Bo Peak.
Walking down the long stairs.
Turning the corner, soon, the originally dark environment became brightly lit.
Fluorite emitting a bright luster was embedded all over the walls. This was a rather spacious underground space, so large that it seemed to have hollowed out the entire Bo Peak.
Zong Shi's figure was like a firefly, lightly and swiftly descending downwards.
Before long, he had already reached the bottom of the underground space.
As crisp sounds of clanging constantly rang out, there were nearly a hundred people on the ground swinging mining tools that gleamed with cold light, digging downwards with all their might.
Without exception, all of these people were experts in the Blood Transportation Realm.
Among them, the vast majority were in the Late Stage of the Blood Transportation Realm.
If the other major forces in Wanhua City saw such a large number of Blood Transportation Warriors, they would definitely be extremely surprised.
One must know that most of the Disciples of the Crimson Whale Hall were currently in Baiyun Peak and within the mountain gate. Where did such a large number of Blood Transportation Disciples come from now?
Seeing Zong Shi approach, some Disciples immediately bowed in salute. Zong Shi merely nodded slightly and came to a high platform in the underground space.
Above the high platform was a spacious room directly excavated.
Inside the room was an old man with a full head of messy hair.
The old man was wearing a crimson robe, and his messy hair was a deep red like maple leaves.
Although his figure was tall, his body was quite shriveled, like a piece of human skin attached to a skeleton. His face was extremely old, and the wrinkles on his face were piled together like dead tree bark.
His exposed skin was also covered with furrows and ridges, clearly an octogenarian on the verge of death, about to enter his grave and reach the end.
The old man was sitting cross-legged in a circular pool in the center of the room. The pool was filled with crimson blood. The strange thing was that not a single bloody smell emanated from it. This blood was quite different from ordinary blood; it was clearly much thicker, and its color had a bit more of a crystalline feel.
Looking closely, it seemed to be emitting faint red fluorescence, like a pool of rubies.
The pool was not large, barely enough for the old man to fit in.
The amount of blood within it was also not much, barely reaching the old man's chest.
"Tang Zhu."
Zong Shi entered the room, respectfully bowed to the old man in the center, and spoke softly.
The old man, however, paid no attention, his eyes still tightly closed, sitting cross-legged in the blood pool like a statue.
Seeing this, Zong Shi said nothing more but stood aside, quietly waiting.
Not until an incense stick's worth of time had passed did the withered old man, who seemed to have completely lost his breath, finally change. Threads of red patterns appeared on his shriveled skin, spreading towards various parts of his body like living things.
Soon, countless black holes appeared on his body, like countless greedy and thirsty mouths, beginning to suck wildly.
The blood in the circular blood pool was immediately drawn in, entering these black holes. In just a few breaths, the blood in the pool was completely swallowed.
And the strange thing was, after absorbing the blood, the shriveled skin of the figure, which was originally on the verge of death like a mummy, rapidly filled up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His messy hair, like weeds, also quickly regained its luster and resilience.
After a few breaths, the figure in the blood pool transformed from a mummy-like appearance into a handsome Red Hair man who looked to be in his early 30s at most.
The man opened his eyes, a bloody light flashing in both. He slightly moved his neck, stepped out of the blood pool, and landed on the ground.
"How is it? Are there any abnormalities on Wei Bo's side?"
"Reporting to Tang Zhu, that old fellow Wei Bo is still the same as usual. Most of his time every day is spent holed up in the Prefecture Yamen, and he rarely goes out. Moreover, the hidden agents on the Fu City side haven't found any abnormalities in the Prefecture Yamen. It's likely that even if the news of the beast mine here in the Yunshui Mountains was leaked out, they wouldn't consider it worth paying much attention to."
Zong Shi said respectfully, a smile also appearing on his face as he spoke.
"This is heaven's favor. Since Linjiang Prefecture can have three major forces, why can't it accommodate our Crimson Whale Hall?"
"In that case, that's good."
Hearing this, the strong and agile Red Hair man, or rather, the Tang Zhu of the Crimson Whale Hall, Red Hair, showed a hint of a smile on his face. However, he was still somewhat uneasy and spoke again.
"That old thing Wei Bo usually looks half-dead, but he wasn't like this decades ago. This old fellow is not that simple. To be safe, have Zong Shen keep an eye on that Wei Bo."
"Alright, I will send a message back later." Zong Shi nodded.
"Have the Fang Family, the White Dragon Gang, and the Seven Forms Sect had any abnormalities during this time?"
As if thinking of something, Red Hair asked.
