Da Cui Peak, Ding Character Area Two.
Lin Sheng looked at the massive pit located in the mountain hollow before him.
Outside the pit was piled a small mountain of crushed rock, clearly indicating that the pit had been excavated not long ago.
His gaze fell upon an irregular mountain rock revealed in a corner of the pit, which was distinctly different from the surrounding rock walls.
“This is where we found that Ore deposit.”
Mo Xing pointed at the revealed irregular mountain rock and said excitedly.
“Senior Brother Gou figured this out. I didn't expect us to have a harvest just days after arriving. It seems this Ding Character Area might not be as barren as we imagined.”
“This is indeed a good omen.”
Lin Sheng leaped into the pit, approaching the location of the Ore. As soon as he got close, he felt a faint chill.
He reached out and inserted his hand into the Ore. With a pull, a purplish-black Ore the size of a human head broke off.
Accompanying it was a much denser chilling aura than before, gushing out from the fractured Ore.
“Senior Brother Lin, be careful of the Yin Wind leaking from the Ore.”
At this moment, Senior Brother Gou's voice of warning sounded from above the pit, and then he also jumped down.
“Is this the Yin Wind accumulated in high-grade Ore!?”
Lin Sheng nodded. That chilling aura just now was the energy fluctuation that leaked out during Ore excavation, which people called Yin Wind.
The higher the grade of the Ore, the stronger the energy leaked during excavation, and the greater the power of the Yin Wind.
Although the Yin Wind just now had no power to speak of in his opinion, it was completely difficult for ordinary people to handle.
Let alone ordinary people, even Body Tempering Martial Artists could not withstand it for long. Only after stepping into the Forging Tendons Realm could one endure for a longer time.
However, only after entering the Blood Transportation Realm could one largely ignore the invasion of the Yin Wind.
He played with the Ore in his hand a few times. The patterns within were clearly visible, but other than that, there was no other feeling.
These Ores were only initially excavated. They would have to be transported to a specialized processing workshop later to be processed before the precious beast powder could be extracted for Alchemy and medicine making.
Without refinement, there was nothing to see.
Lin Sheng also lost interest.
This Ore deposit yielded about eighty to ninety thousand jin, valued at over forty thousand taels of silver. After the final division, the most each person would get was no more than a hundred taels of silver.
A hundred taels of silver was really not much, but it was good to have a discovery.
With a yield of eighty to ninety thousand jin, Mo Xing and the others took only two days to excavate it completely. The final result was slightly more than the original estimate, reaching around one hundred thousand jin of Ore.
However, there were no more surprising discoveries in the following days.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
These past few days, Senior Brother Gou and the others left early and returned late every day. However, besides the first discovery of one hundred thousand jin of Ore, they only found a few deposits of one to two thousand jin. This result greatly disappointed everyone.
And these past few days, Lin Sheng was basically immersed in cultivation. Unlike the touching progress in Ore excavation, he could feel his strength growing every day.
Ding Character Area Two, in the mountains and forests.
Lin Sheng sat on a square mountain rock, his eyes slightly closed. Blue, black, and gray colors surged on his body, constantly moving and spreading within his muscles.
Like three swirling masses of mist, as time passed, the distinctly colored mists began to twist and entangle with each other, gradually showing signs of merging.
After an unknown amount of time, the three-colored mist had merged into a dense, viscous, deep blue mist.
Then they contracted and condensed, gradually forming interlocking patterns on Lin Sheng's skin. And this was not the end; these deep blue patterns seemed to have a life of their own, constantly moving on his skin.
Finally, they suddenly disappeared into his body. At the same time, Lin Sheng's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened.
An indescribable sense of coldness radiated from his entire being, but it dissipated in just an instant.
Exhaling heavily, Lin Sheng smiled slightly, gently moving his neck.
“Finally broke through…”
By now, the martial art Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm had finally been cultivated by him to the Blood Transportation Realm, which was also the highest Realm of this martial art.
Even the person who originally created this martial art had never reached this Realm.
“This feeling…”
Lin Sheng was very curious about the extent of the toxicity in his body after the Fusion of the three strange poisons. What kind of power would it have?
Thinking of it, he did it. He extended his palm. With a thought, a wisp of deep blue pattern immediately appeared on the skin of his palm. At the same time, an indescribable chilling sensation emanated, and in an instant, all the vegetation and leaves within a radius of more than ten meters centered around him turned yellow at a speed visible to the naked eye, fell to the ground, and then turned into drops of black liquid.
