荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“That incident was extremely strange. Those black-clothed men had never appeared before, and during our inspection afterward, we found that none of the Hyderabad ore had been taken. Moreover, even though many of those people were killed, when they retreated, they took all the corpses with them, not even leaving one behind. Even now, we have not been able to find out where they came from.”

“Oh?”

Wang Chong’s brow furrowed as countless ideas emerged in his mind. He had a vague idea, but he could not determine what it was at this time.

Leaving the center of the outdoor mines, Ablonodan and Arloja brought Wang Chong to a simple and crude house, with walls of black sheet metal, floors of mud, and a blackened cot. A stench filled the room.

“Lord Marquis, the buildings of the mine are simple and crude, with no acceptable residences. We must inconvenience you by having you stay a few days in this place,” Ablonodan and Arloja apologetically said.

The environment and conditions of Sindhu were very poor, and most of the monks on the mountain practiced asceticism. A small house like this was already quite extravagant for them.

“That’s fine. I’ll take care of it myself.”

Once Ablonodan and Arloja were gone, Wang Chong made a gesture behind him. Clang! A moment later, several disciplined guards swiftly opened up a few boxes, removing metal boards which they thrust into the earth and began to put together.

In just a few moments, another simple house had taken shape on the top of the Hyderabad mountains. Various parts and screws were quickly joined together, and in less than five minutes, a clean and simple metal house had been erected. After another layer of metal boards was laid down to serve as a floor, the house was finished.

Zhang Shouzhi had made ample preparations before setting out. This specially-built modular house had been designed by him for Wang Chong to use.

Although he had not been able to meet the real Sindhu High Priest, signing a contract with Sindhu to gain full rights to the Hyderabad ore was still a major victory. Wang Chong ordered Xue Qianjun and Zhang Shouzhi to discuss the finer details of the contract with Ablonodan and Arloja.

In the You Period1, Zhang Shouzhi and Xue Qianjun finally returned from the mines.

“How was it?”

Wang Chong was seated in a room brightly lit by an oil lantern.

“We already found from our investigations during the day that the efficiency of the Sindhi is simply too low. In their circumstances, the production situation won’t change for the next five to six years, perhaps even as long as ten-some years. If they continue with the same mining methods, we will be waiting a long time to get the things we want.”

Zhang Shouzhi had a look of regret on his face. They had only finished with a part of negotiations, but Zhang Shouzhi’s greatest concern was still the tools.

“The tools of the Sindhi are simply too primitive. They completely rely on immense amounts of manpower to mine. This must be changed! I’ve already made adjustments to the mining tools based on the terrain and their circumstances. I’ve finished drawing the diagrams already and will send them back to Khorasan tomorrow. As long as we can get that equipment built, we can increase the efficiency of the mining by at least three times.”

Wang Chong nodded. There was nothing a determined person could not accomplish, and there was definitely a way to increase the production of the Hyderabad ore. This was also the primary reason he had brought Zhang Shouzhi with him.

“Mm. How is the contract for the Hyderabad ore going?”

“Following Lord Marquis’s will, we paid a price of one hundred million taels of gold to directly buy ten years of Hyderabad ore production. This vast sum should be enough to resolve much of Sindhu’s hunger problem.”

“Mm.”

Wang Chong nodded. With a ten-year monopoly on the Hyderabad mine, he could fully extract the Hyderabad ore and prepare himself for the coming calamity. As for the Sindhi... in the end, they would realize that they had made the most correct decision, and they would obtain far more than they had expected from this deal.

Wang Chong questioned the two on many other things, and by the time the conversation was over and Xue Qianjun and Zhang Shouzhi had withdrawn, the entirety of the Hyderabad Mountains had fallen into silence. In the end, even those Sindhi miners had gone to sleep.

Time slowly passed, and over the next three to four days, Wang Chong scoured the Hyderabad Mountains. He gradually gained an understanding of the natural treasures of Sindhu, but he saw neither hide nor hair of the true Sindhu High Priest. Wang Chong had searched across the entire mountain range, yet had still not found even a clue.

“Am I really not destined to meet him?”

Wang Chong stood on a rocky outcrop and stared at the curled-up behemoth that was the Hyderabad Mountains, extreme reluctance in his heart. Although he knew that finding the Sindhu High Priest would be extremely difficult, he was truly unwilling to go home like this.

