Chapter 86 - Hope

Chapter 86: Hope

“I was knocked out and taken captive.”

Xu Ning did not conceal anything. He just spoke the truth.

The other man raised his eyebrows when he heard this. “How unfortunate.”

“This is Xuanhua Canton, the Bao family clan’s Fire Crystal Mine.”

The man seemed to be in his thirties, but his eyes looked wizened.

“Xuanhua Canton?”

Xu Ning was taken aback.

‘A canton city?’

In State Feiyun, apart from cities, there were counties. He had never heard of a canton city before.

“This is State Jifeng, Xuanhua Canton?”

Xu Ning had read a lot of books in the Black Armored Guards, so he knew that State Jifeng was to the south of State Feiyun.

In State Jifeng, most of the regions were divided into prefectures and cantons.

“Yes.”

The man nodded and looked at Xu Ning with a strange look.

Xu Ning was baffled by the person’s affirmative answer.

He was taken hostage in State Feiyun and was brought to State Jifeng.

‘If my sister’s family knows that I am missing, they will be very worried…’

Xu Ning felt anxious.

When the man saw Xu Ning’s expression, he knew that Xu Ning was worried.

“What’s your name?”

The man asked Xu Ning.

“I’m Xu Ning.”

Xu Ning leaned back on the cage.

“Xu Ning…” The man nodded. “My name is Jiang Mian.”

“Since you were brought here, you should recognize reality and strive to survive.”

Jiang Mian reminded Xu Ning.

“Strive to survive?”

Xu Ning raised his head subconsciously and looked at Jiang Mian with a questioning look.

Seeing this, Jiang Mian explained, “I think we are wearing the same shackles, so our strength must be similar. The warriors of our realm are all miners in the deep layers of the Fire Crystal Mine.”

“It is very risky in the Fire Crystal Mine. While you are mining, poisonous substances could be emitted, which would then condense in the air, forming poisonous gas that would harm the body. If you want to ensure your safety, you must always activate your internal qi. Make sure not to be hurt by the poisonous gas.”

Jiang Mian said, “Moreover, in the deep trenches of the mine, some terrifying underground beasts would pop up from time to time. They are variants of demon beasts. They are relatively low in intelligence, but they are extremely cruel.”

“It is not easy to defend against the poisonous gas and those dangerous beasts.”

When Xu Ning heard this, he felt a little depressed.

This was exactly the same as what he had expected. There was a high chance that he was going to suffer.

“I noticed that you wished to break open the shackles and escape…”

Jiang Mian said, “But it’s no use, I’ve tried.”

“These shackles are made for warriors from the fourth to the sixth stage of the mortal realm. A mortal realm seventh stage strength is needed to break it open. But we have to go to the mines every day, and we have to use all our internal qi and physical strength to fight against the harsh environment. There is no time to practice at all.”

“Moreover, even if we get rid of the shackles, there are guards stationed outside. It is basically impossible to escape.”

When he said this, Jiang Mian’s expression was a little numb.

Obviously, he had previously tried to escape, but he finally gave up after recognizing reality.

“Requires the strength of a mortal realm seventh stage to break the shackles…”

Xu Ning looked at the shackles on his hands and feet, his heart sank.

Right now, he was still in the mortal realm sixth stage. If he wanted to be promoted to the mortal realm seventh stage, he needed 135 units of energy. However, even after considering the rewards from his combat merits and his subsidies, he only had 30 units of energy left.

‘It must be difficult to find spirit medicine here.’

‘Wait a second…’

Suddenly, Xu Ning thought of one thing.

He fumbled around his waist.

‘It’s still here!’

Xu Ning touched the buckle on his waist.

Xu Ning suddenly had hope.

The reason for this was that Xu Ning’s Thousand Source Bug was placed inside this buckle!

Before leaving for the trip, Xu Ning felt it was inconvenient to carry the ceramic pot, so he asked Wei Binglin on how to transport the Thousand Source Bug.

To that point, Wei Binglin gave Xu Ning a belt. This belt was specially made with a hidden compartment on the buckle. It was specially designed by the Yunying City Black Armored Guards to carry secret information.

Wei Binglin hid his Thousand Source Bug in this hidden compartment and carried it with him.

Because the Thousand Source Bug itself didn’t like to move, the small space was enough for it to live in it.

‘Thank god Wei Binglin gave me this belt!’

Xu Ning felt lucky.

He knew that he must have been searched before being sent to the mine.

‘With the Thousand Source Bug, I have some hope of escaping!’

Xu Ning was excited.

The Thousand Source Bug did not require him to feed it, as it could absorb aura and grow by itself.

Moreover, its efficiency in producing Aura Crystals would not decrease due to its tight living space.

‘What?’

Xu Ning was not depressed. Instead, he seemed to have calmed down, which confused Jiang Mian.

But Jiang Mian didn’t think too much about it. He just felt that Xu Ning recognized reality too quickly.

“I advise you to rest a little longer. In half an hour, we have to go to the mine.”

Jiang Mian explained the situation to Xu Ning. He then laid on the small bed and closed his eyes.

When Xu Ning saw Jiang Mian resting, he also laid on his little bed.

The small bed was actually a wooden board.

Their cage was small, with only two small beds inside and nothing else.

This cage was built on the surface, so they could clearly see the mine in the distance.

This made it convenient for the supervisors to check on the status of the miners at any time.

Xu Ning looked at Jiang Mian. He seemed to be asleep.

Xu Ning secretly put on the belt and opened the hidden compartment.

He saw the white fat bug still crawling in the dark compartment, and beside it, there was a transparent crystal.

‘It seems like it has been at least two days since I was knocked unconscious…’

Xu Ning guessed.

Before being taken into captivity, Xu Ning had just absorbed an Aura Crystal.

But now, another aura crystal was produced, indicating that at least two days had passed.

Xu Ning’s Thousand Source Bug produced Aura Crystals quite frequently.

After the Thousand Source Bug that Wei Binglin had received from Liu Yijian hatched, it took five days for it to produce an Aura Crystal.

Whereas Xu Ning’s Thousand Source Bug could produce an Aura Crystal almost every two to three days.

—

Discovered energy: 1 unit——

Absorb?

Yes/No

—

Xu Ning silently absorbed the Aura Crystal.

‘I need at least another 100 energy units before I can advance to the state mind realm…’

Xu Ning thought to himself, ‘This Thousand Source Bug can provide me with about 12 units of energy a month. It will take nearly ten months to accumulate enough energy.’

Xu Ning felt that this would take a long time.

According to what Jiang Mian said, these ten months would be difficult.

‘But at least there is hope.’

Xu Ning remained optimistic.

Xu Ning thought back to the five guards who were casually killed by that burly man and he felt quite lucky.

Luckily, the old woman said she wanted to kidnap him to be a miner. Otherwise, he would not have survived at all.

Xu Ning carefully closed the hidden compartment.

And just like Jiang Mian, he closed his eyes.

Less than half an hour went by.

Xu Ning suddenly heard footsteps.

He saw a few supervisors walking down the row of cell cages, knocking on the railings one by one.

“Rise up, get up and go to the mine!”

The supervisors looked impatient and fierce.

Xu Ning observed their footsteps, movements, and aura; he noticed that these supervisors were not weak.

Since these miners’ movements were restricted every day, the supervisors could easily handle them.

Moreover, there were quite a few of them. There were even mortal realm ninth stage warriors, as such they were not afraid of these resting miners.

“Let’s go.”

Jiang Mian sat up and slowly stood up, looking helpless.

At this point, Xu Ning could only get up and follow Jiang Mian.

The door opened, and the miners began to gather together.