Chapter 34 Opening
Lu Bai turned around with suspicion.
"Senior Brother Lin Mu?"
He didn't expect that the one who called him was his Senior Brother Lin Mu.
"Aren't you with Hang Qingyue?"
It was well-known throughout the Xuanqing Sect that Lin Mu liked Senior Sister Hang Qingyue of Qiuyue Peak. Wherever his goddess went, he followed, like a standard simp. His master's wife was very displeased and told him to just join Qiuyue Peak.
"Junior Brother Lu!"
At this moment, Hang Qingyue, holding a Spiritual Cat, walked out from a nearby house and greeted Lu Bai with a smile.
Lu Bai returned the greeting!
As expected!
Within a hundred zhang radius of Senior Brother Lin Mu, Hang Qingyue could always be found.
"Xiao Bai, you've already advanced to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining?" Lin Mu pinched Lu Bai's shoulder, his Face full of surprise.
Lu Bai rolled his eyes!
How long has it been since you paid attention to the news from Chixiao Peak?
"What are you doing here? Looking for ore?" Lin Mu asked.
"Yes!" Lu Bai nodded.
"Not bad, you've grown up! You know how to help Junior Sister share the burden!"
Lu Bai: "…"
Saying such things, doesn't your conscience hurt?
As a Golden Core expert, if he just completed a few tasks, Senior Sister wouldn't have to work so hard.
"Is Senior Sister Hang also here to look for ore?" Lu Bai asked Hang Qingyue, bypassing Senior Brother Lin Mu.
"Yes!"
Hang Qingyue had a sweet appearance, hair like a waterfall, a cute bow tied on her head, and wore a white gauze dress. Her overall temperament was like a celestial fairy from his previous life.
"Any harvest?"
"Not yet."
Lu Bai frowned!
Hang Qingyue was at the Foundation Establishment cultivation, and with Senior Brother Lin Mu assisting her, they still hadn't found anything. Could he, a fourth-level Qi Refining Disciple, succeed?
But then he thought, looking for ore wasn't combat; high cultivation didn't necessarily give an advantage. It mainly depended on luck.
"Senior Brother Lin Mu, do you have any experience you can impart?"
"No! I'm not interested in that."
"Alright!" Lu Bai chuckled inwardly. He shouldn't have held out any illusions.
"I can find someone to explain it to Junior Brother Lu," Hang Qingyue said.
Lu Bai was delighted: "Then many thanks, Senior Sister Hang!"
There were many Disciples from Qiuyue Peak who frequented this area. Hang Qingyue casually grabbed one over.
"My name is Wang Dong."
"Hello, Senior Brother Wang." Having a request, Lu Bai's attitude was very good.
Wang Dong sized up Lu Bai and smiled, "Although looking for ore doesn't require very high cultivation, Junior Brother Lu…"
The implication was, your cultivation is too low!
Lu Bai smiled awkwardly, speechless.
"Junior Brother Lu, you must have had no harvest along the way, right?"
"How did Senior Brother Wang know?"
"Haha! Those areas are still recuperating; it's impossible for ore to be born in the short term. You can only find it in areas that have recuperated well."
"So that's how it is!"
Lu Bai thought to himself, this was similar to the principle of grazing; the grass needed a buffer time.
Grass can grow in dozens of days. Ore might take a very, very long time.
"Then which areas have recuperated well?" Lu Bai asked.
Wang Dong stroked his chin: "For the sake of Senior Sister Hang's Face, I can tell you one."
He drew a map and marked an area.
"Thank you!" Lu Bai took it and thanked him.
It seemed these areas were all confidential, and ordinary people couldn't know about them. No wonder so many people were aimlessly wandering in the recuperation zones; they were all novices like him.
Then, Wang Dong mentioned some common knowledge, and finally said, "A single person's strength is ultimately limited. Junior Brother Lu can consider teaming up with us to search."
"No, thank you." Lu Bai refused.
