Chapter 22 Mining 1 This junior sister is something else!
"Senior brother, do you know? There's a saying among mortals who do business: angel...celestial investment."
"In terms of cultivation, it means providing a cultivator with spirit stones and resources in the early stages of cultivation before they have reached a certain level, to help them. Once they become stronger, this celestial investor will naturally reap the rewards."
"I believe that with your potential and character, Senior Brother, you will have a bright future. I am willing to be your 'celestial investor,' and I hope you will give me this opportunity. Just remember, when you become a master of swordsmanship, don't forget your junior sister!"
Shen Du escorted Xu Xing toward Xuan Tie Mountain, from day to night, and then from night to day, as Xu Xing tirelessly persuaded Shen Du to agree to this "win-win" plan.
Fortunately, Xu Xing had two hundred mid-grade spirit stones in his pocket; otherwise, he wouldn't have had the confidence to invite Shen Du to cooperate at this time, although those spirit stones weren't a particularly large amount...
But if she could really bind herself to a future Golden Core cultivator at this time, she would be making a huge profit! Moreover, given Shen Du's potential, as long as she doesn't lack resources, she could achieve much more than just a Golden Core cultivator.
"Of course, if you protect me well, and if I become a master alchemist in the future, I will certainly not treat you unfairly!"
Xu Xing had been talking until his throat was dry, trying to convince Shen Du of the promises he had made, but Shen Du remained silent.
While drinking water, Xu Xing glanced up to peek at Chen Du's reaction, but he accidentally missed a step and almost fell into the bushes.
"Focus on the road."
Chen Du scooped her up and reluctantly agreed, "If you can successfully complete the Xuan Shuo Trial, I can consider it."
"Alright!" Xu Xing perked up. "Then it's a deal! Senior Brother will promise me after I complete the trial. I'm sure Senior Brother Shen won't go back on his word!"
"..."
Chen Du chuckled. Did he just say "consider"?
Forget it, it's better to coax Xu Xing to complete the trial first.
This junior sister is quirky and clever, but she doesn't seem to care much about things that ordinary disciples care about, such as cultivation and trials.
“I can’t interfere with the mission; you’ll have to rely on yourself from now on. But the Iron-Eating Beast is docile; it generally won’t attack unless you provoke it or take the black iron ore right under its nose.”
"boom--"
The sound of the Thunderburst Beads exploding came from afar. Shen Du frowned slightly. It seemed that Li Yuan and the others had already made their move. If they angered the Iron-Eating Beast, things might get complicated.
"I understand, senior brother, don't worry, I'll go take a look."
Standing at a distance from Xuan Tie Mountain, Chen Du silently watched Xu Xing's retreating figure. This was only the first hurdle she had overcome since embarking on her cultivation journey...
Xuan Tie ore is mostly located on mountain ridges. Iron-devouring beasts live by attaching themselves to Xuan Tie and feed on it. If their ferocity is aroused, cultivators in the early stage of Qi Refining will definitely not fare well.
At that time, people will be on the mountain ridge in mid-air with nowhere to escape. Even if Li Yuan has a lot of Thunder Bombs, he may not be able to escape unscathed. Therefore, if you want to mine, avoiding the Iron-Eating Beast is the best choice.
Unfortunately, Li Yuan, relying on the Thunderburst Bead, acted recklessly and angered the Iron-Eating Beasts on Xuan Tie Mountain.
"We can't bomb anymore! The mountain will collapse!"
Noticing rocks rolling down one side of the hillside, Ye Hao shouted.
"You don't need to tell me!"
Li Yuan gripped the rock with one hand, his eyes fixed on the black iron ore above, hoping to take advantage of the time while the Iron-Eating Beast was too frightened by the explosion to approach and collect the ore.
However, those Iron-Eating Beasts had learned their lesson once and were now adept at dodging. Although they were injured by the blasting rocks, it was not fatal.
As the dust settled, even more Iron-Eating Beasts appeared.
