Chapter 309: Silver Mine News, Continuous Mutinies

"There's no silver mine in Longshan? How is that possible?"

Inside the western warehouse of the Longshan garrison, Xia Hong held a ledger in his hands, staring at Peng Bo with a look of utter shock.

Seeing Xia Hong's astonishment, Peng Bo paused, then quickly realized Xia Hong had misunderstood something, nodding to explain: "Chief, silver is an extremely precious resource; it's normal for Longshan to have none."

"If there's no silver mine, then where did Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's sword, Yan Han, come from? And where did the silver used to save people during the Dew Plague come from?"

Xia Hong deliberately lifted the silver ghost-headed great knife at his waist—the weapon once carried by Li Li Li Li Tiancheng, named Yan Han. After Li Li Li Li Tiancheng laid down his arms and surrendered, the blade naturally became Xia Hong's.

Not just Yan Han—he had seen many silver weapons in Longyou: Hou Hu's silver coiled-dragon staff, Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's silver longsword, Hou Tong's silver eight-sided maul…

If there's no silver mine, where did all these weapons come from?

"Chief, you don't think Yan Han is forged entirely from pure silver, do you?"

Xia Hong's expression froze, his face filled with confusion.

"Yan Han weighs over twenty thousand jin. If it were pure silver, it would have emptied out all of Longshan. It's silver-clad iron—its core is ten-thousand-fold forged iron, with only a thin outer layer of silver."

"Of course, even that outer silver layer is heavy. I once heard people from Longshan say the silver coating on Yan Han alone weighs over five hundred jin—it's the second-most precious weapon in all of Longyou."

"The most precious is Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's sword?"

"Exactly. Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's Li Tianhua Sword is coated with over eight hundred jin of silver. In all of Longyou, no weapon surpasses it."

Core material: ten-thousand-fold forged iron, with only a thin outer layer of silver…

Xia Hong stared at Yan Han in his hands, his brow slightly furrowed.

He understood why wrapping weapons in silver made sense: aside from its suppression of supernatural entities, silver was far tougher and harder than iron, with a higher melting point and a far more stable structure. Coating the blade in silver made it sharper, less prone to wear, and vastly more durable.

"If Longshan has no silver mine, where did all this silver come from?"

"Li Li Tianhua!"

Xia Hong had already guessed the source, but he let Peng Bo continue.

"Li Li Tianhua is the only person in all of Longyou who can cross Longshan. Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's Li Tianhua Sword, this Yan Han knife, Hou Hu's coiled-dragon staff, and all the silver stored in Longshan's warehouses—he's the one who brought them all here."

Seeing Xia Hong's confusion, Peng Bo quickly added: "I don't know where Li Li Tianhua got it from. I suspect even the Li clan itself doesn't know."

Stored silver: 1,215 jin

Xia Hong stared at the ledger's figure for Longshan's stored silver, his brow tightly knitted, unable to speak for a long while.

Five jin of silver equals one system resource point. That means all the silver stored in Longshan amounts to only 243 points. Of the system's nine buildings, all except the Black Soil Wall and Yellow Earth require silver to upgrade. Even the lowest—Spirit Tablet—needs 3,000 points, equivalent to 15,000 jin of silver.

With so little, there's no point converting it at all.

He'd have to find a silver mine himself. Without one, every building could rise no higher than level three, and even the Wooden Table and Coarse Iron Chain couldn't be unlocked at all.

Xia Hong took a slow breath, flipped through the ledger again. Even seeing the astonishing quantities of iron, coal, beast meat, beast hides, beast blood, and other supplies, his interest had vanished.

Peng Bo, clearly deeply moved by the fall of the old Longshan hegemon, hadn't noticed Xia Hong's indifference. He beamed on: "Longshan was incredibly wealthy—twelve iron mines alone, five still untouched; twenty-one coal mines…"

Xia Hong didn't interrupt him. Defeating Longshan meant a great deal to these former Longyou people; Peng Bo's excitement was understandable. Not just Peng Bo—even last night, Hou Jing, Dong Zhong, Yu Bin, Wu Wu Ningyuan, and others had shown intense reactions. Clearly, they had long harbored deep resentment toward Longshan.

Only after Peng Bo finished listing Longshan's key industries did he finally notice Xia Hong's gloomy expression. He realized it was about the silver mine, and his face twisted oddly: "Chief, you don't even know how hard it is to mine silver, even if you find it?"

Xia Hong's expression froze. "What do you mean?"

Seeing Xia Hong's reaction, Peng Bo instantly understood: his chief was powerful, but only in his early twenties. The Great Xia camp had only risen in the past two years. It was natural Xia Hong didn't know about silver mines—or many other things.

