After handing over the spirit stones, the guards began distributing basic supplies to the cultivators who had arrived through the Ascension Pool that day. Each person was given a small folded tent and a rough rug made from thick woven fibers.
The process was quick and impersonal; the guards simply tossed the items to them and ordered them to move along. No explanations were given to them about where they should stay, and no one dared to ask questions to the guards.
With their supplies in hand, the newly ascended cultivators followed the flow of people moving away from the mining area. After walking for several minutes, the terrain opened into a vast clearing between the mountains.
The sight surprised many of them. Thousands of tents had already been pitched across the open field, arranged in uneven rows that stretched far into the distance. Some tents were old and worn, while others were clearly newly assigned. Small groups of cultivators moved between them, some preparing for rest while others quietly cultivated under the dim light of spirit lamps hung throughout the field.
Arthur scanned the area briefly before choosing a quiet patch of ground on the outskirts of the field where fewer people had gathered. Without drawing attention, he unfolded the tent and secured it to the ground.
The process only took a few moments. After placing the rug inside, he entered the tent and closed the entrance flap behind him. The space inside was small, barely large enough for a person to sit or lie down comfortably. However, that was enough for Arthur.
Once he was seated, he quietly cast a concealment spell around the tent, sealing the interior space from outside detection. The spell suppressed fluctuations of energy and blurred any traces of activity within the tent. To anyone outside, it would appear as though the occupant was simply resting.
Only after confirming the concealment was stable did Arthur begin his work.
He raised his hand and condensed a thread of energy in front of him. Slowly and carefully, he began drawing runes in the air using just his energy. The runes were incredibly small, no larger than grains of dust, but Arthur continued shrinking them further with each attempt.
At first the runes were roughly ten micrometers in size. At that scale, the amount of energy required to form them was already minimal. However, Arthur was not satisfied. A True Immortal cultivator's divine sense could easily detect such fluctuations if it swept across the area. If he wanted his technology to remain undetected, the runes had to be far smaller and use far less energy.
So, Arthur continued practicing throughout the night.
Each rune required delicate control over the flow of energy. If he pushed too much power into it, the rune would collapse or become unstable. And if he used too little, the structure would fail to form entirely.
The process demanded extreme precision. Hours passed in silence while Arthur refined his technique over and over again. Occasionally he paused to analyze the structure of the rune before attempting again with a smaller scale.
By the time faint traces of dawn began creeping across the horizon outside, Arthur finally succeeded in creating runes as small as 0.1 micrometers. The difference between his earlier attempts and the current ones was enormous.
At that size, the energy signature of each rune was practically nonexistent. Even a powerful cultivator sweeping the area with divine sense would likely overlook them entirely unless they were specifically searching for something unusual.
Arthur nodded slightly in satisfaction. "That should be sufficient for now."
He then retrieved several microbots from the SOH that was kept inside his Sea of Consciousness now that no living being was residing there. The tiny machines hovered silently in the air before him.
Using the newly refined rune technique, Arthur carefully inscribed concealment runes onto their microscopic frames. One by one, the microbots were enhanced with layers of stealth formations. The runes rendered them invisible not only to the naked eye but also to the divine sense of cultivators.
The most important advantage, however, lay in the energy source. Arthur had not used spiritual energy to create the runes, he used Aether.
In a world where cultivators were accustomed to sensing spiritual energy, the presence of Aether would be far more difficult to detect. As it did not interact with their perception in the same way.
After completing nearly a hundred enhanced microbots, Arthur released them into the air. The tiny machines dispersed silently, moving toward various parts of the sect's territory. Many of them headed toward the areas where the guards lived, quietly positioning themselves near entrances and patrol routes. If the guards discussed anything important, Arthur would immediately receive the information.
Other microbots moved toward the surrounding mountain peaks where large structures were faintly visible in the distance. However, the moment the machines approached those areas, Arthur sensed them colliding with invisible barriers. The entire mountain range was protected by powerful formations so the microbots could not penetrate them.
Arthur withdrew those units immediately. "Well… it looks like that area is off limits for now." With that, he closed his eyes and rested briefly.
…
Morning arrived sooner than expected.
The deep beat of war drums echoed across the tent field, reverberating through the mountains like thunder. Cultivators emerged from their tents with weary expressions. Many had spent the night cultivating, hoping to strengthen themselves even slightly, only to be forced back into labor once again.
Some of the newly ascended cultivators muttered complaints under their breath clearly disgruntled, but none dared voice them loudly. Everyone understood the situation they were in, they were the weakest people in this place.
Arthur stepped out of his tent calmly and walked toward the entrance of the mine where the workers were gathering. Soon he saw Zhang Haoran and the other three members of their group waiting nearby. The moment they spotted him, all four of them straightened and greeted him respectfully.
