Chapter 60: Great Fortune
“Splash—”
In the dark of night, the calm surface of Qingbo Market was suddenly broken by the sound of water being split.
Immediately after, a dark figure shot out from within.
The Black Wind Boat landed on the water, carrying the two of them away in an instant.
“Exciting, exciting, this feels amazing!”
Qiu Qianhai kept muttering excitedly, his expression filled with exhilaration.
Ji Yuan remained silent as he steered the boat for nearly two miles. Then, he found a deserted island nearby where they landed, finally hiding behind a protruding giant rock.
“Huff—”
Qiu Qianhai let out a long breath.
Even in the darkness of night, Ji Yuan could see his eyes glowing with excitement.
“What’s the situation inside the cave?”
“How much does Cold Iron Sand cost per catty now?”
The two asked each other at the same time.
“Still twenty spirit stones. How much did you collect?”
Ji Yuan knew Qiu Qianhai was eager to share his excitement, so he played along and asked.
“Don’t ask, just feel it yourself and you’ll know.”
Qiu Qianhai felt that words could no longer describe his joy, so he directly pulled out a huge cloth bag that was almost overflowing.
“So much?!”
Even though Ji Yuan had mentally prepared himself, he still couldn’t help but widen his eyes when he saw this.
He took the bag with one hand and weighed it.
There was at least ten pound in there!
“You have no idea. That damned cave is full of Cold Iron Sand. There’s no need to dig at all. You just take a bag and stuff it in like crazy.”
Qiu Qianhai began recounting his experience.
“When I first went in, I didn’t even bother to look. I just started filling the bag.”
“I kept stuffing it as I went deeper, about ten feet in. I felt something was off because the deeper I went, the more Cold Iron Sand there was. I thought, since that’s the case, why not go deeper and collect even more?”
“But I never expected that after walking about twenty or thirty feet further, I suddenly saw a large boulder blocking the way. I didn’t think much of it and was about to climb over when that rock suddenly moved. I was so scared I bolted for my life. Luckily, that beast seemed like it had just woken up and was stunned for a moment. Otherwise, I might not have made it out alive today.”
After the excitement passed, recalling this moment made Qiu Qianhai shudder.
Ji Yuan handed the bag of Cold Iron Sand back, and Qiu Qianhai split it in half and handed one part back to him.
“I saw it clearly. It’s a mid-stage Tier-1 Stone Armored Crab. It must have consumed too much Cold Iron Sand because it looked like it was on the verge of breaking through to the late stage. You surviving that... you really have heaven’s favor.”
“Heh.”
Qiu Qianhai let out a dry laugh, but then sighed, “With that thing in there, unless you’re in the late stage of Qi Refining, going in is basically certain death. What a pity about that damned cave, there’s so much Cold Iron Sand in there.”
“Let’s be satisfied with what we got from this trip.”
“True.”
Ji Yuan pondered for a moment and then said, “Tomorrow, after selling the Cold Iron Sand at Jingde Market, I’ll be heading back to Zengtou Market.”
Hearing this, Qiu Qianhai couldn’t bring himself to smile anymore.
“You’re right. With these spirit stones, it’s enough for you to cultivate to the sixth layer of Qi Refining. Don’t be greedy. After you break through to the sixth layer, you can come back and stay a while longer. If you manage to reach the late stage of Qi Refining... then you won’t have to worry too much about the Qin family anymore.”
“That’s true.” Qiu Qianhai nodded.
“Also, about Blackwater Market, I think you shouldn’t go back for now. The Qin family will surely have people stationed there. Find another market or a deserted island to break through first.”
Ji Yuan continued with his plan.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you.”
Qiu Qianhai readily agreed.
“Alright then, let’s head back.”
Ji Yuan clapped his hands and stood up.
Over the past few days, he had already collected nearly six pound of Cold Iron Sand on his own.
Adding the five pound from today’s trip to the Dead Cave, that made eleven pound… which could be exchanged for over two hundred spirit stones.
That was enough to trade for two mid-grade spirit stones.
With these, it should be more than enough to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining.
Harvest always brought joy.
The two of them identified the direction and steered the boat back toward the small island where they lived.
After about half an hour.
Ji Yuan finally saw the small hut where he stayed. Judging by the time, it should be the second half of the night.
He planned to take a short nap before leaving.
But suddenly, he noticed someone walking out of Qiu Qianhai’s stone house next door!
“Not good!”
He instinctively stopped the Black Wind Boat.
