Cultivation: I have an equipment slot

At the dinner table, after several rounds of drinks and several dishes, the meal was served.

Then everyone started to get lively, and Zhang Yan, while eating, said to Li Xiumei with a smile, "Senior Sister Li, as you know, we came here to take over the spirit stone mine. I wonder if the account books are with you?"

Zhang Yan didn't waste any words with the other party and went straight to the point.

Everyone present, who was enjoying their meal, immediately turned serious upon hearing Zhang Yan's sudden outburst.

“Junior Brother Zhang really has no patience. He just arrived at the mine and he’s already thinking about getting the ledgers?” Li Xiumei’s expression turned slightly cold, and his tone became somewhat stiff.

"Haha, after all, it's a huge responsibility. It involves such a large spirit stone mine and so many workers. If I don't put in my best effort and cause trouble, the higher-ups won't let me off the hook." Zhang Yan laughed and joked.

At the same time, someone above also restrained Li Xiumei.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Li Xiumei's expression changed slightly, but he quickly smiled and said, "Junior Brother Zhang, don't worry. Since the Palace Master has agreed, we naturally have no reason not to hand over the spirit stone mine."

As for this ledger...

"You can have it too."

As Li Xiumei spoke, she solemnly took out an account book from her storage bag and handed it over.

"Okay, thank you, Senior Sister Li." Taking the ledger, Zhang Yan handed it to the monk Guangcheng next to him, and then said softly, "Could you please do a nucleic acid test, Senior Brother Guangcheng?"

"This……"

Guangcheng the monk was completely numb at this point.

Damn it, you didn't prepare any vegetarian dishes when we had the feast, but now that something's wrong, you want me to step in?
Although he was inwardly complaining, Monk Guangcheng still obediently accepted the account book and then said softly, "This humble monk will certainly live up to everyone's expectations."

He also knew that coming to reconcile the ledgers was actually the best choice for him.

after all……

He can't afford to offend either the Qingheng Sect or the Wanhua Palace. If he can't afford to offend either, then he'll appear fair and just and won't act recklessly.

Otherwise, whoever it is, they'll make him regret it.

"However, the accounting may take some time," Guangcheng said, looking at the ledger in his hand.

"Does it take time?"
"It doesn't matter, but the spirit stones in this mine might need to be sealed off for a while." Zhang Yan picked up a piece of food and said leisurely.

"Crack~"

He had barely finished speaking when he saw a woman from the Wanhua Palace slam her chopsticks on the table: "You, surnamed Zhang, what do you mean? We've given you plenty of face, but don't go too far!"

The woman who spoke looked to be in her early twenties, but since she was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, no one knew how enormous she was.

"That's right, that's too much! What right do you have to seal the spirit stones in the spirit stone mine?" The people from the Myriad Flowers Palace started chattering and angrily criticizing Zhang Yan.

"Why?
Since this spirit stone mine no longer belongs to the Myriad Flower Palace, it is natural that the spirit stones must be sealed.

"At the very least, the amount has to match the account. Otherwise, when the higher-ups ask for spirit stones, and I don't have any, I can't just pay out of my own pocket." Faced with the aggressive attitude of the Myriad Flowers Palace, Zhang Yan remained unmoved and instead spoke slowly.

“Junior Brother Zhang, it’s best to be lenient. I’ve given you all the account books, but you can’t shut down this spirit stone mine,” Li Xiu said to Zhang Yan, his brows furrowed.

"Haha, Senior Sister Li, you don't need to worry about that. This spirit stone mine has to be sealed off no matter what."

Alright, we've finished our food and drinks, so we'll be leaving now.

You can pack your things and leave this remote place now.

Zhang Yan stood up from the table and chuckled softly.

"you!"

Seeing Zhang Yan's blatant disrespect, some members of the Wanhua Palace couldn't help but stand up, ready to attack. However, Li Xiumei remained rational and quickly stopped them.

These people who were able to be stationed at the spirit stone mine must have connections, but even so, their status was still far inferior to Zhang Yan's.

If we were to actually attack Zhang Yan and get killed by him, it would all be for nothing.