"According to the feedback from the hidden agents, there are no noteworthy abnormalities. The three peaks they occupy have also started mining the beast Ore during this time. With the reserves of beast Ore in the five peaks of Yunshui Mountain, they should not discover any abnormalities in a short period."
"That's good then. This is the only chance for our Crimson Whale Hall. I don't want what happened last time to happen again." Red Hair spoke slowly, his words carrying bone-chilling coldness.
Hearing this, Zong Shi's heart trembled, and he quickly spoke.
"Don't worry, Tang Zhu, your subordinate guarantees that there will definitely not be any accidents again. As for that talkative Disciple from last time, I have already dealt with him cleanly."
Originally, the matter of the beast Ore in the Yunshui Mountains was unknown to anyone. The reason why some rumors leaked out was because a Disciple of their Crimson Whale Hall, after drinking, accidentally revealed some information, which attracted the attention of interested parties, causing the situation to be unable to be concealed any longer.
Fortunately, they had made preparations beforehand, preventing this situation from happening, which prevented the matter from deteriorating further.
Hearing this, the biting coldness emanating from Red Hair's body dissipated somewhat, but the light in his eyes became even more intense.
"Although Ouyang Bing and the Fang Family Old Ghost, these old fellows, haven't come personally, we cannot relax in the slightest. At the same time, we cannot delay any longer. Transfer some more people over; I want to find that ancient beast Ore seed within a month."
"But Sect Leader, if we transfer more personnel, it might attract the attention of others." Zong Shi said somewhat hesitantly.
"Just do as I say. If this succeeds, I will be able to break through into the Divine Form Realm. By then, I will not fear anyone. Even the Prefecture Yamen, even General Long Zilu, will have to acknowledge our Crimson Whale Hall."
Speaking of this, Red Hair clenched his hands, a hint of madness appearing on his face. Although things were developing in a good direction and everything seemed calm, he still had some bad premonitions in his heart, which is why he decided to accelerate the progress.
"This... Yes!"
Zong Shi opened his mouth, not daring to say what the outcome would be if this matter failed. He could only nod in agreement and quickly leave.
Watching Zong Shi's figure leave, Red Hair stepped out of the room, his gaze falling upon the Disciples below the high platform who were desperately digging and searching. He murmured softly to himself.
"If this matter doesn't succeed, then the entire Wanhua City will be buried with me..."
...
Da Cui Peak, edge of Area Ding Er.
Lin Sheng's figure broke out from under the ground.
"We've reached the edge. A few more miles forward and we'll be in the territory of Ghost Cry Peak."
Looking at the strangely shaped Ghost Cry Peak not far away, Lin Sheng murmured softly to himself.
Over the past few days, he had been exploring underground towards the direction of Ghost Cry Peak.
Unfortunately, he did not find any trace of beast Ore seeds. Although he discovered three more Ore deposits, they were micro-deposits with a scale of less than a hundred thousand.
This situation was even worse than what he had discovered in the center of the basin.
"Was my guess wrong, or is it not Ghost Cry Peak, but the other side?"
He turned his head, his gaze falling upon Bo Peak on the other side, whose mountain area was a circle smaller than that of Ghost Cry Peak.
He had spent most of his time underground these past few days, even putting aside his cultivation of the Qingniao Chasing Star Finger, just to find the beast Ore seed and confirm the guess in his heart.
Now only the direction of Bo Peak remained. He naturally wouldn't choose to give up. Immediately, the black scales on his body trembled, and he submerged into the ground once more.
Soon, three days had passed.
Underground, Lin Sheng's figure rapidly moved through it, while sensing the surrounding fluctuations.
At this time, the two strange beasts that had entered his body were the Earth Armor Beast and the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile.
These two strange beasts cooperating with each other were the most efficient in searching for beast Ore underground. This was the experience he had gained over these past few days.
Suddenly, his figure moved. In his perception of the surrounding majestic Earth power, there was one place that was extremely faint.
He immediately changed direction and headed towards this area.
As the underground rocks and soil broke apart, the purple-black beast Ore soon appeared before his eyes.
The patterns on these beast Ores were denser than those he had discovered before, and the color was also deeper.
Carefully sensing the energy fluctuations inside, compared to the beast Ore at the foot of Da Cui Peak, he could clearly feel some difference between the two. According to Lin Sheng's estimation, the difference should be around 20-30%, which means the current beast Ore's age has already surpassed 50,000 years, possibly around 60,000-70,000 years.
Throwing the beast Ore in his hand aside, he unceremoniously plunged his hands into the Ore in front of him and began to dig rapidly.
