As Lin Shiming made a move, Lin Shiyi and Lin Houyong, who were already prepared outside, rushed out with great speed.

Following behind them, was a group of Qi Cultivators from the Lin Family.

The ambush and pursuit had long been planned.

But what entered their sight was not the duel between Lin Shiming and the Gold Devouring Rat.

Instead, it was the corpses of four Third Rank Gold Devouring Rats, as well as the Second Rank Gold Devouring Rats wailing all over the ground, bleeding unstoppably from their ears.

And just then, Lin Shiming had just withdrawn his Magic Artifact.

Lin Shijie and Lin Houyong''s understanding of Lin Shiming''s strength was elevated once again.

They too had encountered these Third Rank Gold Devouring Rats before, and had fought them a few times, but were unable to kill them. However, since the rats'' attacks lacked variety, they also couldn''t harm the two.

But they were completely unable to stop the Gold Devouring Rats from escaping.

From the moment Lin Shiming launched his attack to when they arrived, he had eradicated the four rats with lightning speed. It all happened in less than five breaths!

Such strength was something that even ordinary cultivators at the later stage of Foundation Establishment might not be able to achieve!

At that moment, Lin Shijie and Lin Houyong, with nothing else to do, chopped off the heads of the Second Rank Gold Devouring Rats with ruptured eardrums.

Meanwhile, Lin Shiming walked to the depths of the mine, where half of a Golden Iron Crystal still remained on the ground.

Massive bite marks were clearly imprinted on it, revealing the golden color of the crystal''s interior.

The Golden Iron Crystal was incredibly gorgeous. It looked like a piece of red-hot iron, but it was even more lustrous and transparent, extraordinarily beautiful.

Of course, the real value of the Golden Iron Crystal was its ability to increase the hardness of Magic Artifacts; as far as cultivation materials went, it was extremely expensive.

An Intermediate Grade Golden Iron Stone was about one hundred Spirit Stones, while the price of a Third Rank Golden Iron Crystal was over ten times that, costing a thousand Spirit Stones for a single piece.

If combined with some other materials, it could easily refine a Magic Artifact of the Third Rank Intermediate Grade without any issue.

By this time, Lin Shijie and Lin Houyong also looked over, and the stunning appearance of the Golden Iron Crystal amazed them as well.

They each took the Golden Iron Crystal and examined it for a while before looking deeper into the mine.

Their eyes shone brightly; the vein of Golden Iron Stone was considerable. It was only a question of whether the Golden Iron Crystal was an exception or part of the vein.

But the latter seemed quite probable, or else the Third Rank Gold Devouring Rats wouldn''t have appeared.

With the value of the Golden Iron Crystal, just ten pieces could bring in a revenue of ten thousand Spirit Stones. Even a small vein of Golden Iron Crystal could significantly improve the Lin Family''s finances.

In an expanse of yellow desiccated Spirit Grass, over a dozen pups were gnawing crunchily on the Golden Iron Stone.

At the entrance, two yellow Gold Devouring Rats bared their teeth and grimaced at Lin Shiming, continuously warning him.

They were slain by Lin Shiming on the spot.

The remaining dozen or so Gold Devouring Rat pups were all taken away.

The group then continued back to Stone Ridge Cave.

With a dozen or so pups laid out before them, it was natural to select corresponding mining cultivators to establish Blood Covenants, and rear these Gold Devouring Rats.

At the same time, they also had to arrange the future defense of Stone Ridge Cave

The original formation simply wouldn''t do, it also had to be replaced with a more formidable Third Rank Mountain Protection Array.

"Uncle Five, distribute these Gold Devouring Rats!" Lin Shiming said to Lin Houyong.

Having found Third Rank Golden Iron Crystal, Stone Ridge Cave must also be manned by Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The Lin Family''s sites that needed to be overseen were always rotated by Foundation Establishment cultivators, with a term of ten years.

At present, the only Foundation Establishment cultivators available to oversee different places for the Lin Family were Lin Houyuan, Lin Houyong, and Lin Shijie.

Lin Houyuan had just returned from Zhao Kingdom and needed to make a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage; Lin Shijie was also close, and had already stayed in Lingnan County for more than a decade.

The places overseen by the Lin Family were two: Xing County Market and Nanling Mountain, now there was an additional Stone Ridge Cave.

"Don''t worry!" Lin Houyuan nodded his head, the mine had been his responsibility from the beginning, and he was more suitable for arranging the Spirit Rats.

"When Uncle Two and Lin Shiyi, Lin Houwei are ready for their breakthroughs, they can come to replace you!" Lin Shiming spoke again.

This statement left Lin Houyong somewhat dumbfounded, with Lin Shijie also wearing a look of confusion.

It was normal for Lin Shiyi and Lin Houwei to be on the verge of breakthroughs, but Lin Houshou was already over sixty years old.

Shiming could only start explaining the situation with the Dragon Blood Pill one by one.

After the explanation, it drew surprise and continuous exclamations from both of them.

"By the way, Uncle Five, Elder Brother, have you ever seen the location on this map?" After making all the arrangements, Lin Shiming brought out the treasure map he had obtained earlier.

As soon as the map was produced, Lin Shijie was somewhat astonished; the map seemed rather casual.

However, Lin Houyong''s expression changed:

"I''ve seen it, the place is still vivid in my memory!"