Even if they win, they will be held accountable afterwards and will likely face death.

Although everyone has connections, there are still differences between different backgrounds...

As Zhang Yan walked out of the Palace of Ten Thousand Flowers, his expression immediately turned ugly.

“Master Zhang, this trip may not be easy,” Guangcheng said to Zhang Yan with a sigh as he followed behind him.

“Nonsense, they want the spirit stones from this mine.” Zhang Yan sighed helplessly and said to Guang Cheng.

There is actually a contradiction here.

Even though the Myriad Flower Palace said it had given up the spirit stone mine.

However, it didn't say how the previously mined spirit stones would be distributed. After all, spirit stone mines aren't sent away immediately after mining; they're sent away periodically.

It has been four months since the last transport of spirit stones, and the amount of spirit stones accumulated here is quite substantial, so...

This is a huge fortune.

For those Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, it might be impossible to earn that much in a lifetime.

The female cultivators from the Myriad Flowers Palace wanted to embezzle this portion of spirit stones.

But rather...

Zhang Yan shared the same idea.

He also wanted this portion of spirit stones; after all, since it wasn't mentioned above, it meant it was possible.

Both sides share this view; there's no right or wrong, they're both just thinking about themselves.

Both sides are determined to get their hands on these spirit stones, so it remains to be seen who can prevail.

"Well, alright, since that's the case, then this humble monk will quickly reconcile the accounts." Seeing Zhang Yan's state, Guang Cheng sighed and then stood on Zhang Yan's side without hesitation.

joke.

The spiritual stone vein on Swan Mountain was stolen from their Landuo Monastery. Although they said they didn't care, monks don't care.

But how could he really not care? He was just a Buddhist practitioner, not a real monk!

Besides, he wasn't familiar with the people from the Myriad Flowers Palace. If they got those spirit stones, they could just leave without a trace.

He won't get any benefit from it.

But Zhang Yan is different. No matter what, they all came together with the imperial decree. If Zhang Yan gets this batch of spirit stones, he should get some of them.

Even if we take a step back and assume Zhang Yan is a beast, and we don't give him any, we still have to stay here with him to guard the spirit stone mine, right?
Therefore, both emotionally and rationally, and both publicly and privately, Monk Guangcheng felt that he should and had to stand on Zhang Yan's side.

"Well, then I'll have to trouble Senior Brother Guangcheng." Zhang Yan chuckled and addressed the other man as "Senior Brother," the meaning of which was self-evident.

"Lin Hai, could you please do me a favor and seal off the mine entrance and the warehouse?" Zhang Yan said to the Foundation Establishment cultivators on his side.

"Yes, Senior Brother Zhenchuan." Although the people from the Qingheng Sect had higher cultivation levels than him, they showed great respect when facing Zhang Yan.

People outside the Qingheng Sect may only know that Zhang Yan holds a relatively high position within the sect, but they don't know exactly how high.

Only those within the Qingheng faction knew just how high Zhang Yan's status truly was.

Moreover, the higher the rank of a person, the more detailed their knowledge.

Putting aside everything else, just the true disciples, apart from the master of Taiyi Mountain, already commanded the utmost respect from most of the disciples.

Moreover, Zhang Yan had a relatively close relationship with his grandmaster, Qingluan.

It also concerns the resources of the underground world.

Of course.

Actually, the most important thing is Zhang Yan's potential.

Potential is the most important thing. After all, he is a genius that even Mo Changqing wanted to send to the Middle-earth world!
……

Upon receiving Zhang Yan's orders, Lin Hai and the others immediately began sealing off the warehouse and the spirit stone mine.

Although spirit stones can be placed in storage bags, only a small number can be stored, since everyone's storage bags are not very large and cannot hold many spirit stones.

Therefore, most of the spirit stones from the spirit stone mine need to be stored in the warehouse. The warehouse is equipped with a special array to effectively prevent the spiritual energy inside the spirit stones from leaking out.

As Zhang Yan's group moved in an orderly manner, on the other side, all the female cultivators of the Myriad Flowers Palace gathered together.

