Chapter 120 Ten Years
Chen Xingzhou looked up at the sky, which seemed to be burning, his gaze cold.
Tonight, Crimson Flame Peak erupted.
After tonight, the target will discover the secret that the Chen family is desperately trying to cover up. From now on, the family and the target will be completely hostile, with no room for reconciliation.
At this moment, he wondered if things would have turned out differently if he had bypassed his cousin and launched an attack before the target even entered Crimson Flame Peak.
After thinking for a while, he shook his head and dismissed the whimsical idea.
Before the target settled in Crimson Flame Peak, it stayed in Emerald Cliff, which was the heart of the Golden Spirit Sect.
The cultivators who carry out the attack must be prepared to die. Outsiders, knowing they will surely die, will not be willing to do so unless they send their own cultivators.
Those aging clansmen were willing to burn their last breath for the family, but doing so would greatly increase the danger of exposing the Chen clan, and the clan leader dared not take such a risk.
A look of dejection and bitterness appeared on his face. He never expected that his target would be someone who was holed up in a cave cultivating in seclusion, and who didn't play by the rules.
Shouldn't cultivators spend the year or two after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage visiting friends and building up a new social network?
The goal is good: he stays indoors for a year, and many people in the sect may not even know that he has such a person.
Countless red dots fell from the sky, drawing streaks of fire, like a rain of fire—those were chunks of lava erupting from a volcano.
It was as if ten thousand stars had fallen, illuminating the night sky.
A red dot of light grew brighter and brighter in Ji An's eyes. He estimated the landing point of the stone and moved his body slightly to the side.
The lava gushing from the mountaintop flowed slowly and steadily downwards, but the Crimson Flame Peak was not large, and the flow ceased in less than an hour.
The lava's color gradually darkened from a bright orange-red. Ji An estimated that the lava was still seventy or eighty feet away from the cave, and immediately felt relieved.
Although there is a magic array blocking the way, if the lava blocks the entrance to the cave, it will still take a lot of effort to carve it out.
The restless spirit began to calm down slowly, but at this time the cave must be unbearably hot, so Ji An prepared to return to the stone house in the cold pool to rest.
As he turned around, he suddenly caught sight of something bright red lying next to him and was slightly taken aback.
He casually cast a spell, grabbing the unknown object and bringing it to his eyes for close examination.
"It's actually Crimson Flame Crystal. What fell from the sky just now wasn't a piece of red-hot rock."
Ji An has now supplemented his basic knowledge of cultivation. Crimson Fire Crystal is a first-grade high-quality spiritual item. Adding a small amount when refining magical artifacts can slightly amplify the fire element attack of the artifacts.
This is material for refining a first-grade high-quality magic weapon. This piece, about the size of a pigeon egg, can be sold for twenty or thirty spirit stones.
Crimson Fire Crystal is one of the spiritual items that Foundation Establishment cultivators of the sect need to hand over to complete their mandatory tasks. In a few months, he will have to hand over the corresponding five elemental spiritual items to complete the sect's mandatory tasks.
Ji An smiled slightly. What could be more delightful than sitting at home and having wealth fall from the sky?
Moreover, this windfall is a gift from heaven and earth, so there's no need to worry that it's a gift with a price tag attached to it by fate.
He held the Crimson Fire Crystal in his hand; it felt warm to the touch, like jade, but much harder than ordinary jade.
At this moment, Ji An had no intention of resting. He took out his Beast Taming Token and began to summon the Spirit-Seeking Rats. He wanted to search an area and roughly estimate how many good things had emerged as the Earth's Fire Vein erupted.
If the number is small, have Huang Feihu take the spirit-seeking rats to search for them tomorrow.
These past few days, Lingji has become even more rampant, and Huang Feihu, Liang Qiu, and his gray-feathered sand geese have all run away to 'take refuge'.
The Spirit-Seeking Rat is an earth-elemental demon beast that can bury itself in the damp soil near the edge of a cold pool, so it never ventures out.
He had just communicated with the Spirit-Seeking Rat through the Beast Taming Token when he sensed excitement emanating from the beast.
After a while, he saw the Spirit-Seeking Rat running towards him on its hind legs, carrying a piece of ore the size of a baby's fist.
Its golden-brown fur was fluffy and spread out, shimmering with a soft sheen in the moonlight.
"Squeak squeak".
The spirit-seeking rat held the ore above its head, letting out a boastful squeak, full of arrogance.
Ji An picked up the ore and discovered it was a piece of crimson copper ore.
He put the ore into his storage bag, took out a Spirit Feeding Pill and tossed it to his beast, and then the two embarked on a treasure hunt.
These spiritual creatures were scattered on the ground, brimming with spiritual energy, and the spirit-seeking rats searched for them very quickly.
Half an hour later, they had searched several hundred acres of land.
Ji An's heart sank further; he had found far too many spiritual objects.
Various ores and fire-elemental spiritual objects, such as purple gold copper ore and flaming iron ore, were found, and even a piece of fire crystal the size of a finger bone was discovered.
The entire Li Huo Jing was furnace red, and there seemed to be liquid lava flowing inside.
This is a second-tier high-grade spiritual item, which can be used to refine spiritual weapons for cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage. It can only be produced deep within the Earth's core fire vein.
Now, he fully understood why Chen Xingyun was willing to spend money to let him choose another cave dwelling, and he also figured out the cause and effect of his attack. Those people must have been sent by the Chen family.
The sect must be unaware that the eruption of the fiery veins in Crimson Flame Peak yielded so many spiritual items; otherwise, they wouldn't have rented them out.
The harvesting of spiritual items must have started after the Chen clan rented the area. He hadn't even searched the entire area yet, and he already had such a huge harvest. No wonder the Chen clan tried to kill him.
