Ch 299: This Time, We’ve Struck It Rich

Next, the Yuhua Gate Sect Leader made detailed arrangements for the collection of the Imperishable Gold Mine.

More than ten Earth Immortals, divided into eight teams, were led by Earth Immortals from the Eight Great Dao Palaces as Squad Leaders. Under the Ten-Thousand Leader, there were also Thousand Leaders and Centurions, served by other Earth Immortals from the Dao Palaces, Dao Residences, and Dao Academies.

Four Earth Immortals from the Luoyuan Dao Hall were assigned to the Ten-Thousand Leader Mo under the Beichen Dao Palace.

Finally, a large number of Earth Immortals were continuously teleported to the depths of the Three Stars Mountain Range through Teleportation Gates.

This is a relatively safe area opened up by the Feathered Immortal Gate.

Powerful formations enveloped it, isolating the power of the Space Cracks. Of course, the cost was enormous, but for the sake of discovering the Imperishable Gold Mine, everything was worthwhile.

Through this safe area’s teleportation transfer, the Feathered Immortal Gate’s more than 100,000 Earth Immortals entered the Secret Realm through the Secret Realm spatial gate.

As soon as Li Qian entered the Secret Realm, he felt the oppression and terror of Heaven and Earth. Above the sky, terrifying thunder seemed to be wandering, as if it would strike down at any moment.

Li Qian possessed a Thunder Spirit Root, and among the Divine Firmament Nine Swords he cultivated, he had comprehended the Thunder Profundity.

If he hadn’t obtained the Law of the Seed of Winter, after his future Transformation Dao Nascent Soul Formation, perhaps the Law he would comprehend would be of the thunder type…

Therefore, he could feel the terrifying aura of thunder above the sky.

If one cultivated Thunder Cultivation Techniques, cultivation in this environment would surely be twice the result with half the effort.

「No wonder they didn’t dare to send in strong cultivators above the Heavenly Immortal level. In this environment… once a Lightning Tribulation occurs, there’s probably no chance of survival.」

Li Qian thought to himself.

As for why they didn’t send in Void Immortals, Li Qian had basically figured it out: the rules of this world are very strong. Even he, an Earth Immortal, was greatly suppressed.

If Void Immortals came in, they would probably be like ordinary people, and the difficulty of mining would be very high.

Earth Immortals were precisely the most suitable.

At least in this world, he could still exert some of his strength.

「What a peculiar world, no wonder it could nurture an Imperishable Gold Mine.」

Li Qian stroked his chin.

Generally speaking, Imperishable Gold is too precious and cannot be formed in ordinary environments.

Moreover, Imperishable Gold is different from ordinary Immortal Metal; its extraction difficulty is very high.

If it’s ordinary Immortal Metal, even Earth Immortals can purify it using their Spiritual Power… but Imperishable Gold is different. It is said that only Law-level power can refine Imperishable Gold.

In other words, even if Earth Immortals, Heavenly Immortals, or even ordinary Profound Immortals obtained the Imperishable Gold Mine, they wouldn’t be able to refine the Imperishable Gold.

「I wonder if my Winter Force can refine Imperishable Gold?」

Li Qian’s heart stirred, and he had an idea.

Imperishable Gold is incredibly precious and hard to come by.

If he didn’t get some this time, he might not have another chance.

Of course, he also knew that if the Feathered Immortal Gate’s higher-ups discovered that he privately possessed Imperishable Gold, he would definitely be severely punished.

Once Imperishable Gold is taken out, the higher-ups will definitely inspect it; it’s impossible to hide it privately.

But he was different.

He possessed the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven.

This top-secret Grotto-Heaven could not be detected by anyone.

He had just sensed the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven and could still enter and exit freely, unaffected by this Secret Realm.

This was his opportunity.

After all the Earth Immortals were teleported into the Secret Realm, they began to be arranged according to the previously assigned teams.

