Chapter 153: Stealing Ore in the Heavenly Pillar Mining Area

Shen Lian did not deny Xiao Xingrui's words and nodded.

Inside his storage bracelet, there were indeed piled up the bones and corpses of quite a few fierce beasts.

The screening process mentioned by Xiao Xingrui was also very simple. It involved a circular, compass-shaped magic treasure, and cultivators simply needed to immerse their divine sense into it.

After screening his aura, Xiao Xingrui fumbled through his storage artifact, took out a jade talisman carved with intricate mountain and river patterns, and inscribed Lu Shan's name upon it.

"This is a portable jade talisman. With this talisman, fellow Daoist can freely enter and exit all large and small mining cities under the jurisdiction of the Cloud Ascending Sect. After binding it with a drop of your blood, no one else will be able to forge it, even if they wish to."

Xiao Xingrui smiled and handed the jade talisman to Shen Lian.

"The cost of the jade talisman is one thousand spiritual stones."

"If fellow Daoist loses it or damages it during a magical duel, a replacement will also cost one thousand spiritual stones."

"With this jade talisman, you can reside in the mining city, open shops, and the like. Moreover, you will need to present this talisman as proof when encountering patrolling cultivators. Fellow Daoist Lu, please understand this rule."

"Many thanks for letting me know."

Nearby, Qi-refining cultivators stood guard, relentlessly whipping the miners who were digging for ore.

The main purpose of these pagodas was screening, and they were scattered throughout the entire city. Even if one managed to bypass a single pagoda, it was impossible to avoid them all.

The scarlet giant mountain at the very center belonged to a restricted zone, and outside cultivators were strictly prohibited from approaching. Miners boarded black-armored ox-drawn carts and passed directly through the side gates into the mine shafts.

Aside from the primary crystal ore vein, there were over thirty other associated mineral deposits.

Being in the mining region, the scale was truly lavish and wealthy.

"Another fifty people, all equipped with second-tier magic tools. They really are wealthy."

"Damn it, dig faster."

A tall stone rack stood at the highest vantage point, from which hung a massive scarlet bell carved with fire-bird patterns.

Subsequently, during his journey forward, Shen Lian encountered two more patrol squads.

In a secluded valley east of the Scarlet Crystal Mining City, a cultivator's body was half-melted into the rock using a special secret technique, their piercing gaze scrutinizing the figures below.

"Senior, please present your jade talisman."

Once the spiritual wood carts were filled to capacity with miners, the black-armored oxen let out low bellows and headed toward the direction of the scarlet mountain.

The scenery within the city was vastly different from the cities he had visited in the past. Near the city walls were rows of low stone houses, arranged in an orderly fashion.

A muffled sound echoed as black-armored oxen, each about two zhang in size, rose from the single-story housing area ahead. These oxen were fitted with iron yokes, dragging wide spiritual wood carts behind them.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator wedged into the rock opened his mouth and spat out a transmission jade talisman.

There were no crisscrossing streets here, nor rows of neat pavilions.

Being this close to the central area, and with defensive formations active throughout the city, how could he possibly steal any ore?

These were the dwellings of the miners. Within the mining city, the various sects had an agreement: if any cultivator dared to kill a miner at will, they would face a joint encirclement and suppression by all the sects.

With no shortage of ores or fierce beasts, equipment naturally abounded.

"A third-tier magic treasure."

In other places, numerous cultivators gathered together, holding uninhibited discussions and gatherings.

"Empty this place out a day earlier, and you can leave a day earlier. If any of you dare to slack off, I'll bury all of you inside."

A familiar voice rang out in his ear.

A quarter of an hour later, it was Shen Lian's turn.

Within the mountains behind the fortress defense line, although a dense lingering aura of fierce beasts remained, large-scale traces of beasts were gone, and the occasional solitary beast was merely first-tier, posing no real threat.

It was purely fire-attributed.

On the tall and towering city walls, various spiritual lights flickered. Even within the dozens of zhang of empty space outside the city walls, countless restriction lights shimmered, so numerous that they induced a scalp-tingling sensation.