Qiu Qianhai beside him also realized something was wrong and stopped the boat.
At this moment, the water behind them suddenly splashed again as another magic boat emerged from the water.
They were surrounded from front and back.
Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes and looked toward the person standing on the shore, then turned to glance at the person behind them.
The two looked quite similar—most likely brothers.
Their cultivation levels were both the same as his, at the sixth layer of Qi Refining... Ji Yuan immediately thought of a name.
The Twin Heroes of Qingbo Market.
Qiu Qianhai grinned and called out, “What wind has blown the two Brother Lius here? My heart, Liu Quan’s heart, is overjoyed.”
“Oh? Your surname is Liu too?”
Liu Da on the island spoke up.
Qiu Qianhai continued, “Indeed. Liu Quan from Tai’an Market. This is my cousin, Liu Changsheng.”
Hearing this, Ji Yuan knew Qiu Qianhai had no intention of fighting, or rather... he didn’t dare to.
Two sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivators who had killed late-stage Qi Refining cultivators—enough to make Qiu Qianhai wary.
It was understandable.
Even if Ji Yuan wanted to fight, he would have to set up a formation first.
Thinking this through, Ji Yuan cupped his fists and smiled, “Liu Changsheng greets both elder brothers.”
Liu Da and Liu Er exchanged glances, then fell silent for a moment.
Finally, Liu Da spoke again.
But this time, he had a bit more of a smile on his face.
“Since we’re all family, it’s much easier to talk. Why don’t the three of you come ashore so we can have a proper chat?”
After a while.
The four of them sat inside Qiu Qianhai’s house. Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai sat facing each other, while Liu Da and Liu Er sat facing each other as well, forming a standoff-like arrangement.
Among them, Liu Da sat closest to the door.
Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai remained silent, waiting for the Liu brothers to speak.
“Well, to be honest with you two, we came here today because we want to make a fortune together,” Liu Da thought for a moment before finally speaking.
Ji Yuan heard this and smiled slightly, “The two of us are newcomers here. What fortune could we possibly make? If there’s any fortune to be made, it’s only because the two elder brothers are leading us.”
“Someone said you two found the Dead Cave.”
Liu Er got straight to the point.
Ji Yuan’s smile froze.
He instinctively exchanged glances with Qiu Qianhai.
Both of them understood what the other was thinking... they had just found the Dead Cave a few hours ago, and someone already knew?
Impossible.
Most likely, it was because they had sold too much Cold Iron Sand over the past few days and attracted attention.
But to Liu Da and Liu Er, their expressions confirmed their suspicions.
They naturally believed they had hit the mark.
As a result, both of them smiled even more.
“May I ask who told you that, elder brothers?”
Qiu Qianhai asked.
“Well, it’s a bit inconvenient to say. We do value integrity after all...” Liu Da hadn’t finished his sentence when Ji Yuan interrupted:
“As long as you tell us, we will share the Dead Cave with you two.”
“Deng Lang.”
Liu Da didn’t hesitate at all.
Integrity?
All their integrity was worth nothing compared to spirit stones.
“Deng Lang?”
Ji Yuan didn’t know this person.
“He was one of the two brothers who followed me out of the Water Dragon Sect’s store when I first sold Cold Iron Sand.”
Qiu Qianhai explained, and Ji Yuan immediately remembered.
“Since we’ve told you, elder brothers...”
Liu Da’s gaze shifted between Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai, clearly ready to fight at the slightest disagreement.
Ji Yuan’s smile became even more sincere.
“We can take you to the Dead Cave, but let’s be clear upfront, we need to share a portion of the Cold Iron Sand we find inside.”
“Of course, since you two discovered the Dead Cave in the first place,” Liu Da waved his hand and agreed without hesitation.
“And one more thing, after this, I plan to kill Deng Lang. I hope you two won’t stand in the way.”
To make the act more convincing, Ji Yuan clenched his fists at this moment.
“Don’t worry. In matters like this, we always stand with our own.”
Liu Da replied as if it was only natural.
“Lastly...”
Ji Yuan saw that Liu Da was already showing signs of impatience but continued with a smile, “Since fate has brought us together, and since we’ve brought such great benefits to you two, how about this—after this is over, let’s call ourselves the ‘Four Heroes of Qingbo Market’. What do you think?”
Liu Da and Liu Er exchanged glances and finally nodded slowly, “Agreed.”
“In that case, let’s set off at once.”
Qiu Qianhai, fully understanding Ji Yuan’s intentions, quickly stood up and said.