Chapter 1141: Great Danger
Yan Xuehen’s pretty brows furrowed. She didn’t sense Yu Yanluo’s aura. She had already faced Yu Yanluo several times, and so naturally knew her aura’s distinct characteristics.
Of course, there was a chance of Cloudcenter City being too noisy. She wasn’t sure if she was overlooking anything. After thinking to herself for a moment, she took out a divination circle. Then, her fingers formed a hand seal. The divination circle shone, then began to slowly spin. Then, a strand of light emerged, stretching out in multiple directions. In the end, it formed a larger divination circle in the air.
The circle quickly drew the attention of the people in the city. When they saw the floating figure in white and the sparkling radiance surrounding her, many people cried out, “The descent of a goddess!”
Even Xiao Yao, who was near the city walls, looked in her direction in a daze. Of course, he didn’t covet her beauty like the common people and instead muttered to himself, “White Jade Sect’s Natural Change Art?”
This White Jade Sect technique was renowned. Forget about just being able to discern good or bad luck, it could even calculate one’s dao path.
Xiao Yao could sense a wave of incredibly profound energy even from far away. He sighed in amazement. That technique had a well-deserved reputation after all. He felt a bit of inspiration toward enlightenment even from so far away.
…
Meanwhile, Yan Xuehen’s mood was completely serious. The cries of alarm coming from ordinary people and the expressions of worship from cultivators didn’t affect her in the slightest.
Her eyes followed the trail of light passing through the divination circle in midair. In the end, she looked outside the city, muttering, “She is to the north?”
But then, her expression changed, because the divination circle became impossible to interpret.
“A great danger?” Yan Xuehen exclaimed, confused.
The Natural Change Art has never acted like this before. It was actually difficult to read? If it weren’t for her proficiency in the skill, she might even have suspected that her calculations were wrong. She really couldn't figure out what else in this world could threaten her. Uness the emperor Zhao Han himself descended or the Fiend Emperor came personally, how could such a thing be possible?
After thinking for a bit, her figure vanished from midair as if she had never been present in the first place.
All of the common folk who had been admiring her rubbed their eyes. “A daoist immortal really is holy after all…”
Xiao Yao’s brows furrowed tightly. He had already secretly locked onto Yan Xuehen’s aura just then, intending to use her to show him the way and chase after the escaped Yu Yanluo. Unfortunately, it made no difference. The instant Yan Xuehen vanished, he couldn't find a trace of her aura no matter what he tried. It was as if everything had just been an illusion.
Xiao Yao was speechless. Looks like the distance to the grandmaster rank is further than I thought…
After that experience, he no longer felt his previous desire to face her in battle.
…
Several dozen li away, a white figure reappeared out of thin air. Yan Xuehen’s white dress fluttered as she floated in midair. She spread her divine sense and began to search nearby.
Even though the divinatory art was miraculous, it still probed the mysteries of heaven. There was no way it could show an exact location. But that was already enough. With her grandmaster ability, it wouldn't take her too long to search the entire place anyway.
That was especially true where she was, outside of the city in the wilderness. It wasn’t as noisy, so it was much easier to find what she was looking for.
…
Under Yu Yanluo’s lead, the pair had already arrived at a canyon at the foot of Great Snowy Mountain. There were guards patrolling the canyon, and all of them were Yu clan members.
Yu Yanluo said, “Farther in is the Yu clan’s ore vein. Let us go in secretly; I do not want to involve them.”
She held incomparable prestige and popularity in the Yu clan. If Xu Yu’s people came to interrogate them later, these people might not reveal where she is, but they would still experience a harsh trial, or even torture. Rather than that, she would rather not let any of them know anything to begin with.
Zu An chuckled and remarked, “Everyone else only knows the Medusa’s cruelty, they don’t know just how kindhearted you are.”
“My mother wasn’t evil either. Even though I didn’t spend much time with her, I still have a bit of an impression,” Yu Yanluo said, somewhat unhappy about the Medusa’s reputation.
“Every race has good and bad people,” Zu An said with a nod. “It was probably because of the Medusa's eyes that could petrify all who saw her that made everyone so scared of her. That was why they created such a terrifying image of her.”
“There’s nothing that can be done about that,” Yu Yanluo said. She had already lived in human society for so long, she obviously knew just how deeply ingrained into people’s bones that thought was. Changing something like that was really difficult.
