Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 723 - 723 0457 Cant Trust Character_2

Chapter 723: Chapter 0457: Can’t Trust Character_2 Chapter 723: Chapter 0457: Can’t Trust Character_2 Qi Tian chose a very discreet place, and with his Innate Spirit Treasure Level mining shovel, he dug an opening. He controlled the shovel precisely, in order to avoid breaking any of the cut stone, retaining the original shapes. Then he moved into the tunnel, using the cut stone to block the entrance, after which he began to tirelessly mine day and night. This was a task Qi Tian was honestly familiar with since he had done it quite a few times before. He had an adequate experience and what was more essential is, the texture of the stones was no different from those outside; the Innate Spirit Treasure Level shovel sliced through them like tofu. It took Qi Tian less than a day’s time to dig a mining tunnel extending over 5000 meters, close to the spirit treasures.

With the Heavenly Dao Engine reliably providing the exact location, combined with his careful control, by the time Qi Tian ceased digging, he had reached the spot under the small pool. The only thing separating him from the spirit treasures was a thin layer of stone.

Qi Tian gently dug with his shovel, opening a path through the thin layer that capped the spirit treasures. An immediate, majestic surge of Spirit Qi burst from the hole he just dug. Qi Tian was well prepared for it; he opened his right hand, gathering all the escaping Spirit Qi into the energy-storage chamber of his Heavenly Dao Engine, saving it to power the engine.

After eliminating the scattered Spirit Qi, Qi Tian started to explore what exactly these spiritual objects were. To his delight, he discovered that they were not top-grade spirit stones, but a milky white cream, a variant of Stone Milk Liquid that was even more valuable than Stone Milk Liquid known as Stone Milk Cream. It was a coveted and highly valuable object that in some cases was even considered more expensive than top-grade spirit stones. It held various usages from cultivation to alchemy, or simply direct consumption.

Qi Tian fetched the gourd he had bought at the Eight Pill Alliance Auction and began to collect the precious Stone Milk Cream. During the collection process, Qi Tian noticed that the initial Stone Milk Cream was milky white, but as he gathered more from inside, the Stone Milk Cream’s color changed. First to a milky yellow, then to egg-yolk yellow, and by the end, even golden yellow.

Qi Tian had some understanding of the Stone Milk Cream, he knew that the yellowing of Stone Milk Cream signified more value. The color change from white to yellow was due to age; the deeper the color, the older it was and the richer, milder, and more mellow the contained Spirit Qi. It was like fine wine—the longer the aging, the more precious it becomes.

Qi Tian gathered all of the Stone Milk Cream categorically and thereafter, in the cavern he had dug under the small pool, which was as big as a standard swimming pool, he summoned the Transporting Whirlwind spell, carrying away all the remaining Spirit Qi without leaving a trace. Only then did he go back to the tunnel exit. Qi Tian had figured out while mining not to be too greedy. There was already a lot of Stone Milk Cream under the small pool, but all of it was located under the small pool. If he hollowed it out, it wouldn’t drastically change the cave’s geological structure, but if he dug out those spiritual objects on top of the small pool, then neither the big pool nor the small pool would allow more Stone Milk Liquid to flow in. If that happened, it could easily be discovered by Liang Yuqi and others. Hence, for safety, he had to give up on those spiritual objects.

Qi Tian returned the way he came, crawling out of the hole in the tunnel. After tidying up his tracks, Qi Tian returned to his small pool. As he’d anticipated, while he was gone, more Stone Milk Liquid had dripped into the small pool, providing him the conditions to continue his cultivation. However, the new inflow of Stone Milk Liquid was very little, barely enough to satisfy his cultivation needs. At this point, Qi Tian could have introduced some Stone Milk Cream into the small pool, but doing so carried the risk of exposing the Stone Milk Cream, a risk, Qi Tian wasn’t prepared to take. He took out a few spirit stones, held them in his hand, and began to cultivate. He still had more than ten days left before the half-month deadline and he decided not to waste this time.

After what seemed like a long time, Qi Tian suddenly felt something was amiss. He opened his eyes and casually stowed away the spirit stones in his hand. With a touch of impatience in his voice, he asked, “Who is it?”

“Qi Tian, I know you’re in there, show some guts and come out,” Qi Tian heard someone attacking the formation he’d set up around the small pool.

Qi Tian frowned, recognizing the annoying voice. It belonged to the man whose place he had taken, the connected person from Wanjie Commerce. Of the ten people sent by Wanjie Commerce, this man was the one with the lowest cultivation level. Yet, he had been allotted one of the three small pools because of his strong connections with Wanjie Commerce.

Although Qi Tian wanted to ignore him, he knew some things were inevitable. Besides, the privileged client wasn’t a rule-abiding person. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been continually attacking Qi Tian’s formation. Violent assaults like these were considered highly hostile acts in the Cultivation World. If the victim had a violent temper, a life-or-death duel would most certainly be inevitable.

Qi Tian furrowed his brows but opened the formation nonetheless. As he walked out of the formation, a flash of blade light charged, trying to cleave him just like cleaving a mountain, in a direct downward sweep.

Barely needing to think, Qi Tian used a few scales from his Linked-Chain Armor to defend himself, blocking the blade light. “Stop, if you continue to behave so recklessly, do not blame me for being impolite.”

“Hehe, Qi Tian, you coward, it seems you finally had the courage to show yourself,” sneered the privileged client, holding a blade in his hand. The blade, engraved with hundreds and hundreds of runes, was wrapped in a dazzling aura, which was extremely peculiar.

“What do you want exactly?” asked Qi Tian, his eyebrows knitted together.

The privileged client pointed the blade towards Qi Tian, and said, “Qi Tian, you snatched my pool, which was rightfully mine. Now, I am here to snatch it back. We are both cultivators; we can resolve this with the methods of cultivators. Whoever wins will have the rights to use the small pool. How about that?”

The pool was now drained, and staying there held no purpose for Qi Tian. If possible, he would even be delighted to exchange spots with the privileged client. But, that was unrealistic. The privileged client wasn’t a fool. Once he discovered there was no Stone Milk Liquid in the pool, he would definitely want to swap back. Qi Tian didn’t have the time and patience for all that.

Qi Tian said, “This spot was personally assigned to me by Elder Liang. If you have any objections, you can go and talk to Elder Liang. If Elder Liang tells me to shift, I will. If not, you should really go about your own business.”

The privileged client retorted, “Elder Liang isn’t here now, so don’t use him as your backing. Let’s have a simple duel without any external intervention. Dare you agree? The winner gets to use the small pool and the loser won’t cause any more trouble. How about that?”

Without any hesitation, Qi Tian shook his head. “I don’t trust your integrity,” he said.

The client was on the verge of spitting blood. Qi Tian was actually using his integrity as a reason not to have the duel. How dared he!

“Qi Tian, under what conditions would you agree to duel with me?” the privileged client was fiercely determined to claim Qi Tian’s small pool. His cultivation was on the brink of a breakthrough, and he felt like he was always missing something while cultivating in the big pool. He attributed this to a shortage of Stone Milk Liquid. He was certain that if he moved to the small pool, the breakthrough would surely come. Therefore, he suspended his cultivation in the big pool, enduring the risk of a battle with Qi Tian, just to interrupt Qi Tian’s cultivation and swap places with him.