Underground Mines,
"Old Book, it looks like you are proficient in mining now, eh? Not straining yourself anymore." Old Cook commented, as the clinks and clanks of pickaxes hitting hard earthen minerals could be heard resounding throughout the Underground.
"You are not bad yourself either, Old Cook." Old Book said smugly.
It's only been a few days of mining, but they had all cultivated a masculine spirit that could only be found from doing strenuous labor. It was startling and earthshaking, how much these ordinary folks undergone in such a short period.
Such changes were attributed to their simple cultivation. Although none of them had achieved the first layer of Body Tempering Realm, they could already be considered cultivators.
"Anyhow, why are we also mining these strange crystals? I thought we only need metallic ores."
"I don't know either. Just follow the superior's order. They said to mine everything, so that's what we should do. We don't need to worry about anything else as long as we are getting paid well. I think someone would come to collect and sort out these resources later."
Ever since their group had started the mining, no one had yet to come and collect the resources they gathered. All the natural resources mined in the underground in the last 3 days were all piled like a mountain in one corner, at the end of an incomplete railway that would eventually lead outside.
"That's true. The Queen treats us well." Old Book placed his pickaxe down and wiped his sweat, before he began flexing his muscles in front of a noticeably large crystal with reflection. "Check out these babies. Where else can we get paid well, eat well, sleep well and train well?"
Old Cook paused his work with sweat oozing form his own body, before taking a glance at Old Book. He immediately laughed, "What do you want me to check out with that scrawny body and flimsy arms of yours? You should be checking out mine."
Old Cook proceeded to making his own masculine poise. The difference between the two of them was like day and night.
Old Book had never involved himself in any strenuous work prior to becoming a miner employed by the royal family. He was tall but skinny to a point where it wouldn't be excessive to say that he was skin and bones. Under his fatless body, whatever muscles he had was easily seen and traced.
For someone like Old Book, it wouldn't be strange if his body was wrecking with pain within first day or two on the job from the strenuous work. As they say; no pain, no gain.
However, while he still feels some muscle aches, it wasn't enough to affect his work. This is attribute to their cultivation and diet. Compared to the jobless commoners that eaten plain gruel, the miners have some beast meat in theirs, which was greatly nourishing for the body; relieving fatigue and promoting muscle growth.
On the other hand, Old Cook was quite bulky with a pot belly, but his arms were well trained and powerful in comparison with average commoners.
At this moment, a group of palace guards arrived under the lead of a captain to collect the resources. This was not their job, but since they were lacking able men with strong physical strength to carry the load, they were delegated for the task.
Once the railway is complete, the royal family would no longer require these strong Awakeners to work like common laborers.
"May I speak with the person in charge here?" The captain said.
Old Book and Old Cook looked at each other. Who was in charge here? It certainly wasn't them. They had a superior overlooking the place.
"They weren't sure how to answer as the question was directed at them. However, they weren't put on the spot for long, before their superior arrived. "I am in charge here. What can I do for you, Hudson?" The Overseer inquired.
The person answered was a captain of another squad of palace guards, delegated to keeping the stability of the mines and prevent the miners from both the royal family and noble families from smuggling the goods.
"I am under her majesty's order to deliver a batch of the gathered resources to the palace for her majesty's cultivation." Hudson stated frankly.
"En, I see. These minerals were all scheduled to be delivered to the Lancaster's workshop for processing once the mine railway. However, since it is her majesty's orders, you may take away as much as her majesty's require." The Overseer nodded cooperatively. Who would dare to defy the Queen's orders? The Overseer glanced at the pile of minerals and crystals, before adding, "I don't suppose her majesty requires these strange crystals as well?"
"Strange crystals?" Hudson followed his line of sigh on a crystal and was bewildered. "Aren't these just regular crystals used for crafting trinkets? Why would her Majesty need non-metallic item for her cultivation?"
There were red, blue and grey crystals. They shared similar appearances to common rubies and sapphires. Hudson couldn't see why the Overseer called them strange. It couldn't appear anymore ordinary than ordinary.
"Hmm… you'll know once you touch one of them. En, try the grey crystal."
