Zhang Changkong stood in front of a huge cave entrance and stood still.
This place is not very far from the camp, only about two miles, but the cave is dark, as if it is rejecting others.
"Master Immortal, what should we do now?"
One of the ten people brought by Zhang Changkong, the leader of the insect catching team named Big Eye Yuan, asked, his tone somewhat repelled.
Zhang Changkong thought for a while and decided to take the risk. He didn't want to take any risks but wanted to gain something. How could it be so cheap? Moreover, his decision to develop the Sanhe Rainforest was itself a risk, and his adventurous career had just begun.
Besides, Miao Shan's strength was severely damaged in the previous battle. Without new strength to supplement it, he might not be able to go very far in the Sanhe Rainforest.
"Let's go in."
Zhang Changkong didn't say anything and asked one person to stay here and watch the tusk pig and the colorful moth. The tusk pig is too big to enter this cave. If the colorful moth releases phosphorus powder in the cave, Zhang Changkong is afraid that they will be the first to die. A group of people.
Zhang Changkong moved his magic formula, and a small fireball appeared in the palm of his hand.
He asked his nine men to find materials on the spot and simply made nine torches, and brought nine unlit torches as backup.
Zhang Changkong controlled a golden scarab to clear the way. He was riding on a golden scarab. The remaining twenty-six hard-shelled beetles were flying around him. Golden-needle wasps were flying above Zhang Changkong's head. Surrounded by the big-eyed Yuan were eight A member of the insect catching team, the last golden scarab pressed behind.
There is some moisture in the cave passage, there is a thin layer of water on the ground, and occasionally you can hear the sound of dripping water.
Fortunately, the floor of the cave was made of rocks. Although everyone's sight was not good, their progress was not hindered by the wet ground.
Zhang Changkong originally thought that the cave wouldn't be very deep, but he couldn't help but frown when he didn't reach the bottom until it was more than a hundred meters deep.
There was an uneasy feeling in the team, but Zhang Changkong didn't speak, so everyone couldn't give up halfway and could only continue to move forward. At least, there were no bugs here yet, although everyone held their weapons tighter.
At first there was only the sound of dripping water and the footsteps of a group of people in the silent cave, but slowly, the flapping of insects' wings and the crackling of burning flames became clearly audible.
In this depressing atmosphere, Zhang Changkong suddenly found that the golden scarab in front stopped.
The people in the team also immediately discovered this situation, so they stopped in unison.
The cave was only illuminated by firelight, so Zhang Changkong couldn't see what was going on in front of him. He could only say to Yuan with big eyes: "Why don't you go over and see what's going on?"
Hearing this, Big-Eyed Yuan looked left and right, trying to find someone to accompany him. Unfortunately, the people in the insect catching team were all looking at the stone walls on both sides, not looking at Big-Eyed Yuan at all.
Big-eyed Yuan An cursed and could only walk forward slowly.
After a while, Big Eyed Yuan's voice came over, "Master Immortal, there is a fork in the road here."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Changkong saw that there was no other danger ahead, so he led his team up to take a look.
The fork is divided into three. The fork in the middle is larger and the ones on both sides are smaller.
From the smoothness of the ground, Zhang Changkong simply judged that there were more bugs passing through the middle road.
It looks like we are almost at the bug nest.
Zhang Changkong dug out the nests of so many bugs and knew that there would definitely be some bugs left behind as the final guards.
"Take the middle path and be careful. You may encounter bugs later, but don't worry too much. As long as you protect yourselves, my bugs will solve the battle soon." Zhang Changkong said, and then jumped After getting off the golden scarab, he also called the golden scarab at the back, and the three golden scarabs entered the middle passage one after another.
Zhang Changkong and the others followed after some distance.
It has to be said that the mental quality of these warriors of the insect catching team is indeed good. Before the battle, they no longer felt uneasy before the battle. The most panicked person was Zhang Changkong, but Zhang Changkong always had an expressionless face, and others could not see it.
After a while, the sound of "ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, pod, arthropod, and carapace with the collision of carapace and stone was heard.
Zhang Changkong and the others stopped. Zhang Changkong was very confident in the three golden scarabs. Although these ants were powerful, it was impossible to compete against the golden scarabs unless their number reached a certain scale.
Sure enough, Zhang Changkong and the others waited for a while, and the voices in front slowly became quieter and finally calmed down.
Without Zhang Changkong's orders, the team began to move forward again.
After a while, Zhang Changkong and the others saw the remains of many ants. Although some ants lost their mobility, their strong vitality kept them alive.
The members of the insect catching team responsibly used weapons to render every ant that could still move immobile.
This scene happened four more times.
"Master Immortal, we have arrived," came the big-eyed Yuan's voice.
Zhang Changkong stepped forward.
At the end of the cave was a huge cave that was four to five hundred square meters in size and four to five meters high, as if a whole mountain had been hollowed out.
There are many small holes densely packed around the cave, and the fire cannot illuminate the inside.
Zhang Changkong, however, had no intention of marveling at the uncanny craftsmanship of the insect. He had always been very pragmatic.
"Okay, let's search together, don't miss any eggs." Zhang Changkong became more careful towards the end. He just ordered others to search for eggs, but he walked to the three golden scarabs to prevent accidents.
In the past, he broke into the insect nest alone because he had no choice. Now that he had people under his command, Zhang Changkong felt that he was not much more than him, so he let his men take action with peace of mind.
