CHAPTER 111 (1): AMETHYST SOUL

Bing Qianshan was feeling quite perplexed.

You called me down here, why aren't you saying anything now?

"What do you want?"

"I... I..."

Yuan Jingjiang was in a near catatonic state.

"Master Bing, I'm the one who has something to report," Fang Che declared.

"Fang Che?"

Bing Qianshan was rather taken aback to see this familiar face here.

All of the administrators were astonished.

Master Bing knows Fang Che by name! No wonder Fang Che's so untouchable in the Hall of Protectionists when he has connections like these!

"Can we go somewhere a little more private?" Fang Che asked.

"Sure," Bing Qianshan replied as he lifted Fang Che up by the back of his collar, then quickly vanished into the distance, leaving everyone in a stunned silence.

Bing Qianshan had just picked Fang Che up by the scruff of his neck like some pet! It was reminiscent of how a doting senior of a clan would treat their juniors!

***

"What is it?" Bing Qianshan asked.

"On the way here, we were ambushed by some enemies, who threw out a large blob of Amethyst Honey. Right after that, at least a million Amethyst Bees passed through. Every single one of them was the size of two fists, and the ones leading from the front were roughly the size of human heads!"

"Alright... What're you trying to say?" Bing Qianshan asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Fang Che was stunned into silence. He had thought that this would be enough for Bing Qianshan to connect the dots, but clearly, the latter had no idea what he was trying to imply.

"Crystallinme Purple Bees are usually much smaller, and the fact that the ones here have grown so big indicates that there must be something in this mountain range capable of helping them grow. My guess is that there's a vein of Amethyst Ore in this area."

"Go on," Bing Qianshan prompted as a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

"There's no way that the Church of the Self-Righteous would set off nine volcanoes just for a vein of Amethyst Ore, and it's not like they can take the ore vein away from this place anyway. Hence, I suspect that their objective is to acquire the Amethyst Soul found in the center of large Amethyst Ore veins. Amethyst Soul is considered a priceless treasure for all warriors, and it would justify everything that's happened up to this point!

“Amethyst Ore veins usually exist deep beneath the earth, and they're always accompanied by bodies of underground water. The mountains here are too solid to burrow into, so there's no way for the Church of the Self-Righteous to find out the precise location of the ore vein.

“That's why they've used Flame Demon's power to trigger these volcanic eruptions, using the violent tremors in the earth to scatter the bodies of underground water, thereby revealing the aura of the ore vein. Hence, my guess is that there must be an Amethyst Ore vein in the area, and there's a very good chance it holds Amethyst Soul."

A grim look appeared on Bing Qianshan's face after hearing Fang Che's analysis.

Indeed, this theory was very plausible.

"Is that all you have to say?" Bing Qianshan asked.

"Yes, that's all."

With that, Bing Qianshan picked Fang Che back up by the back of the collar, then returned him to join the rest of the administrators.

All the while, the almighty geyser of water was still spewing out of the mountain summit, and the air temperature continued to plummet, while the entire sky was already filled with dark clouds.

All of a sudden, there was a flash of lightning, followed by a rumbling thunderclap that was accompanied by a torrential downpour.

Bing Qianshan drew his sword, then slashed it through the air a few times to slice all of the molten lava up ahead into several sections.

"Once you're done here, go back right away," he ordered. "There's a very good chance that this place will become a battlefield for the most powerful warriors on both sides, and if you're still here when that happens, then that's going to be very bad news for you!"

"Yes, Master Bing," Fang Che answered in Yuan Jingjiang's stead, seeing as the latter was still too afraid to speak.

In the blink of an eye, Bing Qianshan was already gone.

The falling rain had formed a series of miniature floods, and the heat in the air was rapidly abating.

"Let's get to work. Once we've cleared out a path to the other side, we can call it a day and return to the Hall of Protectionists," Fang Che said.

"Yes, sir!"

Yuan Jingjiang immediately extended a respectful salute as if Fang Che were his direct superior.

"Let's get started," Fang Che said in an exasperated manner.

"Yes, sir!" everyone answered in unison.

Fang Che: "......"

***

Upon reaching the mountain summit, Bing Qianshan immediately activated his communication jade to contact Dongfang Sansan.

"How are things going on your end? Have you managed to source water?" Dongfang Sansan asked.

"We have. There are quite a few underground water veins nearby, and even Xiao Tianshui didn't anticipate it to be this easy," Bing Qianshan replied.

"Have you found anything abnormal on the mountain?"

"I haven't personally, but I've heard that there are abnormally large Amethyst Bees around."

"How big are we talking?"

"The size of human heads."

