Chapter 44, Digging Earth and Moving Mountains, Unexpected Discovery

Translator: Raznick

 

Bang!

 

The thunderous crashes of great trees falling one after another echoed through the dead of night.

 

In the sky, Zhou Chun was riding a bamboo-leaf-shaped flying artifact to chase the Purple Flame Marten while simultaneously controlling the Shooting Moon Edge to transform into two crescent blades, which attacked the marten one after another.

 

The Purple Flame Marten was incredibly agile, darting and weaving through the mountains and forests. Even though Zhou Chun’s Divine Sense locked onto it, it could still manage to evade the crescent blade attacks time and again.

 

But as it needed to dodge Zhou Chun’s attacks, its speed unavoidably slowed.

 

So Zhou Zhengyong’s Redtail Monkey also gradually joined the battle as it caught up.

 

In nature, one thing always gave way to another.

 

The Redtail Monkey, though not particularly powerful among superior first-grade demon beasts, was especially skilled at dealing with the Purple Flame Martens, which were known for their agility.

 

When Purple Flame Marten joined the fray, it was first forced to drop the corpse of the flame rat it had been carrying in its jaws. Then, as it busily evaded the attacks from the crescent-shaped blades, it was struck by a claw that left behind a bloody, crimson paw print on its body.

 

Injured, the Purple Flame Marten dared not continue fighting Zhou Chun and his companions, its only desire now being to escape.

 

It raced swiftly through the pine forest, with a man and a monkey behind it, leaving Zhou Zhengyong far behind. Those chasing on foot could no longer see his figure.

 

After crossing several mountains and suffering multiple injuries along the way, the Purple Flame Marten suddenly darted into a cave and vanished from Zhou Chun’s Divine Sense detection range.

 

“You’ve hidden inside the cave? It seems likely that this is its den.”

 

Zhou Chun looked at the entrance of the cave located at the base of the rocky cliff face, his expression turning serious.

 

The entrance to the cave before him wasn’t large, only allowing a seven or eight-year-old child to crawl inside. A person his size would have no chance of fitting inside.

 

Of course, he used Divine Sense to probe inward and knew that the internal space was gradually expanding. There was even a cave hall deeper inside that was large enough for a person to stand.

 

The issue was that, under the massive mountain rock faces blocking them, hoping to rely on expanding the cavern’s volume to delve deeper into the depths was something that simply could not be accomplished within a short period of time.

 

The cunning rabbit had three burrows. Zhou Chun had no belief that the Purple Flame Marten’s den would have only a single entrance.

 

Therefore, he must prevent the Purple Flame Marten from escaping through other burrows!

 

Immediately, Zhou Chun didn’t wait for Zhou Zhengyong to arrive and began using the smoke-curing technique to pump smoke into the cave. Then, he ascended into the sky to look for any rising smoke plumes.

 

He quickly noticed three smoking spots, indeed confirming the presence of these locations.

 

So he sent the Redtail Monkey to one location; he and the Rock Turtle positioned themselves at the other two spots, determined to prevent the Purple Flame Marten from escaping through any of the three places before Zhou Zhengyong arrived.

 

But the Purple Flame Marten was more patient than Zhou Chun had imagined, not emerging from a den until Zhou Zhengyou arrived at the mountain, breathless.

 

“Let’s use poison smoke. I have dried Spotted Reeking Grass in my storage bag. Let’s gather some fresh toxic leaves and burn them inside, and the beast is sure to come out!”

 

After learning about the situation from Zhou Chun, Zhou Zhengyong quickly came up with his own plan.

 

The Zhou Clan’s Monkey Pen had been rebuilt, and Zhou Zhengyong usually took care of the Monkey Pen and other demon beasts as well; therefore, he always kept various items on hand to discipline and tame them.

 

So Zhou Chun wasn’t surprised that his storage bag contained this type of poisonous herb, the Spotted Reeking Grass.

 

At that moment, Zhou Zhengyong personally began to take action, quickly gathering the materials before lighting and tossing them into the cave.

 

However, what left them speechless was that, by the time they had burned every scrap of Spotted Reeking Grass, the Purple Flame Marten remained completely elusive.

 

“Could it be that it was already overcome by the fumes inside?”

 

Zhou Zhengyong, looking dubious, voiced his suspicion.

 

Deep down, Zhou Chun felt the same way, but he spoke aloud, “Let’s break through; we have only two more days to go. If we just dig one path, there might still be a chance.”

 

“Alright, then let’s breach the mountain!”

 

Zhou Zhengyong clenched his jaw; he knew this was currently the only feasible solution available.

 

Upon this decision, the two of them immediately gathered numerous fragments of broken stone to block the other cave entrances.

 

Then, they had Rock Turtle and Redtail Monkey take turns coming forward and began digging one of the holes.

In terms of digging holes, Rock Turtle was actually quite skilled; its claws were extremely sharp and strong, capable of shattering even the hardest mountain rocks with a single touch.

 

Unfortunately, due to its large body size, it could only help at first. Afterward, Zhou Chun would need to rely on the Redtail Monkey’s claws.

 

For Zhou Zhengyong’s fiancée, poor Redtail Monkey had now become a construction worker, forced to constantly dig and break stones with its two paws.

 

It’s fortunate that after it was promoted to a superior first-grade demon beast, it awakened and mastered the Flame Claw mystical art, which allowed it to enhance its destructive power by imbuing its dual claws with flames.