"Chief, you know Zhu Zhu Yin Hua, right?"

Zhu Zhu Yin Hua was one of eleven ingredients for the Jade Bone Elixir. In Great Xia, it was now one of the four main ingredients for Yangyuan Pills, and also the primary ingredient for Yuyang Pills. Xia Hong knew it well.

But then he remembered something—and instantly understood why Peng Bo had asked.

Zhu Zhu Yin Hua typically grew in two places: near silver mines, or where rodent colonies lived. Though Longyou's method of brewing Jade Bone Elixir was primitive, they still needed Zhu Zhu Yin Hua regularly, so they must have harvested it often. If they harvested it, they likely knew the locations of silver mines.

Xia Hong's eyes lit up with expectation as he stared at Peng Bo.

Peng Bo waved his hands quickly, smiling: "Chief, don't look at me like that—I never picked Zhu Zhu Yin Hua. Only Longshan and Zhaoyang have the strength to harvest it. One of them must know some silver mine locations."

If someone knew the locations, that was good enough!

Suddenly, the path ahead cleared. Xia Hong felt much better. Then he remembered Peng Bo's earlier remark—that even if found, silver mines were nearly impossible to mine by human labor. He paused, then guessed: "Is it because of cold beasts?"

Peng Bo nodded. "Many think only rodents gather near silver mines. In truth, every silver mine has cold beast clans dwelling around them—anywhere from one or two to over a dozen. Even a Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level cultivator entering these places would die. Organizing human mining teams is nearly impossible."

Cold beast clans!

Hearing those four words, Xia Hong's brow tightened. He immediately recalled the rodent swarm on the northern slope of the cliff years ago—and even earlier, the frost wolves that blocked their path when Great Xia migrated from the earth mound to Twin Dragon Valley.

To date, Great Xia had encountered cold beast clans only twice. Both times inflicted heavy damage on the camp. That proved a single cold beast and a structured cold beast clan were entirely different things.

A single cold beast clan was far more dangerous than a beast tide of the same size.

The reason was simple: from the two encounters, structured cold beast clans had leaders directing them, adult warriors charging, dedicated scouts, rear guards holding the line… they were nearly identical to human camps.

With higher organization came greater combat power.

And the larger the clan, the stronger and more intelligent its king. That made them even harder to fight.

No wonder!

If that's the case, acquiring silver mines is vastly harder than iron mines.

Xia Hong finally understood. He suppressed his desire for silver and looked up at Peng Bo, curiosity in his eyes: "How do you know all this?"

Peng Bo smiled. "Chief, you forgot—I spent years as a hostage in Longshan. I even had a master-disciple bond with Li Li Tianhua."

Peng Bo replied with a smile: "Leader, you've forgotten—I spent several years as a hostage in Longshan; come to think of it, I once had a master-disciple bond with Li Li Tianhua."

Since arriving in Longyou, Xia Hong had heard this name countless times—his ears were practically numb.

Thinking of Li Li Tianhua's departure from Longyou, Xia Hong felt both relief and regret.

If Li Li Tianhua had stayed, Xia Hong could never have seized Longyou so quickly—he'd likely have been forced to hunker down in Redwood Ridge for years before extending his reach into Longyou.

The regret came purely from curiosity about Li Li Tianhua.

Looking at Longyou's entire development, over two hundred camps eventually merged into eleven, then formed the Longyou Alliance, with Longshan dominating as the nominal overlord—all orchestrated by Li Li Tianhua.

In fact, had Great Xia not intervened, Li Li Tianhua's legacy alone would have unified Longyou in time.

According to Hou Hu, when he reached the peak of Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan, his strength was sixty-four zong—unmatched in all of Longyou.

Such a legendary figure—flawless in intellect, vision, talent, and power—naturally sparked Xia Hong's curiosity.

Moreover, he hadn't faced a worthy opponent in a long time.

"Don't underestimate him. Li Li Tianhua's last appearance was in Longyou year forty-five. He's likely been gone from Longshan over three years. If he's still alive, he may have already broken through to Stage Stage Xianyang. If he returns now, and we can't handle him, it'll be a disaster!"

Xia Hong shook his head. He was about to speak to Peng Bo when Wu Wu Tianxing and Hou Xing rushed in, faces flushed with anger.

"Chief! Another riot has broken out in the garrison!"

Wu finished. Hou Xing followed immediately: "The dungeon is in chaos too. Li clan descendants won't calm down. Every few minutes, someone breaks out of their cell. Just now, a Li clan member at the peak of Juodi level rallied over forty others and tried to escape through a secret tunnel. If the dungeon's hidden agents hadn't spotted and reported it, they'd have gotten away."

