At the same moment when Fang Ping entered Hedgehog Ridge.
Sky Gate City.
The House of City Lord.
From the concourse, there came the sound of tableware shattering.
“Jerk!
“Damned thing!”
On his throne, the Lord of Sky Gate City was furious; rage was clear on his expression. “The Golden Horned Beast really thinks I won’t dare to exterminate it!”
The concourse looked a bit deserted.
In the old days, there had been over ten high-ranked powerhouses, but now only a few were left.
Upon seeing the Wood King’s wrath, the only remaining commander-in-chief of the Leopard Battalion said softly, “My King, that Golden Horned Beast has already planned everything out. Once we engage in battle with it, the martial artists from the Land of Rebirth won’t sit idly by.”
“Detestable!”
The Lord of Sky Gate City was furious beyond measure. If not for their heavy losses previously, with two commander-in-chiefs falling in battle, the threat of the Golden Horned Beast would be negligible.
Now, however, a king-level powerhouse could not simply make a move, or that might trigger a chain reaction and cause the powerhouses from the Land of Rebirth to attack.
He could not attack, or rather, he could not fully attack; the Divine Wood Guardian still had to watch over Monster Wood City.
With one remaining commander-in-chief and five chieftains, it would be hard to tell who would be exterminated if they did indeed pick a fight with the Golden Horned Beast.
However, that creature had really gone way too far now!
At present, the Golden Horned Beast’s forests had almost expanded to the gates of Monster Wood City.
If this continued, the creature’s goal would most likely be the mineral veins in the Mines of Life.
Without large amounts of energy, it would be impossible for Rank-8 martial artists to level up to Rank-9.
Seeing the Wood King’s wrath, the Leopard Battalion’s commander-in-chief spoke up again, “We have already communicated with Hundred Beasts Forest, Defense Seamount, Ten Thousand Ants Desert and several other forts. The Kings of the Forbidden Lands would also never allow the Golden Horned Beast to continue wandering on the outskirts. Another king-level powerhouse would mean an impact on their standing.
“Earlier on, Hundred Beasts Forest already sent word to us saying that the Golden Horned Beast was summoned to present itself in the forest.”
“So why hasn’t it left yet?” the Wood King asked.
His fury intensified. At present from where he was seated on the throne, from high above he could almost see the green expanse of the forest outside the city!
That Golden Horned Beast was getting overly presumptuous!
It wanted to invade the mineral veins in the Mines of Life!
Observing the Wood King’s fury, the Leopard Battalion’s commander-in-chief hurriedly said, “Earlier on, some monsters from Hundred Beasts Forest had already come here. I think it won’t be too long before the Golden Horned Beast leaves; right now it still dare not defy the will of those Beast Kings.”
The Lord of Sky Gate City suppressed the anger in his heart. He looked out with cold eyes and said icily, “If it still doesn’t leave, I will exterminate it even if that attracts the attention of Hope City’s powerhouses!”
The mineral veins in the Mines of Life were the foundations of Monster Wood City.
That monster was constantly testing the limits of both the Sky Gate City Lord and the Divine Wood Guardian. If they let it do what it wanted and the monster managed to invade those mineral veins in the Mines, then they would be in peril.
Although a Rank-8 monster could not endanger their lives, the slightest mistake would draw the attention of Hope City’s people to the Sky Gate City Lord and the Divine Wood Guardian. That could result in them invading the core district and seizing the life stones inside the Mines of Life, including the Fountain of Life.
Such a thing absolutely could not be tolerated!
This was also the bedrock of Monster Wood City. Even if he had the intention to migrate now, the new city would also be established in the mining area. He was prepared to transport the mineral veins and migrate together with the Divine Wood Guardian.
Although there would be a certain amount of damage done, it would only require a couple of years of nourishing, in addition to the Divine Wood Guardian’s effects, and Monster Wood City’s foundations would not be destroyed.
Now, however, this Rank-8 monster was intent on destroying the city’s foundations.
After hearing the Wood King’s explanation, nobody in the concourse uttered a word.
The Wood King was a king-level powerhouse and much stronger than the Golden Horned Beast King, who had just reached Rank-8—but the Golden Horned Beast’s defenses were very tough and the Wood King might not be able to kill it within a short amount of time.
Furthermore, the Wood King had not made any progress in terms of ability for the last few years. Three years ago, someone had chopped off part of the Divine Wood Guardian’s trunk, and it was still in the recovery stage even now.
Once the Wood King was occupied with the Golden Horned Beast, then Monster Wood City would be in danger.
