Chapter 46: The Reason (Bonus chapter for investment!)

After learning the Needle Rain Technique, Li Zhirui realized that its most critical aspect was not its lethality, but rather the sheer number of needles and the vast area they covered, making it extremely convenient for integrating into sneak attacks.

Upon discovering this, Li Zhirui attempted to incorporate pine needles into the technique, treating them as a true killing move. He sacrificed the raw destructive power of the Needle Rain Technique to pursue a higher quantity of needles, aiming for a better concealment effect.

Roar!

Initially, when the needle rain struck the Black Bear Demon, it failed to catch its attention, as the impact felt like mere itching to the creature, unable to even pierce its fur.

However, just as it let down its guard, nine pine needles imbued with law-breaking power pierced directly into the Black Bear Demon's flesh. One of them even blinded its left eye, causing it to roar toward the heavens in agony as it charged recklessly toward Li Zhirui.

"Da Qing, stop it!" Although he had the Earth Array for defense, Li Zhirui did not dare let the Black Bear Demon pounce directly on him; otherwise, both he and Da Qing would be exposed and in even greater danger.

Da Qing unleashed several consecutive control and defensive spells, consuming more than half of his mana before he was finally forced to stop.

Fortunately, through Da Qing's tireless efforts, the Black Bear Demon was trapped in a magical mud swamp located three zhang away from the Earth Array.

This was one of the only two earth-based spells Da Qing knew; the other was Earth Spike.

Watching the Black Bear Demon struggle frantically in the mud, only to sink deeper, Li Zhirui's racing heart finally began to calm down.

"It's over!" Li Zhirui let out a long sigh of relief. Thirty-six pine needles streaked through the air, and under Li Zhirui's control, they entered the Black Bear Demon's body through its mouth, directly shredding its brain.

After the fierce battle with the Black Bear Demon, both Li Zhirui and Da Qing had exhausted a significant amount of mana. He simply placed its corpse into his storage bag and paid it no further mind, instead seizing the opportunity to recover his mana to avoid being unable to respond to any unexpected accidents.

Fortunately, no further disturbances occurred during the latter half of the night, and it passed peacefully.

The next day, as the sun rose from the sea, Li Zhirui opened his eyes. He prepared to thoroughly search the island to find out why the Black Bear Demon had been staying there.

The island was not large, measuring roughly ten miles square. While the vegetation was dense, there were few animals; the largest creatures were mountain rats, which indicated that the area was indeed unsuitable for large animals to survive.

This only increased Li Zhirui's curiosity: why would a Black Bear Demon stay on this deserted island, even treating it as its private domain? He had been attacked just for resting on the outskirts of the island.

After a period of searching, Li Zhirui finally found the Black Bear Demon's lair—a limestone cave located at the foot of a mountain.

Li Zhirui applied several defensive talismans to himself, tucked Da Qing away, and entered the cave alone. As soon as he stepped inside, an incredibly thick, fishy stench nearly forced him back out.

Fortunately, the cave was not very deep, and Li Zhirui soon reached the end. When he saw the scene before him, he was stunned, and at that moment, he understood why the Black Bear Demon had stayed on this island.

Because embedded in the wall before Li Zhirui were numerous raw spirit stone ores!

In the depths of this deserted island, where life was scarce and spiritual energy was thin, there was actually a spirit stone mine!

Although the Black Bear Demon possessed low intelligence, it had the instinct to seek fortune and avoid danger; it naturally knew this place was beneficial to it. Its cultivation level was likely obtained directly from consuming spirit stones.

Li Zhirui immediately took out the Azure Wood Sword and began digging out the raw spirit stone ores with practiced efficiency. Later, feeling his speed was too slow, he released Da Qing to help him mine.

Only when Li Zhirui's hands were too tired to even lift the Azure Wood Sword did he have to stop. Looking at the small mountain of raw ore before him, a sense of satisfaction filled his heart.

Based on the spiritual energy content of standard spirit stones, there should be over three thousand spirit stones before him.

"Is this a micro-spirit stone mine?" Li Zhirui frowned slightly, but then smiled. Human nature is indeed greedy; even with a vein that could yield tens of thousands of spirit stones, he was still not satisfied.

Li Zhirui spent several days digging in the depths of the cave, harvesting a total of over fourteen thousand spirit stones. Furthermore, the raw ore became increasingly difficult to dig; on the final day, he and Da Qing together managed to dig up less than two thousand spirit stones!

"I'll leave the remaining spirit stones to the clan to mine." Li Zhirui felt it was time to end this training expedition.

In terms of results, this expedition was very successful, yielding over ten thousand spirit stones. However, in terms of the process, it was quite mediocre, as Li Zhirui and Da Qing had only engaged in two proper real combat experiences, failing to meet the expectations he had before leaving.

Nevertheless, the spirit stone vein was the priority; these tens of thousands of spirit stones would be a massive fortune for the Li family.

Li Zhirui chose not to take a sea vessel back to Big Banyan Island, but instead flew through the air using paper cranes, stopping and starting along the way, finally returning to the clan on the second day.

Upon landing, Li Zhirui immediately sought out Li Shiqing and told him about the micro-spirit stone mine he had accidentally discovered.

"Are you certain?" Such a massive surprise hitting the Li family so suddenly made Li Shiqing somewhat incredulous.

"Hehe, I've been digging raw ore for several days. How could I not be certain?" As he spoke, he produced a piece of raw ore.

Li Shiqing did not dwell on the details of Li Zhirui's words; after all, this was a mine discovered by him, and according to clan rules, opportunities discovered by clan members did not need to be handed over to the clan.

"I will summon twenty clan members immediately. Shilian will lead the team, and you will guide them. We must mine that spirit stone vein as quickly as possible!" Li Shiqing was a man of decisive action; as soon as he spoke, he began to act.

Within half a quarter of an hour, the clan members summoned by Li Shiqing had all arrived at the main hall. He announced, "Zhirui discovered a micro-spirit stone mine during his recent training expedition. I have summoned you all so that he can lead you to bring back all the spirit stones from that vein."

Everyone's eyes instantly lit up. Although mining was hard work, it was not without benefits; at the very least, one could secretly hide a few dozen spirit stones, and as long as it wasn't too excessive, no one would pursue it.

"This matter must not be leaked to anyone else! Not even to your Dao companions or children! Otherwise, you will be dealt with according to clan rules!" Although Li Shiqing had summoned only trusted clan members, he still had to issue a warning!

Wealth stirs the heart. The Li family's current external environment was already unstable; if news spread that they had found a spirit stone mine, it might provoke even more forces to move against them.

Even if the Li family stepped forward to say it was only a micro-vein, few people would believe them.

"Yes!" the crowd promised in unison.

"Then prepare some rations. We leave tonight. Is that alright?"

A clan member stepped forward and asked, "Patriarch, if so many of us suddenly leave the clan, how shall we explain it to the other members? Especially if our families ask, how should we answer?"

"Just say that I sent you to test whether the trade route to Qingshan Province is viable." Li Shiqing quickly provided an excuse.

Qingshan Province, located south of Yunping Province, was a cultivation world even more prosperous than Yunping.

Some things cannot be too heavily concealed; the more one tries to hide something, the more it piques curiosity. It was better to tell a lie to get through it.