With a peculiar sense of doubt, Hudson did as he was asked and touched the grey crystal among the pile of ores and crystals. The moment his hand came in contact with the grey crystal, he retracted his hand in shock and glances at his own bleeding fingers.
"Such sharpness!" Hudson exclaimed. It was just a brief moment of contact, but the crystal sliced through his skin without a shred of resistance. However, that same sharpness didn't slice through any of the other objects it was sitting on. "That is indeed strange. If it can slice through all objects with such ease, it could be used to craft some divine weapons."
Listening to Hudson's exclamation, the Overseer simply shook his head. "You are thinking in the wrong direction. These grey crystals are incredibly sharp, but also very brittle. It will shatter on the surface of any hard object with a force greater than 500 jin. It would just be reduced to ordinary crystals if that was to happen. If you haven't noticed, the crystal itself isn't anything special. What is special is the pure metal essence inside."
Being reminded, Hudson thought back carefully and was immediately startled. "That really did seem to be the case!" The grey crystal couldn't be weaponized, but it was perfectly designed to be used for cultivation. Soon, his eyes lit up marvelously. "Her Majesty will be very pleased with this discovery!"
The Overseer's heart jumped when he saw the glimmer in Hudson's eyes, but he was immediately relieved following the second part of his response. "Yeah, good luck delivering it to her Majesty." The Overseer shrugged.
"En, Thanks." Hudson nodded with a heavy expression. If he accidentally drops the grey crystal on his foot, he will have to say goodbye to it. He glanced at his men quietly, before ordering, "All of you, focus on carrying the grey crystals!"
"Captain, we aren't going to bring the ores?"
"No, a single grey crystal carried much more essence than 200 pounds worth of iron ores! Be careful not to drop the grey crystal on yourselves!"
"Yes, Captain!" The palace guards answered with serious expressions. They had seen what the grey crystal could do.
Strangely, they felt a sense of pressure, while handling the grey crystals. No one wanted to accidentally lose a limb from careless mishandling. They would rather fight crawlers.
They used other ores to move the grey crystals. As long as they don't apply too much pressure, the grey crystal wouldn't slice through the ores was what they thought.
Unfortunately, a mishap still happened under the nervousness of one palace guard. The grey crystal slipped out of the binding of the surrounding ores he was holding and dropped on his foot. The palace guard's expression was fascinating as he watched it dropped in slow motion with horror.
"Ahhh!!! My foot! It landed on my foot!" The palace guard cried in shock, despite wearing full plated armor.
His cry shocked the others and caused them to throw away their own load to check, but they soon glared at him with peculiar expressions.
Hudson smacked him on the head and hollered, "What are you playing at!? Your foot is perfectly fine!"
"Ah!?" Surprised, the palace guard glanced down. The solleret was still in pristine condition and the feeling of pain was absent. "That's strange… I was sure I saw it dropped on my foot…"
Hearing his doubt, Hudson frowned in thought and crouched down to touch the grey crystal with his bare hands again. Strangely enough, it didn't hurt him. It wasn't the same grey crystal he touched before, but he could still feel the same dense essence inside of it.
"What's the meaning of this? Why isn't this one sharp like the other one?"
The Overseer shrugged and said, "That's why I said they were strange crystals."
Seeing the nonchalant response, Hudson shrugged back. "Well whatever." He chose not to pursue the details. "Take them away!" He ordered his men to continue the work.
The overseer's expression seemed more relaxed as he watched them carrying the crystals and leaving. However, it froze when Hudson paused his steps and turned back. "Is there anything else I can help you with?" The Overseer forced a smile.
"Oh yes, one sec. I almost forgot something." Hudson said and made his way over to the resource pile and picked up a red crystal-like ruby. "Sure enough, there's fire essence in this one… and there's water essence in this one."
After a brief look, he did not find any crystals with earth or wood essences and rested his eyes on the Overseer, Dylan with a questioning gaze. They were peers of equal cultivation, but after a few days, he could no longer see through the other party's cultivation.
"You aren't keeping any crystals with earth essences to yourself, are you?"