Chapter 1005 Occupying the Mineral Vein

Ji An remained hidden, coldly observing his teammates' battle with the Hawthorn Beast.

With the help of the Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag, the opponent can easily deal with several fifth-tier high-grade enemies.

The Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag can freeze a corpse. Such freezing will not damage the organism's activity. After thawing, the essence and blood can be extracted from the corpse.

Normally, the higher the cultivation level, the greater the difference between the various minor realms.

Before the large number of Tier 5 superior-grade Haretooth Beasts appear, our side has absolute control over the enemy.

Gradually, the Hague Beasts stopped appearing, and the scene fell into an eerie silence.

This situation is the calm before the storm; something big is brewing inside the mine.

Ji An summoned the Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag back. The difference between a spirit treasure controlled by its master and a spirit treasure that can move freely is enormous.

He became more focused than ever before. According to the plan, his assigned task was to seize the opportunity to kill the fifth-tier top-grade Hare Beast after it appeared.

In such an environment, activating the Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag not only provides excellent concealment but also causes significant damage.

Before long, a large number of Hague Beasts quickly sprang out from the various passages, about twenty in total, all of them being high-grade fifth-tier individuals.

In addition, two sea beasts were noticeably larger than the others; these were the two top-grade fifth-tier Sea Fang Beasts. One of them had grayish-white scales and was the Sea Fang Beast nearing the end of its lifespan.

Yunmiao Sanren was on high alert. She activated her natal spiritual treasure to form ripples of water around her body, with ice-blue runes on its surface flashing on and off.

This is a stream of water formed by the convergence of water-elemental spiritual power, like the sharpest water blade.

These water streams have different flow rates and even different directions. They serve as both defensive shields and offensive spears, and when necessary, they can even combine into one to form an ice spike.

In this environment, the resistance to water-based attack techniques is minimal, maximizing the attack's effectiveness.

She must withstand several rounds of attacks in order to create an opportunity for her teammates to deliver the final blow and eliminate the horde of beasts as quickly as possible.

Ji Jing remained as still as a mountain, her attention mainly focused on the fifth-tier top-grade Haretooth Beast in its prime.

The Hague herd surrounded the intruders, with more than ten on the outermost edge quickly darting around the nearby waters, searching for any ambushes. One of them even flew right up to Ji An, but found nothing unusual.

Ji An was like an insignificant drop of water, blending into the environment. His current state of concealment was even stronger than that of the Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag.

Soon, the patrolling Hague Beasts returned one after another, and the herd, now unrestrained, launched their attacks.

Clusters of icy blue water bullets shot out from its mouth and flew towards the enemy in the center of the encirclement. A strange scene appeared: as they got closer to each other, the water bullets not only did not interfere with each other, but instead merged into a sphere.

The sphere collapsed toward the center, completely trapping the aura of destruction within.

Yunmiao Sanren's expression suddenly changed. Although she had hunted Haretooth Beasts before, her targets were either individuals separated from their packs or very small groups of beasts. She did not know that the Haretooth Beasts' attacks could be combined into one.

Moreover, this aura severely disrupted the stability of the space.

At this moment, it is absolutely impossible to leave using escape techniques; the area she is in has become a dead end, and she can only passively endure the situation.

She suppressed the involuntary panic under immense pressure and released the power of her natal magic weapon as much as possible. The defensive water around her body swirled several times, like bubbles being blown up and actively colliding with the incoming attack.

At the same time, she retrieved the true form of her natal spirit treasure back into her body.

He knew in his heart that he had overestimated himself by luring the enemy, and that it was impossible for him to resist the combined attack of the beast horde on his own.

Doing so would definitely not provide enough defense against the attack, but even if the natal spirit treasure is pushed to its limit, it would still be difficult to withstand the attack. Rather than damaging the natal spirit treasure, it is better to keep it.

The collision occurred, but there was no explosion. It was as if a small stream had met a raging river head-on, and the stream was swept away by the river, turned around, and shrank towards Yunmiao Sanren.

In the instant before she was overwhelmed by the attack, she saw in her eyes the beasts launching a second wave of attacks.

She smiled sadly, knowing that she could no longer control how things would develop and could only rely on her teammates.

Can she rely on her teammates in this situation? She didn't know, but unfortunately, she had no choice but to rely on them at that moment.

The attack methods of the Hague beast horde were also far beyond Ji An's expectations; such attack methods were unheard of.

