Chapter 45: The First Achievement

One month later.

Inside the secret chamber, Cheng Buzheng sat cross-legged on the ground. He opened his eyes, which were clear and distinct in black and white, a sharp glint flashing within them as he stood up.

Suddenly, his bones and muscles let out a series of cracks and pops, sounding like a continuous barrage of firecrackers.

"My injuries are fully healed. Next, I should look for resources to continue my cultivation and replenish my spiritual energy!"

As for the storage points of the eight raw spirit stone ores, he certainly couldn't dream of them for the time being. The mine overlords weren't fools; they would undoubtedly have made preparations on many fronts.

He wasn't an idiot who would refuse to turn back until he hit a brick wall; he would wait a while longer before scouting the area again.

At this moment, he absolutely could not fleece any easy profits.

"Now, I can only rely on my own strength to feed myself," Cheng Buzheng muttered to himself.

After more than a year, he had a crystal-clear understanding of the conditions beneath the spirit stone veins. He knew exactly where the rich deposits were and where the barren ones lay.

This was the preparation he had made for this very day—the day when he couldn't find easy opportunities to exploit. After all, he hadn't spent his time in the spirit stone mines for nothing.

In the past, he had found mining for raw spirit stone ores to be not only slow and troublesome but also a distraction from his cultivation, so he had eventually abandoned the idea of mining personally.

But times had changed; now, he had no choice but to provide for himself.

Before long, Cheng Buzheng arrived at a mining point. This was the richest deposit he had discovered.

Because of its remote location, situated thirty feet underground, no miners had discovered it until now.

He flipped his right hand, and the Amethyst Bead hovered in his palm. Then, with a flick of his right hand, he squeezed out a space one zhang in size.

After retracting the Amethyst Bead, he stepped into the newly opened space.

Cheng Buzheng glanced at the surrounding rocks and saw a wall embedded with a large amount of raw spirit stone ore.

Only this rock wall shimmered with irregular spiritual light; the other three walls were pitch black.

Following the manner of many miners, he positioned himself: waist driving the force, belt to shoulder, shoulder to elbow, elbow to wrist, and wrist to pickaxe.

*Clang!*

A shower of sparks flashed.

The scene was instantly awkward, though fortunately, there were no onlookers.

Cheng Buzheng’s face darkened. After scanning the area, he muttered to himself, "A dignified cultivator, yet I can't even dig without using magic! It seems the rumors were true... it really is very difficult to mine. How much spiritual power can a low-level Qi Refinement cultivator actually have?"

He then injected a stream of spiritual power into the pickaxe and swung it again, striking the raw spirit stone ore.

*Boom!*

With a loud bang, a large chunk of rock was pried loose, containing several pieces of raw spirit stone ore. He then swung the pickaxe again, slowly extracting all the raw spirit stone ore.

After a period of familiarization, Cheng Buzheng learned how to use the minimum amount of spiritual power to achieve the best results.

Since this was a rich deposit, he didn't need to do what other miners did—not only digging but also searching for the ore. He only needed to keep his head down and swing his pickaxe.

After a full half-day, he finally stopped, his spiritual power mostly exhausted. He packed all the raw spirit stone ore into a basket and slung it onto his back.

Then, with a flash of yellow light, he vanished from the spot.

Returning to his secret chamber, he poured all the spiritual ore from the basket into a corner.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Cheng Buzheng reached out to summon a freshly mined piece of raw spirit stone ore. Holding it in his palm, he began to cultivate.

From then on, Cheng Buzheng spent half the day mining and the other half cultivating every day, storing all the remaining raw spirit stone ore in the corner of his chamber.

This routine repeated day after day. Aside from going to the mine entrance once a month to hand over his monthly quota, he spent the rest of his time in secluded cultivation.

Despite having sufficient cultivation resources, he sometimes felt irritable and lonely.

Cheng Buzheng knew that to walk the path of immortal cultivation, he had to become accustomed to being accompanied by solitude and befriended by loneliness.

One day, Cheng Buzheng finished his daily cultivation and was heading toward the mining point.

