BTTH: I have a key to travel to Wu Dong Qian Kun.

Chapter 11: Qing Tan

When Xiao Tian returned to the surface, he saw a large number of people facing off outside Ironwood Village. One group was from the Lin family, and the other was from the Lei family.

Seeing this, Xiao Tian flew over to them.

"Senior!" Lin Xiao immediately greeted Xiao Tian with a salute. "I have gathered the people."

"Greetings, Senior!" The Lin family members dismounted and saluted as well.

At that moment, a figure emerged from the Lei family's group and addressed Xiao Tian, "Senior, Ironwood Village has been diligently managed by my Lei family. Isn't it too much to just take it from us?"

"In the world of cultivation, the strong are always respected. So what if I bully you?" Xiao Tian replied arrogantly, hands behind his back. "Besides, your Lei family attacked me first. It's already merciful that I didn't destroy your entire family."

Hearing this, the man grabbed a Lei family member beside him and asked, "Is this true?"

"We attacked first, but... but..." Before he could finish, the man threw him to the ground and reluctantly bowed to Xiao Tian. "Thank you, Senior, for sparing us. This matter is our Lei family's fault."

He then waved to the Lei family members, "Let's go!"

The Lei family left in disgrace.

After they were gone, Xiao Tian looked at the Lin family members. "There are not many of you here."

An elder stepped forward and asked, "Senior, what do you need us to do?"

"There is a Yang Yuan stone vein here. Your task is to mine the Yang Yuan stones for me," Xiao Tian said calmly. "Don't worry, you will be well compensated. Your reward will be this Ironwood Village and Yang Yuan Pills equivalent to twenty percent of the Yang Yuan stones mined."

Though twenty percent seemed like a lot, Xiao Tian wouldn't even need to give them ten percent. Ordinary people required ten Yang Yuan stones to make one Yang Yuan Pill, but with the stone talisman, he only needed three stones.

"What? A Yang Yuan stone vein? And you'll give us twenty percent?" The Lin family members were stunned, but soon their surprise turned to joy. With these Yang Yuan stones, the Lin family's power would increase significantly.

The Lin family head, Lin Zhentian, knelt on one knee and respectfully said, "I, Lin Zhentian, thank Senior on behalf of the Lin family!"

"We thank Senior for his great kindness!" The other Lin family members followed suit, kneeling on one knee.

"Someone needs to go back and gather more people. The rest of you follow me," Xiao Tian instructed, leading the way.

Lin Zhentian ordered someone to go back and then personally led the team to follow Xiao Tian.

Soon, they arrived at the pit.

Seeing the exposed Yang Yuan stone vein, the Lin family members were speechless.

"This is a storage ring. Just infuse it with energy to use it," Xiao Tian said, tossing a low-level spatial ring to Lin Zhentian. "Start mining here. Put the Yang Yuan stones in the storage ring. I'll pay you with Yang Yuan Pills later. Now, I need to go cultivate. I'll check back in a while."

With that, Xiao Tian disappeared.

Finding a secluded spot, Xiao Tian opened the gate and returned to the Xiao family's back mountain.

After greeting his family, Xiao Tian returned to the cave.

"Swish!" He waved his sleeve, and a dozen Yang Yuan stones appeared on the ground—stones he had collected earlier.

Xiao Tian sat cross-legged and began using the stone talisman to extract Yang Yuan Pills.

Moments later, five red Yang Yuan Pills appeared in his hand.

"Time to increase my strength!" Xiao Tian swallowed one Yang Yuan Pill and closed his eyes.

As cultivation progresses, the required amount of energy increases. After absorbing the five Yang Yuan Pills, Xiao Tian's strength increased by three stars, making him a Six-Star Battle Disciple.

In just a few days, he had progressed from a Two-Star Battle Disciple to a Six-Star Battle Disciple—a cultivation speed that would make anyone envious.

"It's time to collect the Yang Yuan stones," Xiao Tian thought, activating the key and opening the gate.

Upon entering the space, he noticed something new about the exit door. There were now two images: one of a cliff and the other of Ironwood Village's back mountain.

"So it can not only traverse two worlds but also mark locations!" Xiao Tian was thrilled. It was like a teleportation flag in a game, allowing instant travel to marked places.

He selected the image of Ironwood Village's back mountain and opened the door.

...

Ironwood Village.

Back mountain.

Yang Yuan stone vein.

Lin family members were busy mining Yang Yuan stones. The reddish rock layer was not all Yang Yuan stones; they were failed condensations with little energy. Only the deeper, gem-like stones were true Yang Yuan stones.

Xiao Tian, focused on his cultivation, left the mining to the Lin family to repay them in part for Lin Dong.

As he landed, Lin Dong approached anxiously. "Senior, can you help my sister?"

"What happened?" Xiao Tian asked, suspecting it might be Qing Tan's condition flaring up.

Lin Dong pleaded, "My sister has a strange illness that suddenly flared up. Can you help her?"

"Where is she?" Xiao Tian asked.

Lin Dong pointed to a nearby pit. "Over there, where the Yang Qi is stronger. It helps alleviate her symptoms."

They walked to the pit, where a girl of about thirteen or fourteen lay on a mat. Despite her simple clothes, her delicate, lively face and large, bright eyes made her look extremely cute. However, her face was pale, and visible cold mist emanated from her, clashing with the surrounding Yang Qi.

Xiao Tian placed the stone talisman on Qing Tan.

"Buzz!"

A strange suction force emerged, drawing out all the cold Qi from Qing Tan and condensing it into three pea-sized white crystals.

"Umm~" As the cold Qi vanished, Qing Tan woke up with a soft groan, blinking in confusion. "Huh? My cold Qi subsided so quickly?"

(End of Chapter)