Of course, it was also possible my Eighth Level of Qi Refining Cultivation had deterred them, making them afraid to target me.

After all, people always pick on the weak.

"Senior Brother, see you tonight!"

"I’ll be there on time," Lü Zhong said with a nod.

After dismissing his team members, he headed toward the West District of the mine.

The vast Little Yuan Valley Mine was, in fact, divided into four areas.

The North and South Districts housed the mine tunnels. The East District was for the preliminary processing of minerals, either by screening ore sand or smelting it directly into Ore Ingots. Only the West District served as the residential area.

Lü Zhong’s hidden residence was in the South District, but he was heading to the West District to purchase some food ingredients.

Having experienced mental state issues before, he now paid closer attention to his mood. Living in the mine for an extended period had left him feeling restless, so he wanted to buy some local ingredients to satisfy his cravings. He’d heard the food here was quite unique.

Suppressing his aura, he quickly arrived at the West Market.

Before he even stepped inside, a rich, lively atmosphere washed over him.

The sounds of haggling and vendors hawking their wares filled the bustling market.

His gaze swept over the ingredients, one by one, all of which Lü Zhong had never seen before.

There were unknown species of blind fish pulled from the Dark River, tender mushrooms cultivated in the mine shafts, and fresh vegetables grown by the mortals themselves. The variety was certainly not lacking.

But these weren’t the ingredients Lü Zhong was looking for.

As a cultivator, eating food that contained no Spiritual Qi was nearly impossible to stomach.

He walked into a pavilion in the West Market that stood out from the crowd. The shelves here weren’t crowded, but without exception, every item was an ingredient containing Spiritual Qi. There were burrowing Demon Beasts that had been caught in the mine tunnels, and Spirit Mushrooms that had been nourished by Spiritual Qi.

The prices were low. After all, there weren’t many cultivators at the mine, making it hard to sell everything. Besides, the Spiritual Qi content in these ingredients wasn’t anything special. Thus, Lü Zhong spent just over a dozen Spirit Stones to buy enough food for a year, storing it all in his Storage Bag.

"BOOM!"

Suddenly, a loud explosion came from nearby.

A shop had suddenly exploded in the direction Lü Zhong had just come from.

"SPLATTER!"

A downpour of blood rained down, mixed with fragments of limbs and flesh.

One could only imagine how many mortals had just died!

Wails, screams...

In an instant, the West Market fell into complete chaos. All the mortals scattered and fled, trying to escape this place of death.

From a watchtower in the distant West District, a Spirit Flame Torch flared into the sky as alarm bells began to clang furiously! 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Lü Zhong raised his Water Pattern Shield to block the bloody rain, his brow furrowing as he stared toward the billowing black smoke from the explosion.

Through his Qi Observation Skill, he saw that the once-peaceful West Market was now suffused with black Corpse Qi. It was gushing like a spring from the shop that had just exploded.

Any mortal enveloped by the Corpse Qi collapsed after taking only a few steps. When they rose again, they had become living corpses.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of living corpses appeared.

’Are they trying to paralyze the mine’s operations? After all, the mine can’t function without the mortals...’

With this thought, Lü Zhong plucked out a handful of Evil Exorcism Talismans. Upon activation, they erupted into a sheet of dazzling golden light, performing a wide-area purification on the charging, aggressive living corpses.

Wherever it passed, the Corpse Qi in the living corpses was ignited, and golden flames spewed from all seven of their orifices.

After a wave of wails, they fell to the ground and moved no more.

After expending most of the power of the Evil Exorcism Talismans, Lü Zhong approached the explosion site.

Just then, a Blood Shadow suddenly shot out from the side.

It swiped a claw at his Water Pattern Shield, leaving three glaring, scarlet claw marks. A continuous sizzling sound followed as the shield’s power was rapidly drained.

A team of cultivators who heard the commotion arrived just in time. The leader was a middle-aged man with a scholarly air. Seeing the Blood Shadow, his face paled in horror, and he hurriedly warned, "Senior Brother, be careful! That’s a Demon Child’s Filthy Spirit Blood Shadow, a vicious Demon Monster that specializes in breaking our Spiritual Shields!"

Lü Zhong was secretly alarmed by the warning.

’No wonder a single swipe drained so much of my Spiritual Power! So it’s a Demon Monster that specializes in breaking Spiritual Shields!’

Lü Zhong snorted coldly and flicked out the Evil Exorcism Talisman, which still had power remaining.

Instantly, a ball of golden, flaming light formed.

The flaming light, formed from Yang Qi, was a fatal counter to the Blood Shadow, instantly turning it into a human torch.

In a short while, only a pile of ash remained on the ground.

After dealing with the Filthy Spirit Blood Shadow, Lü Zhong ignored the middle-aged man walking toward him. Instead, he shifted his gaze to the epicenter of the explosion. After some thought, he took out a handful of Fiery Sun Stone powder, formed a hand seal, and began Chanting, quickly materializing an Entropy Light Spear.

