Qin Renhuang just became an immortal, and you told me this is the prehistoric time

Ying Shaoyang ignored the scattered soldiers and turned his gaze towards the outside of the city. In a flash, he appeared atop a barren mountain peak several miles from the city.

Standing atop the mountain, he was once again awestruck by the abundance of resources in this world. The entire mountain range beneath his feet was completely barren! He bent down and grabbed a handful of the surface soil; beneath it lay not rock, but dense, metallic-looking ore!

His divine sense penetrated downwards and discovered that beneath the surface of the mountain, it was almost entirely composed of high-grade iron ore! The purity was extremely high, with very few impurities, as if the entire mountain range were a huge, naturally formed rich iron ore deposit!
"No wonder those goblins don't need to organize large-scale mining; they can find enough ore just by picking it up at the foot of the mountain..."

Ying Shaoyang suddenly realized.

The mineral veins in this world exist extensively in such an almost open-air manner!
How could we let such a treasure trove slip by?
He activated the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation once again! This time, the enormous starlight canopy no longer enveloped the city, but instead, like a transparent dome, slowly descended, completely enveloping the core area of ​​the entire iron ore mountain range!
"swallow!"

Driven by Ying Shaoyang's thoughts, the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Grand Formation began to operate its "refining" power. Like a giant millstone, it began to forcibly devour and decompose the iron ore in the mountains, transforming it into the purest metallic essence, which was then integrated into the grand formation itself to reinforce the island and nourish the Star God.

Although the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation had already incorporated a massive amount of stellar materials and mineral deposits, making it a profound foundation, it still seemed somewhat difficult to refine and absorb such a large high-grade mineral vein in a short period of time.

The starlight canopy formed by the array visibly dimmed in color and its operation became slightly sluggish.

At the same time, the surrounding spiritual energy, drawn by the array's devouring power, began to converge wildly towards the mountain range, forming visible energy currents that emitted a whistling sound.

Just then, Ying Shaoyang's divine sense detected the commotion in the distance.

Thousands of tall, muscular creatures with pig heads and human bodies, wielding various heavy clubs and stone axes, were charging madly toward this place, howling and groaning, following the direction of the spiritual energy flow!

These pig-men had bloodshot eyes, filled with ferocity and a kind of... thirst for energy? They seemed to take the unusual fluctuations in spiritual energy in this place as a sign that some kind of rare and precious treasure was about to be born.

What surprised Ying Shaoyang even more was that these pig-men rushed to the starlight barrier formed by the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation without any fear, and swung their weapons to launch a frenzied attack on the barrier!

The sounds of impact were incessant. Although they couldn't shake the formation in the slightest, their unwavering, even reckless, courage far surpassed that of the goblins who were prone to panic.

"No wonder they dared to set up camp near the Goblin City. It seems that the pigmen are indeed superior in terms of bravery."

Ying Shaoyang commented in his heart.

His divine sense swept over the group of pigmen, confirming that they also had no meridians in their bodies, with only a few individuals showing a faint core fluctuation of power in the heart area, and their overall strength was similar to that of goblins.

"Perfect, I'll take them back for comparison."

Ying Shaoyang raised his hand and grabbed at the void below.

The power of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation shifted slightly, and starlight, like a fishing net, poured down, enveloping the thousands of pig-men who were frantically attacking the barrier. The next moment, these pig-men vanished from their original positions and were absorbed into a specially isolated area inside the formation.

He planned to bring these pig-men back with him so that the Qin soldiers could familiarize themselves with them in advance. After all, if the army were to enter this realm in the future, they would face far more than just goblins as enemies. The more types of enemies they knew, the greater their chances of victory on the battlefield.

Just as the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation continued to refine the iron ore mountain range beneath his feet, Ying Shaoyang's divine sense keenly detected at the very core of the ore vein a cluster of exceptionally condensed metallic essence radiating a deep, dark light.

With a slight thought, he reached out and grabbed at the dark light, which pierced through the rock and flew into his hand.

It was extremely heavy to the touch; it was only the size of a fist, yet its weight was comparable to several tons of ordinary iron! Its texture was incredibly dense, and its interior seemed to contain countless tiny stars twinkling within, imbued with unimaginable Geng metal energy.

"Iron Mother!"

A hint of surprise flashed in Ying Shaoyang's eyes. This item was the core essence that could only be formed over countless years by a top-grade iron ore vein, making it an unparalleled treasure for forging divine weapons.

