Qin Xin followed behind Yang Ruoyi and Xiahou Chu, gradually exploring deeper into the iron ore mine.

Along the way, Qin Xin used his spiritual sense to discover several locations of low-level spirit stones, but he did not collect them.

Qin Xin currently possesses a top-grade spirit stone, hundreds of high-grade spirit stones, tens of medium-grade spirit stones, and nearly ten thousand low-grade spirit stones. It can be said that even without going to the Tuocang Mountain Pill Academy to refine pills, he can still cultivate to the Yuan Dan realm, one of the three stages of the Core Formation realm.

If Qin Xin were to easily discover these low-grade spirit stones underground in this iron ore mine, it would likely attract the attention of Yang Ruoyi and Xiahou Chu.

Although the three of them belonged to the Tianxuan Sect, on this continent, martial artists speak with strength. If they knew Qin Xin's identity as a spiritual cultivator, they might have other thoughts.

Moreover, in Zhongzhou, various forces are currently engaged in undercurrents, and the Qin clan of Zhongzhou is extremely powerful. Qin Xin is not sure if Qin Haotian, who is in the Xuantian Sword Sect, has discovered him. Therefore, for his own safety, Qin Xin must hide his trump cards well.

This is why Qin Xin agreed to join the Tuocang Mountain Pill Academy to refine pills. On the one hand, it would allow him to make friends with some powerful figures in the Central Plains. On the other hand, it would make his identity clear. With the Pill Academy as his backing, even if someone wanted to take action against him, they would have to think twice.

After all, the influence of an alchemist is extremely terrifying, and even the Qin Clan of Zhongzhou has to be wary of him.

Qin Xin has now entered the early stage of the Spirit Body Realm, and the penetrating power of his spiritual sense has become stronger. With a thought, he can condense a phantom longsword with his spiritual sense, which can directly annihilate the souls of those martial artists whose strength is lower than his own. He can also attach his spiritual sense to some spiritual artifacts to control objects remotely, so that his attacks will be unexpected.

Furthermore, by attaching his spiritual sense to his face, Qin Xin could slightly alter his appearance, making it undetectable even to some experts at the Dharma Aspect Realm.

Therefore, underground in this iron ore mine, Qin Xin used his spiritual sense to detect the presence of some powerful underground monsters, but they were all deliberately staying away from the area of ​​the iron ore mine.

When the Qin clan first arrived at this iron mine, they knew that many monsters lived underground, such as centipedes, and among these monsters were some level five and six monsters.

However, as disciples from the five major sects gradually poured in to search for the Heavenly Spirit Crystal, some of the underground demonic beasts were directly killed, and many of the stronger demonic beasts also retreated from the vicinity of the iron mine after sensing the large number of human martial artists.

It was precisely because of this that the three of them made very smooth progress in their exploration, and even found some low-grade spirit stones in some places they passed by.

The three of them divided the spirit stones equally according to the previous distribution plan. Judging from the apparent strength, Qin Xin naturally gained a lot. However, Xiahou Chu and Yang Ruoyi did not care, since these low-grade spirit stones were not very attractive to them.

After Qin Xin discovered that the surroundings were all rock layers and a somewhat oppressive aura was approaching, Yang Ruoyi also slowed her pace. Her Yuan Qi surged, and a massive amount of energy erupted from her dantian, with illusory blue vines appearing behind her.

The vines are covered with extremely sharp black barbs, and there are also many pale pink flowers among them.

Based on the spiritual power emanating from the martial spirit behind her, Qin Xin could tell that Yang Ruoyi's martial spirit power had clearly reached the level of a seven-star martial spirit, and was among the top-tier seven-star martial spirits.

"We're about to enter the depths of this iron ore mine, so everyone be careful."

As a cyan armor constructed from Yuan energy appeared on Yang Ruoyi's body, he also gave a soft reminder.

“Junior Brother Qin Xin, your senior sister’s martial spirit is the Seven-Star Green Thorn Hundred Flower Vine. My martial spirit is a bit inferior, but it is still seven-star.”