He hurled the spear forward. It struck a bead that was spewing Corpse Qi, and the Yang Qi within the spear instantly caused it to erupt in a pillar of golden flame that shot into the sky.

"Thank you for intervening, Senior Brother!" Zhang Yuan said with a sincere, respectful bow.

He was the security captain for the West District, responsible for maintaining order in the area. Such a major incident in his jurisdiction would normally result in severe punishment. Fortunately, this Senior Brother had stepped in and dealt with the threat in time.

"I was just passing by," Lü Zhong said honestly.

’Who would have thought that a simple trip to buy groceries would lead to this?’

He couldn’t help but wonder if this could have been avoided had he not concealed his cultivation when he came to the West Market. After all, the presence of a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator should have been a significant deterrent.

As they spoke, the source of the commotion—the bead spewing Corpse Qi—finally had all of its Corpse Qi burned away.

"It’s a Qi Absorption Bead!" Zhang Yuan exclaimed in astonishment.

His shock was understandable; such an item should never have been in the mine.

The entire Little Yuan Valley Mine was encased within the Earth Eight Directions Array. All cultivators and miners had to undergo inspection upon entry and exit. Logically, it should have been impossible for this item to get inside.

A Qi Absorption Bead was, after all, a type of Storage Magical Artifact. It functioned like a Storage Bag and, crucially, could not be placed inside another one.

’A traitor,’ Lü Zhong thought.

’And the traitor could only be one of the Late-stage Qi Refining disciples.’

The inspections for the Grand Array weren’t foolproof. Aside from the two Foundation Establishment True Cultivators on guard duty, High-tier Disciples in Late-stage Qi Refining like Lü Zhong were only subjected to a cursory check—it was just a formality.

Just as Lü Zhong was thinking, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard.

A Low Tier disciple from the Heling Sect, at the Qi Refining Third Layer, came running over, propelled by a Featherweight Talisman. He bowed respectfully upon seeing Lü Zhong and said, "Senior Brother Lü, Master Yuo is gathering everyone in the Central Control Room."

"Understood, I’m heading over now," Lü Zhong nodded.

Suddenly stopping, he looked at the Qi Absorption Bead on the ground and said to Zhang Yuan, "There shouldn’t be a problem if I take this Qi Absorption Bead, right?"

The Qi Absorption Bead was quite valuable, worth at least a thousand Spirit Stones. It could store up to one hundred units of Spiritual Qi—exactly enough to power the Black Muzhu one time.

With it, Lü Zhong no longer had to worry about charging the Black Muzhu.

"Of... of course!" Zhang Yuan hesitated for a moment, then replied firmly.

By rights, the Qi Absorption Bead belonged to Senior Brother Lü as a spoil of war.

...

「Beneath the Central Square, in the Grand Array’s Central Control Room.」

When Lü Zhong arrived, he found that Yuo Qing had already arrived. Xiao Changyuan and the others were also sitting inside. Everyone was silent, and the atmosphere in the Central Control Room was extremely tense.

After giving Yuo Qing a respectful nod, he found an empty seat and sat down.

"I just received a report about an attack in the mine’s West District. Nephew Lü, you were on the scene. Please describe the situation," Yuo Qing said, coughing. Her face was much paler than before.

Lü Zhong rose and recounted the events in detail.

He presented the Qi Absorption Bead as proof of his account.

"In that case, there is a traitor in the mine. And the only people capable of pulling this off are myself, Junior Brother Lin, and... all of you nephews present!" Yuo Qing concluded swiftly, her tone chilling.

At her words, the faces of everyone present changed.

"I also have something to ask." Yuo Qing’s gaze swept over everyone present, finally landing on the empty chair beside her. "Have any of you seen Lin Nan recently?"

"Master Lin?"

Xiao Changyuan and the others all shook their heads.

Lü Zhong was the same; he hadn’t seen this Master Lin in a long time.

A thought suddenly struck him.

’Could it be?’

Across the long table, someone stood up. It was Ma Heng.

He had the highest cultivation among the High-tier Disciples, a Ninth Level of Qi Refining Cultivation. After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke up. "In the West Market, I... I saw Master Lin. It was early this morning."

As soon as he said this, the room was in an uproar.

Some looked shocked, some disbelieving, but most wore thoughtful expressions.

"Do you dare swear to it?" Yuo Qing’s gaze was piercing.

"I swear..." Ma Heng swore.

"Very well. I have some news for you as well." Yuo Qing’s gaze swept over everyone, and she suddenly sighed. "Just now, I saw Junior Brother Lin leave the Grand Array in a hurry. It seems..."

She didn’t finish her sentence, but everyone knew what came next.

Lin Nan had betrayed them!