In the dim stone cave, Xia Yinyin had some nightmare, but her body lying on the wooden board shook in fear.

Shi Wu, on the other side of the cave, heard the movement and opened his eyes to Xia Yinyin, who was curled up on the wooden board as if she was injured. He couldn't help but think about what she had said before. If he could only rely on lying to gain benefits to support his elders, would he also embark on the same path as her?

When Shi Wu stared at Xia Yinyin and thought about this question, Xia Yinyin on the wooden board also woke up. The moment the two of them had eyes met, Shi Wu's eyes were calm, while Xia Yinyin's eyes were alert.

Xia Yinyin first grabbed the bag of dry food on her hand. After confirming that Shi Wu had not moved, she sat up in caution and leaned back against the stone wall.

"What do you think of me?" Xia Yinyin asked.

Shi Wu replied: "It's nothing, I just think you look pretty good without pretending to be a little beggar."

When Xia Yinyin heard Shi Wu praise her, she said more cautiously: "If you have nothing to do, you will be either a traitor or a thief!"

Shi Wu laughed and said, "Since you wake up, just eat some dry food first. In another hour, Manager Wu will take us over to refine the Lingquan Stone."

Seeing that Shi Wu was not carrying any pot, Xia Yinyin said with a frown: "Do you hate yourself so much? Do you know what those spiritual spring stones are?"

Shi Wu had a slight understanding: "The girl said before that it was refined with the spiritual roots of a cultivator, but I don't know how to refine it. The girl might as well tell me so that I can be prepared."

Xia Yinyin took out a pancake from the bag of dry food and said while eating, "You are really ignorant and fearless. To put it bluntly, the city lord used his special magic weapon Linglong jade box with the Lingquan to peel off the spiritual roots of the refined person in the magic weapon. Finally, the spiritual spring stone in the Linglong jade box will be sold to the wealthy children of the aristocratic families at a high price to nourish their spiritual roots."

Shi Wu frowned and said, "If you city lord does such a bad thing, no one will resist?"

"Resist? How to resist? Think about how you came in." Xia Yinyin said, chewing the bread in her mouth.

Shi Wu replied: "You and Xu Da tricked them in."

Xia Yinyin choked by Shi Wu's words, patted her back and said, "Bah! You sneaked into Lingquan City with me and were caught on the spot, and there were also images of shadow stones as evidence. So how do you resist? Our city lord's famous saying is that if you have reason, you can travel all over the world, but if you are unreasonable, he will not be afraid of it. He occupies the word "reason" everywhere, even if there is someone behind you, he will not be afraid."

Shi Wu said in amazement: "You city lord is a smart person."

"He is not just a smart person, he is a personal spirit. He has used these spiritual spring stones to make friends with those powerful sects. Do you know the leader of Lianyi of Tianmin Sect?" Xia Yinyin asked.

Shi Wu remembered the Sun Ming Dynasty ceremony, and Gongsun Ye fought against Ten Infants, there was a corruption among the ten infants. His magic flute sound also caused some trouble to Gongsun Ye. Shi Wu nodded and said, "I met once."

When Xia Yinyin saw that Shi Wu was really like seeing Lian Yi, she asked, "By the way, I didn't have time to ask you, what is your name and where is your master?"

In order to prevent the mistake, Shi Wu said to Zhan’s identity: “I am Yu Zhan, the elder of the Wulu Sect in the middle of the outer hidden world.”

Seeing that Shi Wu was able to be an elder in the early stage of foundation building, Xia Yinyin felt that the Five Talismen were nothing more than this. She continued, "Then Lian Yi is the great backer of our city lord. The fire-attributed spiritual spring stone on the son of Lian Yi was obtained by our city lord for his efforts."

After saying that, Xia Yinyin said enviously: "How great it would be if I had such a powerful father and mother!"

Shi Wu was unwilling to investigate other people's privacy, so he just said, "Didn't Manager Wu say that, it's all fate."

