Chapter 55: Qiu Qianhai's Big Treasure
Half an hour later, Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai returned to that body of water.
The three members of the Qin family, under the guidance of those two cultivators, looked around here and there, then continued to pursue in the direction Ji Yuan had previously left.
Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai, together with the other cultivators, closely followed behind.
A large group of people continued to search the mountains and comb the waters as they advanced.
Their plan was simple—wait until Qiu Qianhai was found.
With so many spells flying around, whoever landed the killing blow would earn far more than mining here ever could.
Unfortunately, after circling around the entire night, they didn’t catch sight of a single person.
It wasn’t until dawn the next day that the sky finally began to brighten.
Left with no other choice, the three members of the Qin family decided to temporarily return to Zengtou Market.
After they left, Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai finally settled down.
The two of them rested there for a full day.
During that time, Ji Yuan listened to Qiu Qianhai recount in detail the situation regarding Qingbo Market and Cold Iron Sand.
It was said that deep beneath Qingbo Market lay a Cold Iron Sand vein.
From time to time, a phenomenon called “Earth Dragon Turning Over” would occur beneath the water.
Whenever this happened, many cold caves leading directly to the mineral vein would appear at the bottom of the pond.
These caves would emit intense freezing cold. Even cultivators at the mid-stage of Qi Refining would die instantly upon contact. So, whenever an Earth Dragon Turning Over occurred, all cultivators at the bottom of the pond had to retreat as quickly as possible.
Each time the Earth Dragon turned over, it would also bring out some Cold Iron Sand from the mineral vein.
The miners at Qingbo Market mostly collected this Cold Iron Sand that had been brought up.
As for why it was said to be “mostly”…
That was because after the Earth Dragon Turning Over ended, a small number of cold caves would collapse and become sealed off.
Once sealed, these caves became dead caves.
Inside, there would no longer be any of the deadly cold air from the vein, but they would still contain large amounts of Cold Iron Sand.
Finding such dead caves basically meant striking it rich—especially in times when the price of Cold Iron Sand was soaring.
As for digging deeper through these dead caves to reach the mineral vein itself… without the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage, even if one managed to dig to the vein, it would be a death sentence.
The bottom of Qingbo Market was mostly sandy, and the pale blue Cold Iron Sand would be mixed within this lakebed sand.
To extract it, miners had to rely on iron rakes and sand nets.
Fortunately, both Xiong Youfu and Old Dog Lin had these tools in their storage pouches.
…
That night, back in Zengtou Market at the Qin residence.
Qin Wei, having just returned from Qingbo Market, reported everything that had happened to his father, Qin Long.
After hearing the report, Qin Long spoke.
“Qiu Qianhai is either still hiding in Qingbo Market or has already returned to Heishui Workshop.”
“Personally, I lean toward him still hiding in Qingbo Market, trying to play some trick of hiding in plain sight. As for Heishui Market, we’ve already coordinated with the Zhu family there. They’ll keep an eye out for us and notify us if there’s any news.”
The Zhu family of Heishui was similar in status to the Qin family of Zengtou.
Among large families, there were always frequent exchanges and mutual support to help secure their positions.
Qin Wei nodded and said in a low voice, “Alright. I’ve had Zhang Kai and Hu Da stay behind at Qingbo Market under disguised identities. I also spent Spirit Stones to bribe quite a few people. If there’s any news about Qiu Qianhai, they’ll notify us immediately.”
“Good.”
Qin Long nodded slightly. “Since your grandfather entrusted this matter regarding your third brother to the two of us, we must handle it properly.”
“Don’t worry, Father. Our third brother’s death must be paid for in blood!”
Though they said this, Qin Long always felt that the old man’s obsession with hunting Qiu Qianhai down so relentlessly… must have another reason as well.
He had asked once before.
But since the old man refused to say, he dared not ask again.
…
The next day.
Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai woke up early and headed to the shore.
Today, the two of them were finally going into the water.
This would also be Ji Yuan’s first time working underwater since his transmigration half a year ago.
Catching Spiritual Fish didn’t require him to go personally, but finding Cold Iron Sand could only be done by himself.
Ji Yuan piloted the Black Wind Boat, while Qiu Qianhai piloted a mid-grade magic boat he had obtained from Old Dog Lin.
After the two dove into the water, they separated.
Once on the lakebed, Ji Yuan put away his magic boat.
