...
Quan Xiaobai buried the Silver Corpse in the ground, silently returned to the base, and knocked on the leader’s door.
The leader quickly opened the door. The sll of smoke was quite strong in the room, and there was a jar full of cigarette butts on the table. He invited Quan Xiaobai in and hurriedly asked, "Xiaobai, what do you have to say?"
"It’s already done."
Quan Xiaobai waved his hand, slowly sat down, and his face, already pale, was now ashen from the recent energy consumption. His spirit was linked to the Silver Corpse, sharing in its fate, and a peculiar fragrance lingered in the air.
The leader knew this peculiar scent was the sll that changed along with the Iron Corpse’s upgrade. Quan Xiaobai, spending every day with the zombie, naturally absorbed this scent.
Understanding it didn’t prevent a fleeting expression of dislike on the leader’s face.
After all, no normal person is keen to associate with soone who deals with corpses.
Moreover, you could never guess whether his intention was simply to know you or to learn about your ancestral graves and get acquainted with your ancestors.
Of course, these thoughts only flashed through the leader’s mind as he maintained a concerned expression, asking a few more questions before eagerly inquiring, "How did the fight go? Who won, you or him?"
"I lost."
Quan Xiaobai seed oblivious to the leader’s grim expression as he continued to speak casually, "Punish as you see fit. I didn’t complete the task given to by the organization."
Damn it!
After punishing you, are you going to get swallowed whole by your zombie?
The leader cursed internally but managed a smile, saying, "It’s okay, victory and defeat are common in military operations. Losing once is not important; we can win next ti."
"No, I probably can’t win." Quan Xiaobai spoke straightforwardly, always adhering to the truth.
The leader felt troubled, continuing to comfort him, "You an his Thunder Skill? It’s okay, once your Silver Corpse consus more Yin energy from large tombs and evolves into a Golden Corpse, you won’t have to worry about that."
"Before the fight, I was indeed worried about him using Thunder Skill, but from start to finish, he didn’t use it. What defeated was another mysterious force, sothing spiritual." Quan Xiaobai lowered his head, feeling a bit discouraged.
"What? Describe this spiritual thing more specifically." The leader felt a chill inside.
According to the records, Ning An had never shown such abilities.
"It’s hard to explain. At the ti, I just felt a voice deep within my soul saying: Don’t move, move and you’ll die."
"What? Can you describe it in more detail?"
"No."
"I..."
The leader’s face turned dark, wanting to curse but held it back, asking, "If he used this ability from the start, how long could you last?"
Quan Xiaobai thought for a mont and quietly raised one finger.
The leader felt a sense of relief yet a bit anxious, "A quarter of an hour maybe? That’s short, but manageable...."
"No, not even a second." Quan Xiaobai interrupted him earnestly, "If he used that ability from the start, I’d be dead instantly."
Shit!
The leader’s heart sank into an ice pit, his face turning from black to ashen white.
Until now, Quan Xiaobai’s strength was one of the best internally, and his combat power did not disappoint official expectations.
Yet here he was, calmly asserting that he couldn’t last even a second against Ning An. How terrifying, how shocking!
The leader’s face alternated between green and white, finally managing to compose himself, forcing a smile, "It’s okay, it’s okay, we have similar cultivation techniques, quite a few actually. Go back and choose so, you should find a way to counter him."
At the sa ti, he advised, "Considering you and him are both mbers of the Daoist Sect, sort of like brothers, it would be wise to get closer, see what cultivation techniques he’s practicing."
Quan Xiaobai responded noncommittally with an "mm" before silently leaving the room.
...
The next day, the base remained bustling as usual, as if completely unaware of what happened yesterday.
Even though many people went to the southern part of the base to see the scene, the broken trees as thick as a bowl, the shattered rocks, and the deep pits everywhere.
Wasn’t this awkward?
The official had confidence in Quan Xiaobai’s Silver Corpse, as the assessnt results showed its capabilities were frightening!
To a certain extent, to mitigate Ning An’s Thunder Skill, the Silver Corpse wore specially selected insulating gear.
With everything in place, even if victory wasn’t guaranteed, gaining the upper hand shouldn’t have been a problem, right?
But the result? Out of nowhere ca so hidden ability, and it slapped everyone in the face with a crack!
The scariest part was not even understanding what Ning An’s hidden trump card was.
Inside the base, everything continued as normal, and the incident seed to be quietly set aside by everyone, as if nothing had ever occurred.
Every day, like before, new samples were brought back to the base for experints, testing, analysis, followed by data entry into the database.
It went like this for about seven or eight more days, and the asurent of that cave was finally completed.
With current technology, asuring such a cave should not take this long, but given its symbolic significance, the researchers conducted repeated verifications, finally obtaining relatively accurate data:
The Spirit Stone reserves in the cave were approximately 113,000 tons.
This quantity, on a personal scale, could be considered a fantasy, but on a national scale, it was pitiably small.
Liaoyang Province, where the Mountain and Sea Pass Mountain Range is located, for example, had silver reserves of 4.1965 million tons and gold reserves of 430,500 tons.
Most crucially, Spirit Stones are consumables, and once used, they turn into waste stones; whereas gold and silver, once mined, don’t deplete instantly and can continue circulating in the market.
The already scarce resource, combined with its auxiliary cultivation properties, maximizes its value.
In modern society, based on different minerals and their reserves, they’re categorized into large, dium, and small classes.
But this Spirit Stone cave is a first; no one knows if its reserves are large or small, so it’s impossible to define it as a large or small mine until other Spirit Stone mines are discovered for comparison.
Additionally, the base developed extensive farmland not far from the cave.
A variety of crops, whether corn, sorghum, wheat, or others—if the seeds can be found in Dragon Country, they’re all planted, with nurous agricultural experts brought in to support it.
Though it’s mid-August, not an ideal ti for planting crops, human wisdom is formidable, and even greenhouse technology alone can reverse nature’s order.
Not only that, but the construction of breeding areas didn’t stop, as they constantly searched the mountain range for mutated creatures, aiming for fast reproduction, high yield, and gentle temperant.
Simultaneously, the base also brought in ordinary chickens, ducks, geese, and even pigs for experintation, investigating the potential for mutation.
In summary, within the base, everything imaginable and otherwise is occurring, whether in terms of experintal content or thods.
...
Back in that laboratory.
Around the conference table, everyone remained silent, repeatedly sealing their lips, except for Ning An and Elder Shi, who were arguing fiercely at the table’s head.
"I don’t agree to treat this thing as a currency for trade! Despite its transactional and trading nature, it’s a consumable with limited reserves, so I don’t recomnd using it as currency before discovering other Spirit Stone mines!"
"Why not! As long as we divide it into uniform pieces and ensure the Spiritual Qi content and impurity levels are consistent in each piece, it’s not difficult to..."
"No, wait a mont!"
The more Ning An listened, the more fearful and alard he beca, interrupting urgently, asking:
"Have you already cultivated a batch of cultivators over there?"
"Not... not yet."
Elder Shi’s face reddened slightly, but he kept trying to explain, "But soon, very soon, we will be able to..."
"Get lost!"
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