Bamboo Mound

Looking down from a high altitude, one can see that a certain mountain valley is distinctly different from the others.

Amidst an endless expanse of lush greenery, patches of black, brown, and white are strikingly interspersed.

"This is it, Fellow Daoist Ye."

"I guessed it," Ning Chang nodded in response.

"Do you know the location of the teleportation array and the distribution of people inside?"

"This isn't something we can find out just by asking around. Let's go down and investigate first."

Lian Ping made the suggestion with a dry laugh.

After attaching concealment talismans to each other, the two landed on the mountaintop outside the mine.

Standing here, one can easily sense the flow of spiritual energy within the mine.

According to Ning Chang's perception, a rich spiritual energy was constantly emanating from the large pit in the center of the mine.

Beside the large pit, inside the largest building in the entire mine, faint fluctuations of spiritual energy emanated, with an intensity comparable to Lian Ping's.

Further out, there are several irregularly distributed wooden sheds. People are constantly pushing carts full of large spirit stones into them, and then pushing empty carts into the pit.

At the outermost edge of the mine, there were circles of roughly the same wooden huts, not even as refined as the greenhouses, small and dilapidated, barely enough to keep out the rain and wind.

And among the greenhouses and wooden houses are uniquely styled dwellings made of various materials such as vines, stones, and metal.

The uneven fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from these places are where those Spirit Gathering and Spirit Fusion Realm dwell.

As Ning Chang was observing, Lian Ping's voice came:

"Fellow Daoist Ye, the teleportation array is right next to the house of that Spirit Platform Realm cultivator. If you can delay that Spirit Platform Realm cultivator for a few breaths, I can disable the teleportation array and finish off all the Spirit Fusion Realm and Spirit Gathering Realm cultivators before they can react!"

Seeing that Ning Chang did not react for a moment, Lian Ping added, "Fellow Daoist, don't be fooled by my defeat after a few moves against you. At the very least, I can easily take down a few Spirit Fusion cultivators!"

"Hmm... Have you observed it all? I'll make my move once I'm sure there are no unexpected developments."

"Fellow Daoist Ye, rest assured, it's just that one spiritual platform. I will resolve it as soon as possible. However, among the Spirit Fusion Realm cultivators who can oversee the mine, there are bound to be some troublesome ones or those who deliberately delay. If Fellow Daoist Ye can spare some attention at that time, please lend a hand."

Lian Ping's eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"What are the backgrounds of these cultivators and that spiritual platform?" Ning Chang suddenly asked.

"This..." Lian Ping was taken aback, not expecting Ning Chang to ask this question at this time.

After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Most of them are independent cultivators who are not qualified to join the four sects, but have been recruited by the four sects and assigned to various places as guards."

Seeing Ning Chang hesitate, Lian Ping became anxious. If he were to defect, not only would the time wasted going back and forth be wasted, but he himself would also fail to succeed. If reinforcements from the four sects arrived, he would surely die!

"Fellow Daoist Ye, there's no need to worry. Which of these rogue cultivators, who lack the upbringing of a sect, is truly virtuous? They'll all have some blood on their hands!"

Moreover, embarking on this path signifies an acceptance of being killed; at worst, it's just bad luck for them.

"Well, that's how it is then." He stood up from his half-squatting position.

Ning Chang then realized that he was still being bound by that set of ideas in his behavior!

"Now that I have no more worries, I can do whatever I want, and rest as I please."

As long as he doesn't lose himself or his true self, he will still be himself.

Having long been accustomed to the solitude of high places, he now wanted to feel the cold wind at those even higher up!

As for killing, he had already done so when he was in the Qingyun Sect, and he didn't seem to feel any remorse at that time.

No matter how different things are, under the assimilation of the natural order of this world, it's only a matter of time before all things become mere straw dogs!

At least for now, he lacks spirit stones and a spatial bag, so his decision to rob a mine is honorable and doesn't involve trying to have it all, which would be considered fraudulent.

"Let's begin." Ning Chang finished thinking and calmly uttered a single word.

While he was exploring and remaining silent, he had already used the spiritual energy dissipating from the mine to disguise his spiritual power throughout the entire mine.

In an instant, the two figures disappeared from their original spot and reappeared inside the mine.

The moment the two entered, the Lingtai Realm guards detected their intrusion.

After all, no matter how mysterious the Concealment Talisman is, it can only hide one's figure and aura. At most, the mysterious spiritual energy fluctuations on the body can only be reduced by 20 or 30%.

Through the sensing of spiritual power, the Lingtai Realm cultivator took out a communication talisman the moment he detected the intrusion and infused it with spiritual power.

However, before he could say anything, his spiritual energy suddenly stopped for a moment, and the sound transmission talisman in his hand also stopped moving and was suddenly torn into several pieces.

He immediately realized what was happening and used all his strength to refine the spiritual power within his body that had not yet reached its full potential!

Although he couldn't sense those unfamiliar spiritual energies, based on his experience, if the spiritual energy wasn't flowing smoothly, it must have been tampered with!

Since we can't sense it, the other party must have a special method.

After all, in his perception, the two intruders were only a few levels lower than him, and their spiritual power was barely at the Spirit Platform level!

And it only caused him to pause slightly when he was completely unprepared.

However, the destruction of the communication talisman indicates that the other party has the ability to control objects remotely. Even if another one is taken out now, it will be difficult to prevent it from being destroyed again during the activation time.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

Of the two, one charged at him, while the other headed towards the teleportation array next to his house; their intentions were obvious.

He doesn't understand formations. If the teleportation array is destroyed, even if he kills those two early-stage Spirit Platform cultivators and sends a message to the weapon-refining workshop, reinforcements will not arrive until ten days later.

As for the other side, it's inevitable that they might have other people on their side. Two people at the initial stage of the Spirit Platform realm would be fine, but if they were a few levels higher, it would be difficult for him to handle them.

Thinking of this, he immediately roared, "Enemy attack!"

He summoned the Spirit Fusion Realm and Spirit Gathering Realm cultivators from the mine, then stepped forward to the teleportation array, took out a white-faced, gold-patterned long staff, and assumed a fighting stance.

"Who goes there! How dare you be so insolent, a mere early-stage Spirit Platform cultivator!"

Upon seeing him emerge, Ning Chang immediately stopped, suspended in mid-air, and released ten bamboo leaves, each one aiming at the opponent from a different angle.

"Hmph! Ignorant brat! All you know is how to play dirty tricks, petty and insignificant!"

He scoffed dismissively, and immediately began wielding the long stick—of unknown material—with impenetrable force, clanging and clattering without allowing a single bamboo leaf to injure him.

As for the opponent's trick of floating in the air, he simply assumed it was some special technique.

His staff-wielding move prevented even Lian Ping from getting close, causing Lian Ping to become somewhat anxious.

“Go and deal with those spirit fusions first,” Ning Chang said. “With me here, he can’t spread the word, but it’s not certain that he can’t do the same for the others.”

"That's fine then, Fellow Daoist Ye, I'll leave this place to you!" Lian Ping replied, then turned around and ran off in another direction.