Chapter 1032 - 868: Goods in Stock

Thinking of the Netherworld passage, Zhu Xiangxin suddenly felt a connection and understood why the Master was willing to bear huge debts to obtain the mining rights here. This isn't about mining rights; it's clearly a move to establish a channel to Yanfu Continent.

Considering the possibility of long-term sandalwood gold mining here, coupled with the Master's control over the Golden-haired Rat Clan, even though Zhu Xiangxin's heart leaned towards focusing on alchemy, realizing the deeper implications made her heart race.

After all, practicing alchemy is also a money-burning endeavor.

When the lump of Death Refusing Incense in her hand had finally burned out, Zhu Xiangxin tentatively confirmed, "Master, are we opening the Two Realms Channel like last time?"

The situation was different from the previous circumstances at Extreme Abyss, and this time the wait seemed excessively long, leading her to doubt her judgment.

Shi Chun nodded slightly.

Zhu Xiangxin discovered it was as she guessed, yet puzzled, "Why is that... Could it be because the death was too fresh?"

Shi Chun frowned in silence; this was not about freshness. He wasn't new to the game; fresh not only in terms of people but also tried with livestock. Having repeatedly confirmed no issues, why else would he dare freely traverse the realms?

Since using Death Refusing Incense till now without any accidents, which meant he's eliminated the possibility of unforeseen occurrences; now...

After some thought, he said in a deep voice, "Try burning a bit more."

Without a word, Zhu Xiangxin immediately attempted again as Shi Chun continued to assist from beside.

The aroma dispersed slowly here, almost cohesive yet lingering; the result was the same—no unique signs from the corpse in Shi Chun's Right Eye Superpower. Not a single golden thread emerged, let alone any indication of a golden hair.

Combining this with the vast hole caused by the Master to bring in population, Zhu Xiangxin also understood the severity of the situation.

If they could secretly open a channel to Yanfu Continent, fleeing from Heavenly Court positions wouldn't matter.

If they can't manage that, then trouble awaits, facing the immense hole at Dingnan Prefecture.

If they can't fill the hole, it turns into a catastrophic uproar, impossible to subdue; someone would surely seize the opportunity to attack, making that so-called completed introduction task subject to reinterpretation—a time when no one might even dare speak up for them.

The positions of Wu Jinliang and Tong Mingshan, the two commanders, would certainly not be secure; including her and An Wuzhi, they might both face downfall—a misfortune borne out, unless the Master retains his territory and power, providing them footing. If the Master falls, they might become displaced.

The reason is simple: with debts reaching billions, no one would willingly speak for them; who talks faces the repayment issue; should no one speak up, downgrading isn't the resolution, potentially leaving them worse off than participating in the Battle of Great Pardon.

The suddenly clear-minded Zhu Xiangxin worriedly asked, "Master, what do we do?"

Faced with such an unexpected situation, Shi Chun didn't know what to do, with the only recourse being multiple attempts; fortunately, he brought three of his subordinates known as 'big offenders' for caution this time.

"Try another method." Shi Chun expressed, taking out an 'Ice Sheep,' casting a spell to rapidly activate its essence, enveloping the corpse, then signaling Zhu Xiangxin to try burning incense.

Ultimately, facts proved the discrepancy between imagination and reality, compelling temporary abandonment.

The ground's corpses weren't discarded; what if the environment led to the freshness issue? Shi Chun waved his hand and stored them away.

Leaving Zhu Xiangxin at the original spot, Shi Chun returned via stellar coordinate navigation to find Wu Jinliang and others; a group of Golden-haired Rats had already burrowed into the sand for exploration.

Two sandalwood gold grains had already been found, Wu Jinliang spread them open on his palm showing Shi Chun, "Hehe, fresh goods, just out of the furnace, only two grains."

Shi Chun now had some aversion to the word 'fresh,' feeling somewhat helpless—so many people, so much time, only two grains dug up; truly continuing like this, mentioning billions is absurd, even a billion is problematic.

Yet his focus wasn't on this aspect, opting another 'big offender' subordinate to handle matters.

Unknowing, even the command didn't know which affairs were being handled; Zhu Xiangxin and another person hadn't returned.

The fate of the subordinate following Shi Chun was foreseeable—another resulting death, this time with a change in the manner of death, not harming the head, employing another targeted way previously used externally.

Then urging Zhu Xiangxin to burn incense again, only heightened Shi Chun's worry, naturally still failing.

After attempting two more variations, results remained elusive. Shi Chun began suspecting it might relate to the two-hour timing, thus pausing trials, intending to test hourly or once every half day.

Subsequently leaving Zhu Xiangxin behind, he returned temporarily, considering it inconvenient to bring back; can't simply declare further accidents affecting others now.

Shi Chun summoned Qilin A San, then returned to locate Zhu Xiangxin, at his gesture, Zhu Xiangxin leapt onto the back riding close behind him.

This lone male and female duo riding together didn't cause Zhu Xiangxin any awkwardness; instead, there was an unspoken expectation in her eyes, a hand raised then lowered with a hesitant thought of holding the man's waist.

She didn't embrace, nor sit close; maintaining distance.