If he were in his teammate's position, he probably wouldn't be able to escape either. He didn't know what the encircled space looked like, but it was most likely a completely sealed-off area.

In that case, whether one can leave by releasing the golden light from the ground is highly uncertain.

At this moment, he had no time to worry about his teammates' fate. All he could do was attack the beast horde to disrupt their fighting rhythm, otherwise his teammates' lives would be in danger.

He didn't think his teammates couldn't withstand a devastating blow; which cultivator at this level didn't have a substitute treasure to protect them?

The moment the beast horde launched its second attack, Ji An activated the Golden Light of the Earth to approach the selected target, and at the same time activated the Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag to release a spinning, flying ice cone.

The icicle is about three zhang long, with the thickest part at the base about the thickness of a water bucket, and the tip like the head of a steel nail.

Choosing this attack method means getting as close to the enemy as possible, giving them no time to react.

The seemingly simple attack actually contained everything he could do. All five flags formed a cycle, and all of them were converted into energy that the Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag could directly mobilize.

The five Yin-Yang Dao Seeds emitted rays of spiritual light, enhancing the quality of the magical power that activated the spiritual treasure.

In addition, the nascent soul in the Moon Palace manipulates hand seals, instantly unleashing its Dharma form at the moment the attack is launched.

The spinning ice spikes gained greater acceleration, while the Dharma Form was able to slow down the enemy's movements.

By the time the mature, fifth-tier, top-grade Haretooth Beast realized the danger, the ice spike was less than fifty feet away from it.

It instinctively channeled all its demonic power to its body surface and frantically moved its body, but the attack arrived before a small portion of its demonic power reached the surface.

Its instincts allowed it to avoid being hit between the eyebrows, but to no avail; the ice spike easily pierced its neck.

The Hague Beasts' supposedly formidable multi-layered defenses proved to be flimsy and ineffective.

The ice spikes did not burst out of the body, but instead transformed into icy power that erupted within the enemy's body.

This is divine power in its purest sense; it does not harm the functions of living organisms, but rather freezes them.

The Hague Beast instantly transformed into an ice sculpture, its soul shattering into powder at the same moment.

The ice sculpture remained in a stiff posture, and the extent of its contortions revealed its struggle in the final moments of its life, but all its struggles were in vain.

From this moment on, the Hague Beast became a 'vegetative state', retaining only its primal biological instincts and losing its most precious consciousness.

When Ji An makes a move, it's a decisive one.

But this was just the beginning. His attacks didn't stop; instead, they poured out wildly. Ice spikes, each over ten feet long, bloomed like a rain of flowers, their spiritual light flashing like blooming blossoms.

Apart from that fifth-tier top-grade individual whose blood and energy were depleted, any other Haretooth Beast that was directly hit would be doomed to death.

About half of these ice spikes were aimed at the aging individual; once it died, the entire Hague Beast population would collapse.

The final battle ended quickly. Both Tier 5 top-tier targets were killed, and less than ten Hague Beasts that participated in the battle fled into the mine in a sorry state.

Next, we can begin clearing out the beast horde inside the mine. The remaining Hague Beasts will most likely escape, as staying behind would be a dead end.

Once the Hague Beasts of level five or above are cleared away, the puppet can begin excavation. Ji An has only one request: to gather enough materials to upgrade the Plain Cloud Banner.

Yunmiao Sanren gently patted his chest, causing his Taoist robe to tremble.

She subconsciously touched her forehead and said with lingering fear:

"If we had known you were so powerful, we should have launched a direct attack. That way, I wouldn't have wasted a chance to use the Substitute Treasure."

It's true that the substitute treasure can save lives when activated, but the experience of being near death is unforgettable. The feeling of death hanging over one's head can cause cultivators to have nightmares.

Experience has shown that facing death doesn't make people take things lightly; in fact, it makes people more fearful when there are other options available.

Ji An scratched his head, "I never knew these sea beasts were so much weaker than cultivators of the same level."

He thought to himself, 'Why are all the enemies I encounter so formidable?'

The cultivators who fought against him in the past were all formidable opponents.

However, he quickly came to terms with it, because those he fought were among the most elite of the cultivators.

Yunmiao Sanren forced a polite smile, but felt a strange sadness in his heart.

Consider that she entered the world of cultivation thousands of years earlier than the other party, yet now she lags behind in every aspect except for cultivation level.

Now that they are at the same level, she inexplicably has a feeling that the other person will soon surpass her, and she will never have the chance to catch up.

