Chapter 42: The Great Net is Cast

Spirit Stone Vein, Seventh Branch Mine.

At this moment, inside the stone cave, a middle-aged cultivator with a majestic countenance sat cross-legged on a relatively flat rock. His eyes were slightly closed, and spiritual energy swirled around his body.

Suddenly.

Hearing the commotion outside his cave dwelling, he frowned. He slowly withdrew his cultivation, and the spiritual energy surrounding him rapidly dissipated.

He stood up with a look of displeasure and walked outside. Seeing the noisy crowd, his frown deepened.

The two cultivators guarding the entrance, seeing the majestic middle-aged man, hurriedly cupped their fists in greeting.

"Brother Ba... they wanted to break into your cave, but the two of us held them back!"

The other guard added hurriedly, "Brother Ba, their cultivation is higher than ours... we couldn't drive them away!"

"Enough. You two continue to guard here!"

Wang Daba waved his hand and looked at the seven somewhat familiar mine bosses before him.

"Song the Second, you mine bosses—what business brings you to my place?"

"Wang Daba, we want to ask... is your raw spirit stone stock still there?" Song the Second asked, cupping his fists.

"Yes... I came to inquire as well!"

"Indeed, this is a grave matter. Wang Daba, please do not hide anything!"

...

Wang Daba frowned as he watched the scene unfold. He knew something had definitely gone wrong.

Otherwise, the mine bosses from all the other branches wouldn't have come to his place. He couldn't afford to be too aggressive; he couldn't handle a combined attack from the other seven cultivators.

"My raw spirit stones are still here! What happened? Let's go inside and talk in detail!"

Wang Daba asked with confusion. He knew it must be related to the raw spirit stones, but he had no idea what specifically had occurred.

Having said that, he turned around to lead the way into the cave.

"Let's go, let's go inside and see!" Song the Second said.

"Fine, let's go in. Is it really Wang Daba's doing?"

"If it is him... we won't let him off!"

"Let's go together!"

The seven mine bosses followed Wang Daba into the cave. Their eyes swept across the cavern, and they saw a pile of raw spirit stones.

"His raw spirit stones are still here!"

"But the amount is wrong! Could he have hidden some?"

"It's not impossible!"

...

Seeing them talk increasingly absurdities, Wang Daba barked, "Enough! What is going on? Why are you all staring at my raw spirit stones! Song the Second, you speak—what is the real reason you've come here?"

Song the Second pondered for a moment before saying, "Wang Daba, did you steal our raw spirit stones? The other seven of us have been cleaned out; not a single piece of raw spirit stone was left behind. Only your stock remains untouched. You are the prime suspect!"

Hearing this, Wang Daba was startled, and inwardly he felt a surge of satisfaction, though he maintained a look of shock on his face.

However, he knew he absolutely could not let this "dirty water" be splashed onto him, or he would be in deep trouble.

He frowned and said, "I have been cultivating inside this cave for these past few days and haven't stepped a single foot outside. You can ask anyone; it's the same! Furthermore, I was in the middle of a breakthrough. I have just ascended to the fifth level of Qi Refinement, so I certainly had no time to go out during these days. Before you arrived, I was consolidating my foundation. Besides, since all of your spirit stones were stolen, is it possible someone just hid them and pretended they were stolen?"

His words were intended to expose their hidden agents. While there might still be some left, this was a small price to pay for the benefit it would bring.

None of his own eyes and ears had been exposed. Once they began investigating each other, their respective agents would suffer heavy losses, while his would remain the most numerous and widespread.

This was an open scheme. Compared to the loss of agents, the raw spirit stones were the core wealth; he believed they would make the wise choice.

Upon hearing this, Song the Second and the other six mine bosses each fell into deep thought, displaying different expressions. Some frowned deeply, some looked determined, and some looked regretful.

After a while.

"Fine, we will go back and investigate first!"

"Indeed, that is the way."

"Though the possibility is low, it's not impossible."

"We must investigate thoroughly!"

Soon, the stone cave was cleared of people.

"Xiao Ba, come in!"

A majestic voice echoed from within the cave.

The young man guarding the right side of the entrance ran into the cave upon hearing the command.

"Brother Ba... what are your orders?"

"From now on, deploy all hands. Especially at the entrance and exit of the Eighth Branch Mine—watch it strictly. If you see cultivators from other mines entering, do not stop them; just watch who they contact and talk to! Also, keep a close watch on the personnel of this mine who contact the other seven mine bosses! Do you understand?"

The guard, Xiao Ba, nodded. "Brother Ba... I guarantee I will complete the mission!"

"Dismissed!"

"Yes!"

He ran out to begin the deployment.

Watching Xiao Ba's retreating back, Wang Daba knew he absolutely could not leave to deploy his own men. He had a more important task: guarding his raw spirit stones. Since the other seven branches had been emptied, he feared that if he stepped out, his own stones would be stolen as well.

Within half a day.

Activity between the various branches became intense and frequent, yet the mine bosses turned a blind eye, occasionally meeting with miners from different branches.

On the surface, things appeared much as they had before, but in reality, the mines were crawling with eyes and ears. Occasionally, one could see miners wandering about aimlessly.

As time passed, the idle personnel in the various mines gradually disappeared.

The mine bosses analyzed the information provided by their agents, only to find that no one met the criteria for stealing the spirit stones. Simultaneously, they purged the other exposed eyes and ears within their mines.

The ultimate winner of this large-scale investigation was Wang Daba. None of his agents were exposed; they remained hidden in the shadows.

The next day.

The other eight mine bosses arrived at Wang Daba's cave. Currently, his was the only one that hadn't been robbed. Wang Daba had gathered all the mine bosses of the spirit stone vein in his cave.

"Well? Have you discovered who did it?"

Wang Daba was also quite worried about this issue; he didn't want anyone eyeing his stored spirit stones.

"We haven't found any useful information!"

"Same here!"

"It seems everyone is in a similar situation."

"Has anyone found a valuable clue? Let's search together to minimize our losses!"

"Correct! If there are clues, speak up immediately so we can discuss them."

Seeing this, Song the Second realized no one had concrete leads. After a moment of thought, he said, "Based on my investigation, the thief is not any one of us, but someone else. As for which specific mine the miner belongs to, we do not yet know!"

"Song the Second, get to the point! Don't keep us in suspense!" an impatient mine boss snapped.

"Yes... let's discuss it together!"

"Indeed, everyone is anxious. Let's get straight to the matter!"

"Right! Song the Second, what are your thoughts?" Wang Daba echoed.

After scanning the room with his gaze, Song the Second spoke unhurriedly.

"First, we must keep this news under wraps. Do not let it spread. If we fail to hand in enough raw spirit stones this month, it will cause panic among our subordinates. Otherwise, it will alert the thief. The thief's cultivation is likely only at the middle stage of Qi Refinement; they won't be too strong, otherwise, they would have used force rather than theft. The final step will require Brother Wang's help! The eight of us need to lie in ambush here and wait for the thief to walk into our trap! Given the thief's methods, the most likely technique is Earth Escape. This spell is easy to learn but difficult to master! What does everyone think? Let's discuss!"

"No problem. The thief will definitely come back; they must still be eyeing my spirit stones," Wang Daba agreed readily. He also wanted to find the thief as soon as possible.

"Fine... let's make detailed arrangements!"

"We must capture them alive... and recover our spirit stones!"

...

Inside the stone cave, the eight middle-stage Qi Refinement cultivators began their intensive preparations. A massive net had been cast, waiting for the thief to fall into it.