Chapter 248: Chapter 159: Steward Xiao, an Anomaly in the Spirit Ore Mine

Even the Fire Qi that had filled the tunnel began to rapidly diminish.

It was as if the recently excavated Yellow Vein Rock was the main culprit behind the stored Fire Qi.

"Huh? What’s going on?"

Xiao Chen thought for a moment, then activated his Eye of Truth to observe the flow of the surrounding Fire Qi.

But to his surprise, the surrounding Fire Qi had actually dispersed.

Before long, the Fire Qi had completely dissipated into the air. The problem that had injured the miners was instantly solved.

’Something’s not right. Why would Fire Qi gather so inexplicably inside the Yellow Vein Rock?’

Although the problem at hand seemed to be solved, Xiao Chen had no intention of stopping there.

At least half of the entire Qingyang Mountain was composed of Yellow Vein Rock.

If the problem was with the Yellow Vein Rock itself, there surely would have been a precedent.

Therefore, some other factor must be causing such a large amount of Fire Qi to gather here abnormally. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

So, he continued to use his Flying Sword, turning to widen the surrounding rock walls while searching for the cause of the problem.

He dug like this for thirty-six hours straight.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen was also half a Body Refining Cultivator. Although this rarely seemed important, his stamina was abundant at critical moments like this.

In one go, he carved out a massive cavern, over a hundred feet in length, width, and height.

Finally, working his way down from the ceiling, he located a small, peculiar piece of Yellow Vein Rock.

In stark contrast to the dense Fire Qi from before, this small, watermelon-sized rock actually contained an exceptionally dense concentration of Yin Qi.

Furthermore, all this Yin Qi was packed tightly together, as if it were nurturing some kind of Spiritual Object.

’Wait, could it be...?’

As Xiao Chen looked at the Yellow Vein Rock before him, his mind immediately jumped to something else—the Rock Core Maitong.

According to legend, the Rock Core Maitong grew deep within volcanoes and was surrounded by extremely dense Fire Qi.

But perhaps because extreme yang gives birth to yin, the Rock Core Maitong was precisely the type of Spiritual Object that could only be nurtured by pure Yin Qi.

By using the dense Fire Qi deep within a volcano to gather all the surrounding Yin Qi to a single point, a single Rock Core Maitong could form in about three hundred years.

Only a Spiritual Object born under such conditions could fulfill the strange requirement of Yin and Yang.

The reason Xiao Chen understood all this so clearly was because he had been searching for a Spiritual Object that met the Yin and Yang criteria for a very long time.

Ever since he obtained the Pill Formula for the Three-Turn Profound Yuan Pill, he’d had it on his mind.

The Three-Turn Profound Yuan Pill was a Spirit Pill capable of advancing a cultivator by a Minor Realm. Whether for his own use or for auction, it was a first-class treasure.

Although this wasn’t the heart of a volcano, seeing such a coincidental set of conditions still made him immediately draw the connection.

’This thing is definitely not a Rock Core Maitong, but maybe it can be used for Alchemy.’

.

Xiao Chen inspected it with his Divine Sense but couldn’t make out anything.

It appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary piece of Yellow Vein Rock.

But instead of being alarmed, he was delighted. The fact that his Divine Sense couldn’t see through it was the perfect indication that this was some kind of Treasure of Heaven and Earth.

Nearly all environments capable of nurturing Treasures of Heaven and Earth had one thing in common.

They formed natural Array Patterns around the Spiritual Object that shielded it from inspection by Divine Sense.

Then again, it was hard to say which came first, the chicken or the egg.

If it weren’t for such natural Array Patterns, these Treasures of Heaven and Earth would have likely been consumed by people long ago; how could they have been preserved intact until now?

The Treasures of Heaven and Earth that remained were precisely those that could go undiscovered for vast stretches of time because they could block Divine Sense.

’Let’s see what kind of treasure this is.’

Xiao Chen carefully used his Flying Sword to slice open the watermelon-shaped piece of Yellow Vein Rock before him.

The Yin Qi inside instantly contracted, revealing a Stone Egg the size of a duck’s egg.

’Hm? What in the world is this?’

Xiao Chen had originally assumed it would be some kind of Treasure of Heaven and Earth; he never expected it to be a Demon Beast Egg.

He picked up the Stone Egg and infused it with a trace of Magical Power to examine it.

He discovered it was not only a Demon Beast Egg, but one that met the criteria of Yin and Yang.

He could even sense a powerful life force from within the Stone Egg.

This meant that if he continued to nurture it, a Demon Beast would most likely hatch from the Stone Egg.

’But still, raising a Demon Beast isn’t as important as my own cultivation.’

Without hesitation, Xiao Chen took the Stone Egg and headed back out of the mine.

The foreman was waiting at the entrance: "Steward Xiao, you’re finally out! I..."

Xiao Chen raised a hand to cut him off. "Alright, the problem is solved."

"Arrange for the injured cultivators to recuperate. They don’t need to come back to work until they’re fully recovered."

"As for the Qingyang Stone production, I’ll take responsibility for it."

With that said, he flew directly on his sword to the Chang Family in Qingyang County, intending to borrow a Pill Furnace.

Chang Shunping gave him a warm welcome and was extremely cooperative.

He not only offered up the best Pill Furnace in the clan but also deliberately dismissed the surrounding family members to ensure there would be no interruptions.

Xiao Chen didn’t stand on ceremony with him, immediately starting to refine the Three-Turn Profound Yuan Pill on the spot.

He had already collected the other supplementary ingredients required for the Pill Formula long ago.

With the [Heart of the Alchemist], he didn’t need any further preparations.

His only preparation was to first get some sleep.

After all, he had just been digging continuously for two days and a night, so he wasn’t in peak condition.

He slept for a full ten hours, waking up naturally.

Then, he immediately began the alchemy process, unhesitatingly tossing the newly acquired Demon Beast Egg into the Pill Furnace.

「Twelve hours passed in a flash.」

As the Spiritual Fire was extinguished, a faint, unique fragrance wafted out from the furnace.