It was truly a fine place to establish a Daoist practice.

Around a hundred low-tier cultivators, bound by restrictions, were moving in and out of a narrow mine shaft.

Flying forward for about a hundred miles, Shen Lian caught sight of the outline of a scarlet mountain enclosed in the middle of a giant city.

Standing on his spiritual boat, Shen Lian gazed into the distance and saw scarlet spiritual energy continuously exhaled from the mine shafts beneath the scarlet giant mountain.

Trapped in the very same rock face, Shen Lian was lodged just like a monkey.

Shen Lian paused outside this mountain, and from afar, a cultivator clad in black-and-white Dharma robes flew over, a smile already blooming on his face from afar.

A large portion of the scarlet pagodas standing within the city extended deep into the earth; who knew if they would resonate with the jade talisman?

Under the scouring of spiritual energy, the giant bell occasionally emitted a soft hum, shattering the violent spiritual energy gushing from the mine shaft, subduing it into a relatively stable state before dispersing it into the mining city.

The jade talisman flashed with spiritual light, and a voice sounded.

As expected of those with mines, they were truly wealthy.

Upon arriving at a new place, the first thing to do was understand the surrounding environment—a habit Shen Lian had cultivated over decades.

Amidst the mountains, a scarlet mountain peak thrust straight into the earth.

He also sensed that the mounts of the patrolling cultivators were hung with formation disks, their magic tools armed to the teeth. Even if they encountered a cultivator at the eighth or ninth level of Foundation Establishment, they would have the strength for a fight.

A gentle sweep of his divine sense revealed cultivators sitting cross-legged inside the pavilions among the mountains, either cultivating or practicing secret techniques.

"Senior, I have a guide to the city here, along with a distribution map of the ore veins and fierce beast distribution maps."

According to historical records, a total of five overlapping third-tier formations and twenty-five different second-tier formations were deployed across the entire Scarlet Crystal Mining City, all centered around the scarlet giant mountain in the city.

Seeing that everyone else directly steered their flying boats to land outside the mining city, Shen Lian followed suit and landed outside the city as well.

Trying to bypass the discerning eyes of Golden Core cultivators and sneak into the mine shafts was rather difficult.

True to its identity as a mining region, it was indeed meticulous regarding magic tools.

Shen Lian began his plan. Just like the regular cultivators who left the city to hunt fierce beasts, he too departed from the city.

Looking around, stoves billowed with thick smoke everywhere, accompanied by the sounds of clanging hammers—these were artisan workshops established relying on the city, still bearing marks of damage inflicted by fierce beasts.

"Moo..."

The roar of the oxen acted like a signal. From single-story houses in all directions, Qi-refining cultivators rushed out, some carrying bamboo baskets, others gripping shovels, leaping onto the ox-carts.

Looking upward along the scarlet giant mountain, the peak had been sheared flat, forming a plateau roughly a hundred zhang in circumference.

Glancing from afar, Shen Lian noticed that the cultivators riding those griffon-cranes were all at least at the ninth level of Qi-refinement, and their hands held specialized second-tier crossbows.

"I'm telling you, True Monarch Hongyun will soon return from the depths of the mountain range after suppressing the beasts. If you fail to unearth the black gold stone before then, don't blame this old man for enforcing justice over family ties."

As they drew closer, flying boats and small spiritual warships slicing through the air grew more numerous, descending upon the outskirts of the mining city from all directions.

With so much ore available, how could digging it oneself compare?

Outside the mine shafts beneath the scarlet giant mountain lay the area where ore was excavated.

Scattered among the stone houses were disparate large courtyards.

He would deliberately avoid such scenes. Every time he reached a new location, he would release his black-horned ants. The continuously reproducing black-horned ants were scattered by him into the wild mountains surrounding the Scarlet Crystal Mining City.

Having experienced a beast tide, the mountain range was brimming with fierce beasts. Just three days out, he had encountered several clashes; aside from beast hunters, there was also infighting among cultivators.

The entire city was built relying upon this giant mountain.