Looking at the Iron-Eating Beast that was still eyeing him menacingly, Li Yuan subconsciously took out the Thunderburst Bead. However, the mountainside was already teetering on the brink of collapse. He feared that another explosion would not only fail to kill the Iron-Eating Beast but would also cause him to fall down!
Flying artifacts cannot be used in the secret realm!
Fortunately, the mountain wall was steep, and the Iron-Eating Beast, mindful of his deadly magical artifact, hesitated to approach immediately.
The two sides remained locked in a stalemate on the mountainside.
Meanwhile, Xu Xing bid farewell to Chen Du and walked alone to the foot of Xuan Tie Mountain. She clasped her hands in front of her eyebrows and squinted at the mountain. It seemed that Li Yuan and the others were not here.
"squeak!"
Just then, Xu Xing heard a squeaking sound like a little mouse. Looking down, she saw a small black and white furry ball squeaking at her from beside a stone at her feet.
A puppy? Is that a monster too?
This furry ball is covered in fur, with the fur on its head even covering its eyes. It looks a lot like the long-haired puppy that Xu Xing saw in his previous life, only the color is a bit strange.
After first using his spiritual power to probe the area and sensing no threat, Xu Xing squatted down and curiously reached out his hand, "Suck, suck, suck~ come here~"
The fluffy ball squeaked twice more and twitched its nose, as if sniffing her scent.
Seeing how cautious it was, Xu Xing wasn't in a hurry and patiently stretched out his hand.
In her past life, Xu Xing was very popular with small animals. Cats and dogs she encountered on the road would like her very much. In this life, she has animal taming skills and comes with a harmless buff.
Sure enough, after sniffing for a while, the fluffy creature slowly came up to Xu Xing and tentatively touched her fingertip with its nose.
Xu Xing smiled, his eyes crinkling. He picked up the fluffy ball and stroked it. It purred contentedly and rolled around in Xu Xing's palm, clearly having completely let its guard down.
"Where did you come from? Have you seen any 'people' like me?"
"squeak--"
"I saw a bad guy, Mom is hurt..."
Injuried?
Xu Xing was startled, and suddenly felt the hairs on her body stand on end. The feeling of being stared at by a ferocious beast made her shudder.
She slowly turned around and saw a monster, almost as tall as an adult, slowly emerging from behind a large rock at the foot of the mountain.
Even the cutest fluffy ball can be quite intimidating when it grows into a plus version...
Xu Xing's forehead instantly broke out in a fine sweat. No wonder she couldn't sense any threat earlier; this demonic beast was at least one level higher than her, probably a second-level demonic beast!
Isn't Xuan Tie Shan supposed to have the most Tier 1 Iron-Eating Beasts? What's going on with this one?
There were traces of blood on the right side of the monster's body. It looked at Xu Xing, then at the little furball in her hand, and scratched the ground with its front paws, leaving several deep claw marks on the ground.
"..."
Xu Xing instantly understood: this was the Iron-Eating Beast!
Most of the Iron-Eating Beasts are Tier 1, but that doesn't mean they are all Tier 1! The leaders among them are naturally stronger than the average ones!
It would have been better if we hadn't encountered it at all, but this time it was a huge one. What incredible luck!
Xu Xing was on the verge of tears. She felt that she was actually the one who was more unlucky than Shen Du.
The little furball seemed oblivious to the tense atmosphere. It lay comfortably in Xu Xing's hands, then pulled out a small black stone from its long fur and gnawed on it, even sharing half with Xu Xing.
"squeak!"
"Here, have some!"
Isn't this black stone the black iron ore?
Xu Xing's heart skipped a beat; it really was an Iron-Eating Beast.
Despite her inner turmoil, she remained calm on the surface, carefully crouching down to appear harmless before gently placing the little furball on the ground.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. I meant no harm."
"Squeak squeak squeak!"
The little furball barked a few more times, reaching for Xu Xing's sleeve with its tiny paws, trying hard to climb up.
Xu Xing dared not move, but the demonic beast pounced on him!
