Cultivation: I Forge Immortality with My Spiritual Eyes

Jiang Yi smiled upon hearing this:

"Fellow Daoist Niu, don't be impatient, you'll eventually find it."

This piece of spirit ore looks only the size of a fist, but it feels quite heavy in your hand, weighing at least seventy or eighty pounds.

He thought to himself, it seems that digging up a hundred catties a day isn't that difficult; this alone should be enough.

Niu Yaojin took the spirit ore and examined it for a while before reluctantly returning it to Jiang Yi.

Spurred on by this, he perked up and started digging into the rock face next to him.

He muttered to himself that he wanted to share in Jiang Yi's luck.

Jiang Yi smiled slightly, not minding at all, and once again gathered his magical power, swinging the sharp hoe.

The aura of metal on this rock face is incredibly strong, and the amount of black iron ore hidden within is definitely not limited to the one piece we just saw.

Time slips away quietly.

As darkness fell, the stars and moon were obscured by leaden clouds.

It's time to finish work.

Several bonfires blazed outside the mine, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.

The scattered cultivators who had been mining emerged from the mine one after another in twos and threes.

They were all covered in dust and dirt, and lined up to hand over their baskets to a Liu family cultivator to check the weight and register them one by one.

Another Liu family cultivator stood beside the group, coldly scrutinizing everyone.

A small, palm-sized, snow-white rat with a striking golden stripe along its back perched on his shoulder.

This is a rare golden shrew.

They are naturally gifted at finding veins and discovering treasures, and are exceptionally sensitive to auras.

With it present, any attempt to hoard spirit ore will be exposed.

The cultivators, exhausted from a long day, received their payment and turned to leave, heading towards their stone chamber dwellings.

Not long after, Jiang Yi and Niu Yaojin also hurriedly walked out of the mine, both covered in debris, and lined up at the end of the queue.

Despite his disheveled appearance, Niu Yaojin had a wide grin on his face, clearly in a good mood.

The group moved quickly, and it was soon Jiang Yi's turn.

He took out two pieces of black iron ore and handed them over along with his identity token.

The Liu family cultivator reached out and took the ore, casually weighed it in his hand, then tossed it into the bamboo basket beneath him. He picked up his brush and began to write and recite:

"Jiang Yi, mined 156 jin of ore, settled 100 jin, and recorded the remaining 56 jin in the ledger."

Without even raising his head, he tossed a spirit stone and the wooden plaque back, saying calmly:

"Next."

Jiang Yi caught it, turned around and left with a smile.

With his spiritual eyes, if he were to dig freely, he could easily earn five or six spirit stones a day, which would be even more comfortable than fishing at sea.

But he immediately nipped the thought in the bud.

If they really dare to do that, what awaits them is probably not just a mountain of spirit stones...

At this point, he and Niu Yaojin had each earned one spirit stone.

However, the other cultivators who had gone down into the mine with the same group and worked all day without any results were already casting envious glances at them.

They huddled together and whispered amongst themselves, muttering some sarcastic remarks.

Niu Yaojin quickly finished his task and hurried after him, excitedly saying:

"Let's go! We've had a long day, and our stomachs are growling. I heard the Liu family provides pretty good food, so let's hurry over, or we might miss out on anything hot!"

"Such a good thing?"

Jiang Yi's eyes lit up, and he immediately quickened his pace, following Niu Yaojin toward the stone house.

Soon after, the two returned to the area around the stone house.

Sure enough, they saw a shack with wisps of smoke rising from it, with a stove and a few simple tables and chairs set up underneath, being looked after by a member of the Liu family.

The pot was filled with a fragrant aroma, smelling like thick porridge made from spirit rice, mixed with the salty and savory flavor of beast meat, making one's mouth water.

Strangely, it was rather deserted, with hardly any cultivators visiting.

"Haha, hurry up, we're not too late!"

Niu Yaojin was already starving, so he immediately ran over excitedly and started calling out for food.

Jiang Yi licked his lips, not having had time to catch up.

Then he came running back, his face dark with anger, cursing and spitting out words of resentment:

"These heartless bastards actually want to buy spirit stones! And not only that, they're charging more than they do in the market!"

At this rate, if we eat our fill, the little we earn won't even be enough to fill our stomachs; Mr. Niu will have to pay out of his own pocket!

Jiang Yi's expression also froze for a moment, and he couldn't help but click his tongue and sigh:

"As expected of a powerful clan, they certainly don't lack experts. They're trying to earn back every single spirit stone we've earned."

"Meow~"

At this moment, the little pear, smelling the fragrance, couldn't resist any longer.

It peeked its little head out from under its clothes, staring longingly in the direction of the food stall, licking its beard incessantly.

Jiang Yi clicked his tongue, put his arm around the little guy, and walked towards his stone house, saying as they went:

"There's no other way; we'll have to fend for ourselves. Did Fellow Daoist Niu bring any food?"

Niu Yaojin followed, and said in a low voice:

"I brought it with me. If I eat it sparingly, I should be able to get through these ten days without any problem. In short, I'd rather starve than drink that rotten porridge."

Jiang Yi smiled and nodded, without saying anything more.

I found a few flat stones nearby and quickly built a simple stove.

Then they made a stone pot and bowl, went to the mountain stream to fetch clear spring water, and started a fire to cook spirit rice porridge.

The neighbors in this area, if they don't want to be taken advantage of, mostly do the same thing.

