Chapter 354

Green mountains stood at the side, bordering green waters.

A huge beast-skin tent, inlaid with gold and jade, was firmly pitched in the mountains and forests, surrounded by many slightly smaller tents.

The campfire rose, thin blue smoke drifting; a cleaned beast was set on the fire, and Hua Xinxin gathered with several of the Ren clan's 'good sisters,' smearing the meat with various seasonings, occasionally letting out clear, happy laughter.

Hua Xinxin enjoyed herself immensely; with red sleeves adding oil, the taste of this outdoor barbecue—how could it be experienced in the usual Hua family mansion?

Such rustic fun was truly extremely interesting.

He was busy playing with the many good sisters, and the heavy task of surveying the mineral veins was handed over to several craft leaders of the Hua clan's main force.

Originally all this should have been coordinated by Steward Nine, but Steward Nine was beaten to a daze, and Hua Xinxin, not skilled in worldly affairs, had no choice but to delegate it to her subordinates.

Fortunately, besides those craft leaders, there were also clan elites like Ren Shanwen and Ren Duxing assisting; Ren Shanwen managed logistics smoothly, and Ren Duxing surprisingly had talent for management and mobilization—under his command, the Ren clan's servants and guards, coordinating with the Hua clan's craftsmen, quickly erected a row of a dozen or so high towers at the mountain's base.

In the center of the metal high tower, nearly a hundred zhang tall, a straight metal pole slowly rotated, driving the drill bit at its tip to spin rapidly, slowly approaching the ground, and then the alloy-forged, rune-covered drill bit swiftly bored into the earth.

Sizzle!

The metal drill rod sank inch by inch into the ground, and the radiant metal drill bit behind it expelled great clouds of earth mist. Whether soil or hard rock layers, before these specially made drill bits, they were as fragile as tofu.

The drill rod quickly extended ten zhang underground; a new drill rod was attached behind it, the entire tower emitted a faint glow, and the drill rod continued driving downward.

Several burly men, whose arms were almost as thick as an average person's waist, with extremely sturdy hands and arms scarred by numerous burns from hot molten metal, stood between the high towers, carefully observing the mountain range's trend.

Occasionally they would walk to a tower's side, cocking their ears to listen to the sound emitted by the drill rod.

Sometimes underground there were extremely hard rock layers; when the drill bit broke through them, it emitted a relatively sharp friction sound, at which point the Hua clan's honored master craftsmen would order the drill bit's rotation speed to be reduced, slowing the drill rod's downward advance as well.

Wu Tie crouched on the mid-slope of a small cliff several zhang away.

Here there was a protruding rock; he resembled a large vulture, back against the cliff, crouched in midair, perfectly able to see the movements in Hua Xinxin's camp, while the scenery around those dozen or so high towers was laid bare before him.

When the Hua clan's master craftsmen ordered the towers erected, Wu Tie narrowed his eyes, his pupils flashing with a murky chaotic light, and he also observed the nearby terrain.

He instinctively employed the secret arts of 'feng shui surveying' and 'seeking the dragon's point' passed down from Old Iron.

In his vision, this expanse of heaven and earth instantly changed color; mountains and rivers turned into rows of magnificent primal-energy torrents. The mountain torrents were stable and firm, rarely showing movement; the river torrents were unusually agile, surging forward endlessly.

Streams of primal-energy torrents, varying in hue and depth, influenced and echoed each other, scouring the earth to form numerous primal-energy vortices large and small; these vortices differed in shade and in attribute.

The Hua clan's master craftsmen indeed had a skill; each of the towers they erected stood precisely above a primal-energy vortex.

As the drill rod inside the tower went deeper and deeper, in Wu Tie's vision a drill bit was less than ten zhang above the primal-energy vortex below.

After a quarter hour, a 'sizzle' sounded; the rock layer above that primal-energy vortex was completely drilled through, and a large amount of sharp qi escaped through the drill bit's vent holes and the dense patterns on the drill rod, spraying out of the ground, with a few tiny rock fragments following.

A Hua clan master craftsman, sharp-eyed and quick-handed, grabbed at the drill rod and seized a gleaming black stone fragment in his hand.

'Master.' The Hua clan craftsman lowered his voice, presenting the black stone fragment to an old man whose hair and beard were largely white, his stature squat and square like a dwarf, resembling an iron ingot.

The old man picked up the egg-sized stone fragment, glanced at it, and said in a deep voice: 'Cold iron ore, with a cold-iron content of thirty-seven percent… the reserves are roughly ten million catties, not exactly a treasure.'

