Chapter 271: Entering the Fire Vein (1/2)
Chapter 271: Entering the Fire Vein
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
Greensword Mountain, Sui Province.
In the dynasty of Jin, Sui Province was bleak and remote. Vast as the territory was, the soil was pretty barren. Even when all went well, the harvest of one field was merely a third of that of other provinces. Furthermore, this ruddy place mainly consisted of hills and was thus, inconvenient for transportation. Nor was it on any vital communication lines, so few merchants would pass by. Gradually, this place became the poorest province among the entire Central Plains.
Due to its poverty, this Sui Province had seldom attracted people's attention and hadn't cultivated a single decently well-known family for thousands of years. Even when it occasionally nurtured some brilliant talents, they always continued their life's pursuits elsewhere and never came back to this ruddy place with no future for anyone.
Of course, that did not mean Sui Province was totally deserted. Its population was not large, but it was sitting among the Central Plains, and small potatoes could always be found. Plus, with vast land and plenty of hills, it became a paradise for bandits to hide.
The Greensword Mountain was not a huge one in Sui Province, and its look was nothing special either. However, it was common knowledge that there was a school called Redflame School in the Greensword Mountain. That school wasn't large and never accepted disciples from outside, but it had many masters of martial arts. For normal schools, having one or two masters of Level Four or Five would already be impressive, whereas this Redflame School, apparently it had more than just one or two masters. After being established 60 years ago in the Greensword Mountain, it flattened all schools within hundreds of miles radius within one month. However, what powerful sects could this poor place possibly have?
Seeing this Redflame School was so fierce and tough, everyone went soft and never dared to look for trouble with the Redflame School anymore. Instead, they suffered anxiety all day long, worrying that this Redflame School would one day beat a path to their door.
Nevertheless, the Redflame School obviously didn't aim to lord it over everyone and settled down after taking up the land within hundreds of miles, which also eased the surrounding schools as days quietly passed by. But now, after 60 years since its founding, the Redflame School had become the most famous but also the most low-key and mysterious school in Sui Province.
”You're saying this is the work of the Raging Fire Ancestor?” Standing on the woody peak of the Greensword Mountain and overlooking the entire area, Wang She asked in amazement.
”The Raging Fire Ancestor discovered this geocentric fire vein here 60 years ago and then led his subordinates here and occupied the Greensword Mountain, establishing the Redflame School. Just because of the help from this geocentric fire vein, his cultivation kept progressing over the last 60 years, and until 10 years ago, he entered the phase of Level Nine.”
”What an astute old bloke! But, I guess many of your Sect of Flame are eyeing his geocentric fire vein!”
”Seven geocentric fire veins are all controlled by someone, but we won't easily refuse those who ask us a for a favor. After all, the geocentric fire vein is connected to the geocenter, capable of creating as many Level Nine experts as you want. Also, not everyone will be able to ruin the fire vein by excessively extracting from the inside like this boy does!”
”I still can't figure out whether you're complimenting me or insulting me?” Junior Leopard forced a smile next to her.
”Whatever you like!” Prince Xiaoming glanced at him. ”The geocentric fire vein is right underneath here. As far as I know, the man who is responsible for guarding this geocentric fire vein is the chief disciple named Chilei. He just entered Level Seven five years ago and is also a Venerable of my sect!”
”Shall we do him in?”
”What on earth do you have in your head?!” Prince Xiaoming glared at Junior Leopard forcefully, and cursed under her breath.
It truly gave Junior Leopard a sense of accomplishment to inquire from a Great Venerable of the Sect of Flame about whether he shall kill another Venerable or not.
”Chilei is just in Level Seven. We just need to be careful and he won't even detect us. Although there are some others in the geocentric fire vein, they are not at that great a depth. With our cultivation, we don't need to deal with them at all. As long as we reach the depth of the fire vein, no one will find us. Even if we cause a huge sensation, they will only take it as an unusual movement at the depth of the earth vein. By no means will they suspect us, and even if they suspect that there is something wrong in the vein, they won't have the ability to come down!”
