Watching the heavenly thunder fade away along with the Ethereals, and seeing Arden standing there after unleashing such overwhelming might without even turning red or breathing heavily, Yi Jing reached out and rubbed his slightly trembling chest.
He imagined for a moment—if he were standing where those Ethereals had been, he would probably have vanished just as instantly.
"Hm."
Beside him, Yixuan Shifu nodded repeatedly, clearly very satisfied with Arden's spell work.
"Yi Jing, how did you learn about this mineral vein?"
Arden asked with some confusion.
Given Yi Jing's abilities, he would likely have been torn apart by Ether beasts long before reaching a location this deep within the Hollow.
"Uh… it was discovered by a Hollow Raider. I bought the information from him."
"Is that so."
Arden did not believe Yi Jing's answer even a little.
What kind of Hollow Raider could reach a place this deep? Was Hoshimi Miyabi moonlighting or something?
"How much farther?"
Arden's tone had already grown impatient. He had decided that if he didn't see this so-called large-scale Porcelume vein soon, he would turn back with everyone immediately.
"Almost there, almost there!"
Arden had heard similar words from Yi Jing many times before, but this time he wasn't lying—because they really were close.
After another ten-plus minutes of walking and clearing out another wave of Ether beasts, just before Arden completely ran out of patience, the group finally arrived at the large-scale Porcelume vein Yi Jing had spoken of.
...
"A large-scale Porcelume vein… it's actually real?"
Looking at the Porcelume ore scattered all over the ground, Arden couldn't help showing a surprised expression.
He crouched down and picked up a piece of raw Porcelume to examine it.
"The quality is good."
Yiji, who was also inspecting the ore, gave a positive evaluation.
At this point, even if there really was a trap waiting for them ahead, at least the bait was genuine!
Still, Arden did not let his guard down.
If such an enormous price had been paid just for bait, then whatever lay ahead—if it truly was a trap—must be aiming for something massive.
"…"
Watching Yi Jing and Bu Lü continue leading the way deeper ahead, Arden's expression grew serious.
"Don't split up!"
"Okay."
"I understand."
"Mm."
Ju Fufu, Yiji, and Yixuan all moved a bit closer to Arden.
Passing through a narrow mining tunnel, the group entered an extremely vast underground cavern.
"Wow—!"
Staring at Porcelume ore everywhere, Yiji's pupils practically turned into the shape of money.
"Slurp."
Ju Fufu began fantasizing about how much delicious food all this Porcelume could be exchanged for once mined.
Even Yixuan unconsciously let the corners of her mouth lift.
Arden was also somewhat moved—there was simply far too much Porcelume here.
The entire underground cavern was nothing but Porcelume ore, as if everything here was made of it, with only the few of them as exceptions.
However, Arden was also the first to notice something off.
The ambient ether concentration… seems far too high?
Deep within the Lemnian Hollow, a high ether concentration was normal—but one must not forget that Porcelume naturally possesses the ability to block Ether corrosion, and this so-called "ambient ether" was merely a variant of Ether corrosion.
Even if it were inevitably contaminated, the concentration shouldn't be this high.
"Have you all had your fill of looking?"
Yi Jing spoke to the Yunkui Summit group. At this moment, there was no trace of his earlier meekness. "If you're done, then it's time to talk terms, isn't it?"
In theory, this large-scale Porcelume vein belonged to Yi Jing on paper. If Yunkui Summit wanted to obtain it, they would have to offer sufficient additional terms.
"No rush. Let me—"
The Porcelume vein was real, and the abnormal ether concentration was also real. Arden felt uneasy, so he planned to identify the source of the ether before responding to Yi Jing.
But before he could finish speaking, a voice came from behind him.
"Forty percent equity. Are you satisfied with that condition?"
Arden turned around toward the tunnel entrance—the voice had come from there.
"It's you?!"
The newcomer was none other than Ms. Laurent, the person in charge of Porcelumex operations in the Waifei Peninsula and the Lemnian Hollow.
Not only her—there was also a large group of Porcelumex security personnel following behind.
"Ms. Laurent, you've finally arrived."
Seeing Porcelumex's people, Yi Jing hurried over eagerly and stood with them.
Arden glanced at Ms. Laurent, then at Yi Jing. The situation was already perfectly clear.
Just as Arden had anticipated, Yi Jing truly was incapable of changing his nature. He had never sincerely intended to return to Yunkui Summit. Instead, he was exploiting Yunkui Summit, playing both sides between them and Porcelumex, reaping benefits from both to maximize his own interests.
After all, even if Yi Jing possessed this Porcelume mine, he lacked the capability to develop it himself—he needed a partner.
And that partner had to be powerful enough to deter opportunists once the mine became public.
Among those who fit this requirement, the only choices were Porcelumex and Yunkui Summit.
This was essentially a bidding war. Yi Jing wasn't seeking cooperation with Yunkui Summit—he was merely using Arden and his master as leverage to negotiate better terms with Porcelumex.
That became obvious the moment Ms. Laurent appeared and Yi Jing immediately chose to stand on her side.
"Yi Jing, you—"
Yixuan's expression darkened. Clearly, she had realized it as well.
"Junior Sister Yixuan… this will be the last time I call you that. My apologies!"
At this moment, Yi Jing looked like a petty villain drunk on success, utterly smug. "Don't blame your senior brother for being heartless—water flows downward, and people climb upward!"
"Daoist Arden, we meet again. And Grandmaster Yixuan, along with the esteemed Daoists of Yunkui Summit."
Compared to Yi Jing, Ms. Laurent's attitude was far more courteous—especially toward Arden.
Having witnessed the abilities of Arden and the Yunkui Summit disciples, even though she had brought many security personnel this time, she knew that if a real conflict broke out, they would stand no chance.
Ms. Laurent dared not stake everything on Yunkui Summit's 'righteousness.' If she truly angered them and they decided to erase all evidence, not a single one of them would escape.
"Thank you all for your hard work in clearing out the Ethereals. Porcelumex will surely offer generous compensation afterward."
At this point, Ms. Laurent changed the subject, making her stance clear. "However, Porcelume is the lifeblood of Porcelumex. We will not relinquish this Porcelume mine."
"Heh heh, if you offer a higher price, cooperating with Yunkui Summit isn't impossible either."
Yi Jing cut in, fully displaying his duplicity and complete lack of credibility.
"Ms. Laurent, how did you learn about this Porcelume mine?"
Arden suddenly asked an unexpected question. "From Yi Jing—or… Bu Lü?"
At this moment, Bu Lü had also moved over to Porcelumex's side, seemingly choosing to stand with his master Yi Jing, which left Arden somewhat puzzled.
"It was both master and disciple together. Why do you ask?"
Ms. Laurent replied with confusion.
"Nothing."
Arden shook his head as he answered.
Looks like even I misjudged someone this time.
Arden was very good at reading women—but when it came to men… he was far less reliable.
===BREAK===
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