The battle over the mine in the Wilderness has been ongoing for some time.
Originally, this was the sacred land where the Ice-winged Eagle Yun Mo and his followers cultivated.
During the day, they would hide in deep underground caves to rest; at night, when the spiritual energy dissipated and was not so dense, the terrifying Great Demons would stay in their caves with Spirit Gathering Arrays, allowing them to come out, breathe fresh air, and hunt, cultivate in their territory.
However, a few months ago, a group of stinky rats came. Led by the Flame Rat leader, who had just succeeded in Foundation Establishment, they brought a band of followers to seize the territory.
The Ice-winged Eagle leader Yun Mo had a cultivation level somewhat higher than the Flame Rat leader, but he was overwhelmed by the Heaven-Burning Flame. After several bouts, the Ice-winged Eagle lost and was driven out of Lushan, forming a grudge between the parties.
Ironically benefiting from the calamity, the keen-nosed rats seized Lushan because they discovered a Spirit Stone Vein within it. Once they occupied it, they began capturing miners to extract the ore.
Only then did Yun Mo realize that Lushan's rich spiritual energy, suitable for cultivation, was due to the Spirit Stone Vein!
Thinking about how he had long occupied what was essentially a Money Mountain without knowing it, and watching the stinky rats take advantage of it, made him grind his teeth in hatred. Fearful of the flame and unable to overcome it, he didn't want to expose the secret of Lushan and attract the covetous eyes of other Great Demons. So he had to hide with his followers, looking for a way to counter the oppressive power of the Heaven-Burning Flame.
Thankfully, there was the Market!
After extensive inquiry and a lot of money spent, he managed to purchase a Cloak Treasure that could resist the Heaven-Burning Flame, allowing him to reclaim his territory.
Last night, to ensure the success of a surprise attack without leaving loose ends, the Ice-winged Eagle leader Yun Mo and his followers focused on besieging the Flame Rat leader. Since the Ice-winged Eagle is not particularly interested in human flesh, they let the weak, humble human worms escape.
Yun Mo didn't care much about this. He ordered all captured stinky rats to have their Steel Whip Rat Tails chopped off, their Sharp Claws severed, their sharp teeth pulled, and their cultivation techniques abolished, turning them into useless rats forced to mine.
"Without claws and tools, how can we mine?"
"Stop beating us! We're not being lazy; we can't dig it up!"
"Get lost! How dare these buzzing little things bully me? Ah! It's sucking my blood!"
"Wuuu... King, come save us, where are you, King..."
......
The sound of whips echoed through the mine, mixed with the indistinct wailing of the once arrogant Flame Rats. Dragging their bloody, broken bodies, they were chained up and forced to mine barehanded under whips made from their own tails.
They were Flame Rats with a keen sense of smell, not pangolins. How could they possibly scratch through massive rocks without their sharp claws?
Stripped of their cultivation techniques and unable to resist, they were like a tiger fallen from grace, bullied by dogs. Ignored in the past, the buzzing Lu Bats would occasionally sting them, and even the robust bodies of Flame Rats couldn't withstand the constant blood loss. The mine failed to yield even a single stone, instead worming with cries and chaos.
"Are those stinky rats still refusing to work?" Yun Mo, grandly seated on the mountain summit with an old book in his right wing, looked casually down at the noisy mine, the deep blue, sharp eagle eyes flashing coldly.
His subordinate folded its wings respectfully, replying, "My King, those Flame Rats indeed posed no threat after their sharp claws were cut, but they also can't scratch the hard rock, no matter how harshly we beat them."
"Oh?" Yun Mo glanced at the intriguing content of the book, clearly unhappy at being unable to concentrate on it, "How did the stinky rats mine before this?"
He owed a lot of Spirit Stones for buying the Cloak Treasure and urgently needed to mine to repay his debts.
Unexpectedly, despite the smooth recapture process, he failed to notice his nemesis's escape, leaving a hidden peril. Moreover, the captives only shouted without working, did nothing more than scratch the soil, and didn't dig out any stones, let alone Spirit Stones.
At this speed, when will I ever be able to repay the foreign debts?
That stinking rat fled with serious injuries and might come back anytime. I must cultivate stronger to guard the Spirit Stone vein!
