"I know." Nie Tian's eyes were filled with agony. "I also know that you have sold your valuable jewelery at low prices to get me more flamecloud gems."
Nie Qian was startled. She immediately realized that her nephew had grown up, and he had already perceived what was going on from the trivial clues he had found.
She pondered the matter for a moment and then reassuringly said, "Money and valuables are merely possessions. As long as you can reach the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen, and become a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, all of our investment will be well paid off."
With these words, her expression grew grim again and said, "I'm afraid your grandfather's injuries won't get better. His road of cultivation is reaching its end."
"As for me, my cultivation talent has been poor since I was child. I've merely reached the early-stage of Lesser Heaven, which is nothing compared to your mother's achievement. Back then, if I had managed to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen and became a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, the Yun clan definitely wouldn't have dared to treat me like they did, despite the fact that our clan was weak!
"I don't want you to end up like me! You are already eleven years old, which means you only have four years left. You have to enter the ninth level of Qi Refining in four years!
"Your current cultivation level is too low. That animal bone might be your only chance at a breakthrough!
"So no matter what, you must persist and see if the animal bone can bring you a miracle! You are the last hope for your grandfather and I. Don't act like a child and waste your grandfather's and my efforts!" Nie Qian's lecture was delivered with great authority.
Nie Tian remained silent as he listened closely. He waited for Nie Qian to finish, then said, "I understand. I won't fail you."
With these words, he placed the flamecloud gem onto the animal bone.
After a few breaths worth of time, the flamecloud gem was drained of flame power and turned into gravel.
Perhaps the flame power in the flamecloud gems was too sparse, and thus the flames in the animal bone showed no sign of gathering.
Nie Tian and Nie Qian stared at the animal bone from beginning till end. Seeing the animal bone become dark and lifeless again, they were full of disappointment.
"Don't be depressed, I'll think of something else." Nie Qian suppressed her disappointment with great effort, and said. "I'll go to the mines tomorrow. There are plenty of flamecloud gems waiting to be mined. If I work harder and longer, I can surely bring you more flamecloud gems!"
Nie Tian bounced up and said. "I'll go with you!"
"No!" Nie Qian replied forcefully. "Due to our excessive mining of flamecloud gems, collapses happen in the mines from time to time. It's too dangerous. You absolutely can't go!"
Nie Tian's voice was full of certainty as he said, "I believe that even with several dozen more flamecloud gems, the animal bone won't necessarily be filled. Only if I bring the animal bone with me and let it absorb from those unmined flamecloud gems, would we have the chance to fill it up, and therefore completely form the blood drop."
"Let the animal bone absorb directly from the raw ore?" Nie Qian was surprised by his idea.
She also thought Nie Tian's suggestion made sense. It wasn't easy to mine the numerous flamecloud gems.
Even if she worked there, she wouldn't be able to mine a large amount of flamecloud gems in a short period of time. Moreover, she would have to keep record of the mined flamecloud gems when she left the mines. A portion of them would go to the Cloudsoaring sect; a portion of them would go to the Nie clan's storehouse; the portion she could actually leave with would be only about twenty percent.
She had already calculated that to get several dozen flamecloud gems, she probably would have to spend more than half a year in the mines.
On the other hand, Nie Tian was already eleven, so time was what he lacked the most.
"Let me go," Nie Tian pleaded. "I can't just sit around and wait. I need to fight for myself. Going to the mines would also be a type of training for me."
Nie Qian considered carefully, before she finally nodded her head. "Remember. When we are out of Black Cloud City, you must follow my orders, and never act without my permission!
"Of course! Of course!" Nie Tian immediately promised.
Having been strictly confined to the Nie clan for months, he had been bored to death long ago. Now that the strangers who had lingered around the Nie clan had long since disappeared, he wanted to find an opportunity himself and go out.
Nie Qian said, "Tomorrow morning, I'll take you out of town!"
"Thank you, aunt!" Nie Tian rejoiced.
The next morning before dawn, Nie Tian was already standing at the gate when Nie Qian came.
At dawn, the two of them quietly left Black Cloud City, and marched towards Cloudsoaring Mountain.
Inside the Yun clan.
Yuan Qiuying and Yun Song finished their breakfast. They were rinsing their mouths when a man entered the room and softly said, "Mistress, Nie Qian and the little punk Nie Tian left Black Cloud City this morning and headed towards Cloudsoaring Mountain."
"The turtle has finally come out of its shell!" Yuan Qiuying's expression flickered as she gritted her teeth and said viciously. "That bitch and that fatherless and motherless little bastard, I'll see if they can break free from my grasp this time!"
She had never let go of her grudge against Nie Qian and Nie Tian.
Although she had recently called off the guest elders she sent to the Nie clan, she had still been secretly watching the gates of Black Cloud City.
She knew that Nie Qian and Nie Tian would eventually run out of patience and have to get out of the city.
Yuan Qiuying said ferociously, "They dared to leave Black Cloud City? The heavens must be helping me. I would have had to think twice before making a move inside the city. Now that they are out of the city, they shall never go back alive!
"That bitch must have gone to the Nie clan's mines in Cloudsoaring Mountain! Don't beat the grass and scare the snake (see note1), so don't make a move on their way to the mines. She will undoubtedly pay extra attention on their way to the mines. You just wait for them to come out of the mines and kill them on their way back to the city!"
"Understood, Mistress. I promise they won't make it back to Black Cloud City alive!"
