Chapter 18

Book 8 Chapter 18 – Mining

Chuizi laughed . “We can stay for forty days, or even forty five, but you can’t . If we leave in around twenty days, it would be just about right . ”

Lei Xinfeng understood what he was implying . He was the weakest one here . A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and this group can only last as long as its weakest member . He nodded reluctantly . “I’m dragging everyone down…”

“It’s fine, twenty days is more than enough . Even if we only had ten days, we could still gather enough Biyasi to fulfill my requirements . There’s no need to apologize,” Xin Zhaolun said, comforting him .

After a simple meal, Xin Zhaolun had everyone rest, but Lei Xinfeng went out to search for more ores . After just a day, he’d realized the joy of mining . He would mine as much as he could; after all, there’s no telling when he’d get another chance to come .

Lei Xinfeng walked along a magma flow in a cave without knowing where it led, or how deep it went . The cave wasn’t deep and he quickly came to a dead end, so he retraced his steps and continued on to the next .

Soon, Lei Xinfeng found that the path ahead disappeared . There was a large gap in the stone, with both banks separated by a river of red hot magma a dozen meters wide . He grimaced . He couldn’t fly, and there was no guarantee that he would be able to jump the gap . He wasn’t that he could, but there was always a chance of failure, and he wasn’t sure if his barrier would be able to block the heat of the magma . He sighed and turned to go back .

A short distance back, he saw Fengying . “What’s up?” his guard asked .

Lei Xinfeng shrugged helplessly . “I can’t get across . Uh, Uncle Ying, can you carry me across?”

Fengying walked over to take a look and laughed . “Of course . Who would’ve thought that the floor would break away . ”

“No, let me carry it . I can’t find any ores anyway,” Shihu cut in, coming up behind them .

Fengying nodded, agreeing . “In that case, I’ll mine near the ceiling . I think it’s easier to find ores up there . ” Saying that, he flew up while Shihu knelt down to let Lei Xinfeng climb on his back .

“I’ll stay by you . If you find anything, I’ll mine it for you,” he said .

“You know, mining gives a nice sense of satisfaction,” Lei Xinfeng replied .

Whilst carrying Lei Xinfeng, Shihu flew across the gap . When they passed over the gap, a wave of heat rushed up to meet them and Lei Xinfeng instantly increased his defense . Luckily, Shihu was fast and cleared the gap in just a few seconds .

It hadn’t even been a long time since they crossed, but Lei Xinfeng already found a band of Red Gold ores seven meters wide . He laughed . “My luck is good today . Look, Uncle Hu, it’s Red Gold . You can mine it; I’ll look further on ahead . ”

Shihu looked, but couldn’t see anything . “Red Gold ore? Well, okay, I’ll look . ” Doubtfully, he began to mine .

After he broke the rock, he realized that Lei Xinfeng wasn’t kidding . It really was red gold . Impressed, he began to mind vigorously . Even he had uses for Red Gold . It was a material with many uses, but it was scarce .

Lei Xinfeng himself went on ahead, and found another kind of material that looked quite similar to Red Gold . It’s a material called Blood Sand, a catalyst material . It was rare as well . Lei Xinfeng dug it out .

During their stay of more than a dozen days, all seven people rushed about mining . Not a single one slacked off . The one who was most diligent was Lei Xinfeng, more than even Xin Zhaolun . Of course, he gathered the most . Even without counting the three hundred jins Biyasi he gathered for Xin Zhaolun, he had gathered close to seven hundred jins for himself . In other words, he’d mined around a thousand jins of Biyasi alone, even excluding what Fengying and Shihu got for him .

Xin Zhaolun’s progress wasn’t bad either . Putting together the materials his helpers gathered, he had enough Biyasi . For the past few days, he was nothing but smiles, causing Lei Xinfeng to poke fun at him .

“We still have a few days . Everyone should pick up their pace . I’m finished, so you get to keep everything else you mine, haha!” Xin Zhaolun said happily .

Lei Xinfeng agreed . “Yes . I’m going to mine a few more days . I’ve gathered a lot of fairly valuable stuff…but there’s one thing that I think none of you have found . ”

“What is it?” Jin Daya asked . “I’ve gathered six kinds of materials . This place is just like a holy land of treasures . It’s a pity we might not be able to come back . ”

“Indeed . There’s a large variety of materials here . Although there’s not a lot of it, but there’s many kinds and the quality is excellent,” Xin Zhaolun said . They both looked at Lei Xinfeng for him to continue .

Lei Xinfeng complied,  flicking his hands and summoning a cone shaped crystal with a rich purple hue in his palm . “Do you know what this is?” he asked .

Xin Zhaolun’s eye bulged and grabbed the crystal, jaws agape in shock . “Purple Crystal! Top quality Purple Crystal! You, where did you find it?” Even his voice changed .