The entrance of this geocentric fire vein was not as easy to find as the one in Zhonghe City. Instead, it was concealed in a palisade surrounded by a vast expanse of buildings, hiding in the deepest part of the constructions.
”Unexpectedly, this Redflame School took up such a large area. It's even several times larger than the old mansion of the Wu Family!”
”The Raging Fire Ancestor is one of the richest Venerables in the sect. He has controlled multiple commercial corps. Though Sui Province is pretty poor, it's an easy job for him to build up a large manor!” Prince Xiaoming answered. Her figure then flashed into a wisp of wind and she slipped into the entrance.
”Never did I think that Prince Xiaoming had great potential in being a thief!” Seeing the swift body movement of Prince Xiaoming, Junior Leopard gave a smile and operated the Snake-like Breath Holding Skill before slipping in.
After entering, the two felt a hot burst of dry wind brushing over their faces.
”What strong Fire Qi! Eh, has that guy already taken action?”
Not far from the entrance of the cave, a man dressed in a red robe was sprawled out on the ground. If not for the slightest respiration, Junior Leopard would have taken him to be a corpse.
”This is Chilei. Damn, unexpectedly, he would be stationed at the entrance today!” Prince Xiaoming looked a little upset.
”This is Chilei, a Venerable of the Sect of Flame, the chief disciple of the Raging Fire Ancestor, an expert of Level Seven!”
Junior Leopard's heart made a tense throb. This expert of Level Seven was silently subdued by Prince Xiaoming in a blink. Junior Leopard believed that he himself wouldn't be able to do such a neat job, unless striking furtively with his Snake-like Breath Holding Skill.
But on a second thought, his astonishment wore off a lot. ”After all, Prince Xiaoming is an expert of Level Nine, and she's determined to let go of her face to sneak attack. If that wasn't enough to defeat this Chilei , she wouldn't be qualified as an expert of Level Nine.”
”What shall we do now?”
”What else except get going! This guy won't wake up in one hour. At that time, we'll be down in the depth of the earth vein, so he won't be able to touch us. But we have to act quickly. We must get the job done before Raging Fire Ancestor returns, otherwise...” At this point, Prince Xiaoming turned her gaze to Wang She. ”Otherwise, we shall bother you to get closer to this old Ancestor!”
”I knew the unlucky guy would always be me!” Wang She gave a wry smile. ”Fine, if we really get so unlucky, I will handle this Raging Fire Ancestor and lure him elsewhere so that the two of you can get out!”
The passageways in this earth vein were different from those in Zhonghe City. The passageways of the latter were comprised of countless sub-passageways, but as long as you walked along the main passageway, you would soon arrive at the rock flow underground. However, the geocentric fire vein in the Greensword Mountain was entirely different. Apart from a spacious area at the exit, all of the remaining passageways were of various sizes and were crisscrossing like a spider web.
”The road distribution in this geocentric fire vein is quite complicated. If you get lost in those passageways, it'll be very hard to find a way out. I heard that years ago, Raging Fire Ancestor had spent an enormous amount of effort to find this Underground Rock River. He guided me down here once, that's why I know the way in and out!” Rounding corner after corner in the tricky passageways, Junior Leopard began feeling a bit disoriented. As Prince Xiaoming went on about this geocentric fire vein, his brain seemed to become more dazed.
After turning countless corners and passing through myriads of passageways, the temperature around became higher and higher, red airflow rose everywhere. Soon, the temperature almost reached a hundred degrees, which forced Wang She and Prince Xiaoming to open their Gang Qi to defend the heat. Having no intent to flaunt his endurance, Junior Leopard also shot out his Poison Cold Shield, which generated a whiff of light Green Mist around him, drifting and whirling, bringing him cool wind and expelling all the heat away from him.
”What a nice celestial device! Where did you get it?”
Since Wang She and Prince Xiaoming were both experts of Level Nine who were precious to find even across the world, their insights were surely extraordinary. Both of them had perceived that what Junior Leopard had was an extremely uncommon defending celestial device. From the coldness exuding from deep inside, they knew it possessed not only great defensive power, but also a terrifying attacking force.
”I found it by luck. It's operating great actually!” Junior Leopard smiled.