Chapter 88

As the sky was just beginning to brighten, Ji Ning and his father Ji Yichuan were using their body techniques to rush towards the source of the intense fluctuations in the primordial energy.

"Hmm? I've never compared body techniques with Father before. How can Father's speed be so fast?" Ji Ning was greatly surprised. His divine body could rival that of a general practitioner of divine and demonic body refinement in the early stage of the Purple Mansion, and with the Wind Wing Escape Technique, his speed was incredibly fast. Even without the aid of the feathered magical treasure, it was still astonishing. Yet, Father Ji Yichuan could keep up with him at any time.

"Father, what body technique is this? Could it be that Father has opened the Purple Mansion?" Ji Ning asked while moving, using true essence to transmit his voice. He didn't know that during the calamity back then, apart from the Wei Chi siblings, his father Ji Yichuan had also been severely injured.

"There's no need to ask more." Ji Yichuan clearly didn't want to mention it. "This speed is already my limit."

"I understand." Ji Ning nodded.

If he used the feathered magical treasure, he could be even faster, but it wasn't necessary.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two moved forward like a wisp of smoke. At this extreme speed, they covered thousands of miles in just half an hour! This speed was already on par with that of a Purple Mansion cultivator.

"It should be around here." Ji Ning stopped and stood on the crown of an ancient tree, overlooking a forest. "The source of the fluctuations shouldn't be more than three hundred miles away."

"It should be." Ji Yichuan also nodded.

"Let's search carefully." Both of them flew over the treetops, carefully investigating the area. Soon, Ji Yichuan even directly entered the ground, emerging a moment later: "Ji Ning, come over." Ji Ning leaped over, drawing a streak of light to catch up, and Ji Yichuan was standing in a patch of weeds.

"What's wrong?" Ji Ning asked.

"There are essence stones underground." Ji Yichuan said solemnly. "And it should be a very rich essence stone vein. I've even found high-grade essence stones."

"High-grade essence stones?" Ji Ning was also surprised. "There are high-grade essence stones under our Ji Clan's territory?"

"This essence stone vein is very rich, with few impurities. However, because they are essence stones... the earth-penetrating technique cannot pass through them." Ji Yichuan explained. "Relying solely on the earth-penetrating technique, one can only reach about fifty zhang underground, which is the surface of the essence stone vein. Further down... is the rich vein."

Ji Ning nodded. The earth-penetrating technique could pass through ordinary soil and rocks, but not through special substances like essence stones.

"Roar!"

A hundred miles away, a golden light suddenly shot up into the sky, accompanied by a piercing sound.

Ji Ning and Ji Yichuan both turned to look.

"The Ji Clan's golden arrow!" Ji Ning and Ji Yichuan immediately used their body techniques to rush over. They could cover a mile in a single flash. The golden arrow was a summons, calling all Ji Clan men in the vicinity to hurry over.

...

Ji Ning and Ji Yichuan saw a dozen or so people in the distance, including Ji Jiuhuo in a gray robe and Auntie Ying. The others were from the Ji Clan's ancestral estate, as this place was closest to the Ji Clan's ancestral estate, the Ten Thousand Swords City. The group also turned to look, recognizing the father and son.

"Yichuan, you and your son came very quickly," Ji Jiuhuo said.

"We just arrived from Ten Thousand Swords City, and you and your son came from West Estate City as well."

"Amazing."

These innate spirits also praised them.

"Everyone came quite quickly." A laugh echoed, and a streak of light quickly approached and landed, revealing a middle-aged man dressed in animal skins.

"Liuzhen has also arrived." Ji Jiuhuo smiled and nodded.

Ji Ning glanced at the middle-aged man. His name was Ji Liuzhen, the first person of the Ji Clan's North Estate, on par with his father. From the looks of it, he could have come from North Estate City in such a short time... Ji Liuzhen was likely a Purple Mansion cultivator.

"Our Ji Clan openly has only Ji Jiuhuo and Auntie Ying as Purple Mansion cultivators," Ji Ning thought. "But a clan must have a lineage. The younger generation should have someone who has reached the Purple Mansion stage. From what I can see, Ji Liuzhen is a Purple Mansion cultivator. My father, with his previous body technique speed, might also be a Purple Mansion cultivator!"

Ji Yichuan and Ji Liuzhen exchanged glances and nodded.

Ji Yichuan spoke up, "I wonder why the clan leader has gathered us."

"I'm sure you've noticed," Ji Jiuhuo said solemnly. "There is an essence stone vein underground, a very rich one."

"Indeed." The clan members all nodded, their eyes even showing excitement.