"Senior Sister Li, what should we do?"
"I've already got these spirit stones in my mouth, I can't just spit them out!" The female cultivators chattered incessantly, making Li Xiumei's head ache.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Li Xiumei quickly waved her hand, signaling them to stop.

Then she took a deep breath and said, "We can't give up these spirit stones, otherwise what will we do in the future?"

With the job of guarding the spirit stone mine gone, and after this great battle, the Wanhua Palace's situation will likely be quite awkward, at least not as it is now.

Therefore, their future situation will definitely not be as easy as it is now.

Finding another job as easy as guarding a spirit stone mine is almost impossible, which is why they value this batch of spirit stones even more.

If they could obtain this batch of spirit stones, they would have more choices, and it might even make their path to enlightenment more stable, perhaps even leading them to achieve the Golden Core stage.

"The problem now is that we don't have many people on our side, and if it really comes down to a fight, we're not confident we can beat them," Li Xiumei said softly, frowning.

"Moreover, besides that, this spirit stone mine was ultimately released by our Myriad Flower Palace. If we really fight to the death with them, it might affect the current overall situation."

"What should we do?
Should we just give them the spirit stone?
"Impossible, absolutely impossible, unless I die!" Upon hearing this, the female cultivators immediately started arguing again.

It's understandable that they were upset, given how tempting those spirit stones were.

A whopping several hundred thousand spirit stones.

If everyone shares it, it will amount to a considerable sum.

"I can't give in. I originally thought I'd just laugh it off and split it with the other party, but I didn't expect that Zhang would have such a big appetite. Isn't he afraid of overeating?"

They asked me for the account books directly, but since that's the case, then don't blame us for being impolite." A ruthless glint appeared in Li Xiumei's eyes.

"Senior sister, senior sister."

Just as Li Xiumei was speaking, a female cultivator suddenly ran in and said, "That group of people are in the spirit stone mine and the warehouse. They even sent people to check the quantity in the warehouse."

"So fast?" Li Xiumei was stunned when she heard this. The other party's speed was simply too fast.

And it's too straightforward, too direct.

It even gives people the feeling that they are fearless.

It's as if they don't care at all, nor are they afraid to fight with them.

This made Li Xiumei feel that something was wrong.

After all, no matter what, they also have about ten Foundation Establishment cultivators on their side. Are they really that fearless?
Are they so sure they've won them over?

"Sigh, you should go and break the seal on that place."

Sudden.

Li Xiumei sighed, then slowly began to speak.

"Open the seal on that place?" Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned for a moment, and no one even took any action.

"Senior sister, if we open that seal, the entire spirit stone mine might be destroyed, and it will take at least a year and a half to recover," someone said to Li Xiumei.

"so what?
"This isn't our Wanhua Palace's spirit stone mine anymore. Since they want the spirit stone mine, then we'll give it to them, give it all to them," Li Xiumei said quietly.

"Alright, in that case, we'll listen to Senior Sister." Those who had initially objected nodded without hesitation after hearing Li Xiumei's words.

Anyway, this spirit stone mine no longer belongs to them.

What happens in the future is none of their business.

“Yes, that’s more like it. It won’t be easy for them to deal with that thing. If they ask us for help, they should at least share some of the spirit stones with us. Even if they are really powerful and can solve this problem, it will probably take them some time. We’ve already left with the spirit stones, so why are we afraid of this?” Li Xiumei calmly analyzed to everyone.

"Senior Sister is right, Senior Sister is brilliant!" Everyone began to flatter Li Xiumei.

……

At this very moment, on the other side.

Inside the room, Zhang Yan was frowning as he looked at Lin Hai.

"Only 300,000 spirit stones?" Zhang Yan asked Lin Hai in disbelief.

"Yes, we checked several times, and there are indeed only 300,000 spirit stones in the warehouse," Lin Hai nodded without hesitation.

"That's not right. Such a large spirit stone mine should produce more than 300,000 spirit stones in half a year. It should produce more."

