Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Three days later, the peach blossom miasma had dissipated, and the Zhao Family no longer needed to take Breaking Miasma Pills to freely enter and exit Lush Peach Mountain.

It was not until this moment that an unexplored treasure land finally opened its arms to the Zhao family.

The Lush Peach Mountain covered nearly a hundred miles, with countless peach trees within, including a rare type of spiritual peach tree, of which there were only a little more than thirty.

The spiritual peaches that grew on these trees had golden skins and light red flesh, tasting extraordinarily sweet,

Once eaten, they produced strands of Spiritual Energy, with some effect of Refining the flesh, greatly improving one's Constitution and enhancing the quality of one's flesh.

No wonder the White Apes on Lush Peach Mountain were so nimble, with an average physical quality even stronger than that of Innate Martial Artists, all thanks to these golden peaches.

Apart from the spiritual peach trees, there were also numerous Spiritual Medicines planted on Lush Peach Mountain, with one of them even having a medicine age of over two thousand years.

For thousands of years, the Spiritual Medicines on Lush Peach Mountain had not been harvested, causing them to mature and then rot away uselessly.

After Lush Peach Mountain fell into the hands of the Zhao family, these Spiritual Medicines finally had a purpose.

Now the Zhao family suffered from the pain of insufficient manpower; there was so much to do in developing a spirit land.

They had to clear the decayed soil, chop down trees, drive away insects, fierce beasts, establish Spiritual Fields and Medicine Fields, and construct living quarters and defensive fortifications, among other tasks.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Any of the aforementioned tasks was not something that could be easily accomplished by just a few dozen people.

Moreover, a specialized Mountain Patrol Team had to be established to constantly guard against external enemies and invading demon beasts.

One could say that even splitting all the Zhao Family members in half would not be enough.

For a while, Zhao Sheng was so busy with countless trifling matters that he was running in circles. Unfortunately, at this time, no one could help share his burden.

With dangers lurking at every corner in the Desolate Domain, to ensure the safety of the Cloud Boat, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator had to be stationed, and Zhao Jijian was the obvious choice.

Because Zhao Jijian had to pilot the Cloud Boat, shuttling continuously between Taifu Mountain, Jiuding Square, and Lush Peach Mountain, he couldn't lend a hand to Zhao Sheng.

Meanwhile, Zhao Keru couldn't handle such matters and he too was frantically busy.

After a great battle on Lush Peach Mountain, the family's stockpile of Elixir Pills had been exhausted. Just Alchemy alone would keep Zhao Keru busy for a year or two.

As time trickled by, two months passed in the blink of an eye.

By this time, Zhao Sheng had completely sorted out the myriad of trivial matters on Lush Peach Mountain, and various affairs gradually got on the right track.

Finally, Zhao Sheng was able to take the time to pay attention to other matters, such as the most important Geng Metal Mine.

For over two months, Zhao Xuanjing worked tirelessly, bustling about from early in the morning until late at night.

However, after scouring the two-hundred-mile radius around Lush Peach Mountain, he still hadn't found the Geng Metal Mine.

Zhao Sheng found this odd and thought perhaps his conjecture was wrong and that the Geng Gold Stick had been a fluke?

Three days later, just as Zhao Sheng was about to search for himself, Zhao Xuanjing came to him with excitement written all over his face.

"Uncle Seven, I found it!"

Zhao Sheng stood up immediately, asking anxiously, "What? You really found the Geng Metal Mine?"

"Yes, Uncle Seven, look!"

Zhao Xuanjing nodded and slowly opened his palm; visible within it was a pinch of Geng Metal granules glinting with Blue Light.

"It's true, this is Geng Metal! Xuanjing, where did you find it?" Zhao Sheng asked excitedly.

Zhao Xuanjing replied with a smile, "The Geng Metal Mine is located in a lake more than four hundred miles away from Lush Peach Mountain. You said before that Taibai Gold Essence, when it falls to the ground, will leave a big pit.

