X-Dragon Era

Upon hearing Xin Yun's words and seeing his filthy appearance, the guard frowned and said, "There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world! If you want to eat, that's fine, but you must enter the mine to dig, and exchange your labor for food."

"Gurgle..." Swallowing hard, Xin Yun said with difficulty, "Okay, I am willing to go mining, it's just... I'm really too hungry now, I have no strength at all, could I have something to eat first, and I'll go digging immediately after I'm done!"

Hearing this, the guard nodded in satisfaction, turned his head, and shouted towards the direction behind him, "Hey! Er Zi... bring over two vegetable steamed buns and a waterskin!"

Following the guard's words, soon... a middle-aged woman came over with a leather waterskin and two steamed buns in her hand, glanced at Xin Yun, casually placed the food and water in front of him, and said coldly, "Take the food and water, after you're done eating go over there to pick up your tools, got it?"

Grabbing the buns and water, Xin Yun nodded frantically, stuffing the buns into his mouth while grasping the waterskin, he walked towards the tool distribution area and successfully blended into the crowd entering the mine.

Since it was only a bronze mine, the management here wasn't very strict, unlike the gold mines where you are searched when entering and exiting. After all, it's just bronze, and moreover, it is raw ore—who could smuggle much of it on their person, and how much could it be worth?

After picking up a mining shovel, Xin Yun finished eating the buns and took a big gulp from the waterskin, then, carrying the shovel, he entered the mine, where the Divine Artifact was hidden in the depths, waiting for him to unearth it.

Xin Yun was now over eleven years old, closing in on twelve. Although he was still young, he was, after all, a Martial Artist and his body had developed quickly, making him look about fourteen or fifteen, a little adult in his own right. Otherwise, no one would have let an eight or nine-year-old child inside.
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Once inside the mine, Xin Yun's eyes lit up instantly. He looked left and right, confirming that no one was around, then ran toward one of the side tunnels.

In his past life, this place had been turned into a tourist area—after all, it was the birthplace of the first Divine Artifact, making it meaningful to pay a visit. Therefore, Xin Yun knew approximately where the Divine Artifact was buried.

Hurrying along, soon... Xin Yun stopped in front of a mine wall, staring blankly at the thick wall before him. Xin Yun's face was filled with bitterness, "Good heavens... There's no path here yet, and according to my memory, the location of the Divine Artifact is more than ten kilometers from here. How long will it take to dig through?!"

This section of the mine wall was just part of the current tunnel; it would be years later when this vein would be exhausted, and miners would turn back to dig from this spot, leading to the discovery of the first Divine Artifact. But that day was far too distant from now.

Direct to the point, if Xin Yun wanted the Divine Artifact to emerge sooner, then he must start digging from here. And most importantly, he had to keep it a secret from everyone. Otherwise, the outcome would be unpredictable, and someone else might get to it first, rendering all his efforts for naught.

First, Xin Yun looked around the passage sides to make sure no one was there, and then he pulled out the Essence Gold shovel inlaid with Dragon Crystals from his chest—the same one he bought from Ta Mountain City and had modified to shoot out sharp Essence Gold Qi. This small mining shovel was the key to Xin Yun's plan to release the Divine Artifact ahead of time!

After making sure there was no one around, Xin Yun found a corner, and his Essence Gold shovel began to dig into the mine wall. With his current four-star Silver strength, plus the boost from the Dragon Crystals on the shovel, the small Essence Gold shovel actually shot out a jet of Essence Gold Qi nearly one meter long.

Everything the Qi blade touched, the raw ore split easily like tofu, cut open by a deep fissure.

Swinging the shovel quickly, soon... Xin Yun carved out a two-meter-diameter indent in the corner of the mine wall. Then, after again making sure that no one was around, he summoned Yinglong, who rolled over a piece of scrap ore that was more than three meters high and five meters in diameter to use to block the tunnel entrance later on.

Next, Xin Yun began digging with all his might, energy surged wildly, and sharp bursts of Essence Gold Qi howled out, cutting pieces of semi-circular ore one after another, which were swept away by Yinglong's large tail, and after a long period of hard work, he finally carved out a tunnel twenty meters long and two and a half meters in diameter!

Looking at the mountainous pile of copper ore, Xin Yun frowned, knowing it wouldn't be good if it just piled up here—it was sure to be discovered. But if he were to move it out to hand over, how would he explain that? A teenager mining so much ore so quickly, how could that make sense?

After thinking it over and over, Xin Yun finally came up with a solution. Under his command, Yinglong swept away all the mined ore, dumping it into an underground fissure not too far away, making all the ore disappear.

For the entire day, Xin Yun valiantly wielded his Essence Gold shovel while Yinglong continuously rolled the excavated ore into the underground cracks, working together harmoniously.

The day passed swiftly, and as the whole day went by, Xin Yun managed to dig a tunnel one hundred meters long with a diameter of two and a half meters. Without Yinglong's help to transport the ore and the Essence Gold shovel, this would have been impossible.