In the world of Qin, although there are many mineral veins, he has only seen descriptions of them in some ancient books in the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, and has never seen them in reality.

I never expected to obtain one so easily in this realm!
The value of this iron mother far surpasses that of ordinary top-tier magical treasures. If it could be brought back to Qin and meticulously forged by top craftsmen, it would surely create a divine weapon of national significance, greatly enhancing the empire's high-end combat power.

He carefully placed this precious iron mother into the stone gate space and stored it separately from other treasures.

The Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array continued to roar, like a tireless behemoth, devouring and refining the entire ore vein. Billions of tons of high-purity iron ore were broken down and refined, their essence continuously flowing into the array's one hundred and eight main islands and the nascent Star God.

This process was extremely time-consuming and energy-intensive. Even with Ying Shaoyang occasionally casting refining talismans to assist, it still lasted for a full day and night.

Just as the refining of the ore vein was nearing completion, Ying Shaoyang's divine sense detected a commotion in the distance.

A group of about a thousand goblins came galloping from afar.

This team was completely different from the grunts we had seen before. They were all dressed in relatively uniform, rough metal armor, wielding heavy weapons that gleamed coldly, and their movements were quite disciplined. They had all actually reached the level of a first-level life form!

What's even more striking is that over a hundred of these goblins emanated clear energy fluctuations, indicating that they had already condensed energy cores within their bodies!
This elite squad stormed into the ruins of Stone City, littered with corpses, and quickly searched the area, clearly there because of the earlier disturbances and the fall of the city.

After finding nothing in the city, they immediately rushed out of the city and ran wildly towards the pigman camp a hundred miles away, arriving in just over ten minutes.

What happened next confirmed the cruel laws of this world.

These elite goblins, like tigers among sheep, launched a fierce attack on the pigman camp.

They were incredibly powerful and their teamwork far surpassed that of ordinary goblins. Although the pigmen were brave, they were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer difference in strength. Some goblins immediately began to prey on the pigmen, while others brutally abused the female pigmen in the camp who were being used as "breeding tools."

It wasn't until the tallest and most imposing goblin leader roared and cursed in anger that these bloodthirsty, pleasure-seeking elites regrouped and roughly drove dozens of captured pigmen back towards Stone City.

"Their reaction was swift. It seems we're not far from their true core territory." Ying Shaoyang, hidden in the void, coldly observed everything.

The arrival of this elite force, instead, pointed him in the right direction.

At this moment, the mineral vein beneath their feet was finally completely refined and absorbed by the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array.

The entire mountain range seemed to have shrunk, its surface covered with a layer of grayish-white slag.

Ying Shaoyang took a deep breath, knowing it was time to further enhance the power of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation.

His figure floated into the air, his feet moving with profound footwork, his mouth chanting incantations, his hands moving rapidly like butterflies flitting among flowers, casting out talismans and spells containing the true meaning of thunder!

"Nine Heavens Mystic Temple, transform into divine thunder! Majestic Heavenly Might, heed my command!"

As he finished his incantation, the once clear sky suddenly darkened, thick dark clouds gathered out of nowhere, lightning danced wildly within the clouds, and thunder roared in a deep and majestic voice!

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

Nine massive bolts of lightning, each exuding an aura of destruction, descended from the sky like nine roaring thunder dragons, striking the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array suspended in the air one after another!
These nine bolts of lightning, though not as powerful as the first heavenly tribulation when Ying Shaoyang was undergoing his tribulation, were still nearly as strong and enough to easily destroy mountains and rivers!
Under the lightning strike, the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation erupted with a blindingly bright white light, and violent tremors and roars came from inside the formation!
Some of the lower-quality, incompletely refined iron ore instantly vaporized and disappeared, leaving only the purest metallic essence and Geng metal energy. Under the forging of thunder, it was forcibly tempered and integrated into every corner of the great formation, completely merging with the previous accumulation!

After the nine bolts of lightning, the dark clouds in the sky dispersed, and light returned. The Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array slowly rotated, its size reduced considerably, but its light became more restrained, and its entire body exhibited a metallic texture containing starlight, before steadily landing in Ying Shaoyang's hands.

Inside the formation, faint, fine lightning could be seen flickering and moving about, but it was firmly bound. Not only did it not damage the formation, but it also added a destructive power like that of heaven.

