Chapter 49: Chapter 45: Prudent

Spatial Spiritual Treasure.

Chu Zheng's spirit was lifted as he took the Remnant Jade into his palm and gently wiped the dust off it.

This piece of Remnant Jade was roughly as thick as a pinky finger, entirely emerald green, and carved with complex patterns. After observing it closely for a while, Chu Zheng reached a conclusion.

This Condensing Space Bracelet... was an ankle bracelet.

With his many years of experience, he could not be mistaken. It was unlikely for men to wear ankle bracelets. Hence, the owner of this Condensing Space Bracelet was most likely a woman before she died.

Of course, this was obviously a pointless conclusion.

Chu Zheng sighed softly and began to search around the battlefield again. This Sixth-Order Spatial Spiritual Treasure surely contained astonishing treasures. If he could find all four fragments, this mining expedition would truly be worthwhile.

After searching for most of the day, Chu Zheng finally had some gains. In the skull of a corpse, he found another piece of the Condensing Space Bracelet.

Clearly, the woman in question had become instantly furious when her ankle bracelet shattered, flinging all the fragments, one of which shattered this person's skull.

This person was an Immortal Path Cultivator, also from the Red Crow Army, indicating that the woman was a different species on the opposing side and was not human.

This fragment significantly reduced the number of repairs needed for the Condensing Space Bracelet from six thousand to four thousand, with immediate effect.

After searching again for a while to no avail, Chu Zheng realized that the battlefield was too vast to search in its entirety without spending a considerable amount of time.

Seeing that it was about time, although somewhat reluctant, Chu Zheng decided it was best to leave to avoid arousing suspicion.

On his way back, he casually mined a hundred catties of raw Earth Yin Stone and slowly headed toward the mine entrance.

He had stayed inside for too long; most of the martial masters had already left the mine, only a few remained.

"Chu Zheng, wait up."

When still some distance from the mine entrance, a few people stopped Chu Zheng.

Chu Zheng looked them over and recognized their affiliation, belonging to the same group as him. One of them, who had lifted a ten-thousand-catty cauldron during the recruitment of odd-jobbers and was called Ji Feng, seemed to be the leader.

This Ji Feng, who had lifted the cauldron effortlessly without a change of expression, clearly had mastered high-quality External Skills in addition to his Inner Strength, possessing Qi Strength far surpassing ordinary people, and even stronger than most of the disciples in the Nourishing Power Realm of the Phantom Spirit Sect.

"What's the matter?" Chu Zheng frowned slightly, sensing some trouble.

"How much ore did you mine today?"

One of them walked straight up to Chu Zheng, peering at the raw Earth Yin Stone he was carrying.

"Exactly a hundred catties."

"Hand over forty catties to help Brother Ji out. At the end of the month, when we get the reward, I'll share a Spirit Stone with you."

"It's not just you; everyone has to contribute. The more you give, the more you'll get back."

As this was said, another person stepped closer, squeezing Chu Zheng in the middle, the threat in their stance clear. seaʀᴄh thё nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Hearing this, Chu Zheng immediately realized that Ji Feng was using this method to compete for those twenty lower-quality Spirit Stones.

One person mining alone could not compare to the effort of dozens combined. Focusing the group's strength was evidently his strategy to secure the reward.

However, forty catties of Earth Yin ore, if Chu Zheng truly only had the strength of seven to eight thousand catties, would require almost half a day's work for him.

If he mined less than a hundred catties a day, the resources he could obtain at the end of the month would be significantly less, certainly not something a single Spirit Stone could compensate for.

These Spiritual Currency resources, while trivial to Chu Zheng, had to involve some principle. Just because he could easily give away these tens of catties of Earth Yin ore did not mean he would.

These were his rightful belongings.

If he gave forty today and fifty tomorrow, would he continue to give the day after? And what about the day after that?

Giving in would only lead to further demands.

Chu Zheng remained silent.

Ji Feng had been standing by the side, watching without initiating a conversation with Chu Zheng. His demeanor reminded Chu Zheng of the first time he met Qin Feng.

Back then, the way Qin Feng looked at him was the same as Ji Feng's now, indifferent, without a trace of emotion, utterly cold, almost as if he wasn't looking at another of his kind.

Chu Zheng could understand such a gaze coming from Qin Feng, but what gave Ji Feng the confidence to look at him that way? After all, they were both merely mortals.

After pondering for a moment, Chu Zheng spoke softly, "Today, I discovered an exposed vein and harvested two hundred pounds. I left another hundred pounds in the mine; follow me to retrieve it."

Having said that, he turned around and headed deep into the mine.

An exposed vein was a mineral deposit directly visible on the surface, which could be easily mined with a bit of effort.

Upon hearing this, Ji Feng also showed a slight change in expression, and followed Chu Zheng further inside.

Just as they turned the corner, Ji Feng only felt a cold wind strike his face, and in the next instant, the joints of his limbs and the major acupoints all over his body were obstructed, uncontrollably collapsing to the ground.

The others at his side fell similarly, scattered here and there.

"Chu Zheng!"

Ji Feng's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he quickly tried to appease Chu Zheng, "Don't be rash, everything is negotiable."

"Indeed."

Chu Zheng nodded slightly, then sat down directly on the ground, "Then let's negotiate."

"You're stronger than me; you can fight. But in Illusory Spirit City, just being able to fight is useless. Can you fight against a Superior Immortal? Can you defeat a Spirit Spring Realm Cultivator?"

Ji Feng was paralyzed on the ground, his limbs powerless, yet his face remained calm, "To survive in Illusory Spirit City, it's all about power. Let me go now, and I can act as if this never happened."

"Brother Ji's great-grandfather is an Elder of the Phantom Spirit Sect's Outer Sect; weigh your options," someone beside him spoke sharply, although lying on the ground, they seemed somewhat less imposing.

"So, there is a background."

Chu Zheng's face showed realization, and he pulled out a notebook from his bosom, "What's his name?"

"Ji Fanglong!"

Chu Zheng wrote it down.

"What are you writing?" Ji Feng struggled to lift his head, trying to see Chu Zheng's actions clearly.

Upon hearing this, Chu Zheng flipped the notebook and pressed it against his face:

"Do you recognize it? Simplified characters, no worries if you don't recognize them, you might have a chance to know them in your next life."

In this world, it was highly unlikely that anyone could recognize what he wrote in this diary.

In this world, the characters of various countries differed slightly, but were mostly similar.

Logically, it shouldn't be so, but after consideration, Chu Zheng believed that since these nations were all ruled by the Immortal Sect, that resulted in a commonality.

Since there had to be communication between the Immortal Sects, naturally, there came to be a standardized script.

"According to you, I can't afford to offend any of you."

Chu Zheng put away his notebook, his brow furrowed in thought. After a long while, he sighed softly, "Since that's the case, there's no helping it; I can only ask you to leave your lives."

"When I get some time, I'll send your great-grandfather to meet you."

Chu Zheng raised his hand, gathering a mass of noxious air, and spoke calmly:

"Come, take a deep breath."