"Not right!"
Xu Mingxuan quickly discovered something was off. The exposed stone skin had a silver tint.
"Profound Iron Essence Stone should be black with luster."
He had mined a few pieces before.
In the Great Wei military camp, more than half the people were mining, but firstly, excavation was difficult, and secondly, the veins couldn't possibly be connected in continuous pieces.
Therefore, when they mined, going several days without any harvest was normal.
"Let me dig it out first."
Xu Mingxuan thought for a moment and began lightly tapping around it to determine the edges of this ore.
"Palm-sized? Feels a bit small."
"Strange, how can such a small piece of ore be so heavy? Must be several hundred jin."
"This is an opportunity!"
The thought flashed through Xu Mingxuan's mind.
"Must report it!"
Although the ore wasn't large and was convenient to carry, taking it out would be very difficult.
Xu Mingxuan instructed Old Mo and the others to continue working while he returned to the military camp and went to the commandant's tent.
Any commandant was an innate martial artist.
As for the commander, a small squad leader like him basically had no qualification to meet with them.
"Commandant Ge, Xu Mingxuan requests an audience." Xu Mingxuan called out from outside the tent.
"Xu Mingxuan?"
Commandant Ge remembered. This was one of the people he had personally selected to serve as a squad leader under his command.
"Come in."
Xu Mingxuan entered the tent and bowed respectfully.
"What is it? Speak." Commandant Ge said calmly, continuing to handle the affairs in his hands.
Xu Mingxuan held up the ore with both hands, "This subordinate dug up a peculiar ore at Twin Camel Peak. It's suspected to be a premium quality Profound Iron Essence Stone."
"Quickly, let me see it."
Commandant Ge's heart trembled upon hearing this, and he immediately spoke.
Xu Mingxuan stepped forward and placed the silver-gray ore on his desk.
After examining it carefully, he suddenly burst out laughing, "Indeed, it's Profound Iron Essence Mother!"
"I never expected the first piece of Profound Iron Essence Mother would be dug up by someone under my command. Heaven truly favors me."
"Come, follow me to see the commander."
On the way, Xu Mingxuan asked curiously, "May I ask the commandant, what is this Profound Iron Essence Mother?"
"No harm in telling you. You all know about Profound Iron Essence Stone, material for forging precious weapons, and barely related to immortal masters' magical artifacts."
"But Profound Iron Essence Mother is completely and entirely magical artifact material needed by immortal masters. An entire Profound Iron Essence Stone mine might not produce even one piece of Profound Iron Essence Mother."
"Xu Mingxuan, you've rendered great merit."
Xu Mingxuan cupped his fists, "This is all the commandant's achievement. How dare this subordinate claim credit?"
Commandant Ge nodded with satisfaction. This one knew how to read the situation.
"Rest assured, I'll request merit for you. The credit for this first piece of Profound Iron Essence Mother is no small matter. Getting a first-class merit citation should be no problem."
"With this merit, when the war ends, you can completely obtain a martial hall to manage back in your hometown."
"By the way, which commandery are you from?"
"Yuehu Commandery."
"Mm." Commandant Ge nodded, "Your strength is a bit low, otherwise with this first-class merit, you could secure a position in the commandery capital."
Before long, the two arrived at the commander's tent of the Ding division.
At the tent entrance, four peak Postnatal soldiers in black armor stood guard.
"Commandant Ge Xuanhong requests an audience with Commander."
"Let them in."
A deep voice came from within the tent, and only then did the soldiers allow passage.
"Ge Xuanhong, what brings you here?"
"Naturally to offer congratulations to Commander."
"Oh, what is there to congratulate?"
"Commander, please look."
Ge Xuanhong presented the Profound Iron Essence Mother. The commander recognized it at a glance and exclaimed, "Profound Iron Essence Mother?!"
"Haha, the first piece of Profound Iron Essence Mother appears in my Ding division. Let's see how those old fellows act superior in front of me now. Hahahaha~"
"Ge Xuanhong, this commander won't forget your merit."
"Thank you, Commander. This piece of Profound Iron Essence Mother was mined by my subordinate, squad leader Xu Mingxuan. This subordinate wishes to request first-class merit for him."
