but inwardly he was quite speechless.

After more than a month, he felt like he had explored the entire mine.

But there was no sign of the ancient teleportation array.

"The protagonist's halo can be really unreasonable sometimes." Lin Feng squatted at the end of a mine tunnel, looking at the bare rock wall in front of him, and couldn't help but sigh.

Han Li escaped through an underground tunnel, and after it collapsed, he discovered the teleportation array. He came to the mine and dug for over a month, almost causing the mine to collapse, but he still hadn't seen a trace of the teleportation array.

"If I keep digging, the spirit stone mine will probably collapse." Lin Feng shook his head, stood up, and dusted himself off. "I can't give up. I'll just keep being a local rat. If I find the ancient teleportation array soon, the Heaven-Mending Pill and the Great Teleportation Token will all be mine."

He manipulated the puppet to continue digging deeper.