Chapter 133: The Spirit Stone Mine
Before long, the disciples had more or less adapted to their new attire.
Only then did Feng Shi find the peace of mind to observe his surroundings.
They were currently in a forest with dense vegetation. Looking up, one could only see a crisscrossing canopy of thick trunks and broad, lush leaves.
The shade was heavy, with only a few beams of light slanting down from above, scattering on the ground like crushed gold that shimmered with the movement of the breeze.
A cool wind blew, and although the cicadas were noisy, there was no sense of oppressive heat.
“Shixiong, I think the empty city we saw earlier is not far ahead. Should we go check it out first?” Ruan Ping stood on his tiptoes to peer into the distance, his hands gripping the straps of the satchel slung across his chest.
Feng Shi naturally saw the empty city as well; he could even vaguely make out the figures of the people from the two smaller sects that had entered first.
“No rush. This secret realm is massive. Let’s look elsewhere first.”
Perhaps they would find an unexpected windfall.
The other sects would likely do the same as those two smaller ones and head for the city first. It would be crowded, and the competition would be too fierce. It was better to let them test the waters first.
With this in mind, Feng Shi led his group in the opposite direction.
After the incident where Feng Shi had handed out talismans and pills like they were candy, the cohesion of the Chongshan Sect team had reached its peak. Everyone trusted him implicitly and had no objections to his decisions.
The group trekked deeper into the forest. After half a day, the primitive environment finally transitioned into a series of rolling, dense mountain ranges.
Coincidentally, they weren’t the only ones there.
When Feng Shi and the others arrived, a group of people was digging at the foot of a mountain. Hearing someone approach, they immediately became alert.
Once the figures emerging ahead became clear, Feng Shi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
He thought to himself: It really is a small world for enemies.
This group was none other than the Taichu Sect, led by that old man with the thick eyebrows.
To Ruan Ping, these people looked like dozens of motionless wooden logs. He scratched his head and asked in confusion, “Why are all these people just standing there like idiots? What’s so interesting about that mountain in front of them?”
As he spoke, he followed their gaze. It was just a plain, ordinary mountain; nothing special about it.
In truth, this group had set up a formation of talismans. Among those present, only Feng Shi and Shen Songhe could see through the illusion of the Taichu Sect’s digging.
Seeing that the newcomers were Feng Shi and his group, the expression on Thick Brows’ face turned strange, and he signaled his disciples to stop.
Subsequently, in Ruan Ping’s eyes, the Taichu Sect disciples who had been staring stiffly at the mountain began to move. A moment later, they cast hostile glances toward them.
These disciples, like the others, were forced to wear women’s clothing in a dizzying array of colors and styles.
Meeting outsiders so suddenly made both sides feel a bit awkward.
Feng Shi, however, was not afraid of being stared at. He stepped forward candidly, cradling his sword, pretending not to notice anything unusual as he greeted Thick Brows. “Elder Lin, have you discovered some treasure in that mountain?”
He was referring to the mountain the other party was using as a decoy.
Hearing Feng Shi’s question, Elder Lin’s thick black eyebrows, which were practically squashed together, relaxed slightly, revealing a hint of disdain.
He was wearing a water-blue lady’s dress. The color made his skin look even darker, and his hair was styled in a bun. He looked beyond ridiculous.
Feng Shi looked at him for a few seconds before he finally broke and let out a laugh.
Elder Lin’s body shifted awkwardly as he barked with a frown, “What are you laughing at!”
Feng Shi cleared his throat, quickly suppressing his laughter. His expression turned incredibly serious as he gave a thumbs-up. “Elder Lin, what great looks!”
The surrounding disciples couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Elder Lin’s face turned from green to black and back again, looking wretched. He turned and took his anger out on his own disciples. “Laugh! Keep laughing! You think this is funny? Believe it or not, I’ll castrate all of you right now!”
The Taichu Sect disciples immediately stifled their laughter.
Elder Lin narrowed his sharp, triangular eyes, taking a long time to suppress his rage before observing the youth before him.
He hadn’t been at the scene earlier and had only heard his disciples describe how this boy had stolen the spotlight. He had originally worried that it would be trouble if the opponent truly was a master capable of drawing high-grade talismans, but now it seemed…
It was all a joke.
