The colossal Pig Dragon slowly descended onto the Dragon Landing Terrace outside of Ta Mountain City, and then... with a swing of its long tail, the Pig Dragon set Xin Yun and Yi Luo Xiang down, and then... the enormous figure of the Pig Dragon swiftly became intangible, transforming into a sky of earthy yellow light, and entered into Ah Da's body.
As soon as they landed, Xin Yun anxiously set off towards the direction of Tower Mountain Megacity. Despite over two months of continuous arduous travel leaving everyone utterly exhausted, especially Yi Luo Xiang, who had just recovered from a serious illness and was still groggy, the pressure of time was truly too great. Xin Yun couldn't afford to waste a single minute or second.
As for Ah Da, although he hadn't earned a penny in the past two months, that journey from the Plains City to the Desert of Death had ballooned his assets to a tremendous 100 Gold Coins!
Of course, if it were just these 100 gold coins, Ah Da certainly wouldn't be satisfied. Though that was a significant sum of money, the human heart is like this: it always expands and is never truly satisfied.
The reason Ah Da was so willing to travel over hundreds of thousands of miles to Ta Mountain City was simple. It was because Xin Yun had promised that once he had brought him to Ta Mountain City, he would draw out the safe passage to the Desert of Death and hand it over to him. Just think about it... Given the current state of the Desert of Death, one can only imagine the immense business opportunities contained within! Merely transporting anything there could bring him huge profits. Before others discovered this safe passage, their income would be far more than just a tenfold increase. Even a hundredfold wouldn't be an exaggeration at all!
Ah Da looked admiringly at Xin Yun, who was walking briskly ahead. This guy was really strange. Clearly exhausted to the point of death, and looking like he could collapse at any moment, yet his spirit was remarkably good, showing a determination that was outright awe-inspiring!
After more than two months of interaction, Ah Da was completely convinced by Xin Yun. Ah Da had also asked why, since Xin Yun knew of this safe passage, he hadn't told him from the start. If he had followed his advice, profits would have increased by a hundredfold, not just tenfold—Ah Da was aware of this.
Facing Ah Da's question, Xin Yun just looked at him indifferently, and calmly asked if he would have believed it if, at that time, he had been told that acting on his advice would increase future income a hundredfold, given their situation back then?
Upon hearing Xin Yun's words, Ah Da furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, then quickly understood. Yes... if Xin Yun had really mentioned a hundredfold profit at that time, he would have never believed it. More likely, he would have thought Xin Yun was sick, feverish, and delirious. How could he possibly have taken his word for it?
Regardless of what Ah Da might be thinking, on the other side... Xin Yun was familiarly navigating along the street. Although it was his first time in Tower Mountain Megacity in this life, in his previous life, this had been a region controlled by one of his faction's branches, so familiar as to leave no room for strangeness.
On the street, Xin Yun hailed a carriage and then directed it towards the largest Dragon Crystal shop in Ta Mountain City. This so-called Ta Mountain was actually an active volcano that occasionally erupted, which explained why there were so many people of the Fire Series here. Consequently, the price of Fire Series Dragon Crystals remained high.
The transaction proceeded very smoothly. Xin Yun did not haggle much, settling on a fairly reasonable price. With 100 One Star Fire Series Dragon Crystals of the Silver grade exchanged, 1140 Gold Coins were acquired!
Thereafter, Xin Yun and his two companions once again boarded the carriage, this time heading straight for the oldest and largest blacksmith shop in Ta Mountain City—Feng! Ta Mountain was not just the so-called source of Dragon Creation Stones; the accompanying ore to Dragon Creation Stones was Red Iron Ore! Thus, a large quantity of Red Iron was also produced here and... since it was a mining area, the demand for essential tools for mining ores was naturally very high. Therefore, Ta Mountain City had two major specialities: one was Dragon Creation Stones, and the other was ironware!
The reason Xin Yun had been striving to make money all along the way was partly to buy a suitable mining spade here. With Xin Yun's current strength, if he were to use a regular mining spade, even if he found the Azure Blue Sea, he would likely be helpless. The Dragon Creation Stones grew within incredibly hard Red Iron. With Xin Yun's current strength, how could it be possible to pry it out?
