The farther forward they went, the narrower the mine tunnel became. At its end was a cramped space capable of holding only a few people, branching downward into over a dozen even narrower paths. These extended in all directions, intersecting deep within into countless branches like a spiderweb.
This was the deepest part of the entire ore vein, as well as the tunnel where Qianyang quartz was easiest to unearth.
Because the cloud tool was unstable, they had to mine the Qianyang quartz as quickly as possible and leave the grand rift valley before the astrolabe was destroyed from exhausting its power.
Stopping at the end of the tunnel, Yin Xingge glanced over each branching path, turned around, and said, "We were delayed too long earlier, and a portion of the astrolabe's power has been drained. It cannot hold out for much longer. We must finish our task as quickly as possible and get out of here. Fellow Daoist Mu, the three of you will activate the astrolabe together, while I personally take several fellow daoists down to mine the Qianyang quartz."
Yunqiong Sanren suspected nothing and agreed at once.
Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng exchanged a glance, both nodding as well. "We will trouble Fellow Daoist Yin, then."
Mu Yifeng had already made arrangements.
The closest town to the grand rift valley was called Yuankong Town, built within the Yuankong Secret Realm. Shaohua Mountain had an outpost there, and the sect experts stationed in the outpost had presumably received the message by now.
Because of this, Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng would not choose to clash with Yin Xingge at this juncture. Instead, they maintained an attitude of complete obedience to orders to avoid alerting him prematurely.
After leaving the grand rift valley, even if their sect experts failed to arrive in time, they only needed an excuse to guide Yin Xingge on a detour through Yuankong Town, and they would be able to capture Yin Xingge without lifting a finger. This required tacit cooperation between the two so as not to arouse Yin Xingge's suspicions. Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng had conferred several times and already finalized their strategy.
If Yin Xingge truly dared to swallow the Qianyang crystal all for himself, none of the great sects of Xuanlu Pass would treat him leniently.
Mu Yifeng and Qin Sang had never considered keeping the Qianyang crystal for themselves either.
For one, Yin Xingge was not easy to deal with, and with so many traveling together, hiding the truth from everyone would be nearly impossible. For another, once their sect experts obtained the Qianyang crystal, it would be equivalent to falling into Shaohua Mountain's hands. Not only would they receive their fair share of merit points, but the sect's rewards would certainly not be meager.
Yin Xingge felt a bit suspicious. He had not expected Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng to agree so easily without the slightest question, rendering the excuses he had prepared useless. Since matters were proceeding so smoothly, he naturally would not look for extra trouble either. Withdrawing his spiritual power from the astrolabe, he assigned the personnel and set off immediately.
The seven people split up, each choosing a different passage. Each carried a jade talisman, ready to crush it to call for help should they encounter danger.
Qin Sang and the other two remained where they were, sitting cross-legged on the ground in a triangular formation. Together, they channeled the astrolabe, causing its power to spread along the passages and cover the entire area below so that the others could concentrate on mining Qianyang quartz without worrying about exposing their auras.
With each performing their role, the ancient ore vein seemed to regain its tranquility. Only the astrolabe spun slowly above the three, flecks of starlight glistening, appearing exceptionally profound and beautiful.
Once he was out of Qin Sang and the others' sight, Yin Xingge glanced behind him. He abruptly deployed his movement technique, his figure darting like lightning as he sped toward the depths of the ore vein.
The passage twisted and turned, yet Yin Xingge did not slow in the least. Suddenly, a grayish-white vapor flashed ahead. Judging from its bizarre shape, it was clearly a cloud beast that had not yet fully taken form.
With a flick of his finger, Yin Xingge sent the Cloud Thunder Golden Net shooting toward the cloud beast. It unfurled suddenly, several cords of lightning shooting out silently and binding the cloud beast tightly in an instant.
*Hiss...*
Countless hair-thin snakes of lightning slithered over the cloud beast. Before long, the cloud beast collapsed, leaving behind only a stone the size of an infant's fist.
The stone's texture was smooth and dense, but its colors were mottled, red and grayish-white intermingling without the slightest trace of the aura belonging to a spiritual item.
This was Qianyang quartz contaminated by a cloud beast's spirit soul. If the cloud beast had already taken form, the spiritual item would have been completely contaminated and could no longer be used to refine spirit tools; this chunk of Qianyang quartz would then become a spirit-infused fiendish item.
Now, one only needed to purge the cloud beast spirit soul within the Qianyang quartz, and it could still be used.
With a beckoning wave of his hand, Yin Xingge drew the Cloud Thunder Golden Net back above his head, curling and uncurling restlessly. He then reached out and grabbed the Qianyang quartz, stowing it away without even a glance before continuing to hurtle deeper into the tunnel.
From beginning to end, his speed had not slackened in the slightest.
Stranger still, right beside the spot where they had just clashed, in an adjacent corner, lay another piece of Qianyang quartz that was even more lightly contaminated. Yet Yin Xingge seemed not to have noticed it at all, not sparing it so much as a glance.
It remained this way throughout the entire journey. Only when he encountered formed cloud beasts blocking his way would Yin Xingge strike to eliminate them, collecting a piece of Qianyang quartz in passing.
Before long, Yin Xingge's figure suddenly paused, coming to a halt before a fork in the path.
Gazing at the two branching paths before him, Yin Xingge hesitated briefly, then reached into his robes and produced a spirit beast bag.
Glancing warily behind him, Yin Xingge crouched on the ground and cautiously opened the spirit beast bag. A moment later, a red line slithered out—astonishingly, a crimson centipede.
The centipede's body was not particularly large, only somewhat longer than an ordinary centipede. What was peculiar was its appearance: its entire body was translucent like fiery jade, allowing one to see clearly with the naked eye fire-red threads flowing ceaselessly within its body, whether they were its blood or the power circulating within.
After the centipede emerged, the air inside the passage abruptly grew several degrees hotter. From its appearance alone, one could conclude that this centipede was definitely a spirit insect; who knew where Yin Xingge had obtained it.
Yin Xingge crouched in place, waiting patiently for the centipede to crawl out of the spirit beast bag, watching its movements with an expectant gaze.
To his surprise, the centipede did not choose to enter either fork. Instead, it suddenly turned around and crawled back the way it had come, lunging like lightning onto a piece of Qianyang quartz. Coiling its entire body over the quartz's surface, it opened its sharp mouthparts and began gnawing away at the Qianyang quartz bit by bit.
A look of disappointment surfaced in Yin Xingge's eyes. He activated the spirit beast bag and retrieved the centipede, looked left and right before the fork, and randomly picked a direction to dart into.
He repeated this again and again. At every fork, Yin Xingge released the centipede. If he hit a dead end, he backed out and made a new choice, yet he came up empty every time. Eventually, he went deeper and deeper, nearly leaving the astrolabe's protection behind, forcing him to bring out a cloud tool of his own.
At yet another fork, Yin Xingge repeated the trick and released the centipede. He had not held much hope, but unexpectedly, after the centipede crawled out of the spirit beast bag, it reared its upper body as if sensing something. It suddenly surged into one of the forks like a streak of red light, its speed astonishingly swift, as though some supreme treasure ahead were beckoning to it.
Seeing this, Yin Xingge's eyes lit up brightly, and he broke into silent laughter. Hurriedly putting away the spirit beast bag, he deployed his movement technique and closely pursued the centipede.
Unexpectedly, before he had gone far, it turned out to be a dead end. At its end stood a rough stone wall, without even a single piece of Qianyang quartz anywhere around. Yin Xingge halted his steps, his gaze locked onto the centipede.
Chapter 207