Upon hearing this, Xiahou Chu nodded directly, then turned his gaze to Qin Xin. At this moment, the solid core in Qin Xin's dantian was filled with earth-yellow energy flowing rapidly, swirling around him like quicksand. After the Yuan power around his body trembled rapidly, an earth-yellow Yuan power armor slowly appeared, giving people a feeling of indestructibility.

"Seven Star Martial Spirit, Quicksand Shield!"

Seeing the terrifying aura emanating from the two, Qin Xin smiled slightly and then channeled his energy to protect himself.

As the azure and crimson aura swirled, Qin Xin's Yuan Power Armor slowly materialized, though it appeared quite dull compared to the Yuan Power Armor worn by Xiahou Chu and Yang Ruoyi.

"Hey, Junior Brother Qin Xin, where did your armor that looked like scales and wings go?"

Seeing Qin Xin's appearance, Xiahou Chu was also somewhat puzzled.

Previously, when the three of them were being chased by the level seven demon beast, the Azure-Eyed Tiger, Yang Ruoyi and Xiahou Chu had personally witnessed Qin Xin's flame-like blue armor, which was completely different from what he wore now.

"That armor was formed by my martial spirit pattern, which consumes a lot of energy."

Qin Xin smiled slightly and said.

Upon hearing this, Xiahou Chu slowly nodded. He and Yang Ruoyi both possessed their own Martial Spirit Patterns, and they both knew that once the Martial Spirit Patterns were activated, the consumption of Yuan Power within their bodies was extremely terrifying.

At first, when recalling Qin Xin's speed, comparable to that of a Core Formation Realm expert, during their previous escape, the two were somewhat taken aback, finding it unusual. However, after learning that it was due to the Martial Spirit Pattern, they were able to accept it.

After all, the martial spirit patterns that each martial artist inscribes themselves or later are very different, and the abilities bestowed by each martial spirit pattern are also very different.

For example, Yang Ruoyi's martial spirit pattern, once activated, can contain toxins that can continuously paralyze the martial artist she is fighting. Xiahou Chu's martial spirit pattern, once activated, can store energy within his own martial spirit. When facing an enemy's attack, the quicksand shield not only continuously deflects the opponent's attack power but also stores power in the shield itself, making the quicksand shield's defense stronger and allowing it to charge up and unleash an attack.

"By the way, Junior Brother Qin Xin, what star level is your Martial Spirit? I've never seen you use it before," Xiahou Chu asked.

Qin Xin understood Xiahou Chu's meaning. After all, once they entered the depths of the iron mine, the three of them would need to work together to face the dangers in order to better protect themselves and each other. The most important thing was to understand the strength of their teammates.

As soon as Xiahou Chu finished speaking, Qin Xin summoned a black staff behind him with a thought. Golden patterns swirled around the staff, and blue flames occasionally flickered out, emanating from the Blue Rock Bone Fire Seed.

Furthermore, there were purple lightning bolts swirling around the staff, making it appear extremely eerie.

Just as the phantoms of the cyan dragon and the red fire phoenix appeared on the black staff martial spirit, Yang Ruoyi and Xiahou Chu were momentarily dumbfounded.

"This is... what kind of martial spirit is this? It looks like a weapon martial spirit, but what about the dragon and phoenix phantoms..."

Xiahou Chu was momentarily speechless. Instinctively, he could sense that Qin Xin's martial spirit was extremely powerful, but through the aura of the martial spirit, he discovered that it was similar to theirs, and was a seven-star martial spirit.

"I suppose Junior Brother Qin Xin's martial spirit is a type of mutated martial spirit."

Yang Ruoyi remained calm and said something with a smile.

Xiahou Chu nodded in agreement, since Qin Xin's martial spirit was quite chaotic and could only be addressed through mutation.

Qin Xin simply smiled and nodded without saying anything. Then, with a thought, the Martial Spirit returned to the Yuan Mansion.