Cutting off someone's source of income is like blocking their path; this creates a deep-seated grudge that is difficult to resolve.
Ji An was certain that even if he left the Chen family and returned to Chiyan Peak now, their relationship would not improve.
They would feel uneasy knowing such a secret.
He had heard from the local farmers that Crimson Flame Peak erupts once a year, meaning that this source of wealth is endless.
Should we report this to the sect?
He pondered for a moment and shook his head slightly. Even if the matter was reported to the sect, it would not be possible to prove that the Chen clan had sent a calamity cultivator to assassinate him, because all the clues had been cut off.
At that time, anyone with eyes could see the suspicions of the Chen family, but it was impossible to completely bring down the Chen family based on this, and the sect would not send anyone to be his bodyguard.
He took out a communication talisman sword and entered the message:
"After the eruption of the Earth's lung fire veins, it damaged the mountain-protecting formation."
I need to reorganize the ley lines and place the array plates, temporarily sealing off Crimson Flame Peak. I'll notify you to return to the mountain once this is completed.
Then, he activated the talisman sword and informed Huang Feihu.
The fewer people who know about this situation, the better.
A fierce glint appeared in Ji An's eyes. He sealed the Fire Crystal with a spirit-sealing technique and continued searching for spirit objects with the spirit-seeking rat.
Over five days, he and the spirit-seeking rat thoroughly searched the area covered by the magic array, not even letting go of the lava that had overflowed and cooled.
As long as the spirit-seeking rat can detect the possibility of a spirit existing inside, it will use its magic to carve out the rock.
The Geng metal refers to this killing technique, which became his production technique for digging holes and splitting stones.
Aside from those priceless second-tier spiritual items, Ji An's harvest, once sold, could fetch at least three to four thousand spirit stones.
If he had this harvest every year, anyone who tried to steal it would probably be tempted to kill him.
Judging from the gains he has made in the past few days, he will remain in danger.
Now Ji An has completely given up on reconciliation and has decided to stay on Crimson Flame Peak from now on, quietly farming and strengthening himself.
It's just a matter of training the eagle; let's see who gives up first.
Because of the stone tortoise, his growth rate exceeded everyone's expectations.
When he started going out to take action, it meant that he had already developed the ability to protect himself.
In the stone house by the cold pool, Ji An sipped spiritual tea, looking preoccupied.
After drinking half a cup of tea, he laughed self-deprecatingly:
"Ever since the last attack by the bandits, I've felt uneasy."
The eruption of Crimson Flame Peak these past few days has made me even more uneasy.
"Flying Tiger, I won't go out to cast spells and plant the spirit fields outside anymore; you'll be in charge of planting them."
This was a decision he made after careful consideration. For this, he gave up the income from 100 acres of talisman grass every year, which would amount to about 3,000 spirit stones annually.
Aside from receiving some second-tier spiritual items each year, he did not receive any additional spirit stones.
"Okay, I understand."
Huang Feihu felt a bit bitter. He couldn't possibly take care of so many spirit fields. If he hired someone to take care of them, the profits would be minimal.
Previously, when he helped manage the spirit fields, he was mainly responsible for harvesting talisman herbs and making talismans. According to the previous agreement, he could earn an average of thirty to forty spirit stones per month, which was much more profitable than planting them himself.
He felt that Ji An was being too cautious. This was the location of the sect, and after the last incident, cultivators from the Enforcement Hall would come to patrol every now and then.
“I have already informed Fellow Daoist Wei that we will cancel the trading of talisman paper from now on, and only the trading of talisman seals will be conducted. I will purchase mid-grade talisman paper from you.”
Ji An paused for a moment, then said:
"When hiring people to do work in the future, we won't hire anyone who isn't a familiar face."
Since the conflict is irreconcilable, he will not harbor any illusions.
The leaves turned yellow and then green again, and green and then yellow again.
Inside the cave, Chen Xingzhou said with a complicated expression:
"Myth brother, is that Ji An a tortoise? It's been ten years, and he hasn't moved an inch."
The birds we sent out to monitor Crimson Flame Peak have already been killed by hundreds of other predators, yet we've never detected them leaving the mountain.
He had anticipated that the target would be very cautious after obtaining the spiritual object that appeared with the eruption of Crimson Flame Peak, but he had not expected that the target would be so cautious.
For ten years, he has remained steadfastly on Crimson Flame Peak, no longer even venturing out a few miles to cultivate spirit fields.
They made extensive preparations, purchasing a great many disposable fire and lightning magical artifacts in order to dispel the dense fog that had been created.
If they were given another chance, they would surely succeed, but they couldn't find any opportunity at all.
Chen Xingyun's expression was equally complicated. He sighed and said:
"The target is a spirit farmer, whose sect mission is to produce spirit charcoal and raise spirit fish."
I investigated privately, and he completed his task exceptionally well. The quality of the spirit charcoal was higher than before, and the alchemists were very satisfied.
The only chance to force him to go out is the mandatory task of handing over spiritual items, but these items can be obtained when Crimson Flame Peak erupts.
The only thing we can do now is wait for the right opportunity.
"Ten years have passed. How many more decades do we have? You have to think of something. If there's no opportunity, create one."
Chen Xingyun grinned and said:
"I heard Zhu Qinghao mention that Ji An even repeatedly declined his master's summons. What opportunities could I possibly create?"
But his good days were numbered. I learned from my master that the sect was brewing a grand plan, which would require a large number of cultivators to go to the heart of the Hundred Thousand Mountains to carry out the mission.
"Ji An has been in the Foundation Establishment stage for many years, and his position is not important. He will definitely be summoned by the sect at that time."
(End of this chapter)
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