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Chapter 23: Ore
The location where Meng Zhang killed the sandworms was not far from Taiyi Sect, at most around fifty li (approximately 16.6 miles). Shortly after sending the messaging talisman, Tian Zhen and Daoist Profound Spirit rushed over riding their respective wind chasing horses.
Upon arriving in front of Meng Zhang, Tian Zhen couldn't wait and asked, "Sect Master, what urgent matter required us to drop everything and rush over immediately?"
Seeing several storage bags placed beside Tian Zhen and Daoist Profound Spirit, even on their saddles, Meng Zhang asked back, "Did you bring all the usable storage bags from the sect, as I instructed?"
After receiving a positive response from Tian Zhen, Meng Zhang led them to the side of the sandworm corpses and pointed to the pile of bright red items, slowly explaining their significance.
It turned out that sandworms, in addition to hunting and consuming blood, would sometimes ingest large amounts of soil and stones. While consuming the soil and stones, they would inadvertently swallow various types of ores. The pile of bright red items in the sandworm's stomach was scarlet copper ore. Due to the corrosive effects of stomach acid, most of the soil and stones among these ores had been digested, leaving relatively pure scarlet copper.
Meng Zhang had extensive knowledge from his experiences in the Trial Ground, covering a wide range of topics, including information about ores. According to his judgment, these scarlet copper ores should have come from a scarlet copper mine.
Regularly roaming sandworms somehow found this scarlet copper mine, and their innate instincts led them to consume a large amount of the ore. Fortunately, scarlet copper was difficult to digest, so it remained in the sandworm's stomach.
If Meng Zhang had encountered the sandworms a bit later, after the scarlet copper ore had been fully digested, he would have missed this discovery.
The activity range of the sandworms wasn't very large. By following their tracks, they could undoubtedly find the scarlet copper vein.
Scarlet copper was a commonly used spiritual material in refining, and it wasn't cheap. In the resource-scarce Endless Sea of Sand, even if the scarlet copper vein was not particularly rich, it would still hold significant value.
From the appearance of the remaining scarlet copper ores in the sandworm's stomach, Meng Zhang judged that the reserves of this scarlet copper vein were not low.
For the impoverished Taiyi Sect, finding and exploiting this scarlet copper vein would mean a windfall. Meng Zhang felt delighted because, as the Sect Master of Taiyi Sect, he also faced numerous financial pressures. The main income of Taiyi Sect came from the nineteen mu of spirit fields. After a year of hard work, the harvested spirit grain and spiritual fruits were converted into spiritual stones, amounting to no more than one thousand low-grade spiritual stones.
However, every year, they still had to submit three hundred low-grade spiritual stones to Twin Success Valley as a customary tribute. This small income barely sufficed to support the cultivation of the sect's disciples and was under constant strain.
With Taiyi Sect's eventual expansion, the number of disciples would increase, and the financial pressure would only grow. That's why Meng Zhang had to use a significant amount of spiritual stones and resources in the Trial Ground daily.
If it weren't for the additional nearly four hundred low-grade spiritual stones acquired from killing the Zhang brothers, Meng Zhang wouldn't have been able to spend so lavishly. The discovery of the scarlet copper vein now presented a solution to his financial troubles.
However, Meng Zhang's thinking was meticulous and calm, and he quickly identified potential problems. Taiyi Sect was a vassal of Twin Success Valley, and any mineral resources found within its territory would have to submit a significant portion of their income to the valley.
Moreover, Taiyi Sect currently lacked the manpower and resources to develop this scarlet copper mine. If the discovery of the mine became known, the benefits would likely fall mostly into the hands of Twin Success Valley, leaving Taiyi Sect with only a meager share.
Even worse, the news of the discovery would attract numerous loose cultivators, some of whom could be malicious and evil, like the Zhang brothers. If loose cultivators coveted the wealth and began plundering the area or even attacking Taiyi Sect's headquarters, the sect could face destruction.
After carefully considering all these factors, Meng Zhang decided to keep the existence of the scarlet copper vein a secret. Taiyi Sect would focus on self-preservation and wait until it had the capacity to exploit the vein in the future.
Meng Zhang shared the details of the situation and his decision with Tian Zhen and Daoist Profound Spirit, and they both agreed with his judgment. Especially Daoist Profound Spirit, who admired Meng Zhang's comprehensive and prudent approach, considering his young age as the Sect Master.
According to Meng Zhang's plan, the three of them began using a water-making technique to produce a large amount of clean water to wash the scarlet copper ores inside the sandworms' stomachs. They then stored the cleaned ores in storage bags.
The sandworms' stomachs were spacious, and there were quite a few scarlet copper ores inside. It took great effort from all three of them to clean and store all the ores.
As for the flesh of the two sandworms, apart from the blood collected by Meng Zhang, the remaining parts naturally went to the three wind chasing horses. It was their first time enjoying such a feast, and they happily gobbled up the meat, their bellies full.
After finishing their meal, the three wind chasing horses couldn't waste any time. Meng Zhang immediately used a spell to burn the remaining flesh of the sandworms to ashes and then buried the remnants deep underground.
Throughout the entire process, this desolate and secluded place remained undisturbed by outsiders.
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