Chapter 57: Settling Accounts After the Harvest

She used Earth Escape to travel back along the route she had come, emerging into the original mining tunnel.

Jiang Yuebai discovered that most of the surrounding tunnels were abandoned, littered with broken bamboo baskets, piled stones, and even some skeletal remains—no living souls in sight.

Over these years, she had explored downward from the other side of the valley but had never ventured to this area.

In the tunnel that once bore Ye Lianyi’s mark, the leaf symbols on the stone walls had been chiseled away, and the spirit stone deposits had been completely excavated.

"Who's there?"

A noise came from behind. Jiang Yuebai turned to see a figure holding a torch, peering cautiously. She narrowed her eyes and smiled.

"Peng Sanyang, do you still recognize me?"

Peng Sanyang, now much older and covered in grime, couldn’t make out Jiang Yuebai’s face clearly. He raised his torch to illuminate her features.

Once he saw her clearly, he froze for a moment before his expression turned to shock. He immediately turned and tried to flee.

He had only taken two steps when Jiang Yuebai appeared before him like a ghost, her horizontal blade resting against his neck as she fully released the imposing aura of the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.

Five years ago, both Peng Sanyang and Jiang Yuebai had been at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement.

Five years later, Peng Sanyang was at the fifth layer, while Jiang Yuebai had reached the seventh.

The killing intent forged in battles of blood and blades made Peng Sanyang tremble all over, and he dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Senior, please spare me! I’m just a lowly errand-runner, a mine watcher. I don’t know anything, and I haven’t offended you. Please don’t kill me, I beg you!"

Jiang Yuebai had encountered a few like Peng Sanyang—incompetent, with no hope of leaving the mine, surviving only by running errands and doing odd jobs for various mining teams in exchange for meager rewards.

"Where are Fan Mazi and Ye Lianyi?"

Four years ago, those three had learned from Ye Lianyi that she was in that tunnel. They had searched for her multiple times before finally deciding to dig their way in.

Peng Sanyang trembled as he answered, "In another mining zone."

"Lead the way!"

"Huh?"

Jiang Yuebai pressed the blade. Peng Sanyang scrambled to his feet in terror and hurriedly began guiding her, glancing back at her repeatedly along the way.

No matter what, he couldn’t believe that the girl standing before him now—a veritable killing god—was the same young girl he had easily bullied five years ago.

The killing intent radiating from her was even more terrifying than that of the desperate outlaws in the deepest mine tunnels.

Following Peng Sanyang’s twists and turns, Jiang Yuebai realized that nearly all the ore deposits underground had been exhausted. Even the areas she had visited before rarely yielded new mining spots.

"Why are there so few people now?" Jiang Yuebai asked.

Peng Sanyang replied, "Senior, you may not know this, but the Yin Mountain Mine has been mined for over a hundred years. The ore has long been scarce. With little to dig in recent years, many have been transferred to other areas to prospect for new spirit ore deposits."

"However, I’ve heard that it’s not just the mines controlled by the Tianyan Sect that are depleted—the mines of other sects are also nearing exhaustion. Overseer Cui has been complaining these past two years that his salary has been cut, saying the major sects are discussing whether to reopen the Lost Secret Realms to search for new veins."

"Lost Secret Realms?"

"Yes, I’ve heard that in ancient times, our Earth Spirit Realm and the Heavenly Spirit Realm weren’t separate worlds. But after some great event occurred, they split into two distinct realms. Back then, many blessed lands, cave heavens, and famed mountains and rivers were left behind as lost secret realms."

Jiang Yuebai didn’t ask further. They continued downward for about half an hour when Peng Sanyang suddenly stopped.

"If you keep going down a bit further and pass five more tunnels, you’ll see Ye Lianyi’s mark. For the past two years, there’s been a dark-faced killing god haunting the tunnels below. He kills anyone he meets, slaughters any beast he encounters. Almost all the mining teams nearby have been wiped out. I… I don’t dare go down.”

Jiang Yuebai rubbed her nose. "Relax, you won't die as long as I'm here."