Xia Yinyin curled her lips and said, "Hmph! I don't believe in fate! I only believe in spirit stones and cultivation!"

Shi Wu smiled and said, "I believe these two are good."

Xia Yinyin felt that Shi Wu was not as annoying as before, so she asked: "You said you came from the middle of the outer hidden world. Have you started traveling to the outer hidden world at the beginning of the foundation building?"

Shi Wu scratched his head and said, "Isn't this my brother in my family wanting me to go out for more experience, and have a long experience."

"Okay, I guess your brother will regret it this time. When your medium-grade fire spirit roots are all refined into spiritual spring stones, you can go back and scold him, and then enjoy the silence in the Wulu Gate and wait for death." Xia Yinyin said sarcastically.

Shi Wu said with a sad expression: "My brother has already said that he has disappeared."

Seeing that Shi Wu's expression was not as fake, Xia Yinyin felt guilty and said, "I didn't do it on purpose."

Shi Wu shook his head and said, "It's okay."

"Don't do this." Xia Yinyin could see that the brother Shi Wu said must be very important to him, so she asked, "Have you helped your brother revenge?"

Shi Wu replied: "Not yet, the place is a bit far away, but I will definitely pass by."

Seeing that Shi Wu had forgotten that he was going to use his spiritual roots to refine the spiritual spring stones later, Xia Yinyin didn't mention it and said, "We are sharing weal and woe. After we go out, I'll invite you to my house for a good meal."

Shi Wu laughed and said, "You are not that bad. You just asked me why you see you. Actually, I was thinking at that time, if I could only rely on lying to support my elders, would I go on the same path as you."

Xia Yinyin met someone who put her in her shoes for the first time. She raised her head and tried not to let her tears fall. She ate another bite of the bread and said to herself, "In the end, she was sold to this stone refining site."

Shi Wu changed the topic and said, "Will you always attract people with spiritual springs?"

Xia Yinyin quietly wiped away the tears from both sides and said, "It was not before. Ten years ago, our current city lord Xia Wenzhu replaced this city with three mid-stage Nascent Soul magic weapons and three early-stage Nascent Soul magic weapons. At that time, everyone thought Xia Wenzhu was crazy. So many good things at the Nascent Soul level would take so many years of profit to earn back. But what everyone didn't expect was that since Xia Wenzhu came, spiritual springs have been constantly emerging in the city. Xia Wenzhu changed the name of the city to Lingquan City. He is indeed a talented person, since Lingquan City is famous outside. He has planned clearly which spiritual springs in the city are used as place of cultivation and which spiritual springs are used for personal friendship. Just like the dozen spiritual springs dug up recently, it can bring him a considerable amount of wealth."

Shi Wu was interested and said, "It turns out that cities in the outer hidden world can still be bought and sold?"

"Well. Most of the people who buy these cities are old monsters with stagnant cultivation above the Nascent Soul. They just want to feel the feeling of being a local emperor." Xia Yinyin said with longing on her face.

Shi Wu saw Xia Yinyin’s thoughts and asked, “Do you want to be the city lord too?”

Xia Yinyin was not afraid of Shi Wu's joke and admitted: "It's not just me, the biggest wish of many people in this city in this life is to be the lord of a city."

Shi Wu asked, "With your cultivation level, aren't you afraid of others robbing me?"

Xia Yinyin said: "I have inquired about it. Every city will have a unique defensive magic array, and the array eye magic weapon is the City Lord Order. As long as the City Lord Order is in hand, I will not be afraid."

Xia Yinyin became sad again as she spoke. She was about to be stripped of her spiritual roots. Why are she talking about the dream of becoming a city lord?

Seeing Xia Yinyin's depressed look, Shi Wu stopped asking her about Lingquan. He encouraged her and said, "There is no way out. Maybe God is just punishing what you do in front of you. It will not be so cruel to you."

Xia Yinyin lowered her head and said, "If God can keep my spiritual roots this time, I will never do such conscience-abiding things again."

