From then on, Lin Hanfang came every day, each time bringing something—either magical artifacts or spiritual herbs. Later, she somehow found out that Cang Hai was also studying talismanic arts, so she went to Jian Ziyuan, who was skilled in talismans, and obtained some talismanic formulas and study notes. Despite Cang Hai's continuous rejections, Lin Hanfang always left the items behind before leaving, almost as if she were playing the role of a high-spirited, rich, and charming heiress in a modern romance drama—sending flowers and gifts to win the heart of the aloof man.
After more than ten days of this, everyone, except Cang Hai, who was enduring this daily torment, had received something they liked—a magical artifact here, a piece of spiritual herb there. This made the group begin to suspect that perhaps this small sect wasn't as poor as it appeared at first.
Eventually, Tong Xinfen even advised Sang Tian, "...Why bother with that spoiled young lady? Just think of her as a walking treasure chest."
Sang Tian had grown so numb to Lin Hanfang's persistence that, over time, she had come to see the young lady as a bit of an idiot. After seeing how Cang Hai had started losing weight from the stress and sleepless nights, her heart softened, and she stopped saying anything further to him about it.
But Cang Hai still couldn't bear it. Eventually, he had no choice but to lock himself in his room, claiming he needed to go into seclusion for a few days.
Fortunately, after everyone learned the art of meditation, they discovered that practicing the great circle of the heavens while meditating also earned experience points. So, being cooped up in the room wasn't as bad as it seemed. Cang Hai threw himself into studying talismans, and over the course of a few days, he made some significant progress.
One day, Du Chen returned from the Pingyun Pavilion and said to Cang Hai, "Hey, you should really thank me! I just took on a task to kill a demon beast on the western White Deer Mountain. Let's get out of here and avoid that lady for a few days. We'll have some peace and quiet."
Upon hearing this, Cang Hai didn't hesitate for a second, afraid that Lin Hanfang might catch wind of it and follow them. He quickly gathered the others, and Du Chen summoned the high-quality flying artifact that Qin Lang had given them. The group quickly set off down the mountain.
As it turned out, Cang Hai's worries were well-founded. As soon as they left, Lin Hanfang appeared, riding her lotus-shaped flying artifact, and landed on the unnamed mountaintop. Seeing that the place was empty, she stamped her foot in frustration. Just as she was about to give chase, she remembered that she had to seek approval from her master before descending the mountain. With a reluctant sigh, she took off again, heading toward the main peak.
The group continued flying westward. After a while, Cang Hai glanced behind and saw no one following them, finally letting out a relieved breath.
Du Chen pulled out the map that had been given to him when he accepted the mission. But as he unrolled it, he froze. The ancient map was filled with abstract lines, circles, and dots—completely indecipherable.
Luckily, the system stepped in to save the day. Red text appeared:
(Do you want to add the Xuanzhou Kingdom map to the system's map? Yes/No)
At times like this, only a fool would choose "No."
After confirming, the map switched to a more conventional format. The group compared the terrain and adjusted their course. After flying for some time, they arrived at the top of a small mountain range. Looking down from above, they could see that the main peak of the range was covered in white stone, shaped remarkably like a reclining doe. This confirmed that they had arrived at White Deer Mountain.
Du Chen prepared to land the group, but Sang Tian's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of something hidden between the peaks of the main mountain. She spotted the faint outline of a structure within a canyon. Slowly lowering their altitude, they soon discovered a mining site obscured by trees—this was their destination.
On the way, Du Chen had already briefed the others on the details of the mission.
The White Deer Mountain Range, located within Xuanzhou Kingdom, was rich in iron ore. Years ago, an official government-run mine had been established, operating smoothly for over a decade without any incidents. However, a month ago, a group of ferocious demon beasts took over the mine, killing the miners who had worked there.
The local officials reported this to the king, and since the Nanxi Sect had disciples who frequently held positions in the royal court, an investigation was launched. The findings were reported back to the sect, which decided to issue a task to its disciples to eradicate the demon beasts.