After being refined by this thunder, the power of the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Formation has increased dramatically! Ying Shaoyang could clearly feel that the defensive power of this formation was now able to withstand the first heavenly tribulation he had faced when he was undergoing his tribulation! Moreover, its efficiency in absorbing and refining the energy of heaven and earth had also increased several times, and its future growth potential was even greater.

After putting away the transformed Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Formation, Ying Shaoyang turned his gaze back to the direction from which the elite goblin force had come.

His divine sense, like an invisible tentacle, extended to its limit in that direction.

Hundreds of miles, thousands of miles... Finally, a magnificent city appeared before his eyes!

This city is more than ten times larger than the previous Stone City! The towering city walls are fifty feet high and are made entirely of huge black rocks. Arrow towers and patrolling goblin soldiers are everywhere on the walls.

Nearly a hundred million life forms surged within the city, resembling a vast and chaotic beehive.

The city is clearly divided into an inner city and an outer city. The outer city is dirty and chaotic, similar to Stone City, and is inhabited by a large number of ordinary goblins.

The inner city, however, was quite different. The walls were higher, the defenses more stringent, and while the architecture remained rugged, it was noticeably more luxurious. Many goblins wore elaborate animal skin garments, and even walked with a deliberately elegant air.

Their weapons and armor were inlaid with gemstones of various colors.

What caught Ying Shaoyang's attention even more was that, apart from the cubs, almost all the goblin residents in the inner city had stable strength at the first level of life! This was an extremely terrifying ratio.

However, beneath this seemingly "civilized" facade lies a much darker reality.

Ying Shaoyang's divine sense captured a scene unfolding in a corner of the inner city.

Several young goblins, dressed in fine clothes and exuding an aura significantly stronger than that of ordinary level one goblins, cornered a goblin who also possessed level one strength but was dressed in ordinary clothes.

Without any further ado, one of the fancy-dressed goblins suddenly attacked, its claws flashing like lightning, instantly piercing the chest of the ordinary goblin. Amidst the goblin's shrill screams, it forcefully pulled out an energy core that was still slightly pulsating and shimmering with an earthy yellow light!

After succeeding, the goblins in fancy clothes let out a smug chuckle, ignoring the victim convulsing and pleading on the ground, and seemingly unconcerned about any possible spying. They took the energy core and leisurely left.

The goblin on the ground, its energy core ripped out, didn't die immediately, but its life force rapidly diminished. Soon, several ordinary goblins passing by, their eyes gleaming with hunger, pounced on it, ignoring its cries of agony, and began to devour it frantically…

Ying Shaoyang instantly understood. "Energy cores... can actually be transplanted! Through this cruel method, they ensure that members of high-ranking and noble families always have the opportunity to gain power, guaranteeing that the strong will always be strong and the family line will never be broken!"

This also explains why the goblins in the inner city have the leisure to pursue a luxurious lifestyle, because they possess this "shortcut" to maintaining their rule and power!
His divine sense swept across the area below the inner city and discovered a huge underground warehouse that was heavily guarded.

Without any hesitation, Ying Shaoyang used the Earth Escape Technique, his figure blending into the ground like a phantom, silently passing through layers of rocks and restrictions, and entering the warehouse.

The sight in the warehouse moved him slightly. The mountains of various ores far surpassed those in the Stone City warehouse in both quantity and quality! Hundreds of thousands of fine weapons and armor gleamed coldly.

Even more surprisingly, at the deepest part of the warehouse, he found dozens of enormous spirit crystals radiating rich spiritual energy, as well as three pieces of iron mother that were even larger than the ones he had obtained before!
"Heaven is truly helping the Qin Dynasty!"

Ying Shaoyang felt delighted.

He moved through the warehouse like a ghost, and wherever he went, all the ores, weapons, armor, spirit crystals, iron mother... were wiped away as if by an invisible hand and all were put into the stone gate space without triggering any alarms.

If these treasures were obtained by the Qin army, they would be enough to arm a well-equipped and powerful elite legion! At the same time, they would also greatly weaken the goblin's potential combat power.

Just as he finished looting and was about to leave, the stone gate in his mind trembled slightly, and a message came through, indicating the coordinates for establishing a stable passage in this area.

Ying Shaoyang stood in the empty underground warehouse, his eyes sharp as knives.

"It's time... to send the Qin Imperial Guards here to 'greet' these goblins and truly test the strength of this future adversary." (End of Chapter)