Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Pentagonal Heavy Lizard, Gone?

"Green Concealing Stones?"

"Life-taking Gold Stones!"

Chen Mo instantly recognized these two Companion Ores he had used before. These two types of ore were extremely conspicuous even within this pile of ores, not to mention they were the most abundant. Besides them, a large number of unknown ores in a myriad of vibrant colors were piled together. They clearly emitted Spiritual Qi, yet the Exotic Spiritual Qi contained within them made them unsuitable for cultivation.

"How much are the Agarwood Stones, Blood Jades, and Life-taking Gold Stones?" Song Yunxi asked.

These three were all auxiliary ores recorded in the *Seven Miles Killing Array*, though Chen Mo had never seen the actual physical specimens of the first two.

Ling Qionglin glanced at the two of them, then put on a pair of Golden Silk Gloves and began rummaging through the pile. Soon, these three types of Companion Ores were picked out.

"Agarwood Stones are two to one, Blood Jades are one to one, and Life-taking Gold Stones are five to one."

This ratio referred to the exchange rate between the Companion Ores and Spirit Stones—two Agarwood Stones could be traded for one Low Grade Spirit Stone, and so on.

"What about Dragon Horn Stones?" Chen Mo asked. Setting up the *Seven Miles Killing Array* required a total of four Companion Ores. He wondered why Song Yunxi specifically hadn’t asked about this one!

"You don’t need to worry about the Dragon Horn Stones."

Chen Mo looked at the other man’s faint, cryptic smile and instantly understood. It seemed Brother Song had already managed to get his hands on them!

"Four Agarwood Stones, two Blood Jades, ten Life-taking Gold Stones, plus two Green Concealing Stones," Chen Mo ordered.

"You want Green Concealing Stones too?" Ling Qionglin raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Yes," Chen Mo nodded in reply.

"Then I’ll throw those in for free!"

"Many thanks!"

Chen Mo wasn’t coy about it. He spent six Spirit Stones and bought them directly. With this, aside from the Dragon Horn Stones, he had all the auxiliary materials needed for the Array Formation. What remained were the most crucial items: three Flying Swords.

"Brother Chen, do you want to go inside and have a look around?" Song Yunxi suggested after their business was concluded.

"Inside?"

"Yeah, to look at the miners. If anyone catches your eye, you can absolutely spend a few Spirit Stones to buy them. They’d make good slaves." Song Yunxi spoke lightly, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. This casual attitude also indicated that Cultivators frequently did exactly this!

"Brother Song, where do all these miners come from?"

"From all sorts of places," Song Yunxi replied. "There are Loose Cultivators who owe Spirit Stones to the Immortal Sect and can’t pay them back, as well as disciples from rival Immortal Sects. Of course, there are also some Cultivators who, terrified of physical decline and starvation, sold themselves here. After all, for the latter group, being able to regain their freedom just by mining a thousand Low Grade Spirit Stones is still quite an attractive prospect."

Hearing this, Chen Mo inexplicably broke out in goosebumps. Brother Song’s words sounded perfectly fine on the surface, but thinking deeper, it probably wasn’t that simple!

"Does Brother Song want to go inside and take a look?"

"Since we’re already here, why not? Maybe one or two will catch my eye."

Chen Mo nodded. He couldn’t quite accept the idea of buying slaves just yet, but since Song Yunxi intended to go in, it wasn’t appropriate for him to decline.

"Let’s go!"

The two each paid twenty taels of Spiritual Sand, successfully passing through layers of guards. They tied red ribbons around their wrists to prove their identities. Of course, with Song Yunxi’s strength at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, no miner would be a match for him anyway!

The mine shaft was pitch-black; it was completely impossible to see inside with the naked eye alone. Even before fully entering, they saw seven or eight miners on the periphery holding mining pickaxes, expressionlessly striking at the ore bit by bit. The vitality within these Cultivators’ bodies had already been depleted. Even though they possessed the cultivation of the Qi Refining Third and Fourth Layers, in Magical Combat, they probably wouldn’t even match up to someone at the Qi Refining Second Layer!

Walking further in along the mine tunnel, a cold and damp sensation pierced through their bodies. Following close behind was a thick scent of blood, mixed with a heavy, foul stench. For a moment, Chen Mo actually found the smell somewhat familiar. Looking at Song Yunxi, he had already sealed his nose and mouth with Spiritual Qi; clearly, he thoroughly disliked this smell!

He thought, "What is this smell?"

Chen Mo suddenly realized. "Pentagonal Heavy Lizards!"

Song Yunxi had once mentioned that Pentagonal Heavy Lizards loved to consume Spiritual Qi and often lived in large numbers within ore veins. And since this happened to be a newly excavated ore vein, it meant a large number of Pentagonal Heavy Lizards had been killed here not long ago! If that was the case, he had to figure out a way to buy a batch to take back!

Following Song Yunxi’s footsteps further in, the sounds of mining pickaxes striking echoed one after another. Soon, a painful wail came from ahead, followed immediately by the sounds of a conflict breaking out.

Chen Mo frowned. In the darkness, he vaguely saw someone rushing out from deeper inside. A moment later, a Female Cultivator with disheveled hair, tattered clothes, and sunken facial features burst out. However, before she could even get close, she was shoved back by a blast of astral energy from Song Yunxi.

"H-Help m—"

Before she could finish the word, the Female Cultivator, who had just managed to scramble to her feet, was dragged back into the darkness by the combined effort of several people.

Song Yunxi didn’t say a word, entirely accustomed to such sights. This scene happened every day in the mine. Those miners who hadn’t been here for long still harbored delusions of retaining a shred of dignity as Cultivators. But was that even possible?

Chen Mo continued walking inside. Along the way, he saw over a dozen Cultivators diligently mining ore, not even bothering to turn their heads. They didn’t care in the slightest about who was passing by or who was behind them!

Chen Mo noticed that there were extremely few Female Cultivators here. Other than the one who had just tried to escape, he only saw three others. Two of them had their backs to him, making it impossible to see their faces. Another one lay on the ground like a corpse, allowing others to vent their lust on her. Once they were finished, she simply straightened her clothes, picked her mining pickaxe back up, and continued mining.

After walking for about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Song Yunxi shook his head in disappointment. He turned around and said as he walked, "How boring. There isn’t a single decent one."

"Could it be that they’ve already been bought by the Immortal Sect?"

"No! The Cyan Yang Sect is a prestigious orthodox sect in the Pingdu Continent. How could there possibly be slaves inside the Immortal Sect?" Song Yunxi explained. Many things could be done, but they couldn’t be brought out into the open. There were also many things that only peripheral personnel like them could do, things that couldn’t be done from within the Immortal Sect.

"It’s all about the rules!" Chen Mo sighed.

"However, it’s possible they were bought by other Pavilion Masters! Next time, I’ll have to beat them to it!" As Song Yunxi spoke, they had already reached the outside of the mine.

The two took off the red ribbons from their wrists. Just as Song Yunxi was about to head to the pavilion to bid farewell, Chen Mo suddenly spoke up. "Fellow Daoist, have the corpses of those Pentagonal Heavy Lizards been dealt with?"

"The corpses of the Pentagonal Heavy Lizards? Why do you want those?"

At this moment, Ling Qionglin, who had sold them the Companion Ores earlier, walked over.

"You want the corpses of the Pentagonal Heavy Lizards?"

"Yes!"

"If you had come a day ago, there were still some. But today, they’re gone," Ling Qionglin replied.

"Gone? They’ve already been sold?"

"That’s right. A Cultivator came yesterday and bought all twenty-three Pentagonal Heavy Lizard corpses, along with a nest of eggs!"

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