Chapter 1059 - 887: Wrapping Up

On the peak of the sea of clouds and mist, the Red-clothed Woman stood alone, silently watching a Dharma Aspect swing its sword, which was exactly the Black Lotus Treasure that Shi Chun had given her.

After finishing a set of sword moves, the Dharma Aspect returned to the Black Lotus, which fell into her palm. She gently caressed the Black Lotus, tears shimmering in her eyes.

When Dao Zhen emerged from the sea of mist, she finally put away the Black Lotus and vaporized the tears at the corner of her eyes.

Dao Zhen bowed behind her and reported, "Your Highness, all those noblewomen have arrived."

The Red-clothed Woman was in no hurry and asked while facing away, "Is there any new situation over on the Yanfu Continent?"

Dao Zhen: "No, it's the same as before. Shi Chun is still lingering at the entrance, not going in or out. Oh, and he built a small wooden hut... the Lifebound Lanterns of the West Ox People are still lit. I'm not sure what the situation is. Should we send another group to take a look inside?"

Red-clothed Woman: "All five families have sent someone in, afraid someone might tamper with the truth, all wanting access to information. But dragging it out like this, time becomes the biggest issue. The nature of the problem has changed, and it has lost the meaning of competition. The truth is no longer important because the result is already destined that unless the steed dies, no matter which family gets it, no matter how it's proven, the other four will force it to be handed over for explanation. The truth is no longer important; what's important is to solve the problem. If countless amounts of money flow out, can it still be called money?" After saying this, she walked away.

Boom, boom, boom...

The Nanshan troops trapped within the 'Beidou Refusal Array' launched another round of attacks on the formation barrier, though everyone had given up hope on breaking through it by sheer force. It was purely an attack test.

This kind of test was conducted every few days. What if the power of the formation had diminished? Everyone couldn't just be stupidly trapped by an invisible line, right?

This was also Luo Yuanfeng's intention, wanting to observe the extent of the formation's power decline for some judgment.

After everyone stopped, Luo Yuanfeng, who had been feeling the barrier, suddenly opened his eyes, stepping back a few paces, his eyes filled with incredulity.

Yu Yifu, thinking there was something amiss, quickly stepped forward to ask, "How is it?"

Luo Yuanfeng shook his head, "The power remains, with no sign of weakening. This large array, buried so deep underground, without a space underground for it, how much Gathering Spirit Stone would it consume to maintain under such long-term pressure and push? Could there be some force of heaven and earth here to sustain its operation? But there's no sign of that here in the quicksand!"

Someone nearby sighed, "Surely they're trapping us here to let us live or die on our own?"

The mood of the group was terrible, tempers flaring, leading to frequent quarrels. If it weren't for Yu Yifu keeping them in check, someone might have already resorted to violence over a dispute.

Li Hongjiu, bored on the side, looked around at the space maintained by mana, also silently cursing Wu Jinliang's ancestors. It's been months, and if not for the presence of these experts, he wouldn't have been able to sustain the spell keeping this space up, and he might have already been buried alive.

The cloak wrapped around him, he dared not take off, fearing it had something to do with his ability to escape.

Another person sneered, "Live or die on our own? You're dreaming. Once this area flows to the void at the end of the sand sea, and once consumed by the void, you still think you can live or die on your own? According to the star map positions we've seen before, I'd say at most three years, and if we don't get out by then, we might be exiled to the end of the Yanfu Continent and be chewed to pieces by the void."

This statement changed everyone's expressions, reminding them that their captors didn't need to kill them directly, they only needed to leave them here, and they were doomed.

Someone cried out, "Is this the reason why they've left us here for so long without a word?"

No wonder they've trapped us and haven't taken action. Everyone felt a chill on their scalp; if it really were like this, dying without even seeing their adversary would be such an undeserved fate.

Seeing everyone panicking, fearing that chaos might erupt if this continued, Yu Yifu promptly asked Luo Yuanfeng, "Brother Luo, is this array important? Can they bear to let it be devoured by the void?"

