Chapter 737 - 664 Ascending the Peak 63
After that person finished speaking, no one responded, presumably because of a rule against excessive talking. However, the eager atmosphere grew even stronger. The person who had spoken took out a large handful of storage bags and distributed five to each person.
These were meant to store the spirit stones. Shuangshuang scanned them quickly and noticed that the storage bags indeed had a special spell; items could be put in but not taken out, to prevent anyone from sneaking spirit stones out. Shuangshuang guessed that these people had likely been relieved of their storage bags before they arrived, to prevent any from being hidden privately.
After distributing the storage bags, that person reminded them again, "Same old rules, find your own spot, how much you dig depends on your ability. No infighting, no snatching, keep your movements light. Don’t make a big noise coming in. Alright, let’s disperse."
This mine tunnel was particularly full of branching caves. After speaking, that person walked ahead first, then turned into one of the forked entrances. When he left, the people around Shuangshuang also each found their own branching cave to search for spirit stones.
For a moment, Shuangshuang didn’t know what she should do. Although she was also here to find spirit stones, she had never mined spirit stones before. This place looked no different from an ordinary underground cave to her; she had no idea where the spirit stones were or how to dig them out.
Shuangshuang took a few steps forward, quietly suppressing her presence, following a person who was mining spirit stones. Shuangshuang watched as that person first found a seemingly ordinary cave and walked in, then stood to the side and took out something round, resembling an array plate.
The person tossed the array plate-like object into the air, and it floated mid-air, emitting a bluish-white light.
As the bluish-white light shone on the originally bare cave walls, Shuangshuang was a bit surprised to find that several glowing points appeared on the previously empty cave walls.
Seeing this, the person took out another slender tool with a handle and a slightly hooked front, then used it to chisel and hook against the cave wall, extracting an irregularly shaped spirit stone chunk.
Initially, the spirit stones did not appear as the commonly used small square blocks; instead, they were irregular stone chunks — these were the raw spirit stones. Once taken out, they were polished into small square blocks using a special process, which then became the commonly used spirit stones.
The offcuts from the polishing of the spirit stones were condensed into pearls through a special process, retaining the internal energy while gathering the shape. These pearls became the main currency used by cultivators.
Shuangshuang didn’t have a tool to illuminate the spirit stones or extract them, so she couldn’t mine spirit stones. However, she wasn’t worried, as she hadn’t planned to mine spirit stones anyway.
Shuangshuang had already filed a report about this spirit stone mine with the sect, so she couldn’t touch the spirit stones here anymore. However, she wouldn’t be working for nothing either.
Once the sect resolved and reported the spirit stone mine matter to the state, Wuji Sect would enjoy the benefits of discovering the spirit stone mine and share the mining profits with the state, regardless of the mine’s size, this was an extra income.
As the discoverer of this spirit stone mine, Shuangshuang would naturally receive a substantial spirit stone reward. According to precedent, she should receive ten percent of the sect’s portion as a future reward.
Pretending to find a place, Shuangshuang wandered along the paths inside the mine tunnels, during which she saw many masked people in black using tools to mine spirit stones. Although their actions were not entirely familiar, they weren’t complete novices either, indicating they were newcomers doing this for the first time.
Shuangshuang discovered that this spirit stone mine was quite large, and the quality seemed decent because she had already seen several people mining Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
The materials needed to produce pearls from the offcuts of Mid-grade Spirit Stones are less, and once crafted, the pearls are smaller but still packed with energy. Furthermore, these pearls are quite popular when circulated.
Low-grade spirit stone mines can only produce low-grade spirit stones, while Mid-grade spirit stone mines should primarily yield mid-grade spirit stones with occasional low-grade spirit stones. This spirit stone mine had plenty of low-grade spirit stones; even though Mid-grade Spirit Stones were few, they weren’t particularly rare, indicating a mine between low-grade and Mid-grade.
Having almost finished investigating the spirit stone mine, Shuangshuang decided to leave the cave. She planned to wait and see how Wuji Sect would proceed once they received the information.
Entering the cave, since the situation inside was unknown, Shuangshuang was cautious, blending in with others to avoid being attacked, fearing a trap if she revealed herself.
Now that she understood the cave’s situation, Shuangshuang concealed her presence and prepared to leave. However, upon reaching the cave’s exit, she found a small mechanism set there. This device wasn’t powerful, only sensing if something entered or exited.
Frowning, Shuangshuang returned to the inside of the mine, searched around, and eventually found an ordinary wild rat. Using Spiritual Power, she coaxed the rat to run out of the entrance. As the rat moved past, it triggered the device, alarming the masked people and guards in the cave.
There were many wild rats in the area, so one appearing wasn’t odd. Consequently, the guards and masked people in the cave didn’t make much of it; silently resetting the small mechanism at the entrance, they resumed their tasks.
As the rat triggered the mechanism and exited, Shuangshuang had already taken this opportunity to slip out. By now, she had left the protective illusion array outside, activated her Spiritual Power, and swiftly distanced herself from the place.
Outside, she found Fei Hu. Together, Shuangshuang and Fei Hu began long-distance surveillance of the spirit stone mine, while awaiting the arrival of Wuji Sect members.
Shuangshuang’s previous transmission via the Inspection Jade Scroll was timely. By chance, the Third Elder of Wuji Sect, Qian Chong, was traveling nearby, and upon receiving the news, he promptly took action.
Shuangshuang was very familiar with Qian Chong’s grandson, the one she had saved in the Secret Realm, Qian Mu. Qian Chong, being Qian Mu’s grandfather, possessed cultivation of the Fourth Rank of Martial King; dealing with the people in the spirit stone mine was akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
However, no matter how high Qian Chong’s cultivation, he was still only one person. With nearly two hundred people mining and guarding at the spirit stone mine, Qian Chong couldn’t handle them all alone.
Thus, after receiving the message, Qian Chong delayed for a moment, gathered dozens of Wuji Sect disciples, and hurried over with magic artifacts at full speed.
Because Shuangshuang had saved his grandson’s life, Qian Chong’s attitude towards her was very gentle, and after inquiring about the spirit stone mine’s details, he violently broke the illusion array at the entrance, using a magic artifact to forcibly create a person-sized entrance to the mine’s entrance. Once this entryway was blasted open, the people inside were exposed, without any cover.