Chapter 13
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Chapter 13: He Is Determined to Mine This Ore
“Bang!”
The sound of a bursting bubble echoed inside Ji Yang.
In the blink of an eye, Ji Yang had made a breakthrough.
Second level of Qi Refinement!
After the breakthrough, the spiritual energy within him dissipated like a tide, as if it had never been there. Yet, the increase in his realm was genuine and could not be faked.
At this moment, Ji Yang’s eyes sparkled with excitement!
He had endured a year of hard training at Jingtan Peak, and only then did he break through to the first level of Qi Refinement.
Yet, after just one day of mining, he had jumped up a level!
Strictly speaking, mining wasn’t just for one day; after all, there was the foundation laid over the previous three years, but the two experiences were not comparable at all.
Even if he could only gain four points of cultivation in one day, after three days, that would add up to twelve points.
And just twelve points allowed him to break through a level. What would happen if he amassed one hundred points?
Not to mention that mining could earn him other rewards besides improving his cultivation!
This mine, he was determined to conquer!
Not even Jesus could stop him!
Now that Ji Yang had broken through, he stood up and continued to swing his iron pick:
Cultivation +1
A flash of blue light appeared before him, and Ji Yang smiled.
Power +1
Agility +1
Spirit +1
…
What seemed like a monotonous task filled Ji Yang with fiery enthusiasm.
The next day, early morning.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
“What’s that noise? Why is it so loud?”
Ruan Yong’an furrowed his brows, pulling himself out of his meditation, looking quite displeased.
Inside the mine, there were many disciples, and the spiritual energy in the world was limited. So, when everyone was trying to restore their internal mana, the spiritual energy appeared to be insufficient.
He had spent the whole night recovering, yet his internal mana was still barely half full.
This meant he probably wouldn’t complete today’s task again.
Combined with the annoying noise in his ears, Ruan Yong’an grew even angrier.
As a cultivator at the Ninth level of Qi Refinement, he had a place among the outer disciples, not to mention in this mine.
“Brother Ruan, that is Junior Brother Ji!”
“? What Junior Brother Ji?”
Just as Ruan Yong’an was about to scold, he suddenly remembered what happened last night. The anger on his face disappeared in an instant, replaced by a smile.
“Ding ding ding!”
A bell rang from outside as Elder Lu walked in. Without even looking, he shouted at the group sitting on the ground,
“Start mining!”
After speaking, Elder Lu distributed the storage bags collected yesterday and then turned to leave.
“It’s too soon! I’ve only recovered a third of my mana!”
“Exactly! At this rate, who knows how long we’ll be stuck here for the next three months of punishment!”
“Sigh, let’s get to work! Just don’t come back here!”
Many people groaned and sighed.
“Let’s go see that Junior Brother Ji!”
Ruan Yong’an led a few people toward the mine, and they ran into He Feng.
Though they had not reached the point of open hostility, they usually ignored each other when they met.
However, today was unusually quiet without any arguments, which made the three behind them whisper among themselves before they all walked deeper into the mine.
They wanted to see how much ore Ji Yang had mined!
As they entered the mine, they were stunned by the sight before them.
The path leading deeper into the mine was now piled high with various sizes of Ziying Mine, and beside this small mountain, Ji Yang was hard at work swinging his iron pick!
Many others were quite surprised as well.
They recognized Ji Yang, after all, his previous impression had been quite strong.
But they never expected Ji Yang would be mining through the night!
What kind of fool was this?
Ji Yang noticed the others but didn’t care; he continued mining his own ore.
Since the storage bags were collected last night, all the Ziying Mine he dug up had to be piled on the ground.
A practitioner at the Eighth level of Qi Refinement saw the large pile of Ziying Mine on the ground and his eyes flashed with interest. When he noticed Ji Yang’s cultivation level was only at the second level, he coldly sneered and approached Ji Yang, looking down on him:
“Kid, I want all this ore!”
Ji Yang stopped his work and looked at the newcomer, somewhat dazed, then nodded:
“Sure! But I’ve already promised a few other brothers, so if this brother wants it too, he’ll have to wait in line.”
Hearing Ji Yang’s words, the man frowned. He had to wait in line?
He immediately spoke with authority:
“Tell them to get lost! Just let them know that this ore is mine, Yang Tai!”
“Such big words from this senior brother! It seems he doesn’t regard us at all!”
Before Ji Yang could respond, a light voice came from behind him.
Yang Tai’s expression flashed with anger as he turned around to curse, but upon seeing the newcomer, he instantly fell silent and smiled:
“Oh, it’s Brother Ruan! I didn’t recognize you for a moment; I’m truly sorry!”
After Yang Tai finished his apologetic smile, he looked at the few people surrounding him, his expression darkening. He would have never approached this second-level Qi Refinement brat if he’d known he had strong backing.
Although he was at the Eighth level of Qi Refinement, Ruan Yong’an was at the Ninth level, and there were several at the Seventh level beside him.
Upon closer inspection, Yang Tai’s face grew even more troubled because he noticed He Feng among those at the Seventh level!
Among the outer disciples, who didn’t know that He Feng was like a madman? Even those at the Ninth level might not be his match!
But he had heard that Ruan Yong’an and He Feng never got along.
Why were they walking together now?
“Brothers, my apologies, my apologies! My eyesight isn’t great; I’ll leave now!”
Yang Tai quickly spoke, lowering his tone even further.
“Get lost! Junior Brother Ji is my friend in the sect!”
Hearing this humiliating remark, Yang Tai had no intention of arguing and immediately left.
The expressions of Ruan Yong’an’s companions shifted as they realized that Brother Ruan’s thick skin had saved him; they had almost forgotten about this junior brother.
“Hello, senior brothers.”
At that moment, Ji Yang also stopped and greeted them.
Though he was rapidly raising his cultivation level, it was better to avoid trouble whenever possible.
He didn’t believe that everything in the righteous sect was without corruption, and he successfully turned the first conflict into his own strength while also concealing his mining purpose—this was a win-win.
“No need to push yourself so hard, Junior Brother Ji. Although we are short on ore, it would be better for you to take your time,” He Feng said, glancing at the pile of ore beside him.
Ruan Yong’an nodded as well. He had his own principles and wouldn’t stoop to bullying disciples with lower cultivation levels; otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent spiritual stones to buy any.
“It’s alright, senior brother. I have Natural Strength, and I feel uncomfortable when I’m inactive for too long.”
Hearing their advice, Ji Yang was a bit surprised. It seemed these people weren’t as bad as he thought. However, for the sake of his cultivation, he couldn’t stop.
“……”
The group fell into silence.
“Senior brothers, you can split this ore among yourselves first.”
The others wasted no time and immediately took out their storage bags, filling them with the ore piece by piece.
In the end, He Feng handed a storage bag to Ji Yang:
“Junior Brother Ji, this bag contains your task target for today. If you don’t want to mine anymore, you can take a break today!”
After saying this, the group began to swing their iron picks following the mine path Ji Yang had dug!
They still had a long way to go, as their punishment was even stricter given their higher cultivation levels.