He squatted on the sandy lake bottom, enduring the biting cold while widening his eyes as much as possible, trying to spot any trace of pale blue in the murky sand.
The Cold Iron Sand on the surface had definitely already been picked clean.
So to find anything, he had to resort to the second method.
Ji Yuan took out his iron rake and sand net, first using his spiritual power to control the rake, scraping hard beneath the sandy surface a few times.
When he felt it was about right, he then controlled the sand net to sift through the disturbed lake sand.
He repeated this process over and over, moving forward little by little.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye as Ji Yuan mechanically filtered through the lake sand.
Just as he was about to give up and leave, a glimmer of pale blue light suddenly caught the corner of his eye.
This was… Cold Iron Sand!
He quickly sifted through that patch of sand more carefully and finally collected half a pound of Cold Iron Sand, letting out a long breath of relief.
It wasn’t much, but at least it was something.
However, after obtaining that half pound, it was as if he had been completely cut off from further luck.
For the rest of the day, he didn’t even see another shadow of Cold Iron Sand.
By the time he surfaced in the evening, that half pound was still his only gain.
“Phew—”
Qiu Qianhai emerged from the water right after him.
“How much did you get?”
“Half a pound. You?”
“I got a bit more than you, just over one pound.”
Qiu Qianhai had spent some time here before, so he had more experience and naturally dug up more.
“It’s normal since you just started. When I first came, I didn’t even see a shadow of Cold Iron Sand for several days. We’re inexperienced and don’t know the fixed spots where it appears. This is perfectly normal.”
That was true.
But when Ji Yuan went underwater again the next day and still only collected about the same amount, he started to lose interest.
His previously dormant ambition began to stir again.
Upgrading the Fish Pond required five pounds of Cold Iron Sand, and he still needed more than three pounds
At this rate, how long would it take to gather enough—until the next era?
It would be faster to just spend more Spirit Stones and buy some from others.
This was Qingbo Market, rich with Cold Iron Sand.
Buying some here shouldn’t be a big problem, right?
Or maybe he should just go big and rob some villains, taking their Cold Iron Sand by force.
If others could become rogue cultivators, why couldn’t Ji Yuan?
The risk of this method lay in the potential for combat, but the advantage was that the Water Dragon Sect might not notice.
After thinking it through, Ji Yuan decided to try buying some first, and if that didn’t yield enough… he would consider other methods.
On the third day, Qiu Qianhai invited him to go mining again. Ji Yuan decided to give it another try. This time, his haul was a little better but still only around one pound.
Seeing how little he gained, Ji Yuan gave up.
On the fourth day, he didn’t go underwater.
Instead, he wandered around Qingbo Market, approaching any lone cultivators he encountered and asking a few questions.
Then he asked if they had any Cold Iron Sand for sale, offering a purchase price equal to that of the Water Dragon Sect.
Faced with such a powerful organization, he didn’t dare to undercut them.
But even buying wasn’t easy. First, because everyone had such small yields, and second, because Ji Yuan didn’t dare to buy too openly.
After an entire day, he had only managed to purchase half a pound of Cold Iron Sand.
Even so, he was quite satisfied.
If he could buy half a pound each day, in less than ten days, he would have enough to upgrade the Fish Pond.
If the Qin family didn’t come back by then, he could return to Zengtou Market and continue his peaceful cultivation.
That evening, not long after Ji Yuan had returned to his lodging, he saw Qiu Qianhai leaping out of the water on his magic boat.
While still in mid-air, Qiu Qianhai had already put away his boat, landing heavily on the ground with a pained grimace.
As soon as he landed, he hurried into Ji Yuan’s house, eyes sparkling with excitement as he pulled out a cloth bag from his storage pouch and placed it on the table, opening it.
Inside was a pile of still-damp Cold Iron Sand.
A huge pile, far more than what Ji Yuan had managed to buy that day.
Ji Yuan picked it up and weighed it—it was at least one pound.
“You actually dug up more than I bought?! Did you rob someone?!”
Ji Yuan stared at him in shock.
Qiu Qianhai quickly raised a finger to his lips in a hush gesture, then leaned in and whispered:
“Come on, follow me into the water. I’ll show you my big treasure!”
Bro, why does that sound so wrong… Ji Yuan looked at Qiu Qianhai with deep suspicion.
“Come on, would I lie to you?!”
Qiu Qianhai shoved the pound of Cold Iron Sand into Ji Yuan’s hands, then dashed toward Qingbo Market again.