The commander glanced at Xu Mingxuan, "He's a young fellow with good spirit and vitality."
"I approve."
"Thank you, Commander!"
"Thank you, Commander!"
Xu Mingxuan also immediately bowed respectfully.
The two quickly returned to the commandant's tent.
Ge Xuanhong patted Xu Mingxuan's shoulder and said with a smile, "Xu Mingxuan, are you interested in becoming my personal guard? I see you have some fortune about you. You can inspect the mining areas under my jurisdiction for me."
"Thank you, Commandant Ge. This subordinate is willing." Xu Mingxuan smiled and cupped his fists.
"Work hard. This commandant has high hopes for you."
That day, Xu Mingxuan had the soldiers under his command excavate in the area where the Profound Iron Essence Mother was dug up.
As a result, they dug up quite a bit of Profound Iron Essence Stone, making Ge Xuanhong's performance far exceed the mining areas overseen by other commandants.
In his delight, the soldiers under Xu Mingxuan's command all received commendations from Ge Xuanhong.
Mining a certain quantity and killing Da Liang soldiers could both earn military merit. However, some rewards like Qi-Drawing Pills and Qi and Blood Pills would have to wait until the war ended and military merits were calculated before being distributed.
"I wonder when I return, if Father, Elder Brother, and Second Brother see my first-class merit citation booklet, will they be greatly surprised?"
"Indeed, what Father said is all correct. Trust your own instincts."
Xu Mingxuan didn't know about Profound Iron Essence Mother, but upon seeing that silver-colored ore, the thought arose in his mind that this was a good thing.
He chose to report it without any hesitation.
"Magical artifact material for immortal cultivators. Unfortunately, it's of no use to the Xu family."
Thinking this, Xu Mingxuan quickly entered meditation, breathing exercises, comprehending heaven and earth power.
…
Yuehu Commandery, Qingjiang County.
Dongxi Village.
Jade Cold Pool.
"Xueji."
"Coming, Father."
Xu Mingshu flickered and in a few steps arrived at the newly built blue brick and black tile house next to the bamboo house.
"Go down the mountain to find your elder brother. Find five loyal people who practice martial arts. One should be aged six to twelve, one fifteen to twenty, one twenty-one to thirty, one thirty-one to forty, and one forty-one to fifty."
"This is a good thing. Just go. Remember, loyalty comes first. They must be martial artists."
"Oh, understood."
Xu Mingshu nodded and called to the white tiger, "Little White."
The white tiger stood up, looked at Xu Mingshu, then looked at the Black Iron Fruits on the tree, reluctant to leave.
"When we return, I'll have Father reward you with a few."
The white tiger immediately roared excitedly.
Boom boom boom~
With a few leaps, it covered over a hundred meters and arrived beside Xu Mingshu.
Xu Mingshu mounted it and patted it lightly, "Let's go, home."
Roar~
The white tiger began running, stirring up a gust of wind. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared from sight.
Xu Mingxian stopped his breathing exercises and walked to the front of the house, looking at Xu Chuan inside.
In front of him was an alchemy furnace, and the flames had already been extinguished.
"Has Father refined some good thing?"
"It's a good thing, but it's not particularly useful for you anymore."
Xu Chuan picked up the porcelain bottle beside him and handed it to Xu Mingxian.
Xu Mingxian entered the house and received the porcelain bottle.
The bottle had a label on it with writing that read: Aperture Opening Pill.
"Aperture Opening? Is this a pill to assist in opening acupoints?"
Xu Chuan nodded, "That's right. Unlike medicinal diet, this pill has extraordinary effects for opening acupoints. Especially the first few times taking it, one should be able to directly open one acupoint.
For first-rate martial artists to reach peak Postnatal realm, opening acupoints becomes increasingly difficult. Even with medicinal diet assistance, it requires daily accumulation over months. But with the Aperture Opening Pill, the time needed to reach peak Postnatal realm can be reduced by half."
Xu Mingxian was shocked, "With this pill, plus our family's three types of secret medicinal diet, as long as a martial artist's aptitude is acceptable, couldn't we rapidly cultivate a batch of peak Postnatal martial artists?"