To think of those hundreds of thousands of people fighting to the death over a small spirit stone mine—countless casualties—it was truly ridiculous.

In just a few short years, whether it was spirit stones or beast crystals, their value would plummet to an unbelievable low.

“Speaking of which, I should hurry and exchange the beast crystals I have now. However, for a spirit stone mine…”

In Zong Shou’s eyes, a sharp glint suddenly flashed, then just as quickly vanished.

Since this spirit stone mine was only recently discovered, who knew if its core had already been extracted?

It was also time for Xiao He to absorb more beast crystals, but spirit stones would be even more perfect for that purpose.

In any case, he needed these next couple of days to wait for a few people near this location to finalize the matters he’d entrusted to them; it would take some time. Going over there for a look wouldn't hurt.

Having settled his mind, Zong Shou closed his eyes and sat down again, continuing to perfect the World-Shaking Spirit Art.

It wasn't until nightfall that Zong Shou once again donned the set of Thunder-Step Spirit Bones.

As he stepped out of the carriage, he instinctively glanced toward the other Cloud-Soaring Carriage not far away, pausing for a slight hesitation.

Li Yuniang, guarding outside the carriage compartment, immediately showed a look of vigilance, her entire demeanor like a mother cat whose fur had bristled: “What are you doing? Miss is in seclusion for cultivation!”

Zong Shou’s mind involuntarily flashed to the image of Xuanyuan Yiren, bare and glowing, with flames surging around her, causing a momentary tremor in his spirit.

A strange desire to rush in and do something actually surfaced in his heart. After all, Li Yuniang couldn't stop him.

Then he violently shook his head, Zong Shou inwardly marveling. Could it be that she had already succeeded in refining the Cold Spirit Profound Essence Pill so quickly? Her current seclusion was most likely to resolve the latent issues from before.

Giving it little further thought, Zong Shou leaped down from the carriage. His form flickered, and he shot forward with incredible speed.

Chu Xue didn't need any signal; she immediately followed in his wake.

Li Yuniang watched, secretly puzzled. She considered driving the Wind-Riding Chariot to follow, but when she saw Zong Shou and the other disappear into the dense forest within moments, vanishing among the rolling hills, she reluctantly abandoned the idea. Her eyes darted around as she fell into deep thought.

The Thunder-Step Spirit Bones made a cracking sound when Zong Shou walked, but now, driving them at full power, he truly moved like lightning striking and wind rushing, achieving unbelievable swiftness. He was also extremely agile; under Zong Shou’s control, even covering ten zhang in an instant didn't lead to collisions with trees.

However, the consumption of soul power was immense. Zong Shou’s soul sea vortex could devour heaven-and-earth spiritual energy and ambient soul power, replenishing his soul energy almost every moment. Thus, he feared nothing and drove forward at full tilt. Chu Xue behind him remarkably kept pace, like a white shadow, almost clinging to his side.

But when the two had run for dozens of li and reached a mountain peak, the difference between them became apparent.

Chu Xue was panting heavily, her true qi and stamina nearly exhausted. Zong Shou, however, looked composed, only his eyes showing a slight weariness.

From start to finish, he hadn't moved a single finger; he had relied entirely on the external skeleton’s movement. Only soul power had been expended.

This mountaintop was about seven hundred zhang high, not particularly tall. But from here, it gave a sense of looking down upon all other mountains.

Casually taking out a soul stone, Zong Shou formed a hand seal. A blue, circular talisman immediately appeared in his eyes, and the objects in his vision were rapidly magnified.

“All spirit stone veins mostly grow near mountain ranges, in places where the earth energy is dense, where the spiritual meridians converge. In this flat plain, the most likely location is this cluster of hills. I wonder in which direction the actual vein lies?”

Glancing around, Zong Shou’s gaze suddenly fixed to the south. There appeared to be a battlefield there. At a glance, it was covered in shattered armor and corpses. One couldn't know how many died in that battle to attract countless carrion-eating beasts, whose howls and cries were heard intermittently. In the sky, hundreds of giant vultures circled.

Narrowing his eyes, Zong Shou searched nearby. After a short while, his sight locked onto a peak about four hundred zhang high.

With a slight smile, Zong Shou plunged downward again. Knowing Chu Xue could no longer keep up, he simply hoisted her up and galloped toward the location, riding the Thunder-Step Spirit Bones.

The short seventy li journey took only three quarters of an hour to cover. Upon reaching the vicinity of the small mountain, Zong Shou’s figure abruptly stopped. He squinted and stared from afar.

Here stood two massive military camps, clearly demarcated and facing each other in confrontation. Each camp was garrisoned by tens of thousands of soldiers. A mere glance confirmed they were all elite troops, with even the lowest-ranked soldier being a second-tier Martial Warrior, scarcely inferior to those of the Qiantian Mountain sect.

Infusing soul power into his eyes for a far-reaching view, he could discern dozens of faint, sharp auras surging toward the sky, mixing with the blood essence of hundreds of thousands of men, creating an overwhelming surge of battle intent.

Zong Shou couldn't help but frown slightly. In his previous life, he hadn't been a stranger to massive army engagements. But back then, he was already at the Heaven Rank realm and a Martial Cultivator himself, so he felt little. Observing this now, however, he couldn't help but feel a chill. There weren't many experts in these barracks—only about ten Innate masters—but if an expert knowledgeable in military formations were to unify them, even an expert of the Profound Martial Sect level would be forced to retreat.