...
"This can't go on! We can't mine black iron ore now, so let's go down and make a plan!"
Caught off guard, Ye Hao was scratched on the arm by an Iron-Eating Beast and hung precariously from the mountainside.
Li Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "Once you go down, you can't come back up!"
These Iron-Eating Beasts will never give them a second chance! This trial is destined to fail!
Ye Hao's arms were already trembling, but if he didn't have Li Yuan with him, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to land safely on his own. He suddenly broke down and shouted, "Your father is so powerful! So what if you fail? You don't have to worry about spirit stones. Do you want to lose your life for a trial?!"
Li Yuan remained silent and took out the Thunder Explosion Beads again.
He was willing to spend spirit stones to find Shen Du back then, so he wasn't afraid of Shen Du's so-called bad luck. This time, he terminated the cooperation only because he was worried that Shen Du would cause him to fail the trial.
Contrary to his words of indifference, Li Yuan was probably the disciple who least wanted to fail among those participating in this trial.
Thinking of the way his father looked at him as if he were trash, the ruthlessness in Li Yuan's eyes intensified.
"Come on! Let's see if you're faster or the bead explodes faster!"
Seeing more and more Iron-Eating Beasts arrive after hearing the commotion and pounce on them, Ye Hao closed his eyes in despair.
Li Yuan raised the Thunderburst Bead high!
"roar--"
After a deafening roar, the Iron-Eating Beasts suddenly stopped attacking.
They stared at each other, slamming their claws heavily against the mountain wall, their faces filled with anxiety as they watched the two cultivators. But after hearing a roar, the Iron-Eating Beasts twitched their ears, slowly retreated, and disappeared from sight after a few leaps and bounds along the mountain wall.
Ye Hao opened his eyes and asked in surprise, "They got away?"
Li Yuan remained vigilant, "Be careful, it might be a trap!"
"Hello--"
Are you alright?
Xu Xing, who had finally found his two fellow disciples, was holding the little furball and watching Li Yuan and Ye Hao hanging in the air from afar at the foot of the mountain.
They climbed really high!
"You? You drove away those Iron-Eating Beasts?"
Back at the foot of the mountain, Ye Hao, clutching his arm, looked on incredulously.
Xu Xing stroked the little thing in his arms, blinked, and asked, "Am I... using the young master to command the beast king?"
That big furry ball was actually the leader of this group of Iron-Eating Beasts, and this little furry ball was the Beast King's child.
Glancing at the little ball of fur, Li Yuan's expression was complicated. "You're quite lucky..."
Little Fur Ball hated these two bad guys who were causing chaos and destruction in the mountains, so he just turned his back to them.
"Squeak!"
"Get them out of here!"
When the big fur ball pounced on it, Xu Xing thought it was going to attack, but it just rubbed its face against the little fur ball. After the little fur ball squeaked a lot, the big fur ball relaxed its guard.
It wouldn't have wanted to attack if those two cultivators hadn't used Thunder Explosion Beads to blast the mountain.
After learning the whole story, Xu Xing took out a bottle of healing pills and a bottle of beast spirit pills from his storage bag.
Over the past few months, besides the Spirit Gathering Pill, she also refined some ordinary first-tier pills for her own use, including the Beast Spirit Pill, which she found in the Scripture Pavilion's pill recipes. For the beast race, the Beast Spirit Pill is just as valuable as the Spirit Gathering Pill, as it can help them cultivate.
Beast Taming Fields often use Beast Spirit Pills, but these pills are not easy to refine, so they are not widely circulated among outer disciples, and even less so among ordinary disciples of the Immortal Dao Academy. Xu Xing spent several months before he was able to buy the necessary materials and refine two bottles.
Although what she refined was only of the first rank, it still had some use. At least the Iron-Eating Beasts, who spent most of their time in the secret realm, rarely saw such a thing.
"I apologize for the offense, Beast King."
Xu Xing treated Da Mao Tuan's injuries and gave him a bottle of Beast Spirit Pills.
