Chapter 101 Mining (2)
Ji Zhuang set up the water clock and said while picking at the raw ore, "I came in because Brother Jinlong doesn't want to see cows anymore."
After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Hurry up and dig, fox. Brother Golden Dragon's claws are flat, as if they've dug up spirit crystals and haven't grown back yet."
What's there to mine?
Gu Qingqing rolled her eyes, spat out the storage ring from her mouth, stroked it, and then found a place to sleep.
When Ji Zhuang had dug out half a bag and could dig no more, Gu Qing regained consciousness.
She stretched her body, raised her head and said, "Stop digging, this water clock has already run out of water."
She walked up to Ji Zhuang, took out half of the small bag of raw ore and put it into her own bag, then happily jumped out.
“Fox! Come here!” Ji Zhuang called out, “You’re too clean. Roll around in the stone scraps and sharpen your claws.”
Gu Qingqing casually scratched the stone a few times with her paws, then ran out with the bag in her mouth.
Ji Zhuang led the ox slowly behind, and after a while, Jiao Jue's angry roar came from ahead. He shouted, "You ugly fox, you're not only ugly but also lazy! Go back to your den and dig right now! Don't come out until you've dug up half a bag!"
With a "smack," Gu Qingqing, along with a water clock, was kicked in by Jiao Jue and rolled to Ji Zhuang's feet.
Ji Zhuang looked up at Gu Qingqing, took out a piece of raw ore, and scratched it with his smoothed claws.
Upon seeing this, Gu Qingqing immediately dragged her tail into the mine.
Ji Zhuang led the ox to Jiao Jue's feet and handed him the bag. Jiao Jue opened his eyes slightly, glanced at it, and then closed them again.
He pointed to the small pile of spirit crystal ore next to him and said, "Pour it on here, then put the storage bag down. You can finish work for today, but if you still only have this much tomorrow, you don't need to come out."
Ji Zhuang nodded and was about to lead the calf away.
"Wait a minute." Jiao Jue grabbed a handful of spirit crystal ore and handed it to Ji Zhuang, saying, "This is your reward."
You could have taken more, but you gave it to that lazy, ugly fox.
"There's a reward! Brother Jinlong really keeps his word!" Ji Zhuang was overjoyed. He caught the raw ore, his eyes immediately brightening, and he nodded heavily at the horn jade.
Looking at Ji Zhuang's honest appearance, Jiao Jue felt relieved that he finally had a good miner, so he waved his claws to let him leave.
Ji Zhuang was overjoyed to have obtained the spirit crystal ore. He lavishly went into the field and grabbed a small handful of glossy, tender low-grade spirit herbs for the calf as a side dish.
Jiaojue spat out a huge storage ring from his mouth, and then took out a Zeming Spirit Pearl the size of a claw, and embedded it in the stone.
He picked up the raw ore grain by grain, glanced at it, and then put it into his storage ring.
Gu Qingqing dared not slack off when she went back into the cave, but her extremities ached after being dry for a long time.
Despite the tremors and numbness emanating from her limbs, Gu Qingqing dug with all her might, filling a small half-bag. She weighed it in her hand and realized it was about the same size as what Ji Zhuang had dug. She waited for the water clock to run out and then dredged for a little while longer before finally emerging from the hole.
Jiao Jue was quite satisfied with pouring the spirit crystal ore onto the ground. He grabbed a handful as usual and gave it to Gu Qingqing as payment, then told her to go back and rest for a while, and come back to work when it was light.
Seeing that Jiao Jue was in a good mood, Gu Qingqing mustered up her courage and asked with a fawning smile, "Brother Jinlong, it's too dark in the cave. Could you give us a ball like this to look at?"
Jiao Jue spat out a jade box, took out two bright demon candles, and gave them to Gu Qingqing, saying, "Use these, and hurry up! Ugly fox!"
Feeling distressed but unable to speak, Gu Qingqing could only drag her tail back to Ji Rong's root. She hugged Ji Rong's roots and cried softly.