 

Otherwise, even if it’s a demon beast with a physique far superior to humans, it wouldn’t last long before losing its claws.

 

Thus, when the Redtail Monkey’s spiritual power and physical strength were completely exhausted, Zhou Zhengyong had no choice but to carry it into the spirit beast pouch. Then, he equipped himself with a mystical art called Greater Strength, and proceeded to dig with tools in hand.

 

After Zhou Zhengyong’s spiritual power and physical strength were also nearly exhausted, Zhou Chun then took over and continued digging.

 

After taking turns digging for a day, the Redtail Monkey also rested and recovered some strength and spiritual power, before being released again to take over the digging work.

 

Two people and one monkey, by taking turns digging in this manner, managed to excavate a tunnel nearly a hundred meters deep in roughly one and a half days.

 

At around ninety meters into the cavern, the cave’s width were sufficient for one to walk bent over.

 

After discussing, Zhou Chun went into the cave to find the Purple Flame Marten, while Zhou Zhengyong kept watch outside in case of any mishap.

 

Only Zhou Chun could be seen holding a Sun Augite stone in one hand and a black shield artifact in the other, bending down as he took slow, deliberate steps deeper into the cave.

 

The Sun Augite was a unique stone native to this world. It could absorb sunlight and store it within itself, then release bright light for illumination in dark environments. Therefore, it was often used by cultivators as a lighting tool in special conditions.

 

As Zhou Chun took slow, cautious steps deeper into the cave, his Divine Sense immediately detected a Purple Flame Marten sprinting toward him.

 

He quickly summoned his black iron shield artifact to protect himself, then cautiously cast an art to envelop his body with a golden-yellow and blue armor, the Elemental Armor Art.

Boom!

 

A purplish-red intense flame burst forth from the mouth of Purple Flame Marten, rushing straight towards Zhou Chun, swirling and engulfing him.

 

The Black Iron Shield artifact only managed to block half of the intense flames; the rest took advantage of the gaps and reached the body of Zhou Chun behind.

 

In an instant, Zhou Chun seemed like a firefighter walking against the flames, his entire body completely engulfed by the fire.

 

It’s a good thing that this terrifying sight was merely an illusion, because the protective shield that covered his entire body easily kept the flames and intense heat at bay.

 

Zhou Chun wasn’t the type to simply endure blows without defending himself. Seeing that the Radiant Protective Armor’s defense was even more formidable than he had anticipated, he immediately reached for his storage bag and retrieved the Shooting Moon Edge.

 

The cave’s interior was too cramped, hindering Zhou Chun’s movements. However, its agility was also restricted as well.

 

Under Zhou Chun’s control, the twin moon-edge blades struck from both sides, quickly severing the right hind leg of the Purple Flame Marten.

 

The Purple Flame Marten, who was hit so hard, seemed to know that he was doomed, so he became more aggressive and suddenly rushed towards Zhou Chun fiercely, spitting out a fireball as big as a human head at Zhou Chun.

 

Bang!!!

 

A violent explosion erupted deep within the cave, startling Zhou Zhengyong to instantly tense up his body. His face filled with anxiety as he looked towards Zhou Chun, who had entered that cave entrance, pacing around restlessly like an ant on a hot griddle.

 

“It should be fine. Thirteenth Brother is so strong; even a late Qi Refining cultivator is not his match…”

 

He muttered to himself, then gritted his teeth and said, “No, even if I can’t marry a wife, Thirteenth Brother must not get into trouble!”

 

Then, without hesitation, he followed blindly into the cave entrance.

 

When Zhou Zhengyong had delved deep into the cave through the entrance and found Zhou Chun, he discovered that Zhou Chun was unharmed and was actually using the artifact to dig.

 

Upon seeing this, he first relaxed his expression, then curiously looked at Zhou Chun and asked, “Thirteenth Brother, are you unharmed? What are you doing?”

 

Brother Yong, why did you come down here?

 

Zhou Chun automatically replied, then quickly figured out why on his own. Feeling a warmth in his heart, he waved and said, “Forget it. You’re here at just the right time. Come over and see my unexpected discovery.”

 

After speaking, he crouched down and picked through a pile of crushed stones and dirt, selecting several black-red stones which he then handed to Zhou Zhengyong.

 

“This is…”

 

Zhou Zhengyong’s expression filled with surprise as he was looking at Zhou Chun’s ore. He reached out and carefully examined it, studying every detail meticulously.

 

After a moment, he hesitated and whispered, “This stone seems similar to the Scarlet Glow Iron ore.”

 

“Right? Brother Yong, you also think it resembles the Scarlet Glow Iron ore, don’t you?”

 

Zhou Chun’s eyes suddenly sparkled with a sharp gaze, and then he said something that left Zhou Zhengyong’s heart racing.

 

“I suspect there is a vein of it that can be extracted here!”

 

Author: Zhou Chun and Zhou Yang had different starting points and situations, which naturally led them to approach things in different ways. I made it clear that they are two distinct main characters. They could be similar in many aspects, but they must differ in some key areas. For example, while Zhou Yang was also reborn into the cultivation world through a fetal transfer, he essentially grew up like a native. With cultivator parents who shaped his upbringing from a young age, his speech and actions were completely indistinguishable from that of locals. On the other hand, Zhou Chun was soul-bound to the cultivation world after his transmigration, having not undergone the same immersive education within this world during his early years. As a result, his initial thoughts and actions inevitably carried traces of modern-day influences.