Chapter 19: Giving Peaches

After Wang Changsheng returned to the town, he instructed Wang Qingshan to gather all the clansmen working at the quarry. He explained that they might be infected with corpse poison and strictly forbade them from having any contact with the outside world, stating that their food and clothing would be delivered by designated personnel.

Wang Qingshan naturally complied, gathering the clansmen who worked at the quarry into a large courtyard and assigning specific people to deliver their meals.

According to Wang Qiucai's report, the clansmen at the quarry had not secretly hoarded any profound gold ore. It wasn't for lack of trying, but because they simply couldn't extract it. They had burned the rock for a whole day and even tried to chip it with knives, but couldn't get a single piece of profound gold ore. They had no idea how Wang Youliang had managed to obtain a piece.

As the sun set in the west, casting the lingering glow of the evening clouds over Qingshi Town, fifteen men in plain clothes arrived on horseback.

Qingshi Town had many non-clan residents, so to avoid attracting attention, Wang Changge and his group had switched to horses after reaching Ping'an County, then spurred them on to Qingshi Town.

The group was led by Wang Changsheng's seventh uncle, Wang Mingzhong, who was thirty-two years old and had already cultivated to the eighth level of Qi Condensation, with great potential to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

Apart from Wang Changge, the other thirteen men were all from the 'Qing' generation.

Wang Changsheng briefly explained to Wang Mingzhong how he discovered the profound gold ore vein. Naturally, he did not mention having chipped off a piece of the ore.

After listening to Wang Changsheng's account, Wang Mingzhong praised him, saying, "Well done, Changsheng, you've made a great contribution this time. Come, take us to the quarry. Changge, Qingxuan, have the clansmen at the quarry drink the Forget-Dust Water so they forget what happened today."

Forget-Dust Water is a first-tier spiritual water; consuming it causes one to forget all events that occurred within a day, with no side effects.

Wang Changge agreed and departed with the order.

By the time the group arrived at the quarry, it was already dark.

Strangely, the previously dark stone wall had vanished, and the profound gold ore vein appeared as if it had never existed.

As the group approached the quarry, Wang Yaojing emerged from a nearby cave.

"Fifth Uncle," Wang Mingzhong asked impatiently, "I've come at Third Brother's command, bringing fourteen able-bodied young men and all the mining tools. Where is the profound gold ore vein? Shall we start mining now?"

Upon learning of the profound gold ore vein discovery in Qingshi Town, Wang Mingzhong had rushed over with his men.

Wang Yaojing frowned and asked, "Didn't you bring a formation? Mining at night is acceptable, but if we operate during the day, it's very easy for other cultivators to discover us."

"We brought a set of formation tools for a first-tier middle-grade formation called the Two-Forms Spirit Concealment Formation," Wang Mingzhong replied. "These are our clan's best concealment flags. Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage should not be able to discover us."

Formations can be set up using raw materials or specialized tools. Formation masters are among the most valuable talents in the cultivation world, but the Wang family's resources were stretched thin, leaving no surplus to train such specialists.

Formation tools were incredibly expensive; a set for even a first-tier low-grade formation cost at least a thousand spirit stones. This particular Two-Forms Spirit Concealment Formation set had been acquired by the Wang family for three thousand five hundred spirit stones at an auction and had been stored in their treasury for a hundred years, with no occasion to use it until now.

Wang Mingzhong took out more than a dozen white formation flags, each about a foot long. Their surfaces were intricately engraved with dense formation patterns, radiating dazzling spiritual light.

"First, let's set up the formation," Wang Mingzhong instructed. "Then we'll survey the scale of the profound gold ore and begin organized mining. I'll remove the Illusion Talisman first."

The Illusion Talisman was a first-tier low-grade illusion talisman, capable of creating illusory scenes. While effective against the naked eye of mortals, cultivators could easily dispel it with a basic low-level spiritual technique like the Heaven's Eye spell.

