"I..." Shen Yu heard Chu Ming say this, his heart finally at ease, "I only found out a few days ago."
"Did you find out during the robbery of Ye Heifeng Village?" ng Zhen asked.
"Yes," Shen Yu nodded, "The mysterious expert you suspected is indeed Chu Ming."
"As expected." ng Zhen had already suspected it.
Chu Ming looked at the two, sat back at the table, and picked up the pen and ink to write.
The rit Officer Goong, County Magistrate, County Magistrate, Prison Chief were all dead. The letter reporting the Blood Vine Castle’s raid on the mines could only be written by him.
The hall fell into silence; Shen Yu and ng Zhen seed to be contemplating sothing.
After a mont.
Shen Yu suddenly sighed, "Chu Ming, yesterday’s mine disaster, today’s Blood Vine Castle bandits’ robbery, the mine has suffered severe losses..."
He did not continue, the three present all understood.
The mine’s severe losses and reduced output were inevitable. If Qin Capital blad them, this crisis would be hard to get through.
The hall fell into silence again.
Approximately half an hour passed, soone ca in from outside.
"Lord Shen, the mine guards have been deployed."
The person was Ye Hong, a Refining Organ Realm expert protecting Shen Yu.
"Thank you, Lord Ye." Shen Yu clasped his hands.
"Lord Shen, there’s no need for such words..." Ye Hong’s gaze flickered.
"Does Lord Ye have sothing to say?" Shen Yu asked upon seeing this.
Ye Hong paused, entered the hall, closed the door, and then spoke in a low voice, "Commander ng, I inspected the bodies of the Blood Vine Castle bandits, and didn’t find anything unusual, but..."
He hesitated.
"Lord Ye, feel free to speak."
Ye Hong’s expression beca serious, "Three bodies were exceedingly unusual; the Blood Evil Qi was astonishing. I suspect they are mbers of the Blood Evil Sect."
"Moreover, these three bodies have already nurtured their organs, just a step away from Refining Organ Perfection..."
He stared at ng Zhen and clasped his hands, "I’m not doubting your strength, Commander ng, but these experts nearing Refining Organ Perfection, three of them at that, Commander ng wouldn’t be able to defeat them, right?"
"It’s that mysterious individual," ng Zhen tactfully responded.
"The mysterious expert who eliminated Black Pockmarks that night?"
"Yes." ng Zhen nodded.
Ye Hong’s face imdiately beca serious, he remained silent, then said, "Commander ng, those three of the Blood Evil Sect working together are definitely not weaker than Refining Organ Perfection, defeating them isn’t sothing below Refining Organ Perfection could accomplish."
"Even achieving Refining Organ Perfection, the chances of defeating them aren’t high."
"So, Commander ng, I suspect that the mysterious individual’s strength has surpassed Refining Organ Perfection!"
Ye Hong voiced his greatest suspicion.
"It’s possible." ng Zhen feigned agreent.
"ridian Unlocking Realm!" Veins suddenly throbbed on Ye Hong’s forehead, and he thought of soone.
The guardian of the Commandery Mansion, his master, Xiao Jianxin.
County Magistrate Xiao must not have felt assured, ostensibly having him escort, but secretly had his master protect him.
"Lord Ye, it’s getting late; Old ng fought the Blood Vine Castle bandits for a day and is surely tired."
Shen Yu tily interrupted Ye Hong’s continued speculation.
Ye Hong wanted to say more, but thought again and decided against it.
"Old ng, Chu Ming, you two should rest."
Shen Yu and Ye Hong left the mine.
Chu Ming didn’t leave; with such an incident at the mine, he, the Chief Clerk, certainly needed to stay and manage things.
Late night.
In a room behind the mine.
This house was originally Salt Captain Song Yan’s place of Jingyan Guard, now temporarily used as Chu Ming’s resting spot at the mine.
The house was large, decorated luxuriously, and even had servants.
Shen Yu had two clean rooms prepared, one for Chu Ming to live in, another for himself, and then sent all the servants away.
Inside the room, candlelight flickered.
The Sword Gourd Spirit spread out, ensuring no eavesdropping.
On the table were several items, The dicine Maniac’s notebook, a black stone and core obtained from eliminating evil, and the returning Primordial Qi Jade Pendant.
Chu Ming first picked up the notebook, flipped through it casually, then sent it to the candle fla.
The fire roared, the notebook turned to ashes.
The contents Chu Ming had long morized, optimizing more dicinal formulas, it was unnecessary to keep.
Next, he picked up the Primordial Qi Jade Pendant and the Evil Core, a smile flashed between his brows.
"Divine Mystery Bureau... Primordial Qi Warrior... Jin Yu..."
If guessed correctly, the bald, fair-faced fellow Jin Yu spent most of his ti at the Divine Mystery Bureau, making him under-experienced and naive...
Too easy to deceive...
He gently shook his head, pocketed the two Primordial Qi Objects, finally focusing on the black stone.
The black stone was irregularly shaped, the size of an infant’s fist, but weighed over ten pounds.
Chu Ming reached out a finger, gently touched the stone, and an icy sensation imdiately ca.
At the sa ti, the peculiar feeling of conscious control surged up again.
"Primordial Artifact Material..."
He muttered, his Primordial Consciousness wrapped around the black stone from all directions.
Clang, clang—
The stone slightly shook, emitting weak sounds!
Chu Ming’s eyes sparkled, surprise shooting from them.
Primordial Consciousness can indeed control this object!
His heart stirred, more Primordial Consciousness enveloped the black stone.
Whish—
The black stone suddenly floated upwards, crashing towards the roof.
Just a finger-width away, the stone abruptly stopped.