The combined, vigorous force of the blood essence from these tens of thousands of soldiers was a bane to Spirit Masters. Without reaching the Yang Return realm, any spirit technique brought close would be scattered by the surging blood qi.

After watching for a while, Zong Shou wryly smiled to himself. Such a concentration of armies was the most troublesome thing. This was why, after awakening, he hadn't chosen disguise and stealth to evade pursuit, but instead maintained the conspicuous, ostentatious Cloud-Soaring Carriage.

The Cloud-Treading Steeds ran extremely fast, and the Cloud-Soaring Carriage could even float, making it difficult for others to attack even if they knew his whereabouts. Without a mount of the same caliber, no one below the Innate Martial Master level could hope to catch up. And even a major power like Qiantian Mountain didn't possess many Cloud-Treading Steeds.

But if he were discovered while disguised and stealthy, being surrounded and killed by thousands or tens of thousands of assembled soldiers, even with the greatest skill, would lead to a death filled with regret.

Truthfully, the most perilous section of his journey back to Qiantian Mountain was the latter half.

The powers of Cloud Scar Mountain and Blazing Flame Mountain were only situated in the west of the Cloud Continent. They were tens of thousands of li away from the Dian Mountain Range. Even if they desired his death, they could dispatch a few elites.

But once he entered their territory, given the deep reserves of these two forces, deploying a million troops to surround and kill him wouldn't be impossible.

To return safely, he probably needed to find some spare Wind-Riding Steeds.

Having completely abandoned the idea of infiltrating using Shadow-Stealing Spirit Arts, Zong Shou did not give up. A spirit stone vein spanned an area of about ten li in radius. He didn't necessarily have to choose this specific location to enter.

Retreating several li, Zong Shou began setting up an array. Since the military camps were nearby, and there were dozens of Innate masters, he dared not cause too much commotion. He hastily placed about ten runes and set down twelve third-tier beast crystals.

Chu Xue, having recovered some strength nearby, stood quietly, though curious, not uttering a word, watching Zong Shou manipulate the spirit art and recite the incantation. Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet began to shake slightly, accompanied by a dull crack. Ten or so fissures burst open. Starting from the spirit array beneath Zong Shou’s feet, they spread rapidly nearby. A few thicker ones stretched south, heading directly away from the direction of the two military camps.

As the twelve earth-element beast crystals shattered completely, Zong Shou stopped his hand seals and the secret prayer. His expression cold and focused, he watched the trajectory of the fissures.

Approximately a hundred tian years later, the connections between the Cloud Realm and various realms of heaven and earth began to open sequentially.

Some specialties of the Cloud Realm started flowing out to other realms. Likewise, martial arts secret texts, rune arts, spirit techniques, and rare items from other worlds were gradually mastered by the people of the Cloud Realm.

What Zong Shou was using now was an earth-element spirit art called 'Spirit Probing Technique,' transmitted from another world. It had no other function, only the ability to identify spirit stone veins, and its effect was incredibly accurate.

In the nearly one hundred years prior to Zong Shou’s era, the spirit stone mines discovered in the Cloud Realm only lasted about three thousand years before being depleted.

The reason spirit stones occasionally appeared in Zong Shou's time was twofold: trading with other worlds, and relying on this spirit art to periodically discover smaller spirit stone mines.

“...It’s actually a second-tier mine!”

Zong Shou mused, looking toward the location of the two barracks. He wondered if these hundreds of thousands of troops hadn't even accurately surveyed the mine, fighting over just a tributary vein?

After a soft chuckle, Zong Shou refocused his attention, carefully observing the fissures.

The spirit stones here were extremely scattered; he was unwilling to waste effort searching for them individually. He only sought the possible location of the mine core.

The result was somewhat pleasing. Each mine core was the essence gathered from an entire vein, usually surrounded by densely packed spirit stones and abundant spiritual energy.

And now, the fissures on the ground made the distribution almost perfectly clear. It was easy to distinguish where the spiritual energy was richest. Only one area potentially contained a spirit stone mine core.

However, beneath that location, there was a break, obscuring what lay further down.

“At seventy zhang below, there’s an underground river...” Zong Shou felt a headache coming on, but fortunately, the position was confirmed; it would just require a bit more effort.

He galloped south, weaving through the dense forest, stopping again after twenty li.

Chu Xue at this point looked completely bewildered. All night, she had been trailing Zong Shou, running around in the mountains, unsure what he was trying to accomplish.

Zong Shou, waving his sleeve, was about to draw his Thunder Fang Sword, preparing to start digging, when he suddenly remembered: he was now, not insignificantly, a Spirit Master of the Out-of-Body realm. Why would he need to do the digging himself?

With a thought, Zong Shou found three relatively good pieces of granite, each about the height of a man. He first drew rune arrays with spirit ink on them, then buried five third-tier earth-element beast crystals in each, along with two beast soul stones.

As his thoughts moved, Zong Shou brought his hands together in seals. These three granite stones immediately cracked open.

Heads and limbs gradually emerged. In just a moment, three stone puppets, towering toward the sky, suddenly stood up from the ground. They were about twenty zhang tall, their forms sturdy and incredibly muscular.