Chapter 48: Chapter 44: Immortal Bone

The mining tunnel was very dim, and the Luminous Pearl could only illuminate a small area; the traces of the mine's passage were quite new, clearly indicating that it had been recently opened.

After just over a hundred yards, Chu Zheng felt a surge of rich Earth Qi rising up, along with faint traces of poison and a whiff of deathly Yin Qi nurtured from corpse bones.

This was Turbid Qi, which for ordinary martial masters, would gradually erode the body like a Death Sentence. Even if they took a Poison Warding Pill, they couldn't stay in the mining tunnel for long.

Such Turbid Qi had no effect on Chu Zheng. He didn't even take a Poison Warding Pill and switched directly to internal breathing, drawing on the Yuan Qi between heaven and earth for sustenance.

After entering the mining tunnel, the group of just over three hundred people quickly split into several small teams, each choosing a direction to explore.

Here, the mineral vein produced a type of mineral material called Earth Yin Stone, usually used to forge the power furnace of Flying Boats and the Heat Insulation Platform for placing Alchemy Furnaces. It was occasionally used in the making of Magic Artifacts.

To receive so many Spiritual Currency and Qi Boosting Elixirs every month was naturally not without strings attached; there were mandatory quotas to meet every day.

The stronger one's Qi Strength, the more abundant the resources received; thus, the quotas were naturally higher.

For someone at Chu Zheng's level, the daily mining quota was over a hundred pounds, with a monthly submission of three thousand pounds required to meet the minimum standards and receive the full amount of Spiritual Currency and Qi Boosting Elixirs.

For every pound short, ten percent of the resources were deducted; a hundred pounds short resulted in a thirty percent deduction, three hundred pounds short in a fifty percent deduction, and a shortage of over a thousand pounds meant a ninety percent deduction.

This deduction would continue unabated. If less than a thousand pounds were submitted in a month, one might even end up owing the Phantom Spirit Sect Spiritual Currency.

Chu Zheng didn't pay much attention to these matters. He could see the flow of Qi and knew instantly where the Earth Yin Stones were without having to search hard; a hundred pounds of ore was something he could deal with in the time it takes to have a cup of tea.

He deliberately lagged behind the group, recalling the map Fu Quanliang had given him and waiting for the right moment. He then quietly separated from the team and headed for the ancient battlefield.

The mining tunnel leading to the ancient battlefield was deliberately isolated from the mining areas where the martial masters could explore, which were limited to the surface of the mine.

Chu Zheng followed the map, bypassing several remote tunnels, all the way down.

After a while, the mining tunnel began to change, filled with dust and cobwebs. Along the way, one could see scattered fragments of Battle Armor and Incomplete bones.

Chu Zheng bent down, his fingertip drawing aside the dust, gently touching the traces left behind thousands of years ago. A stream of information flashed before his eyes, seemingly sketching out a grand ancient history.

[Red Crow Armor (Third Order): A standard-issue Battle Armor with ordinary craftsmanship, nearly one piece per person in the Red Crow Army, made of fairly decent materials, shattered by Colossal Strength, and virtually beyond repair, repairable (0/3000)]

...

[Heavenly King Halberd (Fifth Order): A weapon of a martial master, once bathed in the blood of a Fifth Order creature, later acquired by an Immortal Path Cultivator. Shattered into seven pieces, should all parts be gathered, the repair might be a bit easier, repairable (0/5000)]

...

[Nameless Corpse Bone (Fourth Order): Belonged to the Red Crow Army in life, served as a flank commander, bone age one hundred and twenty-seven, High Quality Immortal Bone, Primordial Spirit dispersed, unrepairable.]

...

[Damaged Immortal Bone (Seventh Order): A remnant of a True Immortal's bone, once forcefully integrated into the body by an Immortal Path Cultivator. With your current abilities, you simply cannot repair it.]

Chu Zheng's fingertips paused slightly; this was his first time encountering something unrepairable.

With a light flick of his palm, he brushed the dust away and from the clustered debris, he prised out a piece of Remnant Bone, giving it a few cursory looks before having a clear idea in his mind. It was half of a palm bone.

Dust scattered, and the skeleton immediately lit up with a faint light, like a transparent crystal lighting up Chu Zheng's face with intermittent brightness in the pitch-black tunnel.

Countless years had passed, yet this Immortal Bone still felt warm and smooth. In a trance, Chu Zheng sensed a surge of life energy, Yuan Qi, brewing within the bone.

There was still vitality within this bone, like a dormant seed that could continue to grow once integrated into flesh.

Seventh Order.

The level of being this bone had once belonged to had completely transcended Chu Zheng's imagination. Just a piece of remnant bone, and after tens of thousands of years, it still retained vitality—an incredibly vigorous and terrifying life force.

It was difficult for him to imagine how such a powerful creature, at its peak, could have been so battered and left dead without a whole corpse.

If this Immortal Bone was completely repaired, did that mean he could resurrect a True Immortal?

Bringing the dead back to life, was that still merely a repair?

From the remnants of those weapons, it was evident that the Martial Path must have once flourished, certainly not as withered as it was today.

There might have once been conflicts, even wars, between the Immortal Path and the Martial Path.

Chu Zheng's thoughts continued to diverge, giving rise to one question after another, but there were no answers.

These answers were buried in the ancient past, and some secrets might only be glimpsed from the Immortal Sects, which had carried on for ten thousand years, or even from the even more ancient Holy Lands.

To Chu Zheng, these secrets were more enticing than anything else in the world. Sёarᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

If he could unveil these secrets, it would be as if he had seen through the corridors of time. In a way, it meant he had conquered the nearly invincible force of time.

Chu Zheng subconsciously placed the half-piece of Immortal Bone into his bosom, but after thinking for a moment, he put it down again and buried it.

It was difficult for him to take things from this battlefield now, but in the future, once his rank as a Repair Master increased, this place would become a treasure trove.

He continued into the depths of the mine. As he progressed deeper, there were more and more remains and fragments of battle armor, and the mine tunnel expanded. Eventually, it could no longer be called a pit but an expansive underground world with no borders in sight.

Broken chariots, shattered banners, the bones of behemoths stretching over a thousand zhang, and even more massive humanoid skeletons with raised scapulas and immense bone wings on their backs.

Chu Zheng's fingertips traced over the remains of these beings, gradually piecing together parts of history.

Thousands of years ago, this place must have been a plain, where a group of Immortal Path Cultivators forming the Red Crow Army ambushed a tribe of alien creatures.

The outcome was uncertain; even if they had won, it was probably a pyrrhic victory, as there were far more remains of Immortal Path Cultivators than the alien species.

Why this battle was fought was still unknown.

Chu Zheng had hoped to find some remaining Space Artifacts, but the battlefield had clearly been cleaned by someone, leaving nothing but bones and weapon fragments—not even a Storage Bag.

After circling the battlefield, Chu Zheng reluctantly composed himself, preparing to start his journey back when his fingertip suddenly touched a small segment of Remnant Jade.

[Condensing Space Bracelet (Sixth Order): A Spatial Spiritual Treasure that was broken into four pieces during a great battle, connected to an Alien Realm's space. Once repaired, it can reestablish that connection. Collecting all the pieces will make the repair work much easier. Repairable (0/6000)]