Chapter 38: The Stubborn Immortal Master

It seemed they weren’t lying. What was going on? And my calculations indicated this child would be targeted by schemes. How could things be this way now? I didn’t understand; it was truly perplexing.

“Oh, I see. In that case, you go ahead! I won’t bother you any further.”

“Alright, thanks, Xiaomei. I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”

“Mm!”

Upon leaving, Ye Xiaozi immediately headed to the cafeteria. She quickly grabbed some steamed buns and pickled vegetables, then hurried away.

After all, Ye Xiaozi was still in the Qi Condensation stage. Missing a meal would leave her famished. She had only endured the hunger at noon due to work, waiting until evening to finally eat.

Incidentally, the Hundred Flowers Palace cafeteria was quite different from those in the mundane world. Perhaps knowing that everyone worked during the day to earn spirit stones, the daytime and noon meals were typically light.

Only in the evenings were meats and other richer dishes served, especially spirit-infused vegetarian dishes, which were exclusively available at night.

Thus, it was virtually impossible for Ye Xiaozi to enjoy such fare during the day.

Eating as she walked, Ye Xiaozi passed the spot where the three maidens had hidden yesterday. She instinctively glanced over, noticing some tattered remains of skirts still on the ground.

This made Ye Xiaozi wonder if she had been too excessive yesterday. ‘Next time I’m stuffed and need to vent spirit energy, I’ll have to find a more suitable place to do it,’ she mused.

Shaking her head, Ye Xiaozi picked up her pace, swiftly heading towards the mine.

****

Within the mine, all the mortals primarily resided there. Only a few overseers, who were handyman disciples, needed to return for lodging at night.

This arrangement was due to the extremely sparse spiritual energy in the area. It was naturally so.

Some spirit stone veins were rich in spiritual energy, allowing cultivators to practice nearby. However, other spirit stone veins were so sealed off that spiritual energy could barely permeate them.

This particular mine was one such example, possessing very little spiritual energy. Even in the few spots where some spiritual energy existed, it was exceedingly rare.

Therefore, by nightfall, all overseers and chief overseers in this mine area had to return. This was also why Ye Xiaozi went back in the evenings.

Beyond the braised pork, the most crucial factor was the scarcity of spiritual energy for cultivation.

****

By the time Ye Xiaozi arrived, most of the mortal miners had already gathered.

Furthermore, the overseers who remained at their original mining pits greeted Ye Xiaozi upon her arrival, which she happily reciprocated one by one.

These individuals saw no hint of Ye Xiaozi’s ambition, only the innocent, somewhat foolish smile on her face. For a moment, they couldn’t quite grasp whether this young girl was genuinely pure or merely feigning it. It was truly perplexing.

Fortunately, she had just arrived. Even if she intended to act against them, it would take some time.

Indeed, although these young women had made promises to Wang Qiu’er yesterday, they couldn’t help but consider their own lives and chastity more carefully.

After all, within the Hundred Flowers Palace, if one didn’t seek a cultivation partner, maintaining one’s chastity until becoming a high-ranking member would attract admirers.

As for those who casually found a cultivation partner and gave away their first time, they were generally destined for a lifetime of mediocrity, unless their partner was exceptionally powerful.

However, despite failing to ascertain Ye Xiaozi’s true depth, these young women’s imaginations ran wild. Recalling how Ye Xiaozi had been dubbed ‘Ye Xiaohei’ yesterday, it seemed clear that her current innocent demeanor was merely an act.

Perhaps, even as she greeted them, she was already plotting their downfall. ‘How truly dark!’ they thought. ‘The nickname Ye Xiaohei truly fits her.’

****

Little did Ye Xiaozi know that her innocent appearance was being perceived as deeply cunning, marking her as a quintessential ‘green tea b*tch’ and further solidifying the nickname Ye Xiaohei.

At this moment, having just started her shift, Ye Xiaozi was primarily occupied with the rocks in the mine tunnel. After controlling her flying sword to break them apart, she would quickly step out to meditate and recover.

While Ye Xiaozi meditated, the miners continued their tireless excavation.

As two days of digging passed, the miners grew increasingly uneasy.

One burly, rough-handed middle-aged woman immediately approached the lead miner and whispered, “Old Sister, do you really think there’s anything in this mine? If it were a normal mine being developed, we should have found at least some scraps within twenty meters of depth. But we’ve dug this far, and there’s nothing!”

“This…” The lead sister fell into deep thought. “…”

As the woman said, in any mine that was being exploited, let alone twenty meters, as long as rock was encountered, scraps were bound to appear within ten meters.

‘Scraps’ here was a general term. For instance, a single spirit stone in the mortal world was worth at least a hundred gold. But besides intact spirit stones, there were also fragments and shards.

For a mine like this one, even if a truly complete spirit stone was only extracted every three or four days, fragments and broken pieces of spirit stones could still be found periodically.

These spirit stone scraps were typically recycled by the sect. Through various processes, they would eventually be refined into a complete spirit stone, though its spiritual energy wouldn’t be as pure or potent as naturally occurring ones.

Even in this nearly depleted mine, scraps could usually be found around twenty meters. How could it be that after more than twenty meters, these miners hadn’t found a single piece of scrap? It was as if this was just an ordinary mountain, devoid of spirit stones or any treasures more precious than them.

“Should we report this to the higher-ups?”

“Yes! What if they find out later that we knew and didn’t report it? Will they cause trouble for us?”

“Alright then, we’ll talk to the Immortal Master.”

Just like that, a few miners who had been digging for several meters quietly approached Ye Xiaozi. They cautiously said, “Immortal Master, after observing for over twenty meters, we’ve found no spirit stone scraps here. Should we abandon this spot and move to another location?”

“That’s right! If we keep digging, what if we don’t find anything? What… what should we do?”

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiaozi immediately surveyed the area, then waved her hand. “No need, no need. Everyone, please continue working hard. You’ll find things around fifty meters here. You’ve already dug halfway, so keep up the good work for the remaining half!” Saying this, Ye Xiaozi vigorously waved her arms, encouraging everyone.

The miners, seeing this, became even more speechless. ‘We’ve told you the truth, and you, Immortal Master, are truly stubborn,’ they thought. With no other option, the miners returned to continue digging.