The beast was not an outsider; being a native monster, all it needed to do during the crucial moment was to act subserviently and persuade some Kings of the Forbidden Lands to help take down its opponent. Killing it would be an extremely difficult thing indeed.
The Lord of Sky Gate City let out another burst of anger before asking, “What was Monster Sunflower City’s response?”
“My King, they are not willing to provoke the Golden Horned Beast for no reason...”
“No reason?”
The Lord of Sky Gate City had trouble suppressing his rage. “That monster is invading Monster Wood City’s mineral veins!”
Everyone present remained silent. Perhaps Monster Sunflower City was looking to see Monster Wood City’s mineral veins being invaded.
By that time, Monster Wood City would have lost its fundamental claim to equal rights as a city. Without the mineral veins, they would be forced to rely on Monster Sunflower City; the other parties would most likely pledge their allegiance to Monster Sunflower City as well.
The Wood King understood this truth.
As he gazed upon his silent subjects in the concourse, his expression turned extremely gloomy.
Since when had he come to the point of being oppressed by a Rank-8 monster?
...
The Lord of Sky Gate City was extremely furious.
Outside the city, however, the Jiao was leisurely roaming about, lazily continuing to plant trees.
It had already been doing this for many days.
Wherever the trees were planted, that area would become its territory. This was a fact accepted by the Jiao and the monster plants.
When the Jiao had planted on the Divine Wood Guardian’s territory, then that site would fall under its possession. The Divine Wood Guardian was injured anyway, so the Jiao did not fear it.
As for the Wood King of Monster Wood City...the Jiao did not bother.
So many years had passed, and there was little it did not understand.
If the Wood King did come for the Jiao, the Jiao would just escape to Hope City as the distance from here to there was not far at all. The powerhouses there would not sit idly by if a battle was waged in front of their city gates.
When the Jiao had invaded the Mines of Life, seized the energy ore, and swallowed the Fountain of Life, perhaps it would swallow that dumb tree as well.
By then, it would have become a king-level monster, and others would have to pay tribute to it. There would be no need to adhere to the orders from the Forbidden Lands.
As it was planting trees, the Jiao’s huge golden head suddenly shuddered. It glanced sidelong at an approaching monster.
Raaargh!
The Jiao let out a deep roar. The newly-arrived, Pekingese-looking monster trembled but did not leave. It began growling.
Hundred Beasts Forest had requested the Jiao’s presence; this was a decision from several kings.
The Golden Horned Beast hesitated. This was the third time the monster had come. If it did not comply and enraged the kings, then there would be big trouble.
The Pekingese monster growled a few times, and the Jiao’s huge eyes blazed with anger.
Bam!
Immediately, a dense wave of Celestiality flared brightly on its horns. Like a bolt of lightning, the wave struck the Pekingese instantly.
The victim flew a couple of meters backward, snapping countless trees. Its flesh ripped apart but it refused to leave and continued growling.
The Golden Horned Beast did not dare to kill the Pekingese. It was the Kings’ messenger; if it was killed, the Kings of the Forbidden Lands would not forgive the beast.
More fury flashed in the Jiao’s eyes. The reason it did not show up in Hundred Beasts Forest was that it did not want to see those kings.
If it went, those bastards would not allow it to invade Monster Wood City’s territory again.
However, if it declined, then it would be forced to remain in Hundred Beasts Forest.
At the Pekingese’s continued growling, the Golden Horned Beast ignored it and continued planting trees. Let it growl; the Jiao still refused to go. Only if the Kings of the Forbidden Lands made their presence known would it then consider answering the summons.
As the Jiao was preparing to disregard the Pekingese, the Pekingese growled several times once more. This time, the Jiao got angry.
Bam!
Bam!
Several percussive sounds rang out as powerful bolts of Celestiality shot out from the Jiao’s golden horns towards the Pekingese, hitting it so hard that flesh scattered everywhere.
Hundred Beasts Forest had actually used the Jiao’s pack to threaten it!
The Golden Horned Beast was not the only one of its kind. It was part of a pack, while the beast itself was the king of the Seven Southern Territory’s golden horned beasts.
The Jiao’s Forest was in perilous territory. Back in the day, the Jiao had left the Forbidden lands to achieve its breakthrough and had chosen to set up camp in this place. However, the pack had not left with it.
Hundred Beasts Forest was the main area where the pack of golden horned beasts lived.
Bolts of Celestiality continued to strike. The Pekingese could not retaliate; it also did not dare to do so but continued to growl.
Several of the Kings had run out of patience. If the Golden Horned Beast once more refused to turn up, that meant it was disobeying a direct order, and the Kings of the Forbidden Lands would not allow it to invade Monster Wood City’s mines.