"They say they rely entirely on their keen sense of smell to find villages nearby and capture those weak humans to mine the ores. And one crucial point—humans can make tools, which make mining much easier and faster than digging with their claws."
"Let the humans mine?" Yun Mo was momentarily perplexed.
The Ice-winged Eagle doesn't have as keen a sense of smell as the Flame Rat. Although its eagle eyes are sharp enough to spot prey on the ground from a thousand meters up, humans hiding in caves would be totally undetectable.
Moreover, when it flew over last night, it immediately noticed that all the so-called miners were the old, weak, sick, and injured. How could such fragile humans possibly be better at mining than mighty demon beasts?
Thinking it over, it glanced at a scroll, suspecting the cunning stinking rat of deceiving it.
Heh, they must think they can fool me because I don't read much!
Yun Mo had just wanted to order an execution as a warning to others, but then thought better of it. Flapping its wings, it coldly said, "Bring me a stinking rat. I want to hear why these insignificant humans are supposedly formidable. If it can't explain, I'll have it dismembered in front of all the stinking rats. Let's see who dares slack off then!"
With the scroll in its wings, it casually flipped a page and took a Spirit Fruit from its Storage Bag, munching on it with a commanding yet terrifying eagle face that instilled fear among the mice.
Sure enough, when the Flame Rat was brought over and saw this, its wounds ached even more as it trembled in fear, kneeling down immediately. "Spare me, Your Majesty! We, we used to capture humans to mine. They use tools made of iron and wood called pickaxes to extract ores."
"And how much Spirit Stone ore can humans mine in one night?"
"The humans we caught before were too stupid to produce more than a few pieces in one night." The Flame Rat dared not confess the truth about the strong laborers being eaten on some pretext, so it shifted the focus, "Until last night, we captured a blind man who knows about team cooperation and such. I only oversee the mining order; I'm not sure about work arrangements. But since the blind man came, we extracted several dozen ores in one night!"
Yun Mo's slightly squinted eagle eyes instantly widened, gleaming with interest.
Extracting dozens of ores in one night can refine into dozens of Spirit Stones, and at this rate, it won't take long to repay the foreign debts and accumulate a fortune for emergencies.
If funds permit, I could even consider providing benefits for subordinates at the Market, ensuring everyone's cultivation improves and the mine is no longer coveted...
"What does the blind man look like? Where does he live?" With the potential to prosper, Yun Mo's feathers slightly bristled as it patiently inquired.
The Flame Rat responded quickly, "Height similar to mine, wearing coarse cloth, about seventeen or eighteen years old, fair and delicate, holding a stick as a blind cane. Not sure where he was captured, but heard he's an exile. Last night, he escaped with the miners, likely sticking with them. Those miners were captured from the village in the east mountain depression of Lushan!"
"Very well, capturing the blind man counts as a merit for you." Yun Mo waved its wings to have it taken away and called for a confidant with instructions: "Go find the blind man for me, make sure not to harm him. I want to see what makes these insignificant humans impressive. As for those thick-skinned stinking rats, make sure they work hard. If they can't mine any ores, beat them hard!"
After all, they themselves said mining relies mainly on humans, so if demon beasts are that useless, killing them is nothing.
The confidant took the order and hovered in the air, searching for traces of human villages. Sweeping a glance from afar without noticing Jiang Yuan's courtyard protected by the Divine Mountain Statue, it flew eastward.
The Flame Rats, crying and howling in regret, were about to die of remorse; had they known the Ice-winged Eagle would return unafraid of the Heaven-Burning Flame, they wouldn't have plotted against the miners as midnight snacks even if they had to starve.
With more strong laborers, they could mine properly, allowing the Mouse King to save enough Spirit Stones to buy divine weapons at the Market, defeating the Ice-winged Eagle until it never dared return, claiming the mountain as their king without future threats—how wonderful would that be?
Alas, their short-sightedness has led to their downfall, rendering them prisoners with an uncertain future for redemption.
Learning that the Ice-winged Eagle was looking for the blind man favored by the king, they began hoping expectantly as well. After all, the blind man truly has skills. If he can come and guide mining, they'd only need to exert effort without worrying about beatings, scoldings, or getting drained dry by buzzing critters!