Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 738 - 717: The Source Is Right Here!
Tsk tsk, so the "big coal mine" guarded by the Furious Fire Bear Race is actually the remains of an insect demon!
Is the silver-footed snow insect related to the insect demon remains?
What a pity, the system doesn't value these fire stones, categorizing them as non-material resources unrecognized by the system. Otherwise, with the contents and production volume of the sinkhole, it could be a vast treasure trove at one's disposal.
"This way, sir." Ming Qingyan thoughtfully created a protective barrier for him, preventing the rushing hot, violent air from injuring their fragile benefactor.
She continued to lead the way, explaining as they flew downwards: "The upper part is now off-limits for mining to prevent the sinkhole from further expanding and affecting the houses in the city.
Previously, the above-middle parts were the training grounds for the little angry fire bears. Many of them couldn't even transform, let alone perform sword flight, thus they carved winding paths downwards for them to travel.
The further down, the higher the requirement for a miner's strength, and naturally, the roads become narrower.
Later on, only the parts below the middle allowed mining. The little angry fire bears couldn't resist the intense heat, so they practiced diligently in the nursery until they were grown, then headed directly to the corresponding training and mining areas below the middle.
Thanks to these paths opened up tens of thousands of years ago, when more and more people in the city suffered from cold poison and couldn't suppress it, caves were opened up along these paths for residing. Otherwise, those severely affected by cold poison wouldn't be able to operate their spiritual power inside their bodies and couldn't reach the intensely hot depths without someone escorting them."
[Seal barrier personally arranged by the Lord City Lord of Sand Hill City]
[Hastily carved simple caves by the bear demons for severely ill patients to reside in]
[Untouched low-level fire stones: this area transforms from the antennae on the insect demon's head, thus the mine begins to show a minor imperceptible curve...]
......
The further Jiang Yuan went down, the more detailed the identification results provided by the system became.
Even when he stared at the pit's wall, a virtual 3D simulation diagram emerged in his sight—a gigantic, struggling insect, somewhat similar to the silver-footed snow insect, trapped underground. He was currently located at the tip of its head's antenna.
Based on this estimate, despite the Furious Fire Bear Race mining for generations, they haven't even fully extracted a single antenna!
Besides the rather laborious and slow process of mining fire stones, the enormous size of the insect demon is astonishing.
How could such a gigantic insect exist? No wonder it required celestial fire to burn it to death; otherwise, how many cultivators in the Wilderness World could withstand it?
"Please have a look, Sir, this is Sand Hill City's specialty fire stone." Ming Qingyan noticed him gazing at the pit wall in a trance, thinking he was interested in the fire stone, and casually chopped a piece off.
A seemingly gray-black stone wall fragment fell off, instantly igniting into a magnificent flame of magenta with a blue border, which disappeared at once, revealing a distinguishable reddish block inside the stone.
"By knocking off these impurities from the edges, the red block obtained is a fire stone.
This place used to be a mining and training area for little angry fire bears tens of thousands of years ago; the energy contained in the fire stone is very low. The deeper you go, the more energy the fire stones contain, making them harder to mine and the flames they burn more beautiful." She held the stone block on display, accompanied by a sound akin to a mournful wail emanating from the deep cavern, a swirling wind suddenly blew from the depths of the sinkhole.
In such a hot place, the wind carried a trace of coolness.
Leng Yutang comfortably shivered his arm and joked, "Back when training in the sinkhole, my realm was low, and cultivation techniques couldn't dispel the heat, so I'd long for the wind from the bottom valley to blow by, it was comfortable!"
A subordinate also nodded in agreement, "Yes, before the sinkhole was sealed, the wind blowing from the deep, sunless depths was particularly refreshing. Every time the wind blew from the bottom valley, the clinking sound of mining was filled with laughter and joy from everyone; thinking back, those were good times."
[Lament of the Insect Demon: Although the Insect Demon is deceased and its skeleton turned into fire stones, a trace of demonic nature remains. The lament originates from within its immense body, expelling insect egg spores outward. Most spores have lost vitality, but occasionally degraded spores enter demon cultivators' bodies, sprouting into severely degraded variants of the insect demon—silver-footed snow insects.]
The bear demons reminisced noisily about the past, but Jiang Yuan, observing the swirling wind's identified details, felt his heart suddenly sink.
Oh my! The root cause is here!
"The wind you mentioned from the bottom valley, does it blow often, or is there a noticeable increase or decrease?" he suddenly asked, causing Ming Qingyan to pause and glance at the subordinate responsible for the sinkhole.
The subordinate heartily responded, "Haven't noticed much more or less, it's always been about the same. Sometimes it blows once every seven or eight days; at times, none for a month or two. We pay more attention to fire stone production rather than to this wind. Have you discovered anything, Sir?"
Jiang Yuan nodded, his complexion slightly grim, "Indeed, I've found something, but let's first check on the most serious patients to gather enough clues before we talk in detail."
"Thank you, Sir. This is one of the residences of the earliest and most severe cases." Ming Qingyan surveyed the surroundings yet saw nothing, wondering if the root cause was related to the bottom valley wind?
She led the way, introducing as they entered a cave hastily carved out in a remote corner.
Upon entering, a wave of coldness intermingled in the hot cave and struck them. Continuing inside, he soon saw an angry fire bear in its original form, its fur completely coated in ice.
[Angry Fire Bear Demon Pang Sanli: Low-level creature at the Gathering Spirit Realm, originally a caretaker at the nursery. Upon learning that his closest friend, Fan Lu, was infected with cold poison and did not want to be expelled, he lied that Fan Lu had gone traveling, but actually hid him in an abandoned underground water cellar of the nursery.