Just as he was about to enter the space he had opened—which could no longer be called a mere "secret chamber," as the original one-zhang space had now turned into a series of long tunnels—a sign of his hard work—he noticed another living creature appearing in the tunnel. This forced him to take notice.

However, being naturally cautious, he did not reveal himself immediately. With a thought, his aura, spiritual fluctuations, and spiritual pressure vanished, leaving no trace of his presence.

He stealthily extended a sliver of divine sense, observing quietly from a distance.

If the situation changed, he would flee immediately.

At the end of the tunnel, a two-foot-long Earth狸 (狸) Beast was extending its glinting, sharp claws, digging at the raw spirit stone ore embedded in the rock wall.

The beast looked somewhat like a raccoon but resembled a wild fox, except it had an extra fluffy tail.

Its fur was entirely black, emitting a faint, eerie glow. Its sharp claws on its four feet were gripped tightly against the rock wall, its sharp fangs were faintly visible in its pointed snout, and its eyes glowed with a green light.

Cheng Buzheng observed quietly. The spiritual fluctuations emitted by the Earth狸 Beast indicated it was merely a low-grade Rank 1 demon beast, roughly equivalent in strength to a low-level Qi Refinement cultivator.

He knew that Earth狸 Beasts were naturally gifted in Earth Escape techniques, so its appearance here wasn't surprising, but the sudden appearance of a demon beast was still unexpected.

In the year and a month since he had arrived at the mine, this was the first time he had encountered a demon beast. It seemed the rumors were indeed true: demon beasts did inhabit the mines.

However, he also breathed a sigh of relief; the situation was not yet out of his control.

If it had been a mid-grade Rank 1 demon beast, he would have been forced to abandon this place despite the pain.

After all, rich mining points were not non-existent; he still had several other quite bountiful sites.

Even though this was the richest deposit, he had no intention of fighting a demon beast to the death without absolute certainty.

Demon beasts possessed a sense of vengeance. If he couldn't kill it with a thunderous strike, and the beast brought its kin to cause trouble, he wouldn't be able to cultivate so leisurely.

In that case, not only would he be unable to win, but he might also have to flee in disgrace.

At this moment, the Earth狸 Beast, focused intently on mining the spirit stone ore, was completely unaware of the approaching danger. It happily tossed the mined ore into its mouth, chewing rapidly with an expression of pure satisfaction.

Seeing this, Cheng Buzheng retreated further underground, arriving one zhang beneath the Earth狸 Beast. The beast, seeing no additional movement, continued to mine the ore without distraction.

Cheng Buzheng was not surprised by this; everything was under control. He had a firm grasp on such matters.

He flipped his right hand, and the Amethyst Bead hovered in his palm.

With a thought, a wave of purple light emerged from the ground, spreading out with the Earth狸 Beast as its center, and then the Amethyst Bead rapidly broke through the rocky ground.

*Boom!*

The air exploded. Ripples of shockwaves spread from the Amethyst Bead, slamming against the tunnel walls.

The spinning Amethyst Bead, carrying a chilling cutting light, sliced through the seemingly solid air, sending out ripples of energy as it rushed toward the Earth狸 Beast.

Just as the Earth狸 Beast sensed the spiritual fluctuations and attempted to flee, a wave of purple light enveloped it, rendering it unable to move.

As its four legs lost their grip and it was about to fall into the tunnel to perform its Earth Escape technique, the Amethyst Bead, emitting a purple spiritual light and accompanied by the sound of exploding air, shot toward it.

Suddenly, a dark, black protective spiritual light flashed, enveloping the Earth狸 Beast.

*Boom!*

The air exploded, and a wave of pressure slammed into the surrounding rock walls, causing stones to crumble and fall.

Inside the tunnel, the Amethyst Bead spun frantically like a gear, cutting into the pitch-black orb of light as if it would not rest until it had sliced it in two.

A moment later.

*Bang!*

The pitch-black shield shattered, followed by a spray of flesh and blood; countless droplets of blood scattered throughout the tunnel.

The Earth狸 Beast was sliced in two, and a large amount of blood flowed onto the ground, spreading in all directions.

(End of Chapter)