"Senior brother."
Arthur felt a slight irritation at the title but decided it was not worth arguing about. The hierarchy among cultivators often depended on strength rather than seniority, and after yesterday's events it was inevitable that they would treat him as their leader.
He simply nodded and said, "I will go deeper into the tunnels today to mine. You four can continue working here, we will meet again at the end of the day."
The four exchanged confused looks but did not question him. None of them dared challenge Arthur after witnessing how easily he defeated the group of thugs the previous day.
Arthur left them behind and entered the mine alone.
Instead of stopping near the main mining zones where hundreds of cultivators were working, he continued walking deeper into the tunnels. The passageways gradually grew quieter as the number of miners decreased. After nearly twenty minutes of walking, Arthur finally reached a remote section of the mine where no one else seemed to be working.
He paused and expanded his awareness outward. Within a radius of fifty meters, he sensed no other cultivators.
Satisfied with the isolation, Arthur placed both palms against the stone wall.
His awareness spread into the rock like water flowing through cracks. At first the resistance was strong, the materials of the immortal realm were far denser and more stable than the rocks of the mortal world. However, Arthur forced his perception deeper until he began detecting clusters of spiritual energy hidden within the stone.
They were clearly spirit stones. Once he located them, Arthur activated his abilities.
Using matter manipulation, he softened the surrounding rock just enough to loosen the embedded crystals. At the same time, he used telekinesis to pull the stones gently out of the wall without disturbing the outer surface too much.
The process was far more difficult than performing the same technique in the mortal world. The material composition of the immortal realm resisted manipulation strongly, forcing Arthur to exert greater control over his abilities. However, instead of frustrating him, the difficulty helped refine his proficiency.
Arthur moved steadily through the tunnels.
Whenever he detected clusters of spirit stones, he extracted them carefully while leaving a few visible near the surface of the wall. This ensured that when other miners eventually reached the area, they would still find some stones and would not immediately suspect that someone had already stripped the vein. And by the time they found out that there were no more spirit stones, he would be long gone.
By the time the mining shift ended and the drums sounded again, Arthur had collected more than ten thousand spirit stones. And all of them were stored safely within his Sea of Consciousness.
When he returned to the tunnel entrance, he saw Zhang Haoran and the others waiting there. Their expressions brightened slightly when they saw him.
Together they combined their collected spirit stones. The total number reached over seven hundred stones, more than two hundred above the required quota.
Zhang Haoran looked excited. "Today we worked harder than yesterday. Let's see what kind of reward we get."
They joined the long line of cultivators waiting to submit their stones. Nearly half an hour passed before their turn finally arrived. The guard at the collection point took their pouch and swept his divine sense into it.
"Seven hundred thirty-one stones," the guard said flatly.
He glanced at them briefly before continuing. "You exceeded the quota by two hundred thirty-one stones. According to the rules, you will receive ten percent of it."
He tossed them a small pouch containing twenty-three spirit stones.
Arthur caught the pouch and nodded.
Without further conversation, the group returned toward the tent field. Just before entering the field, Arthur stopped walking.
He opened the pouch and counted the stones. Then he handed five spirit stones to each of the four members of his group, keeping only three for himself.
The four stared at him in surprise. Zhang Haoran accepted the stones with visible gratitude. "Thank you, senior brother!"
The others quickly echoed their thanks.
Arthur raised a hand to stop them. "There's a reason I'm giving you more than I'm keeping."
The four immediately became attentive. Zhang Haoran straightened his posture and said confidently, "Senior brother, just tell us what you need. We will do our best to fulfill your wishes."
Arthur replied calmly, "Gather as much information you can from the guards and miners, learn everything you can about this sect, this mine, and the immortal world.."
He looked at them one by one. "The more valuable the information you bring me… the more spirit stones you will receive."
Zhang Haoran beat his chest proudly. "Don't worry, senior brother! Leave it to us!"
The others nodded eagerly. However, their thoughts were very different from their outward expressions.
Inwardly, all four of them believed Arthur was foolish. Spirit stones were precious cultivation resources, yet he was giving them away so easily instead of using them himself for some information he would be able to get later.
Of course, none of them dared say such things aloud. After witnessing the beating he gave Da Ge's group, they had no intention of provoking him.
As they continued walking toward the tent field, a sudden commotion erupted somewhere ahead.
A crowd began gathering around something. Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked toward the source of the disturbance and decided to investigate it.
***
Become a patreon member and read 30 Chapters ahead:
patreon.com/New_Horizon1
You can join my discord channel to discuss my novel and find artwork of this novel!!
https://discord.gg/PmkQsrAdMY