"I see."

Unlike Bing Qianshan when he was first informed of this by Fang Che, Dongfang Sansan was able to connect the dots right away, and he said, "Stay where you are with Xiao Tianshui. Gu Changhan of the Frost Sword Sect seems to be heading there as well. I'll send Xue Fuxiao and the others right away, and you could be in for a tough battle."

"Understood!"

"Regardless of who the Church of the Self-Righteous sends, Flame Demon must be killed at all costs!"

"Yes, Brother Sansan! By the way, Fang Che was the one who pointed out the connection between the Amethyst Bees and the presence of Amethyst Soul to me. Make sure to mark that down as a contribution under his name."

"That's not something for you to be thinking about."

Bing Qianshan was left scratching his nose in a sheepish manner.

Why can't I consider these things? I'm one of the figureheads of the Guardians!

Bing Qianshan wanted to raise some objections to Dongfang Sansan, but he didn't dare, and in the end, he could only heave a forlorn sigh before returning to his work.

***

After communicating with Bing Qianshan, Dongfang Sansan immediately began to make some arrangements, and there was a slight hint of concern in his eyes.

No wonder the Church of the Self-Righteous sent so many people into the southeast at once. This must've been what they were plotting all along! If we manage to obtain the Amethyst Soul on this occasion, we'll most likely have to make some concessions on how many people we allow to return to the Church of the Self-Righteous.

The most sobering thought of all to Dongfang Sansan was that this Amethyst Ore vein was situated in Guardian territory, yet they had completely failed to discover it, while the Church of the Self-Righteous had somehow managed to track it down so precisely.

Furthermore, even though Fang Che had just made another major contribution, it was once again a contribution that he couldn't be rewarded for as a reward would be more of a curse than a blessing for him.

Up to this point, he had already made several major contributions that had gone unrewarded, and Dongfang Sansan couldn't help but feel a little bad for him.

Thus, he picked up his communication jade, planning to contact Bing Qianshan again, but set it down again after some consideration.

No, I can't entrust this task to him. He can't be trusted to keep any secrets. I'll wait until Fuxiao gets back. He's always reliable, albeit not very bright.

***

Meanwhile, Fang Che and the others were toiling away in the rain.

All of the molten lava had solidified and been severed into chunks by Bing Qianshan, so it had actually become quite easy to take care of. Dozens of administrators would work together to flip over the large chunks one by one, throwing them into the nearby valley to reveal the charred earth underneath.

Before long, the ground in the area had sunken down by several dozen feet.

This also had to be addressed as the average person would have to climb up the steep incline, and they could easily drown in the accumulating rainwater.

After removing the chunks of solidified lava, they smoothed out the terrain, then opened up the other side to drain the water away, and a wide road quickly took shape.

Originally, the path would've only been wide enough for two or three people to pass through side by side, but it was now so wide that dozens of horse-drawn carriages could easily travel alongside each other in a single row.

They continued to clear the way for thirty kilometers, and only after the event did they realize that with just a few slashes of his sword, Bing Qianshan had severed over a hundred kilometers of lava!

Finally, they broke all the way through to the other side, where they were met by a group of disheveled and drenched individuals coming from the other direction.

Both sides momentarily stopped cold in their tracks before the leader of the other group called out, "Is that Battle Hall Master Yuan of the White Cloud Prefecture?"

Yuan Jingjiang was immediately able to identify the person who had just spoken as Battle Hall Master Cao of the White Elephant Prefecture, and he was ecstatic.

Clearly, the administrators of the White Elephant Prefecture had also cleared out a path from their end, and now that the two parties had converged, it meant that their work was done.

Hall Master Cao quickly began making his way toward Yuan Jingjiang, only to abruptly stop in his tracks at the sight of all of the people behind the latter.

In contrast with the hundreds of administrators gathered behind Yuan Jingjiang, there were only several dozen people left on his side, and all of them were carrying various injuries.

"How many people did you originally have, Brother Yuan?"

"About four hundred. They're all here. How about you?"

"We started off with about four hundred people as well," Hall Master Cao replied, on the verge of tears.

The two men fell into a solemn silence.

"Over three hundred comrades, all gone," Hall Master Cao sighed with a broken expression. "How did you manage to keep so many comrades alive, Brother Yuan?"

"We..."

Yuan Jingjiang took a glance at Fang Che, and the latter gave him a slight shake of his head. "We were very fortunate and didn't face much danger on the way here."

Everyone was rather embarrassed by this blatant lie.

If it weren't for Fang Che, they would've ended up with just as many casualties as the White Elephant Prefecture administrators, if not more.