After a moment's thought, the old man brought the fragment to his nose to sniff, then forcibly broke off a small black stone piece, placed it in his mouth to taste for a while, and slowly said: 'There is a hint of sweetness; below there should be accompanying crimson gold ore… Hmm, drill down another hundred zhang; if the crimson gold ore is large enough, this place would be worth mining for a while.'

He casually tossed the cold iron ore stone to the ground and said softly: 'If it were merely a cold iron ore deposit, there'd be no point wasting effort here.'

Several Hua clan master craftsmen acknowledged, and a burly master craftsman raised his right hand, shouting loudly: 'Drill another hundred zhang to see if there is a crimson gold vein. If not…'

That master craftsman glanced at the sky.

Night falls quickly in the mountains and forests; with towering peaks all around, the sun easily sets behind the ridges, and after nightfall the woods become a playground for vicious birds and beasts, and even more terrifying things.

'Drill another hundred zhang; if no major discovery is made, we'll cease work today, tidy the camp, build fences, dig moats, set ambushes, lay formation restrictions… In these mountains, one must be cautious again and again—no amount of caution is excessive.'

The busy craftsmen and laborers all replied in unison.

The dozen or so high towers continued drilling; laborers headed to the camp, and with the help of the Ren clan's servants, slaves, and private militia guards, they began felling trees, constructing the camp, and simultaneously setting up various safety defenses.

Wu Tie produced a flatbread, then a small earthenware jar, took some wild honey from it, carefully spread it on the flatbread, grabbed a bottle of fruit wine, and while sipping the wine he happily ate the sweet, tasty flatbread.

Whoosh.

Beside Wu Tie, a person appeared on a protruding stone over a foot wide.

Likewise clad in coarse cloth, with a hatchet at the waist, hair disheveled and littered with small broken twigs and leaf fragments, at first glance he looked like an ordinary woodcutter.

Except for this fellow's boots… Wu Tie glanced at his feet—they were a pair of exquisitely crafted dragon-scale leather boots, far surpassing ordinary weapons and reaching the level of spiritual weapons.

Faint spiritual light flickered; the dragon-scale leather boots clung tightly to the stone, and he crouched on the rock as if fused with it.

'Brother, what are they doing?' a middle-aged man who suddenly appeared beside Wu Tie asked with a chuckle.

'You look unfamiliar—you're not from Huachong City?' Wu Tie didn't answer his question but instead sized him up.

'Uh, brother, you have keen eyes…' the middle-aged man laughed, then looked at Wu Tie and said solemnly: 'Let me guess—are you from the Huachong City lord's manor, the Divine Martial Army, or perhaps the Forbidden Demon Hall? Of course, you could also be a spy from some other house outside the Ren clan.'

'And you?' Wu Tie gulped down the honey‑smeared flatbread in a couple of bites, finished the bottle of fruit wine in one gulp, then backhandedly smashed the earthenware wine bottle against the cliff.

'What are you? You wouldn't be the one who attacked Hua Xinxin in Huachong City, would you?' Wu Tie sized up the middle-aged man: 'Your cultivation is not bad—you're at the Life Pool Realm, qualified to attack Hua Xinxin!'

The middle-aged man smiled and shook his head: 'Brother, you're joking, Young Master Xin… I wouldn't dare offend him. To be frank, I am a follower of Hua Tianluo, the second elder brother of Young Master Xin. This time the Hua clan dispatched twenty‑four survey teams, and Young Master Xin's contingent is the largest and most numerous. The second young master sent us to follow Young Master Xin all the way—also a kind intention.'

'In a great clan, scheming and strife are deadly.' Wu Tie bluntly told the middle-aged man: 'Especially, the steward nine beside Hua Xinxin was killed—this matter… everyone is suspect, especially your second young master, who bears the heaviest suspicion.'

Wu Tie sneered, 'Let your second young master fool around to his heart's content.'

'Send your trusted lackeys to secretly follow Hua Xinxin.'

'Do you really think you can hide this from those old-timers of the Hua clan?'

'If Hua Xinxin were fine, all would be well; but once something happens, the first to suffer misfortune would be Zhao Shi and his gang. Yet now Hua Xinxin clearly has met trouble.'

'The Hua clan's ancestors' most cherished heart‑and‑soul treasure has clearly fallen under the Ren clan's control. A dozen or so clan girls have utterly bewitched Hua Xinxin, hehe… if the Hua ancestors insist on claiming the second young master colluded with the Ren clan, it wouldn't be without reason!'

