So what if I have a few billion concubines while I'm cultivating immortality?

The fiery dragon roared, and wherever it passed, the heat was scorching, and the air itself seemed to distort.

The spider's eight blood-red compound eyes were filled with endless fear.

It sensed the approach of death, and its survival instincts drove it to let out a piercing shriek. Its eight long legs pawed frantically, and its massive body, with an agility beyond its size, turned and charged back towards the dark passage it had come from.

Qin Xiao's eyes narrowed, and he clenched his fist in the air.

The fiery dragon suddenly accelerated by skillfully whipping its tail in mid-air!

They arrived first despite starting later, and caught up with the spider as soon as they turned around.

"Hiss!"

The spider let out a miserable scream.

The fiery dragon opened its massive jaws and swallowed the spider's hindquarters whole.

The crimson flames, like maggots clinging to a bone, spread wildly along the spider's body.

The carapace, as hard as iron, melted rapidly like a candle under this terrifying heat.

The spider rolled and struggled frantically on the ground, but could not extinguish the flames on its body in the slightest.

In just a few breaths, the struggling became less and less intense.

In the end, its massive body was completely reduced to a pile of charred ashes.

The air was filled with a pungent, burnt smell.

The flames gradually died down.

The temperature inside the cave did not drop for a long time.

Yu Fengling stood not far away, her peach blossom eyes wide open, completely dumbfounded.

From the moment Qin Xiao made his move until the demonic spider turned to ashes, the entire process took only a dozen or so breaths.

That powerful monster that terrified her and nearly corroded her light shield was gone just like that.

Not even a crumb was left!

She looked at the pile of charred ashes on the ground, then at the calm-looking man whose heart was churning with turbulent emotions.

Is this... my husband's true strength?

Having previously slain the giant python, she felt that she wasn't so far removed from Qin Xiao after all.

But now she understands that the distance is as vast as heaven and earth.

"Don't just stand there."

Qin Xiao's voice pulled Yu Fengling back from her shock.

He walked up to the pile of ashes, flicked his finger, and a gust of wind swept through, scattering the ashes.

A fist-sized, jet-black crystal, exuding a faint demonic aura, lay quietly in place.

"This is a demon core, the essence of a demon beast's power. It can be used to refine weapons or pills."

Qin Xiao took it into his hand and casually put it away.

Yu Fengling said "Oh" and quickly ran over, but her gaze was drawn to the scene on the other side.

Several areas of the mineral veins embedded in the rock wall were scorched red-hot and appeared to be semi-molten after being baked by the fire dragon.

Drops of shimmering liquid are slowly dripping from the mineral vein.

Below, it condensed into shiny lumps of varying sizes and irregular shapes.

These spirit stones have smooth surfaces and shimmer with a lively luster, making them quite beautiful.

"What is this?"

Yu Fengling asked curiously.

"It was a pleasant surprise."

Qin Xiao walked over and picked up the condensed spirit stones one by one. "These are the essence of the mineral vein after it has been smelted at high temperatures. The quality is much higher than that of the raw ore that is mined directly, saving a lot of refining work. You can call them spirit stones. Generally speaking, they are the currency in the cultivation world, but in our place, they probably can't be used as money."

As he spoke, he weighed the spirit stone in his hand, a satisfied look on his face.

Although it cannot be used immediately, it can be useful for driving certain magical artifacts or for crafting weapons.

Yu Fengling looked at Qin Xiao, her eyes almost overflowing with admiration, and couldn't help but ask, "Husband, what kind of magic was that fire dragon you just used? It was so powerful!"

"I told you, that's not magic."

Qin Xiao shook his head and explained, "It's just releasing spiritual energy to forcibly shape it into a dragon. It looks impressive, but it actually consumes a lot of spiritual energy, is poorly controlled, and is very inefficient."

He looked at Yu Fengling, his expression becoming more serious: "True magic uses specific methods to achieve the strongest effect with the least amount of spiritual power. Although my cultivation is decent, I lack high-level magic, so many times I can only use this most rudimentary method."

Yu Fengling only partially understood, but she grasped the key point: "How does one perform such a spell?"

"I don't know. If there's no tradition here, then we'll have to create our own, but the process of creating our own is incredibly difficult."

Qin Xiao sighed.

After that, all we can do is rely on the system.

"That husband..."

Yu Fengling wanted to say something more.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get to work."

Qin Xiao interrupted, walked to the mine, took a deep breath, and formed a sword shape with his fingers.

Crimson-gold spiritual energy gathered at his fingertips, transforming into a sharp blade of light several feet long.

Use the most direct method: cut through the rock wall with spiritual energy light blades.

"Hiss hiss hiss!"

Hard rocks are easily sliced ​​open like tofu under the light blade.

Large chunks of rock peeled away, revealing a complete mineral vein that gleamed with a spiritual light.

Qin Xiao's wrist flicked, and the light blade flashed.

The veins of minerals were peeled out of the rock face.

This mining method is simple, brutal, and extremely fast.

However, it also consumes a huge amount of spiritual energy.

Before long, Qin Xiao's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and his face turned slightly pale.

"Phoenix Feather, catch."

He tossed a freshly peeled vein of ore, about the size of a millstone, to Yu Fengling.

Yu Fengling caught it in a fluster; it was extremely heavy and she almost couldn't hold it properly.

"Break it."

Qin Xiao instructed, "Use martial arts techniques only, don't waste your true energy."

"Oh, yes, my husband!"

Yu Fengling nodded quickly and began to focus on collecting the ore that Qin Xiao had mined and breaking it up.

One was responsible for mining, and the other was responsible for processing.

The two worked together seamlessly and were extremely efficient.

About half an hour later, Qin Xiao stopped, leaned against the rock wall, and breathed heavily.

The continuous high-intensity output of spiritual energy caused him, even with his Core Formation stage cultivation, to feel waves of emptiness and fatigue.

Seeing this, Yu Fengling stopped what she was doing and looked at Qin Xiao with some concern: "Husband, are you alright? Why don't we... take a break?"

Qin Xiao waved his hand, preparing to take out a pill and swallow it.

Yu Fengling suddenly remembered something and hurriedly rummaged through her small pouch for a while before pulling out a small piece of dried meat wrapped in oil paper. She handed it to Qin Xiao somewhat embarrassedly, saying, "Husband, here, have this. This is venison jerky that the imperial kitchen made before I left the palace. It's delicious."

She tilted her head up, her peach-blossom eyes filled with a mixture of anticipation and shyness.

Qin Xiao was slightly taken aback when he saw the jerky being offered to his mouth.

He hadn't eaten ordinary food in a long time.

But seeing Yu Fengling's bright eyes, he inexplicably didn't refuse and opened his mouth to eat the piece of jerky.

The dried meat is very chewy and has a rich, fragrant flavor.

Although it's not very useful for replenishing spiritual energy.

But that warm sentiment stirred something within him.

"It tastes good."

Qin Xiao rarely praised him like that.

Yu Fengling immediately beamed with joy, as if she had received a tremendous reward.

After mining for a while, Qin Xiao had almost completely emptied the main vein.

Qin Xiao put the spirit ore and some spirit stones that Yu Fengling had processed into his system space. "Alright, this matter is settled, let's go back."