“Brother Lin Dong, what’s wrong?”
Seeing Lin Dong’s somewhat strange behavior, Qing Tan, sitting on Xiao Yan’s back, couldn’t help but ask, full of doubt.
Lin Dong waved his hand, not answering her. He looked up, a hesitant expression on his face, surveying his surroundings. Then, he picked up some dark soil from various spots in all directions—east, west, south, north—to test the strength of the Yanggang Qi within the mud.
“The mud to the north contains the strongest Yanggang Qi.”
Lin Dong discarded the handful of dark soil, turned to Qing Tan and beckoned, then ran towards the deep forest in the north. Behind him, Qing Tan, seeing this, quickly urged Xiao Yan to follow.
The two people and one beast ran swiftly into the dense forest. Gentle, abundant light filtered through the branches and leaves, illuminating the forest.
Most of Ironwood Manor was covered in dense forest, but this forest seemed untouched and primeval. It appeared the Lei Family had focused all their attention on the Ironwood itself, and thus had not thoroughly explored this dense forest.
After running for a while, Lin Dong stopped to pick up a handful of mud, then clearly determined his direction, and continued deeper.
After venturing deeper for roughly half an hour, Lin Dong suddenly stopped. The mud here was still dark black, but when Lin Dong picked up a handful, he could feel that the Yanggang Qi contained within it was even stronger than that found at the edge of the forest.
“Brother Lin Dong, it’s so hot here!”
Qing Tan sat on Xiao Yan’s back, sweat pouring down her exquisite, picturesque face. Upon arriving here, she almost felt as if she had entered a furnace. If Lin Dong hadn’t insisted on continuing, she probably would have turned back long ago, unable to bear it.
“Just be patient for a bit, we’re almost there.”
Lin Dong gave a light, comforting laugh. His gaze swept into the distance, discovering that the edge of the forest was not far away. Faintly, he caught the scent of a beast. Immediately, his heart grew vigilant. He gave Qing Tan a signal, then crouched low and moved forward. A moment later, a slightly sunken valley appeared before Lin Dong’s eyes.
His gaze swept across the land within the valley, and Lin Dong’s pupils suddenly constricted, stopping at two black figures at the bottom of the valley.
The two figures resembled two black panthers, their entire bodies jet-black, as if covered by a layer of refined black metal. Where the sunlight struck, it reflected a dazzling sheen. Their emerald green eyes revealed ferocity and cunning.
“Black Iron Demonic Panther!”
Looking at the two metallic-headed Black Panthers, Lin Dong couldn’t help but gasp in cold air. These Black Iron Demonic Panthers were a type of demonic beast, their reputation no less than that of the Fire Python Tiger, for after maturing, they could rival the strength of a Heavenly Yuan Stage expert. Judging by the current physique of these two demonic panthers, they were clearly in their prime.
In other words, these two black panthers were equivalent to two Heavenly Yuan Stage experts. Lin Dong truly hadn’t expected such ferocious creatures to exist in the depths of Ironwood Manor.
“No wonder the Lei Family didn’t dare to venture deep into the forest, these places are truly dangerous.” Lin Dong curled his lip. Just as he was about to quietly retreat, the symbol on his right hand suddenly emitted a strange fluctuation.
This fluctuation stunned Lin Dong, who then carefully crawled down, reasoning that if the Stone Talisman was emitting fluctuations, there must be something nearby that was attracting it.
Lin Dong placed his right hand on the ground, then silently sensed the fluctuations, and his body slowly moved. After a long while, he stopped at a sunken patch of ground.
Looking at the slightly sunken ground beside him, Lin Dong was a little surprised. He suddenly punched down with all his might, sending mud and dirt flying in all directions, revealing a hole about a foot in size. This hole had existed for a long time, but was merely buried under a layer of mud and dirt on the surface.
When the hole appeared, the Stone Talisman once again continuously emitted fluctuations. Lin Dong hesitated for a moment, then inserted his arm into the hole and dug around for a while.
