Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

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"Are we perhaps worrying unnecessarily? The Geng Metal Mine is deep beneath the lake. It seems very well-hidden; the Shen Family shouldn't be able to discover it," Zhao Keru cautiously asked.

Zhao Sheng shook his head and explained, "Uncle Ru, we can't just focus on the short term. Once the Shen Family settles in, they could come across that wild lake at any time. What will we do if they discover the Geng Metal Mine?"

Hehe!

Zhao Keru let out an awkward laugh, "Maybe by the time they discover it, the Geng Metal Mine will have long been mined out by us. As long as we destroy any traces, nobody will be able to tell that a Geng Metal Mine ever existed there."

Zhao Keru was prudently minded; the family had suffered significant losses recently, and he was not willing to provoke a conflict over a spirit mine.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhao Sheng immediately countered, "There will always be traces left behind from our work. Nobody can guarantee that the Shen Family will not discover the secrets of the wild lake. What do you think the Shen Family's first move would be if they found the Geng Metal Mine?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jijian's white eyebrows shot up as he said coldly, "Naturally, they would do everything in their power to eradicate our Zhao Family."

At that moment, Zhao Xuanjing added, "The terrain of the Geng Metal Mine is unique. Anyone who has seen it before will surely recognize it."

Seeing the situation, Zhao Keru could only say helplessly, "Then... what do you think we should do?"

As soon as his words fell, the three men simultaneously said, "Strike first to gain the upper hand, delay and bring disaster upon ourselves!"

After saying this, Zhao Sheng and the two others smiled at each other in unspoken understanding and agreement.

...Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Flame Ridge was an active volcano, with a Molten Lake nestled at the concave peak.

Due to multiple volcanic eruptions, the inside of the mountain had developed countless vein-like molten stone caves.

With an extensive number of molten stone caves intersecting and connecting with each other, a vast and complex Underground Maze had formed within Flame Ridge, inhabited by a clan of Earth Fire Salamanders for generations.

Therefore, when the Shen Family took control of Flame Ridge, they were immediately attacked by the Earth Fire Salamanders.

The Shen Family faced an enormous challenge.

Taking advantage of the terrain, the Earth Fire Salamanders became ethereal and elusive in the maze, launching sudden attacks here and causing chaos there, and most infuriatingly, they were capable of breathing fire.

Imagine navigating a narrow Melt Cave tunnel where it's hard even to turn around, and suddenly a burst of fire floods in from the entrance, spewing flames from one end of the cave to the other. That feeling of living yet wishing for death could only truly be grasped by the scorched members of the Shen Family.

In the past two months, the Shen Family had been utterly frantic and distressed.

In order to eliminate these Earth Fire Salamanders, the Shen Family had tried every possible method.

Although many Earth Fire Salamanders had been killed, under the leadership of a Second-tier Leader, the demon beasts became increasingly cunning and difficult to kill.

Over the past two days, the Shen Family had lost two members at the Qi Refining Third Layer, without even catching a glimpse of an Earth Fire Salamander.

Because of this, Foundation Establishment Shen Yangao's hair had practically turned white with worry.

In a large Melt Cave that had been cleared out, Shen Baiao sat opposite an old man with longevity eyebrows.

"Great Elder, the clan has suffered heavy losses recently, and that Second-tier Salamander is too cunning, eluding us time and time again. Perhaps we should consider moving to a different place?" said Shen Yangao, his heart filled with worry.

The Great Elder of the Shen Family gently stroked his longevity eyebrows and asked in a calm voice, "Where do you propose we go?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yangao immediately became excited and said, "I think Lush Peach Mountain, which is a few hundred miles away, looks good. I sneaked over there the day before yesterday. It has already been captured by the Zhao Family, so we could simply drive them out."

Hearing this, the Great Elder lifted his eyelids, and his eyes flashed sharply as he said in a deep voice, "Yang Ao, driving out the Zhao Family is easy, but aren't you afraid of provoking the Elixir Saint Ge Family?"

