txolops Chapter 40 Murder While Guarding the Mine
Chapter 40 Murder While Guarding the Mine
Inside the villa, candlelight flickered.
Ji Yun, dressed in a white robe, held a sword in one hand. His body was filled with sword intent, and his moves were fluid and graceful. He displayed a set of obscure and profound sword techniques.
A moment later, he sheathed his longsword and took out a white jade pendant with a yellowish tinge.
He made a hand seal to activate the jade pendant.
A bright yellow spiritual light burst forth from the jade, transforming into a light shield that enveloped the entire body, solid as a wall, capable of intercepting spells launched by enemy cultivators.
After several days of refining, he has successfully made these two first-grade high-quality magic artifacts his own.
"The appearance needs to be changed."
"Otherwise, others would immediately recognize this as a relic of the Zheng family's sword cultivators."
Ji Yun sheathed his longsword and jade pendant and strode into the depths of the cultivation room.
He then took out a small, dark mirror and examined it carefully in his hand.
The small mirror is only the size of a palm, with strange patterns engraved on the back and its surface covered with rough rust, making it impossible to reflect any human figure.
This mirror is severely damaged.
The key magical ingredients inside have completely decayed and need to be replaced.
The mirror surface also needs to be polished.
Furthermore, the material being polished must be extremely hard, at least reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining.
"This second-tier low-grade mirror is no less than the Soul-Summoning Banner, but its structure is complex and extremely difficult to repair. Ordinary people can't even understand the principles behind it."
"Since the weapon refiners on the third level of the Night Sea cannot repair this item, they can only temporarily abandon it and repair another one first."
"But he didn't know that the materials in his storage bag were actually enough to repair this small mirror."
Ji Yun took out two pieces of immortal materials.
He used his divine sense to peer into the small mirror and carefully studied its workings, thus mastering the structure and usage of this magical artifact.
This mirror has only one wonderful method.
Any spell cast into the mirror will be absorbed and stored there. The mirror master can then cast it out again without any change by making a hand seal.
A spell at the fourth level of Qi Refining can contain three spells, and a spell at the third level of Qi Refining can contain ten spells.
"It can be used for both offense and defense. As long as the mirror reflects the enemy's spells, it can return them to their original path. It has many wonderful uses."
"It's worth the time to fix it."
Ji Yun immediately picked up the immortal materials and, with the aid of his divine sense, began the repair.
In addition, there is a first-grade high-quality flying boat and another protective magic artifact in the storage bag, both of which are worth refining.
I used up quite a few first-tier high-grade talismans last time, and I need to draw more to replenish them.
Both require a lot of effort.
This is the trouble of reaping too much; it takes a while just to digest it.
……
Half a month has passed.
The mine remained peaceful, allowing Ji Yun to cultivate in peace for a period of time.
Then one day, he suddenly received a message that an accident had occurred in a mining area in the remote northwest, and seven miners had died overnight.
It just so happens to be the area that Wu Xiuyuan is on duty in.
This frightened him greatly, and that night he sent a message to the Zhao family saying that it was an enemy attack.
The Zhao family cultivators went to investigate, only to find that it was just an ordinary mining accident.
Several miners were drinking alcohol inside the mine, and their improper operation caused the mine shaft to collapse.
In the following days.
Wu Xiuyuan frequently sent messages to Ji Yun and the others, living in constant fear and unease, always feeling that enemy cultivators were watching him.
Everyone felt rather helpless.
At first, she replied with comforting messages, but later she pretended to be busy and stopped paying attention to him.
But Ji Yun sensed something was wrong.
Wu Xiuyuan couldn't be that bad; his premonition might not be unfounded.
……
Three days later, late at night.
Wu Xiuyuan sent another message, saying that the mining area he was guarding had been attacked by a group of thieves who were killing, burning, and robbing the mine.
The thief cultivator was at the second level of Qi Refining.
There were more than thirty people.
Unable to stop them alone, he could only hide in a secluded place and wait for reinforcements.
"Li Gongfeng, hurry up and go."
The Zhao family cultivators quickly arrived at Ji Yun's courtyard and sent a message to the other cultivators to go together.