Soon, each insect egg was found, and Zhang Changkong slowly showed a smile. He did not expect that the harvest would be so big. The small pile of insect eggs in front of him already exceeded 500, and this was not completely searched. .
However, considering that the ants killed by the colorful moth phosphorus powder on the road were littered with corpses, roughly estimated to be 20,000 to 30,000, their nests deserved such harvests.
Zhang Changkong still feels a little incredible when he thinks that this ant colony is so big. After all, these insects are so huge. Unless they eat soil, how can they maintain such a huge group? And the most incredible thing is that the plants around the nest are not eaten by insects. Eat all the food.
It is impossible to eat soil unless the bugs no longer follow the basic structure of living things.
"It seems that my understanding of the ecology of insects is still too superficial. I have not yet fully understood the magic of the Sanhe Rainforest." Zhang Changkong sighed, and then stopped caring. He is not an insect. Scientists, why do you think so much? These things can be left to the people in Miao Mountain to study, and he can just sit back and enjoy his achievements.
"Master Immortal, I have made a discovery!"
A somewhat young strongman ran over,
He held a black-gray stone in his hand and showed it to Zhang Changkong, "Master Immortal, this is gray iron ore."
Zhang Changkong saw the young warrior's inexplicable excitement and was a little confused, "Isn't it just iron ore? If it is a silver mine or a gold mine, there is still development value. Even if it is a copper mine, it is more than a hundred miles deep into the Sanhe Rainforest. , the gains outweigh the losses when developed, let alone iron ore.”
Others heard the sound and gathered around. People are like this, and they will never let go of any legal opportunity to be lazy. Zhang Changkong was about to scold them for continuing to search for insect eggs.
"Master Immortal, this gray iron ore is different from ordinary iron ore, it is more valuable than gold," the young warrior said loudly.
Before Zhang Changkong could speak, big-eyed Yuan couldn't help but taunted: "Kong Xiaoer, you are usually greedy for life and afraid of death, but now you dare to fool the Immortal Master with a piece of iron ore, you Is the boy itchy?"
Several other strong men also looked at Kong Xiaoer with doubtful expressions.
Because Kong Xiaoer is a person with a notorious reputation.
During the insect wave, he cheated and cheated many times, fled before fighting, found a safe place to hide, and waited until the battle was over before returning to the battlefield. After climbing many mountains, he eventually encountered a tiger. In the end, Kong Xiaoer became a sinner and was sentenced to death. Forced to Miao Mountain.
Kong Xiaoer's name was not originally called this, but this man was notoriously greedy for life and fearful of death. It was widely rumored in the insect catching team that his escape ability was second to none, but no one dared to recognize him as the first, so many people called him Kong Xiaoer. two.
Kong Xiaoer hurriedly explained: "Master Immortal, I am not talking nonsense. I usually like to wander around. I am also familiar with Stormy Rain City. I have been to all the blacksmith shops in it. Originally, I applied to go to the blacksmith shop. I served in the army, but the city lord’s palace later pulled me to the front line because there were not enough manpower on the front line, so I ended up going to Miaoshan.”
"Okay, let's get to the point." If Zhang Changkong hadn't said "more valuable than gold", there would be no time to listen to his nonsense.
"Yes, Master Immortal, although I am not a qualified blacksmith, I have learned some basic knowledge." Kong Xiaoer learned blacksmithing to avoid going to the battlefield. However, due to his impure mind and mediocre blacksmithing skills, Kong Xiaoer learned blacksmithing. Some ordinary people had better skills than him, so the city lord threw him on the battlefield to prevent him from wasting the materials.
Kong Xiaoer continued: "This gray iron ore can be smelted into gray iron. Gray iron alone may be ordinary iron metal, but the biggest role of gray iron is that it can be used as the main material for synthesizing black steel. Every piece of black steel Weapons are hard to find, black steel is one of the best metals for forging weapons, and there are not many black steel weapons in the entire Rainstorm City."
"What, this kind of ore can make black steel weapons?"
All the powerful warriors present took a breath. You must know that a weapon of this level like black steel is a magical weapon that they have been pursuing all their lives. Even if they are old and can no longer hold a sword, they still want to have such a magical weapon. Soldiers as family heirlooms.
Zhang Changkong's face was expressionless. He had been out of illiteracy for less than ten years. He didn't necessarily understand even common sense, and he didn't understand anything about ruthless weapons.
However, he only needs to know that this ore is valuable.
If he has money, he can recruit strong men. If he cannot recruit strong men, he can recruit dead men. It is said that there must be brave men under heavy rewards.
With the veins, there will be a steady stream of money, which means that he can have a steady stream of manpower.
The danger of the Three Rivers Rainforest is nothing. With a huge amount of money, he doesn't believe that he can't find a vitality node.
Well, weapons made of this kind of ore may be sold within the Xiangshan Sect, and you may be able to harvest a sum of vitality stones. After all, there are still many warriors in the Xiangshan Sect, and many warriors may have one or two vitality stones in their hands. Stone, after all, although the vitality stone is a cultivation material, it is also circulated as a general equivalent of money, and it is the most valuable general equivalent.
Thinking of this, Zhang Changkong smiled and said to the young warrior: "Well done, what's your name? I, Zhang Changkong, will reward you for your merits, and so will you. Today counts as your contribution, and we will reward you together when we go back!"
