The Heavens: From Film and Mythology to Conquering Myriad Realms

Zhang Qian suddenly made a sarcastic remark, and Lü Tianmeng chuckled inwardly but remained silent, standing aside to watch the spectacle.

"What Fellow Daoist Zhang says is true. It's just a little interest of mine. What, Fellow Daoist Zhang, would you like me to tell your fortune?"

Lu Yao smiled faintly and looked at Zhang Qian calmly.

"Humph!"

Seemingly sensing the coldness in Lu Yao's eyes, Zhang Na snorted coldly, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Lu, don't take it to heart. Fellow Daoist Zhang is just like that, straightforward and easy to offend people."

Seeing this, Lü Tianmeng spoke up to smooth things over.

Lu Yao ignored him and turned to go back to the temporary cave dwelling of the Hidden Moon Sect.

The mine excavation went very smoothly. With Qi Refining disciples managing it, Lu Yao was able to cultivate in his cave on his own, while also practicing the three Qi Refining techniques.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

The excavation tunnel inside the mine connects to the original mine shaft. In order to extract more spirit stones, the miners did not dig into the original mine shaft, but instead dug in another direction.

"Uncle-Master, this is the spirit stone production for the past three months. Please check it."

A Qi Refining disciple handed Lu Yao a storage bag containing the miners' harvest over the past three months.

With a sweep of his divine sense, Lu Yao knew the number of spirit stones in the storage bag.

More than three thousand low-grade spirit stones and four mid-grade spirit stones.

Compared to other sects, this output was several hundred spirit stones less, indicating that the chosen direction still had some impact on the output.

"Manage those rogue cultivators well and don't let them cause trouble. You can take these ten spirit stones and divide them among yourselves."

Lu Yao nodded, took out ten spirit stones and threw them to the Qi Refining disciple, giving him instructions.

Sometimes, a little reward can motivate them to work harder, and besides, these ten spirit stones are just a drop in the ocean for Lu Yao.

"Thank you, Uncle Master!"

Upon receiving the spirit stones, the Qi Refining disciples were overjoyed and quickly clasped their hands in gratitude.

After the Qi Refining disciples left, Lu Yao estimated in his mind that the income for half a year would be six or seven thousand low-grade spirit stones, which was already very high. No wonder even Foundation Establishment disciples in the sect were vying for it.

In other words, since Old Monster Qiong is of high strength and seniority, he wouldn't be afraid of such a lucrative position, so how could Lu Yao possibly get it?

"We should go find the ancient teleportation array."

After glancing at the sky outside, Lu Yao walked out of the cave and entered the mine.

For the past three months, Lu Yao has entered the mine every night to search for traces of the ancient teleportation array.

There haven't been any results yet, but quite a few monsters have been killed, which can be considered as eliminating safety hazards for the miners.

Following his previous exploration of the Huodu Mine, Lu Yao continued to venture deeper into the mine.

An hour later, Lu Yao's figure paused.

"Thunder Soul Pearl!"

Suddenly, a pearl flashing with purple lightning appeared in front of Lu Yao, and a bolt of purple lightning burst forth, blasting towards a shadowy spot in the mine.

"Fizz!"

A bloodcurdling scream rang out, then silence fell a few breaths later.

Lu Yao took a few steps forward, revealing a bat-shaped, first-tier demonic beast, which is a Qi Refining stage demonic beast.

Seeing that the monster was dead, Lu Yao continued deeper into the mine.

The deeper you go, the fewer traces of human activity there are. Eventually, it becomes a stalactite-shaped cave, clearly indicating that no one has been there for a long time.

Suddenly, a large open space appeared ahead, and the ground began to level out.

Lu Yao raised an eyebrow, immediately increased his speed, and pushed the Concealing Breath Technique to its limit.

He hadn't forgotten that the ancient teleportation array was guarded by a Blood Jade Spider. This demonic beast was a level four demonic beast with the strength of the late Foundation Establishment stage. The only thing Lu Yao could use to deal with it was the Invisible Needle Talisman.

Soon a stone teleportation platform appeared in Lu Yao's eyes.

"found it."

Lu Yao's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of joy in his heart.

However, Lu Yao did not rush over. At this moment, the Blood Jade Spider had not yet discovered him. If he approached the ancient teleportation array, he would definitely be attacked by the Blood Jade Spider.

After noting down the location, Lu Yao began to slowly back away.

"Let's come back after we reach the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Let the Blood Jade Spider guard the area for now."

After some thought, Lu Yao decided not to use the Invisible Needle Talisman Treasure. After all, a talisman treasure capable of instantly killing a Foundation Establishment cultivator was too precious, and using it to kill the Blood Jade Spider would be too wasteful.

Once he breaks through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, the Blood Jade Spider will no longer be a match for Lu Yao, and it won't be too late to come back then.

Lu Yao then returned, and just as he was about to leave the mine, he suddenly discovered that there were still cultivators in the mine.

"Six people, all of them rogue cultivators!"

Lu Yao, hidden in the shadows, raised an eyebrow as he watched the six Qi Refining stage rogue cultivators not far away.

The independent miners are not slaves; they also need rest. So, they usually mine during the day and rest in the canyon at night.

Therefore, the fact that these people gathered in the mine was clearly not ordinary.

"Big brother, when are we going to make our move? I don't want to stay in this lousy mine for another day!"

A young rogue cultivator, looking impatient, asked the middle-aged cultivator beside him.

"What's the rush? Do you really think we can succeed with just the few of us? How can we even begin without the Foundation Establishment experts arriving?"

The middle-aged cultivator frowned and reprimanded the young rogue cultivator in a low voice.

"Brother, do you know when the seniors will arrive?"

A female hermit asked the middle-aged man.

"It'll be soon, in about a month. Then we'll coordinate from the inside and outside to catch them off guard, and all these spirit stones will be ours!"

A glint of greed flashed in the eyes of the middle-aged man addressed as "boss".

"Hehe, watching all the spirit stones I painstakingly mined being taken away every day is worse than killing me. Those managers are utterly despicable. Once we take this place, I'll make them pay!"

Another thin-faced rogue cultivator's expression turned sinister, clearly harboring murderous intent towards the Qi Refining disciple who managed the rogue cultivators.

Before each trip down into the mine, they were searched and prohibited from bringing anything into the mine except for a special storage bag for spirit stones. There was no way to confiscate their spirit stones.

"Brothers and sisters, please be patient for a while longer. Do not reveal any weakness, or we will all die without a burial place!"

A fierce look flashed across the middle-aged man's face as he gave the group another warning.

"Don't worry, boss!"

"Boss, you know I'm very tight-lipped."

……

The group understood that being exposed would mean certain death, and they all pledged not to give themselves away.

After discussing some details again, the group left the mine in batches.

"Interesting. I didn't expect these rogue cultivators to actually dare to attack the mine."

Lu Yao's heart stirred slightly, and he immediately understood what these rogue cultivators wanted to do.

The reason Lu Yao didn't take action to capture these people was because he was afraid of alerting them, so he let them leave.

"It seems that there are Foundation Establishment cultivators plotting behind this, and more than one. We need to discuss this with Lü Tianmeng."

Lu Yao's heart stirred slightly. This matter could not be targeted at the Yanyue Sect's mines alone; other sects had to join forces.