The group headed straight for the mining area.
When they arrived, they found the mining area in ruins, dozens of miners dead, and a large amount of ore stolen.
The thieves and cultivators were nowhere to be found.
They've long since vanished without a trace.
"What are the identities of those thief cultivators?" the Zhao family cultivator asked, frowning.
"They were all dressed in black and masked, of unknown origin, and their behavior suggested they were demonic cultivators. They fought independently, grabbing whatever they could find."
Wu Xiuyuan was hidden inside the mine, completely unharmed, but he looked somewhat embarrassed.
But he had no other choice.
At that time, he was alone, and even with his wealth, he couldn't defeat thirty people.
"Just like the Copper Bell Mine."
"Let me report this matter first."
The Zhao family cultivator sighed softly and took out a communication talisman to contact his master.
Ji Yun recalled that time.
The copper bell mine had been subjected to long-term, relentless attacks, day and night, which were impossible to defend against, forcing the Zhao family to abandon the mine.
The thief cultivators came from the Demon Cultivator Market.
He also ambushed and killed two people on the way.
Those thief cultivators were all rogue cultivators, penniless and desperate. Whenever such an event occurred, they would act like mad dogs, eagerly participating without needing any employees.
It seems they're resorting to the same old tricks again.
The Zheng and Hu families have colluded with demonic cultivators to harass the mine.
But things are different today.
Back then, Ji Yun was just a talisman master in the Zhao family, but now he has become a respected figure in the Zhao family.
The Zhao family responded shortly afterward.
We will be sending more staff soon.
The mine has temporarily suspended operations for the next few days, allowing miners to return to the market to avoid further casualties, and will resume operations once reinforcements arrive.
……
The following evening.
The Zhao family reinforcements arrived, totaling ten Qi Refining Level 2 cultivators, and they also carried a large number of Stone Collapse Talismans, using the same method as last time.
Although the number of people has doubled.
However, the mine is too vast.
The Zhao family had no choice but to abandon most of the mining area and reduce the scope of their control.
The personnel were also redistributed.
They take turns guarding the perimeter of the mining area.
Ji Yun was on the list for the first month.
Before they left, the Zhao family cultivators repeatedly instructed them that if things became unmanageable, they could follow Wu Xiuyuan's example and prioritize saving their lives.
So that night...
Ji Yun went to the outskirts of the mining area.
He traveled twenty miles forward, picked up a pebble in the pitch-black sea, sat cross-legged on it, took out pills and spirit stones, and began cultivating while waiting.
……
Three days later.
Ji Yun suddenly opened his eyes and looked ahead.
A large group of rogue cultivators, each flying on their own magical devices, headed straight for the mine.
"Murder and arson bring wealth and honor."
"This way we can obtain more food for our cultivation and also get some food for Li Meier."
Ji Yun smiled calmly, stood up and walked to the edge of the island, stepping directly into the air.
Concealment combined with aerial maneuvering.
They walked silently toward the thief cultivator.
Despite their large numbers, the thieves remained completely unaware of the danger. Once inside the abandoned mining area, they scattered and began looting the mine.
Ji Yun observed from the shadows.
This group of thieves consisted of thirty-six people. They were a temporary group and mostly acted in twos and threes without any unified organization or coordination.
"They've all been moved."
"The Zhao family is so damn stingy, they won't leave anything for their brothers?"
"Alright, let's go rob the central mining area later. The Zhao family is probably mining hard again, just like last time. We'll make a fortune by robbing them."
The thieves were talking to each other.
Suddenly, a cloud of black mist billowed out, enveloping them all.
In just a few breaths.
Several people then fell to the ground one after another.
Immediately afterwards, the corpse was also taken away by the storage bag and disappeared without a trace.
Holding a soul-summoning banner, Ji Yun strolled among the thief cultivators, summoning away seven or eight people in succession.
Then he knew when to quit while he was ahead.
After returning to the Zhao family's mining area, he took out a communication talisman and notified the Zhao family's thieves that they were attacking and ordered them to come to his aid immediately.