Chapter 141: Just the Two of Us
Friends.
The word “friend” encompassed a wide range.
Mingyan looked at Ning Feixuan’s retreating back, his eyes narrowing slightly. He then turned his head and saw Huang Feiyan standing in the distance.
“Feiyan,” he smiled and greeted her.
Seeing him, she walked over.
She wore a red dress trimmed with gold, looking noble and elegant. A sash cinched her slender waist, accentuating her figure.
She walked with a graceful gait, her beautiful eyes smiling. “Did I interrupt you two?”
“What do you mean, ‘interrupt’?” Mingyan was exasperated. “Have you finished your business?”
She shook her head gently. “It’s a bit complicated. I’ll probably have to investigate further later. But since we’ve just arrived in Zhong Jing City, let’s rest for a bit… How are things between you and Feixuan?”
“Progress… what progress?” He shook his head. “We’ve become friends, at least.”
“Just friends?” Huang Feiyan’s eyes sparkled, her smile playful.
“Of course not just friends…” he whispered. “I’ll tell you secretly. Don’t tell Ning Feixuan.”
“…Yes, my lips are sealed.” She nodded.
He sent a mental message to her. “I’ve confessed my feelings to her before. Although it was an accident, she knows how I feel. And she rejected me.”
Although Huang Feiyan had already heard this from Ning Feixuan, she still looked surprised, her mouth agape. She then consoled him, “Feixuan… she’s not interested in romance right now. You should know why.”
Mingyan nodded and continued his mental message, “If things continue like this, we’ll only grow more distant, until we can’t even talk to each other. So, I took the initiative to become her friend.”
“…Advancing by retreating?” Huang Feiyan’s beautiful eyes blinked.
Mingyan nodded. “Being friends is better than not being able to talk at all.”
Huang Feiyan pursed her lips, remembering what Ning Feixuan had said. She hesitated, then decided against saying anything and smiled. “Are you confident?”
“Honestly, not very.” Mingyan shook his head. Although his senior sister was helping him, he didn’t have much confidence in pursuing Ning Feixuan. He could only see a glimmer of hope.
Huang Feiyan tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her gaze flickering. “Mingyan… later, can you come with me on a trip?”
“Hmm? Of course. Do you need my help?” he asked, nodding without hesitation.
“Yes. I’m here to deal with some of the Huang family’s business,” she said. “We have some mines in the northern part of the Sheng Yuan Dynasty. A while ago, we received news that a batch of high-quality ore, perfect for refining weapons, had been excavated.”
“But as time went on, we never received the ore. Later, we investigated and found that the ore, along with the miners in that mine, had all disappeared.” She continued, “So, I’d like you to come with me to investigate.”
Mingyan nodded. “Should we tell Celestial Ning and Senior Sister?”
“No need. It’s not a major issue. Just the two of us will be fine.” Huang Feiyan’s gaze flickered to the side, her tone slightly hesitant.
Mingyan noticed her strange behavior and was puzzled, but it was true that they didn’t need to do everything as a group of four. He nodded. “Then let’s say our goodbyes and leave.”
“Let’s go first. I’ve already sent someone to inform Qingying. They’ll know soon enough,” she blinked, her voice soft.
“Alright.”
Half an hour later, Yue Qingying received the news that Mingyan and Huang Feiyan had left together. She frowned, her eyes flickering.
Meanwhile, Huang Feiyan and Mingyan were traveling north, towards the Huang family’s mine.
North of Zhong Jing City was a vast wasteland, sparsely populated, dotted with abandoned mines.
These mines were mostly depleted and had long been abandoned.
They were long and deep, some even leading directly to the underworld. It was said that some of the mines in this wasteland led directly to the Netherworld.
The Netherworld… the place where people were said to go after death, also known as the Underworld or the Land of the Dead.
The abandoned mines were filled with poisonous gas, and due to the sparse population, they were prone to attracting ghosts. So, few people came here. Only those who worked here would pass through.
