Daily Intelligence: From Miner to Dao Ancestor of Alchemy and Talismans

Crimson Intelligence: Three months later, the Black Wind Stronghold's raiders, in conjunction with the Blood Fiend Sect's vanguard, will launch a surprise attack on Qingya Market, targeting the Zhao family's outer treasure vault. During this attack, the market's protective array will be breached by an inside agent, resulting in the deaths of 30% of the market's cultivators.

Red intelligence!

Following the intelligence about the massacre of the entire workshop six months later, a second red-level life-or-death warning has appeared!

Xu Yuan tightened his grip on the spirit stone, his knuckles turning white, and even his fingertips trembling slightly.

He originally thought that he had a full six months to prepare, enough time to steadily advance to the late stage of Qi Refining, accumulate enough trump cards, and find a foolproof way out.

But he never expected that before the great calamity, there would be another catastrophe, just three months later!

Black Wind Stronghold and Blood Fiend Sect launched a joint surprise attack.

The protective array was breached by an inside agent, resulting in the tragic deaths of 30% of the cultivators!

The protective array is Qingya Market's only barrier. Once the array is broken, the entire market will become an undefended slaughterhouse. The Black Wind Stronghold's cultivators are ruthless killers, and with the Blood Fiend Sect's demons added to the mix, the lower-level rogue cultivators will definitely be the first to suffer, and only one in ten will survive.

What sank him even further was the word "insider".

The one who could break through the protective array could not possibly be an ordinary rogue cultivator; they must be someone from within the Zhao family, or even a core figure who holds authority over the array.

Even members of the Zhao family have turned against them. This surprise attack was not an accident at all; it was a pre-planned scheme.

Xu Yuan leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and let out a long breath, suppressing the turbulent waves surging in his heart.

Panic won't help.

He never lived by lying.

The original plan must be completely overturned and the pace accelerated in all aspects.

He could no longer afford to take his time and proceed cautiously. Within three months, he had to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining, or at least reach the sixth level of Qi Refining. He needed to triple his stock of talismans and pills, and prepare sufficient trump cards for attack, defense, and escape.

There is still a way out.

He must find a completely secluded hiding place outside the market within three months, so that if the market cannot be defended, he can immediately take the money and stones and escape, instead of being trapped inside the market like a turtle in a jar.

There's also an inside man. He must find out who this inside man, who could break through the protective array, is within three months, so as to avoid the traps set by the enemy in advance.

Xu Yuan stood up, walked to the desk, picked up a pen, and wrote down the new plan on the paper, each word powerful and clear, without the slightest hesitation.

The sky outside the window gradually brightened.

The first rays of morning light streamed through the window paper, falling on the planning papers on the table and the thick stack of talismans beside them.

Xu Yuan had just put down his pen and hadn't even had time to put the paper away when a deafening banging came from outside the courtyard gate. Qian Shi's voice was filled with sobs and extreme panic, which could be heard even through the door.

"Brother Xu! Brother Xu! Something terrible has happened!"

Xu Yuan frowned, quickly walked over and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Qian Shi stumbled in, his face deathly pale and his whole body trembling. He grabbed Xu Yuan's arm, his voice cracking:

"Brother Xu! The mine tunnel! The Xiling mine tunnel has collapsed! Sun Hu, Zhao Dazhuang, and the others... they're all gone!!"

Qian Shi's voice trembled uncontrollably, and his hand gripping Xu Yuan's arm was icy cold and covered in cold sweat.

His trousers were covered in dried yellow mud, his shoes were stuck with pebbles from the mine roadway, his hair was disheveled, and his eyes were red-rimmed; he had clearly just rushed back from the Xiling mine roadway.

Xu Yuan helped him up, let him into the courtyard, and then closed the door behind him.

"Don't rush, tell me slowly."

"What else is there to say! It's all gone!" Qian Shi plopped down on a stone bench, clutching his head in his hands, his voice trembling with tears. "Last night, a large area collapsed deep inside the Xiling Mine, burying the entire No. 3 Mine! Dozens of untrained miners were inside, and not a single one of them came out!"

He looked up at Xu Yuan, his eyes filled with lingering fear and shock: "The Zhao family sent their guards to dig before dawn. They dug until just now, and all they dug out were corpses, crushed beyond recognition! Sun Hu and Zhao Dazhuang were in there too. I saw it with my own eyes; they even dug out their waist tokens..."

At this point, Qian Shi's voice choked up, and tears finally streamed down his face.

He had known Sun Hu and Zhao Dazhuang for almost ten years. They had crawled out of piles of corpses together, shared a single pill of fasting, and hid from monsters in the deep mountains together. Even though they wouldn't listen to his advice and cursed him and Xu Yuan, seeing their corpses still felt like a knife stabbing his heart.

What chilled him to the bone was the lingering fear.

If Xu Yuan hadn't warned him beforehand, and if he hadn't listened to Xu Yuan, then buried in the mine tunnel now wouldn't just be Sun Hu and Zhao Dazhuang, but also him, Qian Shi.

It was Xu Yuan who saved his life again.

Xu Yuan didn't say anything, but poured him a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of him.

He already knew about the mine collapse. The intelligence report clearly stated that there was no chance of survival, and no one would come out alive.

But when he actually heard the news, he still felt a strange mix of emotions.

Two lives were lost just like that. All because of their greed for those eight spirit stones, all because they refused to heed a word of advice, they are now forever buried in the cold mine tunnels.

This is the world of cultivation. The fate of a lowly, unaffiliated cultivator is lower than that of a blade of grass. One wrong step, and it's all over.

"Brother Xu, you knew all along, didn't you?" Qian Shi wiped his face, looked up at Xu Yuan, his eyes filled with no doubt, only certainty. "Three days ago, you knew the mine tunnel would collapse, so you asked me to persuade them not to go, didn't you?"

Xu Yuan looked at him, remained silent for a moment, nodded, and didn't explain further.

"Why?" Qian Shi looked at him, his voice hoarse. "How did you know the mine tunnel would collapse?"

Xu Yuan picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and said in a calm tone, "I've been in the market for ten years. The Xiling Mine collapses several times a year. The internal structure has long been hollowed out. And with the recent days of rain, it would be strange if nothing happened."

He made up an excuse and didn't mention the system.

It's not that I don't trust Qian Shi, it's just that this matter is too important, and the fewer people who know about it, the better. If too many people know, it will only bring death upon both of them.

After listening, Qian Shi had no doubts whatsoever. Instead, he nodded heavily, a look of sudden realization on his face.

Indeed, Xu Yuan has been in the market for ten years; what hasn't he seen? It's perfectly normal for him to see that the mine tunnel is about to collapse.

Only he, along with Sun Hu and the others, were blinded by the spirit stones and couldn't even see such obvious risks.

Qian Shi took a deep breath, stood up abruptly, and knelt straight down in front of Xu Yuan with a "thump".

"Brother Xu!" His voice was firm and resolute, filled with unprecedented determination. "You saved my life twice! Once from the Canghu trap, and once from the mine collapse! Without you, I would have died eight hundred times over!"