Luo Yuanfeng furrowed his brow in deep thought, "This formation is bizarre, with no source of support found. Who knows if it's a model that can be reconstructed at any time."

The implication being that if it's easy to reconstruct, they naturally wouldn't mind losing it.

Yu Yifu quickly shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, don't panic. If we don't emerge after a long time, the Royal Court will send someone to look for us." He pulled out a bronze token, shaking it in his hand, "This can locate us on the Yanfu Continent, the Royal Court will find us."

Luo Yuanfeng's eyes lit up, "You have this? Let me see." Reaching out his hand.

Yu Yifu didn't give it, swiftly putting it away, "This is our last retreat, can't let it get spoiled by reckless experimentation, I'll let you see it once we're out."

Cursing inwardly, there was no such thing that could locate them in the Yanfu Continent; he was purely trying to reassure them, knowing that once people fell into despair, all status and position would become smoke, and no one would comply, inevitably causing a problem.

Li Hongjiu watched them bicker and wasn't too worried because he knew Wu Jinliang could sneak in and out of the formation, estimating he wouldn't let him die.

However, with no reaction for months, he couldn't help but worry, wondering if the big guy really abandoned him, or what if something went wrong?

Things going wrong was possible, after all, it wasn't just this group trying to catch Wu Jinliang...

The vast starry sea pressed down on the endless shadowy dunes, as the scattered Beijiu People regrouped. The actual leader here was an old man, looking like a scholar, named Xie Lingao.

Lan She watched from afar as Xie Lingao met with a group of hooded people.

As always, whenever a group of hooded people met with Xie Lingao to discuss matters, Xie Lingao would have others, including himself, the purported leader, withdraw.

After Xie Lingao and others returned, Lan She took the initiative to ask, "Mr. Xie, how is it?"

Xie Lingao stroked his goatee in puzzlement, "After a few months, we've searched almost every region, even discovering the troops from Heavenly Court, East Victory, and West Ox, but no sign of Shi Chun's group, nor the Nanshan troops. Strange, could they have been hiding underground all this time and not come out?"

Lan She sighed, "This Yanfu Continent is too vast. We can't possibly traverse every region, and errors and omissions are inevitable."

Xie Lingao glanced at him. The Beijulu Royal Court dared to send people to Yanfu Continent to find someone; it couldn't have been done blindly—they must have had some assurance. Shi Chun and his gang, looking for mineral veins, couldn't have moved point by point—they must have had a traversing route. Given the unique conditions of Yanfu Continent, any trail of qi would remain for several days before disappearing. The timing of the Demon Eye Cultivators' intersecting searches in each area was meticulously planned; if there were traces, they couldn't possibly be missed.

Unless Shi Chun and his group left no trace of qi or hid somewhere underground without emerging, causing the qi trail to break, would that be the only way they might not be found.

Yet he couldn't disclose the existence of the Demon Eye to Lan She.

"The Lifebound Lantern we carry hasn't changed at all, and the Royal Court hasn't signaled any signs, which means the matter is not over yet—the target is still within Yanfu Continent. Let's think of a way to continue searching and go through it once more carefully," said Xie Lingao, unable to help but sigh as well. If even the Demon Eye couldn't find the target, continuing the search seemed a long shot, and he, as the stationed command, couldn't speak discouragingly.

Lan She knew the other party was hiding something from him, which prevented full cooperation. He believed this was one of the main reasons for not being able to find the target. He harbored some resentment in his heart, but outwardly, he nodded in agreement and turned his head to look at Situ Zhen, who was peering into the distance alone on a dune nearby…

Another three months went by in the blink of an eye. The Golden-haired Rat Clan had finished excavating another mineral vein. Huang Yingying, who had followed to explore the mineral veins, was well aware that this was already the last of the dozens of mineral veins previously identified.

