Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 160: Manager Xiao, something strange happened in the spirit mine

The envoy responsible for the verification this time was Du Mingjie again, who arrived at Qingyang Mountain early the next morning.

At the same time, he also brought a full four thousand spirit stones as compensation in exchange for the lost Flame Crystal Stone.

To be honest, Xiao Chen didn't expect at first that this thing could be sold at such a high price.

Later I found out that it was the leader of Lingyuan Sect who deliberately gave double the price.

At the same time, Du Mingjie also gave out double points jade cards and a special letter seal.

As long as this garrison mission is over, you can take the letter back to Lingyuan Sect and officially become a Demon Slayer Guard.

It is said that one can also use the letter to go to the sect warehouse to exchange for a spiritual item for cultivation.

This is certainly a good thing. No one would complain about having too many spiritual objects in their hands.

In addition, Du Mingjie also brought several invitations from different families.

With the defeat of the White Bone Sect, everyone now knows that Xiao Chen has superb escape skills.

Therefore, many families sent invitations in advance, inviting him to attend various tea parties and cocktail parties after he became the Demon Slayer Guard.

The Qiu family even specially invited him to participate in the Lishan Zhuyun event in late February.

It is said that it is a competition about the art of escape, and many foundation-building monks from Hezhou who specialize in the art of escape will be there to exchange experiences in practicing the art of escape.

And the winner every year can get the flowing cloud dew that only appears once a year in Tochiyama.

This spiritual liquid is of great benefit to the practice of any escape technique.

Xiao Chen carefully put away the letter and invitation, and then continued to immerse himself in cultivation.

Due to the use of two grains of purple gold spiritual sand a day, his current cultivation progress can be said to be rapid.

Every day I can feel that my control over "Golden Light of the Earth" has been improved, and I can intuitively feel that my speed has increased.

To be honest, this improvement in strength is quite intoxicating.

Especially in this way, he could clearly feel the process of himself becoming stronger little by little, which even made Xiao Chen a little fascinated.

On the way, Xiao Chen also passed through Changshunping and met the vice president of Huidong Chamber of Commerce, an old man with a long beard.

Speaking of which, the vice president's original mission was to ask Xiao Chen for an explanation.

In the past six months, Huidong Chamber of Commerce has attracted many independent cultivators to build their foundation, and Zhang Ditan is one of them.

But halfway through, after learning that Xiao Chen had dealt with the evil cultivators of the White Bone Sect, he temporarily changed his mind.

Huidong Chamber of Commerce did not want to offend this newly emerged master of escape techniques just for the sake of a street vendor.

Instead, he was invited to attend the Lantern Festival dinner on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

However, Xiao Chen naturally rejected this idea outright. He really had no interest in watching fireworks.

Wouldn't it be nice to use this time to practice the art of escape?
But such good days only lasted for eleven days.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, which was the day after the Lantern Festival, a large number of demon cultivators returned and pressed forward to Luoyan Mountain again.

At the same time, many groups of demonic cultivators bypassed Luoyan Mountain and headed straight for the rear.

This behavior was very wrong, as if the Divine Fire Sect had already determined that Luoyan Mountain was going to fall.

Lingyuan Sect naturally issued a warning as soon as possible, and even several Jindan Zhenren came to Luoyan Mountain to take charge.

During the period after learning the hexagram, they thought about various possibilities.

But no one could guess what tricks the Divine Fire Cult was up to.

Xiao Chen was also a little puzzled after receiving the warning.

He is no longer like when he first arrived and knew nothing. He has gradually learned a lot about Hezhou.

For example, in the past, the Divine Fire Sect did not dare to invade on a large scale because they were afraid of losing their retreat.

Luoyan Mountain has two second-level spiritual veins, and the Lingyuan Sect has arranged a third-level defense formation with a maximum impact range of dozens of miles.

If one ignores the formation and marches forward, even a Jindan Zhenren will likely be surrounded and blocked within the Lingyuan Sect.

Therefore, it is still necessary to break through the formation head-on and remove such barriers.

But when talking about this matter, Xiao Chen was speechless.