According to the rules of the Great Xia Dynasty, the area within ten thousand miles around each Great Xia city was the territory of the city's owner! As for the disputed areas at the borders, it depended on who had the greater strength. This essence stone vein was very close to Ten Thousand Swords City, and according to the dynasty's regulations... it was undoubtedly the territory of the Ji Clan!

"This vein is not only rich but also large," Ji Jiuhuo looked around. "We need to determine the exact scale of this essence stone vein. I will fly to the southeast to investigate, Liuzhen, you to the north, Ying, you to the southwest. As for the others, you will carefully investigate how deep the vein goes and its quality. Regardless of the investigation, meet back here in two hours."

"Yes."

Everyone responded.

Soon, three streaks of light flew off in three directions, while Ji Ning, Ji Yichuan, and the others began to drill into the ground. Since essence stones could not be penetrated, they had to drill slowly.

"Go." Ji Ning was surrounded by a water-fire lotus, which rotated and easily drilled through the ground below.

Ji Ning easily took steps downward.

As soon as he went down, the soil above collapsed.

Ji Ning ignored it and kept going down... soon he reached the surface of the essence stone vein. Large chunks of essence stones, resembling ugly rocks, were connected to each other. These were low-grade essence stones, which looked similar to ordinary rocks at first glance, emitting only a bit of primordial energy.

Sizzle~ The water-fire lotus easily drilled through, and Ji Ning continued downward, moving at an astonishing speed.

"So deep." Ji Ning felt he had already gone down a hundred miles, yet he was still in the essence stone layer. "A hundred miles of essence stones, how deep is this vein? And it's only a few dozen zhang from the surface, how could it have never been discovered before?"

Ji Ning didn't know that the Immortal Fire Dragon had set up a great array, making it impossible to discover.

"Puff." Finally, he reached familiar soil.

"More than three hundred miles deep." Ji Ning was shocked. "Veins usually spread out horizontally. If the depth is like this, how long and wide must it be?"

Whoosh!

Ji Ning began to quickly move upward.

After a long time...

He finally reached the surface and quickly returned to the gathering place. There, Ji Jiuhuo, Auntie Ying, the old servant, and Ji Liuzhen were already waiting.

"Ji Ning." Ji Jiuhuo's eyes lit up as he looked at Ji Ning. "Have you investigated clearly?"

"Yes." Ji Ning nodded, glancing around. The depth was over three hundred miles, which was much more difficult than flying for thousands of miles. He was fortunate to use the water-fire lotus, which borrowed the power of heaven and earth, making it easy. Others would have to consume true essence to drill slowly.

"How deep?" Ji Jiuhuo and the others looked at Ji Ning.

"More than three hundred miles." Ji Ning said.

Ji Jiuhuo, Auntie Ying, and Ji Liuzhen all changed expressions. They didn't have time to marvel at Ji Ning's ability to travel over three hundred miles underground in just over an hour, as they were already starting to panic.

"What's wrong?" Ji Ning asked.

"This essence stone vein," Ji Jiuhuo said solemnly. "We have also investigated, and it covers an area of over four thousand miles! If the depth is more than three hundred miles... this is definitely a large-scale essence stone vein. Such a large-scale vein, for our Ji Clan, is not a blessing but a disaster!"

Disaster!

Ji Ning was shocked and instantly understood. How much one could eat depended on one's stomach; eating too much could be fatal.

"This is a rich vein, and it's so large," Ji Jiuhuo said solemnly. "Once fully mined, its value would far exceed what our Ji Clan can bear. Can our Ji Clan handle it?"

This vein...

was formed by the Immortal Fire Dragon, who had spent a huge amount to gather surrounding primordial energy to support his breakthrough to a terrestrial immortal. It took a hundred years to form this vein. If fully mined, it would be worth more than half the wealth of an Immortal Fire Dragon. However, the Immortal Fire Dragon had a higher perspective after breaking through to a terrestrial immortal, and mining the vein was too troublesome, even for an Immortal Fire Dragon. Only the True Men of the Ten Thousand Phenomena would be enthusiastic about it.

"What do we do now?" Auntie Ying asked.

"I'm not afraid of anything else, just the Snow Dragon Mountain!" Ji Jiuhuo's face was full of worry. "The Snow Dragon Mountain in our Yan Mountain is just a branch. Behind it... is the Snow Dragon Mountain sect! It's a major sect with Immortal Fire Dragons. And according to the timeline, the Purple Mansion cultivators of the Snow Dragon Mountain Yan Mountain branch might already be in the vicinity!"