Southwest of Wuling City.
The Mad Sha Wolf King was incredibly fast, and Ning Xuan reached the Chen Family's Element Mine in less than an hour.
"This is Chen Family territory! Unauthorized personnel are forbidden..."
Some guards emerged from the shadows upon hearing the noise, shouting at Ning Xuan. But when they saw the Wolf King he was riding, they all froze in astonishment.
"I've wiped out the Chen Family. Scram if you don't want to die."
Ning Xuan had arrived in a hurry, wearing only a single layer of clothing and looking disheveled. However, everyone here recognized the Wolf King. No one dared to gamble with their lives, so in an instant, only the man and the wolf remained in the mining area.
"You can go too."
Ning Xuan leaped off its back. As if granted a grand pardon, the Mad Sha Wolf King fled while Ning Xuan headed straight into the mine tunnel.
Upon reaching the depths of the vein, he sat cross-legged and reached out his hand.
The mined Element Stones contained impurities and normally needed to be refined before a Martial Artist could use them for Cultivation. But for Ning Xuan, this was not a problem at all. His Divine Vein, forged from the Essence Blood of the twelve divine beasts of Ancient Times, could smelt metal and liquefy iron—it was omnipotent!
Let alone a mere Fourth Grade Element Vein, he could even squeeze essence from a thousand-year-old corpse with the aid of the Chaos Ancestral Dragon Scripture!
He activated his Cultivation Technique, and it swept through the vein with overwhelming force, like a storm devouring everything in its path.
What took hundreds of people six years to mine was but a drop in the bucket. Yet under Ning Xuan's formidable Divine Vein and invincible Cultivation Technique, the Element Stones embedded in the rock walls continuously turned to ash! The speed was astonishing; it was as if a luminous vein running through the darkness was instantly extinguished when someone threw a switch!
What was even more terrifying was that even the Element Stones buried meters, or even tens of meters deep within the rock walls, could not escape Ning Xuan's plunder!
After just two hours, Ning Xuan's eyes flashed with golden light as he ceased his cultivation. In the Feng Wu Mountains, he had thought the Death Warriors were from the Fiery Sun Sect, so he had not dared to fully activate his Cultivation Technique. Here, however, he had no such concerns.
A Fourth Grade Element Vein contains dozens of times more Element Stones and energy than a Third Grade one! Even I am shocked that I could devour the entire vein's essence so quickly by fully channeling the Chaos Ancestral Dragon Scripture. What a domineering Cultivation Secret!
Every time he channeled the Chaos Ancestral Dragon Scripture, Ning Xuan discovered new surprises and couldn't help but marvel at it. When he checked his own Cultivation, his surprise turned into elation.
Ninth Layer Heavens of the Dark Realm! I jumped four entire layers in less than two hours. It's a miracle!
However, Ning Xuan quickly calmed himself. This Fourth Grade Element Vein only raised me four layers. This means the higher the Realm, the vaster the amount of Element Qi required! Ninth Layer Heavens of the Dark Realm is nowhere near enough... Perhaps...
A thought struck Ning Xuan, and he began contemplating devouring a Fifth Grade Element Vein.
Suddenly, voices from outside reached his ears. He flashed into hiding.
"Boss, do we really have to go in? Why don't we just leave?"
"Leave? What's there to leave for? The Chen Family is finished! This is a godsent opportunity! Did you forget the Ning Family six years ago? If we hadn't been smart enough to pick up the scraps, we'd never have made it this far!"
In the shadows, a murderous glint flashed in Ning Xuan's eyes.
"What scraps did you pick up back then?" he asked coldly, revealing himself.
"It was... GHOST!" A cry of alarm rang out.
"What are you screaming about? There are no ghosts in broad daylight! Friend, we're all clever people here. I won't waste words. How about we cooperate?" the man who spoke hadn't gotten a clear look at Ning Xuan and immediately extended an invitation.
"I don't cooperate with the dead," Ning Xuan's voice grew even colder.
"Heh, you've got a sharp tongue, friend..."
Before the man could finish speaking, Ning Xuan struck with overwhelming force.
BANG!