Peng Sanyang absolutely refused to move. Jiang Yuebai's gaze sharpened, her long blade sliding partly from its sheath. Peng Sanyang gulped and obediently resumed leading the way.

Standing before the tunnel entrance, Jiang Yuebai finally spotted the familiar leaf-shaped marking and heard faint clinking sounds from deep within.

"Wait here. Try running, and we’ll see what happens."

Jiang Yuebai stepped into the mine alone. Peng Sanyang stayed on guard nearby, inwardly sneering.

Fan Mazi and Ye Lianyi were both at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement now, and the three under them were at the seventh layer. They were considered one of the stronger teams in the Yin Mountain Mine, which was why they weren’t afraid of the dark-faced killing god and dared to come down and mine.

For her to go in alone… she really had a death wish.

Thinking this, Peng Sanyang couldn’t contain his curiosity. He stealthily crept a few steps closer, wanting to see how Jiang Yuebai would meet her end.

"Who’s there? Halt! Don't move! Come any closer and we won’t hold back!"

The three male cultivators stationed near the entrance spotted Jiang Yuebai approaching and brandished their iron picks, shouting sharply.

Jiang Yuebai didn’t slow her steps. The three men exchanged a glance.

Before they could make a move, a cold glint flashed in Jiang Yuebai’s eyes as she suddenly drew her blade.

Clang!

The ringing of the blade echoed, a silver arc slicing through the air.

Jiang Yuebai flashed past the three men and reappeared behind them, unhurriedly taking a swig from the wine gourd at her waist. Her sharp gaze fixed on Fan Mazi and Ye Lianyi deeper within.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Three bodies fell in nine pieces, crashing to the ground in a spreading pool of blood. Peng Sanyang screamed in terror and scrambled away, fleeing for his life.

Fan Mazi and Ye Lianyi stared at the dismembered corpses behind Jiang Yuebai, their faces paling in shock and disbelief.

Three cultivators at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement… cut down by a single stroke?

Ye Lianyi’s pupils contracted violently. She shifted her gaze back to Jiang Yuebai. "It’s you!"

Jiang Yuebai glanced at the notched edge of her horizontal blade, then looked up.

"Sister Lianyi, I’m honored you still remember me. Today, I’ve come to take back what you took from me."

Fan Mazi erupted in rage. "You’re fucking asking for death!”

Ye Lianyi retreated warily, while Fan Mazi slapped his waist and summoned a copper bell artifact. It hummed as it shot forward with the force of a thousand weights.

In the confined tunnel, the bell’s toll was especially deafening, disrupting spiritual sense and energy—it had always been Fan Mazi’s signature opening move.

Jiang Yuebai’s gaze remained indifferent, utterly unperturbed by the clamor. Having listened to thunder day after day, the bell’s ring sounded quite pleasant to her ears.

Hanging the gourd back at her waist, Jiang Yuebai lunged forward with explosive speed, gripping her blade with both hands to slash down at the copper bell.

Clang!

The bell fell, and the blade snapped.

Jiang Yuebai clicked her tongue in annoyance—this was the last blade she had on her.

"A shoddy blade like that, and you dare make a fool of yourself?"

Fan Mazi laughed loudly, drawing two butcher knives from his back and charging forward. Meanwhile, Ye Lianyi formed hand seals with both hands, instantly turning the ground beneath Jiang Yuebai’s feet into quicksand.

Throwing a handful of thorn seeds, Jiang Yuebai flicked out an Earth Escape Talisman with two fingers.

Vines erupted wildly, a sharp chill swept through the air. Fan Mazi became entangled, his butcher knives slicing through empty air as Jiang Yuebai was no longer there.

Ye Lianyi pushed off the tunnel wall, flipping midair to avoid the thorns, her divine sense sweeping the surroundings.

A dark shadow suddenly appeared behind her—the spear’s shadow lunged forth, layered like a thousand waves.

Ye Lianyi’s face paled in shock. Ten flying knives shot from her waist, clashing with the spear’s tide in a shower of sparks.