"Alright. Make it clean and leave no traces. After it's done, order those guys to leave Black Cloud City and never return, so as to avoid the Cloudsoaring sect from getting any information that can be used against us."
"I understand."
Note:
**beat the grass and scare the snake -- it's a Chinese idiom which means to act rashly and alert the enemy**
Good day, eldest sister. What brought you here?"
"Be careful, eldest sister. It's not safe in there. Some areas collapsed just a couple of days ago."
"Greetings, eldest sister."
Nie Qian nodded and smiled back to every one of them. She also urged them to be extra cautious and prevent accidents by all means.
Nie Tian could see those who worked in the mine paid heartfelt respect to Nie Qian.
"These people, who mine flamecloud gems in the mine, live hard lives. Every and each one of them knew what they were facing when they came in." Nie Qian sighed briefly when she saw no one was around. "Little Tian, if you fail to be accepted by the Cloudsoaring sect when you are fifteen, you will probably be sent to this place by your second grandfather to mine flamecloud gems."
"Aren't only the extended members of the Nie clan supposed to be sent here?" Nie Tian asked.
"That used to be the case, but it might change." Nie Qian shook her head, her eyes somewhat dim. "In the mine, the mortality rate is rather high. People die here. The main mission of the Nie clan is to mine flamecloud gems for the Cloudsoaring sect. No other matter in the clan is more important.
"In recent years, flamecloud gems closer to the surface began to run out, so we had no other choice but to dig deeper, which made it more and more dangerous.
"All the elders of the extended families of the clan have used every possible method to avoid having their descendants sent to the mine.
"However, this place is the foundation of the Nie clan. People fear death. Without the supervision of our clan members, those laborers we have hired won't be willing to mine at such a depth. Meanwhile, we have to pay sufficient amounts of flamecloud gems as annual tributes to the Cloudsoaring sect. Once we fall short, the Cloudsoaring sect will probably stop caring about our clan.
"The truth is, without the Cloudsoaring sect's protection, it will be extremely difficult for our clan to maintain our foothold in Black Cloud City.
"Therefore, this mine is of the utmost importance to our clan. Around the clock, clan members have been appointed here for supervision purposes. Now that your second grandfather has come to power, he has promised to make changes, so it is very possible that members of direct families also be assigned here."
With these words, Nie Qian paused for a second, and then said profoundly, "Because your grandfather has been losing power and influence in the clan for a long time, I was appointed to manage the mine before he retired. Now we are even weaker. If you can't make yourself a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, we definitely won't be able to escape the destiny of being assigned here."
Nie Tian bowed his head and reflected on what she said. Soon after, he nodded and said, "I understand."
"Let's go." Nie Qian kept marching deeper.
After a while, Nie Tian discovered that the stone path leading into the belly of the mountain became increasingly narrow; the distance between his head and the ceiling of the tunnel was getting shorter and shorter.
He also noticed the number of laborers grew fewer as he went further down, and those laborers appeared to be skinnier and more spiritless.
A dark-skinned, skinny, middle-aged man suddenly showed up at an intersection of stone tunnels and warned, "Eldest sister, it's dangerous up ahead. You'd better not go any further. Merely eight days ago, Mine #73 witnessed a collapse, and two people were killed. We've only just cleared the rubble."
Nie Qian immediately stopped. She hesitated for a moment and said with an serious face, "Thank you for the warning. We'll take a brief look and come back soon."
"If so, you must be absolutely careful. I... I'll leave you be." The man's voice was full of fear.
Nie Qian nodded. "Sure, please go ahead with your work." The dark-skinned, skinny man vanished.
Nie Qian fell into silence for a while, and continued, "The further inside, the higher the mortality rate. Hence, every laborer who works here seems lifeless, because they never know which day will be their last. They are all unfortunate people from Black Cloud City. In order to earn a living for their wives and children inside the city, they are willing to take the risk to come here."
"Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect all have extraordinary abilities," Nie Tian said. "Let's say they were in here. Even if it collapsed, they wouldn't be hurt, right?"
Nie Qian gently nodded, and patiently said, "Cultivating to the Heaven stage would allow a person to do as he wishes inside the mine, absolutely fearless of sudden cave-ins. However, why would Qi warriors of the Heaven stage waste time to come here for flamecloud gems that are only an elementary grade four material?
"Those powerful Qi warriors are the most heartless!
"The Nie clan is nothing in their eyes. They would never care about a few random lives, let alone the lives of the unfortunate laborers the Nie clan has hired!
"Real Qi warriors are high above the masses. Clans like ours can only serve them.
"In the same way, mortals of the Black Cloud City also serve our clan. This world is cruel by nature. Neither you nor I can change it. There is only one way to be above others, one way to be free from being enslaved.
"And that is to become one of them!" Nie Qian said.
Nie Tian nodded forcefully with a tight face. "I promise I'll become a powerful Qi warrior!"
Nie Qian also grew determined. "Good! Let's go to the bottom of Mine #73!"
Before long, Nie Tian, under her lead, arrived in a vast area at the bottom of the mine.
The moment he went in, he noticed there were red spots on the walls glittering faintly with red light.
"Flamecloud gems!" Nie Tian suddenly felt enlivened.
Nie Qian urged in a loud voice. "This place is dangerous. Don't waste time. Hurry and absorb the flame power from these unmined flamecloud gems using that animal bone of yours! We'd better not stay for long. We'll leave as soon as the blood drop in the animal bone is fully condensed. Any delay means trouble."
"Okay!" Nie Tian immediately got to work.