She felt a deep sense of powerlessness when she thought of that. She turned around and gave Cloudcenter Commandery a look, and there was a great sense of reluctance in her expression.
Zu An guessed what she was thinking and tried to console her, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find a way to bring you back.”
Yu Yanluo smiled and replied, “Thank you.”
Since she had always had a worried frown the entire time, her sudden smile created a powerful visual clash. Even Zu An, who had already seen his fair share of beauties, was still stunned. He said, “You were able to become the most beautiful in the human world. Now, you might stun all of the fiend races with your beauty, becoming the first to achieve both.”
Yu Yanluo hit him lightly with her fists, complaining, “Come on, do you know what kind of situation we are in? And yet you are still teasing me…”
The two chatted happily as they entered deeper. The outside world was bitterly cold, and the place was far out and remote. It was late at night as well. Even though there were guards, there was no way the security would be particularly rigid.
With their cultivation, sneaking in wasn’t too difficult. The two of them headed inside. Zu An noticed many wooden houses off to the sides, and he could see that there were fires going on inside. The fragrance of food also wafted through the air.
“There’s a village here?” he asked curiously.
Yu Yanluo explained, “Mining ore not only requires the miner, but also a large number of people to work on the logistics. This is also a place where all kinds of goods are collected for distribution. At first, people built some temporary homes, but later on, the Yu clan built several houses here. The people who live here are the miners and various other workers.”
Zu An looked all around him. He saw that there were giant wooden arms everywhere, similar to the cranes found in construction sites in his previous world.
“These are all things researched by the academy. They can lift some things from a lower position to a higher one. They are really useful,” Yu Yanluo explained, sounding quite proud of her clan’s industry.
Zu An said with a sigh, “The academy’s research is much more helpful for the common folk than what cultivators have done for them.”
…
They continued inside. Zu An suddenly noticed two familiar strips of metal. There were even some carts on them, and he could vaguely make out some ores on the carts.
Yu Yanluo explained, “The Yu clan’s ore veins do not only produce ki stones; most of the mining is for ordinary mineral resources like iron and copper.”
“That’s not what I was surprised about. You actually have rail tracks?” Zu An asked, having been paying attention to something else. He pointed at the two strips on the ground.
“That was something a miner came up with in the past to help the miners transport goods. We discovered that they were extremely useful, so we spread them throughout the mines,” Yu Yanluo replied.
“Where is that miner now?” Zu An asked curiously. Don’t tell me he’s a transmigrator too?
“He seemed to have lost his life later on in a mining accident.” Yu Yanluo grew a bit emotional. “No matter how many security measures one puts into place, mining disasters still happen from time to time. That is why these ores are excavated through the blood and sweat of these miners. Unfortunately, those bigwigs in the court do not care about such things at all.”
Zu An fell silent. It wasn’t just in this world; that was the case no matter which world he thought of. It was just a pity that the miner who had come up with the rails had passed away. If he hadn’t, he might have come up with even more useful things. If he had been a transmigrator too, that was an even more unfortunate thing.
…
They continued, but after a while, they both stopped. Zu An was speechless when he saw a massive pit before them, exclaiming, “This is the Yu clan’s mine?”
The pit was several thousand meters wide. A pathway wound down it one layer after another. It was easy to imagine just how great the scale of such an engineering project was. It was also pitch-black; even with Zu An’s sight, he couldn't see what was inside at all. It was like the mouth of a massive beast, waiting for him to jump in.
“Indeed, the mines are all underground, and the roads lead in all directions. Please watch your step; even many seasoned miners have lost their way inside,” Yu Yanluo replied.
Zu An nodded, saying, “Now we don’t have to worry even if Xiao Yao chases us here.”
“Follow me,” Yu Yanluo said as she kicked off. She didn’t follow the winding miner paths along the walls, but rather jumped straight down. But every so often, she still used the wall to stop. She didn’t dare to jump straight into the pitch-black pit.
Zu An also followed her down. As he fell, the light around him grew dimmer and dimmer. Eventually, he couldn't even see his own fingers in front of him.
Yu Yanluo moved next to him and quietly said, “No open fires can be used inside the mines. You absolutely cannot use anything like a torch.” She took out a luminescent pearl afterward. The soft radiance scattered down across her body, making her skin look even more moving and beautiful.
Zu An chuckled and said, “I know. There are all sorts of natural gases in the mines. There would be an explosion if they made contact with fire.”
A terrifying roar emerged from the depths of the pit just then. Then, the entire mine began to shake.