'If the Hua clan investigates this, you lot sent by Hua Tianluo bear the greatest suspicion! By then, will you be tossed out to take the blame?' Wu Tie gloated: 'I can already picture you being ordered decapitated by the Hua clan's bigwigs… so don't provoke me—I fear death, I fear being ordered killed by the Hua clan's magnates.'

The middle-aged man's face twisted slightly.

He gave a bitter smile and handed a small leather pouch to Wu Tie: 'Colonel Huo…'

Wu Tie's smile faded: 'You know me? What is this? A bribe? What do you want me… to help you with?'

The middle-aged man said solemnly: 'Zhao Shi, currently an attendant beside the second young master, carries some face in his presence.'

'Young Master Xin himself may not realize it, but we all know he seems to have fallen into a pit.' Zhao Shi said solemnly: 'Inside this pouch is a six‑refined spirit blade, a trifle, merely a token of feeling… please, Colonel Huo, help us.'

Six‑refined spirit blade?

Elemental soldiers are divided into nine grades; above the highest grade of elemental soldiers are spirit soldiers.

Spirit soldiers, like spirit pills and immortal pills, are graded ordinary, three‑refined, six‑refined, and nine‑refined.

Like Huo Xiong, an eighth‑grade colonel of the Divine Martial Army, they are issued only ordinary spirit soldiers, not even reaching three‑refined. Six‑refined spirit soldiers versus ordinary spirit soldiers are like a fine steel blade versus wooden swords, absolutely overwhelming.

Six‑refined spirit blades hold immense appeal for Huo Xiong.

"What can I help you with?" Wu Tie snatched the hide sack over.

Whether the Reincarnation Tower, the White Tiger Fissure, or Wu Tie's self‑refined Soul‑Dissipating Banner and Northern Dipper Soul‑Slaying Sword, these treasures cannot see the light.

His sidearm is merely the Divine Martial Army's standard spirit soldiers, a low grade even among ordinary spirit soldiers. A six‑refined spirit blade would greatly boost Wu Tie's killing power.

Wu Tie won't spurn anything that comes his way.

"You're the local boss, huh?" Zhao Yu laughed brightly: "Nothing else, just please help us—protect Xin Shao's safety, and find the one truly scheming against Xin Shao behind the scenes."

"We, the Second Young Masters, just want to monitor Xin Shao's survey progress and see if he's found the rare minerals the clan needs here—nothing else."

"So even our retinue must protect Xin Shao's absolute safety."

Zhao Yu gave a bitter smile; the bitterness on his face almost turned into huanglian water flowing out.

Wu Tie glanced at Zhao Yu and fell silent.

He drew from the hide sack a six‑chi‑four‑cun double‑handed Miao blade, its body tinged with blue‑green, the blade extremely thin and nearly translucent, its lines beautiful and smooth, covered in flowing cloud patterns that are actually minute runes and Dao patterns condensed together.

Wu Tie blew hot air onto the blade; with a hiss‑hiss, fine ice crystals formed on the edge but slid off the perfectly smooth surface.

Clearly, this blade will leave no blood when used to kill.

"A fine blade—very good." Wu Tie tossed the hide sack, whose interior space is a zhang square, back to Zhao Yu.

The Great Jin Divine Kingdom enforces strict laws; every spatial treasure is priceless. This small hide sack is likely Zhao Yu's only spatial treasure—he may keep the spirit blade but must return the sack.

Wu Tie buckled the spirit blade to his waist and said indifferently: "How many of you? That's none of my concern—but if you want to protect Xin Shao, go take out those guys."

Wu Tie pointed to the woods ten li away and quickly pointed out where several people were hiding.

"Those guys—I spotted them a few days ago in Flowerbug City. The one who first struck to kill Huaxin Xin was their accomplice."

"Whether it's a warning or a provocation, I think we should take them out first."

Zhao Yu's eyes narrowed, a bone‑chilling gleam flashing like a hawk's.

Wu Tie was about to speak when a low rumble came from beneath a distant tower.

Wu Tie had just noticed a sizable primordial energy vortex beneath the tower, into which the drill had already penetrated.

A low rumble rose skyward, and a thumb‑thick wisp of dragon‑shaped mist sprayed from the drill shaft.

"We've struck the earth veins—hey, the hue is bluish‑white; there must be a rare mineral vein below."

An old master craftsman, stout as an iron lump, leapt up with his apprentices and rushed to the tower's side.