One of the rogue cultivators immediately suggested selling the mineral vein to make some quick money.
This fossil mine would take them a hundred lifetimes to fully excavate, and it wasn't originally theirs. Instead of wasting cultivation time here, it would be better to sell it off.
However, his suggestion was met with immediate opposition from the other rogue cultivators.
They were all terrified of poverty. This place was a gold mine they could never exhaust. How could they bear to sell it?
If the total value of this fossil mine was a billion spirit stones, selling it for ten million would already be good. No force could come up with that many spirit stones all at once.
From a long-term perspective, it would definitely be a huge loss.
But the cultivator who proposed selling the mine wasn't wrong. After all, what use were the fossils if they couldn't be extracted?
Making quick money would allow them to grow rapidly. Once they were powerful, what wealth couldn't they obtain?
Clinging to wealth they couldn't use was irrational.
In the end, only one of the four survived the internal conflict, dragging his heavily injured body out.
Perhaps some accident occurred, or maybe he succumbed to his injuries. He left behind a map of the area before passing away.
As for why a large part of the map was burned, it might be because the person who obtained it was being robbed and, before dying, tried to destroy the treasure map to keep it from falling into enemy hands.
The fire burned slowly, and only a tenth of the map was destroyed before the enemy extinguished it.
This partially burned map changed hands several times before ending up in the hands of a young medicine boy.
At this moment, Long Xuan was also contemplating the same dilemma as the rogue cultivators: Should he keep this gold mine or sell it for quick cash? He found himself in a bind.
However, his dilemma didn't last long. He was here to find treasure because he needed spirit stones to buy materials for the divine ice flame. He urgently needed a large sum of spirit stones.
Moreover, he couldn't mine the vein by himself. What use was it to him if he couldn't utilize it? He had no means to mobilize ordinary people as laborers.
Since guarding the vein would be futile, he had no reason to hesitate.
He decided to sell the vein to the big clans, let them excavate it first, and then buy the fossils they extracted at a low price.
This way, the big clans would essentially be mining for him, and he could take advantage of their labor for free.
Not only would the big clans have to pay a hefty sum of spirit stones to buy the vein, but any good insects they found would also belong to him.
His cunning plan made him smile slyly.
After making his decision, Long Xuan didn't leave immediately. Instead, he and his clones ventured deeper into the cave.
Unlike the rogue cultivators, his eyes could pinpoint the exact locations of the fossils.
The rogue cultivators might dig all day and find nothing but waste rock, while Long Xuan could accurately locate fossil positions, ensuring he would find insects.
Since he couldn't mine the deep veins alone, he decided to gather all the surface fossils before leaving.
The deeper he went, the more branches he saw. Some paths had nine branches, some tunnels extended upward, and others plunged downward like bottomless pits.
Some tunnels were mined by the rogue cultivators, while others formed naturally.
In short, the place was a labyrinth. Once inside, it was hard to get out.
Long Xuan planned only to collect surface fossils, avoiding deeper areas due to the risk of getting lost and the inherent dangers.
The dangers didn't just come from the strange insects that could emerge from the soil. In this spirit-rich world, mysterious and dangerous occurrences often happened in the mines.
In Great stone Village, many villagers died from various accidents while mining for the big clans, whether in metal veins or spirit stone veins.
Having witnessed these incidents in Great stone Village, Long Xuan was cautious.
Therefore, he didn't venture deep into the labyrinth. Instead, he ordered his clones to excavate the surface fossils while he supervised, enjoying fine wine.
Until he accidentally spotted a fossil deep inside with a progress percentage of [38.17903%]. He couldn't sit still any longer and rushed over, wielding a pickaxe, his eyes like searchlights.
A progress percentage to five decimal places indicated a high probability of a peak-grade spirit insect over ten thousand years old.
peak-grade spirit insects were incredibly precious. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that not even ten thousand high-quality spirit insects could match one peak-grade spirit insect.
The base price for a peak-grade spirit insect was ten million spirit stones, but in reality, they were priceless and mostly acquired through bartering.
Long Xuan had encountered countless treasures in the market but had only seen one peak-grade spirit insect—the Stone Eye he found in the Stone King.
After refining it into a peak-grade Gu insect, its power was unparalleled. Not to mention its overpowered abilities, its Origin realm was already ridiculously strong, making it an invincible force.
peak-grade Gu insects versus high-quality Gu insects was a complete mismatch—a higher-dimensional attack with no comparison.
Seeing the essential material for refining a peak-grade Gu insect, how could Long Xuan not be excited?
He always started by collecting the rarest materials before creating his unique Gu recipes.
Now, with a peak-grade spirit insect in his sight, he could attempt to create another peak-grade Gu recipe. His second peak-grade Gu insect was within reach.
Since this peak-grade spirit insect was buried deep, Long Xuan and his four external clones spent two whole days excavating it.
This was just a surface fossil. Digging deeper would take who knows how long. The deeper fossils were beyond his capability, with no oxygen and increased danger.
Now, Long Xuan clutched the enormous fossil, elated. This treasure made his arduous journey worthwhile...