Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 169: Success! (4th Update)

"Now, the World Tree is still a little sapling and needs careful nurturing. So, for now, you can only climb to the next layer. Once you take good care of the World Tree and it grows bigger, you’ll be able to go up or down to any layer."

The little elf Ding Ding eagerly set up a teleportation array at the entrance and reminded, "To mine ores on the next layer, you’ll need good enough tools. If you don’t have any, you can buy limited-time tools from me for mining."

With that, she fluttered up to a branch of the World Tree, dangling her cute white feet as she perched on a leaf, cradling her face with her delicate little hands as she gazed at him, "What do you need?"

Shop; Talk; Give Gift, three options, Jiang Yuan opened the shop and glanced around. She sold pickaxes and weapons only for use within the mine, all of which were limited-time products.

A pickaxe capable of mining Profound Iron Ore was priced at ten thousand Gold Coins and could only be used for six hours, after which it would turn to ashes. Higher-level tools included a pickaxe priced at one hundred thousand Gold Coins for six hours and temporary weapons that increased attack power, but the unlocked weapons could only add a maximum of 500 attack power, far less potent than his ring.

So he deduced that the little creatures on the next layer posed no threat for the time being.

"Money! Without it, you can’t move an inch, it’s the same everywhere!" Seeing there was still time, Jiang Yuan topped up another ten thousand Gold Coins and, taking the limited-time pickaxe, climbed down to the next layer along the vines and branches.

As he worked, he thought about bringing a Luminous Stone as a gift tomorrow. If he could increase his favorability enough, could he maybe whisk the little elf away?

The countdown displayed at the top of the page naturally induced a tense pressure. The paper dolls and paper pangolins were useless on this layer; they couldn’t dig up the black-golden rocks at all, so Jiang Yuan worked hard with the new pickaxe to ensure he didn’t waste his Gold Coins.

With the Earth Mirror Book guiding his skills, he went forward almost without detours, mining through rocks and defeating ghostly entities, like a whirlwind, delving further in, with his Storage Bag gradually filling with new materials.

It was only when the wilderness was about to descend that Jiang Yuan, slightly tired, rushed back to his little yard.

He didn’t even have time to wash up, taking ample iron ingots and copper ingots from the Melting Workshop, along with bits and pieces of accumulated materials. With a click to upgrade, the Melting Workshop was pounded and repaired by unseen hands, and after a dozen seconds, a more beautiful Level Two Melting Workshop was completely finished.

He put all the Profound Iron Ore he had mined all afternoon into processing, calculating that the Profound Iron Ingots should be sufficient to build the Treasure Forging Workshop. Next, he needed to go to Crescent Lake to search for traces of mermaids—a special material needed included a mermaid scale.

The details described that mermaids usually appeared at Crescent Lake during rainy nights or full moon nights and needed to be lured out with song.

He remembered a frustrated entry in his journal and was a bit worried. What if, with his lack of musical talent, he ended up attracting both yin and yang energy, and they, annoyed by his singing, splashed him with water?

"Venerable Family, come take a look at our harvest today!" Bai Yunqi, looking smug, unfolded the paper-wrapped musk.

A unique and intense fragrance immediately filled the air, masking the scent of all the other herbs.

Jiang Yuan was taken aback, "Musk?!"

All the high tension and fatigue from the day vanished in an instant. This was precisely the raw material he urgently needed to make "Nightly Delight" incense sticks!

He hadn’t found any in the Market before, but now it appeared so suddenly before him. It was as if he saw each "Nightly Delight" turning into wads of cash, greatly easing his heartache over the money spent today.

"There’s a forest not far from here with many musk deer; it’s springtime, so I collected some. If you need more, I’ll fetch some tomorrow." Hu Zhile maintained his delicate, soft-spoken image, his furry ears twitching with a lively spirit, making one’s heart inexplicably cheerful.

Yun Mo got even more emo.