Amidst the rolling scarlet clouds, shapes constantly shifted.

Spotting Shen Lian, this group noticed the jade talisman hanging at his waist. Their leader offered a slight bow across the empty space and led his team to vanish among the mountains.

Passing through the miners' residential area, undulating mountain ranges came into view. Amidst verdant foliage and surrounding green trees, pavilions emerged in view.

Ever since leaving Southern Cliff Immortal City, Shen Lian had largely stopped concealing his cultivation realm.

The middle and upper sections of the mountain body were excavated into immortal caves, constantly subjected to the scouring of fire spiritual energy.

He saw the cultivators waiting in line ahead taking out their identity jade tokens, exchanging a few words with the garrisoned cultivators, and then entering the city.

After purchasing three relevant documents from the limping cultivator, Shen Lian walked toward the city gate.

He quietly waited for these little creatures to bring him good news.

Although the scarlet mountain existed relatively independently, it still spanned dozens of li, while the entire city encircled the mountain, boasting a total area of no less than two to three hundred li.

It was mainly because his current cultivation realm was too high; pretending to be a Qi-refiner out there would only bring many unnecessary troubles.

Shen Lian accepted the jade talisman, performed a blood-binding ritual, hung it at his waist, and after bidding farewell to Xiao Xingrui, steered his flying boat deep into the mining region.

However, more cultivators pursued refined leisure, gathering in groups of three or five to discuss the Dao, taste tea, and admire magic tools in an immensely carefree manner.

Furthermore, upon the sharp talons of the griffon-cranes were fitted cold-glinting finger armor.

With just a single glance, Shen Lian recognized this as a third-tier fire-attribute magic treasure, and its grade was at least mid-tier third-tier.

Seeing Foundation Establishment cultivators queuing up to enter the city, Shen Lian selected a city gate with a shorter queue and honestly joined the line.

Correspondingly, the cultivation levels of the cultivators practicing within grew increasingly higher.

Before coming here, he had already calculated that relying on purchasing ore to gather enough materials to forge his natal magic treasure would require at least four to five million lower-grade spiritual stones, and even that might not be enough.

If placed in ordinary immortal cities outside, any of these locations would be top-tier blessed lands and cultivation grottoes.

Living off the land—this saying truly applied everywhere.

Those with abundant spiritual stones and high strength resided in immortal caves closer to the city center, where the scenery was even more picturesque. Those with fewer spiritual stones chose peripheral caves, or even shared a mountain with other fellow Daoists.

Shen Lian raised his head and saw a group of physically impaired cultivators crowding close. Among them, a limping cultivator missing an arm spoke first.

Surrounded by green trees, a complex of palaces stood proudly at the summit, and hidden secret chambers were carved into the mountain body.

"Senior, the spiritual energy of this Fushan Cave Mansion reaches the quasi-third-tier; it is a rare high-tier cave mansion within the city and costs only fifty thousand spiritual stones."

Half a quarter of an hour later, Shen Lian had advanced dozens of li, passing through countless green-tree-encircled hills. The further inward he went, the fewer structures stood upon these hills, and the more independent and private they became.

Being a newcomer, compared to a operational model that had run for at least a thousand years, trying to take shortcuts was still far too naive.

Moreover, the city's defenses were simply too formidable.

Gazing into the distance, the mountain had been hollowed out, leaving only a skeletal framework with a massive mine shaft lying beneath.

Without even needing to approach, one could feel the intense suppressive force radiating from the restrictions.

The moment he landed on the ground, a face full of dust mixed with fine burning particles hit him.

The entire interior of the city was vast and expansive, not feeling cramped in the slightest, differing greatly from the immortal cities he had previously inhabited.

The black-and-white robed cultivators garrisoned at the city gate cupped their fists and bowed in advance. Their cultivation was at the second or third level of Foundation Establishment, creating a vast gap between their aura and Shen Lian's.

Mining was not a pleasant job, but the spiritual energy was simply too abundant; even in the peripheral areas where miners lived, the density of spiritual energy reached the second tier.

