401 - Rebirth of a Star: Another Day, Another Drama

Chapter 401: Striking it Rich! Fear of death shadowed him. The steward's voice was dry, "She has ties with the Di Family in the Upper Immortal Realm, Fire Young Lady, you mustn’t act rashly." "The Di Family?" She pondered briefly before speaking again, "Is it that once-prestigious yet now fallen Di Family?" Given that the Fire Family is the largest mining clan in the Middle Immortal Realm, they frequently conduct business with the Upper Immortal Realm. Thus, they were somewhat familiar with the power dynamics of the Upper Region. A long time ago, the Di Family produced an Emperor’s Decree figure, but ever since his downfall, they had lost their former glory. Now they merely survived, squirming in the shadow of past eminence. While she was deep in thought, a man's voice interrupted. "Young Lady, although the Di Family is now in decline, the disciple of that notable person has ascended to be an Immortal Emperor and takes care of the Di Family. We..." She showed some reluctance, casting a look at Ye Linglong on the ground, "Hmph! Just because he claims to have ties with the Di Family, we're supposed to believe it? What if he's deceiving us?" After contemplating for a moment, she added, "Fine then, spare her life for now, we’ll take her along. Later, we'll toss her into the mine, whether she survives or not will depend on her fate." "Yes!" "It's over, finished~" the steward mumbled, as he watched Ye Linglong being taken away, his legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed onto the ground. Moments later, a group dressed in the distinct attire of the Tongtian Merchants’ Guild arrived. The steward immediately sprang up upon seeing the lead man, shouting, "It's bad, Young Master! The person the Di Family specifically requested we look after has been taken by Fire Young Lady." ... Meanwhile, Ye Linglong was directly taken by the Fire Family members to one of their mines. Upon arrival, individuals came forward to fasten a collar-like device around her and the others' necks. Seeing these devices, memories of her first encounter with Jiang Lingyun flooded Ye Linglong's mind, and she couldn't help but smile faintly. It was evident that the collars were no different from the spiritual suppression rings of the past, both preventing cultivators from absorbing or converting external energies. "Heh~ Laughing now, wait till you cry later," the person fastening Ye Linglong's collar sneered, unable to comprehend her mirth. Ye Linglong shot a cold glare filled with ice at the speaker. Once everyone was collared, Fire Young Lady strolled over and stopped in front of Ye Linglong. Ye Linglong’s disguise had been stripped away, revealing her exquisite and striking features. Taking in a beauty surpassing her own, a flicker of jealousy crossed Fire Young Lady's eyes before she grabbed Ye Linglong’s chin, forcing her head up, "I'll throw you into the most grueling mine shortly, let's see how long your gravely injured body can hold out." "When the Di Family comes demanding you back, I’ll simply say you were mistakenly captured. After all, you nobodies from the Lower Immortal Region come here just to mine for us." Saying this, she released Ye Linglong's chin sharply, "Take her to the Supreme Immortal Crystal mine. No rest until she extracts a hundred pieces today." "Yes!" Several members of the Fire Family hoisted Ye Linglong away immediately. Ye Linglong shot one last piercing glance at the Fire Young Lady, then went along without resisting. In truth, her injuries weren’t severe. After secretly consuming a few healing pills earlier, she was mostly recovered. Yet, for now, she had no intention of escaping. Since she was already at the mine, it wouldn't do to leave without accomplishing something, given her “warm” reception. Ye Linglong was thrown into a mine shaft. Though it was dark, heightened senses made navigation simple for a cultivator like her. On account of an explicit command by Fire Young Lady, she had been tossed into a freshly discovered mine shaft, yet to be exploited. Such unexploited areas were incredibly challenging to mine. A person with sealed spiritual power and injuries would find it impossible, without any tools, to extract a hundred supreme immortal crystals—mere fantasy. However... This was indeed great news for Ye Linglong. Once she was alone, Ye Linglong discarded her earlier feigned weakness, stood up, and dusted off imaginary dirt. Surveying the supreme immortal crystals peeking out from the rock, a joyful grin appeared on her face. Summoning Qian Jun through her mind, the sword spirit's single swing damaged the collar around her neck. Feeling spiritual power circulating within again, Ye Linglong focused on the surrounding supreme immortal crystals. Her soul, strengthened by the ravaging spatial turbulence, had its concentration and penetration power greatly enhanced. Quickly, every mineral vein under her mental sweep was absorbed into her spatial domain. Consequently, her mental energy was exhausted completely. After consuming several meditation pills and restoring her mental strength through meditation, she continued to collect the remaining mineral veins. After about three rounds of this, the entire supreme immortal crystal vein was fully collected into her spatial domain. However, she intentionally left the outermost layer of crystals intact, making it appear as though the vein had been scarcely mined. Meanwhile, Fire Young Lady remained blissfully unaware, proud that the woman was toiling in hardship, ignorant of the fact that her prime mineral vein had been completely cleaned out. After a break, Ye Linglong refastened the collar around her neck loosely, maintaining the illusion of sealed spiritual power, then retrieved roughly a hundred superlative immortal crystals from her space. Promptly, she called for the guards outside. "A hundred supreme immortal crystals, you’ve already mined them?" a guard, entering the dim shaft, asked curiously. Ye Linglong said nothing, merely gestured toward the small pile of crystals beside her. "So quick? Impossible, these crystals are incredibly hard, capable of corroding immortal tools, and resistant to spiritual probing—only manual labor suffices. This woman was even injured; how could she possibly be so fast?" he muttered, examining the undisturbed collar on her neck verified his suspicions remained unfounded. He concluded she might simply have exceptional mining capabilities. With a sly glance toward the mine entrance, he pocketed half the crystals. "There aren't a hundred here, just half, get to mining!" Ye Linglong simply sighed internally at the injustice that seems to exist everywhere.