Chapter 53

Lin Haoming and Fayuan did not keep staring at each other, as each sect that came here had three hundred disciples in the Qi Refinement stage, and some important figures still needed to be remembered.

Lin Haoming himself had already conducted a thorough investigation with Wang Chen.

Among those who came to Red Leaf Mountain this time, the strongest in his sect was indeed Wu Hongfei, of course, this was under the condition of not relying on any additional means.

Apart from Wu Hongfei, the strongest should be Qiao Chun, one of the five inner disciples.

Qiao Chun did not have a significant background, but because of his outstanding abilities, he was also highly regarded by the elders of the sect. As long as he successfully formed his foundation, he would be taken in as a disciple.

In fact, the Blood Refinement Sect had such a rule: unless it was their own bloodline descendant, even if they were favored and wanted to take them as a disciple, they still needed to wait for the person to enter the Foundation Establishment stage on their own.

This rule was set by a famous elder of the Blood Refinement Sect thousands of years ago. In this elder's view, talent was not the most important thing; the most important was character. Only with a strong character could one go far. If a disciple needed to rely on external support to form their foundation, even if their cultivation improved, it would only be a waste of resources.

Because of this rule, Qiao Chun came here, and Lin Haoming also heard that the sect had given him a mission, hoping he could lead the sect's people to achieve good results.

Lin Haoming's initial observation revealed that at least half of the people were in league with Qiao Chun. It was clear that in the days to come, Qiao Chun would be the absolute authority in the cave, much stronger than Wu Hongfei. He would definitely have a place among the top three, of course, on the condition that the sect could win and he could survive.

The Blood Refinement Sect had such a figure, and the other two sects should also have them. Lin Haoming soon discovered this.

Many disciples of Heavenly Sword Mountain were gathered around a girl who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. The girl was dressed in black, very simply, with her black hair hanging directly over her shoulders. Her delicate face gave her a unique charm.

Upon closer inspection, the girl's appearance seemed somewhat similar to that of Lady You. Lin Haoming had already guessed that the girl might have a very special relationship with Lady You, and she was likely the leader of Heavenly Sword Mountain.

As for the Vajra Temple, the little monk Fayuan, who was expected to be a leader, was standing to the side, while at the center of the crowd was a middle-aged monk with a square face, thick eyebrows, and large eyes.

If he were not wearing his monk's robe, he would look like an honest farmer. However, seeing him surrounded by people, no one dared to underestimate him.

The disciples of the three sects were all sizing each other up, noting which figures needed attention.

The three Golden Core old ancestors did not waste much time. For them, this was a matter already agreed upon by the highest levels of the sects, and they were only responsible for the specific implementation.

The three Golden Core old ancestors quickly checked the storage bags of the disciples from the other sects.

After confirming that there were no spirit stones inside, the three old ancestors cast a spell, leaving a rune on each disciple. This rune was actually a mark. When the time came, the old ancestors of each sect could activate the teleportation array and use the rune to locate and bring the disciples out of the spirit stone mine.

Of course, this kind of ability only worked when a higher-cultivation cultivator used it on a lower-cultivation cultivator, and the gap in strength had to be significant, and the distance could not be too far.

After all preparations were made, the disciples of each sect entered the teleportation array in groups of three.

Although the initial exploration showed that the Red Leaf Mountain spirit stone mine was large and the natural caves were complex, entering first still had its advantages. At least they could be prepared, and if someone was teleported to a place not far from them, they could have a head start.

On Lin Haoming's side, Wu Hongfei was still very domineering. Seeing that the teleportation had started, he directly rushed to the teleportation array and was the third to step in, taking Wang Chen and Lin Haoming with him.

Wu Hongfei was well-known in the sect and was a ruthless character, so no one dared to stop him from going first.

As the teleportation began, when Lin Haoming felt himself regain his senses, he saw that he was in a dark tunnel, with the gentle glow of spirit stones illuminating the area.

Spirit stones also emit light, and different types of spirit stones have different colors. In this mine, most of the spirit stones were yellow earth spirit stones and red fire spirit stones, but the light was very weak. Fortunately, they were all cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, or even at the Great Perfection stage, so a little light was enough for them to see clearly.

After adapting to the conditions, Wang Chen directly patted his storage bag, and a magical iron shovel flew out, striking the rock wall.

The rock wall that formed the spirit stones would become particularly hard due to the natural forces, while the spirit stones themselves were actually quite fragile. Using a magical tool to strike them could easily break them. Once broken, or if the hexagonal structure was damaged, the spiritual energy would quickly dissipate. Therefore, collecting spirit stones required caution.

Lin Haoming also took out an iron shovel and began to chisel, but Wu Hongfei did not do this. He just used his flying sword to dig out a few spirit stones and then did nothing.

Lin Haoming understood his behavior; this guy had no intention of digging for spirit stones and had already planned to rob others from the start.

Wang Chen also understood. He looked at Lin Haoming and could only smile bitterly.

Both knew that from the moment they entered, things would not be peaceful.

Sure enough, after digging for about half an hour and collecting two or three dozen spirit stones, Wu Hongfei could no longer hold back and said, "Are you done yet?"

Hearing this, the two could only look at each other again and stopped digging, putting away their magical tools.

After putting away their things, the two saw Wu Hongfei pat a spirit beast bag at his waist, and a blood-red rat the size of a cat appeared in front of everyone.

Lin Haoming had never seen this thing before, but Wang Chen recognized it immediately and said, "Hmm, a blood-sucking rat!"

"Senior Brother Wang, what is this?" Lin Haoming asked.

"A very rare spirit beast. It's not strong itself, but it can naturally sense the presence of living beings!" Wang Chen said with a bitter smile.

Lin Haoming understood from this that this guy was planning to find someone to fight immediately.

The blood-sucking rat had blood-red eyes and prominent incisors that were not like those of ordinary rats but were sharp and pointed, with holes in the middle, likely due to its blood-sucking nature.

Under Wu Hongfei's control, the blood-sucking rat quickly ran in one direction.

"Follow me!" Wu Hongfei ordered and then chased after the blood-sucking rat.

Lin Haoming and Wang Chen looked at each other helplessly and followed him.

After running for less than half an hour, Lin Haoming and Wang Chen heard that Wu Hongfei was already engaged in combat at the front.

The two saw a flurry of sword and knife flashes. By the time they arrived, it was only a dozen breaths later, and they saw three people lying on the ground.

These three people, two men and one woman, were not from another sect but were from the Blood Refinement Sect itself. Wu Hongfei had actually started by attacking his own people, truly living up to the words "ruthless and cruel." This also made Wang Chen and Lin Haoming feel a strange pressure.

PS: As promised, with over a thousand collections last night, I'm adding an extra chapter today. Everyone, please continue to support me! Send your votes fiercely!

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