She had a question in her mind: she wanted to know what the other party was thinking before launching an attack.

At that time, if the opponent launched an attack even slightly later, her substitute treasure would run out of uses, and the opponent would be able to take everything in the mine for themselves.

However, she opened her mouth but ultimately didn't ask the question.

The topic is too sensitive, so it's best not to ask. The outcome was that she survived, while the Hague horde suffered heavy losses.

Yunmiao Sanren coughed lightly twice and asked:

How can these frozen bodies be thawed?

She had sensed the intensity of the water elemental energy and understood that it would be difficult for these frozen beast bodies to thaw freely; it would probably take more than ten years.

Amazed by the other party's understanding of the power of water, she also sensed wisps of Yin power within the solid ice, but she was unable to fully analyze this power.

Ji An smiled faintly and said:

"I can reverse the spell to thaw the corpse. Let's collect the Hague Beast's corpse and slowly process it on the sea."

"Fellow Daoist suffered considerable losses during the operation. According to the agreement, we will provide appropriate compensation. We will calculate the losses carefully later and allocate more resources to offset them."

For them, the deep-sea environment remains a burden, and dissecting marine mammals at the surface is a good alternative.

Yunmiao Sanren agreed, "Alright, what materials do you need, fellow Daoist?"

"A small amount of high-quality sea beast blood essence, as well as scraps of flesh and bones."

Ji An understood how to maximize his profits, and many high-quality materials were not as useful to him as they could have been.

Ten years have passed, and the moonlight, like water, shines down, illuminating the ocean lost in dreams, making it shimmer.

Three spots of light appeared faintly on the sea surface. The spots of light continued to expand, and soon three beams of light broke through the water and flew away into the distance.

These were Ji An, Yunmiao Sanren, and Wuyue Sanren, who had thoroughly excavated the core ore layer of the vein and were now returning home laden with their spoils.

After months of flying, they finally returned to Starfish City.

After the group parted ways, Ji An returned to his cave and then entered a small world to sleep. He slept for two days and two nights before waking up from his drowsy state.

Ayun prepared a sumptuous meal, brewed a pot of spiritual tea, and set out two jars of spiritual wine.

Ji An ate all the food on the table slowly and carefully, and drank all the tea and wine before standing up and leaving the table, satisfied.

He took out several urns and jars, saying:

"Collect these urns, each marked with a label. Gather all the high-quality and top-grade urns together and scatter them systematically next to the Gathering Yuan Tree."

The urn contained marine animal materials harvested over the years, all of which had been burned to ashes.

During the years spent hunting, Pan Yun Tree was upgraded to the fifth-order superior grade. Now all the spiritual roots of heaven and earth in the small world have reached the fifth-order superior grade. The next step is to upgrade them to the fifth-order supreme grade.

"Yes, ma'am. I will make the arrangements shortly."

Ji An nodded slightly and then began his work.

He sorted the various ores into categories and then activated the Yin-Yang Spirit Fire to smelt them.

Refining spiritual materials is the job of the weapon refiner. What he does is to perform the initial smelting. However, thanks to his special spiritual fire, the materials he smelts have very few impurities, making it very convenient for weapon refiners to use.

Even though he smelted the ore very quickly, it still took him more than two months to smelt all the accumulated ore.

Ji An put the metal ingot into the Cave Void Stone and left the Gourd World.

Inside the cave, Ji An took out the metal ingot and said with a smile:

"I have gathered enough spiritual materials to upgrade the Plain Cloud Banner. I would like to trouble you, fellow Daoist, to help me upgrade the grade of this spiritual treasure."

Once the Plain Cloud Banner is upgraded to the fifth-tier superior level, the weakest spiritual treasure in his possession will be his natal spiritual treasure.

However, once the Plain Cloud Banner is upgraded, a new Five Elements cycle will form between the five banners, which can help the natal spirit treasure to improve rapidly.

It's safe to say that his strength will undergo a new transformation, and there's absolutely no problem with his combat power increasing by 20%.

The Crescent Moon Hermit laughed loudly, "Finally, fellow Daoist has arrived! Seeing the harvest that fellow Daoist Yunmiao brought back, I am almost dying of envy."

I haven't had any crafting tasks lately, so I can start upgrading your spiritual treasure tomorrow.

A few days ago, Yunmiao Sanren sold him a large quantity of spiritual materials, so much so that he couldn't possibly consume that batch.

This suggests that the friends have discovered a mineral vein!

(End of this chapter)