However, the number of demon beasts was high, and most of them were mid-tier demon beasts, meaning any cultivator below the Foundation Establishment stage would be signing their own death warrant. In the Nanxi Sect, Foundation Establishment disciples were the elite, with no shortage of spiritual stones, so they had no desire to take on such a dangerous and exhausting task.
Brother Huang, after several days of headaches, was thrilled when he learned that Du Chen and his companions, all Foundation Establishment cultivators, had accepted the mission. He gladly handed it over, even using a little of his authority to increase their reward.
The group landed in a hidden spot, quickly forming a battle formation, and cautiously advanced toward the mine. Not long after, they encountered their first enemy.
It was a demon deer, standing about two people tall, with antlers resembling twisted trees. As soon as it saw the humans, it stomped the ground with its hooves and charged at them like a bull, its eyes red with rage. Du Chen swiftly swung the large sword he had forged, intercepting it mid-charge.
The massive sword slammed heavily into the demon deer's head, and with a sharp crack, one of its long antlers broke off. In pain, the demon deer reared up on its hind legs, its powerful front hooves aiming for Du Chen's head. Du Chen's mind raced, and the enormous sword instantly appeared before him, blocking the attack with a resounding clang.
At that moment, the other members of the team launched their spells. Each of them unleashed their unique skills and elemental techniques. The demon deer, level 13, stood no chance against the onslaught and, after only a few more moments, fell to the ground, turning into experience points for the group.
Mid-tier demon beasts were comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivators in strength, but since they lacked fully developed intelligence, they only used their innate abilities and raw power when fighting. As a result, when facing a single demon beast with a level not too different from their own, the group had no trouble at all, easily dispatching it like cutting through vegetables.
However, as they neared the heart of the mine, they began to encounter groups of demon beasts, many of which were level 15 or 16. The team felt the pressure mounting with each battle.
Ahead, they spotted another group of demon beasts—seven in total. By this time, Du Chen and his companions had reached level 13, but with the higher level and larger numbers of the enemies, the group hesitated. They took cover in the grass at the side of the path and began a heated discussion in their team channel about whether to clear the surrounding monsters first or take a risk and confront the enemies head-on.
Just as they were discussing, a demon wolf suddenly lifted its head, sniffing the air. It let out a sharp howl in the direction of the group. The other demon beasts immediately charged toward them. They had been discovered.
The battle intensified as the group found themselves caught off guard. Cang Hai quickly regained his composure and began issuing commands.
"Warriors, engage the front! Mages and Priests, take positions behind them!" he ordered, his tone calm and assertive. "One of you, transform a beast into a sheep, and another, cast sleep on the other! We've got to contain the remaining demon beasts!"
Amidst the chaos, Cang Hai nonchalantly reached into his bag and pulled out a stack of talisman papers. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled one from the pile, holding it between his fingers. Chanting under his breath, he began weaving complex hand gestures in the air, as if painting invisible symbols. With a swift motion, he tossed the talisman like a dart, and it flew through the air with incredible precision, landing on the demon deer.
In an instant, the talisman burst into a blinding flash of spiritual light. The demon deer froze in place, immobilized by the magic.
Tong Xinfen and Xiao Yue, while continuing their own attacks, couldn't help but cheer: "Wow, that was awesome! Like Zhang Tian Shi! Is this the Immobilization Talisman? So powerful!"
Cang Hai, ever the calm strategist, pulled out another talisman. This time, he hurled it at the demon wolf Du Chen had intercepted. It was a Lightning Talisman. The sky crackled as several bolts of lightning shot down, sizzling with intensity. The wolf was struck by the electric energy, leaving behind blackened scorch marks.
With the help of the talismans, the team's speed of attack increased dramatically. Each of them received a few talismans from Cang Hai, who had already thought of a way to put them to use. Du Chen, while maneuvering his spiritual sword, curiously asked, "So how do these work? Do you need a special gesture, or incantations to activate them?"
"It's not too complicated," Cang Hai replied, his gaze focused on the battlefield. "You just channel your spiritual energy into them to activate them. It's like a remote-controlled grenade."
Du Chen raised an eyebrow. "So all those poses and mumbling you did earlier... that was for…?"