The Jiao continued attacking the messenger for some time, reluctance flashing in its huge eyes.
After a moment, it growled and sent the Pekingese airborne with a single swat, before rising into the sky and flying towards Hundred Beasts Forest.
...
Hedgehog Ridge.
Fang Ping curbed his aura and walked forward carefully.
In a short time, he had crossed several peaks and arrived at the huge canyon mentioned by Qin Fengqing.
At this moment, the middle of the canyon was quiet.
Fang Ping still did not know if Huang Jing was on his way or not. After waiting for some time, he had no choice but to show himself and see if Huang Jing was around.
The moment he revealed himself, a dark shadow scurried out from close by.
Fang Ping immediately raised his guard and hurriedly retreated. After realizing that it was Huang Jing, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Vice-chancellor, you’re here.”
“Shh!”
Huang Jing made a sign and whispered, “There is indeed a Rank-7 monster here, close to our vicinity. It lives within the deep reaches of the canyon.
“I might not be able to successfully kill it. After I lure it out, you sneak in and see if you can take some of the energy stones.
“If you can take some away, great. If you can’t, then don’t force it.
“Should I fail to kill it, you must evacuate. Don’t stay there for too long; I’ll give you a signal. Remember, this place is very close to Hundred Beasts Forest. Even though the shockwaves from fighting a Rank-7 are not that strong, we still have to be careful when luring out monsters from that forest.”
“Vice-chancellor, is the opponent very strong?”
“There’s no way of telling for the time being. Judging from its aura, there’s a high probability that it might be an Early or Middle-stage Rank-7. However, all monsters possess their own unique survival tactics, so I might not be able to kill it. Remember to always curb your aura; once it finds out that you’ve crept into its lair, it will most likely ignore me and come looking for you.”
“You shouldn’t have a problem dealing with an Early or Middle-stage Rank-7, right?”
Huang Jing had already made preparations from the start. Fang Ping felt that the old man would not have agreed to participate if he had not been confident.
Huang Jing said in a low voice: “Everything has exceptions. Just be careful. If you hadn’t the ability to curb your aura, I wouldn’t have dared to let you come.”
“Understood.”
Immediately, Fang Ping started digging a hole in the ground. Huang Jing’s expression was one of disbelief; he was speechless. “What are you doing?”
“Digging an underground tunnel.”
“The mineral veins are ahead. Didn’t I say they were in the deepest area of the canyon?”
Fang Ping nodded his head and replied, “I know, but if the monster does come back, escaping will be more convenient if I dig a passage first.”
After hearing this, Huang Jing had nothing to say.
This brat had a wealth of experience when it came to escaping.
Fang Ping was still sharing his experiences. “Just digging one isn’t enough; we need a few more. If it returns, I’ll be easily discovered because of my tunneling activities. A few more passages will make it very hard to find me if the monster does come back.”
Huang Jing was resigned and could only say, “Then you’d better hurry up. The creature has already noticed me; the only reason it’s not moving is that it doesn’t want to leave the lair.”
“Understood.”
Fang Ping quickened his movements. At the moment he was not digging holes with the Chaos-vanquishing Saber, but with an engineer shovel made from alloy.
He had specifically prepared this gadget for the sole purpose of digging holes.
It was not a low-quality shovel either—it had been forged using B-grade alloy!
If other people found out about this, they might be furious enough to try and kill him.
Some Rank-5 or 6 powerhouses mostly used B-grade alloy weapons. Fang Ping, however, used B-grade alloy to forge a shovel for digging—it was far too extravagant!
Fang Ping did not really care. If the shovel was of low quality, how could one mine for minerals?
Some other minerals surrounding the veins in the energy mines were very hard indeed, and those could not be excavated using low-quality equipment. The last time, he had to use his Chaos-vanquishing Saber to get the job done.
After digging for a bit, Fang Ping popped his head out of the hole and said, “Vice-chancellor, you can lure it away now. Even if you can’t kill it, stall for time. Oh yes, if you feel that you won’t be able to kill it, act weak and frightened. It won’t call for assistance then and might decide to kill you. Then it won’t return so soon...”
Huang Jing felt resigned. ‘Do I need you to teach me?’ he thought.
However, he had not actually thought about feigning weakness before this.
‘Maybe I should act weak first and give Fang Ping more time. That would lower my opponent’s guard, and then I’ll see if there’s an opportunity to deal a killing blow.’
