"Hahaha...this is going to be good."
"Do you fools really think that kid of unknown origin can defeat Lord Apostle?"
The surrounding miners gloated. Every time a newcomer was thrown in, there were always those who led a resistance, but they all ended up the same way. It was quite an achievement that this one managed to escape.
"It seems we're a step too late. That guy escaped before we could seal off the mining area." The Ten-Star Apostle hadn't sensed the intruder's presence. It has to be said that the other party escaped very decisively. The moment they entered, the space would freeze, and the other party wouldn't be able to escape.
"Hmph! You ran fast!" The two-star apostle was indignant. His arm had recovered completely, but he had become a laughing stock.
“That guy seems to have a few followers in this mine. Should we punish them as an example to deter others?” suggested a one-star apostle.
"Punish what? Those people are the kind who would rather die than work. I think we should let them be supervisors instead. Why waste supervisor positions on those mining slaves who are willing to mine?" The three-star apostle said something astonishing.
But the other apostles thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case. There was a shortage of miners, so having the existing overseers go to work in the mines was a good solution. Those who didn't want to work in the mines could become overseers.
"Well, let's leave this matter to One Star and Two Star. If they don't know what's good for them, then just kill them." The Ten Star Apostle made the final decision.
At this moment, the Nine Star Apostle spoke up, "Those cultivators have profound and mysterious magic, and some of them may possess heaven-defying concealment abilities. Perhaps they are still in this space. Why don't we spend a little more time to thoroughly search the entire mine?"
“That’s right, it’s better to be cautious. Our magic stone mine is heavily fortified. It’s not something you can just come and go as you please. Didn’t we reinforce the plane before we came? No matter how strong the opponent is, they won’t be able to leave this place.” The Eight-Star Apostle agreed.
“That makes sense. I think we should bombard the entire mine with low-damage attack spells. No matter how powerful the concealment magic is, it will eventually be revealed if it gets attacked,” Seven Stars agreed.
"Hmm, I think Ten Star could use this time to do some divination, just in case the other party can also evade our search?" Six Star suggested.
"Then let's do it this way, everyone split up." The Ten-Star Apostle frowned. His senses were rarely wrong, and besides, the others hadn't sensed anything either, but it was always better to be cautious.
"Alright!" the apostles agreed in unison, each taking charge of a designated area to search for the suspects.
The ten stars hovered high in the sky and began divination, while the one-star apostle flew above Meng Gu and the others and asked, "Where is that traitor?"
"I don't know." Meng Gu glared at the other party.
"He escaped!" a miner said angrily, making no attempt to cover for Xiang Yu.
“Yeah, that guy escaped. Kill him if you want, I’m not going to mine!” another miner chimed in.
The one-star apostle looked at these people and they really did seem abandoned. "That guy has already escaped and dares not come back. Do you want to go back to prison or become overseers?"
Meng Gu and the others' eyes widened. "You're asking us to be the supervisors?"
“That’s right,” the one-star apostle replied affirmatively.
The miners nearby were outraged; it was utterly outrageous!
“My Lord Apostle, these are all accomplices of the rebels. Shouldn’t they be killed as a warning to others? We are loyal to you, my Lord Apostle. Shouldn’t we be rewarded with the position of overseer?”
The one-star apostle frowned. "I've sent a few of you to be supervisors. Can you guarantee that these people will actually go mining?"
"Uh, this..." The miners were speechless. These troublemakers were the type who would rather die than go mining. Didn't the overseers have no way to deal with these people before?
The one-star apostle turned to Meng Gu and asked, "Can you guarantee that they will obediently mine?"
“Yes!” Meng Gu smiled slightly at the miners. “If they don’t work properly, I’ll skin them alive. Whoever starts it will be the first one to be skinned alive.”
"Very good, this is how to use the staff. If these people don't listen and work properly, I think you should know what to do. But I must remind you, if you don't hand over the magic stones by the due date, what awaits you overseers will not be as simple as death!"
After saying this, Yi Xing muttered some incantations, and tiny runes floated out of his mouth and merged into the brows of Meng Gu and the others.
The first half of the magic incantation was to revoke the previous authorization, while the second half was to grant Mengu and others the abilities of low-level mages, which was enough to deal with these ordinary mine slaves.
"Hahaha..." Meng Gu laughed excitedly. This was the power he hadn't felt in so long!
"You'd better watch yourself." After saying that, Yi Xing released a circle of magical waves around him, which instantly knocked all the surrounding mine slaves to the ground. Only Meng Gu and the other overseers were still standing there.
Then, the one-star apostle flew up to join the other apostles. They had just thoroughly searched the entire mine but had not found any trace of Xiang Yu.