In just a few breaths, the ground around him was cleared. The branches and leaves of the large trees within the area fell like raindrops, leaving only bare trunks that looked like they had decayed for many years.
“Just the toxicity emanating can have such an effect?”
This result made Lin Sheng look surprised.
“Then what kind of power would there be if there was direct contact!?”
He came to a bare large tree. Although this large tree was bare of branches and leaves, it still had vigorous vitality. After all, these large trees had strong vitality, and even under the toxic aura he emitted, they would not wither and die in such a short time.
He extended his palm and pressed it on the trunk of the large tree. The next moment, his entire palm turned deep blue.
Crack…
A low cracking sound came from the point of contact between his palm and the trunk. Then the thick trunk of the large tree in front of him melted away at a speed visible to the naked eye, like burning paper.
One breath… two breaths… three breaths…
In less than three breaths, the large tree in front, which required three or four people to encircle, had liquefied into a pool of black viscous liquid, sinking into the ground. Even the hard mountain rocks on the ground were corroded into deep pits.
“With such toxicity, I reckon even the venom of the Nether Ghost Peak cannot compare.”
Seeing this scene, Lin Sheng thought to himself.
He experimented again and finally confirmed that besides possessing super strong corrosiveness, the most powerful aspect of the fused virulent poison was the soul-stirring cold poison attached to it.
His cold poison was refined after consuming a large amount of Star Dew Grass.
The cold poison carried by Star Dew Grass was undoubtedly much stronger than ordinary cold poison. It could even have a certain impact on one's mind. Now, after Fusion and Breakthrough, the effect of this cold poison was much stronger than before.
It was already having a quite noticeable effect on the spiritual level.
In short, he was quite satisfied with the effect after the Breakthrough.
It was worth the effort he had put into this martial art.
With his Realm breaking through again, he was in a good mood and did not continue cultivating. As it was still early, he decided to go and check on Senior Brother Gou and the others.
Although half a month had passed with meager results, these people still had no intention of giving up. They could be said to be quite dedicated.
Lin Sheng himself had been engrossed in cultivation since coming to this area, rarely paying attention to matters of Ore excavation. Compared to them, it seemed a bit unreasonable.
However, he didn't care much about these things. After all, the improvement of strength was undoubtedly more important and tangible than these things.
Ding Character Area Two was very large. Senior Brother Gou and the others didn't have a fixed location for their exploration. However, after entering Big Yellow, with its extraordinary sense of smell, it didn't take long for him to determine their location and find them.
At this time, Senior Brother Gou and the others were located at the foot of a mountain side. Several high piles of crushed rock had already been piled outside. Before entering the cave dug into the mountain wall, sounds of explosions came from inside.
Soon, heavy footsteps came from inside the cave. Mo Xing rushed out, carrying a large basket full of fine crushed rocks, almost as tall as a person. Behind him were two female Disciples from the Qingniao Yard, also carrying large baskets.
Seeing Lin Sheng standing outside the cave, the few of them were startled. They quickly put down their baskets and said to Lin Sheng.
“Senior Brother Lin, why are you here?”
“I came to take a look.”
Looking at the three people who were somewhat covered in dust, Lin Sheng nodded.
“How was it today? Any findings?”
“Today was alright. We found some traces of Ore inside. It should be a small Ore deposit. Although it's not as good as the first time, Senior Brother Gou estimates it should be around forty to fifty thousand jin.”
Mo Xing and the other two threw the crushed rocks from their baskets aside, wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and said somewhat breathlessly.
“Forty to fifty thousand jin? Not bad. Let's go in and take a look.”
Lin Sheng patted Mo Xing's shoulder and stepped into the cave.
The cave was not long, about twenty to thirty meters, sloping down towards the base of the mountain.
Soon, Lin Sheng saw Senior Brother Gou inside the cave.
Only Senior Brother Gou was in the cave. The group of eight people was divided into two teams for exploration in this area. Senior Brother Gou, Mo Xing, and two female Disciples were one of them.
At this time, Senior Brother Gou was digging downwards, occasionally picking up some crushed rocks and soil to examine carefully and then sniffing it under his nose, as if confirming something.
