[Luoyi City is covered in ruins. Even the city wall surrounding the prefecture city has collapsed and been destroyed, with only a few buildings still remaining.]

[Desolate weeds struggle out from the cracks between broken stones and rubble. Large numbers of Extreme Evil monsters wander over the ruins, their malicious gazes sweeping everywhere, as if searching for outsiders to corrupt and slaughter.]

[Seeing this, you cannot help thinking of Sakura Falls. Back then, after the final god of Sakura Falls was completely corrupted and the entire island nation turned into a human purgatory, it was exactly this kind of apocalyptic scene.]

[Now, Vermilion’s Central Plains region is also like Sakura Falls. If the remaining gods have all been corrupted, then whether the western border, the Central Plains, or the overseas islands, not a single place in this mortal world can escape. All will transform into a human purgatory.]

[Do you want to explore Luoyi City first, or go to Stone Treasure Valley south of Luoyi first?]

Lin Xun thought briefly and chose the latter.

If he had not obtained accurate location information from Lu Wu, he estimated he would still have had to explore Luoyi City first to find clues. Now, he just needed to directly kill his way to the terminal point.

[The White Elephant Demon rides a cloud and brings you flying toward the vast mountains south of Luoyi…]

[You have entered the Central Plains region. The mountains here stand in great numbers, yet there is no desolate feeling. Instead, the vegetation is lush and verdant, completely different from the boundless, bleak scenery of the western border.]

[After searching among the mountains for a while, you find Stone Treasure Valley according to the guidance recorded in the ancient text.]

[Stone Treasure Valley is located in a low-lying area between two mountains. There is an open-pit quarry, where broken stones are scattered everywhere, and several mine shafts can be faintly seen.]

[In the open area around the quarry, there are also some tattered and abandoned military tents. What makes you find it strange is that there is not a single person here. There are no miners working, nor are there merchants or households anywhere. It appears extremely deserted.]

[According to the records of Vermilion Geographical Records, after the Martial Emperor ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, he implemented the policy of government monopoly over salt and iron within Vermilion territory. The government monopolized the operation of salt and iron, embedded tax within prices, and strictly forbade private iron casting and salt boiling.]

[From then on, whether copper and iron mineral deposits, or jade and emerald, as long as they were valuable objects buried underground within Vermilion territory, they all belonged to the government and emperor.]

[Wherever there were large mineral deposits, the government would send salt and iron officials to garrison them, either forcing commoners to mine through corvee labor or selling the mineral vein to aristocratic clans…]

[And Stone Treasure Molybdenum Gold produced by Stone Treasure Valley is a valuable and famous mineral product. There absolutely should not be a situation where the mineral vein is left unmined.]

[Even if the people of the Central Plains have now all fallen into Extreme Evil and turned into mindless monsters, such a desolate sign still should not appear.]

[For such a situation to appear, there is only one possibility…] 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

[An ominous premonition rises in your heart. You and the White Elephant Demon withdraw the Dharma cloud and quickly descend into the open-pit quarry.]

[The military tents left around the quarry seem to have been here for some years. After being exposed to wind and sun, they have already broken into ragged strips of cloth. If there were not giant stones pressing down on the corners of the military tents, you are afraid you would not even see these scraps of cloth.]

[Within the quarry, broken stones are everywhere. You cannot even see mining tools such as picks, shovels, chisels, and hammers. Only some bamboo baskets, bamboo dustpans, and wheelbarrows rotted beyond recognition remain…]

[You quickly arrive beside several mine shafts…]

[The mine shafts are dug into the mountain body. Wind and rain shelters made from wood have been built over the mine entrances, and the shaft tunnels slant downward toward the depths underground.]

[You arrive beside a mine shaft and stretch your head in to look. At once, your heart turns cold by more than half.]

[Unwilling to give up, you inspect each of the mine shafts one by one, but the result is all the same.]

[These mine shafts have already been abandoned, and the accumulated broken stones inside them block the tunnels, making it impossible to pass through and go deeper.]

[For you and the White Elephant Demon, who possess great magic power, some broken stones naturally cannot block your path, but seeing this situation, you already understand everything in your heart.]

[The Stone Treasure Molybdenum Gold mineral vein contained within Stone Treasure Valley has long since been mined to exhaustion, which is why it now appears abandoned.]

[According to ordinary mining operations, one should first mine the outcropping ore body, then dig shaft tunnels downward along the ore body afterward. During mining operations, waste rock must be temporarily placed within the open-air quarry, while backfilling broken stones and transporting them elsewhere.]

[Now, not only is the quarry filled with broken stones, even the shaft tunnels are also filled with waste rock. From this, it can be seen that the mineral vein here has long since been exhausted. The miners even continued digging downward along the ore body for a long time, yet still saw no new ore appear.]

[Therefore, there was no longer any need to expend manpower and resources to transport away the waste rock. After the quarry was filled, they were too lazy to even carry the waste rock out of the shaft tunnels. Even by the time the waste rock filled the shaft tunnels, no new mineral vein had been dug out…]

[…]

[After hearing your explanation, the White Elephant Demon’s large face immediately falls. It cannot help saying, Junior brother, what should we do?]

[We finally obtained the exact location of Stone Treasure Valley, but after coming here, there is nothing.]

[Now how are we supposed to obtain that Stone Treasure Molybdenum Gold?]

[You are also helpless regarding this and can only search around the quarry to see whether any clues are still left here.]

[The White Elephant Demon is somewhat unwilling to accept this and secretly says, I don’t believe these people could have dug it so clean!]

[It channels great magic power and enters the mine shaft alone. As its pair of great lotus iron hammers swing, rocks fly in every direction, and it opens a path downward amid rumbling sounds, like a humanoid excavator.]

[After searching for a long time, you do not obtain any clues of much value. You only know that Fire-Worship troops were stationed at this mineral vein many years ago.]

[Fire-Worship troops usually do not garrison mineral veins. Even gold mines within Vermilion territory do not have Fire-Worship troops stationed there. For this situation to appear, it can only mean that Stone Treasure Molybdenum Gold has extremely great value, and may even play a certain role in warfare.]

[After the White Elephant Demon busies itself for most of the day, it returns to the quarry covered in dust and grime. From its expression, you know there is no harvest.]

[You sigh and can only leave this place, returning to Luoyi City to see whether there are any other clues.]

[…]

[…]

[Above Luoyi City, you carefully look down at the city beneath your feet.]

[Although Luoyi City has already turned into ruins, there are still several buildings that have not been destroyed.]

[At the very center of the city stands a towering temple pagoda. When the mindless monsters that have fallen into Extreme Evil wander near the temple pagoda, they kneel and kowtow in worship, then shakily rise and leave, continuing to wander aimlessly.]

[On the western side of the city is a tall pavilion with five tiers of flying eaves, a pointed roof, and golden glazed tiles covering the top. The flying eaves on all eight sides are shaped like crane wings, giving it the momentum of a flying immortal. One can faintly see that it still retains some Daoist style.]

[On the southern side of the city is a three-entry courtyard. White walls and black tiles form a surrounding wall that encloses the three-entry courtyard within. Aside from the main gate and ceremonial gate, there are three large halls on the central axis of the courtyard, all classic and simple hard-mountain-style buildings.]

[Where do you want to go?]

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes and chose the last one.