Chapter 43: Escape

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.

Inside the secret chamber, Cheng Buzheng sat cross-legged on the floor with his eyes slightly closed. He held a piece of raw spirit stone ore in his hand, while various stones of different sizes lay scattered before him.

Suddenly.

Cheng Buzheng’s eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his clear, dark eyes. A glint of light flashed within them, and he tossed aside the piece of stone he was holding.

His gaze instinctively swept across the secret chamber.

Seeing that only about half a basket of raw spirit stone ore remained, his eyes narrowed.

"It is time to go out and investigate!"

"I wonder if the commotion outside has died down?"

"Right now, even the landlord's house has no surplus grain left," Cheng Buzheng muttered to himself.

He stood up and instinctively brushed off his robes.

Instantly, a flash of yellow spiritual light enveloped him, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from the spot.

At that moment, three zhang beneath the spirit stone vein, a streak of yellow light sped rapidly toward the seventh branch mine shaft.

Suddenly, while tunneling underground, Cheng Buzheng heard voices from above.

"Mine Boss, we went to the Spirit Stone Market today. Let's find a place to rest for a bit."

"Alright, let's go! You're a sharp kid."

...

The voices of the two men gradually faded until he could no longer hear them.

Soon, he arrived at the seventh branch mine shaft, the storage point for the raw spirit stone ore. He remained cautious, extending a sliver of divine sense from a corner to scout the area.

Originally, he had only intended to investigate and had no intention of taking action. However, hearing that the Mine Boss was away today, he immediately changed his mind.

Still, he had to follow the necessary procedures.

He sensed that there were no cultivators inside the secret chamber, and outside the cave dwelling, the two second-layer Qi Refinement guards remained as they were.

Not taking any chances, Cheng Buzheng appeared on the floor of the stone cave and tunneled directly beneath the pile of raw spirit stone ore.

On the other side of the stone cave, a layer of transparent spiritual light enveloped eight mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. They were watching the corner where the spirit stone ore was piled with cold eyes.

Suddenly, the eight mid-stage Qi Refinement mine bosses saw a chunk of the raw spirit stone ore vanish.

Their eyes lit up, and their magical powers surged wildly as they silently channeled them into the mid-grade magical tools before them: small swords emitting a fiery red glow, small forks radiating azure spiritual light, and small ropes that moved like small snakes...

They gathered strength for a long time, preparing to launch a thunderous strike.

Throughout the process, not a single cultivator spoke, as if they had reached a silent understanding.

Song the Second extended his right hand and signaled the number "three."

At this moment, Cheng Buzheng still had no idea that danger was imminent.

Two.

One.

Suddenly, the air exploded. The eight magical tools emitted multicolored spiritual lights, cutting through the air in concentric ripples as they dispersed in eight directions, charging toward the ground.

Simultaneously, a burst of magical power shot toward a piece of fluorite embedded in the cave ceiling.

The fluorite instantly shattered, casting a yellow light into the corner where the spirit stone ore was piled.

Eight deep craters were left in the rocky floor of the stone cave.

Having been in a state of constant alert, Cheng Buzheng knew it was a trap the moment the eight magical tools lunged out, and he prepared to flee immediately.

But how could the mine bosses, who had plotted this for so long, let him leave so easily? They had made extensive preparations.

A suppressing force prevented him from leaving immediately. He knew that if he didn't escape, he would face certain death.

With a flip of his hand, the Amethyst Carving floated in his palm. With a thought, a purple light rose to resist the yellow suppressing force, and he tunneled directly into the rock layers below.

Delayed by the suppressing force, he could not escape instantly.

The eight magical tools, radiating spiritual light, were already rushing toward him from eight directions. Had it not been for the slight obstruction of the rocks, he would have perished.

Seeing the eight tools attacking from all sides, he knew he had to tunnel deeper; they would surely pursue him.

With a thought, a purple spiritual light enveloped him, and he steeled his resolve, diving straight downward.

Facing the small sword emitting a fiery red glow flying directly at him, Cheng Buzheng had no time to detour; he charged straight through it.

*Bang!*

The collision with the small sword delayed him slightly, and he was then struck by three more magical tools from behind. The intense shock caused significant internal injuries.

A mouthful of blood surged to his throat, but Cheng Buzheng forced it down, fearing the enemy might use his blood as a medium to track him.

