Chapter 165: Terminating the 'Cooperative Fire Spirit Mine Excavation' Project

Since her first experience in the Ghost Market had been so disastrous, Hua Changxi dared not be careless during her second visit. Besides refining a batch of third-grade spiritual pills, on the last day of October, she also made a trip to San Cha Medicinal Valley to prepare extra top-grade Fire Spirit Stones for emergencies.

The Fire Spirit Mine was located too close to San Cha Medicinal Valley, which fell under imperial jurisdiction. To avoid detection by the court, You Lao and his three companions patrolled the outer perimeter. Further inside, Hua Changxi had specifically set up Concealment Arrays and Bewilderment Arrays.

However, regarding array formation, Hua Changxi had merely copied what she had seen without true understanding. The Concealment and Bewilderment Arrays around the Fire Spirit Mine were rather rudimentary and fundamentally incapable of stopping high-level cultivators.

Just as now, Hua Changxi, at the Infant Transformation stage, arrived and saw through the arrays surrounding the mine at a glance. She could enter the Fire Spirit Mine without alerting anyone.

"Drawing talismans, setting up arrays..."

Previously, unable to carve runes, she could not establish teleportation arrays; now, lacking knowledge of profound array formations, she could not conceal the spirit mine.

Hua Changxi realized once again that on the path of cultivation, besides cultivating itself, there were many other things to learn.

At this current stage, limited by her energy, she had no time to delve into other matters, yet she desperately needed spiritual talismans, array disks, and spiritual artifacts.

If she could not do these things herself, her only option was to befriend cultivators who possessed such skills.

During her first visit to the Ghost Market, she had gone with the aim of breaking into the cultivator circles, but unfortunately returned empty-handed; she hoped this time would yield some results.

Hua Changxi rarely visited the Fire Spirit Mine itself. Every month, the mined Fire Spirit Stones were directly stored in an underground cave connected to the mine.

Without alerting the patrolling cultivators or the miners digging for spirit stones, Hua Changxi silently slipped into the cave.

Inside the cave, boxes of Fire Spirit Stones were neatly arranged.

Hua Changxi ignored the low-grade, medium-grade, and high-grade Fire Spirit Stones, heading straight for the top-grade section, only to discover there were merely three boxes of top-grade Fire Spirit Stones.

One box could hold ten thousand spirit stones; three boxes meant only thirty thousand top-grade Fire Spirit Stones.

She had never withdrawn any spirit stones from here, yet after two or three years, only this small amount of top-grade Fire Spirit Stones had been mined. The discrepancy from her expectations was far too great.

Hua Changxi knew that You Lao and his four companions, guarding the mine, would certainly embezzle some. As long as it wasn't excessive, she couldn't be bothered to care, but looking at the three boxes of top-grade Fire Spirit Stones before her, she truly felt angry.

Originally, Hua Changxi had not intended to alert You Lao and his group during this visit, nor did she plan to meet Hua Liulang, but at this moment, she decided to go see them.

After storing away the three boxes of top-grade Fire Spirit Stones and all the high-grade spirit stones, Hua Changxi exited the mine cave. Upon emerging, she noticed that dozens of caves had been carved into the cliff faces on both banks of the Fire Spirit Mine.

At this moment, people were sitting in meditation and cultivating inside each of these caves.

Hua Changxi extended her divine sense to scan the area, discovering that more than ten of these individuals had already reached the Qi Sea stage.

Clearly, these cultivators were undoubtedly people belonging to You Lao and his three companions.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi narrowed her eyes, suddenly realizing that even though she had sent Hua Liulang to supervise, given You Lao and his group's control over the mine, in a few more years, she feared she would be completely sidelined by them.

In a slightly larger cave within the valley, she 'saw' Hua Liulang gesturing animatedly, while opposite him, You Lin, Yang Chuan, Zhuo Fan, and Jiang Ye sat comfortably, watching Hua Liulang as if enjoying a play.

Witnessing this scene, Hua Changxi's expression immediately darkened.

However, she did not rush forward to investigate but instead turned around and slipped back into the depths of the spirit mine.

A quarter of an hour later, a mine spirit emitting red light, six or seven meters long and shaped like a fire snake, was stored by Hua Changxi into the Sumeru Mustard Seed hanging around her neck.

