Return of the Celestial King

These words nearly made Xue Chengdong cough up blood from pure rage.

The faces of everyone from the Xue Family twisted with boundless resentment.

They looked as if they wanted to rush over and eat Zheng Guoping alive.

They had seen shameless people before, but never anyone *this* shameless.

Even Qin Tuo couldn’t help but stare at Zheng Guoping. He never imagined that after committing such a despicable act, the man would have the audacity to turn around and play the victim.

Enraged, Xue Chengdong started shouting curses.

"Zheng Guoping, you shameless dog! It was clearly you who used the Illusion Technique, trying to get both of our families killed, yet you dare to blame the Xue Family?"

Zheng Guoping, however, simply clasped his hands behind his back, looking completely unconcerned.

Wu Taiqi’s mind had been clouded by rage, but seeing Xue Chengdong’s reaction, he suddenly grew suspicious.

’The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss. Maybe the Xue Family really wasn’t responsible. Could it have been Zheng Guoping’s handiwork instead?’

And so, Wu Taiqi forced himself to calm down. Otherwise, he might plunge the Wu Family into a bottomless abyss.

Seeing that Wu Taiqi didn’t press the matter further, Zheng Guoping felt a twinge of regret.

But now, a tense standoff had formed among the three families. No one trusted anyone else.

The strongest experts of the three great families glared coldly at one another.

Jin Hongtao from the Xue Family, Master Huang from the Zheng Family, and a brawny man over two meters tall from the Wu Family—the auras of these three subtly clashed, each holding their own.

Qin Tuo, however, couldn’t be bothered with these people. He was only concerned with the mine vein.

Sensing the abundant Spiritual Qi in the air, Qin Tuo was inwardly startled.

He could now be certain that there was a massive deposit of Spirit Stones underground, right at the foot of the mountain.

Without such a large quantity of Spirit Stones, it would be impossible to form such a vast ocean of Spiritual Qi.

’This is great! Looks like I didn’t come here for nothing!’

A trace of unconcealable excitement appeared in Qin Tuo’s eyes.

’After all, wasn’t finding these Spirit Stones the whole reason I came to Hongshan?’

Now that the Spirit Stones were within reach, Qin Tuo felt an impulse to act immediately.

Meanwhile, the three great families had also sent their people to search the surrounding area.

Zheng Guoping, however, was growing anxious. He knew the entrance to the mine vein was to the northwest, but he dared not take the initiative to search for it in front of the other two families.

But just then, someone from the Zheng Family suddenly shouted!

"Hahaha, Patriarch, come quick! I’ve found the entrance to the mine vein!"

Hearing this, Zheng Guoping’s face instantly darkened.

But there was nothing to be done. Since the entrance had been exposed, the only option was to seize it immediately.

Zheng Guoping desperately shouted, ordering all members of the Zheng Family to seize the entrance before anyone else.

But the other two families were just as quick. Everyone rushed over at the sound of the voice and gathered before the entrance.

Looking closely, they saw that there was indeed a small opening up ahead!

The only problem was that the opening was far too small for a person to squeeze through.

Someone from one of the families, refusing to believe it was impossible, stubbornly tried to force their way in, only to nearly get stuck inside.

At that moment, everyone stared at the entrance, their expressions a mixture of embarrassment and frustration.

"Damn it! Are we just supposed to stare at this entrance and do nothing?"

Someone said fiercely, gritting their teeth.

Faced with this difficult situation, Wu Taiqi suddenly made a suggestion.

"How about this: for now, our three families will set aside our grudges. Let’s focus on securing this mine, and we can deal with everything else later. What do you say?"

The other two families remained silent. After a moment, Zheng Guoping was the first to nod.

Xue Chengdong had no choice but to nod in agreement as well. They all understood that compared to a new mine vein, personal grudges were a trivial matter.

Everyone’s goal was the mine. If they started fighting amongst themselves now, it was likely that none of them would get it. Instead, it would probably fall into the hands of some outside power.

Xue Chengdong couldn’t help but say coldly,

"In that case, we first need to figure out how to widen this opening. Otherwise, we’re not getting in at all!"

The others all nodded, racking their brains for a solution.

Just then, Zheng Guoping slapped his thigh and said,

"I’ve got it! There’s a very simple solution, isn’t there?"

Everyone looked at him in confusion, wondering what brilliant idea he had come up with.

Without another word, Zheng Guoping immediately called over a group of the Zheng Family’s men.

"Go get some explosives and blow this opening wider for me!"

The group of Zheng Family men nodded and prepared to act.

The other two families hadn’t expected Zheng Guoping to come up with such a simple and brutish solution.

However, no one objected. After all, it seemed to be the only option at the moment.

Just then, however, Qin Tuo suddenly shouted.

"You can’t!"

At Qin Tuo’s immediate objection, all eyes snapped toward him.

Zheng Guoping couldn’t help but sneer.

"Who the hell do you think you are, kid? You think you have a right to speak here?"

Xue Chengdong coughed awkwardly. After all, everyone had already agreed. As an outsider, Qin Tuo really had no right to object.

If not for the fact that Qin Tuo had saved his daughter, Xue Chengdong would have told him to shut his mouth right then and there.

But Qin Tuo stepped forward and said gravely,

"You can’t use explosives on this entrance! If you do, this entire mountain will likely collapse in an instant!"

Qin Tuo could sense that the area beneath the mountain was largely hollow. If they really used explosives, a cave-in was highly likely, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

Hearing Qin Tuo’s words, the experts from the three great families were all startled, and looks of suspicion appeared on their faces.

If it were true, as Qin Tuo claimed, that it would cause the mountain to collapse, then they really wouldn’t dare go through with it.

Zheng Guoping, however, didn’t give it a second thought and simply said with a look of utter disdain,

"Kid, we’ve been mining for more years than I can count. We always use this method to open up a mine vein. Do we need some wet-behind-the-ears punk like you telling us what to do?"

Hearing Zheng Guoping’s words, the others silently nodded.

’This method has been used for so long,’ they thought, ’and it has never failed before.’

’And this Qin Tuo looks so young. Maybe he’s just talking nonsense and trying to scare everyone?’