The entire Imperishable Gold Mine was enormous.

During the collection process, a team of one hundred people was usually formed.

In a team of one hundred, there was at least one top-level Earth Immortal serving as the Centurion.

The reason is simple: this time, not only the Feathered Immortal Gate but also a large number of Earth Immortals from the Tai Xuan Immortal Sect were collecting. Privately, they might fight over the Imperishable Gold Mine’s mining, leading to conflict and slaughter.

Although mining areas had already been divided, no one could be sure whether there would be any looting.

Even within the Feathered Immortal Gate itself, such situations might occur.

After all, the Imperishable Gold Mine represents Immortal Crystals. The more one mines, the more Immortal Crystals one obtains after going out.

A map of the size and scope of the Imperishable Gold Mine had already been created. Each Earth Immortal had a map marking the large and small mine points.

The four Earth Immortals from the Luoyuan Dao Hall, following a team of one hundred, arrived at an area under the leadership of a top-level Earth Immortal from the Jinyu Dao Mansion.

The area was covered with trees and lush vegetation.

However, there were many trees scorched by lightning strikes.

Obviously, lightning strikes were very frequent here.

Even those who hadn’t reached the Heavenly Immortal level still had a chance of encountering lightning strikes.

「Everyone find a place to mine. Of course, you can mine together… but I suggest you mine separately to avoid conflicts later.」

The Ming Yu Earth Immortal of the Jinyu Dao Mansion spoke.

The mining of the Imperishable Gold Mine was different from ordinary mines.

The main reason is that the Imperishable Gold Mine’s hardness is very high. Only by using Spiritual Power to activate Spirit Tools is it possible to mine.

Thus, they each chose a place and began to mine.

The four of Li Qian chose mining areas not far from each other.

This way, they could look out for each other.

Li Qian summoned the Two Elements Spirit Sword. With the activation of Spiritual Power, he quickly dug out the topsoil, using Spiritual Power to compress and reinforce the mine entrance.

After digging less than a zhang （approximately 3.3 meters）, the rock became unusually hard.

Even under the attack of his Two Elements Spirit Sword, it slowed down considerably.

Each time his Sword Qi fell, sparks could be struck. The rock’s texture was incredibly rigid. Li Qian suddenly swept his Immortal Sense, using the material identification method in Divine Edge Refinement to identify it.

Of course, the Jade Talisman circling his body was also very special. It could release light, and shining it on the minerals could determine whether there was Imperishable Gold and its content.

This was prepared by the Feathered Immortal Gate.

After all, the identification of the Imperishable Gold Mine is crucial.

Li Qian didn’t directly scan with the Jade Talisman but identified it himself.

「There is indeed Imperishable Gold, but the content is a little low. Also… there are quite a few other Spirit Metals and Immortal Metals…」

Li Qian’s eyes lit up.

No wonder it is said that other Immortal Metals often coexist with Imperishable Gold.

No wonder the Immortal Sect is willing to exchange one gram of Imperishable Gold for one thousand Immortal Crystals. Besides the Imperishable Gold in the ore,

other Immortal Metals, etc., are also definitely not low in value.

Due to the presence of Imperishable Gold in the Imperishable Gold Mine, the refining difficulty is very high. Even if the Earth Immortals know there are other Immortal Metals, they can’t refine them.

「However, this shouldn’t be difficult for me…」

Li Qian thought to himself.

Then Li Qian used the Jade Talisman to scan and detect, confirming that there was Imperishable Gold in the rock, but the content was very low. It was estimated that mining one hundred tons of such ore wouldn’t yield even one gram of Imperishable Gold.

Upon this, Li Qian shook his head.

No wonder so many Earth Immortals were needed for mining.

It’s because the Imperishable Gold content is too low.

Only by mining a large amount of low-content Imperishable Gold Ore can sufficient Imperishable Gold be obtained.

Of course, if they were lucky enough to encounter a rich Imperishable Gold Mine, that’s a different story.