Hearing their reports, Xia Hong's brow snapped tight. He turned to Peng Bo: "I told you to screen Li clan descendants and lock them in the dungeon. Didn't you confiscate their weapons?"

He had ordered all Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level officers to lock up Longshan's elite and Li clan members. Peng Bo, along with Hou Xing, Zhang Ying, and Kong Fan, had led three hundred Yunjiao troops to carry it out. If problems arose, he'd hold Peng Bo responsible.

Peng Bo clearly knew about the dungeon unrest. He sighed helplessly: "Chief, you don't understand—these Li clan descendants know the garrison inside and out. They know exactly where weapons are hidden, where secret tunnels run. We can't guard against them all. If not for Commander Liu's advice to plant moles among the prisoners, the dungeon would've erupted long ago."

Xia Hong frowned, then looked up at Hou Xing: "No one killed?"

Hou Xing's expression was equally helpless. "We've killed them. The dungeon has erupted three times—we've executed at least seventy people. But they don't fear death. They just won't stop."

Xia Hong's brow tightened further. He turned to Wu Wu Tianxing.

Wu Wu Tianxing bowed quickly: "This time it's the South Zone. Over seven hundred participated. The ringleader is Song Ning, nephew of Song Kang—one of Longshan's Eight Vajras."

Xia Hong frowned even deeper after hearing this, then turned to look at Wu Wu Tianxing.

"He and thirty-six other ringleaders—all executed. But I see no effect. More riots will come."

Xia Hong's face darkened instantly.

The dungeon was small. Longshan's population was thirteen thousand. Not everyone resisted during the night assault. Xia Hong couldn't imprison them all. Right now, excluding Longshan's Juodi-level and all Li clan descendants, there were still eighty to ninety thousand people in the garrison.

Among them, many were loyal to the Li clan. Worried they'd cause chaos, Xia Hong had ordered Wu Wu Tianxing to lead three thousand Juodi-level troops to patrol the garrison.

But he'd vastly underestimated their numbers. In just over an hour, eight riots had broken out—each involving hundreds, even thousands.

This was Wu Wu Tianxing's ninth report on unrest.

Don't underestimate these riots. Even a Fumu-level cultivator had over five thousand jin of base strength. If unrest swelled to ten thousand or even hundreds of thousands, control would vanish—and another bloody battle would erupt, bringing more casualties.

These rioters clearly didn't fear death. Killing them didn't stop them.

And ultimately, capturing Longshan was about gaining population. Killing too many was counterproductive and would hinder Great Xia's future rule.

Hou Jing was still hunting hidden rebel forces. Chen Chen Chen Yingba's two thousand men were repairing the northern wall breach. Controlling over a hundred thousand people with only three hundred Yunjiao troops and three thousand Juodi-level soldiers was clearly insufficient.

Xia Hong stood still, thinking long and hard. A flash of cold light passed through his eyes. He was about to speak when Liu Liu Liu Yuan rushed in again, breathless.

"Chief! North Zone is in chaos! A man named Cheng Yu has gathered a huge mob and is charging west—heading straight for the dungeon. More and more people are joining them. They've already reached six thousand."

Xia Hong stood in place, pondering for a long while; a flash of cold light passed through his eyes. He was just about to speak when Liu Liu Liu Yuan rushed in again.

"Leader, the northern district is in chaos—a man named Cheng Yu has gathered a large mob and charged westward; it looks like they're heading for the dungeons. More and more people are joining them along the way—there are already over six thousand."

Liu Liu Liu Yuan followed close behind. Peng Bo and others rushed after him.

"I was patrolling the walls. As soon as I saw it, I alerted Hou Jing. He sent four thousand men under Dong Zhong to suppress them. But it was too slow. By the time they arrived, the mob had swelled to over six thousand. Even the Yunjiao troops couldn't hold them. I had no choice but to come get you!"

As Liu Liu Liu Yuan finished speaking, Xia Hong and the others reached the rooftop of a tall building near the northern dungeon entrance.

"Brothers, Great Xia is lying to us! Old Ancestor Li Li Li Tiancheng and others laid down their arms and surrendered, yet they're still killing people everywhere in the garrison. They're doing nothing—and soon they'll come for us!"

"We can't let them run wild in Longshan. We've only got one life. Let's fight them! I don't believe Great Xia can kill us all!"

"Unless Old Ancestor Li Li Li Tiancheng is freed to restore justice, we fight Great Xia!"

"Break into the dungeon! Free Old Ancestor and the others—we have no chance unless we do!"

"If we don't release Elder Li Li Li Tiancheng to uphold justice, we'll fight Great Xia to the death!"