"How is it?" A faint voice carried an unquestionable tone.

As for miners, if they died, they could just recruit more.

As for wanting to escape, that was utterly impossible. The moment he entered the city, the jade talisman in his hand was captured. Were those scarlet pagodas standing among the mountains built for nothing?

No, they were built to prevent freeloaders.

Flying along, Shen Lian looked up to see the horizon glowing a brilliant crimson under the sunlight.

"Senior, do you need a guide?"

The direction from which he chose to enter the mining region was incorrect, leaving him still over a hundred thousand li away from the large mining city established by the Cloud Ascending Sect.

The mining city was named after the specific minerals produced. This region was abundant in first- and second-tier scarlet crystal ores, with third-tier ores appearing occasionally.

Having verified the jade talisman, Shen Lian entered Scarlet Crystal Mining City.

Atop the city walls, patrolling cultivators moved back and forth, fully armored in mundane-style armor, yet emitting formidable auras.

The spiritual energy flushed out from the mine shafts below passed through the middle-layer cave mansions of the mountain, converging outside the scarlet giant bell to form swirling vortices of spiritual energy.

Scarlet Crystal Mining City had been reached.

"Elder, almost there, almost there," the Foundation Establishment cultivator hurriedly replied.

Though they had only just stepped into the periphery of the mining region, Shen Lian could tell that despite the patrol posts, this place remained a hunting ground for cultivators.

Aside from the miners in Scarlet Crystal Mining City, other cultivators who wished to reside and cultivate here either had to purchase a cave mansion or pay spiritual stones.

Next, Shen Lian leisurely strolled through the city, inspecting the layout of the entire city on-site, and finally gaining a clear view of the scarlet giant mountain's overall appearance.

"Senior, would you like to rent a cave mansion?"

In the land of the mining city, this was a local specialty.

It was a fine cave mansion indeed, but completely unsuitable for Shen Lian.

Guided by the black-and-white robed junior, Shen Lian rented another location—farther from the city center with slightly poorer environment—which temporarily allowed him to put down roots in Scarlet Crystal Mining City.

A spiritual wood cart dragged by a single black-armored ox could haul hundreds or thousands of people.

Standing outside a small, uninhabited mountain, Shen Lian inspected the verdant hill while bird songs echoed from the forests.

The nearest small scarlet crystal mining city was merely two thousand li away.

Shen Lian also noticed the ubiquitous scarlet pagodas standing everywhere, numbering at least a hundred upon closer count.

In his perception, the interiors of these pagodas were dense with restrictions, sharing the same origin as the restrictions within his jade talisman.

At worst, they could stall an opponent until reinforcements arrived.

Touring Scarlet Crystal Mining City confirmed his thoughts: trying to mine within a region controlled by a major sect was somewhat difficult.

Good stuff, indeed.

Half a month later.

Excavation of the mine shafts operated on a three-shift system, with each shift lasting half a month followed by half a month of rest.

The central area consisted of undulating mountain ranges numbering no less than a thousand, large and small; these were the locations where the Foundation Establishment cultivators' cave mansions were situated.

Every certain distance, magical tools such as spiritual restriction cannons and restriction-suppression towers stood tall.

Of course, one could also apply to work as a hand in major shops within the city; as long as someone took you in, paying spiritual stones was unnecessary.

The interior of Scarlet Crystal Mining City was broadly divided into three parts: the outermost layer was the miners' residential zone, occupying the smallest area and also the most crowded.

Moreover, Shen Lian had observed earlier that the miners digging ore showed almost no sign of deep grievances, proving that the exploitation of miners here was not overly harsh.

...

The demon race was raising Gu insects here, while the major sects were also utilizing this place to nurture disciples.

Even with spiritual puppets as helpers, one could not tunnel downward from within the city; they still had to find locations outside the city to probe the edges of the ore veins.

He had come here because his black-horned ants had discovered ore in this vicinity.

He hadn't expected others to have started digging first.

Observing the excavation scene, Shen Lian pondered for a moment. Since it was all about stealing, whoever stole it first would claim it.