Chapter 85, The Seal’s Worth and Plundering the Demon Nest

Translator: Raznick

 

“Whitey, well done!”

 

Zhou Chun, who had forcibly stopped his cultivation and struggled to his feet, glanced at the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower and praised the Silver Thunder Python. 

 

That forked serpent-shaped lightning was precisely the mystical art released by Whitey. Among all types of mystical arts, there was no doubt that the lightning mystical art was the most powerful. Even though Whitey was merely an average first-grade demon beast, relying on the formidable power of the lightning mystical art, it had interrupted the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower’s escape, granting Zhou Chun a crucial window of opportunity.

 

At this moment, while commending Whitey for its heroic deed in his mind, Zhou Chun also acted without hesitation. He slapped his storage bag and summoned the Shooting Moon Edge, launching it toward the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower with a slash.

 

Faced with the aggressive artifact, the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower showed no signs of panic. Its scales tightened slightly as golden light surged across its body. It swung its tail toward the artifact.

 

The tail and the circular artifact collided mid-air, filling the air with a ringing metallic sound and sparks flying in all directions. The usually unstoppable Shooting Moon Edge finally met its match—it couldn’t tear even a single scale from the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower!

 

The Golden Armored Mountain Burrower’s claws emitted a brilliant golden light. It began digging furiously at the ground beneath it. Its claws seemed to possess some magical power—any hard stone or dirt they touched would soften and break apart easily.

 

In just a few breaths, it had dug a three-foot-deep hole right in front of Zhou Chun. The creature quickly placed its upper body into the burrow.

 

This scene filled Zhou Chun with both surprise and anger. She hurriedly activated his artifact, striking at the exposed portion of its body with all his might.

 

However, the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower seemed to have eyes on its tail. Every time the Shooting Moon Edge swung toward it, it deftly flicked it away.

 

As the visible part of its body grew increasingly small, Zhou Chun, overwhelmed with anger and fear, finally recalled the Shooting Moon Edge and summoned another artifact he had never used in battle before.

 

“Enlarge!”

 

Zhou Chun bellowed as a small golden-yellow seal in midair spun rapidly, growing larger and larger until it was as big as a water vat.

 

“Fall!”

 

With another roar, Zhou Chun sent the enormous seal crashing down toward the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, which was nearly disappearing into the mine shaft.

 

The massive artifact collided with the ground, sending out a thunderous boom!

 

The ground shook violently, and the entire network of tunnels trembled. Small-scale collapses occurred in certain areas. Amidst the shaking, a shrill scream pierced Zhou Chun’s ears.

 

As the tremors subsided, Zhou Chun swept his Divine Sense across the tunnel and spotted a massive indentation in the ground. At the bottom lay the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, its mouth bleeding profusely, with numerous fractures in its body. It was struggling to get back on its feet to escape.

 

But Zhou Chun wouldn’t give it the chance.

 

Zhou Chun merely needed to exert a little more force and use the Thousand Hills Seal once again to deliver a fatal blow to this beast. But as he listened to the faint sound of falling debris, he suddenly realized he couldn’t do that.

 

The first strike had already caused an earthquake in the mine. Another one might not only kill the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower but also collapse the entire tunnel system.

 

He hurriedly took out the Golden Lock Ring that he had never used since he got it.

 

He raised his hand and threw it, and the artifact in his hand shot straight to the turle.

 

At this time, the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower was still in a daze and had no time to react. It was easily caught by the ring.

 

Zhou Chun succeeded in one move and immediately urged the ring to shrink and shrink, tightly clamping the head of the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, trying to strangle it to death.

 

But the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower was a very powerful lesser demon beast after all, and it was also famous for its defense.

 

When its life was threatened, the instinct for survival allowed it to quickly stimulate its own innate arts.

 

A dazzling golden light shone from the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, and the circular artifact, which had shrunk to the size of a human head, was quickly expanded by the golden light, and finally couldn’t hold it anymore and flew out with a “bang”.

 

Then the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower spat out the gourd artifact that had been held in its mouth, glared at Zhou Chun with bloodshot eyes, and launched a fierce counterattack against him.

 

Only to see it open its mouth and spit out a beam of golden light, which streaked forward like a spear toward Zhou Chun.

 

Zhou Chun hurriedly summoned the black iron shield artifact to protect himself.

 

However, the power of the golden light spear was beyond imagination, shattering the black iron shield into several pieces outright.

 

This sight caused Zhou Chun’s pupils to constrict, and he quickly reached for his spirit beast pouch at his waist, producing the Rock Turtle.

