Chapter 394

Chapter 394: Approaching

“Huh? Why has the amount of ore collected today increased so much compared to usual? Didn’t some people leave recently?”

Zheng Cai asked with a puzzled expression as he looked at the secret silver ore in the collected storage bags.

“Reporting to Senior Brother Zheng, most of the ore in here was contributed by that kid.”

“In the past two days, he seems to have taken some kind of medicine; he has mined even more secret silver ore than before.”

Zheng Cai naturally knew who the kid referred to was.

However, after hearing this answer, some surprise emerged in his eyes.

He had carefully observed Ji Yang before and indeed noticed some differences; although the kid’s realm wasn’t high, his body-refining techniques were evidently well-developed, relying entirely on brute force for mining.

Since Zheng Cai hadn’t detected any other issues, he didn’t concern himself much, especially since everyone else submitted fifty percent, while this one contributed an extra ten percent.

He certainly wouldn’t miss out on such a diligent worker.

The secret silver ore he collected daily from Ji Yang truly pleased him.

With these high-quality ores in hand, he could freely search for the essence of the Way in the upper levels of the secret realm without worrying about coming away empty-handed.

Moreover, his original plan was to leave in half a month.

However, the harvest from this mine exceeded his expectations, so to avoid wasting Ji Yang’s efforts, he decided to stay a few more days in this mine.

Currently, Ji Yang was digging even harder, which was good news for him.

After all, aside from the share taken by a few junior brothers below, most of the ore still belonged to him.

Given Ji Yang’s excellent performance, Zheng Cai even decided to skip collecting daily; after all, he was stationed at the cave entrance and wasn’t concerned that Ji Yang would escape.

What troubled Zheng Cai, however, was the increasing number of Red Fire Ants appearing as everyone continued mining.

It seemed that there was certainly a nest of Red Fire Ants beneath the mine.

Even though he was at the Void Refinement stage, he didn’t want to face too many Red Fire Ants directly; after all, these spiritual insects often came in large numbers and were fiercely fearless, with troublesome soldier ants among them.

He was unwilling to engage in pointless battles with these Red Fire Ants, but as the digging continued, the situation would clearly worsen, and perhaps one day soon, he would face a full swarm of Red Fire Ants.

He figured that would also be the time for him to leave, and he was already prepared for that.

However, before leaving, he still planned to collect the secret silver ore Ji Yang had mined.

If the kid understood the situation, that would be fine; if not, then he shouldn’t blame Zheng Cai for being ruthless.

A faint smile curled at the corners of Zheng Cai’s mouth.

In the mine, Ji Yang quietly absorbed the Blue Light Points he had just mined.

Cultivation Level +1

While mining, Ji Yang did not forget the secret silver ore he had observed earlier.

Every accumulation of cultivation points was a stepping stone towards a higher realm for him.

Feeling the consumption of his internal magic energy accelerating, Ji Yang casually grabbed a handful of Yun Ling Dan and put it in his mouth.

The iron pick in his hand was carefully refined by Elder Chai and had undergone a special three-in-one process, which meant its consumption of magic energy was considerable.

Although Ji Yang possessed True Immortal-Level Techniques, the continuous mining made the demand for his internal magic energy outstrip the supply, forcing him to rely on pills.

Fortunately, Ji Yang had enough Yun Ling Dan on him, so he didn’t have to worry about magic energy.

Feeling his internal magic energy rising rapidly, Ji Yang continued to mine vigorously.

With Ji Yang’s increased speed, his daily harvest doubled compared to before.

Of course, this was all thanks to the route Ji Yang had planned earlier; with correct speed and direction, the rewards were naturally greater than before.

On the first day, Ji Yang earned seventeen cultivation points and encountered twenty Red Fire Ants.

On the second day, Ji Yang earned twenty cultivation points and encountered forty Red Fire Ants.

Although his cultivation points didn’t increase much, the number of Red Fire Ants grew exponentially.

However, this was a normal situation since Ji Yang was mining near the Red Fire Ant nest.

While he encountered quite a few Red Fire Ants, due to the small size of the tunnel entrance, these Red Fire Ants appeared one by one.

Regardless of whether it was a one-on-one situation or a multiple ant encounter, the Red Fire Ants were no match for Ji Yang’s iron pick.

On the third day, Ji Yang earned twenty-two cultivation points and the number of Red Fire Ants he encountered rose directly to sixty.

On average, for every two strikes of the pick, he had to free his hand to deal with one Red Fire Ant.

Counting carefully, the corpses of Red Fire Ants Ji Yang had taken down over more than half a month could circle the entire Secret Silver Mine.

On the fourth day, Ji Yang gathered a total of twenty-five cultivation points.

At this point, Ji Yang was merely dozens of meters away from the Red Fire Ant nest.

In just half a day, Ji Yang could reach the open area filled with secret silver mine, and getting there would bring him closer to the queen ant’s location.

Uncertain whether it was due to the vibrations from mining, the number of Red Fire Ants Ji Yang encountered increased significantly once again.

Not only that, but Ji Yang also faced soldier ants for the first time among the Red Fire Ant swarm.

These soldier ants were larger, harder, and faster than the others.

The most formidable aspect was their sharp mandibles, which could cut through even secret silver ore given time.

Upon noticing Ji Yang’s presence, the soldier ant that appeared in the tunnel charged at him like a red flash.

Ji Yang welcomed the soldier ant with his ever-reliable iron pick.

A crisp sound echoed as the soldier ant fell to the ground.

However, just as Ji Yang was about to continue mining, a look of surprise suddenly crossed his face.

He saw that the soldier ant he had just struck down with his iron pick did not lose its life from the blow.

The iron pick had only left an inward dent on its hard head.

After hitting the ground, the soldier ant shook its head and showed no signs of being heavily injured, then raised its mandibles again and charged at Ji Yang.

Seeing the soldier ant’s strong Vitality, Ji Yang had no choice but to strike it again with the iron pick before finally sending it to the ground.

This soldier ant’s tough defense surprised Ji Yang; no wonder they were called combat-type Red Fire Ants. If there were enough of them, they would indeed be quite troublesome.

Fortunately, from Ji Yang’s earlier observations, the number of soldier ants in the swarm was not high, just about several dozen, and most remained beside the queen ant for protection, rarely coming out.

Moreover, these soldier ants did not possess the venom that ordinary Red Fire Ants had. While they were stronger in attack and defense, they lacked the venom function, indicating that their evolution was not perfect.

As Ji Yang drew closer, the sounds of mining caused a stir in the Red Fire Ant nest.

With many Red Fire Ants sensing his presence, they quickly became aware of Ji Yang’s approach.

Deep in the nest, the queen ant let out a shrill cry.