To maintain the excavation of these mineral veins, he and Wu Jinliang had a tough time, primarily because the sandy terrain here was always in motion. Although moving as a whole, inevitably, there would be inconsistencies in speed, gradually magnifying the discrepancies, so he and Wu Jinliang often ran the entire chain of mineral vein routes.

Now they could only move underground, occasionally surfacing to confirm their position. This was an iron-clad rule for preserving life. Running underground was slower than moving in the sky by far. Over the past six months, the two had been as busy as the mining Golden-haired Rats, if not more.

But everyone understood the principle of enduring hardship before enjoying sweetness. With so much money taken back, the prospect of a bright future was evident, and with something to strive for, the hardship didn't feel so burdensome.

Now seeing that the clan members had finished their work, Wu Jinliang had no intention of seeking out more mineral veins. He tentatively asked, "Stopped mining?"

Wu Jinliang also wanted to keep digging, extracting more Sandalwood Gold, but this had already dragged on for half a year. Li Hongjiu was trapped and unable to report back to Chun Tian. It was indeed inappropriate to delay any longer.

Shi Chun advised him not to be greedy. The fact he had dragged it out this long already meant he hadn't listened. He also knew the limits of Shi Chun's patience. If continued, Chun Tian might mistakenly believe the situation was out of control.

Thus he waved his hand and said, "For now, stop digging. Let's call it a day, and everyone get a good rest."

Of course, they still had to count the money.

There was no need to count the exact amount in detail—that would be exhausting with so much money. Having done it a few times, they'd learned that a regular Qiankun Bag could hold about thirty billion.

When the newly mined Sandalwood Gold was gathered into the Qiankun Bags, there were a total of seventy-seven bags filled to capacity, plus another half-filled bag—all together totaling approximately over twenty-three trillion.

As everyone stood around the pile of money bags, grinning from ear to ear, San suddenly spoke up, "Almost at the end."

The so-called "almost at the end" referred to the edge of the Land of Nothingness by Yanfu Continent, which Wu Jinliang and the others had discovered during their back-and-forth confirmation. They had buried a warning object several miles towards the nothingness from the mineral vein.

Now, San had already seen the warning object being swallowed by the nothingness.

Hearing the warning, everyone exchanged bewildered glances. Zhu Xiangxin curiously asked, "What does the nothingness look like?"

Wu Jinliang had seen it and shrugged, "Hard to describe. Want to see?"

He, Huang Yingying, and San, curious, had all looked closely before.

Zhu Xiangxin nodded repeatedly.

Wu Jinliang glanced at the crowd of Golden-haired Rats; a group of demon cultivators also nodded eagerly, unable to conceal their curiosity on their faces.

Wu Jinliang chuckled before suddenly waving his hand, "Alright, everyone, you've worked hard for half a year—here's a rare moment, so let's take it as a break and go see the spectacle. When we've seen it, we'll head back."

"Okay."

"Listen to Mr. Wu."

"Call him sir—Mr. Wu likes being called Commander now."

A group of Golden-haired Rat demon cultivators cheered, chattering noisily.

Wu Jinliang turned to San and said, "San, you keep an eye ahead. Give a shout when we're close—don't get sucked in."

He still preferred not to surface immediately and wanted to dig underground for a stretch, trying to minimize the exposed areas. The few exposed areas near the nothingness would soon be consumed by it, obviating the possibility of exposure.

Huang Yingying cast a spell to clear the path and walked side by side with San at the front.

A group of ragged Golden-haired Rat demon cultivators followed, jubilant behind. They had been digging underground for half a year—fortunately, their training at the Phoenix Clan's Divine Mountain made them adaptable to hard work. Long-term casting had worn their clothing, leaving them with little to show for appearance.

It wasn't that they had no clothes, but there was no need to change into new ones for this kind of work.

Truthfully, they hadn't washed much in the past six months. Living deep underground, Zhu Xiangxin was disheveled enough to get used to not bothering with grooming, let alone these rat spirits.