Cang Hai, without missing a beat, replied nonchalantly, "Well, you've seen how Taoist priests in TV dramas do it, right? Turns out, it actually looks pretty cool."
At this, everyone froze mid-movement, unable to suppress their reactions. Tong Xinfen couldn't help but tease: "Cang Hai, are you okay? This kind of show-off move... only the boss would do that. Why are you acting like this too?"
But then, Sang Tian chimed in, with a sympathetic grin, "Let him vent a little. There aren't any therapists in this world. Let him have his moment."
The group burst into laughter, but their battle didn't pause. As they continued to fight, Cang Hai noticed that everyone was running low on talismans. He sighed and warned, "You guys need to pace yourselves with those. It takes a long time to make them."
Tong Xinfen nodded seriously, "Don't worry, I've made quite a few myself when I was bored. It's easy, since the system helps with the drawing." With that, she pulled out another talisman and threw it toward the remaining enemies.
This talisman was a Ground Trap, one Cang Hai had used before. When activated, it would turn the ground beneath the enemy into a swampy mire, trapping the demon beasts and rendering them immobile. However, the talisman that Tong Xinfen had made seemed weaker, as the swamp's range and depth were insufficient. The tall demon deer only stumbled for a moment before clambering out of the mud.
"Why isn't it working properly?" Du Chen asked, his brow furrowing.
Cang Hai adjusted his glasses thoughtfully. "In my tests, I've found that talismans created by the system or drawn by hand have at least a 30% difference in power. While system-made talismans are convenient, who knows when the system might disappear, right? It's always safer to learn the process yourself."
The others seemed to have never thought about this before, but now, with Canghai's reminder, they suddenly realized that they had been taking the system's existence for granted. That was actually a pretty dangerous thing to do.
With this thought in mind, they all became more conscious of using the仙法 (immortal techniques) they had learned in the sect. Every time they used them, they could feel the flow of spiritual energy moving through their meridians. After using it several times, they gradually got more familiar with the routes of the energy flow. Maybe, even if the system really disappeared one day, they could still be true cultivators.
After clearing the surrounding beasts, the team members, now level 15, began exploring the depths of the mine.
Even during the day, the deeper parts of the mine were still completely dark. There were supposed to be oil lamps at intervals along the path, but as they entered, some lamps were still lit, while many others had already gone out. The dim light flickered, casting weak beams across the cave. A lot of the areas were almost entirely shrouded in darkness.
There was nothing in the cave except some large mined-out rocks scattered randomly along the path. They walked cautiously for a while. As they passed a particularly dark stretch of road, Du Chen, leading the way, suddenly stumbled, as if stepping on something round. He bent down to check and found it was a piece of human leg bone. Startled, he quickly threw it away, and it clattered against the cave wall, making a few soft thuds.
Everyone else was also spooked by the sight, breaking out in cold sweat. The atmosphere in the cave grew tense and eerie.
Darkness has a way of making people's minds wander, and with the deep silence of the cave, all they could hear was the faint sound of their own breathing. At this depth underground, a chill wind blew out of nowhere, and all five of them suddenly felt a cold shiver down their spines. Their body hairs stood on end. They started to nervously scan their surroundings, feeling like invisible, man-eating creatures might be lurking in every corner.
Sangtian took out a night pearl from his bag, a gift from Lin Hanfang. It was even brighter than they had imagined. As soon as it was pulled out, its soft glow illuminated the cave walls around them. The pearly light gave them a strange sense of warmth, almost like the temperature had risen.
The mine's pathways were complicated. Du Chen and the others explored for a while but didn't encounter a single beast. They went deeper and deeper, finding scattered human bones and mining tools left behind by the workers.
When they reached the very deepest part of the mine, Du Chen and Xiao Yue suddenly called out at the same time, "There's a spiritual vein!" Both Du Chen and Xiao Yue had learned the skill to detect spiritual veins, and now on their system map, a yellow dot clearly appeared, marking the presence of a spiritual vein.
But they had already explored all the paths, and there were no other routes. If there was a spiritual vein, where could it be?