Shi Wu smiled and said, "This is what you said, God is listening to it."

Xia Yinyin really didn't know whether Shi Wu was optimistic or simple. She sighed: "Yu Zhan, Yu Zhan, I would have been so open-minded as you."

While Xia Yinyin was talking, the door of their stone cave opened.

Wu Xiong outside saw Xia Yinyin eating dry food, he laughed and said, "That's right. If you can eat, it means you're almost recovering. Let's go, it's time to put out your strength after you're full."

Shi Wu stood up first when he heard this, and Xia Yinyin stood up reluctantly.

After the two left the stone room, the stone door closed on its own.

Wu Xiong led the roadside in front and said to Xia Yinyin: "Yinyin, don't say that Uncle Wu doesn't care about you. Zhao Tong said hello to me. You can leave the stone refining site as long as you last nine days. How many spiritual roots you have left by then depends on your own luck."

Xia Yinyin was hit on the head by this unexpected joy and said excitedly: "Really? Thank you Uncle Wu! Thank you Brother Zhao!"

Wu Xiong nodded with satisfaction. Seeing that Shi Wu was still walking silently, he asked, "By the way, I don't know what your name is."

Shi Wudao: "The following is called Yu Zhan, and Manager Wu just needs to call me Xiaoyu."

Wu Xiong smiled and said, "Xiao Yu, for some reason, I see you as if I see my own nephew. My principle is that if others don't cause trouble for me, I will definitely give others convenience. Don't let me down."

Shi Wu bowed and said, "Thank you, Uncle Wu for your advice."

Wu Xiong had a good impression of Shi Wu. He even wanted the people who were caught in as gentle as Shi Wu, so they would save much more effort by refining stones.

Wu Xiong took Shi Wu and Xia Yinyin to an underground spring about a hundred feet wide. A middle-aged man with a sallow complexion was already waiting here.

Wu Xiong's expression changed and he hurried forward and bowed: "Senior Brother Zhang, why are you here?"

Seeing this, Xia Yinyin and Shi Wu both bowed, but Xia Yinyin's body was trembling uncontrollably.

The middle-aged man with a waxy complexion looked at Shi Wu and then looked at Xia Yinyin. He said, "The rules of all the stone refining institutes in our stone refining are not whatever those people outside say."

Wu Xiong burst into cold sweat on his forehead and said, "Senior Brother Zhang must have misunderstood."

The middle-aged man handed over a storage bag and said, "I don't care whether I misunderstand it, I only believe in the Spirit Spring Stone. There are five medium-grade fire spirit roots and two low-grade water spirit roots Linglong jade boxes. This is the number of Spirit Spring Stones that the two of them must refine before they left."

Wu Xiong quickly took the storage bag and said, "I understand!"

At this moment, the middle-aged man's voice transmission jade pendant lit up. After he picked it up, he heard a hurried voice from inside, saying, "Senior Brother Zhang Li, the old guy with the top-grade earth spirit root in the late stage of the Jindan is stubborn again, come here quickly."

A layer of anger surged on Zhang Li's face, and he said to Wu Xiong: "This spiritual spring is not big, so you can be responsible for the refining of these two people here."

Wu Xiong replied respectfully: "Sir, obey the order!"

As soon as Zhang Li walked away, Wu Xiong wiped his forehead and said coldly, "This evil ghost Zhang is so well-informed. I took Zhao Tong's spirit stone for the front foot, and he gave me the right foot. But how could I enjoy me Wu Xiong? Those powerful old guys in the big spring are enough to make you tired!"

Wu Xiong snorted and took out a rocking chair from the storage bag. After lying on it, he took out two jade boxes, one red and one blue from the storage bag given by Zhang Li. Wu Xiong first handed the red jade box much larger than the blue jade box to Shi Wu and said, "This is Linglong jade box. After you wait and put your hands on both sides of the jade box, calm your heart and calm down and suck the spiritual power in the spiritual spring into your body."