When the silver-footed snow nether bug matured and froze Fan Lu to death before breaking out of the shell, it released spore-like offspring that drifted with the wind in search of parasitic hosts, and all the angry fire bear demons in the nursery were parasitized, including Pang Sanli.
The mature silver-footed snow nether bugs roamed around, releasing spores every few months until they exhausted their energy and died, leading to numerous infestations in Sand Hill City...]
I don't know if it's because of doing good deeds every day, but my luck has been getting better and better, and the first patient I examine turns out to be one of the culprits behind this disaster.
Jiang Yuan recalled the hardships during the epidemic, and a flame of anger ignited in his heart.
Damn it! There are always these selfish idiots who think they're so loyal and righteous, yet are moved by themselves!
If you wanted to be with your friend, you could've just left Sand Hill City together and found some place uninhabited. Why harm others?
The innocent children are the primary victims!
Adult Angry Fire Bears, when parasitized, have enough spiritual power to last three to five years at least, possibly waiting for hope.
But many of the cubs didn't even know the cultivation technique and were parasitized, their spiritual power and life force insufficient to sustain the insect demon's growth, leading to a swift, tragic death.
Two selfish fools, harming the entire city's residents!
Leng Yutang, from an experienced perspective, stepped forward to comfort the suffering Pang Sanli;
The City Lord, Ming Qingyan, briefly introduced the situation on the other side, then turned to find Mr. Jiang's expression becoming increasingly somber, realizing that something might be wrong, and asked quietly, "Sir, is there something amiss?"
"Of course there is," Jiang Yuan nodded, speaking in a deep voice, "I observe that Pang Daoist's cold poison is unusual. You must have come into contact with the bodies of those who died frozen from cold poison, directly parasitized by the spores disseminated by matured silver-footed snow nether bugs.
As the City Lord just introduced, you were a caretaker at the nursery? If I'm not mistaken, your onset time coincides with those little Angry Fire Bears who had long died from cold poison premature death, right?"
"Ah?!" Pang Sanli felt a shudder in his heart, guilt weighing him down to the extreme.
Covered in layers of ice, shaking uncontrollably, he spat out a thin cold frost as he spoke, "What are you talking about? I can't understand anything you're saying."
"Can't understand, huh? Then you should understand what Daoist Leng said, his cold poison was what I cured.
I now have the antidote, as long as you swallow it and expel the parasitic insect demon in your body, you'll recover immediately, otherwise you will freeze to death!" He took out a Star Flame Antitoxic Pill and flaunted it in front of him.
The elixir's aroma, wrapped in warming power, formed a great temptation for the nearly frozen Pang Sanli who couldn't feel warmth even leaning against the hot cave wall. He recalled his friend's tragic death, staring eagerly at the elixir and swallowing hard.
Enraged, Ming Qingyan's eyes widened, roaring, "Tell the truth!"
Faced with the threat of death, the temptation of the elixir, and the terrifying pressure of the City Lord, Pang Sanli nearly wet himself, stammering, "I-I'll tell... Actually, I didn't want it to be like this! That day Fan Lu suddenly found me, saying he was infected with cold poison, begging me to help him on account of our years of friendship.
I thought... since the cold poison doesn't cause immediate death, I let him hide in the nursery for some time so he could at least repay the years of help he gave me.
But I couldn't have expected that he would suddenly die! I still don't understand why. I've survived for so many years with cold poison without dying, why did he, so suddenly, giving me no chance to remedy it..."
"Mr. Jiang, your elixirs are too precious to be wasted on such a thing," Ming Qingyan said, face flushed green with anger, wishing he could smack the big fool with a bear paw.
Jiang Yuan quickly stopped him, "I can understand your anger, but the mature parasite in his body can emerge at any moment. Once a mature insect demon bursts out, it will release a large number of spores, drifting with the wind and parasitizing anything they touch.
As for how to punish these bad apples, let me first use the elixir to drive out and properly manage the insect demon. Once the threat is eliminated, you can deliberate further plans."
Looking at the trembling Pang Sanli, he added, "A mature silver-foot snow nether bug releases spores once it emerges, then will drift around based on instinct, periodically ejecting spores until it dies as its energy depletes.
Given that each bear demon's physique and realm are different, the growth rate of parasitic insect demons varies, so it cannot be generalized. Your one moment of bad judgment caused the death of so many innocent children and nearly brought destruction to the entire Sand Hill City!"
"What?! Sand Hill City nearly faced total destruction, and it was caused by two bear demons?" Leng Yutang exclaimed in shock, secretly feeling a sense of dread.
Luckily, before this, there weren't any of the same race who were so selfish and withheld reporting when infected with cold poison. If there had been one or two hiding in the city, undetected, the whole Sand Hill City might have perished already!
Additionally, he felt fortunate that these two selfish fools harmed their whole race, yet he managed to meet Mr. Jiang and invite him here, enabling Sand Hill City to avoid disaster!
"Failing to promptly discover anyone under my jurisdiction infected with cold poison was a neglect on my part, and I request punishment from the City Lord," immediately after understanding the situation, the officer in charge of the area stepped forward to confess.
"Punishment is indeed deserved!" Ming Qingyan retorted coldly, "But not now. The urgent task is to have the sir treat the illness. After the crisis is averted, there will not only be punishments but also stricter rules; noncompliance will lead to expulsion from the city, never to be allowed entry again!"