Once the mine spirit was removed, this Fire Spirit Mine became a dead mine; it would no longer automatically condense new spirit stones, and once the existing ones were mined out, there would be nothing left.

During this visit, she realized that managing the Fire Spirit Mine was not easy. With no people of her own, using outsiders carried the high risk of being sidelined; using family members would inevitably lead to disputes over interests in the future, which was what she least wanted to face.

You Lao and his four companions had acted behind her back more than once. She did not wish to be someone who drained the pond to catch all the fish, so she removed the mine spirit, ruining this Fire Spirit Mine.

But since she lacked the energy to manage it, and You Lao and his group were not suitable for long-term cooperation, the only option left was to terminate this 'Cooperative Fire Spirit Mine Excavation' project.

"You have already opened so many caves; you cannot open any more."

Hua Liulang was very dissatisfied with You Lao and his group continuously excavating new caves around the spirit mine.

You Lao smiled and said, "The spiritual energy around the spirit mine is dense; it would be a pity to waste it."

Hearing this, Hua Liulang became extremely angry: "Don't think I know nothing. The spiritual energy leaking from the spirit mine is limited. By bringing so many people here to cultivate, do you intend to exhaust the spirit mine completely?"

Not wanting Hua Liulang to report this matter to Hua Changxi, Jiang Ye smiled and soothingly said, "Liulang, we few belong to Changxi, so naturally, our clansmen also belong to Changxi. I believe Changxi is willing to nurture her own subordinates."

At this moment, Hua Liulang felt extremely frustrated. Every time an issue arose, You Lao and his four companions always had suitable excuses to fob him off, leaving him speechless.

"Sixth Brother!"

Hua Changxi's voice rang out from outside the cave, startling everyone. You Lao and his four companions jumped to their feet with a 'whoosh', exchanging nervous glances.

Hua Liulang, however, lit up with joy and quickly stepped out of the cave: "Ninth Lady, why have you come?"

Hua Changxi said, "I came to withdraw a batch of spirit stones. Sixth Brother, I entrusted the Fire Spirit Mine to your management. If you are too busy to handle it alone, you may find helpers. But remember one thing: whoever you recruit, you are responsible for managing them."

Hua Liulang immediately asked, "Then can I bring family members to help?"

Hua Changxi replied, "Yes, but if disputes over interests arise among family members in the future, you must resolve them yourself."

Hua Liulang thought that rather than letting You Lao and his group profit, it was better to let the Hua family benefit: "Rest assured, I will not cause you any trouble."

"Changxi, you're here?"

You Lao and his four companions also came out, all smiling as they looked at Hua Changxi.

Hua Changxi nodded slightly to the four of them. Since the cooperation had already been terminated, she had nothing more to say to them. When selecting partners previously, she had been too hasty and chosen unsuitable people; now that the project had failed, she had to bear the consequences herself.

As for the remaining Fire Spirit Mine, it would be used to temper her Sixth Brother.

"I have other matters to attend to; I must leave now."

Watching Hua Changxi appear suddenly and depart just as abruptly, without saying a word to them or asking any questions, You Lao and his four companions began to feel uneasy in their hearts.

Was Hua Changxi perhaps too trusting of them?

"Elder You, Elder Yang, Elder Zhuo, Elder Jiang, I will have members of the Hua family come to assist me later. At that time, I hope you will offer them your guidance."

Seeing that the Hua family was about to get involved, You Lao and his four companions were naturally unwilling, yet they could not stop it.

"What was bound to happen has finally arrived."

"Actually, the Hua family's involvement isn't entirely a bad thing. As long as we integrate well with the Hua family, our bond with Hua Changxi will become even deeper."

"That's right. Did you notice? Hua Changxi's aura has become increasingly terrifying; I even dare not look directly into her eyes. I wonder how high her cultivation has reached now?"

"Regardless, we cannot offend Hua Changxi. Now that the Hua family is involved, we should tamper less with the mined spirit stones."

While Yang Chuan and the other two discussed this, Elder You remained silent throughout.

Hua Changxi's visit, during which she neither managed nor questioned anything, left him feeling extremely uncertain. He felt that Hua Changxi seemed to no longer care about this spirit mine.