However, although a typical mining spade wouldn't do, if it were a spade made of Essence Gold, that would be a different story altogether. The so-called Essence Gold mining spade was wrought by fusing Essence Iron and gold, creating a mining tool of unparalleled sharpness. It might not slice through iron like mud, but when it comes to mining Red Iron Ore, it certainly made the job effortlessly easy.
Of course, whether it's Essence Gold or Essence Iron, their prices are astonishingly high. Essence Gold, which is refined from gold, needs no mention, but even the more common Essence Iron is exceptionally difficult to refine, hence... Xin Yun couldn't afford to buy a large Essence Gold mining shovel, let alone the medium or small ones. With the money Xin Yun has now, he could only afford to buy a handheld miniature Essence Gold mining shovel.
However, for Xin Yun, the miniature size was the most suitable. Especially for excavating from the Azure Blue Sea, it was the best choice. In fact, Xin Yun wanted to buy this Essence Gold mining shovel for a deeper purpose.
There weren't many of these Essence Gold mining shovels. According to Xin Yun's memories from his past life, there were less than a dozen ever made. Later, due to poor sales, their production was stopped. After all... this is Mining City, where large or medium mining shovels are needed, or at the very least small ones. For these miniature mining shovels, there was simply no market.
It's true that there were a dozen or so produced, but most were used up. After all... a mining shovel is a tool that wears out very quickly.
Using the memories from his previous life, Xin Yun knew that the blacksmith who forged these Essence Gold mining shovels would soon die of a chronic illness, and the method to merge Essence Gold with Essence Red Iron would be lost with him. Thus... although the miniature Essence Gold mining shovels were later found to have new uses, they could never be made again.
The function of Essence Gold is massive. As long as a Metal Series Dragon Crystal is embedded and activated through a special Formation, it can unleash the sharpness of Essence Gold. This sharp energy of Essence Gold, so sharp it could be described as cutting iron like mud, makes the mining of ores an absolute breeze! It's truly like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood!
Of course, small, medium, and large mining shovels could also be modified this way. However, the larger the size, the more energy needed to unleash the sharp Essence Gold energy. Even a small mining shovel would require a Third Grade Dragon Crystal to operate. As for the medium and large ones, they would need Fourth and Fifth Grade Dragon Crystals, respectively, and would consume a lot, depleting the Dragon Crystals fast; yet their work efficiency is not much better than that of the miniature mining shovel.
In fact, apart from the Azure Blue Sea, Xin Yun couldn't think of any ore worth mining using a Dragon Crystal above Third Grade. Besides, if the mining shovel is too large, it's not convenient to carry. Coupled with the fact that the efficiency is about the same, the miniature Essence Gold mining shovel could be called a collector's item!
The purchase of the mining shovel went smoothly. When the blacksmith shop owner heard that someone wanted to buy a shovel that had been on backlog for half a year, he didn't haggle over the price and immediately lowered it from 1,500 Gold to 1,000 Gold. You should know... a third of the Essence Gold mining shovel was made from refined gold, equivalent to a pile of gold sitting there, unusable.
Looking at the small tool in his hands, only 20 centimeters long, with a small but incredibly sharp shovel head, Xin Yun's eyes sparkled with excitement. With this small mining shovel, he could quickly dig out the Azure Blue Sea ore, and moreover... with a slight modification, this shovel could become a formidable weapon. You should know... the sharpness of the Essence Gold energy unleashed is not just for mining; since it can easily shave open the exceedingly hard Red Iron Ore, if used to shave people...
What's most important is that, according to Xin Yun's experiences from his previous life, there are many places in the future where this Essence Gold shovel will be needed. Its significance is unimaginable to anyone else. In a way, whether Xin Yun can achieve success after his reincarnation heavily depends on this mining shovel.
After purchasing the Essence Gold mining shovel, Xin Yun got back on the horse-drawn carriage, settled A'Da and Yi Luo Xiang at the inn, and then sneaked away. Renting another carriage, he headed for the area behind Ta Mountain City.
This operation had to be kept completely secret... Xin Yun couldn't let anyone know or be involved, otherwise, even if it was A'Da, facing such an affair, Xin Yun couldn't be sure of his reaction.
Although just seven years old, Xin Yun was, after all, a person reborn. Driving the carriage was easy for him. The only question was... whether the Azure Blue Sea was still there by the roadside, waiting for him to excavate.