214 It Isn’t Over Yet
Ye Xuan’s tone was calm, but it was apparent that they must have experienced a fierce battle. Although they were all injured, they had all returned intact.
It was enough to show how terrifying Ye Xuan’s strength was.
Even if the dragon was dead, it was still part of the dragon clan. How could the crowd not be impressed by the fact that Ye Xuan could deal with such a threat?
Yi Chengrui respected him so much that in the following conversation, he couldn’t help but use honorific titles to refer to Ye Xuan. He now deeply suspected that Ye Xuan was a super strong person who was traveling in disguise.
“If that flood dragon discovers the truth, what will it do? I’m afraid it won’t let things slide so easily.”
Ye Xuan shook his head and replied, “There’s no rush. That space has completely collapsed. Even if the flood dragon could sense that the bone dragon’s aura has disappeared, it won’t know what happened. After all, it can’t enter that place. At most, it’ll only be suspicious.”
Since Ye Xuan had the bone dragon’s item in his hand, the flood dragon would not dare to act rashly.
However, Ye Xuan was also curious as to why the item caught the attention of the flood dragon.
“All in all, everything is linked through cause and effect,” Ye Xuan said profoundly.
Yi Chengrui’s heart couldn’t help but tremble when he met Ye Xuan’s unfathomable gaze. His eyes were like deep ancient wells.
“May I ask if you have any way to solve Changping’s predicament?”
“At the end of the day, if it wasn’t for the over-exploitation of the spirit stone mine, the demonic beasts’ habitat wouldn’t have shrunk again and again. The dissatisfaction of these demon beasts kept festering until they eventually united to attack us.”
Although the bone dragon and the flood dragon had contributed to the beast tide, the flood dragon harbored hatred towards humans.
If the people in Changping still didn’t practice restraint, the demonic beasts would probably riot again sooner or later, even without the influence of the bone dragon.
Yi Chengrui revealed a bitter smile.
He said, “I understand what you’re saying. Relevant laws have been passed before. However, you know the inner workings of the big sects. Even if they don’t defy the law openly, many people still do it in secret. Even if I want to, I don’t have the capacity to catch them one by one.”
Changping was a special place. Although Yi Chengrui was the City Lord, there were large and small forces that occupied the mine here. They came from different sects, leading to them doing things their own way.
Even if they appeared to listen to Yi Chengrui on the surface, they probably had other plans in mind.
Yi Chengrui continued, “Most importantly, the higher-ups don’t care about this. Every year, the amount of spirit stones taxed is fixed. It’s even increasing year by year. If the sects can’t match this number, they’ll be punished. That is why some people are over-exploiting the spirit stone mines.”
The big sects didn’t care about the life and death of their people and the situation of Changping. They needed a large number of spirit stones to satisfy their disciples’ resource requirements and cultivation. Hence, they became greedier and greedier.
Even if Yi Chengrui reported the situation here, the higher-ups would think that the locals had embezzled the spirit stones by doing something secretly. This was also an important reason why the spirit stone mine was over-exploited.
After listening to Yi Chengrui’s complaints, Ye Xuan, Shen Changling, and the others were enlightened.
Shen Changling was dumbfounded. He didn’t expect that there would be such complications regarding spirit stone mining.
He said, “But… You can tell those sects off.”
Yi Chengrui shook his head and said, “You are too naive. This is a spirit stone mine, and the interests involved are too great. Even if I speak out, it will be useless. Besides, I’ve done so several times before.”
Plainly speaking, if this fundamental problem was not solved, the situation of demonic beasts attacking the city would probably occur again in a few years.
Ye Xuan and Shen Changling walked out of the City Lord’s Manor. They were not in a good mood, especially the latter. It was as if there was a huge burden on his mind, making him breathless.
“Elder Ye, what do you think we should do about this?”
Shen Changling had built up the habit of consulting Ye Xuan whenever he encountered a problem.
“Let’s deal with the demonic beasts first.”
After all, the flood dragon bore ill intentions. It was hard to guarantee that it wouldn’t gather more demonic beasts again.
Ye Xuan added on, “However, I don’t think it will notice anything strange for a while. This will give us some time to catch our breath.”
Ye Xuan was now the great benefactor of all of Changping. Wherever he went, he would receive many respectful and grateful gazes. His prestige was almost above Yi Chengrui’s own.
Therefore, Yi Chengrui also made the place with the most abundant spiritual energy in Changping Ye Xuan’s residence. After Ye Xuan expressed that he didn’t like to be disturbed by anyone, Yi Chengrui also decreed that no one was allowed to enter the former’s residence without permission.
Ye Xuan sat cross-legged and summoned the Hetu and Luoshu Diagram. The item that had fallen from the bone dragon appeared before him again.
“From its shape, this looks like a pearl,” he muttered.
He wasn’t sure. It looked like a pearl, but it wasn’t particularly full or round. Its surface was gray and nothing much hinted at its use.
The most important thing was that there were no fluctuations of spiritual power coming from it, which was very strange.
He remembered that after the bone dragon disappeared, a ball of light flew into the Hetu and Luoshu Diagram. It was unlikely that the remains of the dragon were so ordinary.
Ye Xuan touched his chin and looked at it carefully. “Could it be that I have not found the right way to use it?” he thought out loud.
He tried to inject his spiritual power into it, but it did not respond. It was light and weightless in his hand.
“Perhaps I’m wrong and this thing is useless?”
Ye Xuan felt that it was unlikely to be so. After all, the flood dragon attached great importance to it and even ordered the army of demonic beasts to retreat because of it. From its behavior, this item must be extraordinary.