According to the information he received, the war lasted for more than a year, and the number of times the Jindan Zhenren of both sides fought against each other was less than ten times in total.

So far, no Jindan Zhenren has been injured.

What's even more outrageous is that these battles were very short, with the longest one lasting only a quarter of an hour.

Afterwards, True Man Qianhong of the Divine Fire Sect took the initiative to retreat, and True Man Yusha did not pursue him.

The main point is to get it right.

In short, over the past year or so, it was the Foundation Establishment cultivators below who served as the backbone of the battle, while a large number of Qi Refining cultivators became cannon fodder.

Including some cultivators in the early stage of foundation building sent by the Divine Fire Sect, they also felt like cannon fodder.

Xiao Chen could actually guess part of the reason.

For example, cherish life.

After so much difficulty in cultivating the golden elixir, he certainly doesn't want to give up so easily.

Another example is being wary of each other.

If a sect suffers heavy damage in the fight against the Divine Fire Sect, then after the Demon Sect is wiped out, that sect may become the next target.

No matter how many foundation-building monks of Lingyuan Sect died in battle, it would only weaken his influence.

But if something happens to a Jindan Zhenren, the border with Wanhua Valley will probably have to be redrawn.

But the strange thing is that no Jindan Zhenren is willing to take action to eliminate these foundation-building demon cultivators who have invaded the territory of Lingyuan Sect.

This made Xiao Chen a little confused.

Could it be that there are other reasons that are restricting Jindan Zhenren from taking action?
But no one can help him answer this question for the time being.

In the following days, according to incomplete statistics from the front line, at least more than forty foundation-building demon cultivators and hundreds of Qi-refining demon cultivators crossed Luoyan Mountain and rushed into the heart of Lingyuan Sect.

Qingyang County's rating has even changed from a marginal area to a relatively dangerous area.

"This isn't pure false information. There aren't any demonic cultivators in Qingyang at all."

Xiao Chen looked at the warning notice in his hand and felt that it was completely inconsistent with the actual situation.

Strangely enough, it has been five days since the invasion of the demon cultivators.

Many places within Lingyuan Sect have been harassed to varying degrees.

But in Qingyang County, not a single demon cultivator appeared.

In the first two days, Chang Shunping in the city was a little worried and hid in the defensive formation at home and did not dare to come out.

But five days later, Qingyang was calm.

It was as if the hundreds of demon cultivators mentioned in the notice did not exist at all.

In fact, the Divine Fire Sect had naturally heard about the strength that Xiao Chen had shown before.

Therefore, before this invasion, Qingyang County was specially marked on the map as a high-risk area to warn insufficiently powerful demon cultivators not to approach.

This undoubtedly made Xiao Chen a little disappointed. He originally thought that he could get some actual combat training and earn some points at the same time.

But it turns out that there is no future in just sitting back and waiting.

Before, it was a low-probability event to encounter three demon cultivators who came over on their own initiative.

Things like this don't happen often.

If you want to get points, you still have to become a Demon Slayer and take the initiative to attack.
.
"Manager Xiao, something strange has appeared in the spirit mine."

On the twenty-third day of the first lunar month, a team leader who had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining suddenly came running over to report, "A miner was burned by a sudden burst of fire while digging."

"Excavation of that tunnel has been suspended, but it seems there is fire starting to break out."

Xiao Chen was stunned for a moment before he remembered that he was still the manager of the Qingyang Spirit Mine.

Since coming here, he has not participated in mining and almost forgot that he also has such an identity.

So he asked directly: "How did you handle this kind of thing before?"

For things you don’t understand, it’s best to refer to the experience of your predecessors.

The team leader shook his head: "This has never happened before."

?

As Xiao Chen stood up and prepared to go over to take a look, he asked about the current situation: "Are there many injured? What's the situation?"

The team leader hesitated before answering, "Nine people are slightly injured and two are seriously injured."

"so much?"

Xiao Chen was a little surprised. This was no small matter. It accounted for one-tenth of the total number of people in the spirit mine.

The team leader immediately explained: "It happened too suddenly, without any warning."

"When we found out, we rushed in to rescue people, but it was still a little late."

"But for now, the rest of the tunnels are unaffected. I will lead the excavation to ensure this month's collection volume is not affected."

