Page 2: Fire stones

The night is deep but the activity that is happening in the valley contradicts the supposed solemn and dark disposition of a normal nighttime. On that mountain range where a certain civilization is thriving, the world doesn't seem empty anymore however with the new development, it is saying that these native people of this world are not that warm people. Judging by their appearance, one single look will suggest that these are angels however their actions today don't agree with their looks.

Long Bai who was observing from a distance noticed that these people were still speaking the universal language of cultivators however their demeanors are just too rough. Counting the raid participants, there are at least 20 members who were taken and chained like slaves. With the help of the system, he was able to understand how these strong looking members of the union island were looking helpless at the moment.

[Essence Suppressing Lock

*A lock attached to the neck or arms of an individual to prevent the person to absorb essence from the environment. It is imbued with multiple grade 5 essence blocking inscriptions, strength enhancing inscriptions and self- destruct inscriptions.]

According to the description, even if one has enough strength and essence to forcefully break the lock, this action would definitely activate the self destruct mechanism which would lead the the death of the person. Since forcing it won't work, only someone with the knowledge of a grade 5 array master would be able to deactivate the locks.

For Long Bai, this kind of problem is something he can solve as long as he can scan the lock physically. There's just one problem he is facing. The guards who are wearing brown robes are at the early layer of soul tempering stage which is same as him while the blue robed ones who are acting like a squad leader are at the essence gathering layer. From the scan he took, the natives are aged more than 50 years in average even though they look like they are at the mid twenties. This must be one of the unique characteristics of this world that elder Kong was talking about. They must be cultivating a technique that preserves their youthful looks.

Long Bai has thought of getting closer even more but considering the number of natives around, a small mistake may escalate into something that he won't be able to deal with. In the first place, he doesn't even know yet the capabilities of the natives. If only he can watch a scene where these natives could display their skills and fighting capabilities. Instead of wasting his time on the same place for seeing the same thing, he thought of trying something in another place, he decided to check the other places that have lesser guards. He should at least maximize the time he had before returning to the rest.

Not far from the busy valley at least 500 meters away, Long Bai noticed a towering mountain with a huge opening. At the entrance, he saw people carrying boxes of rocks out of the cave and at the same time, he noticed that these people were wearing the same collars as the ones worn by the captured union island members. He immediately speculated that the natives at this place capture rogue cultivators, enslave them and use them as man power. The question now is what could they be trying to unearth from this huge mountain. For him to know the answer, he waited in the dark and watched the people that come and goes out of the cave. A few minutes later, a brown robed man carrying a wooden box that contains something glowing came out from the mine and headed straight to the tent near the place. While looking carefully, the system gave him a notification. Good thing his eye sight was good that the system was able to recognize the object from afar.

[Fire (essence) crystal

*Fire stones or crystals contains pure flame essence. They come in varying colors red, yellow and purple which are different types of flame essence sources. It can be used as a pill flame for alchemy.]

'Oh my..oh my. These crystals are real fortune for me. I wonder how much I'll improve if I would be able to absorb those?'

Curious as to how these natives will use of such resource, he stealthily moved closer until he reached the back of the tent. Learning how they use it could prove important after all. Although the system says it may be used for alchemy, these natives might be using it for other reasons. Near the tent, good thing there are rock formations behind it that allowed him to have a good position to hear conversations from the inside. Being in a at most three meter distance from the tent, the conversations can be heard fairly enough.

"Private Ryan reporting to sir Corporal Mountain. After today's work, we were able to meet the quota of 2 kilograms fire crystals per week but the workers time were extended for at least two hours these days. It seems that the mine's resource is depleting significantly."

"Ahh, this is expected since we have been mining this place for more than ten years. The upper and lower veins are already heavily plundered. By the next two days, we will be leaving this post. The operation for the next mine adjacent to this place was reported to be just as abundant when we started here. By the way, I heard that Master sergeant caught some new workers. If you want, I can file a request to reinstate you as the new chief of this place and have those new captives work here. What do you think? Although this mine is almost depleted, it is still workable."

"It would be an honor to receive the favor of sir Corporal Mountain. Private Ryan will do his best not to disappoint."

"Hm. Since you've worked hard, I'll do my part in our bargain. You can have two days of break to visit your wife back at Cinnabar City. After that, report directly at our HQ to get your new assignment. Do you copy?"

"I have received Corporal Mountain's orders. I follow and serve!"

Long Bai was a bit disappointed as he was not able to gather more info as the conversation ended there but learning about a nearby city was reassuring. After making more observation of the terrain for future references, he returned to the base bringing the information he got from his spy mission. Long Bai silently joined the group without being detected and with the remaining time, he used it to continue his cultivation with his consciousness inside his pocket world.

When morning came, Long Bai informed everyone about what he saw last night. At first, the group were pushing to rescue the union island members but after saying that the guards and personnels that were locking them were soul tempering stage cultivators, they immediately became speechless. The valiant and brave bunch of team a moment ago became silent and fearful before the strong.

For a whole three minutes, the team became silent. Each one of the members were trying to assess their martial heart on the course of action they want to take. Not long after, elder Chang disrupted the silence and strongly suggested that everyone should find for a better place first.

