Mysterious mirror hanging high

"Damn it! I don't know when this will end."

Seeing that no one was watching around, Wen Rennuo relaxed a little, panting a few times while leaning on his pickaxe, and muttered to himself:

"Everyone says the [Mining Puppet] is incredibly efficient. The [Heavenly Court] is a massive behemoth spanning several vast domains, so why didn't they equip our Jiachen Mine with a few more?"

In fact, Wen Rennuo naturally knew the reason. Although various [Skill Puppets] have become popular in recent years, spirit stones are still needed to activate various puppets. Although [Mining Puppets] are much more efficient in mining than low-level Qi-training cultivators, there are still losses after all.

If you dig some high-quality spirit stone veins, there will be some profit. However, the Jiachen No. 13 mine where Wen Rennuo is located is the lowest quality mixed ore vein. Using the [Mining Puppet] will only make more money than money.

However, when the mana and true energy of low-level cultivators are exhausted, they can continue digging after breathing and recovering for a while on the spot. It can be said that it is an extremely useful consumable.

Just as Wen Rennuo was lost in thought, a beam of light suddenly passed overhead, turned a corner, and landed beside him.

The escaping light disappeared, and what landed was a fat middle-aged male cultivator. Judging from his spiritual pressure, he should be at the ninth level of Qi training. He scowled coldly at Wen Rennuo:

"Why are you slacking off again? Stop slacking off and dig!"

"It turned out to be Manager Zhang!"

When Wen Rennuo saw the newcomer, he immediately put on a fawning smile, nodded, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Manager Zhang!"

Although this boy is only ten years old, he was sent to the mine to mine after awakening his spiritual roots. After being immersed in this big melting pot for several years, his intelligence and thick-skinnedness have long surpassed those of boys of the same age. He knows the principle of speaking differently to different people and telling different stories to different people.

The manager Zhang in front of him was an extremely difficult kid.

"Don't try to get close to me. If you don't finish the monthly quota, the money will be deducted from your wages!" Manager Zhang said with a cold face.

"Manager Zhang, you may not know that the reason I was just standing there in a daze was actually for a reason."

Wen Rennuo sighed, "I received a letter from home yesterday saying my father is ill and wants to ask the family for some nourishing herbs..."

"My parents are both mortals. As you know, Manager Zhang, the Heavenly Court now has very strict control over all kinds of spiritual herbs and medicines. Every bit of loss must be recorded."

"And ordinary people are not worthy of using spiritual medicine. If they want to apply for it, they must pay heavy taxes and a large amount of spiritual money."

"This amount of spiritual money is really too much for me to afford..."

At this point, Wen Rennuo actually shed tears: "My old father has raised me with great difficulty, but now he has a serious illness. As a son, I can't be by his side to show my filial piety, let alone share his worries and difficulties... It's really, really..."

Steward Zhang said expressionlessly, "So? Is this your excuse for deserting your post?"

"Fuck you, do you have any humanity at all?"

Wen Rennuo cursed the fat man in front of him to the eighteenth generation of his ancestors in his heart, but on the surface he still cried and said:

"I've heard that the spiritual stones found deep in the veins are of higher quality and produce more... Could you please be flexible and allow me to mine for spiritual stones deep in the veins?"

"Only for the sake of my old father, I beg Manager Zhang to have mercy on me..."

Then, with a painful look on his face, he took out four low-grade spirit stones from his sleeve and secretly stuffed them into the sleeve of Manager Zhang.

Wen Rennuo's expression was not fake. The wages for mining here were not much, and he was only a cultivator in the early stage of Qi training. His mining efficiency was extremely low. In addition to his daily practice and food expenses... It took him four whole years to save up these four spirit stones. Now he gave them all away. How could he not feel heartbroken?

The steward calmly pocketed the spirit stone, revealing a look of satisfaction as he nodded.

"There's a spot fifty feet underground in Mine No. 13. Go there."

After saying that, he handed a positioning token to Wenren Nuo.

"Thank you, Manager Zhang!" Wen Rennuo breathed a sigh of relief, took the token and said happily.

Manager Zhang said sternly, "I'm responsible for this matter... but don't tell anyone else. If this gets out, it won't be as simple as a salary deduction!"

"I'll save it, I'll save it." Wen Rennuo smiled a few times and walked into the depths of the mine, leaving Zhang Guanshi sneering and thinking in his heart:

"The [Spirit Devouring Rats] have been rampant in the mines lately, causing a significant loss of spirit stones. Several cultivators sent in to clear out the demonic rats have been killed... This kid just happened to show up, so I'll send him down to fill the gap."

"It would be best if we could find a demon rat to take the blame. If not... its flesh and blood could attract a colony of Black Blood Ants... These ants are the nemesis of the Soul-Eating Rats, so we can still eliminate the rat infestation."

“It’s an excellent consumable material.”

Manager Zhang was smug: "I got four spirit stones for free... Even though it's a little, a mosquito's leg is still meat!"

"Once I have accumulated enough spirit stones, I can go to the black market and buy a foundation-building pill and try to build my foundation for the third time!"

Thinking of this, Manager Zhang's face darkened:

"The Heavenly Court controls the elixir for upgrading, and the Foundation Establishment Pill is of utmost importance... With my low-grade spiritual roots, I can only have two chances to establish my foundation. If I fail twice, I won't be able to apply for another quota of pills unless I perform great deeds."

"If you want to try building your foundation again, you'll have to pay a high premium on the Black Market to buy Foundation Building Pills..."

"Damn you Xiao Guanying! After I establish my foundation, I can't stay in the Yellow Sand Region anymore. I can't stand the righteous path either... I'll see if I can find a way to return to the [Tiannan Demon Region] and resume my old job as a demon cultivator. Even though it means hanging my head on my belt, it's much more enjoyable than wandering around here!"

----

After going fifty feet underground, Wen Rennuo quickly found his mining spot by following the location marked on the token. He looked at the spiritual stone ore on the rock wall, which was obviously of much better quality, and his face was filled with joy.

"Not bad... The spiritual stone ore here is indeed of better quality, and there isn't much [Rust Stone] mixed in. The mining efficiency is much higher!"

"It's worth the four spirit stones I gave away."

Wen Rennuo rolled up his sleeves, swung his pickaxe, and cursed:

"How dare you embezzle my spirit stones, Fatty Zhang, just wait for me... You bastard, you're giving birth to a son without an asshole. When I become rich, just wait and see how I can control this piece of rotten meat like you!"

The young man seemed to regard the exposed spirit stone mine in front of him as Manager Zhang. He attacked with great force, swinging the pickaxe violently several times, smashing the ore into scattered spirit chips.

But he only heard a "ding" sound, and the pickaxe seemed to hit something hard. In an instant, Wen Rennuo's palms shook violently and he almost dropped the pickaxe.

"What is it?"

Wen Rennuo looked closely and saw that there was an ancient bronze mirror embedded in the rock wall. Half of the mirror was exposed at this time, and it emitted a bright and precious light under the reflection of the spirit stone.