Shi Wu was stunned when he heard this, and he didn't even pick up the red jade box in Wu Xiong's hand.

Wu Xiong thought Shi Wu was going to resist in the face of the battle, but just as he was about to act like a fool, Shi Wu took the initiative to say, "Manager Wu, aren't these spiritual springs going to be sold by bids? It's not good for us to absorb the spiritual power in advance like this."

Wu Xiong was amused by Shi Wu's words, and Xia Yinyin, who was beside him, really wanted to go over and kick Shi Wu. Wu Xiong pointed at Xia Yinyin and said to Shi Wu: "Xiaoyu, you are too honest. If you have time, you should learn more from Yinyin. Since this spiritual spring is all about to be bid for sale, wouldn't it be better for our city lord to use this spiritual spring to refine a few spiritual spring stones first? There is so much spiritual power in this spiritual spring. The more you suck it hard, the more you suck, the more you suck the spirit stone pattern on the Linglong jade box will become more obvious. When the spirit stone pattern above the jade box is fully displayed, then the spiritual spring stone will be refined."

"Ah?" Shi Wuhui said stunned, "That's all right? Shouldn't you open it and check it out before confirming it?"

Wu Xiong laughed and said, "You don't have to worry about this. The city lord doesn't allow us to open the Linglong jade box. And as long as the spirit stone pattern above appears, the spiritual spring stone inside must be refined intact. This is something that has never happened before. By the way, Zhang Li took five red jade boxes and two blue jade boxes. Do you know what it means?"

Shi Wu shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Wu Xiong explained: "This is the number of spiritual spring stones that you can usually refine in the middle-grade fire spirit roots. Yinyin's low-grade water spirit roots are usually three. Zhang Li still gave Zhao Tong some face and only brought two Linglong jade boxes of low-grade water spirit roots. Okay, you go down to refine the spiritual spring stones. You can only refine it for one hour a day, and you can't stand it after a long time."

Shi Wu suddenly realized, "So that's the case, then I understand."

Shi Wu took the red jade box and rushed into the spiritual spring in front.

Xia Yinyin, who was still resistant, really wanted to ask Shi Wu if there was a problem with her brain, and there was no such person who could not match her spiritual roots. But she didn't care about Shi Wu anymore. Since the number of spiritual spring stones she refined was determined by Zhang Li, she could not change it. She also took the blue jade box and walked towards Lingquan.

"Wait!" Wu Xiong suddenly called Shi Wu and Xia Yinyin.

Shi Wu held his breath and concentrated on his mind thinking that Wu Xiong had discovered something, and discussed countermeasures with the spirit of heavenly tribulation in his body. Xia Yinyin thought that Wu Xiong had changed his mind temporarily and was not ready to let her go.

Unexpectedly, Wu Xiong took out an exquisite teapot from the storage bag and scooped a pot of spiritual spring water in the spiritual spring one by one. He smiled and said to the two: "This kind of first spring water is the best for making spiritual tea. Okay, you can go in."

Shi Wu was shocked and bowed to Wu Xiong, and then slowly entered the spiritual spring. Xia Yinyin cursed Wu Xiong in her heart with disappointment and said that it was a lot of trouble.

Seeing that Shi Wu and Xia Yinyin had both entered the spiritual spring and started to refine the spiritual spring stone, Wu Xiong took out the soul tray from the storage bag and placed it on the recliner beside it, then took some spiritual tea leaves and put it into the teapot. While cooking tea with fire-driven techniques, he said, "This is the beauty."

Shi Wu took the Linglong jade box and came to the center of the spiritual spring. He placed his hands on both sides of the jade box, and then he felt that two tentacles were stretched out from the jade box to connect his palms. At the same time, in the thunder-type spiritual vein created by the spirit body of the heavenly tribulation, the soul-exploring needle began to stimulate the spiritual veins constantly, trying to urge Shi Wu to absorb spiritual power and inject it into the jade box.
To be continued...