A large, unkempt young man stood alone in a mining tunnel. It was silent and dark all around. He swung an iron pickaxe at the wall of solid rock ahead.

Clang!

Bits of rock flew out along with a cloud of fine dust which filled the air. Gray coughed and waved his hands until he could see again. He examined the result and eventually sighed in defeat.

The high-quality iron pickaxe in his hand was now a piece of blunted scrap metal. The rocks in front of him were mostly unperturbed. It was a dead-end and there was nothing else he could do here.

He exited the side tunnel and entered the main tunnel, the one that led from his cave home to the hidden lake beneath the mountains. There were other side tunnels all around him going every which way. All of them had eventually hit an impenetrable dead end as well.

The mountain was weird and beyond his understanding. There was a straight line of soft rock that led directly to the lake that was embedded within impossibly hard bedrock. It was inexplicable and unnatural as if some mysterious force had laid down this path for him. He firmly believed that the citrine gem held even more secrets than just an endless source of spiritual energy. It had summoned him here but for what reason, he didn’t know. But the gem wasn’t with him anymore, it was with Xueling.

Gray smiled a silly smile at a memory of her. Six months had passed since she left and he had finally completed the first task she set out for him, gathering wealth.

He climbed out the tunnel and back to his cave where there were several mountain shiny rocks piled high. They shined with a golden hue… gold ore!

Gold and silver were rarer and more valuable than iron, lead, or copper. Gold had never been found in the King’s Mountains until now. His secret mountain cave contained not just the heavenly citrine. It was a gold mine and he had spent the last six months collecting over two tons of it.

Money was critical for cultivation; this was what Xueling had taught him. At least in the Spiritual Strengthening Realm, having a certain amount of starting wealth was highly advantageous. This mountain of gold would finance his progress up until the Spirit Control Realm, at least that was the plan.

His cultivation had not improved even slightly in the last six months. The gem was gone and the King’s Mountains had no other viable source of spiritual energy. Meditating with the Tome of Glorious Fortune was almost pointless as the concentration of spiritual energy in the air was too low. To advance, he needed resources in the form of spiritual stones.

These stones didn’t exist in the village but they were plentiful in towns and cities. They were special stones borne from the earth that was a highly concentrated source of spiritual energy. They were used by cultivators from all walks of life to cultivate in the Spiritual Strengthening Realm and higher realms as well.

With this massive amount of gold, he now had enough and it was time to leave the mountains. It was time to set out for the wider world, where he could sell his gold ore and buy spiritual stones and other treasures. 

Gray headed down to Blue Lake Village and gave Old Li the shock of his life.

“Where did you find this!” The old man almost screamed.

His old hands shook and his fingers trembled as he held the golden chunk of ore.

Gray shushed him, “This has to stay secret! I have more ore, around two tons. I want to sell it all.”

“Two… tons… heavens!”

“Is it possible to sell?” Gray asked again.

Old Li finally nodded and took out his ledger. He did some quick calculations and looked up.

“It will be too much for the merchants to directly trade you gold coins. Even they don’t have that much money. But they can ship the entire amount back to town where you can sell it. To make sure nothing bad happens, you’ll have to go with them and keep an eye on things so they don’t swindle you…”

The old man trailed off, noticing Gray’s excited expression.

“You’re leaving?” He asked in realization.

Gray nodded, “It’s time for me to leave.”

Old Li was speechless for a few moments before patting Gray’s shoulder. “Good, good. It’s the right thing. What about the gold mine?”

Gray snorted. The old man was still about his own pockets.

“I mined it all. There’s no gold left.”

It wasn’t quite true but it wasn’t a total lie. There was indeed no more gold left but there were more fuzzy golden balls of light beyond his reach. He didn’t know if it was gold but it was hidden behind impenetrable bedrock and he couldn’t get to it. If he couldn’t have it, he wasn’t about to let others have it in his stead.

“Fine, don’t tell me if you don’t want to.” Old Li said, “Such a huge deal can’t be kept a secret forever. It will create a huge gold craze and the miners will tear apart the valley and the mountains in search of gold.”

“That’s fine, all I need is to safely trade the gold and get out here. I don’t even care if they find my secret hideout since I have no more use for it.”