"Go find someone and ask the miners here, especially those who have worked long hours. They should know how many spirit stones this mine produces," Zhang Yan said after thinking for a moment.

"Okay." Lin Hai said and turned to leave, starting to ask the miners questions with an extremely enthusiastic attitude.

nonsense!

How could we not be proactive?

These are spirit stones!!
These spirit stones can be taken and belong to them.

If we can produce more spirit stones, everyone can get a bigger share. So, this work isn't for others, but for ourselves.

Most importantly, this job is not tiring, not dangerous, and rewarding. Who the hell wouldn't be enthusiastic about it?
Thinking of this, Lin Hai quickened his pace.

After watching Lin Hai leave, Zhang Yan went to the room of the monk Guangcheng.

The ledger was thick.

However, Monk Guangcheng was, after all, a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage, so his calculation ability was much faster than that of ordinary people.

Upon seeing Zhang Yan enter, he paused for a moment before saying, "Junior Brother Zhang, the accounts haven't been finalized yet. We estimate that preliminary results won't be available until tomorrow."

"I've only calculated one month's worth of quantities so far," Monk Guangcheng explained to Zhang Yan. "The main problem is that the quantity is just too large, so the calculations are a bit slow."

"How much does this mine produce in a month?" Zhang Yan asked the monk Guangcheng.

“More than 300,000 spirit stones a month,” Guang Cheng said leisurely, looking up at Zhang Yan.

"so much?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan was immediately stunned. This number...

It exceeded his expectations by a great deal.

Wasn't it said that Swan Mountain's annual output was only a few hundred to a million spirit stones?
When he first heard Lin Hai say that he would earn 300,000 spirit stones in six months, he thought that the people from the Myriad Flowers Palace might have kept half of it. But now it seems that he underestimated their appetite.

Moreover, Zhang Yan already had an answer in his heart as to why there were so many.

In fact, the reason is very simple.

They previously thought that Swan Mountain could produce tens or hundreds of thousands of spirit stones a year, but that was just a guess, and it was what the Myriad Flower Palace said.

But what's being referred to here is what's left over, the spirit stone mine that was handed over to the Myriad Flower Palace.

But as everyone knows, if you mine 10 spirit stones, can you hand over 10 spirit stones?
You have to find a way to cut some of the cost, right?
If you hand it over to the mine, the people at the mine will embezzle another batch, and then the people above will embezzle another batch. If ten spirit stones actually reach the hands of the Myriad Flower Palace, you're lucky if you get even half of them.

As for why no one has come to investigate?

So, guess where the other half of the spirit stones went?

Why are all the people who can come to the mines people with connections?

"That is to say...

Li Xiumei and his group still have at least nearly a million spirit stones in their hands.

Holy crap.

Upon realizing this, Zhang Yan felt a chill run down his spine.

He had previously thought that working in the spirit stone mine might be lucrative, but now it seemed that it was more than just lucrative; it was incredibly lucrative.

He always considered himself a wealthy landowner.

He owns a large number of spiritual fields, but it seems he is still too poor.

They can't compare to those who own mines.

"Wang Lian, Wang Lian!" Zhang Yan shouted hurriedly to the outside.

"Senior Brother Zhen, what's wrong?" Upon hearing Zhang Yan's words, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator hurriedly entered and asked Zhang Yan.

"Take some men and keep an eye on the group from the Wanhua Palace. Make sure they don't cause any trouble or get away."

"Otherwise, I'll throw you into a spirit stone mine to dig for spirit stones." Zhang Yan took a deep breath and said to him.

"Yes, Senior Brother Zhenchuan."

Upon hearing this, Wang Lian immediately realized the seriousness of the situation.

He quickly left with his men.

“Sigh, I think we’re going to strike it rich this time,” Zhang Yan said, looking at Guangcheng.

"Then thank you very much, Junior Brother Zhang."

It's all thanks to Junior Brother Zhang.

Guangcheng keenly grasped the meaning of the word "we" and immediately said to Zhang Yan with a beaming smile.

