Chapter 1758: Excavation Expert

Relying solely on Wu Shidao or Goddess Fengho was not secure, so Bai Ziqi opted for a two-pronged approach, applying effort from both sides.

When Silver Orb Fruits were cut down along with their branches, their glow duration significantly increased, surprisingly lasting for over half an hour! Half an hour was more than enough time for the ground troops to walk from Upside-Down Lake to the shores of Kidney Lake. This news greatly eased Bai Ziqi's mind.

Having resolved this issue, as the commander of the entire army, he also had to manage Companion Mound and the mining area. He told Bai Shiqi, "Ask Zhaoyou God about the progress in the mine."

At the entrance of the spiritual mine, a fire snake emerged from underground, glowing brilliantly red, but as soon as it touched the tongue-like projection spat out by Jieshui Zhenren, it instantly dissolved into smoke.

"There were some restrictions and traps in the mine, all cleared by my fire snakes," it said lazily. "No human figures were seen." Otherwise, they would have been burned together.

The dwarf asked, "Are you sure?"

"I've patrolled back and forth several times, how else can I be sure?" Jieshui Zhenren rolled its eyes. "Why don't you go down and see for yourself?"

The dwarf ignored it and pulled a brownish-yellow object from its robes. The Eyeball Spider on a nearby branch rubbed its eyes. Was that thing the dwarf pulled out a round, coconut-shaped jar?

Dong Rui muttered, "Are they going to pour water into the cave?"

"Useless," Luo Xie said immediately upon hearing it. "The bottom of the cave leads directly to an underground river; any water poured in will flow into the underground river and drain away."

Then the dwarf opened the lid, inverted the jar over its hand, and poured out a beige squirrel. Its tail was fluffy with dark brown stripes, and its ears were pointed and large, capable of rotating in different directions. The little squirrel also wore a dark green necklace around its neck. The Eyeball Spider noticed that the pendant was a soybean-sized emerald, inside which a rune seemed to be faintly glowing.

Madam Zhu immediately told the other two onlookers that the necklace was a seal, or rather, a restraint.

The dwarf ordered the squirrel, "There are Dark Crystals in this mine. Dig them all out, the more the better, the faster the better!"

Instead, the squirrel extended its two front paws towards him. He Lingchuan, who often fed monkeys, knew at a glance that this gesture was a plea for something. The dwarf then took out three duck-egg-sized, light red Dark Crystals and gave them to it, saying, "Don't be lazy, or you'll suffer for it."

The squirrel took the Dark Crystals and swallowed them in one gulp. Its mouth was tiny; no one could clearly see how it swallowed the enormous Dark Crystals, yet its cheeks didn't even bulge. After eating the three, it used its front paws to wipe its mouth and whiskers, still seemingly wanting more.

However, having received benefits, it had to get to work. The little squirrel tilted its upper body back and reached its two front paws to its belly, rummaging. Only then did the Eyeball Spider realize that it had a hidden pouch on its belly.

The squirrel pulled out small brownish-yellow soil balls one by one from its pouch and casually threw them onto the ground with dazzling speed. Later, it could throw a dozen or so soil balls at once. At first glance, these soil balls resembled walnuts. After landing, they rolled twice, then suddenly cracked open and rapidly swelled, surprisingly transforming into insects as large as domestic dogs!

Their large heads resembled crayfish, but their hind bodies were like ants. They had long antennae at both ends and strong, long legs, and their color was earthy gray. Dong Rui recognized them at a glance as mole crickets, commonly known as "earth dogs." However, these large specimens also possessed thick, powerful, shovel-like forelegs, clearly indicating they were expert diggers.

The squirrel, in a very human-like gesture, pointed towards the mine entrance, and the mole crickets swarmed inside. They entered the mine in groups, stopping whenever they encountered Dark Crystals. With extremely practiced movements, they used their forepaws to dig open the rock and extract the Dark Crystals. Stones tougher than refined steel seemed like soft sponge cakes before them.

Elder Liu summoned the Haoyuan Golden Mirror. Everyone watched the mirror surface as the little squirrel continuously generated new mole crickets, deploying them into the mine as laborers.

Madam Zhu suddenly exclaimed, "That's an Earth Spirit!"

Dong Rui asked, "Which one?"

Elder Liu pointed at the little squirrel in the mirror and said, "This one."

Dong Rui was surprised, "Earth Spirits have fur?"

In fact, He Lingchuan was no stranger to Earth Spirits. Ashmona, the master demon puppet created by the Scarlet Lodge Master, was refined from Earth Spirits mixed with divine blood and divine bones. When He Lingchuan previously went to White Fur Mountain to retrieve black dragon scales, he also entered the White Bear Demon's subterranean lair, which was guarded by an Earth Spirit.

"Appearance is merely superficial; these mountain and water spirits can choose their own forms," Elder Liu said gravely. "Generally speaking, the more closely their transformed image resembles a particular animal, the higher their cultivation. This one has been raised to a considerable size. The Immortal Venerable's previous cave abode also had a Water Spirit that took the form of a giant salamander. I didn't expect the Heavenly Palace to use an Earth Spirit to extract Dark Crystals; this is troublesome. Fortunately, Miaozhantian has not yet managed to undo the Immortal Venerable's 'Escape Art Prohibition,' otherwise this Earth Spirit's speed of extracting Dark Crystals could be several times faster."

As long as the "Escape Art Prohibition" remains in effect, the Heavenly Palace's Earth Spirit will have to diligently dig for Dark Crystals, at most sending out mole crickets to mimic human excavation. But once the lighthouse barrier covers this area and the "Escape Art Prohibition" can be undone, it could even turn the rocks next to the Dark Crystals into stone figures to pick up and hand over the Dark Crystals, or forcefully crush the mining tunnels, pounding any enemies inside into pulp.

"Our opponents are not this little thing," He Lingchuan told everyone. "We can't let those guys comfortably stay at the cave entrance watching the show; we need to trick them into coming down." The Earth Spirit was not their target; the two powerful cultivators were. He Lingchuan's goal was to defeat them one by one. Now, at least one of them had to be tricked into coming down.

Meanwhile, the mole crickets lined up, carrying out the extracted Dark Crystals, but their sizes were unremarkable. The dwarf picked up a quail-egg-sized Dark Crystal and threw it at the squirrel's forehead, saying unhappily, "Too small! Send your earth puppets deeper into the cave to collect bigger ones!"

The Dark Crystals near the cave entrance had all been harvested by the Yu Villagers. The newly grown ones were in cluster form, not worth digging. They were also anxious. Miaozhantian was pressing them tightly; if they didn't quickly extract the minerals and return, the Heavenly Palace team wouldn't be able to construct new lighthouse barriers.

The squirrel clutched its head, glanced sideways at him, and chirped twice, after which the mole crickets entered the mine even faster. Jieshui Zhenren and the Dwarf Immortal looked around, wary of potential dangers. Although Miaozhantian's candle was lit, what was the probability of the Illusion Sect discovering them occupying the mine? Conservatively, eighty percent. So they had already set up a series of formations outside the cave.

The army of mole crickets went deeper and deeper into the mine, quickly reaching a depth of twenty zhang underground. At this depth, the air was very thin, and the Dark Crystals in the rock layers were indeed getting larger. Their numbers exceeded four hundred. They were mainly divided into two teams: one responsible for excavation, and the other assisting with transportation, working diligently and enthusiastically. In reality, these were all avatars of the Earth Spirit.