Xiao Chen frowned when he heard this: "Since you've discovered something unusual, why do you continue?"

"Call up everyone in the other tunnels and stop digging until the cause is determined."

Then, he quickly walked to the tunnel that had been shut down: "I'll go take a look inside. You don't have to follow me in."

Just standing at the entrance of the tunnel, Xiao Chen felt the fire gushing out from inside.

Although the fire here is still very weak, the situation inside is unpredictable.

Therefore, he chose to enter alone, so that if any emergency occurred, he would not have to be distracted by saving people.

Compared with the mine in the Yanchi Secret Realm, the mine in the Qingyang Spirit Mine is undoubtedly much narrower.

In most places, only two people can walk side by side, and in some narrow places, only one person can pass through.

This is because the surrounding stone walls are made of a kind of solid yellow rock, which naturally has a very good resistance to spells.

Qingyang Stone is hidden in the yellow rock here, and it is very difficult to mine.

Digging a wide tunnel is even more difficult.

As Xiao Chen went deeper, the anger around him grew stronger and stronger.

Before entering the innermost part, it had already reached the level that could burn a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining.

By the time he could see clearly, the pickaxe had fallen to the ground and the freshly dug gap.

The intensity of the fire energy around was almost comparable to that in the depths of the Yanchi Secret Realm.

No wonder some cultivators were injured before. You should know that in order to go to the Yanchi Secret Realm, the Lihuo Sect specially conducted a screening and picked out disciples who were capable of resisting fire.

"I've never heard before that Qingyang Stone could have fire energy."

Xiao Chen stood at the end of the tunnel and reached out to touch the yellow rock in front of him.

Strands of fire quickly invaded from his fingertips and penetrated into his body.

But before it could take effect, it was directly taken away by the Nahuo Baolu.

“It’s actually a problem that was discovered.”

Judging from the current situation, someone must have accidentally dug out something containing fire during mining.

Xiao Chen was invigorated, and he casually took out a top-grade flying sword from his storage bag as a tool and continued to dig.

"clang!"

As the sword was struck, an extremely dense fire burst out immediately.

If an ordinary foundation-building cultivator were to come here, he would probably suffer a small loss.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen has magic to protect his body. Not only can he completely absorb the fire energy, but he can also take the opportunity to practice the magic scroll.

Although the yellow rock was strong, it could not withstand the sharp edge of a top-grade magical weapon. Therefore, the excavation progressed very quickly, and a large amount of debris fell with each swing of the sword.

But then, something even stranger happened.

After digging about six feet inside, the raging fire suddenly disappeared.

Even the fire that had filled the tunnel before began to subside rapidly.

It was as if the yellow rock that had just been excavated was the culprit for storing fire energy.

"Hey? What's going on?"

Xiao Chen thought about it and directly activated the "Spiritual Eyes that Break Delusion" to observe the direction of the fire around him.

But what he didn't expect was that the anger around him actually dissipated.

Soon, the anger dissipated completely into the air. The problem that had caused the miner's injury was directly resolved.

"Something's wrong. Why is there such a fire energy, gathering inexplicably in the yellow rock?"

Although the current problem seems to have been solved, Xiao Chen does not want to stop there.

At least half of the entire Qingyang Mountain is covered with yellow rock.

If the problem occurs with yellow rock, there is definitely no precedent.

Therefore, there must be other factors that have led to the abnormal accumulation of a large amount of fire energy here.

So he continued to hold the flying sword, turned around and widened the surrounding rock wall, while looking for the cause of the problem.

The digging took eighteen hours.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen is also half a body-refining cultivator. Although it seems unimportant at ordinary times, he has plenty of physical strength at such a critical moment.

He dug a huge hole in one breath, which was more than ten feet long, wide and high.

Finally, a small piece of special yellow rock was found from the top.

In stark contrast to the strong fire energy that came before, this small piece of rock the size of a watermelon actually contained an extremely strong yin energy.

And all these negative energies gathered together tightly, as if they were nurturing some spiritual creature.

"Hey, could it be?"