Although he had previously thought that Zhang Yan might share some spirit stones with their Landuo Temple, he was still overjoyed to have actually received Zhang Yan's promise.

after all……

There are so many spirit stones in this spirit stone mine that even a tiny bit would be enough to feed them all.

After all, they were different from Zhang Yan, who had seen the world. They came from small sects, and it was enough for them to get a little bit out of Zhang Yan's hands.

……

The two were talking to each other.

But suddenly, the two heard arguing outside, followed by a deafening roar.

Both of them immediately looked up and looked outside.

"Damn it, are they going to make a move?!"

Zhang Yan cursed, then pushed open the door and walked out.

At this moment, the outside world was in complete chaos. Large numbers of miners, people from Landuo Temple, Qingheng Sect, and Wanhua Palace were all gathering.

"What's going on?" Zhang Yan opened the door and saw faint black smoke rising from not far away. He immediately said, "Don't panic! All miners, get back to your quarters. Anyone who dares to run away will be killed without mercy."

Zhang Yan's voice was not loud.

But after he finished speaking, everyone was genuinely shaken and stopped, doing as he instructed.

This is a divine power!
These miners were all cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, so they naturally had no ability to resist Zhang Yan's supernatural powers.

Some of the weaker cultivators were almost knocked unconscious. All the rogue cultivators looked at Zhang Yan with awe and then hurriedly carried him back to their residences.

This is the tragedy of the weak.

Faced with the orders of the powerful, they had no way to resist.

With the miners gone, the site became much quieter.

Zhang Yan and Guang Cheng quickly headed towards the source of the black smoke, using their divine senses to assess the situation as they went.

When they arrived at their destination, they had a pretty good understanding of the situation.

Lin Hai led his men to explore the spirit stone mine and seal off the spirit stones in the warehouse, but they encountered people from the Myriad Flower Palace.

The people from the Myriad Flowers Palace sneaked into a mine and tried to break a seal, but were discovered by Lin Hai and the others, which led to a dispute.

During the argument, the people from the Myriad Flowers Palace unexpectedly detonated several talismans at the seal, opening a cave.

For some unknown reason, a demonic beast was hiding inside the cave, which attacked Lin Hai and his companions.

"The Palace of a Thousand Flowers!"

"How dare you!" After learning the whole story, Zhang Yan was instantly enraged.

Regarding the dispute over spirit stones, he had actually given the other party face and hadn't used any special methods. Although he had audited the accounts and sealed the spirit stone mine, he hadn't gone too far.

But now the other party has resorted to underhanded tactics.

Moreover, the fate of Lin Hai and the others remains unknown, which makes the problem much bigger.

"What happened?" At this moment, Li Xiumei and the others rushed over from a distance. Seeing Zhang Yan's grim expression, she realized that something might have happened.

"What's wrong?
"Senior Sister Li, you've got some tricks up your sleeve, resorting to underhanded methods." Seeing Li Xiumei, Zhang Yan sneered, mocking her without any politeness.

"Junior Brother Zhang, is there some misunderstanding?" Li Xiumei's face paled when he saw the pool of blood on the ground.

"You blew up this mine, and my junior brother was attacked by the monsters inside. His life or death is unknown. If you tell the truth, my junior brother will be fine. Otherwise, you'll be in big trouble." Zhang Yan ignored what Senior Sister Li said and instead directly threatened her.

"How dare you speak to Senior Sister Li like that! Don't think that just because you're a true disciple, we have to be afraid of you. You're just a true disciple of the Qingheng Sect, not one of our Wanhua Palace!" Hearing Zhang Yan's tone, one of the female cultivators in Wanhua Palace couldn't help but sneer at him.

"Shut up." Li Xiumei scolded the woman behind him sternly, then gave an embarrassed smile: "Now that things have come to this, let's think about it carefully."

"At the very least, let's seal off this mine shaft first, and then we can talk about it?"

"Seal it off?"

"My junior brother has already been dragged in by the demonic beasts, and you still want to seal up this mine?" Zhang Yan's face turned cold; this woman was already courting death.