Fan Mazi tore free from the thorns, flames sweeping away the frost covering his body. He and Ye Lianyi joined forces against the spear, throwing talismans and treasures in a chaotic barrage, explosions rumbling through the tunnel.

Jiang Yuebai remained fearless, her figure ghostly, her spear like rushing thunder.

A storm of attacks drove the two back step by step. Every move they made was anticipated and utterly suppressed by Jiang Yuebai.

Debris flew, the tunnel threatening to collapse. Jiang Yuebai activated an escape talisman, flashing behind the pair and thrusting her spear backward in a fierce stab.

Ye Lianyi yanked Fan Mazi in front of her.

Thud!

The spear pierced through his heart. Fan Mazi’s eyes bulged wide as he died on the spot.

(Image provided by reader [美味的烤苞米])

Ye Lianyi stared in horror, blood rising to her throat—the spear had passed through Fan Mazi’s body and deeply penetrated her own chest.

Jiang Yuebai pulled out the spear. Fire thorns shot up, binding Ye Lianyi tightly. The sharp thorns dug into her skin, fire poison attacking her heart as she collapsed, crying out in pain.

Tipping her head back for a swig of Year-Cold Clear, Jiang Yuebai wiped her mouth, feeling refreshed and revitalized.

Standing proudly with her spear planted beside her, Jiang Yuebai declared, "In my storage bag were one thousand low-grade spirit stones, ten bottles of fasting pills, ten ninth-grade magical tools, and five hundred ninth-grade talismans. Return them."

Hearing this, Ye Lianyi grew furious, struggling and shouting, "It wasn’t that much! It was only a hundred spirit stones, five bottles of fasting pills, and one ninth-grade tool!"

Jiang Yuebai raised her hand and clenched her fist. The fire thorns tightened abruptly, and Ye Lianyi screamed in agony, begging for mercy.

"Take whatever you want, take it all! If I hadn’t spared your life back then, how would you have gotten to where you are today?!"

Jiang Yuebai scratched her eyebrow. "That’s not how logic works, sister. It’s like I was walking peacefully down the road, you came and broke my leg, then handed me a crutch and said I’d be dead without you, so I should be grateful. Do you think I’m an idiot?"

"You—!" A fierce glint flashed in Ye Lianyi’s eyes as she suddenly lunged toward Jiang Yuebai.

A light flashed from the cold jade pea pod at Jiang Yuebai’s waist, and ice needles shot out. A red dot appeared between Ye Lianyi’s brows as she collapsed at Jiang Yuebai’s feet, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Little Green, collect their souls!"

Jiang Yuebai smoothed the cold jade pea pod. Little Green flew out from her sea of consciousness, happily weaving between the corpses to collect and refine their souls.

Jiang Yuebai took their storage bags, carefully searching them. From the inner sides of both of Ye Lianyi’s boots, she pulled out two more storage bags.

These two contained nearly one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones and over five hundred mid-grade spirit stones—likely her savings over the years, meant to pay the quota for leaving the mine.

Leaving the tunnel, Peng Sanyang’s face was ghastly pale.

Jiang Yuebai lowered her gaze, casting a cleansing technique to sweep the bloodstains from her clothes. "That dark-faced killing god you mentioned… it was me."

Peng Sanyang dropped to the ground, trembling like a sieve, and hurriedly held out his own storage bag with both hands. "This is all I have, Senior. Please spare this lowly life."

"Hmm. Get up and lead the way. I want to leave," Jiang Yuebai said, storing the bag away.

"Y-yes, yes! I’ll lead the way at once, lead the way at once."

Peng Sanyang stumbled and crawled, not daring to delay any further.

Finally leaving the mine tunnels, Jiang Yuebai beheld the open sky once more.

She took a deep breath of the crisp daylight air, her heart swelling with exhilaration. She nearly wished she could soar straight into the ninth heaven and fly unhindered.

"Oh dear! My dear ancestor, you're actually alive!"

Mine overseer Cui Sheng spotted Jiang Yuebai and rushed over in agitation.

"Do you have any idea how many people have come looking for you over the years?”

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