Chapter 14: Large Vein

At the break of dawn, Ji Ning and his father Ji Yichuan were rushing toward the source of the violent fluctuations in the world's vital energy, employing their movement techniques.

“Hmm? I've never compared movement techniques with Father before. Is his speed really this fast?” Ji Ning was astonished. His divine body could rival that of a general Fiendgod Body Refining Zifu Disciple, and with the Windwing Evasion, how fast was he? Even without relying on his magic wings, he was already astonishingly fast, yet his father Ji Yichuan could keep up effortlessly.

“Father, this movement technique of yours... Could it be that you've already opened your Zifu?” Ji Ning transmitted via true essence as they traveled, unaware that during that catastrophe years ago, besides the Yuchi siblings, his father Ji Yichuan had also been severely injured.

“No need to ask,” Ji Yichuan said, clearly unwilling to discuss it. “This speed is already my limit.”

“Understood.” Ji Ning nodded.

If he used his magic wings, he could go much faster, but there was no need.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two advanced like wisps of smoke. At this maximum speed, covering several thousand li took only half an hour! This speed was already at the level of a Zifu Disciple.

“It should be around here.” Ji Ning stopped, standing atop the crown of an ancient tree, overlooking a stretch of forest. “The source of the fluctuations is no more than three hundred li from here.”

“It should be,” Ji Yichuan agreed.

“Let's search carefully.” The two flew over the treetops in the area, investigating thoroughly. Soon, Ji Yichuan dove directly into the ground and emerged moments later. “Ji Ning, come here.” Ji Ning immediately leaped, crossing a streak of light to reach him. Ji Yichuan was standing in a patch of weeds.

Ji Ning quickly asked, “What is it?”

“There are elemental stones underground,” Ji Yichuan said solemnly. “And it should be a very rich vein. I've already found high-grade elemental stones.”

“High-grade elemental stones?” Ji Ning was startled. “There are high-grade elemental stones beneath our Ji clan's territory?”

“This vein is very rich, with little waste rock. But because it's elemental stones... the earth evasion technique cannot pass through them,” Ji Yichuan said. “Using only the evasion technique, I can only reach about fifty zhang deep, which is the surface layer of the vein. Below that is the abundant vein.”

Ji Ning nodded. The earth evasion technique could pass through ordinary dirt and rock, but not through special substances like elemental stones.

“Ang!”

A beam of golden light suddenly shot up from a hundred li away, accompanied by a piercing sound.

Ji Ning and Ji Yichuan both turned to look.

“The Ji clan's golden arrow!” As soon as they saw it, they immediately used their movement techniques to rush toward it, covering a li with each flash. The golden arrow was a summons, calling all Ji clan members who saw it to hurry over.

...

Ji Ning and Ji Yichuan immediately spotted more than a dozen people in the distance, including Ji Jiuhuo in gray robes and Granny Ying. The others were members of the Ji clan's main estate, as this was closest to the Ji clan's main estate, Ten Thousand Swords City. The group also turned to look, recognizing the father and son.

“Yichuan, you two arrived quickly,” Ji Jiuhuo said.

“We rushed here from Ten Thousand Swords City with all our might and only just arrived. You two came from West Prefecture City and still made it,” another said.

“Impressive.”

The other Xiantian lifeforms also praised them.

“Everyone arrived quickly.” A laugh rang out as a streak of light rapidly approached from afar, then landed and walked over. It was a middle-aged man dressed in animal skins.

“Liuzhen is here too.” Ji Jiuhuo nodded with a smile.

Ji Ning glanced at the middle-aged man, whose name was Ji Liuzhen, the top figure of the Ji clan's North Prefecture, on par with his father. Judging by how quickly he had come from North Prefecture City, Ji Liuzhen was likely also a Zifu Disciple.

“On the surface, our Ji clan only has two Zifu Disciples, Ji Jiuhuo and Granny Ying,” Ji Ning mused. “But a tribe must have successors. The younger generation should have produced some Zifu Disciples. Now it seems Ji Liuzhen is one. And my father, given his movement speed earlier, might also be a Zifu Disciple.”

Ji Yichuan and Ji Liuzhen exchanged glances and nodded slightly.

Ji Yichuan spoke, “May I ask why the chieftain has summoned us?”

“You must have noticed,” Ji Jiuhuo said solemnly. “Beneath this ground lies a vein of elemental stones, a very rich one.”

“Mm.” The clansmen nodded, some even showing excitement.