Or, for those incredibly lucky, they might even obtain high-content Primordial Immortal Gold.

Primordial Immortal Gold refers to high-content Imperishable Gold Ore.

The content often exceeds fifty percent.

However, it is very rare and can only be formed under special circumstances.

Li Qian guessed that the Feathered Immortal Gate’s Immortal Register Disciple who discovered the Imperishable Gold Mine must have found such Primordial Immortal Gold, so they confirmed that this Secret Realm contained an Imperishable Gold Mine.

After all, where Primordial Immortal Gold appears, it often represents the existence of an Imperishable Gold Mine.

In this way, for over a month, Li Qian mined a lot of Imperishable Gold Ore, but the content was relatively low.

About a hundred tons or so.

However, he only kept half, throwing the rest into the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven.

Moreover, those thrown into the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven were of higher content.

Although the high content was limited.

Actually, he could have mined more…

But he didn’t spend all his time mining Imperishable Gold Ore; he also reserved some time to cultivate within the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven.

On this day, the Ming Yu Earth Immortal of the Jinyu Dao Mansion sent a signal, asking all the Earth Immortals in the hundred-person team to gather.

It turned out that the Feathered Immortal Gate’s Immortal Gold collectors had arrived.

Every half-month, the Feathered Immortal Gate would collect the mined Imperishable Gold Ore.

When the Imperishable Gold Ore was collected, the amount of Imperishable Gold would be calculated based on the content, and the corresponding Immortal Crystals would be transferred to the Earth Immortal’s Life Tablet who mined the Imperishable Gold Ore.

Li Qian watched the Earth Immortals hand over the Imperishable Gold Ore. Depending on their cultivation, the amount handed over was different.

Those with low cultivation could probably mine three to five tons.

Those with high cultivation could mine twenty to thirty tons…

Li Qian found that the seventy to eighty tons of Imperishable Gold Ore he was handing over seemed a bit too much.

So he immediately sent most of the Imperishable Gold Ore in his Storage Artifact to the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven, leaving only about twenty tons.

Finally, after the calculation by the collecting Earth Immortal, Li Qian received 230 Immortal Crystals.

In a little over a month, he earned more than 200 Immortal Crystals.

This income was astonishing.

At least for other Servant Disciples, everyone was overjoyed.

At this rate, if it could continue for a year, plus the guaranteed one thousand Immortal Crystals, earning two to three thousand Immortal Crystals would be a sure thing.

「Junior Martial Brother, your mining speed is so fast.」

Senior Martial Brother Xiao He exclaimed upon seeing that Li Qian handed in so much Imperishable Gold Ore.

Although it wasn’t the most, it could still be among the top five.

This also attracted the attention of many people.

After all, the Luoyuan Dao Hall was only a small Dao Hall, insignificant in the Feathered Immortal Gate.

「It’s just good luck.」

Li Qian smiled.

In fact, the reason he could mine so much wasn’t simply because his cultivation was high. After all, in this hundred-person team, there were two or three people with cultivation comparable to his, and mining twenty to thirty tons was already their limit.

Yet Li Qian had mined over a hundred tons.

The reason was simple: he used the power of Frozen Sword Qi, making the originally hard Imperishable Gold Ore brittle, greatly reducing the difficulty of mining.

Li Qian guessed that the Law power of the Seed of Winter would disintegrate Imperishable Gold…,

so he believed that his Seed of Winter could definitely refine Imperishable Gold.

In the following months, Li Qian diligently mined Imperishable Gold Ore every day, and his efficiency increased. Unfortunately, he didn’t find a rich Imperishable Gold Mine, so he could only rely on quantity to win.

One day, Li Qian handed in the Imperishable Gold Ore again, but he received news from the collecting Earth Immortal.