"I just followed this clue, and at first, I searched through all low-lying valleys and found nothing. Two days ago, when I passed by that wild lake, I suddenly wondered if the lake was created by an impact. So, I dove in and looked around. This search actually led me to find it."

Zhao Sheng clapped Zhao Xuanjing on the arm happily, praising him, "Xuanjing, you've worked hard!"

Zhao Xuanjing touched his head sheepishly and said modestly, "Uncle Seven, compared to those uncles and brothers who died for the family, my efforts are really nothing."

Zhao Sheng said, "That's good, if everyone in the family thinks like you do, why would we worry about the Zhao family not thriving in the future!"

...

Half a day later, Zhao Sheng and Zhao Xuanjing landed by the side of a wild lake.

Looking through the clear bottom of the lake, one could clearly see that the bottom was covered with large patches of solidified, glass-like molten material.

Zhao Sheng looked toward the northeast, his gaze flickering a few times.

Shortly afterward, Zhao Xuanjing led Zhao Sheng through the thick layers of soil and rocks to enter the Geng Metal Mine.

Zhao Sheng stood at the deepest part of the mine, holding a Bright Pearl in his hand. The pale white light diffused outwards, casting reflections on the surrounding mine walls, showing specks of blue light reflecting back from the innermost rock wall.

Zhao Xuanjing stepped forward, reached out to touch the rock wall, and the Yellow Light emanating from his hand spread across the nearby rock surface.

A layer of the rock crumbled away, and in an instant, six Geng Metal granules the size of gravel were squeezed out, clinking into his hand.

Zhao Sheng, seeing this, asked, "Xuanjing, how much Geng Metal do you estimate can be produced from this mine at most? Have you found the Taibai Gold Essence?"

Zhao Xuanjing replied, "Uncle Seven, the rocks in this Geng Metal Mine are extremely hard. Little Gold and I together couldn't even penetrate them.

And without using spells, it's very difficult to break these rocks. If we use spells, with my current cultivation of Qi Refining Eighth Layer, I can dig at most half a zhang a day, collecting between one hundred to two hundred Geng Metal granules. As for the Taibai Gold Essence, I think it must be at the very depths of the Geng Metal Mine."

Geng Metal was too precious, and it had to be kept in extreme secrecy.

Until now, only four people in the Zhao Family knew this secret, and they had no intentions of informing anyone else.

The more people who knew, the easier it was for secrets to be leaked, so for the time being, Zhao Xuanjing would have to be the sole miner.

Coming out from the mine, Zhao Sheng stood by the lake and looked towards the northeast direction. Find adventures at empire

Watching the black smoke rising in the distance, his expression gradually became serious.

"Xuanjing, how far are we from Flame Ridge?"

Zhao Xuanjing shaded his eyes with his hand, gazed in the direction of Flame Ridge, thought for a moment, and answered, "Almost a hundred li away."

"Too close, too close!" Zhao Sheng murmured to himself, then turned to Zhao Xuanjing and said, "Let's go! Back to Lush Peach Mountain."

A day later, the Cloud Boat returned to Lush Peach Mountain.

Zhao Jijian had just disembarked from the Cloud Boat when Zhao Sheng pulled him into the secret chamber, where Zhao Xuanjing and Zhao Keru were already waiting.

Zhao Jijian, seeing this, expressed his surprise, "What's happened? Has something big occurred?"

After having him sit down, Zhao Sheng said in a serious tone, "Indeed, there are two important matters that we need to discuss."

Having said that, Zhao Sheng then informed Zhao Jijian and Zhao Keru about the discovery of the Geng Metal Mine and its uncomfortably close proximity to Flame Ridge.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jijian's and Zhao Keru's expressions became very grave.

Zhao Sheng's meaning was clear. The Shen Family posed a significant threat.

If the Geng Metal Mine were to remain unknown to outsiders, the Shen Family must either be driven away or prevented from ever speaking out.