To comprehend all laws and attain immortality

Yang Mengyun returned to Huanglong Mountain the day after she left.

After that, he never left again, and found a stone chamber that was a little close to Gu Fan, where he settled down.

She wasn't idle, though. Besides cultivating, she was also responsible for taking inventory of the ores produced in Huanglong Mountain.

Yang Mengyun was highly respected among the Yang family members. Coupled with her delicate and lively appearance, many Yang family disciples came to curry favor with her, surrounding her with smiles and laughter.

Seven days later, this was the scene that Gu Fan saw when he emerged from seclusion.

Although Yang Mengyun was chatting and laughing with the Yang family disciples, she still noticed the barrier being lifted the moment it was removed.

He immediately greeted Gu Fan with a cupped-hand salute: "Greetings, Senior."

The other Yang family disciples, who already knew Gu Fan's background from Yang Mengyun, did not dare to be negligent and came forward to pay their respects.

After Gu Fan nodded in acknowledgment, everyone dispersed like birds and beasts, except for Yang Mengyun who remained.

"Does Senior have any instructions?" Yang Mengyun asked.

Gu Fan shook his head: "It's nothing. Show me around Huanglong Mountain. After all, I promised to guard this place, so I should have some understanding of it."

Yang Mengyun nodded and led the way.

Huanglong Mountain is not tall; it seems to be just a small mound on the wasteland, only a few miles in circumference. It is empty and quiet all around, and you can see everything in sight.

This greatly reduced the difficulty for the Yang family disciples guarding Huanglong Mountain.

If an enemy cultivator approaches, unless one has a means to conceal their presence, they will inevitably be exposed.

Gu Fan circled Huanglong Mountain once, then pointed to a mine shaft and suggested, "May I go down and take a look?"

Yang Mengyun hesitated for a moment, then remembered her family's instructions that Gu Fan wanted to use the mineral vein to extract gas.

"Of course, please follow me, senior."

After saying that, Yang Mengyun led Gu Fan to a nearby mine tunnel and spiraled downwards.

Several miles underground, the clanging sound came clearly.

Looking around, Gu Fan saw that the bottom of the mine was only about three zhang (approximately 10 meters) deep, with a ball of fire hanging in the center for illumination.

The rock face was mostly dark brown rock, and two of Yang's disciples were swinging pickaxes to chisel at the surface.

The pickaxe was clearly a magical artifact, its tip gleaming with spiritual light.

When the two disciples saw Gu Fan appear, they were about to step forward to pay their respects, but Gu Fan stopped them.

"I just came down to take a look. You guys continue," Gu Fan said softly.

The two disciples looked at each other in bewilderment, and had no choice but to turn around and continue mining.

The dark brown rocks are extremely hard; even a strong man would find it difficult to move them.

But with the help of the pickaxe, the rock was quickly chiseled open.

A moment later, a dark golden light stood out conspicuously against the firelight.

Upon seeing the radiance, the disciple immediately began digging around and soon unearthed a fist-sized stone, which was the Yellow Dragon Stone.

Seeing this, Gu Fan nodded to himself.

Since entering the mine, he had sensed that the earth elemental energy was becoming increasingly concentrated, especially after the Yellow Dragon Stone was unearthed.

Based on this, it can be inferred that if one were to condense the Primordial Qi here, the speed would be several times faster than at the Lingxiao Sect.

It's not that the concentration of spiritual energy here is several times higher than that of the Lingxiao Sect, but rather that the earth element spiritual energy contained in the Yellow Dragon Stone is exceptionally pure.

"Senior, are you here to gather Qi?" Yang Mengyun asked.

Gu Fan slowly shook his head and asked, "Are there any abandoned mine shafts?"

Refining essence should not be done in front of others, and it would be rather inhumane to kick people out for doing so.

More importantly, condensing essence would inevitably require absorbing the spiritual energy from the nearby Yellow Dragon Stone, at which point the mine's output would change significantly, and he didn't want to attract attention.

Yang Mengyun pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "There is one place."

"Take me to see it," Gu Fan said.

Afterwards, the two left the mine and came to a small mine, only about ten feet square, in the southwest corner of Huanglong Mountain.

"This is it, senior." Yang Mengyun pointed to the mine and said, "Although the Yellow Dragon Ascension ends in Shilin City, the route twists and turns in the middle, and the mine will need to be adjusted."

"This was once an exploratory mine, but it was abandoned because it was located on the edge of a vein and the yield of Huanglong stone was low."

Upon hearing this, Gu Fan entered the mine shaft, his fingertips trailing a streak of flame as he descended.

"Okay, this is fine." Gu Fan nodded.

Although the earth elemental energy was slightly less potent than in the previous mine, it was still very rich and undisturbed.