「You may not know this, but this time, a Servant Disciple from the Siyuan Dao Hall was incredibly lucky. He actually dug up a piece of Primordial Immortal Gold, a large amount, and after testing, the Imperishable Gold content is estimated to be about 900 grams.」

The collecting Earth Immortal said.

Everyone present showed envy, jealousy, and hatred…

900 grams of Imperishable Gold. At one thousand Immortal Crystals per gram, wouldn’t that be 900,000 Immortal Crystals?

Not only were the Servant Disciples envious to death, but even Ming Yu Earth Immortal, an Immortal Register Disciple, was also very envious.

Li Qian was originally very satisfied… but now that he heard someone had dug up Primordial Immortal Gold, he suddenly felt that his harvest was also very ordinary.

Although he now had nearly a thousand tons of Imperishable Gold Ore stored in his Chen Zhong Cave Heaven, refining ten grams of Imperishable Gold would already be good.

But the other person casually dug up a piece of Primordial Immortal Gold, which was several hundred grams.

Indeed, sometimes luck is more important than ability.

「However, be careful; the frequency of lightning strikes has become increasingly severe recently.」

The collecting Earth Immortal reminded them before hastily leaving.

The people present immediately became apprehensive,

because in the more than half a year since entering the Secret Realm, this area had suffered numerous lightning strikes.

Although no one had been injured… according to the information provided by the collecting Earth Immortal, more than one hundred Earth Immortals had fallen due to lightning strikes.

Of course, compared to the more than ten groups of Earth Immortals, the proportion of more than one hundred was still very low.

But no one wanted to be unlucky enough to encounter it.

Moreover, the frequency of lightning strikes would increase towards the end of the mining period. The one-year time limit was set because after one year, a terrifying thunderstorm would occur.

Only after the thunderstorm period passes can this Secret Realm be reopened for mining Imperishable Gold Ore.

So this year’s opening is just the beginning; they will definitely have to come in again later.

It was the last month of the one-year deadline.

Underground.

Li Qian was activating Frozen Sword Qi, attacking the hard Imperishable Gold Ore. Spiderweb-like cracks immediately appeared on the stone wall, and then under the Sword Qi, pieces of Imperishable Gold Ore were peeled off, and he put them into his Storage Artifact and the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven.

Anyway, he now handed in twenty to thirty tons of Imperishable Gold Ore each time, storing the rest in the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven.

At this time, a flash of golden light appeared on the cracked stone wall.

「Holy crap…」

Li Qian watched this scene, his heart pounding.

Because this kind of golden light could only mean one possibility: high-content Primordial Immortal Gold.

Li Qian immediately used Sword Qi to mine. After clearing the surroundings, a football-sized piece of Primordial Immortal Gold was completely separated.

「No wonder the content of this mining area is so low; probably most of the Imperishable Gold has gathered here.」

Li Qian muttered to himself.

In areas where Primordial Immortal Gold is born, rich ore is almost impossible to exist.

When Li Qian took out the entire piece of Primordial Immortal Gold, he sensed it with his Immortal Sense to identify it… The content was probably more than sixty percent; the amount of Imperishable Gold was estimated to exceed 70,000 grams.

70,000 grams of Imperishable Gold…

Even according to the Feathered Immortal Gate’s exchange rate, one gram exchanged for one thousand Immortal Crystals, it would be worth 70 million Immortal Crystals.

Moreover… the actual value of Imperishable Gold far exceeds this.

Once it gets out, it will probably cause chaos in the entire Cultivation World.

He had no doubt that the Imperishable Gold Ore mined by the Feathered Immortal Gate’s more than 100,000 Earth Immortals this time might not even be as valuable as this piece of Primordial Immortal Gold.

「This time, I really made a fortune.」

Li Qian looked at this piece of Primordial Immortal Gold, took a deep breath, and immediately put it into the Chen Zhong Cave Heaven without hesitation.

As for handing it in?

Are you kidding me?

Even if he handed himself in, he couldn’t possibly hand in this piece of Primordial Immortal Gold.

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