The moment the system heard its Host’s words, it replied, "Host, this System is your trusted partner. It’s a given that this System will help you when you wish for it. How can you doubt this system?"

From the System’s words, Yao Zhi could imagine a child with a pout stomping his feet in complaint. Finding her imagination ridiculous, she let out a chuckle.

If she hired people, she needed to ensure their safety when they entered the mountain. She also needed to make sure that they were trustworthy. Besides that, she needed to spend money to pay their wages.

Not only would it take longer, but the risk of spies infiltrating the workforce was not zero. She didn’t mind spending money or processing everything slowly. The problem was the risk that would befall her and her people if this salt mine were exposed.

After she considered the pros and cons, she came to the conclusion that it was best to let the System handle everything.

"System, if I want to store the salt in a warehouse instead of inside the System, can I do it?" she asked.

"The System can store the salt at a location outside the System. But the Host needs to pay for the service."

"How much is it?"

"With every transport, the Host needs to pay 100,000 points."

Yao Zhi’s face darkened the moment she heard these words. "System, I still need to pay you after I paid 1.5 million merit points?"

"Host, the merit points are paid to the Heavenly Dao. The points are paid to the System."

Hearing the System’s shameless words, Yao Zhi wished that it had a physical body so she could thrash it to her heart’s content.

Other people’s Systems were cutie-pies, while her System was a shameless bandit! The ringleader on top of it!

The System noticed its Host’s bad mood, but it still asked, "Host, have you made up your mind?"

Reaching this point, Yao Zhi had no other choice. Her heart was bleeding, and her pocket was in pain.

"I will pay you. You will handle everything, including mining the rock salt. For now, just store it in the System’s grassland. After I find a suitable location, I will inform you later."

As soon as she finished her words, she heard the sound of her points being deducted. In the blink of an eye, her merit points dropped to 81,412.

The next moment, a bright golden light shot out from her body and formed a massive formation on the ground.

Feeling the spiritual energy inside her body being drained again, Yao Zhi quickly sat cross-legged and took 1 drop of spiritual spring water.

One drop of spiritual spring water was equal to more than half a drop of immortal dew. She had learned from her lesson and didn’t dare drink too much at once.

With 3 pieces of spiritual vein fragments placed inside the spiritual spring jade bottle, the spiritual energy contained in the spring water had become denser. Compared to the first time she obtained the spiritual spring water, it was 30 times stronger now.

As she recovered her spiritual energy, the formation formed faster.

Standing not far from her, Ling Ershi was not as shocked as before. When he saw that his Master went silent as she stood there dazedly, he had a vague feeling that she was talking with an entity he couldn’t see. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

With his limited knowledge, all he could think of was that his Master was able to communicate with the gods or Heaven and Earth themselves. Otherwise, there was no explanation for how she was able to do something only an immortal could do.

The setting up of the formation lasted for a few minutes. When the golden light disappeared, a new feature appeared on Yao Zhi’s System panel: Mining and Gathering.

The feature was under the automatic management feature. The rough function of this feature was to mine and gather resources marked by the Host.

A few moments later, Yao Zhi finally opened her eyes and let out a long sigh of relief. While the process was not as painful as before, she still felt the strain.

"System, what happened just now?"

"Host, you need to mark the location to use the automatic mining and gathering feature. The formation you set up just now was the mark."

"Next time, inform me beforehand."

The System quickly replied, "There will be no next time. This System will ensure the Host’s comfort and safety."

Yao Zhi was too lazy to talk to it and snorted. After she circulated her spiritual energy a few times, she finally recovered.

Looking at the dark sky, she turned to Ling Ershi and said, "Ershi, let’s spend the night here. We will go down the mountain tomorrow."

Ling Ershi walked over and asked, "Master, are you okay?"

"I’m fine, don’t worry."

Seeing that his Master didn’t want to elaborate, Ling Ershi nodded and swallowed the rest of his words. "That’s good."

While Ling Ershi lit the fire, Yao Zhi thought about the jade mine back at home. With this automatic mining and gathering feature, she was finally able to mine the jade.

If the jade was stored in the System’s grassland and absorbed more spiritual energy, it might be beneficial to ordinary people’s health. Maybe it could prolong their lifespan or cure an illness.

The current Emperor and Imperial Court would never let the Male Lead go. Judging from the current situation, there was only one end for the Male Lead if he didn’t get stronger.

If he died, all of his subordinates wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed either. Her husband had been promoted by the Male Lead personally. With the Imperial Envoy as the witness, people would soon learn about their close relationship.

In the eyes of the Emperor and the ministers, her husband was Lu Qianxuan’s trusted aide now. Since they were grasshoppers tied to the same rope, she had to find a way to smooth out his path to the throne.