“Hmph… fine, here’s what we’ll do…” Old Li said and lowered his voice. “Bring the gold down during nighttime and store it in my shed. I will hide it among the other ore I have. Remember that the caravan will arrive in two weeks if they are on time. You need to get all of your ore here before then and be ready to leave. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait another month!”

Gray nodded, “Don’t worry, easy!”

“Boy, I know you are eager to leave but don’t get cocky just because you have entered cultivation. You have to be mindful that others out there are much stronger than you.”

“I know,” Gray said, waving him off.

“Tch, whatever, lucky bastard. If I had that much gold, I would also move back to the city.” The old man muttered regretfully.

“Whatever, I already gave you five kilograms of gold ore. And you don’t even have to do anything.” Gray said. “How much gold coin is that worth? You won’t have to work for the rest of your life!”

“You’re still a stingy bastard…” Old Li muttered.

Gray was indeed stingy but he learned from the best.

---

The day for Gray to leave finally arrived. Their plan went through without a hitch and two tons of gold were securely stored in two wooden carts and covered by a thick tarp. They were tucked away beside other piles of ore in Old Li’s shed and Gray even slept inside the shed the previous night just to make sure.

The caravan arrived by midmorning, a long column of four-wheeled wooden carts pulled by horses and oxen. Some of the carts were more like carriages and were completely enclosed with windows and doors while others simply had flat beds for hauling goods. The caravan was guarded by a squad of six horsemen that carried spears as well as twenty or so more men with swords who all looked dangerous and powerful.

The caravan stopped along the dirt road outside of the village and a male trader jumped down from the lead carriage. He had a different complexion from Gray and the villagers and he was more brown than tan. Two young women emerged afterward. They looked like servants and followed behind.

Traders liked to flaunt their wealth and status in front of poor villagers and this one was no different. They always wore fancy clothes of a mix of bright colors, a stark contrast to the dirty drab the peasants wore. They also liked to bring their servant girls to distract the villagers and charm them with beauty.

In the past, Gray would have been drooling at the sight of these two women. They had youthful faces adorned with makeup and wore bright colored dresses that didn’t hide their bulging chests or flaring hips. The other villagers around him couldn’t resist and their eyes were glued onto their attractive bodies. Gray, however, was comparing them to Xueling and it was almost an insult to do so.

The trader led his women and two guards into the village and headed directly for the village square where the villagers were gathered with their goods. Gray stood with Old Li and waited for their turn. They only had ore to sell while others had mounds of dried beast meat, beast bones and sinew, and bags of herbs, flowers, and roots from special plants.

The trader surveyed the goods carefully, rejecting some outright while haggling furiously for the ones he wanted. Once a sale was made, the trader and the villager shook hands and coins exchanged hands. The prices were not great and sales were only a few silvers at most. The trader’s men would haul the goods back to the carts while more men would join the trader and the process repeated itself.

The trader a ruthless bargain hunter and extremely picky. An eternity passed before he finally got to Gray and Old Li.

Old Li nudged Gray and whispered, “Here they come, look sharp. Don’t get distracted by those two sluts.”

“Huh? I’m not…”

“Esteemed Amin Baba, welcome back!” Old Li greeted the trader with a wide, fake smile.

“Old Li, my friend. I have not seen you for many months. You look strong and healthy! Yet me, I am struggling. Times are tough, the lord of the land levies heavy taxes on poor traders like me. So, I hope you can give me some good deals.” Amin Baba said.

Gray stood silently to the side and couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Of course, of course!” Old Li went around to the wooden carts filled with ores and described them, “I have the usual goods as well as a surprise… Here is iron… here is copper… you can take a look, it’s all great quality!”

Amin Baba didn’t need to be told twice and examined the rocks carefully. His experienced eye could tell which ones most likely held the most profit.

“And finally,” Old Li led him to Gray’s carts, “We have a great discovery, something we’ve never seen before in this valley… ores of gold!”

Amin Baba immediately threw the junk in his hands away and rushed over, “Did you say gold?”

Old Li drew aside the cloth covers and revealed to everyone that he was not lying. There were mounds of gray and black rocks that were tinged with gold colors. Some even glittered under the sunlight even in its rough state. It was breathtaking. Each rock was pure money, it signified pure wealth!