Chapter 370: Cold Gold Ore Mother

Even though the group was quite powerful, they were still relentlessly pursued by the evil spirits. Kong Xin darted into the cave, and the others quickly followed, only to discover that the cave was a dead end! In an instant, the cave entrance was blocked by the evil spirits. Outside, their shrieks grew increasingly piercing, indicating that countless spirits in the underground lair had been disturbed.

Everyone's expression changed dramatically, and they glared at Kong Xin with hostile eyes. Qin Sang, among them, had already conceived murderous intent. While it might have been excusable for Kong Xin to tell a few harmless white lies to find a shortcut, directly leading them into a dead end was tantamount to endangering their lives, an unforgivable offense!

"You're asking for death!" the woman in red erupted in fury, pointing her magical artifact directly at Kong Xin, her killing intent fully exposed.

To their surprise, Kong Xin remained unperturbed, seemingly confident and unafraid. Qin Sang frowned, secretly wondering about Kong Xin's motive. He had entered the cave too, and if they were to die, he would surely be among the first. No fool would attempt murder for profit in such a way.

With that thought, Qin Sang shifted his gaze from Kong Xin to observe their surroundings. When he clearly saw the cave walls, his eyes narrowed slightly. At that moment, Kong Xin, with a calm expression, pointed towards the depths of the cave. "Everyone, take a look at these rock walls. How are they different from the outside?"

The group paused, then turned their heads to look. After Kong Xin's reminder, they finally noticed that unlike the uniformly black rocks outside, these cave walls subtly emitted a cool white glow from within. In the most prominent spot, they could even discern the outline of a fingernail-sized crystal.

"These are..."

The first to recognize the cool glow was the cultivator named Bao. He exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be Cold Gold Mother Lode?"

"Cold Gold?" Most of the others had heard of Cold Gold. Qin Sang recognized it even earlier than the cultivator named Bao. The notes given to him by Shopkeeper Wu contained descriptions of various rare spiritual materials, including Cold Gold. When incorporated into magical artifacts, Cold Gold not only imbued them with extreme cold properties but also enhanced their durability, making it a highly prized material.

To their surprise, they had stumbled upon a Cold Gold vein even before truly entering the heart of Boundless Valley. It was indeed a treasure trove. Kong Xin nodded.

"Exactly. These are indeed Cold Gold Mother Lode. After refinement, they can yield the precious spiritual material, Cold Gold. Originally, there were far more spirits gathered above. Tens of thousands of spirits occupied the surrounding mountains, making it a veritable den of dragons and tigers, impenetrable to outsiders. That's why this hidden passage remained undiscovered. Otherwise, the Cold Gold Mother Lode would have been mined long ago.

"After this recent great upheaval, I discovered a drastic change in this spirit nest. The number of spirits had sharply decreased, so I secretly infiltrated to investigate, and that's how I found this hidden passage and the Cold Gold Mother Lode. Unfortunately, my cultivation level is too low to mine it alone, and I dared not announce it everywhere. If I were to cooperate with other forces, I might be devoured whole, so I had no choice but to resort to this strategy.

"If any of you don't wish to pursue the Cold Gold, I won't force you. We can work together to break through; the exit is not far ahead, and escaping shouldn't be difficult. However, this secret likely won't remain hidden for long. This hidden passage will eventually be discovered, and then the Cold Gold Mother Lode will fall into others' hands... Returning empty-handed from a treasure mountain... I wonder if any of you would find that regrettable?"

The cultivator named Bao asked, surprised and suspicious, "What do you mean? Are you willing to share this Cold Gold Mother Lode with us?"

Kong Xin replied frankly, "Possession is nine-tenths of the law; I understand that principle. All the Cold Gold Mother Lode we extract will be equally divided among everyone present, consider it my apology to you all. Otherwise, I doubt you would let me off lightly, would you? Moreover, with evil spirits lurking outside, mining the Cold Gold Mother Lode will require everyone's concerted effort."

By now, more and more evil spirits were attracted to them, constantly assaulting the cave entrance, and the pressure on the group grew. After speaking, Kong Xin fell silent, awaiting the others' decision.

The cultivator named Bao suddenly chuckled softly, surveying the group. "With such treasure before us, surely none of you fellow Daoists would just give up, would you? Although the evil spirits are powerful, if we all reveal our trump cards and resist together, it shouldn't be difficult to hold them off for a while. We can mine as much as we can during that time, and if things turn sour, we can immediately retreat. We are all experienced individuals who understand priorities; as long as we maintain a sense of proportion, there's no fear of ending up like a bird dying for food, is there?"

Qin Sang was also somewhat tempted. A Cold Gold Mother Lode the size of a fist could only yield a grain of rice-sized piece of Cold Gold. However, the entire cave wall glowed with that cool light. If the vein was large enough, even if everyone shared equally, it would still be a worthwhile endeavor.

However, the main task was the most important. Qin Sang's gaze sought out Yun Youzi, who subtly nodded, indicating no objection. Clearly, no one could resist the allure of Cold Gold, and no one continued to question Kong Xin's previous actions.

Without further delay, everyone immediately adjusted their formation, joining forces to resist the onslaught of the evil spirits and buy Kong Xin time. Kong Xin drew a shimmering blue sword, channeling spiritual power. A flash of blue light sliced towards the rock wall.

*Bang!*

A crisp sound echoed. The blue light vanished, and everyone was greatly surprised. Kong Xin's full-powered strike had only left a shallow sword mark on the rock wall!

Kong Xin gave a wry smile. "This place gives birth to Cold Gold Mother Lode, and the entire vein has been affected by the Cold Gold, causing these rocks to change drastically and become exceptionally hard. This Blue Light Sword is the sharpest treasure sword I could find, after putting in all my effort. I previously tried other methods, such as Five Elements spells, but unfortunately, they were all ineffective. It seems we can only resort to brute force and slowly mine it..."

The others exchanged glances. If Kong Xin could only leave a single sword mark with one strike, how long would it take to mine the entire vein? It would be an impossibly long time.

"I refuse to believe a few mere rocks can withstand a magical artifact!" The woman in red scoffed, withdrew the artifact she was using to fend off evil spirits, reoriented it, and thrust it sharply into the rock wall.

*Thud!*

The needle-like artifact easily pierced the rock wall, but before the woman in red could show her delight, she felt a powerful resistance from the artifact. It ultimately penetrated less than an inch before losing momentum and becoming stuck in the wall. The artifact vibrated, attempting to crack open the rock wall, but the wall remained unmoving. The woman in red reluctantly retrieved her artifact and tried several more times with the same result. Her face alternated between green and pale, and she said nothing more.

The cultivator named Bao and the old man summoned their own magical artifacts, but their results were not much better than Kong Xin's. Kong Xin silently continued to hack with his sword, but unfortunately, the efficiency was truly low; it took dozens of strikes to extract even a single piece of Cold Gold Mother Lode.

Qin Sang swung his Black Dragon Stone, repeatedly smashing it at the evil spirits outside, but he saw that the spirits were endless. Even with their combined resistance, it was uncertain how long they could hold out. Considering this, Qin Sang communicated with Yun Youzi via telepathy, then spoke aloud: "Fellow Daoist Kong, I possess a spiritual sword. Although its quality isn't exceptionally high, I'm quite confident in its sharpness. Why don't I take over mining the Cold Gold, and you can focus on resisting the evil spirits' assault?"

The Ebony Sword was crafted from fragments of a magic treasure and later refined with killing talismans. While other aspects were uncertain, its sharpness undoubtedly far surpassed other magical artifacts.