Commanding Wind and Cloud
chapter-114

The elder looked at Qian Jin who was in the water. Although he had taught this apprentice for quite a while, he still couldn’t see through him. He was trying to use the Demon Uyeha Spider’s habit of never leaving the Demon Doran Tree more than five hundred meters. It didn’t matter if the spider actually caught the prey or not; it would come back to guard its tree.

He was trying to teach Qian Jin a lesson that although a Level 3 Demon Fighter was very powerful, he shouldn’t be too arrogant and think that he is number one. The elder wanted Qian Jin to experience the feeling of getting chased by an actual deadly Demon Beast, but he didn’t expect it to end like this…

“Level 3 Demon Fighter… I still won’t win the battle even though I have the Zhanmadao…” Qian Jin floated in the water and thought about the encounter with the Demon Uyeha Spider. This Demon Beast’s Magic Core was far more valuable than the Centaurs’ Magic Core. If he end up having the chance to forge a Magic Warrior Weapon, then this Magic Core would be a very good choice.

“If I have a strong bow…” Qian Jin lightly shook his head and thought, “I still can’t kill it. I’m not sure if I have a chance to kill this beast if I advance to a Level 4 or 5 Demon Fighter…”

The elder didn’t pay much more attention to Qian Jin. He carefully lifted up the Demon Doran Tree, but he saw the book [Divine Shot] in Qian Jin’s inner pocket with his peripheral vision. His tough body suddenly shook, and he almost dropped the Demon Doran Tree onto the ground. His pupil contracted to the size of a needle head as he took a few more glances at [Divine Shot]. He nodded meaningfully as he walked into the fog. “I’m going to plant this Demon Doran Tree. That [Divine Shot] looks pretty good. You should read it more often when you have time…”

Qian Jin was still in the lake, enjoying the massage from the hot water and the undercurrents. Although he was relaxed, he nodded and agreed with what the elder said. “I won’t just read it over a few times. When I have time, I will definitely forge a dozen throwing knives and a strong bow,” he thought.

However, he needed iron ore and other minerals and materials to forge weapons. He didn’t know where he could find it, so he left all these words in his mind and didn’t immediate act.

“Leave the Four Season Valley?” Qian Jin decided to wait a little bit longer. There was no Burning Fire Lake outside of the valley, and he hadn’t come up with a good idea or method to safely and securely mine and transport all the energy stones from the energy stone lode.

This world didn’t lack people who risked their lives to get rich. If Wilfred could risk his life and enter the Four Season Valley just to find the energy stone lode, then no one could guarantee that there wouldn’t be a second Wilfred who could come in here after all the snow melted.

The best solution was to take all the energy stones with him! However, it wasn’t easy to take all the energy stones from an energy stone lode, even if the energy stone lode was small.

“If only I could find a Supreme Mage who I could trust…” Qian Jin climbed onto the bank and got dressed as he envied the Spatial Storage Items that appeared only in legends. Those items were out of reach for regular mages. They were made by Supreme Mages who used special magic spells and an unknown medium to create a little portable storage space where he or she could store things in. These Spatial Storage Items could take many shapes, such as rings, bracelets, and necklaces.

“Magic…” Qian Jin got dressed as he sighed. Almost every member of the Qian Family had some spiritual power, but he couldn’t condense any spiritual power or sense any magic elements. Things like Magic Spatial Storage Items were something that he could only dream about.

“I’m better off going back and taking a look at the energy stone lode.” Qian Jin said as his figure disappeared in the fog, “I’m now at the peak of a Level 3 Demon Fighter. I should be able to push away that heavy rock using my physical strength and my explosive warrior power.”

“Supreme Mage?” The elder carefully planted the Demon Doran Tree to the ground in the fog. He turned his head and looked at the direction which Qian Jin took to leave the lake as an amiable and elder-like smile appeared on his face, “Do you think I told you to get this Demon Doran Tree just to teach you a lesson?”

The elder played with the crystal-like fruit on the branch of the Demon Doran Tree as he said to himself, “When all the snow melts and you are about to leave, this thing will be ripe. I will give you’re a great present, but it is up to you to see if you can swallow it. It’s hard to say. Even some Level 9 Demon Fighters can’t swallow this fruit and form their own Warrior Dimension.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of loud booming sounds resonated in the sky as a huge rock grinded against the ground. Even the earth shook lightly when the rock was moving.

Qian Jin stretched his sore shoulders as he looked at the dark entrance to the cave beside him. A bright smile was on his face; the explosive force of a Level 3 Demon Fighter with his physical strength was able to push away the huge rock that was blocking the entrance to the energy stone lode.

With help from the sunlight that shined into the cave, Qian Jin realized that this cave-like hole wasn’t too deep. It was two to three meters deep at most. However, it was connected to a spacious underground space.

Qian Jin didn’t rush and jump into the cave right away. He glanced around to observe his surroundings, and then he pushed the huge rock to the side a bit more.

Jumping into this cave, this hole wasn’t something to joke about. If there was something on the ground that moved this huge piece of rock back to its original position, Qian Jin wouldn’t be able to push it away if he was standing inside the cave.

There were some minor and vague signs of energy stones on the dark walls of this pit. Qian Jin walked up to a wall and caressed the stones on it. Right after that, he raised the Zhanmadao and chopped down on this piece of stone on the wall. A series of sparks appeared in the dark, and metal and stone colliding noises instantly resonated in the cave.

