Chong County is adjacent to Yishan County, and the people in both counties rely on the natural salt lakes in Chong County to supply salt. And this salt lake is Tianhai Lake, the habitat of the fire bird that Taoist Fengji pointed out to You Ziji.
You Ziji arrived here two days after he and Taoist Fengji parted ways. However, it was still some time before the flock of fire birds shed their feathers, so he could only stay here for a while.
You Ziji still had no money on him. Perhaps he had too many companions, so he had never sold the Peace Talisman in Chong County. Nowadays, food and accommodation are still not available, and there are mineral spirits nearby. They are often watched over by officials and monks. It is difficult to get some game to eat, so they simply go to the salt mines to work as coolies, which is considered a suitable place.
The work intensity in the salt field is a bit difficult compared to ordinary people, and the pay is low, but it is not a problem for You Ziji.
After staying for a few days, You Ziji also found out a lot of news. According to the salt seller here, the fire bird lives here because it cannot accumulate spiritual energy on its own and needs to eat fireflies to maintain the circulation of spiritual energy in its body. But the fire energy in the fire insect's body is too strong, which is a kind of torture for the fire bird.
At this time, other forces are needed to neutralize the fire. The Tianhai Lake here is an excellent choice. The water in the lake is similar to sea water, and the water aura is extremely rich, which can help the fire bird suppress the fire aura.
And this fire insect is also an excellent thing. In addition to helping the fire bird maintain its strength, it also has an even more magical ability.
The mountains next to the salt lake all produce fire crystal minerals, which are mostly used to refine magic weapons or make formations. Unfortunately, the crystal ore here has too many impurities and is difficult to remove. If the monks were to rely on the monks to refine it, the cost would be far higher than the crystal produced, even if a large copper furnace was specially cast to refining it.
You Ziji once secretly took a small piece of crystal stone at night to try. With his control of the true energy, it would take at least a whole day to separate the fingernail-sized ore from the impurities, and it could not be completely removed. Even if you use the Samadhi True Fire, it still takes a while.
Fortunately, the way of heaven is orderly and all things are mutually reinforcing and restraining each other. Fireworms are born to eat fire crystal minerals. The feces excreted after the crystal ore passes through its digestive system is the refined fire crystal. Although the output is less, the quality is much better than ordinary fire crystal. The fire crystal produced here has also become a specialty of Chong County and is very popular.
But fireflies are gregarious animals after all, and when there are too many, a leader will appear. With the backbone leading them, the originally docile fireflies will also show a strong sense of territory and desire to fight. They will kill each other first, and then swarms of insects will devour each other until they form a huge fireworm empire, which is very important to surrounding areas. It is a huge trouble for the people who are trying to make a living.
In this way, the firebirds living here also come in handy. They are the enemies of fireflies and can inhibit the reproduction momentum of fireflies. Moreover, the feathers they shed are also very good practice materials, and people can go up the mountain to collect them in exchange for money.
Therefore, most of the people here make a living by raising fireflies and selling crystal stones. Because it is located in Chongjun County and it is a material for spiritual practice, it is mined by the Chongjun County government and Tianyu Temple together. It's just that in recent years, Tianyu Guanwang's masters in the Moon Realm have been out of business. The government only focuses on production and does not interfere in the affairs of the sect. Tianyu Guanwang's money tree is slowly being eaten away by others.
In addition to mines, although salt fields are a business of the government, Tianyu Guan, as the largest sect in Chong County, must also contribute to the production of basic materials related to the lives of ordinary people in addition to fire crystals and other cultivation materials.
It happened that the salt field and the fire crystal mine were both nearby, so the guards in both places were covered by Tianyu Guan.
So during the few days that You Ziji stayed, he could see people from other sects looking for trouble every day. Fortunately, due to the laws of Tianfu, they did not dare to take action against civilians.
Although You Ziji has resolved the misunderstanding with Taoist Xuanji from Tianyu Temple, the Taoist brothers who came here to do the mission may not have received the news. If You Ziji is regarded as an enemy, it will definitely be a lot of trouble, so these days he They all stay away from the Taoists at Tianyu Temple.
It is actually a good thing that the Taoist priests from Tianyu Temple intervened, but they were all old men who were good at picking on the strong and supporting the weak. The boss and supervisors here did not dare to beat and scold the workers at will, no matter how well they had backgrounds in the government.
With the help of the Taoist men, You Ziji often stopped to admire the surrounding scenery after work. The supervisor on the side was dissatisfied when he saw this but did not dare to say anything.
Although the sea lake is called the sea on this day, its color is not the same as the sea at all. Whenever the fire bird soaks in it and suppresses the fire, the clear water in the lake will change into various colors, mostly red. Perhaps it was the impact of the fire bird's own power leaking out.
The fire birds seem to be too comfortable when soaking in the lake water, so they will lower their guard. At this time, if there are other creatures sneak attacks, they can easily catch a few fire birds that will not resist.
It's a pity that people in the salt lake cannot go there, not to mention that it is an area specially provided for the activity of fire birds, even the power contained in the lake is not something ordinary people can bear, so the two sides have to stay within the well.
