The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror-Chapter 396 - 174: Post-War Gains (Please Subscribe)

A moment later, a cold wind blew out from the tunnel, faintly revealing a phantom Azure Dragon shadow wrapped around an ore, which then ended up in Xu Qing’s hands.

Xu Qing opened his eyes and inspected the ore closely.

Under the perception of the Heavenly Repairing Tribulation Hand, the aura of the ore and the deeper structure were fully exposed in his mind.

Xu Qing activated the state of Absolute Focus and meticulously analyzed it.

Quite a while passed.

His feeling was indeed not wrong.

"These ores actually contain Divine Soul Power, truly astonishing."

Moreover, this place was obviously an abandoned mine tunnel, initially mined clearly for the purpose of extracting these ores. Associating it with the Heart Moon Fox opening the Ghost Gate here, it was clear that this place was connected to the legendary Netherworld.

Xu Qing analyzed quietly, grasping the key point.

Could it be the uniqueness of this location, thus linking it to some unknown Netherworld land?

"But what exactly is the specific use of these ores? Crafting Magic Artifacts? Or some other special purposes?" Xu Qing couldn’t help but grow curious.

Since mines were excavated, it obviously indicates that the predecessors valued the uses of the ores.

Xu Qing placed the ore into the Qiankun Bag and discreetly buried the mine tunnel with sand and gravel.

Whether it was useful or not, he would first spend money to get Qishan Island registered in his own name in the Officials’ Yellow Book, thereby making Qishan Island his private property.

It must be said, among the nobles, Xu Qing is a breath of fresh air.

If it were other nobles, they would just directly take control, giving money to the Officials and registering in the Yellow Book wouldn’t even exist.

Following that would be rewarding the meritorious and reporting military contributions.

With this act of eradicating a cult, Mr. Li’s position ought to also move up.

Mr. Li is disadvantaged by his educational background, otherwise with Xu Qing’s support, his promotion speed could be even faster.

Fortunately, the factors for promotion within the Military Officer System are simple and clear: merit and money in place, promotion is easy, and if there are connections in the Ministry of War, good positions are freely chosen.

As for the promotion of Civil Servants, there are many more factors to consider.

Furthermore, background and origin are extremely important.

Ultimately, in the Great Yu Dynasty, Civil Servants eat the meat while Military Officers drink the soup, the importance of positions are completely different.

After returning, Xu Qing conferred benefits to Gu Wuji and Ren Tianyou without holding back any that were due, even more than originally promised.

This made Gu Wuji and Ren Tianyou somewhat embarrassed because they hadn’t contributed much.

But things shouldn’t be seen in this light, Ren Tianyou and Gu Wuji still played roles in matters at sea. Not to mention how much they could help, but by not harboring malicious intentions, they were essentially helping.

Moreover, gradually and imperceptibly, having shared profit with Xu Qing for a long time, their psychological allegiance completely shifted. If Xu Qing helped them resolve any lingering worries, in the future, they would feel uncomfortable not following Xu Qing.

The key point is, Xu Qing is young.

In their eyes, once they decided to follow Xu Qing, decades of wealth were likely, providing a sense of security.

Old Deng, despite powerful, would have subordinates thinking of his impending death, and subconsciously seeking alternatives.

This is human nature.

After sending off the forces of Gu Wuji and Ren Tianyou, Xu Qing had a brief conversation with Feng Wu and since King Lin had not yet emerged, he first sought Su Lianqing.

...

...

"What, young master plans to have me re-establish contact with the Luo Sect Master?" Su Lianqing’s mind was muddled, unsure of this line of thinking.

Although she knew the young master always had unexpected moves, this maneuver still shocked her.

"When two armies fight, winning a battle is only the first step, isn’t there a need for negotiations afterward?" Xu Qing pointed out the crux directly.

At this, Su Lianqing understood.

Was the young master seeking war compensation?

Xu Qing: "No need to put it so harshly, I saw him hurrying off Qishan Island, which clearly shows his intentions. But let’s test the waters first, no need to rush. You look at this thing."

He took out the ore and handed it to Su Lianqing to examine.

Su Lianqing naturally also noticed the Divine Soul aura inside.

And with Xu Qing intentionally stimulating this aura, Su Lianqing’s feeling was very apparent, and soon, she clutched her head.

Xu Qing immediately used his blood energy to seal the Divine Soul aura back into the ore, uttered Mystical Sound, and recited calming Daoist Scripture, thereby settling Su Lianqing’s spirit.

"Young master, the Divine Soul Power in this ore is very mixed and completely unsuitable for Cultivation. If not careful, it could cause illusions, and absorbing and refining it could also lead to a mixed nature in one’s own Divine Soul," Su Lianqing explained her sensation.

Ores containing Divine Soul Power are indeed fascinating, but she could not see how this material could aid in cultivation.

Xu Qing nodded, agreeing with her view, then continued, "What about using this substance to craft Magic Artifacts?"

Su Lianqing shook her head: "If it’s the young master, there wouldn’t be a problem, but for an ordinary Exorcism master, the Divine Soul aura used in their Magic Artifacts must be pure, otherwise, during the crafting process, their Divine Soul could become tainted and fall into madness.."

Xu Qing knew Su Lianqing was correct; for a Dao Skill master like him, getting powerful Magic Artifacts wasn’t hard if he set his mind to it, thus there was no need to use such ores to create Magic Artifacts, and for ordinary Dao Skill masters, crafting Magic Artifacts from these ores would undoubtedly be digging their own grave.

So, the uses of this ore are quite limited.

Xu Qing then informed Su Lianqing about the mine tunnel and suggested, "Not only tracing the origin of the mine tunnel, but also check from the county and prefecture records."

County and prefecture records often flatter when evaluating people, not truthful, but when documenting geography, customs, and local culture, they often offer substantial reference value.