Wei Ji took the storage pouch, his expression filled with emotion. "Good, good. As long as I have something, it's enough. If I use it sparingly, I should be able to ensure my cultivation doesn't regress to the early stage of Golden Core within the next two months."
He said no more, immediately sitting down to meditate, maintaining his Spiritual Qi. Not even sparing Shang Xingchen a second glance. He seemed to harbor no suspicion about the number of spirit stones. For deep inside, he knew very well.
What was the point of suspicion? Shang Xingchen was stronger than him. Whatever Shang Xingchen was willing to give, he would take. A fist too weak to claim more gains would only lead to death.
Meanwhile, Shang Xingchen watched Wei Ji meditate, smiling silently. Both of them pretended ignorance, though fully aware of the truth.
At the great spirit stone mine, Chu Xuan gently caressed Gangsi, feeding it two low-grade magic treasures.
In Song Lingfeng and Miaochan's storage pouches, there were many magic treasures, both righteous and demonic. Now, all of them had fallen into his hands.
"One cannot live on magic treasures alone," Chu Xuan muttered. "The nutrition is unbalanced. I'll need to get you some metal ores."
With a flick of his hand, he took out a jade slip inscribed with spiritual sense from his pouch. This jade slip had come from Song Lingfeng's belongings. It contained a map of the Heavenly Metal battlefield, a much more detailed one, showing even the various outposts surrounding the cities.
Chu Xuan's gaze immediately landed on the several metal mines around Heaven-Three City.
"Thousand-Year Gold. Bloodstained Copper Sand. Coldheart Iron. Not bad, not bad. These three mines will do. Monks usually target spirit stone mines first, followed by spirit herb gardens, then spirit wood forests, and lastly, metal mines. The difficulty of conquering these three mines shouldn't be too high."
With a thought, Chu Xuan summoned Long, Hu, and Bao, who led a large group of corpse generals into action.
Less than two days later, when Chu Xuan returned to the great spirit stone mine, three storage pouches were now filled to the brim. Each pouch contained over ten thousand pounds of metal ores—enough to satisfy Gangsi's hunger.
"It's been a while since I checked on the situation in the Cave World," Chu Xuan mused. "Now that I have the time, I should go back and take a look."
He stepped forward, returning to Blue Star. His spiritual sense connected with the Myriad Realm Mirror, and the scene of the Cave World appeared before him.
The Cave World had now passed nearly twenty years. The Holy Ant Tribe and the Fire Ant Tribe held a collective vote. In the end, the vote decided that the two tribes would merge and be called the "Fiery Holy Ant Tribe."
Of course, there were some voices against the merger, as it touched upon their own interests. However, Lie Xin still held a firm control over the two tribes. Those discordant voices were swiftly and physically eliminated. The merging of the two tribes went smoothly, exactly as she had planned.
"Not enough, still not enough. To surpass the Myriad Insects Tribe, a single large tribe cannot achieve it."
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
At this moment, Lie Xin was holding a fishing rod, fishing leisurely. But her thoughts remained focused on how to expand the Fiery Holy Ant Tribe and how to devour the Myriad Insects Tribe.
Yet, the more intelligence she gathered, the more she felt a sense of dread toward the Myriad Insects Tribe. A tribe-nation, it truly deserved the name. It was far too vast.
The Royal Guard of the nation was the most elite military force of the Myriad Insects Tribe. It boasted a permanent force of five thousand. These were five thousand Silver Insect Masters! Not to mention the Golden and Platinum Insect Masters who led them. The power disparity was immense.
Besides the Royal Guard, the ruler of the Myriad Insects Tribe also had the authority to summon Insect Masters from large tribes under his banner. Once fully mobilized, the numbers would be staggering!
Though the current ruler had been immersed in alchemy and had not managed the affairs of the court for many years, the ruler's residual influence still remained. With a single order, the large tribes dared not disobey.
The Fiery Holy Ant Tribe would need at least another hundred years of growth to stand against the Myriad Insects Tribe. Lie Xin didn't believe she could live to see that day. Thus, she had to change her strategy.
If I cannot conquer you, then I shall merge with you.
Lie Xin looked at the two bone fragments to her left. The blue bone fragment was engraved with a man's name. The red bone fragment was engraved with a woman's name. In total, there were twenty-two names.
All were young men and women from the Fiery Holy Ant Tribe, aged sixteen to thirty. Their appearances and physiques were all excellent. Moreover, they were deeply loyal to the tribe.
Lie Xin had long sought out the most handsome men and beautiful women in the tribe, preparing for future needs. Now that the path of forceful conquest had become unfeasible, she had no choice but to turn to this backup plan.
Among them, she had two children she was particularly fond of. One was named Lie Xiao, aged eighteen. The other was named Lie Chen, aged twenty.
Lie Xiao was the epitome of excellence in appearance, physique, emotional intelligence, and talent. However, he was a bit carefree in his actions, often lacking seriousness. He was easily distracted, with a tendency to lose interest after a short time.
Lie Chen, on the other hand, had it all—looks, intellect, and the perfect physique. He was intelligent in both mind and body.
The ruler had many princes and princesses. The young men and women Lie Xin had selected were meant for those very princes and princesses.
She wasn't worried about Lie Xiao. With his innate foundation, entering the royal palace wouldn't be difficult for him. But for Lie Chen, the conditions for entering the palace were far more stringent.
Lie Xin knew that the Ninth Princess didn't place much importance on appearance. Instead, she valued intelligence more than anything.
"Soon it will be the day of the grand selection. I hope these children I've chosen will all have the chance to enter the royal palace."
Lie Xin sighed softly, placing the two bone fragments down.
Five days later, the grand selection arrived as promised. The ruler issued a decree, calling for young men and women from various large tribes to be selected as potential partners for the princes and princesses. This had been an ancient tradition.
Originally, it was meant to establish a strong bond between the royal family and the large tribes under its command, to ensure the large tribes wouldn't rebel. But as time passed, the royal family grew ever stronger, while the large tribes weakened. Yet, the tradition had not changed.
Even for the ruler, casually altering the customs passed down by ancestors was a burden he couldn't bear lightly. Among the twenty-two individuals Lie Xin had chosen, eighteen passed the selection and entered the royal palace.
At the gates of the Fiery Holy Ant Tribe, Lie Xin watched as the young men and women were taken away by the royal carriages. She sighed deeply.
To vie for favor, the competition within the palace was even more intense than the outside world. Once inside the royal palace, one was often lost in its depths. But if she wanted to continue expanding the Fiery Holy Ant Tribe, she had no choice but to send them in.
"I hope you all can survive and return safely," Lie Xin sighed heavily.
Chu Xuan watched all of this unfold. His expression remained unchanged, for he was merely an outsider. As long as Lie Xin could provide him with better and more advanced methods to cultivate the insects, everything else was negotiable. To him, the events of the Cave World were little more than a game. He could slightly influence the course of its story.
In his eyes, Lie Xin's decisions made perfect sense. For survival, for growth, for development, certain things simply had to be done. It was true for individuals, tribes, and even nations.