Noticing Lin Sheng walking up behind him, he threw away the soil in his hand, quickly stood up, and cupped his hands in a salute.
“Senior Brother Lin.”
“Master Senior Brother Gou, were you identifying Ore just now?”
“That's right. Ore locations are generally quite dry, and root plants basically don't grow there, so you can see some clues from this. Besides, the composition of the soil can also show something, and Ore also carries a faint fishy smell, which is a key point for investigation…”
Senior Brother Gou explained in detail his method for identifying the location of Ore. Anyone who had excavated Ore basically knew these things, but how to identify it more relied on experience.
After listening to what the other party said, Lin Sheng gently rubbed his chin with his finger.
According to what the other party said, since it requires identifying the soil quality, perhaps it could…
He thought of the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile's Earth Affinity talent, which might be helpful in this regard.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to give it a try. With a thought, he had already entered the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile. As for the second imprint, he still chose Big Yellow.
Earth Affinity plus Big Yellow's high perception should have a good effect with this combination.
“Activate: Earth Affinity!”
With a flash of thought, the talent was activated. Lin Sheng only felt a kind of affinity and heavy power flowing in his perception from the ground beneath his feet, moving at an extremely slow speed. This heavy power was the power of the earth.
Under deliberate guidance, the flowing heavy earth power entered his body, but it was quickly expelled by him again.
He didn't need to borrow the power of the earth, but wanted to perceive the surrounding ground conditions through his talent.
This was the first time he had used the Earth Affinity talent in this way.
Under deliberate perception, he clearly felt the concentration of earth power in the surrounding mountain walls and the ground beneath his feet.
He quickly made a discovery. In the mountain wall ahead, more than ten meters away from their location, the earth power was significantly thinner than the surroundings, appearing quite abrupt in his perception.
“Is this situation…”
He narrowed his eyes, thinking of the small Ore deposit discovered by Senior Brother Gou and the others.
“You few, step back a bit.”
He first signaled Senior Brother Gou, Mo Xing, and the others.
Although they were a bit confused, they obediently retreated more than ten steps.
Lin Sheng then stepped forward to the cave wall, placed his palm on the cave wall, and then unleashed all his surging strength.
Thump, thump, thump…
Sounds like thunder constantly echoed from within the cave wall.
In the astonished eyes of Mo Xing and the others, they felt the entire cave begin to shake slightly.
It was as if an earthquake was happening inside the cave.
“What's going on!?”
Mo Xing widened his eyes, feeling a little frightened by such a display.
“Is it Senior Brother Lin!?”
Although Senior Brother Gou was a little panicked at first, he quickly calmed down. As a master in the late Blood Transportation Realm, he could naturally sense the situation more clearly than Mo Xing. He quickly realized that this was Lin Sheng's doing.
“Senior Brother Lin?”
Mo Xing looked at Lin Sheng blankly, but saw an even more astonishing scene.
He saw that a large hole had appeared in the originally quite tough mountain wall. Looking at it, the hole was several meters deep and was still extending inward, constantly expanding.
“This… this…”
Not just Mo Xing, this time Senior Brother Gou and the two female Disciples also opened their mouths wide, staring blankly at this scene.
In just a few breaths, the cave had undergone such a change.
They had spent most of the day digging this cave.
“Why are you still standing there? Keep up.”
Lin Sheng's voice sounded from inside the cave. Only then did the few of them seem to wake up from a dream and quickly followed.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Sounds like muffled thunder echoed from the front, and the cave continued to expand.
A large amount of dust filled the cave, but the few of them were experts and simply held their breath. Even Mo Xing, who had the weakest strength, could easily hold his breath for more than ten minutes.
Not long after, the muffled thunder-like sounds stopped abruptly, and Lin Sheng also stopped.
“Master Senior Brother Gou, this should be Ore, right?”
Lin Sheng's voice sounded. At the same time, the dust filling the cave seemed to be forcibly suppressed by a force, restoring clarity.
Senior Brother Gou looked at Lin Sheng blankly.
“What Ore?”
But soon, he reacted. Before Lin Sheng was an irregular purplish-black Ore that seemed to be a single entity.
“This…”
He widened his eyes, quickly stepped forward, and felt the Ore that had emerged from the mountain wall. After a long while, he finally spoke.
“That's right, it's Ore.”