Chapter 76: All Three Sides Were at the Earth Rank!

Under the guidance of the Black Bear of the Profound Rank, Mo Lin followed along the path leading away from the Mountain God Temple.

They had not even crossed a single mountain peak before the Black Bear halted.

What appeared before the Python and the Bear was a mine cave that could only allow a single person to pass through.

The entrance of this mine cave had been deliberately “unintentionally” concealed.

If one were to wander through the mountain aimlessly, they would never notice this mine cave, only assuming it was part of the ordinary mountain scenery.

Without a doubt, these disguises were all the handiwork of the Black Bear.

Mo Lin immediately understood:

“I was wondering, with your Profound Rank strength, it didn’t make sense for you to remain holed up in that Mountain God Temple, tricking a few boys and girls, and rarely leaving.So the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore was right beneath this mountain all along!You’ve been using trickery as a cover, but in truth you’ve been secretly devouring the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore underground, haven’t you?”

Mo Lin mercilessly exposed the Black Bear’s true intent.

The Black Bear gave two dry coughs:

“Money should not be flaunted. Since I possess Purple Crystal Dragon Ore, it’s only natural that I take precautions to prevent others from discovering it. Being cautious is never wrong.”

Mo Lin glanced at him:

“No, it is no longer your Purple Crystal Dragon Ore. Now it is mine.”

With that, Mo Lin’s tail nudged the Black Bear, motioning for him to crawl into the mine cave first.

The Black Bear forced a laugh, squeezing his plump body with difficulty into the narrow passage.

As he wriggled inside, his ursine face flickered with uncertainty:

My Purple Crystal Dragon Ore? Your Purple Crystal Dragon Ore?

No.

Neither.

This Purple Crystal Dragon Ore belonged to the Mountain Lord.

Neither you nor I had any ownership of it.

The Mountain Lord possessed such a vast mine and had strictly forbidden any demonic beast from coveting it.

But I, Buddha, happened to discover the tail end of this Purple Crystal Dragon Ore on this mountain, several li away from the Mountain Lord’s lair.

After finding this opportunity to “snatch food from the tiger’s jaws,” I settled on this nameless hill.

To avoid the Mountain Lord discovering that I was stealing from the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore, I dared not stir up trouble.

For years, I only dared to trick and feast on a few boys and girls at the Mountain God Temple, never daring to cause large disturbances.

Regret glimmered in the Black Bear’s eyes.

Unfortunately, the last time I encountered this brat Mo Lin, I had just broken through to the Upper Profound Rank.

My hands were itching for a fight, so I took the initiative to accompany him outside, also testing whether I could take the chance to kill him.

But I had not expected this Profound Python to be so insane.

Killing the Eagle Demon of Black Wind Stronghold was one thing, but he even slaughtered the entire stronghold of mountain bandits.

That massacre created such a huge commotion that it caught the attention of that donkey-eared monk, Wuzhen.

With the restriction ability of his Earth Rank treasure—the Golden Circlet—I was forced into submission, reduced to a tamed little bear, and could only watch helplessly as the Mountain God Temple I once used, disguised as a shaman, to trick and feast, was converted into a Child-Giving Temple, while that Lustful Monk indulged himself every day.

What was worse, that Lustful Monk even used illusion arts to pry out my greatest secret—the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore.

At first, I wanted to play along, using the ore as bait to lure its true master—the Mountain Lord—so he would kill the greedy Lustful Monk.

But the Lustful Monk was too cunning.

He not only saw through my scheme but also realized the true owner of the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore was none other than the strongest demonic beast within a thousand li of the Yongzhou mountain range—the Mountain Lord.

Wuzhen knew that even with his Upper Profound Rank strength and the Earth Rank treasure Golden Circlet, he was no match for the Mountain Lord.

Yet he could not resist the temptation of the ore, so he wrote to his master Jingchen.

These past two days, whenever Wuzhen was not performing his debauchery at the Child-Giving Temple, he was colluding with his Earth Rank master, plotting how to seize the ore from the Mountain Lord.

Even if Jingchen was an Earth Rank powerhouse, the Black Bear believed he would not have an easy time against the Mountain Lord.

At that time, when those two bald donkeys fought the Mountain Lord, they would surely need to use the Golden Circlet currently on his head.

Once they removed the circlet to deal with the Mountain Lord, he would regain his freedom.

Then, amid the chaos, he might find a chance to slip away.

Yet just as the Black Bear was secretly planning, Mo Lin suddenly reappeared at the Child-Giving Temple after half a year—and shockingly had become an Earth Anaconda.

Wasn’t there a saying: “A snake takes five hundred years to become a python, a python takes five hundred years to become an anaconda”?

This fellow Mo Lin clearly did not have a thousand years of cultivation, did he?

How could he become an Earth Anaconda in just half a year?!

The Black Bear, who had already fallen into despair after being subdued by Mo Lin, suddenly recalled the matter of the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore.

So he decisively concealed part of the truth about the Mountain Lord and the bald donkeys, and revealed the rest to Mo Lin.

If Mo Lin truly followed his advice and also coveted the ore, then the struggle for the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore would turn into a three-way battle between the Mountain Lord, the bald donkeys, and Mo Lin.

Although Mo Lin saw through Wuzhen’s knowledge of the ore, he still did not know about the existence of both the Mountain Lord and Jingchen—both Earth Rank beings.

As for himself, though he was only a Profound Bear, while undoubtedly in danger, he would also gain more chances to seize an opportunity.

As long as he played his cards right, he might yet escape with his life.

Heh heh~

As the Black Bear trudged through the narrow mine cave, he plotted in his heart:

Little snake, Buddha’s things are not so easily coveted.

Did you really think I would hand over such a heaven-defying secret like the Purple Crystal Dragon Ore out of kindness?

When you eventually clash with the Mountain Lord and the bald donkeys, no matter which side perishes, it can only benefit Buddha.

Mo Lin followed behind him.

Though he knew the Black Bear must be scheming, he was confident that an Upper Profound Rank Bear Demon could never stir up trouble under his hand.

He never imagined that this Profound Bear would dare involve himself in a scheme where all three sides were Earth Rank beings.

The mine cave was narrow at first, just wide enough for the bear, but after a few dozen steps it suddenly opened up.

“Pa!”

The Black Bear snapped his fingers, a small flame flaring to life on his fingertip.

Mo Lin glanced at him, and the Black Bear chuckled awkwardly:

“A mere trick, nothing worth mentioning.”

But Mo Lin had no time to spare him any attention, for before his eyes, illuminated by the flame, was an astonishing sight:

The mine cave was vast beyond measure.

Countless shimmering purple crystals glowed with fiery brilliance.

Colossal purple pillars rose from the earth to the mountain ceiling, dividing the entire cavern into separate chambers.

Rather than a mere mountain cave, it was more like a small world with a roof.

And embedded across this small world’s surroundings were none other than Purple Crystal Dragon Ore!

“So much Purple Crystal Dragon Ore...”

Mo Lin swept his gaze around but could not see its end.

Judging by how far the vein stretched, it seemed the ore extended not only beneath the mountain of the Mountain God Temple but also under other mountains as well, stretching perhaps nearly ten li in length.

Mo Lin could not help but marvel.

The Black Bear truly knew how to hide treasures—no wonder he showed little interest in other things.

With such a vast ore deposit, what else could compare?

The only strange thing was—how could such a massive Purple Crystal Dragon Ore vein really have been discovered by the Black Bear alone?

Thinking this, Mo Lin cast a glance at the Black Bear beside him...