Xiao Fei handed his remaining fifty spirit stones to Lin Xiang as a deposit for his second sister, hoping no further incidents would occur while he was raising spirit stones.
As Xiao Fei walked out of the Wang Xian Tower, he bumped into an old acquaintance at the entrance. Zhu Yu was accompanying an old Daoist with a youthful complexion and white hair towards the Wang Xian Tower.
The old Daoist's aura was profound; Xiao Fei's Qi-gazing technique could not fathom its depth. He was at least a cultivator of the Foundation Establishment stage or higher.
Zhu Yu was handsome, and the luxurious Daoist robe he wore suited him perfectly. His every movement exuded an ethereal grace.
At this moment, Zhu Yu accompanied the old Daoist, his gaze straight ahead, as if he didn't recognize Xiao Fei. Xiao Fei, naturally, wouldn't approach to embarrass himself.
On his way back, Xiao Fei was constantly pondering. The spirit grains and herbs in his spatial dimension would not mature for another half a year.
How could he quickly acquire spirit stones now?
He entered the inn and saw Green-eyed Bean amusing his large golden rat.
"Greetings, senior!"
"Hmm!"
Green-eyed Bean glanced at Xiao Fei and continued playing with the rat. In his eyes, Xiao Fei was far less cute than this golden rat.
"Senior, what's the fastest way to earn spirit stones?"
"Killing and plundering, of course. Find a major thoroughfare outside the city and set up a trap. Any cultivator passing by will become your prey, and their entire fortune will become yours."
Green-eyed Bean said matter-of-factly without looking up, as if he were quite skilled in this regard.
"However, with your small frame, it's hard to say who would be plundering whom in the end."
Xiao Fei scratched his head awkwardly.
"Haha, senior, you know I can't do that. Besides killing and plundering, are there any more respectable ways to make a living?"
"As cultivators, especially rogue cultivators, everyone learns one or two skills to support themselves for survival."
"You can learn artifact refining, alchemy, talisman crafting, or become a spirit chef. However, the learning cost for these is too high, and you might not even be able to afford the materials for practice. For those with lower initial costs, you can try mining, planting, or hunting demonic beasts. Mining and planting require physical labor and are relatively safe, but the returns are not high. Hunting demonic beasts is similar to killing and plundering, but the targets are demonic beasts. The returns depend entirely on your own skill and luck, and there's also the possibility of being eaten by a demonic beast if your skills are insufficient."
"Thank you for your guidance, senior!"
After thanking Green-eyed Bean, Xiao Fei returned to his room.
Over the next two days, Xiao Fei inquired all over the city. The results confirmed what Green-eyed Bean had said. There was no easy way to earn spirit stones in the cultivation world; if spirit stones were easy to come by, rogue cultivators wouldn't have such a difficult time. Previously, relying on the continuous output from his spatial dimension, earning over ten spirit stones a month already surpassed most rogue cultivators. To earn more spirit stones, one needed skill and had to risk their life. The only ones who could earn money while lying down were those wealthy families and major sects with abundant resources. He also heard that a very small number of female cultivators could earn money while lying down, but since he wasn't a female cultivator, that money was not for him. Earning 150 spirit stones quickly seemed as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Today, Xiao Fei walked through the streets, feeling a bit weary. He saw a large sign in front of a shop that offered high prices for all kinds of spirit ores. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, as if he had captured some important information. After a moment of thought, Xiao Fei slapped his forehead and turned back.
On another street, the He family was recruiting miners. The He family owned a Black Iron mine. Black Iron was a commonly used artifact refining material in the cultivation world, capable of forging various magical artifacts. Magical artifacts were very expensive, with the cheapest costing dozens of spirit stones each. The black saber Xiao Fei had obtained previously contained a small amount of Black Iron, making it much sharper than ordinary swords and capable of withstanding the infusion of spiritual power. However, this black saber was not yet a magical artifact and was far from being a true one.
Although Black Iron was valuable, mining it was a strenuous task. The ore grew within hard rocks, and ordinary mortals could not break them open even with all their strength. Therefore, the He family could only recruit cultivators as miners, offering one spirit stone for every hundred catties of Black Iron ore mined. A hundred catties of Black Iron ore could be sold for one hundred spirit stones. The He family had no strict requirements for recruiting miners; they didn't look at cultivation qualifications, gender, or demand good looks or temperament. As long as one was a person, they were accepted, as the miners were paid by piecework.
After Xiao Fei signed up, he was assigned to wait. Once over twenty people had gathered, a disciple of the He family led them out of Star Moon City. The mine was one to two hundred li away from Star Moon City. The group traveled for three days before finally reaching the mine. The entrance to the mine was on a mountainside, a cave five to six feet wide. Outside the cave entrance, several stone houses were built, housing a few He family cultivators responsible for the daily management of the mine. To prevent miners from smuggling, everyone was taken to a stone chamber, stripped naked, and not allowed to carry any personal belongings.
Xiao Fei didn't mind this at all. All his wealth was stored in his spatial dimension, accessible whenever needed. Besides growing spiritual items, the spatial dimension also served as a small warehouse. Especially for someone like Xiao Fei who had experienced hunger, he had a particular fondness for stockpiling food, and his spatial dimension was filled with vast quantities of food and drinking water. He had even bought a complete set of pots, bowls, and utensils and placed them in the spatial dimension. Therefore, while other miners might hide one or two pieces of ore in their buttocks when leaving, he could freely stuff anything into his spatial dimension.
After removing all personal belongings, each person received a set of coarse cloth robes, a backpack, and a pickaxe from the stationed cultivators. Additionally, each person received enough dry rations and clean water for one day.
"Alright, everyone enter the mine now. For every hundred catties mined, you can come out to exchange for one spirit stone. You can collect free food and water here once a day," announced a stationed cultivator, stating the rules before allowing everyone to enter the mine freely.
Xiao Fei followed everyone into the mine. Torches were inserted diagonally into the stone walls inside the mine, but most had long since extinguished, and no one bothered to maintain them. Fortunately, Xiao Fei possessed divine sense, so illumination was no longer important to him.
After entering the mine, it divided into many岔道 (chàdào - diverging paths). The miners who came with him gradually dispersed, entering various岔道. Within the same mountain, there were also differences between poor ore and rich ore. Xiao Fei was unfamiliar with the area and could only randomly choose a岔道 to enter.
There were already many miners busy inside the mine. Upon seeing Xiao Fei arrive, they merely glanced at him before continuing their work. After walking for over an hour, he finally spotted a piece of black, shiny ore on the cave wall. Only a thumb-sized portion was exposed outside; the rest was still embedded within the rock. Immediately, he picked up his pickaxe and began striking the rock around the ore. These rocks were very hard. He circulated his spiritual power to his arm and smashed down with force, but could only chip off a piece of rock the size of an egg. After much effort, he managed to chip off a fist-sized piece of Black Iron ore from the rock wall, weighing about two to three catties.