Chapter 169: The Mining Tunnels

These spirit-mining hunters, once they've dug, won't lack food or drink for ten years. But if the Qian family takes it, they'll grow stronger—and turn around to oppress these very hunters.

Though spirit ore is important, the mining tunnels come first.

After all, the mining tunnels determine whether everyone can escape safely; Yu the Elder still knows what's weightier and what's lighter.

Yu the Elder ordered everyone to focus first on digging the mining tunnels; after a few days, once the tunnels were complete and they had an escape route, the hunters would then resume mining the spirit ore.

Yu the Elder pushed his stinginess to its limit, wandering daily through the mine, prying off even a speck of spirit ore from the walls with his fingers and stuffing it into his storage bag.

According to Yu the Elder, anything that could be mined must be mined—leave not a single grain for the Qian family; eat every last scrap, down to the broth, so the Qian family could lick the rim of the bowl and still find not a drop.

Mo Hua watched in deep admiration.

He'd only said to go all out—but hadn't imagined it could be done this thoroughly! No wonder he's Yu the Elder!

Mo Hua gained much from this.

The noise of Yu the Elder digging the mining tunnels had reached the Qian family's cultivators.

Qian Hong knew Yu the Elder's plan, so Zaozaojiu Sect had long stationed watchers across Great Heishan, searching for traces of the hunters.

Digging mining tunnels couldn't possibly be silent.

And the Qian family indeed found the hunters' trail.

It was a pit entrance, its edges littered with broken rocks, covered over with vegetation to conceal it.

Qian Hong sneered inwardly, "Yu Changlin, Yu Changlin—you scurry like a rat, burrowing tunnels—and yet you still fall into my hands?"

Qian Hong ordered watchers to keep surveillance, but days passed without a single hunter emerging.

Qian Hong frowned and ordered Qian Zhuang to lead a team down to investigate.

Qian Zhuang accepted the order and led several Qian family cultivators cautiously into the pit tunnel.

The tunnel was dark and damp, its walls lined with shattered rocks—clearly freshly excavated.

Qian Zhuang and his men searched for hours, finding nothing: no hunters, no other figures.

As Qian Zhuang puzzled over this, one of the Qian family cultivators spotted a section of rock wall with a lighter hue; when tapped with a finger, it emitted a hollow sound—indicating the wall was thin.

The Qian family cultivators exchanged glances, their expressions brightening.

This meant the wall concealed a hollow space—a mining tunnel—and the wall itself was a decoy.

The hunters were hiding behind that wall!

Qian Zhuang and his men smashed at the rock wall with all their strength.

The wall collapsed, dust billowing thickly.

When the dust cleared, they saw an eye the size of a bronze bell, its vertical pupil crimson.

Qian Zhuang sucked in a sharp breath.

This wasn't a hunter—it was a late-stage Rank One mature beast!

The beast's eye held a flicker of confusion, a spark of fury, and a glint of bloodthirsty delight.

Confusion: how had humans found its den? Fury: it had been woken from its rest. Delight: fresh meat had walked right in after it awoke!

In the narrow tunnel, the beast hunted and fed; the Qian family cultivators fled in panic.

When Qian Zhuang and the others finally appeared before Qian Hong, their condition was horrific.

Qian Zhuang was badly wounded but still whole; the others were mostly missing limbs, and a few had permanently stayed in that tunnel—resting now inside the beast's belly.

Qian Hong's expression could no longer remain composed.

Even with his deep composure, he was now furious beyond words, teeth clenched:

"You despicable Yu Changlin—you dug a fake mining tunnel beside a beast to trick me! This is too much!"

Qian family disciples lowered their heads, silent.

After a while, another disciple reported: another mining tunnel had been found.

Qian Hong's eyelid twitched, his thoughts uncertain.

This tunnel might be real—but it might also be another trick by Yu Changlin, meant to lure him into a trap.

But since it had been found, he couldn't ignore it.

Qian Hong sent several disciples to investigate, warning them to be cautious, to watch for beasts in the tunnel.

As Qian Hong had predicted, the tunnel did contain a beast.

The investigating Qian family disciples returned—but not all of them.

Again, some were missing limbs; again, a few lives were lost.

They had been careful—but against a beast, their caution meant nothing.

The tunnel connected to the beast's den: dim, narrow, forcing cultivators into awkward movement, while the beast moved like a fish in water.

Beasts are inherently stronger than cultivators of the same realm; even seasoned hunters, to slay them, seek open ground, gather several or even a dozen men, and patiently surround and kill them.

The Qian family cultivators were unskilled in beast-hunting; entering such a narrow, dark den was essentially walking to their deaths.

Their resistance was merely entertainment before the beast's meal.

Qian Hong's blood boiled—he longed to scream curses at Yu Changlin—but for the sake of the patriarch's dignity, he held his tongue, though his fury simmered long after.

Later, the Qian family discovered two more mining tunnels—but Qian Hong dared not send anyone down.

He wouldn't risk his disciples' lives to test it.

He finally understood one thing: Yu Changlin was a hunter, had spent his life among Great Heishan, knew every inch of this mountain far better than he did—perhaps not perfectly, but vastly more than he ever could.

To find the tunnels Yu Changlin had dug was like chasing a dream.

And if he guessed wrong, he'd lose several lives—this cost of trial and error, he could not afford.

He was indeed the Qian family patriarch—but the Qian family patriarch didn't have to be him.

Qian Hong looked solemn, his brows tightly furrowed.

Qian Zhongxuan watched from the side, silently sneering—did you finally understand how dangerous that old bastard Yu Changlin is?

Now he actually hoped Qian Hong would suffer misfortune.

The more successful Qian Hong was in seizing the spirit mine, the more clearly Qian Zhongxuan would appear to have failed.

Conversely, the more Qian Hong was thwarted, the less noticeable his own failure would become.

Qian Zhuang, standing nearby, saw Qian Zhongxuan's expression and instantly understood his calculations.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of shared insight among heroes.

"If the head of the family fails, then Qian the Elder's failure doesn't matter; and since Qian the Elder has failed, my own failure doesn't matter either…"

"Now that both the head of the family and Qian the Elder have failed, my failure becomes utterly insignificant!"

Qian Zhuang's heart instantly grew lighter, and the bleeding wounds on his body no longer hurt much.

Since they could not find the mine tunnel the hunter-killers used to escape, and could not ambush them, the Qian family's only option was to launch a direct frontal assault, break the formation, and shatter the stone wall.

There were seven or eight entrances to the mine tunnel; the Qian family cultivators divided into squads and advanced side by side, striving to breach them all.

Once the Qian cultivators surged forward, the hunter-killers, exhausted of pills and supplies, would not last long.

For the next several days, the Qian family carved through the walls day and night without rest.

Qian Hong appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was frantic with anxiety.

He knew that if he waited any longer and Yu Changlin finished extracting the spirit ore and fled, his entire mission would be ruined!

With a boom, another stone wall was shattered.

Behind the collapsed wall, as Qian Hong had feared, there was indeed a third stone wall—and another formation!

Qian Hong felt a surge of rage rushing to the crown of his head; he longed to tear apart the formation master who designed this array into eight pieces!

But he had no choice but to suppress this fury, close his eyes, and helplessly wave his hand:

"Keep digging!"