Xiao Chen looked at the yellow rock in front of him and immediately thought of another thing - the rock core Ophiopogon japonicus.

According to legend, the core of Ophiopogon japonicus is located deep in the volcano and is surrounded by extremely strong fire energy.

But perhaps it is because the positive pole gives birth to the negative pole, and the core Ophiopogon japonicus happens to be a spiritual creature that can only be nurtured by pure negative energy.

With the help of the rich fire energy deep in the volcano, all the yin energy around it is gathered at one point. In about three hundred years, a rock core ophiopogon can be formed.

Only spiritual creatures born under such conditions can meet the unique condition of yin and yang.

The reason why Xiao Chen knew it so clearly was because he had been searching for Yin Cun Yang's spiritual object for a long time.

Ever since he obtained the recipe for the Third-Level Xuanyuan Pill, he has been thinking about it.

The third-level Xuanyuan Pill is an elixir that can improve a small realm. Whether you use it yourself or sell it for auction, it is one of the best things.

Although this place is not deep in the volcano, he immediately made corresponding associations when he saw such coincidental conditions.

"This thing is definitely not the Rock Core Ophiopogon japonicus, but it might be able to be used to make pills."
.
Xiao Chen used his spiritual sense to examine it, but could not see anything.

What appears before my eyes is just an ordinary piece of yellow rock.

But he was not surprised but happy. Since his spiritual sense could not see it, it just proved that it was some kind of rare treasure.

Almost all environments that can produce natural treasures have one thing in common.

That is, a natural array pattern will form around the spiritual object to block the inspection of spiritual consciousness.

But then again, it’s hard to say whether the cause or the effect came first.

If it weren't for this natural array pattern, these natural treasures would have been consumed by our ancestors long ago and would not have been preserved intact until now.

The remaining natural treasures can remain undiscovered for a long time precisely because they can shield spiritual consciousness.

"Let me see what this good thing is."

Xiao Chen carefully used his flying sword to cut open the watermelon-shaped yellow rock in front of him.

All the negative energy inside shrank together in an instant, revealing a stone egg as big as a duck egg.

"Hmm? What the hell is this?"

Xiao Chen originally thought that this would be some kind of rare treasure, but he didn't expect it to be a monster egg.

He picked up the stone egg and injected a trace of mana into it to examine it.

It was discovered that this was not only a monster egg, but also a monster egg that conformed to the concept of yin and yang.

Even from inside the stone egg, one can sense a strong vitality.

This means that if the cultivation continues, there is a high probability that a monster will hatch from the stone egg.

"But, cultivating monsters is not as important as cultivating yourself."

Xiao Chen took out the stone egg without hesitation and turned back to the outside of the mine.

The team leader was guarding the cave entrance: "Manager Xiao, you finally came out, I..."

Xiao Chen raised his hand to interrupt him: "Okay, the problem has been solved."

"Those injured monks will be arranged to recuperate and will not be required to work until they recover."

"As for the issue of Qingyang Stone production, I will be responsible for it."

After saying this, he flew directly to the Chang family in Qingyang County, intending to borrow an alchemy furnace.

Chang Shunping was warmly welcoming and very cooperative.

Not only did he give up the best alchemy furnace in the tribe, he also deliberately dispersed the surrounding tribesmen to ensure that there would be no interference.

Xiao Chen didn't bother to be polite with him and started to refine the third-level Xuanyuan Pill on the spot.

He had already collected the other auxiliary medicines needed for the recipe.

With the [Heart of an Alchemist], there is no need to make any unnecessary preparations.

The only preparation was to catch up on some sleep.

After all, he had been digging for two days and one night, and his energy was not very high.

I slept for a full five hours until I woke up naturally.

Then he started to refine the elixir and threw the monster egg he had just obtained into the elixir furnace without hesitation.

Six hours passed in a flash.

As the spiritual fire went out, a faint strange fragrance wafted out from the furnace.

It smells like red plum blossoms just blooming in winter, mixed with the scorching hot breeze of summer noon.

When the furnace was opened, two gray elixirs the size of walnuts were seen lying quietly in the middle of the furnace.