According to the rules of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the land within ten thousand li of each Grand Xia city belonged to the master of that city. As for disputed borderlands, it came down to who had the bigger fist. This vein was very close to Ten Thousand Swords City, so by the dynasty's laws, it indisputably belonged to the Ji clan!

“This vein is not only rich but also large,” Ji Jiuhuo said, looking around. “We need to ascertain its exact size. I'll fly southeast to investigate. Liuzhen, you fly north. Ying, you fly southwest. The rest of you will carefully probe the vein's depth and quality. Regardless of what you find, meet back here in two hours.”

“Yes.”

Everyone acknowledged.

Soon, three streaks of light flew off in three directions, while Ji Ning, Ji Yichuan, and the others began to burrow into the ground. Since elemental stones couldn't be evaded through, they had to dig slowly.

“Go.” Ji Ning was enveloped by a water-fire lotus, forming a bud that spun, easily boring through the ground below.

Ji Ning walked downward step by step with ease.

As he descended, the earth above collapsed.

Ignoring this, Ji Ning continued downward... until he reached the surface layer of the elemental stone vein. Large chunks of elemental stones, like ugly rocks connected to each other, were mostly low-grade, looking little different from ordinary stones, only emitting a fair amount of worldly vital energy.

Sizzle... The water-fire flower easily bored through, and Ji Ning continued deeper at an astonishing speed.

“So deep.” Ji Ning felt he had descended a full hundred li, yet he was still within the thick layer of elemental stones. “A hundred li of elemental stones—how deep is this vein? And it's only a few dozen zhang from the surface. How was it never discovered all this time?”

Ji Ning didn't know that the Blazing Fire Celestial Immortal had set up a formation earlier, making it impossible to detect.

“Pfft.” Finally, he reached familiar soil again.

“Over three hundred li deep,” Ji Ning thought in shock. “Veins usually spread horizontally. If the depth alone is this much, how vast must the length and width be?”

Whoosh!

Ji Ning immediately began to ascend quickly.

After a long while...

He finally emerged above ground and soon arrived at the meeting point. Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Ying, the old servant, and Ji Liuzhen were already there.

“Ji Ning.” Ji Jiuhuo looked at Ji Ning, his eyes lighting up. “Have you already investigated?”

“Yes,” Ji Ning nodded, glancing around. “Over three hundred li deep—it's more difficult than flying several thousand li. Fortunately, I used the water-fire lotus, which draws on the power of heaven and earth, making it easy. Others would need to slowly drill using their true essence.”

“How deep?” Ji Jiuhuo and the others stared at him.

“Over three hundred li,” Ji Ning said.

Ji Jiuhuo, Granny Ying, and Ji Liuzhen all changed expression. They couldn't spare the time to marvel at Ji Ning's ability to travel three hundred li underground and back in just over an hour, because they were already beginning to panic.

“What's wrong?” Ji Ning pressed.

“This elemental stone vein,” Ji Jiuhuo said solemnly, “we've also investigated. It spans over four thousand li in area! If it's over three hundred li deep... then this is truly a large-scale vein. For our Ji clan, such a large vein is not a blessing, but a great disaster!”

A great disaster!

Ji Ning's heart jolted, and he immediately understood. One must eat according to the size of one's stomach; eating too much could cause one to burst.

“This is a rich mine, and so vast,” Ji Jiuhuo said gravely. “If we mine it all, its value would exceed our Ji clan's worth by countless times. Do you think we can bear it?”

This vein...

was formed by the Wanxiang-realm Daoist 'Blazing Fire Daoist,' who, in his attempt to break through to Earth Immortal, spared no expense to set up a grand formation to gather the world's vital energy for a hundred years. The entire vein, if fully mined, would be worth half the wealth of a Wanxiang-realm Daoist. But since Blazing Fire Daoist had become an Earth Immortal, his vision was much broader. Moreover, mining a vein was too troublesome; even a Wanxiang-realm Daoist would likely not bother, though Wanxiang True Persons would be狂热 about it.

“What do we do now?” Granny Ying asked urgently.

“I'm not afraid of anything else, but I fear the Snowdragon Mountain,” Ji Jiuhuo said, his face full of worry. “The Snowdragon Mountain branch in Yan Mountain is just a branch; behind it is the Snowdragon Mountain sect, a major sect with Wanxiang-realm Daoists. And according to my calculations, the Zifu Disciples of the Yan Mountain branch should already be in the vicinity!”