"There's no need to think about it! Remember that you came here knowing the dangers it may pose. If you pity them and try to be reckless, you might just end up just like them. Among the participants from the boulder mountain school, most of their participants are already at the late levels of the bone tempering layer and yet they were captured. Do you think you'll make it with your current strength?"

The elder spoke with heavy words to emphasize that they are still currently weak. This made them realize that they need to find something that would be able to help them increase their cultivation. But first, they needed information. They needed to know how things work in this place as to prevent unaccounted problems in the future.

"It is decided then. Let us first look for that city, settle and discuss your personal plans in there."

Everyone followed the elder's advice and went to the direction Long Bai had pointed out. During the travel, they always maintain a speed that won't dry out their inner essence completely. In addition, they travelled using the hard way by staying out of the main roads they can see. After a tiring walk and run, they were able to see the city that was beaming with redness, the city of fire Cinnabar City.

The city was very much open unlike the cities they were used to. There was no guard or any militia posted at the entrance. There was no fixed entrance in the first place so everyone just waltzed towards it. The place or city was built on a huge mountainside and the buildings looked like they were stacked to one another because of how they were built while the color of the place does not disappoints its name. The deep vivid red color just not pull your eyes from looking at it.

On the outer area of the city, just like any other cities they've known, signs of poverty can be evident. Children loitering the streets with ragged clothing, lack of business activity and houses are not maintained. Long Bai was contemplating and concluded that the classic scenery of poverty seemed universal no matter what planet he was in.

After walking for another 10 minutes towards the heart of the city, the scenery did really changed. The initial scene had significantly changed into something that's thrice improved. On sides of the street, stalls that sells food lined up forever.

"Sister Yue, let's go and buy some food. That looks delicious!" Ah Mu fascinatingly said as he pulled Yue.

"Wait! Brother Ah Mu, wait!" Long Bai hurriedly called. "What are you doing?"

"Brother Bai, we should eat something now that we are here. How can we pass up this opportunity?" Ah Mu questioned.

"And how do you plan to pay?"

"Of course, I have my shards here...Oh!" Ah Mu stopped talking after he saw someone buy from a stall and pay with some pieces of rounded metal coins. "What are those?"

"It's called coin currency. Didn't we learn that the mainland uses this kind of currency instead of shards? Only our union islands uses shards as currency because we can't do trades with the neighboring lands." Ling Tian explained.

"Ohh, so that's that. So what should we do now?"

Everyone looked at the elder but his expression tells them that he did not expect such thing just the same. Since they are moving in a group, they are just standing out from the crowd so one of them was thinking that they should make haste and find a place.

Everyone except one young man was stumped about their current predicament.

Long Bai approached one vendor on the sides and tried to inquire as to where they could sell stuffs. About a few minutes later, Long Bai was calling the group to follow him. When they stopped walking, they found themselves in front of a large building with a sign "trade" on its front. From the info he got from the vendor, this large place is the only place where they can sell goods for coins.

"So that we won't attract attention, please wait for me here." Long Bai was asking them to wait for him outside while he'll enter the trade center to exchange some goods for coins.

Upon his entry to the building, he was greeted by a female receptionist. Her bearing was great and yet, unlike the average population, this lady was only at the body refining stage, specifically the bone tempering layer. When he tried to check all the workers and customers inside, he was surprised by the outcome. With all the present ones in there, there was no girl who had a cultivation beyond the body tempering stage. Among the ladies, the highest cultvation was at the middle levels of the bone tempering layer.

Long Bai has not fully embraced his speculations since the case was only inside the building. He hasn't checked the general public yet so he can't conclude anything yet. For the mean time, he kept what he saw at the back of his mind and followed the receptionist who is leading him to an exchange counter.

"Yes good morning young lad. How may I help you?" The lady who was manning the counter asked with brows lifted. She might have thought that a young man might just came to exchange some things with little value.

"Good day pretty sister. I would like to exchange this shard with coins." Long Bai handed a hundred red shard on the counter.

"Oh my, of course. You're incredibly loaded. You must have found a good hu ting ground?"

"Ah..yes. I was lucky to find good spot. By the way pretty sister, can you suggest a good place where I can have a nice sleep? I stayed outside for a long time and it's unfair if I won't treat myself a good place." Long Bai lied as he was trying to sound not suspicious.

After the exchange, he was able to get the name of the place where the group can stay. Although it costed them a copper coin for the night, the place was at most decent for sleeping. Discussions came that night and each were giving their own insights. Since they came here to try their luck, everyone agreed to go on their own and meet in this place periodically. Since this is also a test, they need to show some results when they'll return back to the sect.

Everyone went to their respective rooms and made their individual plans. Most of them have thought of learning about the place first by roaming the city and collect information. Long Bai on the other hand had thought that the fire stones he encountered at the mine were just too enticing for him to back down. He knows that the place was teeming with strong guards who can overpower him once caught but as they say, "no high risk for high reward".

Tomorrow, he planned to return to that mine and have a taste of that fire stone.