The purple defensive shield rippled in waves.

He knew these were signs that the shield was about to shatter. Facing the attack of three mid-grade magical tools, the shield's performance was nothing to boast about.

He frantically surged his magical power into the Amethyst Carving to make it last longer, and a streak of yellow light sped downward.

This entire sequence of actions, from start to finish, took less than a single breath.

"Chase him! We can't let him escape, or he'll be hard to catch again!" Song the Second shouted urgently.

As he spoke, a yellow light enveloped him, and he tunneled downward.

"Split into six directions! Chase!"

"Quick... don't let him get away!"

...

Instantly, six streaks of yellow light tunneled into the rock layers, pursuing Cheng Buzheng.

Seeing this, Cheng Buzheng did not slow down; instead, he plunged even deeper into the earth.

Although the pressure increased and the consumption of magical power grew greater the deeper he went, this was not a bad thing for him.

The deeper he went, the more his divine sense would be restricted, which was actually to his advantage. If necessary, when his magical power was nearly exhausted, he could open a secret chamber to recover and escape again.

He didn't believe that the enemies could find him in such a short time while his divine sense was heavily restricted.

From their positioning, the six mine bosses formed a circle, their distances allowing them to support one another. If he were engaged by any one of them, the other six would appear before him in the blink of an eye.

Cheng Buzheng was within their encirclement, but he was at a depth of twenty zhang, while the mine bosses were only at ten zhang.

As he continued to tunnel deeper, the situation became increasingly favorable for him.

Meanwhile, in the stone cave, only two mine bosses remained, waiting for good news.

"We only managed to acquire six Earth-Escape Talismans this time. Otherwise, we two could have contributed more!"

"Earth-Escape Talismans are quite rare... being able to buy six in such a short time is already quite good!"

"True... fortunately, we made an extra preparation, otherwise, the little thief would have slipped away!"

"Yeah... I didn't expect that even with the suppressing force of the Suppression Talisman, our thunderous strike would still let the thief escape. Luckily, Song the Second made an extra precaution!"

"We two have the lowest strength. If we find the raw spirit stone ore, will our share be reduced?"

"Probably not! After all, we agreed on it beforehand."

"But an accident occurred, didn't it?"

"Did the thief escape?"

"Well, we didn't really contribute anything this time."

"It's too early to say... let's wait for the results!"

Half an hour later.

Six streaks of yellow light appeared one by one in the stone cave.

At this moment, the faces of the eight mine bosses in the cave turned completely dark.

Wang Dab霸 said in a low voice

"Now that the thief has escaped, he certainly won't fall for the same trick again. Song the Second, how do you think we should arrange things next?"

Hearing this, Song the Second spoke slowly

"I didn't expect the thief to have a magical tool that could counter the Suppression Talisman, nor did I expect his Earth-Escape technique to be refined to such a degree! This was unexpected, and it is the reason he was able to escape.

Next, we will guard this place for half a month to prevent him from making a sudden return. If the thief still doesn't show up, we will have to give up.

In the future, we should store the raw spirit stone ore separately or station guards directly in front of it, ensuring enough manpower even when we leave.

Next, we must find a way to inquire with the Baiyun Sect cultivators who inspect the goods to see who brought a magical tool resembling the small carving into the mine. Then, we will know who stole our spirit stone ore!"

"Do you have any additions?"

"None..."

"Then we will guard for half a month. If it really doesn't work, we'll do as Song the Second suggested!"

"Fine... it can only be done this way!"

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. When the seven mine bosses went to bid farewell to Wang Dab霸, he distributed half of the pile of raw spirit stone ore in the corner to them.

He knew that he was currently the most vulnerable. After all, his spirit stone ore had not been stolen. To appease their restless hearts, he had to make a sacrifice.

Wang Dab霸 noticed the greedy gazes of the other seven mine bosses fixed on the corner of the ore. He knew he had to give them some to prevent them from uniting against him.

Distributing half of the ore was enough to quell their dangerous thoughts.

After seeing that only half of the ore remained, Wang Dab霸 divided it into several parts and hid them in secret locations. Throughout the process, he did not let his subordinates do the work; he did it all himself to prevent the hiding spots from being leaked.

(End of Chapter)