Zhou Chun's eyes narrowed with determination, instantly deciding to seize the opportunity for a big score.
The Zhao Family of Cangzhou was well-known amongst the mining oligarchs, wealthy to the point of overflowing.
There was absolutely no need to worry about their ability to pay up.
Today, Zhou Chun was going to feast on a rich landlord, and have a fat year himself!
With a thought, he instructed Baibai to drag out the unconscious Mutant Gold-Eating Rat King, then coiled it up into an array to trap it, preventing any possibility of escape should it suddenly awaken.
Then, he had Baibai remain in place, turning into a lightning cannon battery, continuously unleashing lightning bolts to decimate the Gold-Eating Rats.
Zhou Chun even released the Rock Earth Turtle to join the battle.
Master and two servants indiscriminately cut down the lives of the Gold-Eating Rats, ruthlessly harvesting and slaughtering.
Poisonous smoke, electric shocks, burning fire, piercing hearts, shattering skulls...
Every imaginable inhumane death was enacted upon the Gold-Eating Rats.
And the poor Gold-Eating Rat horde, in an attempt to rescue their Rat King, was blind to the diabolical intentions of their executioners.
It wasn't until both Zhou Chun and the Silver Lightning Python Baibai were nearly drained of Mana that they had no choice but to use the golden Long Nail Talisman to kill the Mutant Gold-Eating Rat King, thereby scattering and driving away the remaining rats.
The Mutant Gold-Eating Rat King had to die!
Without seeing its corpse, the Zhao Family would certainly not be at ease, and would not pay the Earth Spirit Stone Milk as reward.
This kind of disaster beast, a great threat to the ore veins, had to be eradicated.
And a king of a Great Demon Beast horde one could never be expected to be tamed.
So, from the start, Zhou Chun had no intention of sparing its life.
Now, with the Rat King dead and the rats scattered, Zhou Chun continued to take the Rejuvenation Pills to recuperate his Mana while beginning to count the number of Gold-Eating Rat corpses left at the scene.
Excluding those already reduced to bones, there were still about three thousand seven hundred and sixty Gold-Eating Rat corpses left at the scene that could serve as evidence.
This didn't even include the young in the nests.
Of course, the Zhao Family was likely unwilling to pay Spirit Coins for the corpses of the young as well.
Even with Old Master Zhao's wealth, he wouldn't spend it like that!
Zhou Chun wasn't greedy, and was fully satisfied as long as the corpses of the other Gold-Eating Rats were properly exchanged.
Just as Zhou Chun was calculating how many Spirit Coins he could earn from this venture, the Silver Lightning Python Baibai suddenly cried out in hunger.
"Go eat, eat your fill!"
Zhou Chun smiled faintly, immediately signaling that it could feast to its heart's content.
Baibai, having received Zhou Chun's approval, joyously hissed and darted out.
Naturally, it was disdainful of the Gold-Eating Rat corpses that had been burnt or electrocuted. Instead, it followed the complex passageways of the rat den, guided by smell, and burrowed into the stone chambers where the young were located to gorge itself on them, consuming whole litters at a time.
Considering the size of the Gold-Eating Rat colony, there were probably hundreds, if not thousands, of young within the nest, more than enough for its feast.
Meanwhile, Zhou Chun released his Divine Sense to search for the Gold-Eating Rats' storage chamber.
Common rats have the habit of collecting provisions for winter, and Gold-Eating Rats naturally have a collecting habit as well.
They dug out a very large storage chamber in the nest for storing food and mined Spirit Gold ore.
Zhou Chun wasn't interested in the food, but the Spirit Gold ore was quite valuable.
This was, in fact, an important reason why he had come down here.
Without coming down personally, even if he discovered the storage chamber filled with Spirit Gold ore, he wouldn't have been able to take any advantage with him.
Just like when he helped Hu Changyou eliminate that group of Gold-Eating Rats, he could only catch the Rat King.
After converting to the Golden Cauldron Profound Technique, Zhou Chun was particularly sensitive to Golden Qi, so it didn't take long for him to find the storage chamber for the Spirit Gold ore.
As expected, the chamber stored numerous Spirit Gold ores, most of which were from the Glowing Gold Iron orefields owned by the Zhao Family.
He checked the quantity and realized that even a single Storage Pouch might not be enough to hold all the ore.
Fortunately, he was prepared for this and had hidden two empty Storage Pouches on his person.
Now, without any reservation, he expanded the entrance to the storage chamber and packed all the Spirit Gold ores into the Storage Pouches.
He continued until he nearly filled the two empty Storage Pouches, finally emptying the chamber.
The weight of the Storage Pouches filled with ore felt heavy and satisfying.
But Zhou Chun didn't stop his plunder of the rat nest, releasing his Divine Sense again to meticulously search each stone chamber for the "palace" of the Mutant Gold-Eating Rat King.
A thorough search revealed one stone chamber that was much wider than the ordinary ones, attracting Zhou Chun's attention immediately.
As expected, there were many piles of Spirit Gold ores inside the chamber, and their quality was much better than the ones Zhou Chun initially packed from the storage room.
However, reaching that particular chamber wouldn't be easy, so Zhou Chun first had to recover some Mana before proceeding.
After he had sufficient Mana restored, he began to dig with his Magic Artifact.
Guided by existing rat tunnels, it took almost half an hour to dig a tunnel more than ten yards deep that led directly to that chamber.
"Huh, what are these..."
Zhou Chun, having tunneled into the dwelling of the Mutant Gold-Eating Rat King, was suddenly taken aback by a new and surprising find.
Apart from the Glowing Gold Iron ore and other Spirit Gold ores, he found another extremely special substance.
That substance looked somewhat similar to Glowing Gold Iron ore but contained a rich Wutu Spirit Power.
Zhou Chun actually did not recognize the origin of this material!