The Iron-Eating Beast must have sensed that the spiritual energy within was useful to it, so it ate one immediately. After finding no problem, it fed another one to the little furball's mouth.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
"Delicious! So delicious!"
The little furball excitedly kept nudging Xu Xing's hand, its eyes gleaming with longing, as if it wanted more.
Once the two children were appeased, Xu Xing explained that she was also there to mine black iron ore. She said that if she could guarantee that they could mine ten pieces of black iron ore, she could persuade her teammates not to use the Thunderburst Bead.
Although this Iron-Eating Beast is only at the second tier, the power of the Thunderburst Bead should not be underestimated; a fight between the two sides would only result in mutual destruction.
The Iron-Eating Beast didn't hesitate for long before roaring twice to signal its kin to cease their attack.
Seeing that the big furball was so agreeable, Xu Xing couldn't help but stroke its long fur hanging down its side and give it another bottle of Beast Spirit Pills.
Finally, the man and the beast reached an agreement, and Xu Xing followed the little furball's directions to find Li Yuan and the other two.
Unbeknownst to her, after she left, Shen Du, worried about her safety, hid not far away, watching the leader of the Iron-Eating Beasts from afar.
Xu Xing was unable to sense the strength of a demon beast with a higher cultivation level than himself, so he naturally did not realize that this pure-blooded Iron-Eating Beast was not a second-tier beast, but had already reached the late stage of the third tier.
A faint smile appeared on Shen Du's face. Xu Xing said he had a bright future and wanted to "invest" in him.
But in his eyes, the one with the most promising future was actually her.
Seeing that the third-tier Iron-Eating Beast turned its head and glanced at the place where he was hiding, Chen Du slowly retreated into the forest and hid again.
If Xu Xing can truly complete the trial safely without being affected by her own luck, perhaps her suggestion of cooperation is worth a try...
"With this little thing, can we really mine safely?"
Li Yuan was still somewhat skeptical. "The beastmen are cunning. What if they return..."
"Isn't there the Thunderburst Bead? With Senior Brother Li's strength, what is there to fear from these first-tier demonic beasts?"
Xu Xing flattered, "My method is just a minor trick, nothing special. Even without me, my two senior brothers can complete the mission. However, those who cultivate immortality do not crave bloodshed. If we can obtain the ore without harming these demonic beasts, it would be a win-win situation."
Li Yuan's expression improved considerably. He snorted lightly, "I naturally don't take the mere Iron-Eating Beast seriously. But you're right, we human cultivators enjoy the blessings of Heaven, so we should be merciful."
That means you've agreed.
Once an agreement was reached, Xu Xing breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that Li Yuan was just like any other demon beast, and he had to be coaxed.
Li Yuan and Ye Hao had sustained some injuries, so they planned to rest for a while before continuing their ascent.
While the two of them were healing, Xu Xing petted the little furball.
Seeing the little Iron-Eating Beast whimpering in Xu Xing's hand, Ye Hao, who had just applied medicine to his arm, curiously reached out and asked, "Is this really an Iron-Eating Beast? Why does it look like a puppy?"
When the dog was mentioned, the little furball seemed to understand, suddenly baring its teeth and letting out a low growl, which startled Ye Hao, who had come closer to look, and made him quickly withdraw his hand.
Xu Xing quickly tried to appease her, saying, "I wasn't talking about you! You're the most impressive!"
"..."
I almost forgot, the Iron-Eating Beast is born with a first-level cultivation!
Still shaken, Ye Hao quickly sat back down. Looking at his junior sister who dared to pet a demon beast like a dog, he couldn't help but feel admiration.
This junior sister is something else!
-----------------------
Author's note: I changed the word "Iron-eating Beast" to "Iron-devouring Beast". Pandas are so cute, I really couldn't bear to write about them getting hurt, so I changed it.
The Iron Eater I'm imagining is a black and white version with no dark circles under its eyes and long fur. It's not a panda, but it's still very cute!
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