Even Jin Daya had a shocked expression, showing a hint of jealousy . “What luck…damn it, why didn’t I find one? My heart…”

Lei Xinfeng laughed . “Do you want to know where?”

“Of course, damn it . Quick, quick, tell me!” Xin Zhaolun urged .

Jin Daya was curious too . He knew that it was much more valuable than Biyasi . Even a Monarch would have a hard time getting their hands on one . Disregarding the uses of it, if he brought some back to the founder, he could trade for quite a few Yin rings . These are objects used by Monarchs .

Lei Xinfeng laughed . “Follow me then!”

Everyone followed him over a path along the walls, quickly getting to the gap that he was unable to cross . “I’ll carry you across,” Fengying volunteered .

Lei Xinfeng shook his head . “There’s no need . I found it here!” he announced .

Jin Daya looked around, but he couldn’t even find a trace . “Are you messing with us? I don’t see anything,” he said .

Lei Xinfeng down into the red glow .

“Are you saying that it’s inside the magma flow?”

“Yes . I found it by chance,” Lei Xinfeng replied, nodding .

“How did you get it out? You didn’t climb down, did you…?” Xin Zhaolun asked .

“Brother, I haven’t lived enough yet . If I went down, I’ll definitely die . ”

Shihu finished for him . “He pulled it up…” He had been following Lei Xinfeng, so of course he knew how he found the Purple Crystal . It really was a coincident . Lei Xinfeng was so bored of wall mining that he went over to the the magma and stuck in a long steel spear, fished around, and flung out a large chunk of rock with the crystal inside .

“Can you do it again?” Xin Zhaolun asked .

Lei Xinfeng nodded and took out his spear . “Of course, let me try . I need luck for this… there’s a good chance there’s nothing there this time,” he said . Xin Zhaolun noticed that the tip of the spear was melted . Only half of the original spearhead remained .

Lei Xinfeng pushed the spear into the flow . In an instant, the front half of the steel spear began to glow red from the heat . Suddenly, he lifted the spear and in a single motion, smashed the rock stuck to the spear tip onto the ground .

Xin Zhaolun pulled out a steel pick that he had been using for excavating hard materials and poked the rock . It was still soft so he summoning a bowl of water, emptying the contents on the rock . There a loud sizzle accompanying a explosion of white steam . When the steam was all gone, the rock had turned black . Using the pick, Xin Zhaolun broke the rock apart and saw that there was indeed Purple Crystal hidden within . Only…

“It’s too small,” Jin Daya said .

There was two pieces, both no larger than grains of sand, whereas Lei Xinfeng’s piece was as large as a fingertip . Even though they were incomparable in size and value, it was sufficient to prove that Lei Xinfeng told the truth .

Unlike Jin Daya, Xin Zhaolun was much more enthusiastic . “You’re right, there’s really Purple Crystals in there! Haha, I’ve decided . I’m not going to look for any other ores . I will never pass up on the chance for get Purple Crystals . This can be traded for so many things, and even if you just let it sit in your storage, it’s still valuable!”

Even a grain-sized crystal was extremely valuable and Xin Zhaolun instantly stored his two grains away . Seeing his actions, Lei Xinfeng laughed . “Brother, let me give you a few tips . When you’re looking for them, pay attention to the color of the magma . ”

“What color?”

“If you look closely at the magma, it’s all yellow to red, but if there’s a purplish light, then there’s Purple Crystals there . ”

At that, everyone looked into the magma . Then Xin Zhaolun voiced what everyone was thinking . “I don’t see any purple light . They’re all the same . ”

“Me neither,” Jin Daya said, followed by everyone else .

Chuizi even rubbed his eyes to look a second time . “It’s all the same… what purple light?”

Lei Xinfeng was stunned, temporarily speechless . “What… it’s so obvious, but none of you can see it?” He was suspicious, since he already saw several purple glows . It’s just that he wasn’t concentrating, it was easy to miss .

“It’s fine, I’ll try and test my luck,” Xin Zhaolun said .

Everyone began to split up, using whatever tools they had on hand to fish for the crystal in the magma .

Lei Xinfeng had Fengying carry him to the other side . He didn’t want to crowd with everyone else . At first, he only knew that Purple Crystals were valuable, but after seeing Xin Zhaolun and Jin Daya’s reactions, he realized the true value of the crystals . It’s not just valuable, it was something he definitely couldn’t pass up . He only managed to get two crystals before . It was something that’s very elusive .

His sharp eyes picked out purple glow in the magma and immediately stabbed his spear into the magma . He already had some experience and knew how to make the magam wrap around the crystal and making it easier to pull up . It was best to put the spear beneath the mass, then tossing it up .

“Up!” he yelled .

Pulling the spear up, a clump of magma was sent flying from the flow .