Liu Liu Liu Yuan said six thousand. Clearly, it was far more.

Near the western dungeon entrance, over fifteen thousand people now surged in a dense, furious mass—mostly young and strong—charging against the wall of six hundred Yunjiao troops and four thousand Juodi-level soldiers.

Just now Liu Liu Liu Yuan said there were only six thousand, but it was clearly far more.

Near the entrance to the western dungeon, at least fifteen thousand people had gathered, thick and dense, and the vast majority were young and strong, surging forward in furious mobs against the human wall of six hundred Yunjiao soldiers and over four thousand Earth-Digging Realm cultivators.

Amidst sporadic shouts and incitements, the crowd's surging forward grew more frequent and violent, on the verge of clashing with the four thousand guards outside the dungeon entrance.

"Stop right now! If you don't, I'll order the army to kill you!"

Dong Zhong's voice was loud, but how could he compete with over ten thousand people?

"Kill us then! If you have the guts!"

"Longshan is our home! We won't let the Xia dogs take it!"

"Li Li Li Tiancheng Li Li Tiancheng Tiancheng Laozu and others have already surrendered! Why does Xia detain them? Why are you killing people all over our garrison? Release Li Li Li Tiancheng Li Li Tiancheng Tiancheng Laozu!"

"Release Li Li Li Tiancheng Li Li Tiancheng Tiancheng Laozu!"

"Release Li Li Li Tiancheng Li Li Tiancheng Tiancheng Laozu!"

………………

Dong Zhong's words didn't stop the tide—they only inflamed it, making the ten thousand-plus even more frenzied.

"Leader, if things get desperate, let our men strike!"

Watching the crowd surge again toward the dungeon, Liu Liu Liu Yuan could no longer hold back; his eyes blazed with violence as he directly proposed to Xia Hong.

Though the rioters numbered over fifteen thousand, nearly ninety-nine percent were commoners—no more than three hundred had reached Digging Ground, and few carried weapons; the rest were almost entirely unarmed.

The six hundred Yunjiao soldiers and four thousand guards, if they moved, could easily disperse—or even slaughter—the mob.

But what then, after the killing?

Xia Hong immediately waved him off. If they killed now, the seven thousand Digging Ground cultivators inside the dungeon, plus the remaining hundred thousand civilians in the garrison, would become endless liabilities—even if brought under Xia rule.

Clearly, the instigators of this mutiny had counted on this: they knew Xia dared not let its army slaughter outright.

Xia Hong scanned the rioting crowd, his expression tightening slightly as he asked Liu Liu Liu Yuan: "Who started this mutiny? Have you found out?"

Liu Liu Liu Yuan immediately shook his head: "It happened too fast. We didn't have time to investigate."

Hearing this, Xia Hong's eyes flickered with dark intent, then he leapt upward and dropped straight toward the dungeon entrance.

Thud!

Xia Hong deliberately amplified his landing force; though he jumped from only a dozen or so meters, the ground hundreds of meters around trembled.

The crowd surging against the guards staggered and toppled. When they finally regained their balance and looked up at the black-clad Xia Hong, they fell utterly silent.

"That's the man who bent the city wall last night!"

"He's the one who cut off Li Li Li Tiancheng Li Li Tiancheng Tiancheng Laozu's left arm!"

"He's the Xia leader, right?"

"Yes—he's Xia Hong, the strongest in all of Xia."

"Was the ground shaking just now his doing?"

………………

"I don't know how many of you are leaders, but I'll give those few a chance: step forward, speak your demands before all these people. If they're reasonable, I'll agree."

"But if you dare charge again…."

After abruptly speaking these words, Xia Hong paused, then gestured with his eyes toward Dong Zhong and Liu Liu Liu Yuan behind him.

"Ready!"

"Ready!"

Both understood instantly and shouted to the four thousand Digging Ground troops and six hundred Yunjiao soldiers: "Prepare!"

Shhhhhhh……

The soldiers drew their weapons at once, their gazes sharpening toward the ten thousand-plus rioters.

At that moment, Xia Hong spoke again—but this time his voice was low, thick with unmistakable killing intent.

"Each time you charge, I'll kill one-tenth of you—until none of you dare charge again. So think carefully: what will you say? What will you do?"

As Xia Hong finished speaking, the scene plunged into deathly silence.

Everyone looked up at him. Not a single person dared speak.

After dozens of heartbeats, a few voices finally emerged from the crowd.

"I'll go!"

"I'll go…"

"And me."

………………

Hearing five voices, Xia Hong's gaze sharpened slightly. He nodded slowly to the crowd and smiled: "Come forward. The rest of you—make way."

(End of Chapter)