“There’s a fake Core Formation stage demon beast in here, and several Foundation Establishment stage demon beasts. If you don’t seal them up, it will be even more troublesome when these guys come out,” Li Xiumei said anxiously.

"A fake core demon beast?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan's expression changed.

Fake pills.

It is neither the Foundation Establishment stage nor the Golden Core stage, but rather an existence between the Golden Core and Foundation Establishment stages.

Generally speaking, the Foundation Establishment stage is followed by the Golden Core stage.

However, some people know that they are unlikely to advance to the Golden Core stage, and then, by chance, they obtain someone else's Golden Core or the inner core of a demon beast, and then refine it.

Such a person is a fake elixir.

Although he possessed a Golden Core, because it wasn't his own, his strength was weaker than that of someone in the early Golden Core stage, but stronger than someone in the Foundation Establishment stage. Moreover, having taken someone else's Golden Core, he would never be able to advance any further in his life.

Therefore, it was called a fake pill.

Zhang Yan never expected that there would be a pseudo-Core Formation Realm demon beast here.

"What a clever tactic! For this batch of spirit stones, you've actually resorted to diverting disaster by using fake core demonic beasts to kill people. Guards, arrest everyone from the Myriad Flower Palace and await their fate." Zhang Yan said coldly.

"you dare!"

"who do you think You Are?"

"You Qingheng Sect and the people of Lantuo Temple dare to touch our Wanhua Palace?"

Upon hearing that Zhang Yan was actually going to take down the people from Wanhua Palace.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Qingheng Sect were about to make their move without hesitation, while the people from the Landuo Temple looked at Monk Guangcheng, and the people from the Wanhua Palace questioned him angrily.

"Make your move." Zhang Yan's voice turned cold again, and the monk Guangcheng silently closed his eyes, tacitly agreeing to the plan.

At Wanhua Palace, Li Xiumei's expression was also rather grim; she hadn't expected things to develop to this point.

She clearly had no intention of killing anyone, but she also knew that in the current situation, they absolutely could not be controlled by the Qingheng Sect, otherwise they would be completely at a disadvantage.

It's not just about that batch of spirit stones anymore; if things go wrong, they could lose their lives here.

So she gritted her teeth and revealed her magical weapon, wanting to escape with her people.

"Hmm?" Seeing that the other party had revealed a magical artifact, Zhang Yan immediately laughed, his voice icy cold: "Well, you really do have something going on. I think you must have colluded with the Hehuan Demon Sect to poison us."

Take him down immediately! Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!

After speaking, Zhang Yan gently shook his wide sleeves.

Instantly, a large number of flying swords flew out from his sleeves, forming a sword array that suppressed Li Xiumei.

"Swish, swish, swish~"

Zhang Yan's first move was a deadly strike.

Li Xiumei quickly released a red undergarment, which billowed in the wind, attempting to block Zhang Yan's sword formation.

however……

She underestimated Zhang Yan's Five Elements Heavenly Gang Sword Formation.

After all, there are 170 flying swords.

Moreover, each flying sword is a top-grade spiritual weapon, and when they are combined, the effect is not as simple as 1+1=2.

The power unleashed by the sword formation will increase exponentially.

Under the sword formation, Li Xiumei's magical weapon was as useless as a clay chicken or a clay dog, easily defeated.

Before she could even react, her red bodice was obliterated by the sword energy and shattered into pieces.

Immediately afterwards, a series of flying swords, like swimming fish, attacked the disciples of the Myriad Flowers Palace.

"Swish, swish, swish~"

Sword energy swept across, its cold light chilling, engulfing heaven and earth.

Under Zhang Yan's sword formation, several Foundation Establishment cultivators were beheaded before they could even react.

Li Xiumei originally wanted to struggle desperately, but in the end she was no match for dozens of flying swords. After struggling for three breaths, all her magical artifacts were destroyed. She wanted to beg for mercy, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a flying sword shot into her mouth.

Li Xiumei.

dead!
Although it sounds complicated, these things only take a dozen or so breaths.

With Li Xiumei's death, Zhang Yan pointed his sword lightly, and all the flying swords stopped, surrounding the remaining female cultivators of the Myriad Flowers Palace: "Will you continue, or surrender?"