Normally, the Ore seed should be in the center of the Ore deposit, but there are exceptions; it might be in a lower or edge position.
The reason why the first beast Ore discovered was not within the Ore deposit was because it was taken away by the Earth Armor Beast.
His digging speed was very fast. These tough beast Ores were like fragile blocks of tofu in front of him. In the blink of an eye, he crushed large areas of beast Ore.
While digging with all his might, he suddenly felt a faint threat coming from ahead. Without giving much time to react, the next moment, a violent energy burst out from the Ore in front of him.
And Lin Sheng seemed to have anticipated this situation long ago. A wisp of azure light appeared on his black large hand and smashed forward, colliding with the rapidly approaching violent energy.
Boom!
Amidst the explosive sound, that energy was like being pierced by a sharp blade, split apart, and quickly decayed until it completely disappeared.
"The power of this Ore pattern explosion has also clearly increased compared to before."
Feeling the energy from just now, he did not stop and continued to dig rapidly.
Soon, there was another explosion, but it quickly subsided.
After three consecutive Ore pattern explosions, Lin Sheng finally reached the center of this Ore deposit.
"Indeed, the older the Ore deposit, the more unstable the energy within it, and the probability of Ore patterns appearing has also significantly increased."
He thought to himself. As his palm entered the Ore, he clearly felt the resistance ahead disappear this time.
With a thought in his heart, his hand movements became a bit faster. As expected, there was a dark red Ore covered in complex patterns within the beast Ore ahead, clearly different from the surrounding beast Ores.
Joy appeared on Lin Sheng's face, and he grabbed this Ore seed in his hand.
The patterns covering this Ore seed looked more complex than the previous several Ore seeds, and it was also noticeably larger by a circle. Its value should also be the highest among these few Ore seeds.
However, when Lin Sheng grabbed it in his hand, the joy on his face faded, and his brows furrowed.
Nothing else, the touch of this Ore seed no longer had much elasticity. When he tore the Ore seed open, the essence blood contained within it was also very little.
"Why is it like this again?!"
From the first Ore seed he discovered to the current fourth one, without exception, every Ore seed was not complete, and the essence blood within them was already less than one-tenth.
"Could it be that these Ore seeds have been plundered by some underground strange beast, which is why they are in this state?"
This thought popped into his mind, but he quickly shook his head and rejected it.
If it happened once or twice, it might be considered a coincidence that it was destroyed and absorbed by some underground beast, but now that every single one is like this, it's a bit unreasonable.
Moreover, even if it was done by a beast, it wouldn't leave some essence blood within the Ore seed.
"If it wasn't done by a strange beast, then it can only be due to natural causes."
Just like a natural disaster such as an earthquake causing changes in the underground structure, it could possibly squeeze the Ore seed and cause it damage.
Furthermore, this kind of situation is basically widespread, which can also explain why almost all the Ore seeds are missing something.
Thinking of this, disappointment appeared on Lin Sheng's face. If this were the case, then it is likely that the Ore seeds contained in the entire Da Cui Peak and even the entire Yunshui Mountain would suffer some loss, and their value would undoubtedly be greatly reduced.
Disappointed as he was, Lin Sheng's movements were not slow at all. He unhesitatingly absorbed the little remaining essence blood in this Ore seed.
After completing it, his gaze fell upon the consciousness panel. The activation progress of the third imprint increased by 10% this time.
The activation progress this time was almost comparable to the Ore seed he swallowed the first time.
Clearly, the grade and quality of this Ore seed were higher.
Third, the activation progress of the imprint has now surpassed 90%, with less than ten percentage points remaining until it is fully activated.
"After so long, the third imprint is finally about to be completely activated..."
He exhaled, a hint of impatience appearing on his face.
If it weren't for the fact that sending people to Wanhua City to transport Spirit Beast blood back would take a considerable amount of time, he might have directly spent money to purchase and swallow Spirit Beast blood.
However, now that he has Ore seeds, although these Ore seeds are not complete, they are more than enough to activate the progress.
Most importantly, the quality of the beast Ore in the direction of Bo Peak is indeed older.
The appearance of so many Ore seeds very likely means that the beast Ore under Bo Peak is of a much older age.
Thinking of the Crimson Whale Hall's attitude towards Bo Peak back then, he basically confirmed the guess in his heart.
Among the five peaks of Yunshui Mountain, Bo Peak is the most valuable, far exceeding the other four peaks. Even if the beast Ore under it is not 100,000 years old, it is definitely not far off.