The Ten Star Apostles also completed their divination, and the result was the same as their premonition: the intruders had already left.
"Let's go back." The Ten Star Apostles disliked the environment of the mining area and thought it best to return as soon as possible. They wouldn't be affected much in the short term, but staying there for a long time would be bad for their health.
Although the Nine Star Apostles still felt it was impossible, they had no other choice. Next, they had to find the reason from the outside, and they absolutely had to find it, otherwise they would become a joke, coming with a large force only to leave empty-handed.
However, the two-star apostle failed when he tried to cut through space to escape!
"Idiot! Can't you see we're leaving? Hurry up and unfreeze the plane!" the two-star apostle cursed at the sky.
When they arrived, they arranged for many trusted and powerful individuals to guard the altar. They could see the scene inside the mining area and could easily freeze space in time, which was a basic operation for them. How could they let their master embarrass himself?
But the two-star apostle still couldn't succeed!
"Huh? What's going on? Has the strength dropped so much since the newbie took over?" The ten-star apostle personally tried to open up the space, but it was no use; it was still frozen!
The Nine Star Apostle's expression changed drastically. "Ten Star, quickly perform a divination to see where the intruder is!"
"Is the location of the intruder so easy to predict? I'd better divine why this spatial freeze hasn't been lifted." The Ten-Star Apostle had a vague sense of unease. The fact that the other party could come and go so freely, and now that the spatial freeze was malfunctioning, meant that there must be accomplices outside providing support. Could there be a traitor among them?
The other apostles held their breath as a ridiculous thought crossed their minds: could they be trapped here forever?
Chapter 554 Feather God
Left-hand Magic Stone Mine, Magic Star Castle.
This place can be considered the residence of the mine's management and security personnel, and also the entrance and exit from the mine to the outside world.
Long ago, in order to deal with violent incidents such as slave escapes and prison breaks, Demon Star Castle set up a space freezing magic circle.
The control method is simple: installing all five required brain stones will freeze the space and prevent entry and exit.
Of course, normally all four blocks remain stationary, but when needed, simply installing the fifth block will immediately activate the frozen space.
But now, a dark cloud enveloped the formation, and the five brain magic stones were properly placed on the formation.
A group of magicians desperately attacked the dark clouds, but to no avail; they were bounced back whenever they tried to rush in.
That's right, this dark cloud is indeed the Eternal Night Cloud.
Last time, Xiang Yu drove away the one-star and two-star apostles in the mining area. Xiang Yu didn't chase after them, but Hao Jiu sent a shadow system with them to the outside world.
Taking advantage of the arrival of the ten apostles in the mining area, Xiang Yu teleported outside the mining area to thoroughly investigate this magical world and its various magical stones.
The initial information obtained is that these magic stones have very strange names. The ones mined in their mining area are called Hand Magic Stones, and their characteristic is that they can drain the spiritual energy and magic power from the bodies of cultivators.
The magic stone that maintains the space-freezing array is called the Brain Magic Stone, the red magic stone that can enhance the effect of the Hand Magic Stone is called the Heart Magic Stone, and there are also Foot Magic Stones, Kidney Magic Stones, and so on, all named after a part of the body.
In contrast, the stone that restrains the inner demon is called the Ice God Stone, a name that seems somewhat out of place, but it is the most valuable and the one that Xiang Yu desires most.
Of course, brain stones are not cheap, so this space-freezing magic circle is rarely activated, and is only used when capturing some extremely important prison breakers.
Those who possess the ability to enter the mining area through a broken space must be powerful individuals. As long as the other party is not trying to establish a stable spatial passage to occupy or take away a large number of mining slaves, rescuing one or two mining slaves is not a big deal.
However, if this prison breaker has a bigger scheme after entering the mining area and is discovered by the apostles, the capture procedure will be initiated. When the apostles enter the mining area, the space freezes. After the intruder is captured or killed, the freeze is lifted, and everything returns to normal.
If the intruder escapes before the space freezes, it can be considered a successful expulsion, since it is difficult to guard against the spatial teleportation of powerful beings.
Furthermore, magic stone ore has a very powerful characteristic: it cannot be stored in storage space, so even if an intruder enters the mining area, they cannot steal much ore.
As for taking it by hand, unless you're crazy, this kind of magic stone is the nemesis of cultivators. The more you take, the faster your magic power will be drained. Besides, what can you do with a stolen magic stone?
These magicians would love for the cultivation world to be full of magic stones; they'd give them away for free, or even pay you to give them away.
However, there were indeed powerful cultivators who visited the magic stone mine before. Their purpose was neither to save people nor for the magic stones, but to sacrifice the miners. Without the miners, there would be no one to mine. This caused some trouble for the mine owner, but that was all.