Qian Jin bent his back and picked up the few pieces of stone. With help from the sunlight that was reflected off of the walls near that entrance, he looked at these stone closely. He even put them up to his nose and smelled them.

“These are…?”

A surprised expression appeared on Qian Jin’s face as he stood straight in this dark pit. His eyes lit up as if they were large sparks that were created from metals colliding. “These are iron ores?” He asked himself.

“Is this a mixed lode that contains both energy stones and iron ores?” Qian Jin couldn’t believe his finding, but the stones that he chopped off of the wall was just like the ones described in Blake’s book [Mine Inspection Techniques], and the surroundings matched the environment described in the book where iron ore could form. He was too focused on the energy stone lode beforehand and ignored what he learned from [Mine Inspection Techniques].

Qian Jin’s hands rubbed on the walls in the pit non-stop, and more and more joy appeared on his face. He couldn’t hold back and said, “This is it! This is it! It really is an iron mine.”

All the problems he had regarding materials for forging a strong bow, arrows, and throwing knives for the last few days were unintentionally solved by entering this energy stone lode.

“Those stones!” Qian Jin slapped himself on the head. He didn’t even try to find more energy stones and iron ores in the pit. He climbed out of the pit using both of his arms and legs, and then he carefully observed the stone forest that he walked by numerous times.

According to the descriptions in [Mine Inspection Techniques], there was always a pattern to how iron mines were formed. During different times and at different locations, a similar kind of iron ore bed could form under similar terrain. But during different times and under different terrains, different kinds of iron ore beds would form.

If Qian Jin didn’t discover the iron ores underground and didn’t observe his surroundings carefully, it would be hard for Qian Jin to realize that this terrain was very similar to a terrain recorded in [Mine Inspection Techniques]: Ancient Volcano Terrain!

As time passed, the former volcanoes that lost their shape due to events such as earthquakes were buried into the ground. However, there would always be marks on the land that documented what had happened. Only professionals could find these clues when they were careful, and they would be spread the stories.

Although the volcano was gone, there were traces of its existence.

Qian Jin looked at the pieces of heavy rocks in front of him and smiled bitterly. “Why didn’t I observe this place more carefully before? Although there are rocks here that I completely couldn’t recognize, if I observed in detail a bit more, I could still recognize a group of stones that are different from the Auckime Stone that the elder told me about,” Qian Jin thought to himself.

This stone forest was primarily made up of two types of stones. Except for the Auckime Stones that the elder talked about, there were also a group of stones that looked like Auckime Stones, but they were actually Volcanic Marine Stones! These stones contained a lot of iron-copper deposits, making these stones extra heavy.

According to [Mine Inspection Techniques], there were more than three hundred types of iron ores; a hundred and seventy types of iron ores were very common such as Brown Iron Ore, Siderite Ore, and Red Iron Ore. These Volcanic Marine Stones were one of the most common stones of the one hundred and seventy types of Iron Ores. However, these stones weren’t buried underground and were standing vertically in the stone forest. If Qian Jin didn’t observe the surroundings and discover the energy stone and iron ore lode, he couldn’t be 100% certain that these stones contained a lot of iron-copper deposits.

Although he still wasn’t sure about the reserve of the energy stone lode, Qian Jin stood on top of the energy stone and iron ore lode, looked at the Volcanic Marine Stones in front of him, and opened up his arms and roared excitedly.

A strong bow! Sharp arrows! Sneaky throwing knives! These items no longer only existed in his dreams. Once he forged the items and practiced using [Divine Shot], there would still a big room for improvement.

“Four Season Valley! My fortune land!”

[Wind and Cloud Power Training Scroll], [Divine Shot], [Energy Stone Lode], [Magic Cores], [Level 3 Demon Fighter]! Qian Jin suspected that all of his luck in this life was used up in this Four Season Valley. After he risked his life in the avalanche and got to Four Season Valley, he had gotten too many benefits from it.

After jumping back to the pit, Qian Jin chose an energy stone that was almost completely exposed in the air and dug it up. He put it in his pocket, jumped out of the pit, pushed the rock back to cover the entrance, and rushed back to his residential cave near the entrance of Four Season Valley.

In the spacious open field, the secret cave hid at the corner of a mountain. Although it was very secretive and the entrance was blocked off, there was a slit where people inside the cave could peek out.

Four days; Qian Jin hadn’t returned to the cave for four days.

A desperate feeling had been on Sophia’s mind for a long time. Although she didn’t really talk with Qian Jin in Four Season Valley, she had always seen him as someone who she could depend on.

Four days without any news or sign. Sophia had lost the last bit of hope; she didn’t think that Qian Jin was still alive. The comfortable living situation in the last couple weeks had made her forget that she was still in Four Season Valley where a lot of Demon Beasts lived.

“The meat is ready.”

Gabriella’s voice still sounded a bit timid; although she had lived with Sophia for more than a month, the timidness that was etched deep into her bones still hadn’t disappeared. It was as if all her courage and braveness was taken by Gloria who only appeared at nighttime.

Sophia looked at Gabriella who had a piece of roasted meat on a stick in her hands. She shook her head and said with some anxiousness in her voice, “I’m not in the mood, you should eat first. If Qian Jin doesn’t come back soon, we will run out of food and die eventually. There isn’t a big different if I eat or not.”