 

Originally, Zhou Chun did not want the Rock Turtle to engage in battle within the narrow confines of the mine shaft.

 

For one thing, the Rock Turtle was already clumsy by nature, and its movements would be even more restricted in such a confined space.

 

Furthermore, its mystical art for destroying terrain could easily collapse the mine shaft if not handled with care.

 

But given how formidable the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower’s display was, Zhou Chun had no choice but to bring out the Rock Turtle to serve as a meat shield and absorb the attacks.

 

Indeed, upon the appearance of the Rock Turtle, the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower quickly sensed the threat and shifted its attention towards it. Though their sizes differed greatly, the cultivation of the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower was superior to that of the Rock Turtle.

 

Zhou Chun estimated that for the Rock Turtle to reach the level of the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, it would likely need to consume Yellow Field Rock.

 

Now he understood why the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower had appeared here—it was undoubtedly drawn by the rich metal Qi accumulated within the gourd and sought to absorb this dense energy to strengthen its bloodline and attempt to advance to average demon beast status.

 

Among lesser demon beasts, the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower’s bloodline wasn’t inferior. Its evolved form, Golden Armored Earth Beast, was also a very powerful average demon beast. Fortunately, the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower had already been injured by the Thousand Hills Seal. Even with its cultivation disadvantage, the Rock Turtle relied on its thick defense and had no fear of its opponent whatsoever.

 

Zhou Chun hid behind the Rock Turtle and moved his thoughts, issuing an immediate command to it.

 

The large Rock Turtle opened its mouth and shot out a blob of yellow light, which instantly transformed into a yellow shield enclosing the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower. This was the earth mystical arts Earth Prison that the Rock Turtle had awakened upon advancing to superior first-grade demon beast, allowing it to create barriers to trap enemies.

 

The Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, finding itself trapped, did not surrender meekly. It let out a loud roar and swung its sharp claws at the shield. Under the assault of its razor-sharp talons, cracks began to appear.

 

However, Zhou Chun seized this moment to activate the Elemental Armor Art as an additional layer of protection. When the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower finally broke free by shredding the Earth Prison, a silver-black artifact resembling a spinning wheel struck it directly, sending it flying and crashing into the mine tunnel wall.

 

Despite its immense defenses, this single strike left the beast with internal injuries, causing it to cough up a small amount of blood. Recognizing that ending the battle quickly was impossible, Zhou Chun prepared for a prolonged engagement.

 

Now, Zhou Chun could only drag it out, gradually worsening the internal injuries within the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower until it perished.

 

Zhou Chun and his tortoise fought the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower back and forth in the underground mine passage. This continued for two hours, during which Zhou Chun even consumed one Qi Restoring Pill to restore his spiritual power before finally wearing down the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower to death.

 

The deceased Golden Armored Mountain Burrower showed no visible injuries on its surface; it had bled to death internally. Its direct cause of death still traced back to that initial blow from the Thousand Hills Seal.

 

“A Qi Restoring Pill is worth eighty spirit coins, not to mention my loss of half a gourd of metal Qi and the black iron shield artifact, which would at least cost sixty or seventy spirit coins—I wonder if I gained or lost in this venture!”

 

Zhou Chun panted heavily while looking down at the dead Golden Armored Mountain Burrower. He wore a bitter smile on his face.

 

Actually, by mid-battle, the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower had abandoned its idea of escaping with the gourd artifact. At that point, Zhou Chun could have easily let it go.

 

That way, Zhou Chun wouldn’t have had to eat the Qi Restoring Pill at all. But given the situation back then, Zhou Chun was close to killing the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, and he certainly wasn’t about to think twice. Now, he simply hoped that the body of the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower would be worth the effort.

 

Since the corpse could be bundled up, Zhou Chun carefully coiled it and was surprised to find that the entire body fit neatly into his storage bag. That saved him a lot of trouble. After securing the body, he looked at the remaining half gourd of metal Qi, shook his head in regret, and sighed.

 

He planned to return to his clan after this, but now it seemed he would have to stay here for a while longer.

 

“Speaking of which, the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower seems to have a habit of collecting various types of gold essence ore. Could its nest contain any?” Zhou Chun pondered as he prepared to leave the mine shaft. His attention suddenly shifted to the hole where the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower had burst forth earlier, realizing he had nearly overlooked something crucial.

 

He called over Whitey.

 

“Whitey, it’s up to you now,” he said.