As night deepened, the evening wind grew increasingly biting.

It stirred up clouds of mineral dust and sand, which scraped against the rock walls with a crackling sound.

Before long, the man and the cat had filled their bellies.

Jiang Yijing returned to the stone chamber, sat cross-legged on the stone slab, and instructed Xiaoli to guard the door and not to doze off.

He then closed his eyes, formed a mudra with his ten fingers in front of him, and began his breathing exercises without hesitation.

The spiritual energy here is truly abundant, far surpassing that of the small courtyard on Qingluo Island.

As soon as he began to circulate his cultivation technique, spiritual energy surged in from all around, creating gentle breezes that flowed into his body like swallows returning to their nests.

Jiang Yi was delighted, thinking to himself that the Liu family had not spoken recklessly about this.

The thought flashed through my mind.

He quickly cleared his mind of distractions and focused all his energy on circulating his spiritual energy throughout his body, transforming it into trickles of magical power that flowed into the lake of his Qi Sea, steadily increasing his cultivation.

Little Pear lazily curled up by the stone gate, her large, light blue eyes, like two lanterns, scanning back and forth in the darkness, looking utterly bored.

A short while later, the faint sound of insects crawling through the cracks in the rocks could be heard.

The little guy instantly perked up, crouched down, and darted over to play with the insects inside the cracks in the rocks...

The sun and moon revolve.

The darkness quickly faded, and a faint glow appeared on the horizon.

Inside the stone house,

Jiang Yi exhaled a breath of stale air, stopped his magic incantation, and ended his night of cultivation.

After observing his internal energy center for a moment, he smiled slightly and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.

The spiritual veins are truly of utmost importance.

Excluding the influence of the water-bearing stone, one night of cultivation here is equivalent to several days of arduous training on Qingluo Island.

This trip wasn't a complete waste.

He stood up, flicked his sleeves, and glanced around, noticing that Xiao Li was curled up and fast asleep by the stone gate.

She smiled gently, picked up the little guy, dusted him off, tucked him back into her clothes, and went out the door.

It was still dark and the fog was thick.

However, the monks were already leaving their stone houses one after another, carrying sharp hoes and bamboo baskets, hurrying towards the mine.

The daily quota of 100 kilograms is a heavy burden on your shoulders, leaving you no choice but to work hard.

When the Liu family punishes someone by confiscating spirit stones, they never show any mercy or go easy on them.

Jiang Yi, however, was confident and not flustered at all.

Seeing that Niu Yaojin next door hadn't come out yet, he simply started a fire and cooked spirit rice porridge again.

They deeply understood the principle that one needs a full stomach to have the energy to work.

About half an incense stick later.

After he finished packing, he closed the stone door and headed towards the mine with Niu Yaojin, who had gotten a bowl of porridge from him.

"..."

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Yi and Niu Yaojin had been busy deep inside the mine for a long time.

The two seemed to have lost their luck from yesterday.

After wandering along several side roads, the bamboo basket remained empty, leaving only a dusty and dirty face.

It's not that Jiang Yi can't find it.

Instead, Niu Yaojin stayed by his side the whole time. He was hesitant to head straight for the spirit mine because he had reservations, which is really hard to explain.

In addition, he was already inclined to keep a low profile and did not want to be too high-profile.

So he simply started digging intermittently, taking it easy, and spent most of his energy activating his spiritual eyes and discerning the direction of the mineral veins.

Before officially starting work today, a manager from the Liu family reiterated the mine rules to everyone.

During the discussion, it was specifically mentioned that in addition to the raw ore of black iron, there is also a kind of refined black iron gold that is found in the vein.

By simply handing over one tael, one can not only offset the share of a thousand catties of raw ore, but also receive an additional reward of spirit stones.

Jiang Yi was quite interested in this and wanted to see what the Xuan Tie Jing Jin looked like that could make the Liu family so interested.

Before we knew it, a long time had passed.

Deep within the mine, in front of a low, narrow rock wall, a crisp "ding" sound suddenly rang out.

After much effort, Niu Yaojin finally managed to dig out a piece of black iron ore the size of a bowl.

He picked it up and weighed it in his hand, and was immediately overjoyed, exclaiming with delight:

"Hey, this piece weighs at least a hundred pounds, enough to get by! Fellow Daoist Jiang, you'd better put in some extra effort and not hold back from hard work, or you'll end up envious of me, Old Ox."

Jiang Yi swung his hoe unhurriedly, and smiled faintly upon hearing this:

"Fellow Daoist, you are in good fortune. It seems that today it is my turn to bask in your glory."

Before he finished speaking, a metallic clang rang out from where he struck the ground with his hoe.

With a slight digging through the loose soil and gravel, a piece of spirit ore the size of a human head rolled to the ground.

Niu Yaojin stared in disbelief, then muttered to himself:

"Goodness, this piece must weigh several hundred pounds..."

Jiang Yi bent down to pick up the spirit ore and rubbed off the surface dirt.

Weighing the weight, just as he was about to say something, his brows suddenly furrowed, and he looked towards a fork in the road on the left.

The next moment, Little Pear, who had been playing nearby, suddenly darted out from the side path.

She took off running towards Jiang Yi, something dangling from her mouth, her little face full of excitement.

In the darkness behind it, something seemed to be chasing it, making a rustling sound that sent chills down one's spine...