Two cyan figures quickly collided. Dull thuds continuously echoed within the bamboo forest, but they subsided shortly after. Lin Sheng and Bai Qing landed on opposite sides of the bamboo forest.
Countless emerald bamboo leaves fell from the sky, piling up into a thick layer below.
"Junior Brother Lin, I didn't expect that after not seeing you for a while, you've already touched the Bottleneck of the Shamei Realm. You truly have good comprehension in this regard. It seems you'll soon step into the first level of the Skill Realm."
A trace of a smile hung on Bai Qing's face.
She was originally a woman with a beautiful face, but usually, she wore a cold expression most of the time. Her smile at this moment was quite stunning.
"I still have to thank Senior Sister Bai for her guidance; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to improve so quickly."
Lin Sheng smiled and shook his head.
Although he spent most of his time on Realm cultivation, he would also practice the Shamei Realm from time to time.
It was just that the proportion of time spent compared to Realm cultivation was very small.
In this situation, being able to touch the Bottleneck of the Skill Realm in half a year, he indeed had some talent in cultivating the Shamei Realm.
"Junior Brother Lin, you are too modest. With your current strength, you might already be no weaker than me. Within the Sect, Junior Brother, you actually don't need to hide your capabilities too much. You should fully display your talent, which will also allow you to gain more resources, especially in the current situation."
Bai Qing's beautiful eyes fell upon Lin Sheng.
Although her nature was cool and detached, and she was obsessed with martial arts, she was confident in her judgment of people. Regarding this youngest Junior Brother who had entered last, she felt increasingly unable to see through him at this moment.
In the exchange just now, she could also feel that the other party had not used his full strength.
"Now that the two countries are at war, our Linjiang Prefecture is far from the border with Nanli, but if you say it's not far, it's not that far either in front of experts. Linjiang Prefecture is relatively prosperous, so it's inevitable that a large amount of resources and manpower will be drawn from nearby prefectures. Our Seven Forms Sect naturally cannot escape this, coupled with the fact that the newly arrived Golden Constable from the Prefecture Yamen is completely unsentimental, it's not hard to imagine that the days ahead will be even more difficult."
"In this situation, the future resource allocation for each branch within the Sect will likely become less and less. In the future, the Sect will concentrate limited resources to supply a few individuals with exceptional talent. With my Aptitude, this is naturally not possible, but as for you, Junior Brother Lin, in my opinion, you might be able to contend for this spot."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng was first taken aback, but soon realized that the situation Bai Qing mentioned was very likely to occur.
"I understand, Senior Sister Bai."
In fact, he was also consciously revealing his talent now.
Otherwise, facing the sneak attack by those black-clothed individuals, he wouldn't have left any traces for Huang Feng and others to clean up.
Now it seems perhaps he could reveal a bit more; being able to obtain more tilted resources is undoubtedly a good thing.
Three days later.
Linjiang Prefecture issued a wartime tax order.
Within the entire Linjiang Prefecture territory, taxes were temporarily increased, and a conscription order was issued to various Sects and aristocratic families. They were categorized based on their power level, and resources were levied according to the different levels.
Wanhua City.
Inside the restaurant.
"Three hundred thousand taels of silver!! The Imperial Court is truly asking for a lion's share, demanding so much silver just by opening their mouth. What do they think three hundred thousand taels is? Even if it were stones from the mountains, it would take over a dozen carts to transport."
Zhao Kongfang's face bore a look of anger and helplessness. After picking up the wine pot and drinking heartily without any regard for appearance, he sighed and said.
"The taxes in Wanhua City during this period were already much higher than before. After the Imperial Court intervened, businesses in the city were more or less affected. Recently, there's also been that bandit incident. My Zhao family's business, while not having plummeted completely, is already far worse than before. Now this happens again. It sounds good to call it wartime requisition, saying it will be returned after the war ends, but who knows when this war will end..."
Saying this, Zhao Kongfang heavily slapped the table and ordered the waiter to bring two more pots of wine.
Lin Sheng sat opposite him, listening quietly, watching his Second Senior Brother, who was always carefree in the past, express his inner frustration.
He knew that the Zhao family's business had indeed been much worse recently, and the Zhao family head's old illness had relapsed, causing his physical condition to deteriorate day by day. The heavy burden of the Zhao family was now gradually falling upon Zhao Kongfang, forcing this self-proclaimed carefree and uninhibited playboy to mature at this moment.
Three hundred thousand taels of silver. He didn't expect the Imperial Court's requisition to be so substantial.
This was definitely not a small amount. Even a renowned Martial Artist like Xie Qingyun, who had entered the Bone Transformation Realm many years ago and was the head of a branch, would find it difficult to produce such a large sum of silver at once.
