That evening, after everyone had eaten and gone to sleep, Gray got up silently and crept out of the tunnel with his pickaxe in hand. He emerged into a cloudless night that was pitch-black. He could hear nothing except the wind rustling the grass around him, the chirping of strange insects, and the babbling of the nearby river.

He crouched down low and made his way upriver.

He was careful to make no sound. He didn’t want to run into the night sentries and have to explain what he was doing. Bandits were a real threat and the Jade Hill Lord kept a substantial force of guards at the River Mine. There were at least two head guards in addition to Foreman Kang who was also a middle-stage cultivator.

Gray found an abandoned mining tunnel some distance upriver and went in. The old tunnels were expansive, much more so than the current one his team was working in. Inside, it was dark and lifeless. No one had set foot in here for years.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, taking in the smells and sensations of solitude. Familiarity with the environment was relaxing. This was his place, his style.

He opened his eyes and starry lights blossomed in all directions. There were twinkling stars of jade as well as pale white clouds of spiritual stone. Each source of light was a deposit of treasure, a little pocket of money that the previous miners had missed due to carelessness or bad luck. And now, they were all his.

Gray surveyed the entire mine from top to bottom and took mental stock of the best spots. He started with a bright cyan star in the middle of a tunnel wall. The intensity and clarity of the light meant it was very close to the surface. The previous miners had no idea and no way of knowing either. Their loss was his gain.

With a determined grin, he raised the pickaxe and took careful aim.

Clang!

The metal head sank in and out came a mountain of dirt and rocks. The foreman’s pickaxe was heavy, it was sharp, and it perfectly complimented his recent improvements in strength. It was a new and wonderful experience. He no longer held a piece of scrap metal in his hands but something that contained spiritual metal. There was a connection forged by spiritual energy between himself and the heavy gold. He felt strong. He felt as if nothing could block his way.

Two more swings and the jade light was no longer inside the tunnel wall but at his feet. He rummaged through the pile of debris and eventually lifted out a tiny sparkling gem. Sky-attribute spiritual energy drifted out of it like a gentle summer breeze. It was soft and enticing as if begging him to hurry up and absorb it into his spiritual sea.

Gray didn’t hesitate and did just that.

In just a few moments, the gem in his hand crumbled to dust. The special attribute of darkness and space within his spiritual sea made the process easy and fast. His cultivation at the 4th Level of the Spiritual Strengthening Realm improved by a noticeable amount, the equivalent of one kilogram of spiritual stone.

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This trip was already worth it. He was apprehensive at first but now, all of his doubts were gone. There were so many old tunnels to exploit, so much money within easy reach.

The River Mine was much better than the northern mining fields. It was perfect.

---

Gray fell into a steady routine. During the day, he napped and stayed out of the way of Krish and his sons. At night, he continued to secretly excavate the old mines. Any jade he found, he immediately used to cultivate. The remaining spiritual stones were stashed away for a later date. He didn’t know what to do with them yet but he definitely did not want to turn them into Foreman Kang for free.

A week later, a formidable force of guards from Jade Hill Town arrived at the mine. Among them were a guard captain and two head guards. The captain was particularly eye-catching, wearing a full set of armor which was a mix of hard leather and polished metal plate. If that wasn’t enough, even the ordinary guards wore basic armor made of thick, coarse fabric. Each one also carried iron shields and a variety of weapons. The troop was by all measures very well-armed. Weapons and armor were critical in fights no matter the cultivation. With such equipment, even the most untalented guard was capable of fighting a bandit one level higher than them if their opponent was unarmored or barehanded.

The troop set off as quickly as they arrived with the spiritual stones and jade that the mine had produced. They also took with them the two head guards and the rest of the guards that were protecting the River Mine as an extra precaution. The treasure transport was way more important than a bunch of poor miners. With all the jade and spiritual stones being shipped away, there was nothing worthwhile left at the River Mine until the miners produced more.

With the guards gone, Gray was free to do as he pleased under the cover of night. He went into an abandoned tunnel for his usual nighty activities.

He took a break after finishing with the latest piece of jade. He laid down with a satisfied sigh and stared up the tunnel ceiling that filled with dazzling lights. It was a wonderful feeling when everything was coming together so smoothly.

Since arriving at the River Mine, he had already absorbed an equivalent of twenty kilograms of spiritual stone in jade. He was close to another breakthrough after a week.

This kind of cultivation speed was absolutely astonishing. All that jade would have sold for over a thousand gold coins. But it was all gone, turned to dust and absorbed into his insatiable body. Only he was capable of such a costly yet speedy method of cultivation.

And it wasn't just speedy, it was efficient. The combination of his innate abilities and the Tome of Glorious Fortune meant that there was no waste. All of the sky attribute spiritual energy from jade was absorbed. A trashy cultivation art might have only achieved an efficiency of one-twentieth at best before they inevitably destroyed the cultivator's body.

Using up all the jade was satisfying but left Gray with a steadily growing problem, the spiritual stones. Although they were more annoying to work with, they were still valuable. His stash had now grown to over fifty kilograms and it was getting difficult to hide. If somebody found it, it would cause serious trouble.

Gray was still pondering the problem of his bootlegged spiritual stones when he heard something that made him freeze up. It was the sounds of footsteps on gravel and sand followed by the rustling of clothes pushing against dry grass.

Someone was outside!

Gray held his breath and sat absolutely still for several heart-pounding moments, his ears straining to their utmost. The distinct sounds continued for some time before receding. Luckily, nobody entered his mining tunnel.

When it was silent once again, Gray crawled to the entrance and carefully peered out. He saw black-robed figures stalking downriver. There were tens, hundreds of them.

Bandits…

Against all common sense, bandits had decided to attack the mine after the treasure shipment had already left!