Immortality and cultivation begin with alchemy and accounting.

Bai Qingshan stroked his beard and said, "Tell me everything Jingming told you."

After arriving at the outer sea, he and Bai Jingming were busy with their own things and hadn't seen each other yet, only exchanging a few messages via paper cranes.

However, the information carried by the paper cranes was limited, and Bai Jingming did not mention the black-skinned ox beast.

Bai Xuanjing then repeated Bai Jingming's words in detail.

What is Jingming's opinion on this matter?

Bai Qingshan, his breathing steady, inquired.

Judging from Bai Qingshan's expression, he didn't seem to be too worried about the migration of the black-skinned oxen.

Bai Xuanjing immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"My second uncle thinks it's very likely that the Black-skinned Bull Beast's habitat was taken over by other monsters, which led to their large-scale migration."

"But the possibility of the monks driving them away cannot be ruled out."

Bai Qingshan chuckled and shook his head. "Jingming's got it all mixed up. In my opinion, it's more likely that cultivators were driving them away; it's less likely that it was demonic beasts fighting over territory!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Xuanjing was somewhat surprised. "Grandpa Qingshan, what makes you say that?"

Bai Qingshan said, "Although the Black-skinned Bull Beast is not weak, it is not a violent demon beast. If there are other herbivorous demon beasts, they can live peacefully together on an island. There is no need to risk the extinction of the entire clan by migrating."

"If it were a carnivorous monster, it would never allow such a fine carnivore as the Black-skinned Bull Beast to migrate; it would likely chase after and intercept it."

"Therefore, I think the most likely scenario is that the monks occupied their island."

Bai Xuanjing thought Bai Qingshan's words made sense, but still had doubts, "Black-skinned bull beasts are also valuable to cultivators, so why drive them away instead of hunting them?"

Bai Qingshan stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes, "This means that the cultivator who occupied the Black-skinned Bull Beast Island is not strong and does not have the ability to wipe out the Black-skinned Bull Beast clan."

"But the presence of the black-skinned bull beasts on the island would hinder their work, so they used methods to drive them away instead of hunting them."

"The sea area spanning nearly ten thousand miles around Autumn Maple Island has only been under the control of the Flowing Cloud Sect for a few decades, and many islands have not yet been fully explored."

"Some of them, like Autumn Maple Island, may seem ordinary, but in fact they have given rise to some kind of opportunity."

As he spoke, he shook his head. "Every family has its own opportunities. Although we are curious about what these cultivators who drove away the black-skinned bull beasts are plotting, they do not pose a threat to our Bai family."

We don't know the origin of the black-skinned bull, nor do we have the extra energy to explore each island in the open sea...

"However, this matter can be reported to the family."

At this point, Bai Qingshan chuckled again, with a hint of amusement, "Although the matter reported is insignificant, it will still earn me a few jars of spirit wine as a reward."

"I will gladly accept this reward."

"Jingming isn't very good at recognizing demons, so he missed out on these spirit wines. But it doesn't matter; when I get the spirit wine, I'll treat him to a few meals!"

From his conversation, it seemed that he and Bai Jingming had a pretty good relationship.

Bai Xuanjing's mind was racing.

After Bai Qingshan's guidance, he gained a clearer understanding of the origins of the black-skinned bull beast.

Sure enough, experience is the best teacher.

……

Since the Fire Dragon Sable was brought by Bai Qingshan, the presence of wildfire worms in the underground magma has been decreasing day by day.

On this day, Bai Xuanjing and Bai Qingshan stood on the shore.

Gazing at the molten lava beneath the ground, Bai Qingshan's eyes gleamed with a blue light.

He is using magic.

Although Bai Xuanjing had never practiced it, she knew that the technique was called Qingmu Tong, a method for detecting demonic energy.

The Bai family mainly consists of cultivators from their fifth branch who practice this technique.

After a while, the blue luster in Bai Qingshan's eyes dissipated.

He smiled and said, "It looks like we can finish clearing out the fireflies today."

"I didn't know you very well before, but after drinking and chatting with you these past few days, I realize that you are a pretty good junior."

Bai Qingshan said with a smile.

I don't know if he was being sincere or just saying it to save face.

But Bai Xuanjing genuinely felt that Bai Qingshan was indeed an easygoing elder, completely unlike some of the old-fashioned and rigid elders in the family.

No wonder he and Bai Jingming became close friends despite their age difference.

"There's still some flesh and blood left from the Black-skinned Bull Beast. Grandpa Qingshan, why don't you stay a few more days?" Sensing the implied intention to leave in Bai Qingshan's words, Bai Xuanjing politely tried to persuade him to stay.

Bai Qingshan shook his head. "The Bai family disciples I brought are all in Jing'an Fangshi. After a few days, they're probably tired of staying here."

"I won't delay any longer. After clearing out the fireflies, I'll hurry and take them back to the clan to report."

During the conversation, the Fire Dragon Sable poked its head out from the molten lava.

"Um?"

Bai Qingshan narrowed his eyes and exclaimed in surprise.

The Fire Dragon Sable, with a stone in its mouth, ran up to Bai Qingshan.

The stone was about the size of a palm and very irregular in shape. The molten lava inside was reddish-brown, which Bai Xuanjing thought was because it was being heated by the lava.

But after a while, the crimson color did not fade at all, and he then realized that crimson was the natural color of the stone.

"Spirit ore?"

Bai Xuanjing looked surprised, sensing the faint spiritual energy emanating from the ore, and was astonished.

Bai Qingshan's expression immediately turned serious.

Even a family of Bai's size would not overlook the value of any spiritual mineral vein.

A spiritual vein can not only bring a family a huge fortune, but also give many of its own cultivators something to do, allowing them to legitimately receive an extra mission salary.

This stipend will ultimately be converted into the cultivation level of the family's cultivators, thus enhancing the family's strength.

It benefits the family and its cultivators!

Bai Qingshan took the ore from the mouth of the Fire Dragon Sable and examined it carefully.

But soon, a look of disappointment appeared in Bai Qingshan's eyes.

"I'm getting old, and my eyesight might not be good, but if I'm not mistaken, this is a flint ore mine, right?"

As they spoke, Bai Qingshan handed the ore to Bai Xuanjing.

Bai Xuanjing took the ore and examined it.

"It's flint ore."

Red flint is a low-grade spiritual ore. The red flint essence extracted from the ore can be used as an auxiliary material for fire-attribute magical artifacts.

It does have some value.

However, red flint generally does not form large veins; it exists in fragmented forms.

According to the Bai family's records, most of the red firestone mines they encountered, even a so-called "vein," were only worth a few hundred low-grade spirit stones.

According to the Bai family records, the highest quantity of ore mined was only worth a little over four hundred low-grade spirit stones after mining.

A vein of minerals containing dozens or hundreds of low-grade spirit stones is of little value.

There's no need to go to great lengths to mine it.

The Bai family has a rule for cultivators who are sent out of their enclaves: they can take any minerals or spiritual herbs produced in their territory that are worth less than 300 low-grade spirit stones.

Only numbers exceeding this threshold need to be reported to the family.

In reality, if the amount is higher than that, it would not be easy for one person to take it all by themselves.

Although he didn't have high hopes, Bai Qingshan still planned to investigate carefully.