Despite their formidable strength, the party was thoroughly battered as they fled the pursuing evil ghosts.
Kong Xin darted into the cave, and the others hurried in after him, only to discover that the cavern was a dead end!
In the blink of an eye, the entrance was blocked solid by evil ghosts. Outside, the eerie shrieks grew increasingly piercing; there was no telling how many specters in the subterranean cavern had been alerted.
The group's expressions shifted drastically, their hostile gazes locking onto Kong Xin. Killing intent stirred within them all, including Qin Sang.
If Kong Xin had told a few harmless little lies just to take a shortcut, that might still have been pardonable. But leading them directly into a dead end was no different from murder—an unforgivable offense!
"You're courting death!"
The woman in red flew into a rage, leveling her magic tool directly at Kong Xin, her murderous intent laid bare!
To everyone's surprise, Kong Xin appeared completely unperturbed, seemingly fearless and confident.
Frowning, Qin Sang wondered what Kong Xin could possibly gain from this. The man had come inside with them; if anyone died, he would surely be the first. No fool would attempt to murder someone for treasure in such a suicidal manner.
At this thought, Qin Sang shifted his gaze away from Kong Xin to examine their surroundings. When his eyes fell upon the cave's stone walls, his gaze narrowed slightly.
At that moment, Kong Xin calmly pointed toward the depths of the cave. "Take a look at these stone walls, everyone. How do they differ from those outside?"
The others were taken aback and turned to look.
Prompted by Kong Xin's words, they finally noticed that unlike the solid black stone outside, these walls faintly emanated a cold white gleam from within.
At the most conspicuous spot, the outline of a fingernail-sized crystal was clearly visible.
"Could this be..."
The first to recognize the cold glow was the cultivator surnamed Bao. In utter astonishment, he gasped, "Could this be Cold Metal Ore Matrix?"
"Cold metal?"
Everyone had heard of cold metal to some extent.
Qin Sang had actually recognized it before Bao did.
The compendium of insights Shopkeeper Wu had given him contained descriptions of various rare spirit materials, and cold metal was among them. Incorporating cold metal into a magic tool not only imbued it with extreme cold properties, but also enhanced its durability. It was an exceptionally rare spirit material.
He had not expected to find a vein of cold metal before even truly entering the heart of Wuya Valley. This was indeed a land of treasures.
Kong Xin nodded.
"Indeed, this is Cold Metal Ore Matrix. Once refined, it yields that precious spirit material, cold metal.
"Originally, there were far more ghosts gathered up above than this. Tens of thousands of specters occupied all the surrounding mountains—a dragon's pool and tiger's den that no one dared venture into. Consequently, no one ever discovered this secret passage.
"Had that not been the case, this Cold Metal Ore Matrix would have been excavated long ago.
"After the recent turmoil, I noticed a dramatic shift in this ghost nest, with the number of specters sharply reduced. I crept in secretly to investigate and discovered this passage and the Cold Metal Ore Matrix.
"Unfortunately, my cultivation is too meager to mine it alone, yet I dared not spread the word. Had I allied with other factions, they might have devoured me, bones and all. Thus, I was forced into this desperate measure.
"If you do not want the cold metal, I won't force you. We can join forces to break out right now; the exit is not far ahead, and escaping won't be difficult.
"However, this secret probably won't stay hidden for long. Sooner or later, someone will discover this secret passage, and then the Cold Metal Ore Matrix will fall into other hands...
"To enter a mountain of treasures only to return empty-handed—would that not be a pity, my friends?"
The cultivator surnamed Bao asked suspiciously, "What do you mean? You're willing to share this Cold Metal Ore Matrix with us?"
Kong Xin replied candidly, "Those who share the sight share the spoils—I understand this principle well. Whatever Cold Metal Ore Matrix we mine will be divided equally among everyone present, as my apology to you all. Otherwise, none of you would let me off lightly, would you? What's more, with evil ghosts lurking outside, mining the Cold Metal Ore Matrix requires all of us to work together."
By now, more and more evil ghosts had been drawn to the scene, battering the cave entrance, and the pressure on the party mounted steadily.
Having spoken his piece, Kong Xin closed his mouth and waited for the others to decide.
Bao chuckled softly and looked around at the others. "With treasure right before our eyes, surely you fellow Daoists wouldn't just give up? Powerful as the evil ghosts may be, so long as we reveal our trump cards and join forces to hold them off, holding out for a while shouldn't be difficult. We can mine as much as we can, and if things turn sour, we retreat immediately. We are all experienced cultivators who understand when to advance and when to yield. As long as we exercise discretion, why fear dying like birds fighting over food?"
Qin Sang was somewhat tempted as well.
A fist-sized piece of Cold Metal Ore Matrix could only yield a rice-grain-sized lump of cold metal. But the entire stone wall of the cave shone with cold light. If the vein was large enough, dividing it equally would still make the trip well worth their while.
However, their primary objective remained paramount.
Qin Sang shot an inquiring glance at Yunyouzi, who gave a slight nod, offering no objection.
Clearly, none of them could resist the allure of the cold metal, and no one pursued Kong Xin's earlier deceit any further.
Time was of the essence. The party immediately adjusted their formation, joining forces to hold off the evil ghosts' assault and buy time for Kong Xin. Kong Xin brought out a gleaming blue sword. Activating it with his spiritual power, a flash of blue light struck the stone wall.
*Clang!*
A crisp sound rang out.
The blue light faded, and everyone was taken aback.
A full-power strike from Kong Xin had left only a shallow sword mark on the stone wall!
Kong Xin smiled wryly. "This place gave birth to the Cold Metal Ore Matrix, and the entire vein has been affected by the cold metal, causing the properties of the stone to drastically change and become exceptionally hard. This Blue Light Sword is the sharpest blade I could find after exhausting all my means. I previously tried Five Elements incantations and other methods, but none worked. We can only slowly excavate it through brute force..."
The others looked at one another in dismay.
If Kong Xin could only produce a single sword mark with each strike, how long would it take to mine this vein? It would take forever!
"I don't believe a few worthless rocks can withstand magic tools!"
The woman in red snorted coldly. Pulling back the magic tool she was using to fend off the evil ghosts, she reversed its direction and thrust it forcefully toward the stone wall.
*Thwack!*
The needle-shaped magic tool sank smoothly into the stone wall. But before any joy could show on the woman's face, she felt immense resistance transmitted through the tool. In the end, it penetrated less than an inch before exhausting its force and lodging firmly in the rock.
The magic tool vibrated, attempting to shatter the stone wall, yet the wall remained completely unmoved.
Helpless, the woman in red recalled her magic tool. She tried several more times with the exact same result. Her face turned pale and flushed by turns, and she fell silent.
The cultivator surnamed Bao and the old man summoned their own magic tools, but fared little better than Kong Xin.
Kong Xin hacked away in silence, but his progress was agonizingly slow; it took dozens of consecutive strikes just to dislodge a single piece of Cold Metal Ore Matrix.
Qin Sang wielded the Black Dragon Stone, repeatedly smashing it against the evil ghosts outside. Yet the specters surged forward in an endless stream; even with their combined defense, how long they could hold out remained anyone's guess.
At this thought, Qin Sang conferred briefly with Yunyouzi via voice transmission, then spoke up, "Fellow Daoist Kong, I possess a spirit sword. Though its quality is humble, I have some confidence in its sharpness. Why not let me mine the cold metal while you help fend off the evil ghosts?"
The ebony sword had been crafted from a remnant of a magic treasure and subsequently tempered by the killing talisman. If nothing else, its sharpness far exceeded that of ordinary magic tools.
Chapter 369