The Chiyun Iron Vein was a second-grade mineral deposit, located on the southwestern edge of the Wangyue Mountain Range, bordering the Liuyun Mountains.
This vein had only been discovered in recent years. Since it was founded jointly by disciples of both the Song Clan and the Earthfire Sect, it sparked a fierce struggle between the two factions. In the end, the Song Clan prevailed and claimed it for themselves.
A second-grade mine held immense value this one alone brought the Song Clan several thousand low-grade spirit stones in revenue every year, making it one of the clan's most vital resource sites.
Naturally, the Earthfire Sect had long coveted it. But in recent years, they had been repeatedly suppressed by the Song Clan and were never able to seize it as they wished.
Now, emboldened by the backing of the Lieyang Sect, the Earthfire Sect had grown bold. They secretly dispatched Qu Jinsheng to launch a surprise attack on the Chiyun Iron Vein.
Only a few late-stage Qi Refining stewards had been stationed to guard the site. Though they managed to activate the defensive formation together and barely withstood Qu Jinsheng's assault, the situation remained precarious.
One of the stewards, Song Xianhe, urgently sent a message back to the clan
requesting reinforcements…
Song Changsheng flew the Soul-Slaying Gourd over the Chiyun Iron Mine. Seeing that the protective formation remained intact, he breathed a sigh of relief thankfully, he wasn't too late.
He descended into the mountains, where signs of battle were visible. Facing the dark mine entrance, he called out loudly, "Where is the steward of the Chiyun Iron Mine?"
Before long, an elderly man with white hair led over a dozen cultivators to meet him. Upon seeing Song Changsheng, the old man showed no excitement only caution. "May the Young Clan Leader please present his identity jade token."
Without hesitation, Song Changsheng removed the token from his waist and held it up before the elder's eyes.
After carefully verifying it, the elder finally opened a gap in the formation and bowed deeply along with the others. "We pay our respects to the Young Clan Leader. Please forgive our offense!"
Seeing this, Song Changsheng quickly stepped forward to help the old man up. "Elder, you're too kind. If not for your vigilance, this mine might already be in enemy hands. You've rendered great service to the clan how could there be any fault in that? Please, everyone, rise. Many of you are my seniors this is far too much for me to bear."
Only then did the group rise. Steward Song Xianhe shook his head and said, "The clan placed great trust in this old man, assigning me to such a critical post. How could I not give it my all?"
"You've done more than enough. Is everyone safe?"
"There haven't been any further moves from the Earthfire Sect over the last two days. Just a few of us old bones got injured in the last attack. The rest are fine, and the mining operations haven't been significantly affected." Song Xianhe answered while guiding Song Changsheng deeper into the site.
Song Changsheng frowned slightly. This doesn't feel like the Earthfire Sect's style. Why have they suddenly gone quiet? Are they planning something else?
"With the Young Clan Leader personally here, we no longer fear Qu Jinsheng," one steward said gruffly.
"Exactly! That Qu Jinsheng acts like a Foundation Establishment cultivator can do whatever he wants he dares to attack alone and doesn't take our clan seriously."
"Rest assured," Song Changsheng replied calmly, his voice steady and full of confidence, "Qu Jinsheng is mine to handle. Keep the mine running as usual. We can't afford a drop in output."
"Please, Young Clan Leader, rest in the stone chamber for now. It's unlikely the Earthfire Sect will come today."
Just then, a young cultivator came running over in a panic. "Elder! Something terrible has happened!"
Song Xianhe's face darkened. He cast a covert glance at Song Changsheng before scolding, "What sort of conduct is this? Speak clearly what's happened?"
The young man, visibly shaken, stammered, "Some miners reported seeing… something in the mine. A few workers were killed. Steward Lu Min suspected a beast and went to investigate with two others. It's been two hours now, and we've heard nothing. I just checked the Soul Lamp Chamber… their soul lamps are out!"
Song Xianhe's face turned black as the bottom of a pot. He had just assured Song Changsheng that all was well now this? It was like a slap in the face.
"Lu Min was late-stage Qi Refining. For her to vanish without a trace could it be a second-rank beast?" a tall, thin elder cried out in alarm.
Song Xianhe immediately grasped the gravity of the situation and looked at Song Changsheng.
Song Changsheng frowned and addressed the young man, "Where did they disappear?"
The young cultivator stared at him. "Who are you? I've never seen you before."
Xianhe felt like crawling into a hole. With a scowl, he shouted, "Insolent! This is the Young Clan Leader!"
The young man turned pale with shock and immediately bowed. "Apologies, Young Clan Leader! Please forgive me!"
Song Changsheng waved it off. "You didn't know no blame. Just tell me, where exactly did Steward Lu Min disappear?"
The young man straightened up and answered properly, "It was in Tunnel B."
Song Xianhe's expression changed drastically. "Tunnel B? There are over a thousand miners down there!"
"Elder," Song Changsheng said decisively, "evacuate the workers from that tunnel immediately. I'll go in and see what kind of monster we're dealing with."
"Understood!"
At this point, Song Xianhe was frantic. While some of the miners were criminals or slaves, many more were Song clan members brought in from the mortal world. If a large number of them died, he'd truly have no face left to show and might as well die in shame.
Wasting no time, he led Song Changsheng toward Tunnel B.
As they approached the entrance, Song Changsheng's nerves tightened. He raised a hand to halt the group. "I'm sensing extremely dense demonic energy inside. It's a second-rank beast. You stay here I'll go in alone."
At the mention of a second-rank beast lurking in the mine, many present turned pale with fear, clearly wishing they could run.
"Please be careful, Young Clan Leader," Song Xianhe said gravely. He knew their strength. Without the aid of a formation, even all of them together couldn't survive more than a few bites.
Song Changsheng nodded slightly. He summoned the Soul-Slaying Gourd to hover beside him and slowly stepped into the pitch-black tunnel.
Unleashing his full divine sense, he searched inch by inch for any traces of the beast. Before long, he discovered a claw mark tainted with demonic energy.
Following the trail deeper, the marks along the tunnel walls grew more frequent clear signs of a battle. This must have been where Lu Min and her companions met their end.
Song Changsheng immediately heightened his vigilance. The culprit was likely still nearby!
Suddenly, the tunnel began to tremble violently. Rocks and earth rained down. Song Changsheng's expression changed.
"A land dragon turning over?" he muttered in alarm.
In a flash, he realized what the culprit was. His spiritual power surged like a mighty river, and he leaped back at full speed.
At that exact moment, a massive creature burst from the ground behind him its enormous mouth lined with spiral-shaped, jagged teeth…
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