As Mingyan entered the wasteland, he could feel the dense Yin energy. The balance of Yin and Yang here had been completely disrupted.
He frowned. “The Yin energy here is too strong.”
“These mines haven’t been entered for a long time. It’s normal for the Yin energy to be dense.” Huang Feiyan, clearly familiar with the area, explained softly and led him forward.
Hearing her explanation, Mingyan hesitated for a moment, then nodded, no longer dwelling on the dense Yin energy.
They passed through the abandoned mine area and saw signs of human activity, many miners working here.
Most of the mines in this area had been sold by the Sheng Yuan Dynasty to the various Sacred Lands and prominent families, who would then send people to mine them. These miners were either disciples of the Sacred Lands and prominent families, either exiled or here to earn extra income.
In some Sacred Lands, to obtain extra cultivation resources, one had to work for them. They would exchange the special ores they mined for spirit stones, or directly mine for spirit stones, and then use them to purchase various resources within the Sacred Land.
Besides the disciples of the Sacred Lands, there were also those who specialized in this kind of work.
Mingyan, having been accepted as a disciple by Yue Wu Xia shortly after joining the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sacred Land, had skipped over all these experiences.
Because they were close to the Central Abyss, no powerful cultivators came here.
The Central Abyss was a forbidden zone, the only one that radiated outwards. It had a unique property: the stronger the cultivator, the closer they got to the Central Abyss, the stronger the backlash they would suffer.
Unless they were a Human King or a Great Emperor, cultivators who had entered the Saint Realm generally wouldn’t go near the Central Abyss. The consequences ranged from injury to a drop in cultivation level.
So, the strongest cultivators who came here to mine were at the Divine Gate Realm, but even they were rare. Generally, those who reached the Divine Gate Realm had decent qualifications. Who would come here to mine?
The Central Abyss was located in the center of the four continents. The closer to it, the thinner the spiritual energy, and the more difficult it was to use Dao and laws. The ground near the Central Abyss, perhaps due to its long-term proximity, although not particularly hard, couldn’t be broken by Dao techniques, as if it could swallow them. One could only use brute force. Unless one’s cultivation was extremely high, but high cultivation would be affected by the Central Abyss… Of course, a Human King or a Great Emperor could ignore these problems.
So, mining here was quite difficult. Cultivators at the Divine Gate Realm and above were restricted, and those below could only use brute force.
Ironically, the richest and most abundant mineral resources on the Yao Guang star system were located near the Central Abyss. Finding such large-scale veins elsewhere was very difficult.
If it weren’t for the Central Abyss, these mines would have likely been depleted long ago by Human Gateway Realm cultivators…
These cultivators could move mountains and fill seas with a single hand. Mining would be much faster for them, wouldn’t it?
Unfortunately, they couldn’t get close.
“This is the place.” Huang Feiyan stopped in front of a mine.
Mingyan also stopped and looked around. This mine was far from the others. He couldn’t see anyone else, and there were no signs of human activity.
Huang Feiyan’s divine sense scanned the area, and she frowned. “No one…”
After the incident with the missing ore, the Huang family’s person in charge in Zhong Jing City had investigated. At that time, a miner had returned to Zhong Jing to report the discovery, then returned to the mine, and… that was the last they heard of him.
Since this mining area had been sold by the Sheng Yuan Dynasty to the various Sacred Lands and prominent families, the Sheng Yuan Dynasty didn’t manage it. The Sacred Lands and prominent families managed their own mines. The Huang family’s person in charge had used a technique to investigate and found that besides the miner who had reported the discovery, all the other miners were still in the mine.
But that was a month ago. For a whole month, no one had come out of the mine.
This was quite strange.
Even for cultivators, staying in a mine for a long time was not advisable. The mines were filled with poisonous gas, and prolonged exposure could cause various problems. Generally, they would leave after a maximum of seven days to recover before entering again.
But for a whole month, no one had left.