Wang Dong smiled and didn't insist.
Clearly, he was just being polite and didn't genuinely invite Lu Bai to join. What could a fourth-level Qi Refining Disciple do?
After Wang Dong left, Lu Bai said, "Senior Brother Lin Mu, I'm going to try my luck."
His purpose for coming in had been achieved, and he didn't want to delay any longer.
"Aren't you going to rest a bit before leaving?"
"No need!"
"Alright then, I'll see you off."
Lin Mu escorted Lu Bai outside, took out a communication Jade Talisman, and handed it to him, saying, "If you find valuable ore, remember to contact me, not the manager of the outpost."
"Oh?"
Lu Bai's eyes rolled: "You mean… they'll steal the credit?"
"It happens often."
"Alright!"
Lu Bai could imagine that for a low-cultivation Junior Disciple like him, even if his credit was stolen, there would be nowhere to seek justice. Would others believe him? Or would they believe the manager?
Lin Mu added, "You can also send a signal if you encounter danger. But if the distance is too far, it won't be received. Be careful yourself, don't die, otherwise Junior Sister will nag me again to complete tasks."
Lu Bai's forehead broke out in black lines.
And here I thought you were concerned about me!
…
Bidding farewell to Senior Brother Lin Mu, Lu Bai flew in the direction marked on the map.
Three days later, he saw a mountain peak shaped like an enoki mushroom, exactly as drawn on the map.
He knew he had found the right place.
Behind Majestic Peak was the well-rested area.
Lu Bai couldn't wait to charge in.
It moved, it moved!
After walking for a while, the water column of the Xunjin Plate suddenly shot up.
Just as Lu Bai was about to get excited, it drooped down again, looking dispirited.
This!
Is there something or not?
Who cares! Let's dig and see!
Lu Bai began to dig, turning over several kilometers around him. Some places he even dug until water seeped out, but the result… there was nothing at all.
Useless thing!
Lu Bai made a gesture as if to throw the Xunjin Plate away.
But then he thought, it cost fifty Spirit Stones, he couldn't bear to part with it after all.
He continued to walk forward.
Whoosh!
The water column shot up again.
Still the same as last time, it shot up and then fell down.
Lu Bai sneered.
Still trying to trick me? No way.
He didn't stop, turning to another place.
Huh?
That large rock, it looks like the iron lump I devoured before!
Lu Bai saw a dark, pointed tip protruding from a gully ahead, which looked very familiar.
He flashed over and touched it, immediately overcome with joy.
At this moment, Lu Bai looked at the Xunjin Plate and found that the water column… was completely motionless.
Sigh! It really was a scam!
He'd keep it to sell to the next fool!
Lu Bai took out his tools and dug downwards along the area around the iron lump.
However!
He was disappointed.
There was nothing below, just this small piece.
This shouldn't be worth contacting Senior Brother Lin Mu, right?
Ultimately, Lu Bai decided to just devour it himself.
Such a tiny bit, even if the Sect collected it, it wouldn't give many contribution points.
Lu Bai held the iron lump, activated the 'Devour' skill, and entered a Cultivation state.
Threads of energy, after being refined, turned into pure primal energy, flowed into his Spiritual Bone, and then nourished his entire body.
Fifteen minutes later.
Crack, crack, crack!
Several cracks appeared on the surface of the iron lump, and its color became grayish-white and dilapidated.
This should no longer be usable for Artifact Refining, right?
Lu Bai casually discarded it.
He continued to activate the 'Devour' skill, completely transforming the energy within his body.
At this moment, he suddenly felt a faint, almost imperceptible energy coming from beneath his backside.
What's going on?
Lu Bai frowned. Was there ore below?
That shouldn't be! I just dug there.
Lu Bai suspiciously took out his tools and continued to dig downwards along the original large pit.
As he dug and dug…
Clink!
There was a crisp sound of metal striking.
He quickly cleared it away, only to see a large, dark expanse inside.