Wang Yaojing performed a hand seal with one hand, causing a yellow light to flash on the stone wall. After a momentary blur, a yellow talisman, about a foot long, detached from the wall, revealing the dark stone beneath. Faint golden light glimmered from it, making it extremely conspicuous.

With a soft hiss, the yellow talisman spontaneously combusted and turned to ash.

"Yes, Fifth Uncle," Wang Mingzhong replied.

Wang Mingzhong quickly approached the black stone wall. With a flick of his wrist, the eighteen formation flags in his hand shot out, and the formation patterns on their surfaces illuminated.

"Go," he commanded.

Wang Mingzhong lightly pointed towards the black stone wall, and the eighteen formation flags spun rapidly, transforming into eighteen dazzling streaks of spiritual light that vanished into the stone wall's vicinity.

The next moment, the stone wall blurred and disappeared from sight.

"Qinglin, Qinglei, go into the cave and survey the scale of the ore vein," Wang Mingzhong said solemnly. "Let me remind you now: this profound gold ore vein belongs to the family. Do your work well, and the family will reward you according to your contributions. Anyone caught secretly hoarding profound gold ore will be severely punished without leniency."

"Yes, Seventh Granduncle," the twelve clansmen responded in unison.

The twelve clansmen responded in unison and successively entered the cave.

Wang Changsheng felt a chill in his heart upon hearing this; he needed to dispose of that piece of profound gold ore as soon as possible.

"Changsheng, come here for a moment," Wang Mingzhong said with a smile, waving Wang Changsheng over. "See what good things Seventh Uncle brought you; I forgot to give them to you just now."

Wang Changsheng acknowledged him and quickly walked over.

Feeling guilty, he dared not meet Wang Mingzhong's gaze.

Wang Mingzhong took three pale green peaches from his storage bag and handed them to Wang Changsheng, smiling. "These three Green Silk Peaches were just picked this year. You've had a tough three years, so take them and eat them! I remember every year when the Green Silk Peaches were nearly ripe, you'd run to Seventh Uncle's place. Without saying a word, you'd just stand under the peach tree, staring eagerly at the spiritual peaches on the branches. Even when Third Aunt came to fetch you, you wouldn't leave until I picked one for you."

"Haha, he certainly did that often," Wang Yaojing chuckled, teasing him.

Green Silk Peaches were a first-tier low-grade spiritual fruit, ripening once a year. Back when Wang Changsheng still lived on Qinglian Mountain, whenever the Green Silk Peaches at Seventh Uncle's home ripened, he and his younger siblings would go to Wang Mingzhong's house to help out, only leaving after Seventh Aunt gave each of them a peach.

Recalling these past memories, Wang Changsheng felt deeply moved and immensely ashamed for having secretly hoarded the profound gold ore.

He wanted to produce the profound gold ore, but he also feared being reprimanded by Seventh Uncle and Fifth Granduncle.

His expression appeared calm, but internally, he was locked in a fierce moral struggle.

"What's wrong? Do you think there are too few?" Wang Mingzhong asked with a light chuckle, seeing Wang Changsheng's stunned expression. "There are only these three left; the others have been given to Changming and Changchen."

Hearing this, Wang Changsheng hesitated even more.

"Changsheng, you were the first to discover the profound gold ore vein," Wang Mingzhong casually asked, "did you secretly mine any pieces?"

"Your nephew mined one piece," Wang Changsheng admitted.

After repeated hesitation, Wang Changsheng took out the profound gold ore, feeling a significant weight lift from his heart.

Wang Mingzhong and Wang Yaojing were not surprised and did not blame him.

Wang Mingzhong accepted the two pieces of profound gold ore and placed the three Green Silk Peaches into Wang Changsheng's hand. He patted Wang Changsheng's shoulder and sighed, "Changsheng, you've suffered these past three years. This bottle of Qi Condensation Pills is for you; consider it a reward for handing over the profound gold ore."

He took out a green porcelain bottle and handed it to Wang Changsheng.

"Thank you, Fifth Granduncle," Wang Changsheng said, expressing his gratitude. "It is my duty to work for the family." He then put away the pills.