Author's Note: The second watch has arrived. My migraine is acting up and it's very uncomfortable. My heart is throbbing with pain. I'm writing very slowly. Please forgive me for being late!
There will be a third watch at around 11: 30 pm. Please support me!
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After carefully returning to the Ling family, Ling Dong was already covered in cold sweat.
It was not because he was worried that his whereabouts would be exposed. It was because he was scared out of his wits by the news that Ling Zhengshan was the one who spent 1.2 million taels of silver and 1200 pieces of low-grade crystal stones to buy his two bottles of Three Flower Demonic Pills.
Combining the clues he had gathered over the past few days, plus the news he received from Kuixing Pavilion today, Ling Dong speculated an extremely terrifying fact. And this fact was very likely to be the real reason Ling Dong was unable to find out in his previous life, which led to the extermination of the Ling family.
If this news was true, then there would be an answer as to why the mysterious Mr. Mou would pay attention to the Ling family.
Ling Dong's conclusion was frighteningly simple — Ling Zhengshan was very likely to have obtained a crystal mine!
Only this conclusion could explain why Ling Zhengshan was able to throw out 1200 pieces of low-grade crystal stones in one go. Even the 1.2 million taels of silver were obtained by Ling Zhengshan using low-grade crystal stones.
And with this chain reaction, Ling Dong also speculated that the Ling family member who secretly met with the head of the Zuo family, Zuo Xuancheng, a few days ago was definitely Ling Zhengshan. And the gift that Ling Zhengshan gave to Zuo Xuancheng was very likely a large number of low-grade crystal stones.
This point could be proven by the fact that Zuo Xuancheng used low-grade crystal stones to bid for the two bottles of Three Flower Demonic Pills. Generally speaking, the three big families of Nanshan County would have a certain amount of low-grade crystal stones in reserve. But this amount would not be too much. At most, they would have two to three hundred pieces.
An ordinary man's wealth is his own ruin!
A crystal mine, which was even more direct than a gold mine, was definitely not something that the Ling family could possess at present. For example, a gold mine, the cost of mining was still very high. After mining, it had to be smelted and so on. But something like a crystal mine, if one possessed it, it was no different from picking up money.
Not only was its value much higher than gold mines, but the cost of mining was also very small. Most importantly, crystal stones were strategic resources for martial artists to cultivate. If a martial artist had a large amount of crystal stones to absorb Aura Qi, then his cultivation speed would be twice as fast as other people's.
If it was a better quality mid-grade crystal, then his cultivation speed would be increased by more than three times. However, this method of using crystals to cultivate was definitely not something that ordinary people could bear. For example, a martial artist at the first level of the Xiantian Realm would need to absorb at least 20 pieces of low-grade crystal stones to cultivate for a night.
One night's consumption was equivalent to 20,000 silver taels. Moreover, this kind of consumption would greatly increase as one's cultivation level increased. Almost every time one's cultivation level increased, the consumption would double.
Using silvers to exchange for crystals to cultivate? Even if his family had ten silver mines, it wouldn't be enough. However, if he had a crystal mine, then it would be a different story. This kind of cultivation method that purely used crystal stones to rapidly increase one's cultivation was also possible.
The top forces of the Tian Gang Continent could ignore the existence of a silver mine or gold mine, but no one could ignore the existence of even half a crystal mine.
Ling Dong didn't know how long Ling Zhengshan had obtained the crystal mine, but he could foresee that Ling Zhengshan was very careful in this regard. However, that mysterious Mister Mou's attention to the Ling family had already shown that someone had begun to pay attention to Ling Zhengshan.
"Gao Yuan, has anything strange happened in the family recently?" It wasn't too difficult to know the exact location of the crystal mine. Ling Zhengshan couldn't have obtained a crystal mine for no reason. There must have been some strange event or omen that occurred.
"Strange event?" Gao Yuan scratched his head. "Young Master, the family has been very peaceful recently. Nothing strange has happened."
"Think carefully. Don't just think about the recent events. Think about the recent events. Think about the recent events." Ling Dong frowned. According to Ling Dong's estimation, Ling Zhengshan shouldn't have obtained the crystal mine for too long.
"The recent half year?" At the mention of this, Gao Yuan suddenly froze. "Oh, Young Master, if you want to talk about the long-term, there really is one thing. Four months ago, the forty to fifty miners of the Ling family's iron mine on Xiong Nan Mountain suddenly died. The family said that they were attacked by some Demonic Beast. The miners' families didn't accept it and caused a ruckus for a while. In the end, the Second Master stepped in and paid a large sum of money to appease the miners' families. "
"What happened after that?" Ling Dong stared at Gao Yuan.
"After that?" Gao Yuan didn't understand Ling Dong's meaning. "After that, the miners' families took the money and accepted most of the eligible people into the Ling family to work as servants or servants. After that, no one caused any more trouble."
"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the iron mine that was attacked by the Demonic Beast. What happened?" Ling Dong asked.
