Chapter 177: That's Just Luck

The Taiyin Cold Stone, even if Professor Yun were to purchase it, the price would be extremely low.

A palm-sized cold stone of the same grade could only be exchanged for one star stone of the same grade.

This price was practically robbery!

A few palm-sized stones could be forged into a Taiyin weapon.

However, star stones of the fifth and sixth grades were currently being hoarded, making star stones the scarce commodity instead.

Jiang Changkong pondered, thinking he would change the trading method when the time came.

Professor Yun’s treasure trove held many valuable items.

It wasn’t just star stones that contained Essence, Qi, and Spirit. If he encountered potions made from Solar Blood, a large quantity could also yield significant gains.

During the day, he would hunt Star Demons, and at night, he would mine Taiyin Cold Stones.

As long as he didn’t venture deep into the lake and encounter that terrifying sword energy, he wouldn’t face any real danger.

After escorting Tang Ruoxi to the stronghold, Jiang Changkong left directly.

Arriving near the Taiyin Cold Pool, Jiang Changkong searched for Star Demons and began his slaughter.

His luck was average; by the end of the day, he had barely accumulated over ten thousand points of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

At night, Jiang Changkong ventured deep into the cold pool, mining Taiyin Cold Stones and storing them away.

He had originally planned to develop this resource after establishing his city.

This place was essentially a mineral vein—a Taiyin mineral vein. Once developed, it could yield a substantial amount of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

After a night of work, he had mined over a hundred fifth-grade cold stones and more than three hundred fourth-grade ones.

He had to be cautious, avoiding any significant disturbances for fear of attracting Star Demons from the Lunar Lake.

Early the next morning, Jiang Changkong logged into the Martial Arts Association official website and navigated to the discussion section.

News of the large mineral vein had already spread the day before.

After a day and night of discussion, the forum was now flooded with posts about the mineral vein.

Various Martial Arts Associations had already set out, heading toward the Pingan City Abyss.

They were all large-scale Martial Arts Associations, and Jiang Changkong’s old acquaintances had also arrived.

Yao Meng, Nantian Wang.

These were just from other provinces. In Anding Province, Martial Arts Associations and major factions from various cities were sending people over.

The Abyss was now a gathering of influential figures, with experts as numerous as trees in a forest.

Star Hidden Level Martial Artists were insignificant here.

Early-stage Star Spirits could only keep their heads down, while mid-stage ones had to maintain a low profile.

A large number of late-stage Star Spirits had arrived, though there was no news yet about peak-stage ones.

“Don’t show yourself these next few days. The Lin, Yun, and Jin families have hired help and are searching everywhere for you.”

Tang Ruoxi sent him a message.

Jiang Changkong’s eyebrows twitched. He had long anticipated that these three families, who held grudges against him, wouldn’t give up easily.

But the strength he had displayed far exceeded what they could handle.

At this point, the help they had hired—were they late-stage Star Spirits?

Only late-stage Star Spirits would give them the confidence to cause trouble for him.

“I understand.”

Jiang Changkong thought for a moment. For now, he would focus on gathering Essence, Qi, and Spirit. Let them search all they wanted.

Essence, Qi, and Spirit were the real priority.

After reading the message, Jiang Changkong went out to hunt Star Demons again.

Not long after he set out, he stopped in his tracks. There were quite a few people nearby.

These individuals were all quite strong, almost all Star Hidden Martial Artists, led by Star Spirits.

“There’s no hunting to be done here.”

Jiang Changkong changed direction, only to find more people.

Due to the large mineral vein, too many people had flocked here. Before the actual competition began, with nothing else to do, they wandered around.

Jiang Changkong wasn’t clear about the specifics of the competition, but he could guess some of it.

The current situation was just minor skirmishes. The real showdown would come when the major provinces and powerful factions arrived.

Everywhere was crowded, so Jiang Changkong had no choice but to venture deeper.

After going deeper, although there were no people, he had to be even more cautious. Here, if one wasn’t careful, a Star Spirit late-stage Star Demon might appear.

After a day of slaughter, Jiang Changkong calculated that he had only gained around five thousand units of Essence.