That’s right, not only are the materials for the third-level Xuanyuan Pill extremely difficult to collect, but one furnace can only produce two pills.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen had a [buy one get one free] deal, and he had two extra pills in his storage bag.

"It's a pity I can't eat too much, otherwise I would just take two and save me from having to practice."

Xiao Chen took out the jade bottle, put the pill away, and let out a breath of foul air.

With the third-level Xuanyuan Pill, you can directly upgrade to a small realm.

Of course, it’s definitely not for use now.

He is already at the seventh level of foundation building, and estimates that in another half month, he will be able to successfully break through to the eighth level.

At that time, after you have stabilized your cultivation a little and taken the third-level Xuanyuan Pill, you can directly reach the ninth level of foundation building.

After that, it’s just a matter of refining magic power and consolidating cultivation.

Xiao Chen happened to have obtained eight bottles of Guyuan Pills from the Holy Son last time.

If everything goes well, it is entirely possible to achieve the state of great perfection in foundation building before the end of February.

Speaking of which, it was really a pleasant surprise to obtain the Yin Cun Yang spiritual object in the spiritual mine this time.

Xiao Chen didn't smile until he put away the elixir.

Even though he has the Heavenly Dao Foundation, it is only a matter of time before he breaks through to the Great Perfection of the Foundation.

But being faster naturally has its advantages.

This is not only a matter of mana capacity, but also involves comprehending the five elements and preparing for the formation of the elixir.

However, the specific situation is described in the exercises in a rather mysterious way, and it is difficult to imagine it with words alone.

It is necessary to truly achieve perfection in foundation building before delving into and studying what the differences are.

"Hey, Fellow Daoist Xiao, you finally came out."

Xiao Chen walked out of the alchemy room with satisfaction and saw Chang Shunping waiting at the door.

The other party's face was full of anxiety, and he handed over a warning notice from Lingyuan Sect.

In the yard behind him, many members of the Chang family were standing, all looking at this side with anticipation.

The atmosphere was very strange.

Xiao Chen read the warning carefully. The general meaning was that among the invading demon cultivators, some were found to have used the Soul-Severing Needle to injure people.

So I would like to make it clear in advance that everyone should make the best possible protective preparations.

"What's wrong with this?"

Xiao Chen was a little puzzled. Chang Shunping had seen him take action twice and should have a better understanding of his strength.

How could a notice scare you like this?

Chang Shunping explained, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, you don't know something. I heard that the demon cultivator who used the Soul-Severing Needle this time was one of the Four Great Practitioners of the Divine Fire Sect."

"From three days ago until midnight last night."

"At least fourteen fellow Foundation Establishment cultivators were killed, and countless Qi Refining cultivators were killed."

Fourteen foundation-building people?
When Xiao Chen heard about such heavy casualties, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. This was not right.

Long before coming to Hezhou, he had already provided the original copy of the Soul-Severing Needle.

Logically speaking, it has been almost three months, and Lingyuan Sect should have already had a way to deal with it.

The reason why secret techniques are so powerful is because of the word "secret".

This unconventional method should not be difficult to crack once it becomes known to others.

Not to mention secret techniques, even if it is a normal inherited technique, once the content is leaked, it is very easy for the enemy to find a way to restrain it.

Xiao Chen really didn't expect that Lingyuan Sect had not yet developed a countermeasure.

But in this regard, he really could do nothing to help.

After all, he had only ever practiced the simplest yellow-level techniques and had no experience with this kind of earth-level technique.

Xiao Chen put away his warning and said, "Fellow Daoist Chang, you don't have to worry too much."

"If these invading demon cultivators dare to come to Qingyang, just leave them to me."

Unexpectedly, Chang Shunping still had a bitter look on his face: "Fellow Daoist Xiao, I have an unwelcome request."

"If it's convenient, I'd like to take my people and move to the Spirit Mine to avoid the limelight these days."

"I have already prepared all the necessary supplies and will not cause you any trouble."

The tribesmen behind him knelt on the ground in an instant, with anticipation in their eyes.

It was obvious that Chang Shunping was really scared.

Xiao Chen immediately extended his hand to support him: "Fellow Daoist Chang, you are too serious. It is just a small matter."

(End of this chapter)