His voice was icy, and his face was expressionless.

"We surrender, we surrender," the remaining members of the Myriad Flowers Palace said without hesitation.

At this moment, they had lost all fighting spirit.

Zhang Yan's displayed strength was simply too great. They all doubted whether Zhang Yan was actually in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. How could a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator have so much magic power to drive so many flying swords?

It wasn't just the people from Wanhua Palace.

At this moment, the monk Guangcheng standing next to Zhang Yan, as well as the people from Lantuo Temple and even Qingheng Sect, were all impressed by the fighting prowess Zhang Yan displayed.

This is crazy.

She looks like a supermodel.

Those who know you are at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, but those who don't might think you're at the Golden Core stage!

However, unlike the Wanhua Palace, which was filled with grief, the Landuo Temple and Qingheng Sect were mostly happy.

Given the current chaotic situation, who wouldn't want to be by the side of a powerful figure?
After dealing with the remaining people from the Myriad Flowers Palace, Zhang Yan's serious expression did not return. Instead, he turned to look at the mine shaft beside him.

"Junior Brother Zhang, you don't want to go in, do you?" Guangcheng was startled when he saw this scene and asked him.

“Of course I want to go in.” Zhang Yan nodded slightly.

"Lin Hai was dragged into the cave, and we don't know if he's alive or dead. I have to go check on him no matter what," Zhang Yan said with a sigh.

“That’s a fake-core demon beast!” Guangcheng’s eyes widened as he repeated it to Zhang Yan.

"Don't mistake fake pills for real ones."

"Don't worry, I know what's important." Zhang Yan chuckled and said, "I think this so-called pseudo-core stage demon beast might not be at its peak."

He squinted as he spoke.

The reason is actually quite simple: if the opponent were truly at their peak, they wouldn't have been able to be sealed away by Li Xiumei and the others.

After all, with only a fake core and several Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts, how could they be afraid of people like you?
"But..." Guangcheng wanted to say something more.

But Zhang Yan shook his head and continued, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I definitely won't be too impulsive. Besides, I have a life-saving item given to me by my elders. Even if I can't kill the other party, I can still save my life."

"Alright." Hearing Zhang Yan's words, Guang Cheng couldn't help but give a wry smile.

Yes.

The other party was not like him. He was a true disciple of the Qingheng Sect and the sect leader. It was perfectly normal for him to have some life-saving equipment.

Moreover, putting aside other things.

It is said that the identity tokens of true disciples of the Qingheng Sect have teleportation capabilities.

If we really encounter danger, we can just teleport away and be done with it.

Thinking of this, a hint of amusement crept onto his face.

Making a teleportation device the size of a token would be incredibly difficult; I wonder how much it would cost.

Normally, that's something that has a price but no market.

However, in the Qingheng Sect, it was given as a gift upon becoming a true disciple, which can only be described as being extremely wealthy and generous.

Enviable.

"Senior Brother Guangcheng, I'll leave this place to you after I go in," Zhang Yan said to Guangcheng.

"Don't worry, junior brother, I will definitely take good care of things here." Guangcheng nodded gently, indicating that he would make sure that the disciples of Qingheng Sect and the people of Lantuo Temple were not injured.

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant, you should thoroughly search the area and make sure there are enough spirit stones." Zhang Yan said with exasperation, "What are we here for?"
Isn't it all for spirit stones?

You need to distinguish between primary and secondary matters!

Guangcheng: "..."

Upon hearing Zhang Yan's words, he was taken aback for a moment, and then quickly nodded: "Junior Brother Zhang, rest assured, this humble monk will definitely bring over all the spirit stones, not a single one will be missing."

"Yes, that's right, after all, we came here for the spirit stones."

After Zhang Yan finished speaking, he turned around and went into the mine.

……

The mine was very dark, but it didn't pose a problem for cultivators.

The surrounding walls were covered with marks left by pickaxes.

Following the trail of blood flowing through the mine, Zhang Yan continued forward. As he went deeper, he could clearly smell a damp, sticky, and putrid odor.