As Huang Jing considered the plan, he did not know whether to cry or laugh. A Rank-7 martial artist like him, who had been in countless battles, actually had to get some experience from this young brat. It was humiliating.
Very few martial artists would think of showing weakness, especially if their opponent was seemingly less skilled than themselves. They would naturally crush their adversary with a swift kill.
He paid no further attention to Fang Ping. As soon as the lad entered the tunnel, Huang Jing suddenly rose into the air, displaying his thriving force.
At the same time in the canyon’s depths, a powerful wave of pressure rose, carrying with it a concentrated sense of anger.
The canyon’s monster had already sniffed out Huang Jing much earlier.
However, it had to guard the mineral veins, and the less trouble, the better. The other party might just be passing through.
It never thought that the passerby would actually provoke it.
As Huang Jing’s aura grew stronger and stronger, an angry roar reverberated from the depths of the canyon.
Immediately, an afterimage flashed through the air.
A second later, a thunderous explosion came from above the large canyon.
...
Underground.
Fang Ping did not lift his head to look. Once he heard the explosion, he quickly dug towards the depths.
Now that he had reached Peak-Rank 5 with golden bones and a semi-golden body, his digging speed was even faster.
Even rocks that blocked the way felt like mud in Fang Ping’s hands and he swiftly excavated a gap.
After digging for a while, Fang Ping frowned slightly. These mineral veins were not so large after all.
He was not too far from the deep reaches of the canyon, but he still had not come upon the energy mine’s other miscellaneous minerals.
One must know that previously in Gigantic Willow City, he was more than ten li away from the mineral vein’s core. When he dug down, the mineral veins were already there—the huge vein actually covered a circumference of several dozen li.
‘Also, even if there really is a large mineral vein, Hundred Beasts Forest isn’t far off. With so many monsters in there, some of them would certainly have discovered it and might not allow a Rank-7 monster to monopolize the whole thing.’
Thinking about it again, no matter how small the mineral vein was, it would not be too disappointing; the Rank-7 monster would not have remained if it was not worth it.
Fang Ping had no intention of being disgusted over a small mine. He continued digging.
After laboring for over a minute, the thunderous explosions above were still ongoing.
Fang Ping’s face lit up; he had reached the area of the mineral veins!
By now he had also excavated some of the energy mine’s miscellaneous minerals. These were normally supplementary materials used for weapons forging. However, Fang Ping was not too interested; he wanted to mine the energy ore first.
The engineer shovel dug swiftly away at the miscellaneous minerals, exposing the surface layer. Fang Ping’s eyes sparkled; he could see the energy stones!
No, these were not energy stones, just some crude ores used to replenish energy. Their purity level was low and the energy they contained did not exceed 5%.
These things were almost useless for cultivation purposes. They could not be used in the Energy Room either, due to excessive impurities.
However, the government would buy them back so there was still a bit of cash to be made.
Uncovering these ores meant that the high-purity level energy stones were not for away.
Fang Ping did not waste the opportunity. These were worth more than the surrounding minerals. His storage space was now very large—4 cubic meters was certainly not small.
It was better to store them first. If there was not enough space, he could just use his Wealth to expand the storage capacity.
Even though this type of low-purity level ore was not worth much, one cubic meter could store over a thousand catties. If they were sold by the catty—perhaps 100 thousand per catty—then the value alone would run into the billions.
5 billion Wealth to expand another cubic meter, which was not limited to a one-time use—Fang Ping did not lose anything by this.
As he rapidly calculated the pros and cons, Fang Ping did not slow down his efforts at all; the engineer shovel continued to dig, and any uncovered ore was sent into his storage space.
After digging for a while, Fang Ping’s eyes lit up again.
The purity level of the energy stones was getting higher and higher!
‘No, I need to reach the core area and dig there. If there’s still time after that, I’ll dig further out!’
After considering this, Fang Ping did not bother about the low-purity level ore on the periphery any longer.
If Huang Jing could not kill that monster, he could only stall for time; who knows how long he could last out.
Fang Ping quickly dug forward in the direction where he sensed the high-purity level energy.
This time, his speed was even faster.
In less than a minute, Fang Ping had dug hundreds of meters forward.
As he was digging, suddenly he met with empty space in front of him!
Fang Ping fell out from the rocky tunnel.
‘Damn it, this monster converted the core area into its own lair!’
Now that Fang Ping had landed, he looked around and immediately figured out the situation.
The monster had no plans for further expansion. In Gigantic Willow City, nobody would stay in the core mining area. Only a few passageways were open to allow energy penetration for cultivation purposes.
Those martial artists only used the energy that spilled out, instead of directly consuming high-purity level energy stones.
