Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World

Chapter 891: Chapter 469: Killing the Stone Beast (Part 2)

Gu Sheng waved his hand.

Then he stepped forward to help the remaining dozen mountain villagers up.

"Benefactor, you must be a deity sent from heaven to save us."

Leading them was Master Zhang, tears streaming down his face, as if emotionally collapsing at that moment.

Gu Sheng was a bit speechless.

He hadn’t expected that a simple act of help would make them so grateful.

"I’m really not some deity, just a traveler passing by."

Gu Sheng said with a somewhat speechless smile.

At this moment, a young mountain villager leaned in next to Master Zhang and said, "Master Wu, we need to hurry up with the mining, if we wait any longer, it will be too late."

"Hmm."

Master Zhang wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and nodded gently, "I know."

After speaking, Master Zhang forced out a smile, "Let our benefactor laugh at us."

Then, he turned his head to the remaining companions and said, "The few of you, responsible for transporting their bodies back, the others, follow me to continue mining."

Upon hearing the word "mining," Gu Sheng’s interest was instantly piqued.

"Zhang... Master Wu, what do you mean by mining?"

Master Zhang heard Gu Sheng call him that and quickly refused, "Benefactor, please don’t call me Master Wu, I cannot bear the title."

"Uh... Then stop calling me benefactor, just call me Xiao Sheng."

Gu Sheng chuckled and said.

"Haha..."

Master Zhang let out a hearty laugh, "Alright, then you call me Old Zhang, it seems more personal."

With these words, the relationship between both parties seemed to become more subtle.

"Xiao Sheng, why did you come here?"

Master Zhang casually asked.

"I too came here for survival, fleeing pursuit."

Gu Sheng shook his head somewhat helplessly and said.

"Oh?"

Master Zhang’s expression turned serious: "I didn’t realize you were much like us..."

"Why? Are people trying to hunt you too?"

Gu Sheng asked, a bit surprised.

"Isn’t it true, that Chen Big Beard threatened to massacre the village!"

At this time, a young man standing behind Master Zhang said.

"What! This is happening!"

Gu Sheng was shocked.

"Yes, that Big Beard wants Master Wu to find the location of the mineral vein, if we don’t, he will massacre the village!"

That young man continued.

"It’s hard to find a mineral vein, he’s clearly bullying!"

Gu Sheng said with sympathy.

Hearing this, Master Zhang patted Gu Sheng on the shoulder, his expression a mix of pride and helplessness.

"Xiao Sheng, you may not know, but all of us here, for generations, have lived by seeking ores, our families were once the most famous on this continent, we have special methods to find those Source Ores rich in energy."

Gu Sheng listened intently, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Source Ores? How do you have such an ability?"

"Yes, Original Ores contain various types of power, they are valuable resources for cultivators to enhance their strength, but ever since the Shaking Light Saint ordered the prohibition of private mining of Source Ores, life has been hard for us miners."

Master Zhang nodded, heaving a heavy sigh.

Gu Sheng frowned, sensing the helplessness in Master Zhang’s words: "And now you..."

Master Zhang looked up at the mountain and continued: "Right now, to deal with that Chen Big Beard, we can only secretly seek Source Ores to make a living, but this is risky, like today, when we encountered the Stone Beasts."

Gu Sheng recalled the earlier scenario, the prowess of those Stone Beasts had left him with lingering fears.

"Those Stone Beasts, what exactly are they?"

Gu Sheng asked.

"Those Stone Beasts are the product of the essence from Source Ores gathering together, they guard Source Ores, the more Stone Beasts there are, the more Source Ores there are, so each time we seek Source Ores, we risk our lives."

Master Zhang explained.

Gu Sheng nodded, beginning to understand Master Zhang’s situation.

"Are you still going to continue seeking Original Ores?"

Gu Sheng pursued.

"Seek!"

Master Zhang said with a determined look.

Seeing that they are also defending the village, Gu Sheng silently considered whether to tell them about the refined ore in the cave.

At that moment, Gu Sheng suddenly saw the bloodstains on the ground.

The mountain villager who just died, who knows whose son he was, or whose husband.

This kind of bloodshed, it’s best if it doesn’t happen again.

Thinking of this, Gu Sheng directly said: "Old Zhang, I’ll take you to a place, there might be what you need there."

"Oh?"

Master Zhang’s eyes lit up, "Where?"

"Just ahead."

Gu Sheng pointed toward the location of the cave and said.

"Alright!"

Subsequently, Master Zhang and five or six others followed Gu Sheng toward the cave.

The entrance of the cave was concealed within a dense shrubbery, if not for Gu Sheng’s guidance, Master Zhang and his crew would have had difficulty discovering this hidden refuge.

As the group cautiously stepped into the cave, a chilling aura greeted them.

The cave was dim, the torches carried by Master Zhang and others flickered with weak light in the darkness.

They proceeded along the tunnel of the cave, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous space.

Gu Sheng led the way at the front.

"Xiao Sheng, are you sure there’s really what we need in here?"

Walking alongside Gu Sheng, Master Zhang couldn’t help but ask.

"Relax, Old Zhang."

Gu Sheng turned to reassure him, "I’ve been here before, there absolutely is what you need here."

"Here..."

There was uncertainty in Master Zhang’s voice, as he never imagined Source Ores might be found in such a place.

Gu Sheng didn’t reply, he just continued onward.

Soon, they arrived at the spacious section of the cave, where Gu Sheng had previously rested.

There, a giant piece of ore lay silently.

It emitted a faint glow, notably conspicuous even in the murky cave.

"Heavens..."

Master Zhang and the mountain villagers couldn’t help but exclaim.

Their gaze was captivated by the giant refined ore.

Gu Sheng turned around with a confident smile on his face: "Old Zhang, this is what I was talking about, you might need."

Master Zhang stepped forward, gently touching the surface of the ore.

He could sense the powerful energy contained within the ore.

"This... this ore truly is extraordinary."

Master Zhang’s voice was somewhat trembling.

"Such a large refined ore, am I dreaming?"

"Yeah, I’m over twenty years old and I’ve never seen one this big!"

A few mountain villagers also approached, full of surprise.

Gu Sheng nodded: "Indeed, this refined ore weighs at least a hundred pounds, if handed over to the Chen Big Beard you mentioned, he should spare your fellow villagers."

On hearing this, the mountain villagers nod unanimously, eyes filled with hope.

Their lives were miserable, if they could exchange this ore for peace, it would undoubtedly be the ideal outcome.

However, Master Zhang shook his head.

His brows tightly furrowed as he said: "No, this refined ore is uncommon, it might be the foundation of the entire mountain, if taken out, the whole mountain might lose its Spirit Vein, facing nature’s backlash."

"Uh..."

Gu Sheng was stunned.

He’d never considered such consequences, much less thought of a so-called "backlash."

Perhaps, this is the mountain villagers’ heartfelt reverence toward nature.

Gu Sheng looked at Master Zhang, somewhat curious, and asked: "Backlash? Is there such a thing?"

Master Zhang nodded and said: "The formation of Source Ores requires thousands or even tens of millions of years, they are connected to the mountain’s Spirit Vein, with this ore being so gigantic, its existence is crucial for the mountain’s stability, rashly removing it, the backlash’s force would be unimaginable."

On hearing Master Zhang’s words, the light of hope in the mountain villagers’ eyes gradually dimmed.

They knew Master Zhang’s words were reasonable, after all, in their hearts, Master Wu is like a god when it comes to mineral veins.