"We don't know about that. We only heard that the Second Master took care of it," Gao Yuan replied.
Ling Dong stared blankly for a moment before he reacted. What happened after that was indeed not something that a small follower like Gao Yuan had the right to know. After that, he went straight to his father, Ling Yuanshan's courtyard.
"Dong-er, why are you suddenly concerned about the family's mine? That's your Third Uncle's territory." Hearing Ling Dong's question, Ling Yuanshan slowly said.
"Father, if the mine is Third Uncle's territory, then why did I hear that the iron mine that was attacked by the Demonic Beast was taken care of by Second Uncle?" Ling Dong asked.
"Aren't your Second Uncle and Third Uncle very close? At that time, your Third Uncle was too busy, so he took people into the mountain to hunt the Demonic Beast! However, your Second Uncle returned in defeat because the Demonic Beast that attacked the iron mine was a pack of Xiantian middle stage Green Horned Wolves. One of them was even a Green Horned Wolf King.
The six experts that your Second Uncle brought with him were all killed. Even your Second Uncle returned with serious injuries. Later on, your Second Uncle suggested that if we wanted to excavate the iron mine again, the family would have to send out two of the most powerful elders to kill the Demonic Beast. However, that iron mine didn't have much reserves left, so it was better to give it up! "
At this point, Ling Yuanshan spread out his hands and said, "Just like that, that iron mine was abandoned. Why, is there something wrong with that iron mine? "
"Nothing, I'm just asking!" Everything was just speculation. Although Ling Dong was ninety percent sure that there was something wrong with that iron mine, Ling Dong still decided to wait until he was sure before telling his father.
After bidding farewell to his father, Ling Dong returned to his room with a heavy heart.
As usual, he held the Xiantian Wood Pearl in his hand and drank a bowl of Marching Wine. He activated the Big Dipper Technique and began his nightly cultivation. After nearly a month of painstaking cultivation, Ling Dong felt that he wasn't far away from Houtian Realm Level Nine.
As long as his cultivation could reach Houtian Realm Level Nine, his true transformation would begin, and the most amazing part of the Big Dipper Technique would be revealed.
After a quiet night, early the next morning, Ling Dong left the Ling Residence after exhorting Gao Yuan. Today was the day that he had agreed to meet Uncle Wu. However, before going to Uncle Wu's place, Ling Dong still had to make a trip to Bai Jiu 'er's ancient wine shop. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed, and he had already used up most of his Marching Wine. In addition, he still had to prepare some heated wine for entering the mountains in the middle of winter.
Early in the morning, when Ling Dong arrived, Bai Jiu 'er's ancient wine shop wasn't open yet. After a series of violent knocks, Bai Jiu' er, that buck-toothed woman, opened the door with messy hair. When she saw that it was Ling Dong, her not-so-handsome face immediately turned red.
"Why, did I disturb you two so early in the morning?" Ling Dong teased when he saw Bai Jiu 'er come out.
Bai Jiu 'er's face turned red. "It's snowing heavily, and I'm sleepy! Oh right, why are you here so early in the morning, Young Master? "
"I'm here to get some wine, of course. It's next month's Marching Wine. Also, prepare a few jars of strong wine for me, the kind that gets drunk after three bowls!" Ling Dong said.
"Prepare some strong wine? It's snowing so heavily. Young Master, are you going on a long trip? "Bai Jiu 'er asked in surprise.
"Yes, I'm preparing to enter the mountains. Bring some strong wine to warm me up." Ling Dong smiled and added, "Just bring me two jars of Marching Wine. As for the rest, find a time to send them to the residence and hand them over to Gao Yuan."
"Young Master, you're going to enter Xiong Nan Mountain. I heard that it's extremely dangerous, especially in winter. There's less food for monsters, and they're very aggressive. Even during normal times, only Xiantian Realm martial artists can enter! Young Master's current strength doesn't seem to have reached the Xiantian Realm, right? "Bai Jiu 'er said.
"You're quite familiar with Xiong Nan Mountain, aren't you?" Ling Dong smiled.
"Usually, the drinkers boast and talk nonsense, and I've heard a few of them. After hearing more, I understand. Therefore, if Young Master has nothing important to do, it's better not to go to Xiong Nan Mountain. If something really happens to Young Master, where can I find such a good boss? "Bai Jiu 'er joked.
"I've hired two experienced guards, so there shouldn't be a problem."
"What do you mean there shouldn't be a problem? I think there's a big problem. There's only two guards!" Bai Jiu 'er muttered a few words with some dissatisfaction. Ling Dong smiled bitterly.
Bai Jiu 'er and that buck-toothed woman of hers were the best. Men were like women, and women were like men in a hurry.
After pondering for a moment, Bai Jiu 'er suddenly said, "Since Young Master wants to enter the mountains, I'll give you a new kind of wine that has just been brewed."
"New wine?" Ling Dong suddenly looked forward to it. Bai Jiu 'er definitely wouldn't say that about ordinary wine.
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