“Thank you, kid,” an armored beast said to Jared out of the blue. Jared jumped in fright, never having expected armored beasts to possess the ability of speech. “You all can talk?” Jared exclaimed in utter surprise.
“But of course! We cultivated for thousands of years. If it weren’t for the fact that we had starved for over ten years, we might even be able to transform into a human now. In comparison, talking is nothing. The demon beasts in Demon King City have taken human forms ages ago, living exactly like humans!” the armored beast bragged.
“Demon King City?” Jared was momentarily taken aback, not quite comprehending the kind of place that was. Well, I guess it’s the demon beasts’ territory.
“You wouldn’t understand even if I were to tell you about it. Judging from your aura, you don’t seem to be from Ethereal Realm. Where’s Master Hammerhead? I want to know where those from Divine Smithing Sect have gone in the past ten or so years. We worked diligently here to mine spirit ores. Unexpectedly, no one came later on,” the armored beast demanded.
“Disaster befell Divine Smithing Sect over ten years ago, sir. It was wiped out of existence by Fire Incineration Sect, and the sect leader of Divine Smithing Sect was captured. Master Hammerhead only survived because he fled to the mundane world. For that reason, no one came to the mine anymore,” Jared hurriedly explained.
“Wiped out of existence? I didn’t expect humans to treat their own kind so ruthlessly.” The armored beast sounded noticeably surprised.
After saying that, it continued, “Is Master Hammerhead in the depths of the mine? Bring me to him. The essence from the spirit ores earlier is enough to allow us to move for the time being, but it’s far from sufficient to sate our hunger.”
Giving a dip of his head in assent, Jared led the few armored beasts into the depths of the mine. Soon, they found Hammerhead and Flaxseed. The two of them were laid out on the ground from refining spirit ores, so exhausted that they could not even stand.
When Hammerhead saw that the few armored beasts could move, he was instantly over the moon. “You guys have finally recovered! I know those ore essences aren’t enough to fill you, but we’re the only three people refining spirits ores here.
We really can’t continue anymore and need a short break. We’ll resume refining ores after resting for a few days. Please wait patiently for a couple of days,” he said to the few armored beasts in all politeness.
“Sure! With just those ore essences alone, we can survive for a few years,” one of the armored beasts replied. However, Jared had objections to that. He had no time to tarry there and refine ores. The Spiritual Energy Restoration Formation would be activated shortly, and he needed to rush back as soon as possible.
“Master Hammerhead, we’ve got to rush back to the mundane world as soon as possible, so we can’t tarry here for long. I can still continue refining now. But these spirit ores are of too low a grade. Are there any high-grade ones? Refining high-grade spirit ores can allow these armored beasts to recover faster,” he interjected.
Sweeping a gaze over him, Hammerhead countered, “You’ve just learned smithing and refining skills. It’s already impressive that you can refine the essence of a spirit ore of such a grade with just a few hits. Yet, you want to refine high-grade spirit ores?”
Jared said nothing to that. Instead, he picked at gigantic piece of spirit ore before bringing his hammer down on it hard. The tough spirit ore promptly shattered as loads of impurities turned into powder.
An ore essence bigger than the size of a fist remained. The crystal clear ore essence emanated a distinct aura and brilliance that made one immediately feel beyond comfortable..
Gaping at the ore essence refined by the man, Hammerhead was wholly stunned. Even if he were the one doing the job, he could not possibly refine such a spirit ore with just a single hit. Most importantly, the resulting ore essence was visibly pure without a hint of impurity.
