Chapter 388

Chapter 388: A Good Start

At this moment, Ji Yang in the mine felt a hint of surprise.

Red Fire Ants were a type of spiritual insect; their bodies were hard and armored. Although the armor was not particularly strong and could be easily broken by Golden Core stage cultivators, the Red Fire Ants were incredibly fast. Moreover, the venom they released from their tails could corrode a cultivator’s magic tools, making them quite troublesome.

Their jaws, sharp enough to crush gold and stone, could even handle high-grade ores, although it required some time.

Red Fire Ants were social creatures; since there was one in the secret silver mine, there were surely more nearby.

Just as Ji Yang was contemplating this, his iron pick unexpectedly struck air.

Looking down, he saw a hole the size of a fist appear before him.

Before Ji Yang could react, a flash of red light surged out from the hole and charged toward him.

Clearly, he had dug into a Red Fire Ant’s tunnel.

Facing the attack from the Red Fire Ant, Ji Yang maintained his composure, quickly retracting his iron pick and swinging it down at the approaching creature.

“Clang.”

The clear sound echoed through the mine.

Ji Yang nodded slightly.

This was a good start.

After the sound, the Red Fire Ant fell gracefully to the ground, clearly defeated.

In its final moments, it released a small amount of red venom from its tail, causing a corrosive sound on the ground.

Ji Yang carefully observed and touched the red venom with his iron pick.

The final result showed that while this venom could corrode magic tools, it was difficult to harm his treasures.

Of course, this was only from short contact; prolonged exposure would still have some effect, but it was enough to understand the power of this spiritual insect’s venom.

Knowing that the Red Fire Ant’s impact on him was minimal, Ji Yang resumed mining.

Nothing could stop his determination to mine.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted in the other mine tunnels.

They also faced attacks from Red Fire Ants while mining, but unlike Ji Yang, who had a powerful iron pick, other cultivators didn’t have such treasures. An iron pick used for mining being a high-grade magic tool was already quite rare.

However, picks of that standard could hardly withstand one round against the Red Fire Ants’ venom attacks. Often, a single confrontation would lead to the iron pick being corroded, causing its structure to collapse and rendering it useless.

This dealt a significant blow, greatly delaying everyone’s mining time.

Moreover, they didn’t possess many iron picks; if they continued mining, the yields might not be as high as they had hoped.

After gathering, the group decided to seek out the people from Qianji Gate.

If there were no need to give away fifty percent of their haul, they would obviously not care. But now, not only were they unable to mine much, but they also had to contribute fifty percent of the ores, so they naturally needed to discuss this with the people from Qianji Gate.

“Red Fire Ants? Are there any?”

In response to the group’s arrival, a Void Refinement stage cultivator from Qianji Gate asked with surprise.

However, once two Red Fire Ant corpses were presented, this Void Refinement stage cultivator feigned disbelief and exclaimed:

"Just a few spiritual insects, what does it have to do with me?"

"I am only responsible for your safety. As for the Red Fire Ants, I don’t think they will cost you your lives?"

"If you can’t even handle these Red Fire Ants, then I think you don’t need to stay here to mine."

"Besides, aren’t there others who can mine normally? If they can do it, why can’t you?"

Hearing the sound of mining echoing from deep within the mine tunnel, everyone’s expression darkened.

This Void Refinement stage cultivator from Qianji Gate not only refused to help them with their Red Fire Ant problem but also made it clear that he wanted fifty percent of their ore!

It was truly infuriating.

However, the disparity in strength meant that even though this Qianji Gate cultivator was so arrogant, no other cultivator present dared to refute him.

Under his overwhelming presence, everyone could only helplessly retreat.

Although they faced harassment from the Red Fire Ants, it was not impossible to mine. But if this Void Refinement stage cultivator truly forbade them from mining, it would be too much of a loss.

Some cultivators considered leaving; after all, the secret realm was vast with opportunities everywhere. Why focus solely on this secret silver mine?

Moreover, wasn’t there another mountain besides this secret silver mine in the lower level of the realm?

However, considering the dangers in other areas of the secret realm, many cultivators fell silent.

Furthermore, this secret silver mine attracted high-level cultivators, and the situation in the other mountain might not necessarily be better. Perhaps there were large cultivators from other sects who were too afraid to seek the essence of the Way and instead focused on that place?

Thinking this way, everyone sighed quietly.

Sigh.

Let’s keep mining!

Though Red Fire Ants were social creatures, their numbers were different from the ants in the Mortal World, and they usually did not reach thousands in number. This was an inherent flaw, as their reproductive rate was quite low.

Even if there was a Red Fire Ant nest in this secret silver mine, as long as they did not venture too deep into the nest, the danger was not great.

As for the occasional encounter with a Red Fire Ant, they could handle it with their strength; they just needed to be cautious and protect their iron picks.

With this thought, the noise of orderly mining echoed once more in the mine.

In other mines, shouts and sounds of cultivators clashing would occasionally arise, making it quite lively.

Inside the mine, Ji Yang became a relentless mining machine, focusing on nothing but the colorful light points. He had not experienced this feeling of immersing himself in mining for a long time.

The last time he mined was in the Demon Spirit Ore mountain, but that time was too short, and there were disciples from the Heaven Demon Sect monitoring the mine, so he didn’t enjoy it fully.

This time was different; he could mine for a long time.

……

Jingtan Peak.

Ji Yang’s departure returned Jingtan Peak to its peaceful routine.

Several spiritual beasts regained their freedom and were no longer being exploited by Ji Yang.

On the day Ji Yang left, Little Black held back a smile, putting on a sorrowful expression.

However, after Ji Yang’s departure, Little Black transformed into a different figure.

In today’s world, who else but him?

He wanted to look down on the world, who would dare to stop him?

Not only was Little Black invigorated, but even Little White became much more laid-back, spending her days soaking in the Clear Pond below the peak and only occasionally using rain distribution to water the spiritual fields when bored.

The reason for this change was that she discovered this batch of spiritual grains seemed to have stronger vitality, so she no longer had to wake up early and work late to rain.

Given that, it was certainly much more comfortable to lie around in the pond.

At that moment, Little Black sprawled out on the ground in front of the wooden house, gazing peacefully at the sky.

If it weren’t for Ye Wuchen still being on the peak, he would have wanted to lie on the roof, thinking it would be even more comfortable.

However, because of Ye Wuchen’s presence, he dared not be reckless.

Although Ye Wuchen often stayed in the wooden house and only occasionally went out to fish when he had time, as spiritual beasts, they certainly understood who the true master of Jingtan Peak was and the dangers that came with it.