Not far away, Qing Tan watched Lin Dong prostrated on the ground, his hands continuously pulling out miscellaneous stones from the hole like a pangolin. A strange expression couldn't help but appear on her small face; it was clear she didn't know what Lin Dong was doing.
Under Qing Tan's strange, scrutinizing gaze, Lin Dong's arms continued digging in the hole for half a day, but all he dug out were some miscellaneous stones, with no strange objects whatsoever.
After digging for a while with no results, Lin Dong, having failed to find what he needed, was about to stop when the hand he had inserted into the hole suddenly grasped a warm stone. As this stone entered his hand, the Stone Talisman in Lin Dong's palm stopped emitting fluctuations.
"Found it..."
Noticing the change in the Stone Talisman, Lin Dong was overjoyed. He hurriedly withdrew his arm, and a pale red stone immediately appeared before his eyes.
The angular stone block was not very sharp; the entire object was pink and looked somewhat transparent, like a type of crystal. Warmth and light emanated from within the crystal, as if it held a mass of sunlight.
"This is... a Yang Yuan Stone..."
Lin Dong stared blankly at the pale red crystal in his hand, then suddenly gasped in shock, a look of fear and horror appearing in his eyes.
The Yang Yuan Stone was a special type of crystal, rumored to only form deep within volcanoes. This crystal not only absorbed Yuan Power from heaven and earth but also had to undergo prolonged smelting and melting, after which it would integrate a trace of Yang-attribute power within it. For experts who had reached the Heavenly Yuan Stage, this type of Yang Yuan Stone was truly a suitable item for cultivation.
Lin Dong had once followed Lin Xiao to a certain place and coincidentally heard that within the Great Yan Dynasty, many experts who had reached the Heavenly Yuan Stage carried several pieces of Yang Yuan Stone with them. Conversely, it was rarely seen in Qingyang Town because its price was not cheap at all.
Lin Dong had never once imagined that he would dig up a Yang Yuan Stone in this place. One had to know that Yang Yuan Stones rarely appeared alone; due to their nature, there was usually a mineral vein, large or small, near where they were found. If that were truly the case, even a small mineral vein would become an enormous fortune for the Lin Family.
“This place was once a volcano, so it’s not impossible to find a Yang Yuan Stone mine here…”
Lin Dong couldn't help but twitch his mouth slightly, then he gripped the Yang Yuan Stone tightly in his hand and suddenly stood up.
“Grrrrroooar!”
The moment Lin Dong stood up, from the valley ahead, two Black Iron Demonic Leopards suddenly let out a growl, their sound echoing precisely in his direction.
“We’ve been discovered…”
Lin Dong’s expression changed. He quickly turned back, jumped onto Xiao Yan’s back, embraced Qing Tan’s slender waist, and ordered in a low voice, “Go, quickly!”
Hearing his shout, Xiao Yan let out a soft growl, and its four hooves moved like a whirlwind, rushing out of the forest.
***
“Sigh, first, gather the manpower remaining at Ironwood Manor and do everything possible to clean the soil with medicinal liquid. As for the remaining Ironwood, we must first cut it down, then observe if this place can continue to grow Ironwood. If not, there’s no need to keep many people here.” In the main hall, after a furious outburst post-noon, Lin Zhengtian finally suppressed his futile anger, sat in the leader’s seat, and said with a gloomy expression.
“Yes.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiao and the others nodded with bitter smiles, their faces weary beyond words. They had thought they could gain an advantage this time, but unexpectedly, the result was a manor that was half-ruined.
“Bang!”
As Lin Xiao and the others nodded, the main door of the hall was suddenly pushed open forcefully, and Lin Dong’s figure rushed straight in. Seeing his disheveled appearance, covered in mud, everyone was stunned. Just as they were about to ask what happened, Lin Dong took out a pale red spirit stone from his person and slammed it onto the table in front of Lin Zhantian.
“Grandfather, our Lin family has found a treasure this time!”