The Zhao family, being a well-known merchant family in the city, had their businesses affected in various aspects, and their situation was far worse than before. Having to produce such a large sum of silver at once would likely cause them considerable hardship.
If even the Zhao family was in such a state, it was not difficult to imagine that the situation for other aristocratic families and Sects in Wanhua City would not be much better.
And the Seven Forms Sect, as one of the top major powers in Wanhua City, would undoubtedly be a primary target for requisition. It was unknown how much money and resources they would have to provide.
It seemed the situation would be worse than he had imagined, Lin Sheng thought to himself.
"This wartime requisition itself isn't much, but the proportion of this requisition is simply too high. I've inquired with my business partners in Fu City. The highest requisition proportion in the entire Linjiang Prefecture is in our Wanhua City, more than double that of other places."
When Zhao Kongfang said this, his emotions became somewhat agitated. Fortunately, he quickly controlled himself and finally let out another heavy sigh. He glanced at Lin Sheng, shook his head slightly, and said slowly.
"Junior Brother Lin, if this continues, the prosperous scene of Wanhua City might be difficult to sustain. Just as a tree dies when moved but a person lives when moved, perhaps it's time to change places. After all, we need to make some plans for the future."
Zhao Kongfang stopped speaking here, but the meaning within was clearly revealed.
He clearly had the intention of leaving Wanhua City.
He was very clear about Zhao Kongfang's current situation. Businesses in Wanhua City or even the entire Linjiang Prefecture were affected, and coupled with the family head's poor condition, he might not last much longer.
The reason the Zhao family had such influence was largely due to the family head's shrewdness. If he were to die, it would undoubtedly be another heavy blow to the Zhao family.
Now that war between the two countries was about to begin, coupled with the current situation in Wanhua City, it was likely that there were quite a few people in the city with such thoughts.
...
Yunshui Mountain.
The five peaks that were originally occupied by several major powers were currently being mined in full swing.
Fu City soldiers and officers, wearing light armor and protective gear and holding mining tools, skillfully cleared out pieces of beast ore, which were then transported away.
Compared to the mining efficiency of the major powers, the Imperial Court was undoubtedly in a crushing position. The amount of beast ore mined in just over a month was already close to equaling the amount mined by the major powers in nearly half a year.
Especially for some difficult-to-mine ore deposits, the efficiency of the prefecture soldiers was far greater than that of ordinary forces.
In a mountain peak that had been hollowed out by 1/3, as a ball of firelight quickly swept through, a series of rumbling explosions immediately followed, like an earthquake erupting from within the mountain peak.
The dazzling firelight tore through the night, and the huge mountain peak was directly blasted apart, as if it had been erased from the mountainside. A large amount of rubble mixed with beast ore scattered to the foot of the mountain.
If Lin Sheng were to see this scene, he would definitely be quite surprised. This was clearly mining by collapsing the mountain.
This method was quite ingenious. The reason for such great power was not entirely reliant on gunpowder; gunpowder only accounted for a small part. Instead, it utilized gunpowder to trigger the ore patterns within the ore deposit, and the activation of a large amount of ore pattern energy caused such an effect.
This method not only greatly increased mining efficiency but also reduced the risk of ore pattern explosions during mining.
Before long, huge explosions also successively echoed from the other peaks.
Wan Jianghai, with his hands behind his back and wearing heavy armor, stood within the Bo Peak mountain body. His gaze fell upon the Fu City soldiers and officers who were mining on the mountaintop, and he spoke lightly.
"How is it? Are there any ore seeds still present in this beast ore deposit?"
Beside him was a middle-aged man wearing a long white and black robe, with a large red patch on his right cheek.
"Lord Wan, based on my experience, given the scale of this ore deposit, there is a 30 to 40 percent chance that a second god seed might still be present."
The red-patched man thought for a moment and said.
"Thirty to forty percent? Not bad. Then dig it out for me as soon as possible. If you can dig out a second god seed, I will let you advance further within the Divine Works Department."
A trace of a smile appeared on Wan Jianghai's face.
In the Grand Capital, god seeds were highly valued. As long as one could discover a god seed and send it to the Grand Capital, it would undoubtedly be a great merit.
The reason he came to this Linjiang Prefecture was because he knew that a high-grade ore deposit with a god seed had been discovered here. Only then did he secretly exert influence, arranging for Zhang Songbai to escort the god seed back to the Grand Capital, while he took over this place.
Now that it was confirmed that there was still a considerable possibility of a second god seed being present in this ore deposit, how could he not feel happy in his heart?
The red-patched man was named Duan Heng, and he was one of the managers of the Divine Works Department in the Grand Capital.
He had extremely rich experience in beast ore and was specifically brought over from the Grand Capital by him.
His purpose was to excavate the potentially existing god seed.
"However, Lord Wan, the situation in this place seems a bit strange."