 

Upon Zhou Chun’s command, the Silver Thunder Python slithered into the tunnel dug by the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, following the faint traces of its aura to locate its den.

 

Zhou Chun had no idea how far the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower’s nest was from this spot. He could only wait.

 

After what felt like about an hour, Whitey finally emerged again.

 

Through his conversation with Whitey, Zhou Chun confirmed that the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower’s den did indeed contain gold essence ore.

 

However, the challenge lay in retrieving it. The tunnel created by the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower was too narrow for Zhou Chun to squeeze through comfortably.

 

But the problem was, this path was nearly two miles long, winding and twisting, making it extremely difficult to climb. If he ventured inside, and someone else happened to arrive here midway, he’d be trapped. Such a risk Zhou Chun simply couldn’t take. Fortunately he didn’t act rashly!

 

Because the commotion caused by the previous strike of the Thousand Hills Seal was enormous, many rogue cultivators mining nearby had sensed it. They all assumed someone had struck it rich and scrabled over for the loot, searching everywhere for the site of the disturbance, hoping to find the lucky miner.

 

Zhou Chun encountered three rogue cultivators heading into his mine just as he was preparing to leave the mine.

 

Both parties collided head-on not far from the mine exit, both showing a moment of surprise. Upon recognizing each other’s cultivation, the three rogue cultivators immediately paled. The skinny, white-haired leader quickly grabbed his two companions and gestured for them to cup their hands in apology, bowing low: “Fellow Daoist, please forgive us. We were unaware this place was already claimed. We shall take our leave now.”

 

As he spoke, the two behind him already had their hands near their storage bags, clearly preparing for a fight. Life as a rogue cultivator in this abandoned mine wasn’t easy; they faced their share of bloodshed with others. Now, seeing that Zhou Chun’s cultivation was far superior to theirs, they couldn’t help but brace themselves.

 

“Fellow Daoist, it seems there has been a misunderstanding. I am not the owner here,” Zhou Chun replied with a slight shake of his head, acting as though he hadn’t noticed their movements. His tone remained calm and distant.

 

His eyes narrowed, and before the old man could speak again, Zhou Chun cut in: “It’s about the earlier commotion, isn’t it? You three must be here for that.”

 

The old man shook his head and denied it, saying, “Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand. We merely wanted to go down to the cave to mine.”

 

“Yes, we were only planning to go mining,” one of them said.

 

“That’s right; it’s like this,” another added.

 

Behind him, the tall and the short men both echoed in agreement.

 

Zhou Chun heard their rehearsed responses and found it somewhat amusing. But he chose not to expose them, merely waving his hand and saying, “Never mind. Whether you admit it or not doesn’t matter. There’s a profitable deal here—do you want in?”

 

“What kind of deal?” they asked.

 

This time, it was the short and stout young man who spoke up.

 

He almost reflexively responded, but after speaking, he noticed that the old man and the tall youth both turned their hostile gazes toward him. Only then did he realize he had spoken incorrectly again.

 

His face changed immediately as he slapped himself hard across the face.

 

Then, he looked at Zhou Chun with a forced grin and said awkwardly, “Heh, Fellow Daoist, please don’t misunderstand. I was just being impudent earlier. If you’re looking to make a deal, you should go find someone in the market. We three are only here doing some mining for a living and can’t offer much.”

 

“It seems like you’ve all misunderstood me,” said Zhou Chun, shaking his head slightly as he continued without asking their permission. “Let me explain what I was planning to do before we decide whether or not to go through with this deal.”

 

He explained that he had left the mine intending to go to a human town outside the mountains to find a small, skinny boy to help him retrieve some treasures.

 

But upon seeing the old man’s gaunt frame earlier, he realized that the old man would be a better fit for his needs.

 

After all, cultivators had a much deeper understanding of spiritual items than ordinary humans, and having one assist in this task would ensure no treasures were left behind.

 

After Zhou Chun recounted the details of the transaction, the trio felt immense reverence for him. They had lived in this abandoned ore vein and had heard of the ferocity of the Golden Armored Mountain Burrower, a type of demon beast. Learning that Zhou Chun had slain such a formidable demon beast, they couldn’t help but feel awestruck and fearful.

 

The old man turned bitter as he sighed, “Senior Daoist Han, since you’ve shared this secret with us, it seems we have no choice but to agree.”

 

With that, his expression darkened once more as he cupped hands before Zhou Chun, saying, “This old man dares not ask for any reward from Senior Daoist Han. I merely hope that Senior Daoist will spare our lives at that time!”