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Shen Yangao held an air of arrogance, clutching the Wisdom Pearl as he said, "I have already inquired clearly. The Zhao family is merely welcoming a granddaughter of a Golden Core Master from the Ge family. Yet that Golden Core Master has over a hundred grandchildren, and it is nearly impossible for him to stand up for a marriage concerning an ordinary grandchild. The Cultivation World has always been a place where the strong prey on the weak. If the Ge family were to meddle in such a minor matter, they would incur the wrath of many."

The Great Elder listened but was not the least bit moved.

He slowly pulled down his eyelid and said leisurely, "Yangao, your thoughts are not bad, but the Zhao family has already lost many lives for Flame Ridge. Now, to provoke another Cultivation Family is not wise.

Let's wait and see! Wait another half a year. If by then we still can't take down Flame Ridge, this old man will personally take action to drive away the Zhao family. How does that sound?"

Although Shen Yangao was reluctant, he dared not go against the will of the Great Elder and had no choice but to bow his head and say, "What the Great Elder said is correct."

Shen Yangao was plotting to snatch Lush Peach Mountain, unaware that the Zhu family had already secretly infiltrated Flame Ridge.

At this time, Zhao Xuanjing and Zhao Sheng quietly appeared in a narrow tunnel.

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Ptui, ptui!

The air in the tunnel was murky, and as soon as Zhao Xuanjing entered, he was greeted by a full breath of sulfuric acid odor, which made him involuntarily spit out several mouthfuls of saliva.

Zhao Sheng's complexion changed as he instinctively covered his nose. Possessing the Divine Skill of Spiritual Smell, he was even less able to put up with this harsh environment.

"Uncle Seven, how could the Shen family fancy such a damned place?" Zhao Xuanjing squatted on the ground with a section of Little Gold's body wrapped around his leg, his face filled with disgust.

The Golden Ring Spirit Earthworm preferred the dark and disliked the sun, and it hated environments like Flame Ridge that were hot and dry, so it only exposed a small section of its body.

"So much nonsense. Don't forget the purpose of our visit here."

Having finished speaking, Zhao Sheng quickly circulated his Spiritual Power and cast a Dust Cleaning Technique on himself. After filtering most of the air, he started to feel a bit better.

Zhao Xuanjing said with an innocent expression, "I haven't forgotten. Aren't we trying to figure out the Earth Veins nodes of Flame Ridge? And to map the Underground Maze. Then we'll take the chance to hit the Shen family hard."

"Mhm, now we'll split up. You go down, I go up. Right, do you have enough Invisibility Talismans and Concentrating God Talismans?"

"Enough. I didn't use much last time."

"Good, be careful then!"

After saying their goodbyes, Zhao Xuanjing grabbed Little Gold and left using the Earth Escape Technique.

Zhao Sheng skillfully equipped himself with the Invisibility Talisman and Concentrating God Talisman to hide his figure, then quickly moved through the tunnel.

Thanks to Divine Sense, Zhao Sheng was extremely efficient in his exploration. He ran for half a day and quickly mapped the positions and directions of dozens of tunnels.

At this time, the Shen family was completely unaware of the Zhu family's shameful act of infiltration, still struggling day in and day out, outwitting and battling the Earth Fire Salamanders, nearly too preoccupied to take any notice of their surroundings.

And so, a month passed by swiftly.

On this day, the sky was clear and the breeze was gentle.

In the middle of Lush Peach Mountain, centered around a stone cave, twenty-some buildings made of stone and wood had been established, and on the periphery, a stone wall two zhang high and one zhang thick was glowing with the light halo of a Defensive Array, protecting the whole architectural complex.

A small settlement was beginning to take shape.

At this time, in the stone house at the center of the settlement, all the key members of the Zhao family were present, except for Zhao Sheng.

Everyone had solemn expressions and was listening intently to Zhao Xuanjing explain.