First-ti controlling inexperience, the stone nearly crashed into the ceiling.
With such montum, he felt it could smash through a hole directly.
Chu Ming’s brows raised, Primordial Consciousness controlled the stone to gently lower.
"Void Control..."
This feeling was truly mystical.
"It’s a pity it’s just a stone; if refined into a short blade, a dagger..."
"Perhaps it really can be as Jin Yu said, kill soone from a thousand miles away."
A thousand miles is not possible for now, and he doesn’t need it, as long as the reach of the Sword Gourd Spirit is covered.
Retracting his Primordial Consciousness, the pitch-black stone fell into the palm of his hand, Chu Ming’s gaze intense.
Before this stone can be refined into a Primordial Artifact, it can only be used as a remote blunt weapon.
It has deterrence but is not enough.
"It seems more thought is needed on how to obtain the refining thod for Primordial Artifacts..."
"..."
"Hmm?"
Just then, he suddenly looked up, sharp brilliance like arrows shooting from his eyes.
During his contemplation, the Sword Gourd Spirit sensed a familiar aura.
"The dicine Maniac, back again."
The opponent was clearly scared away by him, why would he return?
Chu Ming frowned slightly, locking Sword Gourd Spirit onto the dicine Maniac.
At the edge of the mining site, the dicine Maniac in a dark green long robe used the cover of night, moving swiftly and silently towards Mine Shaft No. 1.
In a mont, he reached Mine Shaft No. 1.
The mountain cast in silver, the dicine Maniac hid in the shadows motionless, just looking up at the starry sky.
When the clouds obscured the moonlight, when the starlight faded, he moved.
His figure moved with the wind, lightly falling like a leaf to a certain spot.
Precisely there, where yesterday’s mine tunnel collapsed, the entrance blasted out by ng Zhen.
The dicine Maniac stayed at the entrance barely a mont and then jumped into the tunnel.
Within the tunnel were collapsed rocks scattered everywhere, his deeply furrowed wrinkled face showed no expression, staring at a few miners moving rocks ahead.
Swoosh—
"Who’s there?"
The miners were instantly terrified.
However, before they could locate the source, they suddenly felt dizzy, followed by collapsing forward.
"Near my life’s end, this old man’s heart has changed," the dicine Maniac walked over next to them, his tone low, "If this were before, you would already be dead."
He murmured a sentence, then walked to a giant stone beside the left wall, retrieving a bag of powder with a flip of his hand.
The powder poured out, and the giant stone began to lt like ice encountering fire.
Not just the stone, the wall that the powder touched followed in lting.
As more powder poured, the lting speed increased.
Within the ti it takes to drink a cup of tea, a gap had lted in the wall.
The dicine Maniac crawled into it, continuing to pour out powder.
The gap turned into a passage, continuously extending underground.
Approximately two hours later, the passage depth reached nearly three hundred ters.
"That should do it."
The powder exhausted, the dicine Maniac held nothing back, forming a fist with his fingers, and slamd forward.
No earth-shaking roar, the mountain ahead crushed like fragile tofu, revealing an open underground space below.
Squeak—
In the next instant, shadows darted through the underground space like phantoms.
"Hehe, little thing, don’t be so agitated. This old man discovered the Seven-Star Divine Flower thirty years ago, back then, you might have been just a small ground rat."
The dicine Maniac stepped into the underground space, his right hand forming a Void Control Grab, revealing a grey ground rat the size of a small cat.
The grey rat’s eyes were crimson, clawing frantically with icy light flashing.
Its spine bristle like steel needles stood erect, two large incisors chopping like shears, seemingly wanting to crush whatever held it.
"Alright, stop making a fuss, let give you sothing good to eat."
The dicine Maniac pinched the grey rat’s neck, fingers forcing its bloody mouth open, a dicine pill flew inside.
"Get lost to the side."
The grey mouse was tossed to the ground like rubbish, rolling and squealing in pain.
The dicine Maniac rely glanced and moved towards another place.
His speed was quick, before long, seven points of light appeared upfront, like seven stars linked together.
The dicine Maniac’s delight was imdiate, quickening his pace to get closer.
Looking closer, two knife-cut steep stones housed a peculiar flower between them.
Thin roots entangled and embedded into the stones, the main stem as thick as a willow sprout covered in thorns.
Upon the main stem grew an extraordinary flower, seven petals extending around the flower heart, each petal tip like starry points.
Seven petals, seven starry points.
"Seven-Star Divine Flower!"
"Matured!"
The dicine Maniac’s expression was ecstatic, carefully donning snow-white gloves, subsequently taking out a dark red box, gently approaching.
Picking the flower, placing into the box.
Simple yet stirring one’s emotions.
"Haha..." The dicine Maniac closed the box, finally laughed relaxedly.
The Seven-Star Divine Flower is the essential Treasure dicine to refine the Seven-Star Yuan Continuation Pill, crucial for extending his life by ten years.
The dicine Maniac glanced at the residual stem and roots, the excitent slowly fading from his face.
"Ti to leave."
His figure flickered, racing towards the exit.
Squeak—
In the darkness, the tragic sound of the grey rat echoed.
"Stop squealing, the old man is in a good mood, I’ll give you a quick end."
The dicine Maniac again squeezed the exotic beast Jingyan Mouse, fingers combining force.
Crunch—
The exotic beast capable of killing those in the Refining Organ Realm died right within its domain.
"Exotic beast carcasses are valuable, mustn’t waste."
The dicine Maniac collected the large grey mouse, preparing to erge from the underground space.
However, before reaching the passage, a suffocating sensation swept through the void.
The dicine Maniac instantly alard, his form retreating sharply.
Bang—
Just landing, the mountain shattered, scattering fragnted rock.
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