Due to the special environment, salt production here requires the lake water to be introduced into the salt fields and left to dry for several days until the special power in it disappears before drying to make salt.
Near the shore is where You Ziji works. Workers use shovels to shovel the salt off the salt slab and put it into baskets. You Ziji and other workers carry poles to pick up the refined salt and put it on the salt pile. When the quantity was sufficient, they were carried into the city in horse-drawn carriages.
The salt is already the final product. A group of coolies such as You Ziji are newly recruited and are not trusted by the boss, so they can only do some manual labor on the periphery.
But it also gives me a lot of freedom. As long as I'm not discovered by the supervisor, it's okay to leave midway. Of course, You Ziji's skills can get through and leave easily. Unfortunately, he is too young and has a unique behavior. It is difficult for him to make too many moves at first glance among a group of people.
Fortunately, he didn't have anything to worry about, so he really settled down here.
In the evening, You Ziji ate the food provided by the salt farm and went back to rest.
The coolies rested in a temporary shack. It was really simple, just made of wooden frames covered with straw. It was autumn at this time, and it was the coldest in the morning and evening. Fortunately, there were many people and we could huddle together for warmth, but the smell was a bit unbearable.
After finishing their work during the day, the workers were all exhausted and went to bed early. You Ziji took advantage of the darkness and sneaked out of the shack. With his skills, no one would notice him at all. He was going to the mountains to see if any firebirds were molting their feathers in their nests.
Climbing halfway up the hillside, he suddenly saw several monks passing by at low altitude. You Ziji hurriedly leaned down to hide his figure. He lay down in the weeds and watched the monks in front of him leave with his dark eyes.
"Looking at the way this group of monks are dressed, they don't look like the monks from Tianyu Temple."
Being able to fly at low altitude requires at least Xuan Realm cultivation. Even if you borrow magic weapons and don't have the massive amount of Qi of Xuan Realm monks, you won't be able to last for long. Therefore, You Ziji concluded that there was at least one Xuanjing monk in the shuttle that had just passed by at low altitude. For safety reasons, You Ziji did not want to join in the fun.
You Ziji ignored it and waited until he was sure there was no one nearby before he stood up and continued to climb higher.
This is a good location that he found after searching for a long time. Directly in front of the hillside is the peak where the flamingos live. There is no obstruction between the two. You Ziji climbed up a big tree and used his vision to move the treetops of the opposite peak. The bird's nest above is clearly visible.
Unfortunately, no fallen feathers were found.
Just as he was about to leave and go back to rest, You Ziji suddenly heard some sounds from a distance with the force of the wind, which seemed to be the conversation of the group of monks who had just passed by.
"Senior Nephew Lingqing, why are you so stubborn? Since Tianyu has failed to grasp the situation, why not hand over some of the interests of the salt farm and mine and let us all make money together."
The speaker had a calm breath and a loud voice, and he seemed to be a rough man. Although You Ziji didn't see it with his own eyes, with his increasingly proficient use of ear consciousness, he could sense that this person was not weak, and was much stronger than him. He should be at least in the Xuan realm.
As soon as he finished speaking, another voice sounded, "I think what Commander Ren said is very good. In recent days, people have come to cause trouble in saltworks and mines. Since Tianyu Temple cannot guarantee the stability of the surrounding area, it is better for us to do it for you. Tianyu Temple is a large Pai, you can’t be as careless in doing things as you are now.”
The voice that spoke this time was louder than the previous one, and You Ziji even raised his hands to cover his ears unconsciously. This person should also be a Xuanjing monk, and their words were directed at Tianyu Temple. You Ziji felt that he had been favored by Tianyu Guan. At this time, there were some difficulties, so You Ziji naturally wanted to help.
He followed the sound and carefully searched for the location of Taoist Priest Tianyu Guan.
At this moment, Ling Qing's voice also reached You Ziji's ears.
"Senior Ren is the leader of the Shanhe Gang in Yishan County, and he is an old friend of our faction. Although our faction does not need to help, we still appreciate the kindness of the Shanhe Gang. But what Senior Liu said made Xiaodao a little confused. You You came all the way from Qizhou as a guest, but now you say you want to help me guard the mine. Don't you want to go home and stay here forever? Or are you just here to get involved in Longzhou's affairs and sow discord and influence various factions? feelings between each other.”
The man surnamed Liu did not dare to bear this charge and repeatedly denied it, "How could Taoist Master Lingqing slander me like this?"
The commander didn't want to be labeled as an outsider dealing with locals, so he hurriedly interjected: "You guys have misunderstood. Brother Liu just couldn't bear to see it, so he spoke up. Junior Nephew Lingqing's words were serious."
"snort!"
Several cold snorts came, and You Ziji finally found the source of the sound. Two groups of people were at the bottom of the hillside where the flamingo habitat was, but they were blocked by the mountain, so You Ziji didn't notice it.
These cold snorts also relaxed You Ziji's nervous mood.
The four people who spoke out were all Xuanjing monks, and together with Ling Qing, there shouldn't be any big problems. You Ziji stopped just as he was about to get up. Judging from the situation, he probably didn't need his help.