Night began to set in, and a dark mist began to seethe over the mountains. This was a phenomenon unique to the Hyderabad Mountains, and it apparently had to do with the ore beneath it.

Wang Chong was depressed and dejected. He decided to go and search around the base of the mountains.

All was quiet here, and as Wang Chong wandered alone around the base of the mountains, he suddenly felt a strange sensation.

“Mm?” He arched a brow and stared at the nearby ground.

Keekee! The thing hidden underground didn’t seem prepared to conceal itself, and excitedly called out as it emerged. A centipede monster suddenly rushed out of the roiling black mist and appeared in front of Wang Chong, its savage eyes gleaming brightly.

Wang Chong couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the centipede monster, Masil’s pet—no, Wang Chong’s pet. Ever since Masil’s death, this centipede monster had been following Wang Chong. On this journey from Khorasan to the Hyderabad Mountains, the centipede monster had followed underground.

“Little thing!”

Wang Chong chuckled, his expression relaxing. Whoosh! Wang Chong leaped onto the forehead of the centipede monster.

“Let’s go and take a stroll!”

Wang Chong suddenly had an idea. Rumble! The massive centipede monster suddenly bored into the ground, taking Wang Chong deeper into the earth. Probably because Wang Chong rarely sat upon it, the centipede monster appeared to be extremely excited, loudly chirping as it swiftly and fiercely burrowed through the earth.

Although the Hyderabad Mountains were extremely sturdy, the earth beneath them was extremely soft.

Perhaps I can use this chance to search underground.

With this thought, Wang Chong took control of the centipede monster and had it venture deeper under the Hyderabad Mountains.

The underground portion of this mountain range is huge!

The centipede monster only burrowed down several dozen meters before running into a layer of bedrock. The Hyderabad Mountains were immense on the surface, but their underground portion seemed to be even larger.

Wang Chong traveled along the edge of the mountain range. One hundred meters, two hundred, three hundred... only after he had traveled around eight hundred meters did he finally reach the end of the mountain range’s underground portion. At this point, Wang Chong felt like he was venturing deep under the sea and exploring the continental shelf. This depth was already extremely dangerous, the air so thin that it was nigh impossible to breathe. However, the effect was reduced on Wang Chong, as he had noticed an ancient formation on the centipede monster’s body that could seal air within it.

This sealed-up air was not a lot, but for someone of Wang Chong’s cultivation level, it was enough to last a very long time.

Eight hundred meters, nine hundred meters... he was getting farther and farther from the surface, and the reserved air in the centipede monster’s air pocket wouldn’t be able to last for much longer.

Buzz!

There was no light here, rendering eyes worthless. Wang Chong expanded his Psychic Energy across the underground world, and in a flash, he had gained a complete grasp of his surroundings.

It seems like I really won’t be able to find him.

Wang Chong could only sense strangely-shaped rocks and a sea of dirt in the pitch-black darkness, but no sign of the true Sindhu High Priest.

Wang Chong had not been randomly strolling around, but searching for the Sindhu High Priest. He had spent the last several days combing over the entirety of the Hyderabad Mountains, but his search had been fruitless.

The only place left is beneath the Hyderabad Mountains.

This had been his thought, but he had still ended up disappointed. He had searched for so long but had still turned up nothing. It seemed like he would have to give up on this opportunity.

Buzz!

Just when Wang Chong was preparing to leave, he suddenly sensed something strange.

What’s that?

Wang Chong suddenly turned his head toward the depths of the earth.

More than one thousand meters underground, Wang Chong had sensed a wave of energy. The energy source was extremely far away, but merely the ripples from it possessed terrifying energy. Even this small portion of power caused him to shiver.

What’s going on here?

Wang Chong began to rapidly travel in the direction of this energy ripple.

Eleven hundred meters, twelve hundred meters... Only a few moments had passed, but Wang Chong could sense that ripple of energy getting stronger and stronger.

When Wang Chong was more than fifteen hundred meters from the surface, an energy source so massive that it would make the entire world pale abruptly exploded into his senses. Even Great Generals were exceedingly puny before the immensity of this energy. And this energy came from even deeper within the earth, several thousand meters down.

Not only that, Wang Chong had also sensed intense spatial disturbances. This energy was so massive that not even Wang Chong dared to approach.

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1.The You Period extends from 5pm – 7pm.↩