Even though her realm was low and her Transformation Technique not very skilled, she was pretty! She could gather musk, perform simple medical magic, knew the Charm Spell, and spoke softly and sweetly without pretense.

By comparison, he couldn’t even be a mount!

The small courtyard’s status officially dropped by one; the whole Eagle was in a daze.

"Talent indeed!" Jiang Yuan listened to their simple description and learned that Hu Zhile could harvest musk painlessly, quickly, and safely, and distinguish the finest quality musk. He couldn’t help feeling envious of the Yin Mountain female corpse—where did she get such a capable subordinate?

I want one too!

Even if they couldn’t do anything else, gathering musk twice a year could still earn quite a lot of money.

After having dinner, Jiang Yuan was deliberating on how to plan the upcoming schedule when a flash of light suddenly appeared in the thatched house!

"It’s been teleported over!" Bai Yunqi reacted the fastest, grabbing the incense burner with half-burnt incense and dashed into the house;

The others followed closely behind, witnessing a neat pile of eerie, yin-energy-infused items in the narrow space of the thatched house.

[Ghost-Seeking Grass: A common herb containing a small amount of Yin Fiend energy, usable in medicine. Placing it in water for three hours, the resulting liquid can be applied to eyelids to let mortals see ghosts; the longer the soaking, the longer the duration. Note: Mortals swallowing Ghost-Seeking Grass may experience indigestion and attract ghosts; prolonged use of the potion will deplete Yang energy]

[Nether Yin Stone: Mountain stone from the Netherworld containing a small amount of Yin Fiend energy, the most common artifact refining material...]

......

"Great! Venerable Family..." Bai Yunqi cautiously glanced at Hu Zhile. She sensibly played with her fluffy white tail and went for a stroll in the yard, taking the opportunity to use the Communication Stone to send a message to the Lady of Yin Mountain.

She hadn’t found an opportunity all day, and the vigilant white snake had her worried that not being calm enough would lead to mistakes. Coincidentally, using the excuse of avoiding suspicion, she strolled across the wooden bridge to the edge of the field, using the creaky mill to shield herself as she seized the moment to inquire.

Meanwhile, Yun Mo, being quite self-disciplined, retracted his head from the window and went back to cultivation obediently;

After the other three left, Bai Yunqi raised his eyebrows, unable to suppress a smile, and whispered, "It’s definitely a success! But the old man has just managed to enter the outskirts of that mountain and hasn’t found anything valuable yet. The urgent matter is to send another fund to the old man..."

Years ago, while wandering in the Netherworld, Bai Yunqi noticed the rich treasures contained within that mountain, but lacked the time to stay for slow mining, so he sealed it with a Blinding Technique making it difficult for other Ghost Cultivators to detect the mineral aura.

Now he taught Wan An to use a simple Teleportation Array to unlock a small part of the outer seal and enter, confirming the Treasure Mountain was still there and could be mined, so it was time to purchase the mining rights for the mountain.

In the Netherworld, formal land trade requires reporting to the Yin Messenger, who then personally issues a land deed through the responsible governing department and sells different grades of Protection Arrays as per need.

With the land deed and proper arrays set up, it indicated the land had an owner, deterring any Ghost Cultivators with designs on seizing it; additionally, the high-level arrays sold by the governing department, albeit expensive, effectively concealed the aura.

Then Bai Yunqi could reveal the full method to break the seal, allowing the old man to comfortably and boldly mine without setting foot outside.

"As for making a purchase... actually, we could have the old man go find Yin Messenger Ma Hongtu." Jiang Yuan considered and suggested, "Though he’s a bit greedy, he does get things done once he’s paid. Otherwise, the old man, unfamiliar with the area and its ghostly aspects, wouldn’t know who to approach for procurement, so rather than bumping around aimlessly, why not just use him!"

Bai Yunqi pondered and nodded, "True, in a while, the old man should contact us in a dream. I’ll discuss it with him, and I’ll trouble the Venerable Family to prepare some Paper Money."

Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce