Chapter 774: Chapter 774

Ding Fan originally wanted to divert the other party's attention.

The current Nanfeng Mountain was surrounded by Formations, and if one wished to force their way through, it would undoubtedly be very difficult to break through.

But just as Ding Fan was about to lead everyone away, he suddenly noticed that the Formation opposite them was unstable.

Usually, the instability of a Great Formation is primarily due to a problem in the energy supply that powers it.

Could it be that there was indeed a problem with the energy supply of the Great Formation in front of them?

At this point, Ding Fan no longer cared about the reason, if he missed such a heaven-sent opportunity, he didn't know when the next one would come…

"What is your name?" Ding Fan suddenly turned to look at the girl beside him.

The girl was slightly startled. "Why… why are you asking for my name?"

"If you want to see your parents again, stop talking nonsense."

The girl was taken aback, but seeing the seriousness in Ding Fan's words, she eventually spoke her name. "Lan Qier..."

"You all wait for me nearby." Ding Fan dropped these words, then directly launched into Sword Flight toward Nanfeng Mountain opposite him.

The main reason Ding Fan didn't bring Sun Qi and Bai Fangqi with him

was that he still didn't know what the situation inside Nanfeng Mountain was like. Hence, Ding Fan decided to go in alone and take a look.

In this way, if something really happened, Ding Fan could handle it with composure, and with his mid-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, escaping from inside should not be a problem.

Ding Fan took off on his sword.

The girl, including Bai Fangqi beside her, was completely stunned by the sight of Sword Flight, something that existed only in legends, especially Bai Fangqi, who was himself a Heavenly Level cultivator.

Even he, Bai Fangqi, couldn't achieve Sword Flight, and at this moment, Bai Fangqi became even more curious about Ding Fan...

How profound was the cultivation of such a young Ding Fan...

At this time, Ding Fan, disregarding Bai Fangqi, Sun Qi, and the others, launched himself with Sword Control directly toward Nanfeng Mountain.

After scanning with his Divine Sense, Ding Fan found the weakest point in the defense and, after concealing his own aura, he charged directly into the Defensive Array.

Because the Array was terribly unstable and Ding Fan's skill in concealing his aura was extremely clever, his whereabouts were not exposed.

Upon entering Nanfeng Mountain, Ding Fan actually felt a torrent of Spiritual Energy, so dense that his eyes lit up. There was such an abundance of Spiritual Energy here; it seemed that his estimation was not far off. There should indeed be a Spirit Stone Vein around...

Not daring to be careless, Ding Fan swallowed an Invisibility Pearl before he landed, and then cautiously moved forward.

Nanfeng Mountain was extremely steep, and although there were trees all around its peak, there was not a blade of grass on Nanfeng Mountain itself.

This was mainly caused by the dense concentration of Spiritual Energy. The vegetation on Nanfeng Mountain couldn't withstand the wash of dense Spiritual Energy and had withered away…

Ding Fan entered Nanfeng Mountain, and since the reach of his Divine Sense was extremely limited, he could only make his way into the heartland of Nanfeng Mountain.

He hadn't gone far when he suddenly heard the crisp sound of a whip.

Ding Fan immediately crouched down and headed in the direction of the sound.

While en route, Ding Fan encountered several patrolling disciples from the Earth Dragon Sect, but they were clearly unaware that someone had already entered the Array, so these disciples weren't alert at all.

This conveniently benefited Ding Fan. After avoiding several Earth Dragon Sect patrolling disciples, it took less than ten minutes for Ding Fan to arrive at the source of the whipping sounds.

These sounds came from a hollow surrounded by rocks. Inside the hollow, numerous laborers were toiling desperately...

The source of the dense Spiritual Energy was this very place. Ding Fan could now be confident that there was definitely a Spirit Stone Vein here.

Ding Fan surveyed the situation inside the hollow.

All the laborers were covered in bloodstains, their clothes ragged, their limbs shackled by chains of Mysterious Iron...

To the left and right of these laborers were some bodies, making the hollow look like a human hell.

Seeing this, Ding Fan's brow couldn't help but furrow tightly.

Close to the laborers were some overseers wielding long whips. The sound of the whips that echoed earlier came from them.

Ding Fan carefully probed the situation here with his Divine Sense.

To Ding Fan's surprise, the overseers' cultivation here wasn't strong; they were nearly all Human Level Fifth or Sixth Grade Martial Artists.

Because the Spiritual Energy was relatively dense, Ding Fan's Divine Sense couldn't reach too far. At the moment, he could only detect within the range of the hollow.

"You son of a bitch, you're slacking off! Do you want to die?"

Crack, crack, crack… Just at that moment, the sound of whips accompanied by screams came from the distance.

Ding Fan looked toward the source of the noise.

It turned out a middle-aged man had toppled a handcart he was pushing, spilling Raw Crystal Stones all over. Then two overseers started to furiously whip him without stopping...

The so-called Raw Crystal Stones referred to Crystal Stones that had just been excavated.

Ding Fan glanced at the stones; just from that one cartload, their value was quite considerable. Based on the auction house's pricing, those Crystal Stones could fetch at least ten million.

This was far more lucrative than mining Gold.

The Earth Dragon Sect had indeed struck it rich.

Ding Fan had previously heard from Guo Ai that the Earth Dragon Sect had deployed some of their best to this location, reportedly even including two Heavenly Level experts.

Without a clear understanding of the situation, Ding Fan didn't dare to act rashly.

Ding Fan carefully observed the surroundings; at this moment, everyone's attention was on the laborer being whipped, and no one was looking this way.

Seizing this opportunity, Ding Fan's figure flickered, and he directly whisked away one of the overseers.

Carrying the overseer like one might carry a chicken, Ding Fan took him to a deserted place before throwing him to the ground.

"Who... who are you? What do you want to do?"

"Where are the people from the Hundred Herbs Sect right now?" Ding Fan asked indifferently.

"You're from the Hundred Herbs Sect?" The overseer was taken aback...

Ding Fan didn't bother wasting words with the overseer; a Wind Blade cut through the air, aimed to kill.

With a squelch... the overseer's arm was cleanly severed by Ding Fan.

The overseer hadn't expected Ding Fan to be so domineering; before he could finish his sentence, his arm was chopped off. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚫𝙣𝙚𝙩

"More nonsense, and your head is next."

"Ah... The people from the Hundred Herbs Sect... they're all down in the mines..." The overseer didn't dare to speak out of turn, promptly revealing everything.

"Where are the masters of the Earth Dragon Sect?"

The spiritual energy here was dense, and Ding Fan couldn't detect the conditions through his Divine Sense. Therefore, to understand the situation, he had to learn it from the overseer before him.

"The Jade Dragon is about to crumble; all the masters from the Sects are there, including the Old Sect Leader and the Young Sect Master..."

"What is that?" Ding Fan inquired.

"The Jade Dragon is a long dragon carved from jade that supports the mountain ridge of Nanfeng Mountain. The Jade Dragon was accidentally damaged during ore mining, resulting in near-collapses of Nanfeng Mountain several times... Now the top figures of the Earth Dragon Sect are desperately trying to support it, hoping to hold out for a little longer."

Although the overseer was concise, Ding Fan understood the gravity of the situation.

There was a dragon sculpture from jade supporting the entire mountain ridge, and if the Jade Dragon were to be destroyed, the whole of Nanfeng Mountain would collapse.

And if Nanfeng Mountain completely collapsed and sank into the ground, the vein of spirit stones would no longer exist.

Hence, the Earth Dragon Sect was attempting to support it as long as possible to mine more crystal stones.

At this moment, Ding Fan also understood why the Great Formation protecting Nanfeng Mountain had been affected just now.

It must have been due to the damage to the Jade Dragon, which, in turn, affected the Great Formation.

A Hand Blade sliced through the air, and Ding Fan killed the overseer.

As a minor character, he knew limited information; asking more would be pointless. The rest of the matters required personal investigation.

Having killed the overseer, Ding Fan then summoned Duorou.

Understanding Ding Fan's intent immediately, Duorou transformed into the likeness of the overseer that had just been killed.

After altering his appearance, Ding Fan used a Fireball to incinerate the overseer's corpse, then returned to the overseers' work site once more.

The commotion at the site meant no one noticed Ding Fan had taken an overseer away.

"Lao Wu, that's enough; we're still rushing here. A lesson is fine," someone shouted to the overseer who was still viciously whipping the laborers with his whip.

Upon hearing this, that overseer finally put away his whip. After cursing and grumbling, he let the laborer off.

Now, Ding Fan's primary objective was to find the people from the Hundred Herbs Sect. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he headed toward the mines.

"Wang Ming... where are you going?" At that moment, another overseer stopped Ding Fan.

"I'm checking if anyone is slacking off inside..." Ding Fan casually replied.

That person didn't suspect anything and let Ding Fan go.

Ding Fan entered the mine.

The so-called mine was a narrow passage that only two people could pass through shoulder to shoulder, and there were constantly people pushing carts coming up from below.

As Ding Fan walked down the mine, laborers who encountered him looked like they had seen a plague god, not daring to even raise their heads.

After walking down about a hundred meters, Ding Fan came to a fork in the path, where two guards were stationed.

Since Ding Fan had transformed into the appearance of an overseer, the two guards didn't recognize him.

At this fork, one path had laborers continuously pushing ore out, while the other was much quieter.

Boom... A violent sound emanated from the quiet path at that moment.

Dirt showered down inside the tunnel for a while.

Here, Ding Fan's Divine Sense was powerless to detect what was happening on the other side, but one thing was certain— that passage was likely related to the Jade Dragon.

Ding Fan didn't head toward the quiet passage; instead, he continued walking along the path where laborers were pushing spirit stones.

Along the way, these laborers were like ants, one closely following another.

By now, Ding Fan also began to understand why Lan Qier's parents had been captured and brought here—it seemed that the Jade Dragon was on the verge of collapse, so people were frantically conscripted to work here.

Ding Fan walked on and, after about fifteen more minutes, finally arrived at a slightly more spacious cavern.

Upon reaching the cavern, Ding Fan's eyes widened in astonishment.