However, this monster had no such thought and simply established its lair in the core mining area, directly absorbing the surrounding energy from the stones.
Within the cave, Fang Ping saw many depleted energy crystals on the wall. His expression turned ugly.
Damn this monster; who knows how many energy stones it had already consumed!
The depleted energy crystals were like quartz, shimmering beautifully in the cave.
However, Fang Ping could only feel his muscles aching; he was in no mood to enjoy the sight.
At the very least, a few hundred catties had already been depleted!
This was still an underestimation; it could be more. After all, this cave might have originally been an energy mine.
‘One catty of high purity-level energy stones has a market value of around four to five billion. The school buys it back for 30 credits per 1 gram, so that makes it 15,000 credits for one catty!’
Currently, despite MCMAU’s credits having depreciated somewhat, many people were still unwilling to exchange 30,000 for 1 credit.
However, despite the depreciation of credits and their inability to be exchanged, 1 credit still possessed a Wealth value of 20,000.
One catty of high-purity level energy stones was equivalent to a wealth value of 3 billion!
Fang Ping’s gaze swept around and he made a judgment call. Even if a large number of energy stones here had been consumed, if the rest were mined, that would still amount to several hundred catties!
If all of these were his, then their value would be worth a few hundred billion!
This would not be less than the couple hundred catties of low-quality ones brought back from Gigantic Willow City; their value would be much higher.
After thinking about it, Fang Ping did not delay and quickly began mining.
The energy crystals on the surface were all useless. The more Fang Ping dug, the more his heart ached; this monster had ruined these treasures!
Absorbing so many energy stones and still stuck at Rank-7—it was the most useless of all useless things!
What a waste!
After raging internally for a bit, Fang Ping very quickly reached the unconsumed energy stones.
These surroundings were not completely filled with high-purity level energy stones. There were some miscellaneous minerals and low-purity level energy stones mixed in, but there was no shortage of high-purity level energy stones either either.
With bright eyes, Fang Ping hurriedly stuffed them into his storage space, using everything at his disposal to excavate as quickly as possible.
‘This piece weighs at least 300 grams!
‘This piece...is at least a catty!
‘Damn, there really is a head-sized cultivation-aiding energy stone!’
‘...’
Fang Ping’s mind was flooded with a stream of such thoughts, but there was no hesitation in his hands and he dug quickly.
Two or three minutes later, Fang Ping could not contain the joy that spread over his face.
It was just a small mineral vein!
Despite over half of it having been consumed by the monster, he had actually uncovered hundreds of catties of cultivation-aiding energy stones!
‘I’ve got my hands on a few hundred billion now!
‘If I took all of these for myself, I might be able to get 100 billion worth of Wealth!’
Fang Ping could not be more excited. Seeing that Huang Jing had not sent a signal yet, he did not leave but continued digging around. There were still plenty of low-purity level energy stones.
Relatively speaking, those were not valuable anymore.
After digging for a while, Fang Ping suddenly raised his head, slightly dazed. ‘Can stuff grow on energy stones?’
Only now had he noticed that there was a grapevine-like plant above his head with several fruits dangling down. He had been too concerned with the energy stones and had missed seeing these.
‘These...are these things the Hundred-Honing Fruits that Qin Fengqing mentioned?’
Fang Ping remembered that he might have seen a photo of those in an illustrated handbook of the Catacombs, but he had not seen the real thing.
He had no idea that this plant grew on energy stones.
‘Then again, that’s very normal. This fruit’s energy is high-purity and without an energy stone, the plant probably can’t produce any energy of its own.’
Fang Ping did not think twice. He pulled the plant out, roots and all, and stuffed it directly into his storage space.
Now he had another source of income!
Just as Fang Ping put away the Hundred-Honing Fruit, a sudden loud and angry roar came to his ears!
...
At the same moment.
Outside, Huang Jing’s expression also changed slightly. Had the energy fluctuations disappeared?
This bastard Fang Ping—he could even mask energy from the energy stones?
He had not really thought about this before. Now that the energy fluctuations were gone—and with monsters possessing keen senses—the one that was fighting him also felt the absence of energy fluctuations and became furious.
A thief was stealing from its Mine of Life!
For the creature, advancing to another level required huge amounts of energy. Without the Mine of Life, it would probably not be able to advance to Rank-8 in its entire lifetime.
At that instant, the hedgehog-like monster roared loudly, the sound traveling far and wide.
Huang Jing frowned a little and his expression turned slightly ugly. Acting weak was useless now as this monster was thoroughly infuriated.