It even tastes like poison.

And the worst part is that the bloodstains are gone.

Don't know what the reason is.

He silently swallowed an antidote pill.

Then, after using his supernatural powers to resist the poison, he continued forward.

At the same time, he thought for a moment, then patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Then it released a swarm of spirit-devouring insects.

He had been cultivating the Soul-Devouring Insect since he obtained it from the Thousand Fiends Taoist.

Don’t say anything else.

Now, not only are there more of these Soul-Devouring Insects, but each one has also been upgraded, making them much more difficult to deal with than before.

The reason he released the Soul-Devouring Insects was mainly because there were a lot of them, which could quickly help him explore the situation inside the cave.

Thus, Zhang Yan found what he was looking for in very short time.

Guided by the Soul-Eating Insect.

Zhang Yan concealed his form and aura.

Then it quietly turned into a tunnel. Compared with the previous mine, this tunnel had fewer traces of human intervention, but scratch marks could still be seen.

It must have been caused by those monsters themselves.

Keep moving forward.

Zhang Yan finally saw the first monster.

However, it wasn't a Foundation Establishment stage demon beast, but a rat with golden fur that only had the characteristics of a Foundation Establishment stage creature. This rat was about the size of a calf.

Crouching in the tunnel, its small eyes constantly scanned the surroundings; clearly, it was on lookout duty.

"Heh, I didn't expect this beast to be so intelligent." Zhang Yan sneered, then waved his hand lightly, releasing a barely perceptible burst of magical power.

The rat immediately fell into a deep sleep.

The main reason he didn't kill the other party was that he was afraid of alerting them.

Having bypassed the rat, Zhang Yan continued on his way.

Then along the way, he discovered many more sentries, both visible and hidden, but he managed to avoid them all.

Finally, he reached the end of the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel was a huge pit, and if you looked inside, you could see a dense array of red eyes.

These are all rats.

There must be at least a hundred of them.

"This is what she called a fake core and a few Foundation Establishment cultivators?" Zhang Yan felt a chill run down his spine when he saw this.

There was indeed only one fake core cultivator and four Foundation Establishment cultivators, but there were also hundreds of Qi Refining stage demon beasts!
Have these been overlooked?
"but……

These mice are interesting!

Zhang Yan, hiding above, could see everything clearly.

Aside from the Qi Refining stage demonic beasts, the remaining Foundation Establishment stage rats all radiated shrewdness and looked intelligent.

Of course, the most important one is the one at the very top, with golden fur all over its body and a size similar to an adult.

That rat exuded a terrifying aura.

It curled up on a throne, looking down at its people. Around it were pieces of spirit stones, various rare and precious materials, and even a few rats carefully serving it.

This scene looks somewhat eerie.

This rat doesn't look like a monster at all; it looks more like a human.

What surprised Zhang Yan the most was that there was someone kneeling in front of the other party. Without even looking, Zhang Yan recognized that person as Lin Hai.

Lin Hai was disheveled and his clothes were tattered, but he was not dead. Instead, he was controlled by the rats and knelt before the Rat King.

"These rats are really something else." Seeing this, Zhang Yan felt even colder.

At the same time, he was also assessing the strength of both sides.

The opponent has one fake Core Formation cultivator and three Foundation Establishment cultivators, but only one of these three Foundation Establishment cultivators is in the middle stage, while the other two are in the early stage.

Their strength is probably not very high.

As for the remaining hundred or so Qi Refining stage cultivators, Zhang Yan didn't care much.

After all, the strength of those in the Qi Refining stage is too weak.

He didn't even need to lift a finger; he could kill these guys with just the Soul-Devouring Insects and the Wind and Thunder.

Although Feng Lei has not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

But don't forget, Feng Lei is a dragon after all.

It possesses the might of a dragon.

It has absolute dominance over ordinary monsters.

Especially for timid monsters like rats, they have absolutely no chance against a dragon.

It was pure torture and murder.

"So, the win rate is actually quite high," Zhang Yan thought to himself. (End of Chapter)