Ji Zhuang couldn't sleep because of the noise, so he listened carefully and heard Gu Qingqing howling, "Ji Rong, where did you go? Get up! Jinlong is taking advantage of his high cultivation level to exploit us for mining!"
My legs hurt so much, and my claws are all worn down. If you don't wake up soon, we're going to be worn to death by him..."
Upon hearing this, Ji Zhuang took out his spirit crystal ore and leaned over to ask, "Sister Qingqing, didn't Brother Jinlong give you your reward?"
Gu Qingqing turned around and took the ore. As she put it into her storage ring, she continued to cry, "Ji Zhuang, do you have a brain? We dug all of that, and he only gave us such a small amount. Isn't that bullying us?"
Ji Zhuang didn't think so. He usually worked for the Wu tribe, Ji Rong, and Gu Qingqing, but he didn't get any benefits.
Now that he's mining for Jinlong, he can even get a handful of spirit crystal ore. Ji Zhuang feels like he's made a profit.
He knew he shouldn't have calculated it that way, but what could he do when his cultivation was inferior to Jinlong's?
The next day, Ji Zhuang tied the calf to the grassy side outside the mine and dragged the weak and listless Gu Qingqing to work.
Hearing the sound, Jiao Jue looked up at Ji Zhuang, then lowered his head and went back to sleep.
Gu Qingqing looked at her claws and howled, "Brother Golden Dragon, what do the Witch Clan use to mine? Make one for me and Ji Zhuang too. If we mine like this for three days, my claws will be gone."
Jiao Jue was stunned for a moment, and his face suddenly darkened.
Mining spirit crystals is a truly arduous task.
Spirit crystal is a type of crystal that contains abundant spiritual energy; compared to stone, it is naturally harder.
However, if a cultivator uses magic to forcibly break apart the stone layer attached to the original ore, the spiritual crystals inside will easily break and leak out, thus becoming waste crystals.
This is the experience Jiaojue gained after digging up a bunch of abandoned mines on Wangfeng Island.
The Wu tribe used a fine iron pickaxe to mine.
They dug in along the vein's texture, picking out the raw ore piece by piece, a very slow process. The fine iron pickaxe was too small and brittle for Jiaojue, so he simply used his claws to dig.
But Jiao Jue forgot that the Xuan Iron Pickaxe was an external object. If he were willing to part with it, wouldn't it be faster to dig with a pickaxe that suited him?
Jiaojue instantly felt as if he was about to sit atop a towering pile of spirit crystal ore, so happy that his eyes narrowed into slits.
He looked up at Gu Qingqing and said, "Next time the witch comes, have her bring a few pickaxes. Until the pickaxes arrive, keep digging with your claws."
"Ugly fox, look at yourself! Where have you been cultivating all this time? Your appearance and cultivation are both terrible. Instead of taking advantage of this mining trip, why don't you use these four paws to hone them?"
Gu Qingqing wanted to say more, but Ji Zhuang grabbed her by the tail and they left together.
As they ventured deeper into the area, Gu Qingqing angrily flicked her tail, swatting Ji Zhuang away, and said, "Fine, you won't help me then, but why are you being such a coward!"
Ji Zhuang looked at her and sighed, "Sister Qingqing, you are no longer the Third Miss, and I don't have my sister's courage and words. We are now in the Profound Spirit Realm, but what about Brother Jinlong? He has become an emperor."
Now that we've done the work, he's paying us as agreed beforehand. Aren't you satisfied?"
After talking for a while, Ji Zhuang felt his mouth was dry. He paused for a moment and continued, "We can't take him for granted just because we call him 'Big Brother'."
Gu Qingqing naturally understood the reasoning. She said aggrievedly, "It hurts so much. These claws weren't even mine to begin with. Now, I'm doing this kind of work and I can't even use my magic. If I keep going like this, I feel like they'll go their separate ways."
Ji Zhuang looked at her steadily and said, "Jinlong is right, you are lazy."
If you want to stop at the Profound Spirit Realm, then just stay lazy. You never train your claws when you cultivate, so how can these claws be yours?
"Keep being lazy, Feng Qing can't count on you anymore."
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