In cases of production cuts caused by force majeure, the mine owner will not punish anyone; he can simply capture another batch of slaves, and that will be a legitimate reason for the action.
Even powerful figures in the cultivation world don't advocate attacking mining areas in this way, since those killed are all cultivators, and it would also implicate other cultivators.
In the world of cultivation, rescuing the mine slaves makes you a hero, while killing them all makes you a public enemy; you can't please either side.
Because the number of mining areas is limited, and the magical world's requirements for magic stone production are fixed, there is no need to increase the number of mining slaves once a sufficient number has been reached.
Under normal circumstances, the magic stone mine would not encounter any strong enemies, but this time it turned out to be Xiang Yu.
After leaving the mining area, Xiang Yu changed into a set of clothes and a mask from the magical world, intending to collect detailed information about several types of magic stones, and preferably bring back as many as possible for research.
However, as Xiang Yu walked, he noticed an old man ahead of him, who was smiling at him.
At first glance, Xiang Yu thought the old man in front of him was just an ordinary person with no cultivation whatsoever, but that was absolutely impossible!
"Young man, what is the reason for locking up my magic stone mine and preventing my employees from leaving?" the old man asked.
"You're the mine owner?" Xiang Yu's golden pupils suddenly widened. "So you're just a projection. It's hard to tell if you're real or fake. It's just a pity I don't like chatting with fake people."
"Oh? That's interesting. Aren't you a fake too? Your abilities are quite intriguing. Why don't you come to my house for a chat? Perhaps I can give you what you're looking for." The old man remained smiling.
"You're wrong, I am real. But I accept your invitation, lead the way." Xiang Yu was slightly taken aback. It was true that this was a clone, but the only difference between him and his original self was their combat strength; they were exactly the same.
In Xiang Yu's eyes, these clones were like his own limbs, equivalent to a part of his body.
However, the old man immediately pointed out that this clone was not Xiang Yu's true self, which was quite remarkable.
"Oh? Is it true? I don't think you would lie to me. It seems my divination skills are still lacking. Please follow me." After saying this, the old man waved his hand lightly, and a door appeared in front of him, somewhat similar to Xiang Yu's Door-Door Fruit ability.
Xiang Yu strode over. Now, even if he encountered a Dao Ancestor-level expert, he was confident he could escape unscathed, even if the opponent had a system.
As it turns out, this door is completely different from the Door-Door Fruit. Crossing this door does not lead to another dimension, but rather to instantaneous teleportation, directly arriving at the old man's house, essentially acting as a portal.
"Haha, I haven't had any guests here in a long time. Should I call you Overlord or Feather God?" the old man said, stroking his beard.
"Suit yourself. I didn't expect you to even know my name. I wonder, between you and the Dao Ancestor of the cultivation world, who is more powerful?" Even with his golden double pupils, Xiang Yu couldn't see through the other party's cultivation level; he was just an ordinary person.
"Even Dao Ancestors are divided into strong and weak, so there is no definite answer to your question. But where do you get your confidence and courage? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" As the old man spoke, the surrounding scenery changed, and birds sang and flowers bloomed everywhere.
"You don't dare, you don't believe this is my true form, so can we begin formal negotiations?" Xiang Yu conjured a throne and sat down.
The old man narrowed his eyes. "Then tell me what you want."
"Aren't you good at divination? Give me what you want, and I'll return your mine to you and give you a real treasure as a gift. How about it?" Xiang Yu smiled slightly.
The old man shook his head. "Then I have no choice but to offend you. Capturing you will allow me to retrieve my belongings, but I'm afraid I'm not worthy of the treasure you gave me."
"So that means I can get what I want by defeating you? Hahaha... Just what I wanted!" Xiang Yu said, holding the Heaven-Breaking Dragon Halberd in his hand, frantically pouring his domineering energy into it, compressing it again and again, making his domineering armor become more and more solid.
The old man did not disturb Xiang Yu, but slowly floated up. Then his figure multiplied into two, then four, and kept replicating. After a while, the sky and the ground were almost filled with the old man.
All the elders moved in unison, extending their right hands and striking out with a single palm!
"Sleep now!"
Xiang Yu widened his golden double pupils to the limit, but still could not find the opponent's true form. However, it was not easy for the opponent's attack to hit Xiang Yu. Instant teleportation, sweeping across thousands of troops, and a storm of sword blades!
One move after another, each a deadly strike. Xiang Yu knew that he would absolutely not be able to defeat a powerhouse of this level unless he used his full strength, but the opponent had too many clones, and they were still increasing.
Even though Xiang Yu was slaughtering everyone, he couldn't reduce the number of these old men by the slightest, giving Xiang Yu the feeling that the space was almost overflowing.