The man reacted quickly, raising his arms to block. With a sharp clang, his Fine Iron Bracers shattered! His body slammed against the rock wall, shaking the entire tunnel as he vomited a pillar of blood!
"You have a death wish, provoking the Black Wind Twin Devils!" the other man roared, lunging forward.
The Black Wind Twin Devils were a pair of Loose Cultivators who had risen to prominence in recent years. They had made their name two years ago when, at the Fifth Layer Heavens of the Spiritual Realm, they killed three experts at the Eighth Layer Heavens of the Spiritual Realm. Now, both of them had reached the Seventh Layer Heavens of the Spiritual Realm.
The injured man's heart pounded with terror. If not for his quick reflexes and protective bracers, that single punch would have gravely injured him. He hastily swallowed an Elixir and launched his own attack.
With two furious roars, the pair sneered and snarled a single word, "Die!"
The outcome was decided in an instant.
BANG! BANG!
Ning Xuan threw two punches in quick succession, his arms moving like coiling dragons, his power crashing down like a tsunami. The terrifying, majestic power was unstoppable. The two only had time for a single, agonized scream before nearly half of their bodies exploded in unison!
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
A large number of Element Crystals and a bottle of Elixirs clattered to the ground. Stranger still, from the exploded remains of each man, a sheet of what looked like skin flew out.
So-called Element Crystals were, in fact, the refined product of Element Stones mined from a Fifth Grade Element Mine. They also served as the currency of the Yuan Ling Continent. Element Veins were divided into Twelve Grades. Veins above the Ninth Grade are a once-in-a-millennium sight, so the currency system is effectively based on the first nine grades for easier calculation.
Ning Xuan snatched the bottle of Elixirs and the two sheets of skin out of the air, letting the Element Crystals clatter to the ground. He placed his hand on the rock wall, and in an instant, all the fallen red Element Crystals on the ground turned to ash!
Ning Xuan was delighted to discover he was on the verge of a Breakthrough.
Looks like I have to pay a visit to the Fifth Grade Element Mine tonight! But before that, I need to find some Martial Skills!
The Chaos Ancestral Dragon Scripture was an invincible Cultivation Secret, but without any Martial Skills to complement it, he could only rely on brute force. Ning Xuan had been aware of this shortcoming ever since his fight with Mo Feng. Fortunately, Mo Feng hadn't used any Martial Skills back then; otherwise, the fight would not have been so easy.
After leaving the mine, Ning Xuan gazed toward Wuling City and suddenly slapped his forehead.
Half an hour later, he appeared outside the walls of Wuling City.
Looking up, a tree limb as thick as a water bucket extended from within the city walls more than ten meters high, lush and verdant.
A nostalgic look crossed Ning Xuan's face. As a child, he had often used this path to train his courage. When his grandfather found out, he hadn't scolded him; instead, he had prepared a special rope just for him.
He found a suitable stone and threw it at the branch. As it swayed from the impact, a rope dropped down. Ning Xuan used it to vault himself swiftly up into the tree.
He walked directly to a certain spot on the branch and knocked. Just as he remembered, it was hollow. After removing a piece of camouflaged bark, he found a silk-wrapped bundle hidden inside.
Ning Xuan took out the bundle and unwrapped it. The first thing he saw was a set of white robes. On top of them lay an envelope, a sheepskin scroll, and a Jade Ring. Beside them was a beautiful belt, coiled like a serpent.
He tore open the envelope and was stunned by the first line. Grandfather even predicted I wouldn't be wearing an outer robe?! Don't tell me...
His heart raced, but after finishing the letter, he was disappointed.
Silently, he put on the white robes, tied the belt, and slipped on the Jade Ring. Clad in robes as white as snow, he looked like a peerless young master.
The Jade Ring was a Storage Ring. Ning Xuan placed the letter, the bottle of Elixirs, and the two sheets of skin inside it before unfolding the ancient-looking sheepskin scroll.
It detailed a Formation. A single glance was all it took for Ning Xuan to recognize it as the complete version of the Formation practiced by the Eighteen Death Warriors.
Just as he was about to roll it up, he noticed something else recorded in an inconspicuous corner at the bottom: a Swordsmanship technique not even mentioned in the letter.
The Swordsmanship was named: Impermanence!
Its grade was...