Chapter 150: Spiritual Mine
After saying those words, Old Zhao fainted again.
It seemed as though that sentence was his final obsession, ever since he fell off the cliff, he had been clinging to life just to say it aloud.
"Elder Feng!" Elder Yu quickly called out.
Elder Feng stepped forward, took Old Zhao's pulse, and examined his meridians before letting out a breath of relief.
"He's fine. Just fainted from exhaustion. Let him rest, I'll go refine some medicine pills."
"Thank you, Elder Feng," Elder Yu said gratefully.
After Elder Feng left the room, Elder Yu's expression turned grave.
There was Spiritual Mine inside Black Mountain!
He paced back and forth a few times, then halted and called for one of the demon-hunter.
"Go summon Yu Chengyi and gather all the squad leaders. I have something to announce."
The hunter obeyed and left. Mo Hua, curious, asked:
"Elder Yu, what exactly is 'Spiritual Mine'?"
Mo Hua only knew that spirit stones came from spiritual mines, but beyond that, he wasn't sure.
Seeing there was still time before the hunters gathered, Elder Yu explained patiently:
"Cultivators rely on spiritual energy to cultivate. But the world's spiritual energy has long since thinned out. Apart from a few sacred mountains and blessed lands where it gathers, most remote regions—like our Tōngxiān City—have so little that one can hardly cultivate at all."
"In such circumstances, cultivators can only rely on spirit stones, and spirit stones come from spiritual mines."
"A spiritual mine is formed when the dense spiritual energy or spirit mist of ancient times solidified and fused with mountain stone, buried deep underground as the land shifted and changed over the ages…"
"Some were created when ancient spiritual beasts, vast fields of spirit herbs, or other highly spiritual beings perished during great calamities, buried beneath the earth, their spiritual essence dissolved and transformed into Spiritual Mine over countless years."
Mo Hua nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly asked,
"I read that in ancient times, great cultivators could move mountains, part seas, even steal the sun and moon. Was the spiritual energy of their era also this thin?"
"Well…" Elder Yu mused. "According to legends, the ancient world's spiritual energy was immensely rich. But after the Great Cataclysm and changes in Heaven and Earth's balance, the spiritual energy gradually thinned."
"What kind of Cataclysm?"
"That, I don't know. Just myths... vague and uncertain."
After a pause, Elder Yu added,
"There's another reason spiritual energy became scarce, there are simply too many cultivators now…"
"Before the Dao Court unified the cultivation world, every faction warred endlessly, blood flowing like rivers, countless cultivators perishing. After the Dao Court brought order and prohibited senseless slaughter, the cultivation world flourished and the number of cultivators exploded."
"The more cultivators there are, the more spiritual energy gets absorbed, so naturally, Heaven and Earth's aura dwindled."
"Now, twenty thousand years later, the spiritual energy is so thin that cultivation is possible only by refining spirit stones."
Mo Hua suddenly understood, then frowned with worry.
"Then… if the world ever runs out of spirit stones, wouldn't that mean cultivators can no longer cultivate?"
"They won't run out."
Mo Hua blinked. "That can't be right."
"At least not for several tens of thousands of years."
Mo Hua frowned deeper. "But we never have enough spirit stones…"
"That's because we don't have any spiritual mines," Elder Yu said with a sigh.
Mo Hua fell silent.
Elder Yu continued with a weary voice, "Across Heaven and Earth, large and small spiritual mines, half are under the Dao Court's control. The rest are occupied by powerful families and sects. We have to scrape by on whatever spirit stones leak through their fingers…"
"Those great sects and clans, of course, never lack spirit stones. It's only we wandering rogue cultivators who do."
He glanced at Mo Hua, then sighed again.
"Heaven nourishes all beings with spiritual energy, Heaven's Dao is fair. But men are not."
Mo Hua's expression darkened as he recalled an old saying:
"The Way of Heaven diminishes excess to fill the lacking;
The way of man takes from the lacking to serve the excessive."
"Then this spiritual mine in Black Mountain… can we claim it for ourselves?" Mo Hua asked.
Elder Yu frowned. "By convention, any unclaimed medium or large spiritual mine belongs to the Dao Court Division. The spirit stones excavated are said to 'benefit the local cultivators,' though in truth, most just line their own pockets…"
"As for small spiritual mines, they're usually claimed by whoever seizes them first."
Mo Hua asked, "Then is this Black Mountain spiritual mine considered ours first, or the Qian family's?"
"That's hard to say."
(TN: This novel was translated by "Aberto D. Tempest". Read latest chapters at "AbertoVerse.com")
Elder Yu's brows furrowed, then his gaze sharpened.
"But in most cases, the one with the bigger fist is the one who found it first."
Mo Hua froze.
...
Half an hour later, the demon hunters gathered in Elder Yu's courtyard.
Those present were all squad leaders, veteran hunters, most at the ninth level of Qi-Refining. Mo Shan was among them.
Elder Yu sat at the head, the others arranged on either side.
Mo Hua, eager to know the outcome, dragged a chair over to listen from the side.
The assembled hunters couldn't help but glance at the ten-year-old boy.
This is a council of demon hunters… is it really okay for this kid to sit in?
But no one dared to question it.
Elder Yu was known for his temper, and right now, his face looked stormy. Anyone who annoyed him would get their heads bitten off, Qi-Refining Ninth Level or not.
So they all silently pretended not to notice.
Mo Hua sat on his tall chair nearby, legs swinging idly.
The hunters watched him, feeling a strange mix of amusement and discomfort.
This Elder Yu really spoils that kid too much…
Still, spoiling was spoiling, none of them dared say it aloud.
Elder Yu, seeing Mo Hua there, felt somewhat comforted.
In his eyes, with Mo Hua's talent, the boy would one day become a Formation Master, perhaps even pass the certification to become a First-Grade Formation Master.
For rogue cultivators like them, that was an unreachable dream.
If Mo Hua cared enough to understand the affairs of hunters, that was a good sign.
When everyone arrived, Elder Yu explained the discovery of the spiritual mine.
The entire courtyard erupted in shock.
A spiritual mine! An unclaimed one, at that!
Then, remembering how Old Zhao nearly died at the Qian family's hands, one hunter slammed his fist down and cursed:
"The Qian family bastards, not only stealing the spiritual mine but trying to kill to keep it secret!"
"Old Zhao almost lost his life!"
"Those Qian dogs deserve to die!"
Another hunter suddenly recalled, "Wait... what about Old Sun's disappearance earlier? Could that have been them too?"
The courtyard fell silent, then faces darkened.
It wasn't just Old Sun. Several other hunters had gone missing recently.
They had all assumed it was an accident, a fall, or a beast attack. But now… it might have been the Qian family silencing witnesses.
"Those motherless dogs!"
"Too damned arrogant!"
The courtyard exploded in furious curses, anger burning bright.
Elder Yu frowned, raising a hand for silence, then said coldly:
"Gather all Qi-Refining late-stage hunters. We'll move out tonight, search the mountain inch by inch, and find the spiritual mine's location."
One hunter asked, "And if we run into Qian family cultivators?"
"Capture them and interrogate them."
"And if we encounter a large Qian family force?"
Elder Yu's gaze turned fierce, he slammed the table and roared:
"Then we kill every last one of them!"
(End of Chapter)