As for the fact that it was located on the edge of a mineral vein, Gu Fan didn't care.

It's just a matter of using more effort when condensing one's vital energy.

Seeing that Gu Fan was satisfied, Yang Mengyun was immediately relieved. After consulting with Gu Fan, she took her leave.

A moment later, Gu Fan sat down cross-legged.

The next instant, his divine sense pierced through the stone wall and probed into its interior.

Gu Fan formed a hand seal, using the "Great Luo Inner Landscape Heaven-Reaching Profound Chapter" to project a spirit-gathering array. Instantly, dense earth-elemental spiritual energy surged towards Gu Fan, condensing into wisps of golden-brown smoke that swirled around him.

Gu Fan lowered his eyes slightly, his divine sense guiding the golden-brown haze through his fingertips, compressing and slowly condensing it into a dark golden point of light.

After a long while, a spot of light took shape.

Gu Fan took out the jade bottle and put it inside.

"Tsk, even so, it would probably take at least ten years to gather all the Primordial Chaos Qi."

With this thought in mind, Gu Fan shook his head, clearing his mind of distractions.

Finding such a spiritual place suitable for gathering energy is already extremely fortunate; to think more would be greed.

In the evening, Gu Fan finished his Qi gathering.

Looking down, I saw a few more points of light appear in the jade bottle.

Standing up, Gu Fan walked to the stone wall and casually condensed a long sword with spiritual fire, then swung it to cut across the stone wall.

After peeling away a layer of rock, a piece of yellow dragon stone with a dull luster was revealed.

Gu Fan reached out and touched it, and it turned into a clump of sand.

"It seems that with the condensation of the primordial energy, the production of Huanglong Stone will inevitably decrease."

Thinking this, Gu Fan dug a few more times until he saw the Yellow Dragon Stone brimming with spiritual energy before stopping.

Gu Fan dispelled the spiritual fire from his longsword, stroked his chin, and estimated, "If the condensation of essence is completed, the Yang family's production of Yellow Dragon Stones will probably decrease by 30% in recent years."

Of course, this 30% only refers to the portion closest to the underground area of ​​Huanglong Mountain.

The Huanglong Stone vein extends all the way to Shilin City. As long as the Yang family disciples continue to mine, the production can be restored.

However, a 30% reduction in production means that the Yang family cultivators will have 30% less resources for cultivation, which is a significant impact.

With production declining, the Yang family will inevitably investigate the cause, and they will certainly find him.

"I'm afraid that if we continue refining for a few more months, the drop in production will become apparent. I wonder how the Yang family will handle this matter."

"Well, let's just take it one step at a time."

Gu Fan sighed inwardly.

If he were truly a heretic, he wouldn't feel guilty about taking things by trickery and force. However, he has always considered himself a righteous person, and as long as the Yang family doesn't make things worse, he doesn't want to damage this relationship.

"At worst, we can find an opportunity to offer some compensation."

......

As the sun rises and sets, it seems as if there are no seasons on the Gobi Desert, and half a year passes in the blink of an eye.

Inside the stone chamber in the mountain, Yang Mengyun stood in front of Yang Yi, her brows slightly furrowed, and said, "Fourth Uncle, the production of Huanglong Stone is still declining this month."

Yang Yi's expression was uncertain. He tapped his fingers on the table a few times, looked down the mountain, and asked, "Have you found out the reason? Is it related to that person...?"

"It's probably true." Yang Mengyun nodded.

"This is going to be difficult," Yang Yi sighed.

Yang Mengyun pursed her lips and said, "Fourth Uncle, there's no need to make things difficult for me. I reported this matter three months ago, and the clan instructed... to let Senior Meng absorb the Qi."

Yang Yi raised an eyebrow: "The old man has really placed a heavy bet."

After saying that, Yang Yi grinned and narrowed his eyes into slits: "Little Mengyun, you'd better work harder. If you can keep that person here completely, you'll have done a great service."

"However," Yang Yi continued, "someone is going to be sad."

"Fourth Uncle, Yang Yin and I are not..." Yang Mengyun blushed and quickly explained.

"I didn't say who it was!" Yang Yi interrupted.

Yang Mengyun was immediately speechless, and sighed, "Fourth Uncle, I have no personal relationship with Yang Yin. You also know his background. Although he hides it very well, I can still sense it. All he wants is my status as a direct descendant."

Upon hearing this, Yang Yi's smile slowly faded, and he nodded: "It's good that you understand."

The stone chamber fell silent for a moment.

A moment later, Yang Mengyun took her leave.

Yang Yi picked up his teacup, blew on it, and gazed wistfully down the mountain. He sighed, "After all, he's a pseudonym, so it's normal for him to have more thoughts on his mind."

"I wonder who this senior is."

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