The more Elder Lin thought about it, the more he felt Feng Shi was just a waste of space, and his mood improved slightly. He huffed coldly, “There is indeed something good, but it’s not easy to take. Would young friend Liu like to have a look?”
Feng Shi used the opening while walking closer to talk to him to see exactly what they were hiding and digging.
To his surprise, it turned out to be some spirit stones of exceptional quality!
Even though these stones were covered in brown soil, they couldn’t hide the dense spiritual energy and luster they emitted; they were clearly top-grade.
Feng Shi secretly surveyed the nearby mountains that had obviously been half-excavated.
A thought crossed his mind: Could it be… that there’s a spirit stone mine nearby?
At this possibility, the corners of Feng Shi’s mouth curled up. He replied nonchalantly, “Thank you for the guidance, Elder Lin. I’ll go take a look then.”
Elder Lin had expected a bit of back-and-forth; he was momentarily stunned before a cold sneer appeared on his face. He flicked his sleeve. “Suit yourself!”
In his heart, however, he thought: What an ignorant fool! To think I actually worried about his capabilities. Turns out he’s just someone with such shallow vision.
The Taichu Sect had discovered this mountain range that produced spirit stones long ago, but they had kept it a secret.
Every time they came for a trial, their people would be the first to arrive here, digging away at the mountains in secret, hoping to unearth the main lode.
Unfortunately, a lode was difficult to pin down, and their sect didn’t have many people. Every year, they only managed to find scattered spirit stones.
But even so, unearthing these top-grade spirit stones was already a bountiful harvest.
The place Feng Shi was heading to had already been excavated by their people; there was no way anyone else would find anything good there!
Watching the departing figures of the Chongshan Sect, the Taichu Sect disciples’ faces glowed with a healthy flush. As soon as the others were gone, they couldn’t wait to start digging again.
Deep in the mountain range.
Ruan Ping frowned, looking back every three steps. Only when those people were completely out of sight did he turn to ask Feng Shi, “Shixiong, don’t you think that group from Taichu Sect is very strange?”
“What if they’re lying on purpose to get rid of us? Are we really just leaving like this?”
As Feng Shi walked, he leisurely observed the surrounding mountains. Hearing this, he simply shook his head. “Don’t worry. Your Shixiong has very good luck.”
The logic was so simple; how could he not understand? But a man like Old Man Lin couldn’t fool him.
Ruan Ping was even more confused. “Huh? What do you mean, Shixiong…”
It wasn’t just him; the other disciples were also completely baffled by Feng Shi’s behavior. They walked for a long time, and just as they were about to speak up, they unexpectedly met the gaze of the Little Shidi beside them.
Shen Songhe’s glass-colored eyes were cold, his gaze scraping over them like a knife.
A chill ran down the disciples’ spines.
At that moment, Feng Shi, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped.
Looking at an unremarkable low hill before him, he scanned it up and down, his fingers tapping rhythmically against his chin.
This low hill didn’t look like much. It was right next to a high mountain, with parts of them merged together. The foot of the hill looked as though it might have been dug by someone before.
Not bad. It was very pleasing to the eye.
Feng Shi smiled and snapped his fingers. “This is the one!”
The other disciples: “???”
After saying that, Feng Shi didn’t explain. He rose directly into the air, multiple talismans held between his fingers as he threw them toward the low hill.
Shen Songhe caught his eye with perfect understanding and quickly circled to the other side of the hill.
Shortly after, the Taichu Sect disciples, who were excitedly buried in their digging not far away, suddenly heard massive, rumbling sounds echoing from deep within the mountains.
They looked up to see birds startled into flight and dust billowed into the air.
A blink later, the patch of sky where only two soft clouds had been floating was suddenly filled with an overflowing colorful radiance that scattered into the void.
“Elder Lin, those people didn’t die, did they!”
The commotion soon quieted down, and one of the disciples couldn’t help but say with a tone of schadenfreude.
However, what he didn’t notice was that as he stared at those swirling, brilliant colorful clouds, Elder Lin’s face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
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