Helpless, he could only return to the Taiyin Cold Pool. However, as soon as he arrived, he noticed there were people here.

A group of Martial Artists—not the three families looking for him—but people interested in the Taiyin Cold Pool.

These Martial Artists jumped into the cold pool one after another, wanting to explore its mysteries.

“Reckless fools.”

Jiang Changkong shook his head slightly. The strength of these Martial Artists wasn’t bad—the weakest was at the early stage of Star Vault, and one among them was even at the mid-stage of Star Spirit.

Their strength was decent, but once they reached the Lunar Lake, if they dared to go down, they would become food for the Star Demons.

Back then, if he hadn’t had Taiji to protect his body, invulnerability, and the sword tip, he might have fallen here.

“Friends, this place is dangerous. It’s better not to go down.”

Jiang Changkong changed into a set of black clothes and walked over.

“Danger? What kind of danger haven’t we encountered? If it’s dangerous, brother, you should just stay farther away.”

The Martial Artists laughed heartily, not caring in the slightest.

“Exactly, when we trained in the provincial capital, what dangers haven’t we seen?”

“We even managed to evade pursuit by Star Spirit late-stage experts, let alone this mere cold pool.”

Hearing their words, Jiang Changkong shook his head and said no more, turning to leave.

“Let’s go, we’re heading down.”

The Martial Artists called out to each other and leaped into the cold pool one after another.

The cold pool rippled, water splashed, and then fell into silence.

The Martial Artists rushed into the cold pool, diving swiftly downward, encountering no trace of danger along the way.

“They say this cold pool is terrifying, but where’s the terror?” one Martial Artist laughed.

“It’s all just people from Pingan City scaring themselves. What’s so terrifying?”

“There’s not even a trace of Star Demons. Let’s hurry down—they should have reached the bottom by now.”

“Right, right, hurry down. I heard the Taiyin Heng family values the treasure here. Don’t let them get there first.”

The group of Martial Artists accelerated again and soon reached the very bottom of the cold pool. The Lunar Lake appeared in their sight.

“Is this the Lunar Lake? It’s entirely condensed from Taiyin Star Power. There must be Taiyin treasures hidden here.”

One Martial Artist said excitedly.

“Indeed, every generation of the Taiyin Heng family comes here to search for treasures.”

The leading mid-stage Star Spirit Martial Artist smiled faintly. “I heard there are dangers inside. Everyone, be careful.”

“What dangers could there be? I’ll go first.”

A Star Vault Martial Artist jumped directly into the Lunar Lake. The Taiyin water rippled slightly, followed by deathly silence.

“Where is he? Come out for a moment.” The mid-stage Star Spirit Martial Artist frowned and shouted.

The other Martial Artists felt a chill, their expressions turning more serious.

Splash—

The Taiyin water rippled, and the Martial Artist’s head emerged. “I jumped too hard just now. It’s too cold here. Be careful, everyone.”

The Martial Artists breathed a sigh of relief. With Moonforce, wouldn’t it naturally be cold?

“Let’s go down.” The mid-stage Star Spirit Martial Artist dove down, and the others quickly followed.

“I told you, what danger could there be here?”

One Martial Artist said disdainfully, his head floating on the lake’s surface as he scanned the surroundings. Spotting a Martial Artist standing upright, he said admiringly, “Impressive strength. You can stand on the Taiyin Lake without any Star Power fluctuations.”

The martial artist beamed with joy. “This isn’t about strength—it’s pure luck. This thing is as hard as iron; it must be a huge piece of Taiyin stone.”

As he spoke, Star Power surged, and he reached directly for the hard, silvery-white surface beneath his feet.

Boom!

Suddenly, the lake waters churned violently, and the silvery-white surface roiled. A gaping, bloody maw swallowed the martial artist whole.

Everyone: “…”

What the hell kind of luck was this?!

“It’s a Star Demon! Get to the surface, now!” the martial artists cried out in alarm, frantically swimming upward.

Rumble, rumble, rumble…

The Taiyin Lake stirred up endless waves of silvery-white water as one silvery-white figure after another emerged from the depths.

Their color matched the lake perfectly—impossible to detect unless they chose to reveal themselves.

I Can Level Up Infinitely