Duan Heng, on the other hand, seemed to have thought of something and revealed a thoughtful expression on his face, speaking slowly.
"What do you mean?" Wan Jianghai narrowed his eyes slightly.
"This ore deposit is undoubtedly fifty thousand years old, and it is true that a god seed is present within it. At the same time, because the energy contained within is extremely abundant, many demonic beast ore seeds have also formed in the surrounding area. However, the demonic beast ore seeds excavated during this period are almost all incomplete."
Duan Heng said in a deep voice, with a hint of confusion on his face, seemingly unable to understand.
"I have already checked the historical records. There were no signs of large-scale earth dragon turnovers found in this ore deposit. According to reason, this result should not have occurred."
"Moreover, there are no traces of underground Spirit Beast activity nearby."
He truly couldn't understand it. With his decades of experience, he had never encountered such a situation before.
Hearing this, Wan Jianghai furrowed his brows, and his tone became a bit colder.
"I don't care about these demonic beast ore seeds. All I want is the god seed. As long as you can excavate the god seed, you will have great merit. If not, everything is just empty talk, do you understand?"
"This subordinate understands. This subordinate will speed up the progress now."
Beads of sweat appeared on Duan Heng's forehead. He immediately lowered his head and responded. He was very aware of this Constable Wan's temperament; he was known to be unpredictable and a ruthless killer.
"Give me a timeframe. How long until I can see the god seed?"
"This... if there really is still a god seed present, then two months... no, one month..."
Duan Heng quickly spoke, but upon noticing Wan Jianghai's silent expression, a chill inexplicably rose in his heart, and he quickly changed his words again.
"Twenty days, just twenty days!!"
"You only have 10 days. I want to know the result."
Wan Jianghai spoke lightly, not giving the other party another chance to speak, and directly finalized it.
Now that Prince Yan had been injured in his clash with Tang Zhong, he knew that Prince Yan possessed a Bloodline talent that allowed him to strengthen himself by devouring the essence blood of exotic beasts. As long as he could present the god seed at this critical moment, he would undoubtedly gain the other party's favor, which was something he had dreamed of.
One should know that Prince Yan, Zhao Hongzhang, had another title in Northern Yan, which was the God of War.
Although his Wan family had some power and background in the Grand Capital, what did that count for compared to Prince Yan? Throughout Northern Yan, Prince Yan's prestige was clearly much greater than that of the current Jing Emperor. As long as they could gain Prince Yan's favor, their Wan family's status in the Grand Capital would undoubtedly rise by a few points.
"Then... as Lord says... I will give Lord an explanation in 10 days."
Even though Duan Heng had already excavated some of the beast ore deposit of this scale, it was merely the tip of the iceberg. Trying to excavate the existence of another god seed underground within 10 days was undoubtedly a fool's dream, but he was very clear that he had no room to refuse at all.
So he could only grit his teeth and agree.
"Very well. I will come over in 10 days. I hope Master Craftsman Duan will not disappoint me."
A smile appeared on Wan Jianghai's face. The next moment, his figure had disappeared from the high platform.
Duan Heng reached out and wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking at the Fu City soldiers and officers below who were hastily mining.
Soon, the assembly bell was rung. An incense stick's time later, at the foot of Bo Peak.
"Immediately stop all mining on the other peaks for me, and concentrate all the divine fire bombs on Bo Peak."
Duan Heng conveyed the order to several subordinates from the Divine Works Department who were responsible for mining.
"Manager Duan, the energy contained within this fifty thousand-year-old beast ore deposit beneath Bo Peak is too great. If divine fire bombs are used to cause abnormal movements in the ore pattern energy, it is very likely to trigger a large-scale earth dragon turnover. Wouldn't that then..."
"Shut up. If you don't want to die, just obediently do as I say."
Without waiting for his subordinates to raise objections, Duan Heng had already shouted in a deep voice.
Soon, a large number of tightly packaged black spherical objects were continuously pulled into Bo Peak and installed in fixed positions.
Before long, explosions came from within Bo Peak, and this was only the beginning. These gunpowder explosions ignited the earth's furnace like fuses.
Bo Peak was suddenly filled with countless violent energies. The powerful energy riot actually directly tore apart Bo Peak, which had been mostly hollowed out, raising a sky-obscuring sandstorm on the spot.
And compared to the surface, the underground was where the real earth-shattering movement occurred.
More than ninety percent of the ore pattern energy contained within the 50,000-year-old beast ore deposit was released underground. Countless huge cracks, thousands of meters deep, spread across the underground. At this moment, the underground was a chaotic mess, like a pot of jumbled porridge.
At the same time.
Beneath Bo Peak, tens of thousands of meters deep underground, a pair of massive pupils suddenly lit up, emitting a heart-palpitating eerie green light.