1059 Teto... What?
"Wh-what is that…?"
Hearing the surprised voice of Yi Min while he was still fully focused on comprehending the Dao of Space, Xuan Hao closed the small holes in space that he had created with the partial spatial collapse before opening both of his eyes.
Coming face to face with the curious eyes of Yi Min who was leaning over the side of her bed in an attempt to get a better look at what she perceived to be strange holes in space that had been created by him as a result of his cultivation.
"Ah!?"
Thump~
Not expecting Xuan Hao to suddenly open his eyes, Yi Min momentarily lost her balance as she fell over the side of the bed and landed on the floor. Putting her in a rather awkward position.
"Are you okay…?" Seeing Yi Min land on the floor in front of him, Xuan Hao could not help asking this. Feeling quite worried about her given the fact that she had not managed to react in time to prevent the fall with her Soul Ascension Realm cultivation base.
Even if her cultivation was currently in a bad state due to the chaotic qi still present inside of her dantian, it shouldn't have been to the degree that she didn't even have the energy to prevent herself from falling over the side of her bed. This thought was also what stopped him from using his domain to prevent her fall.
"… I'm fine… My mind was just somewhere else, and I didn't pay any attention..." Almost whispering this to herself with an embarrassed expression on her face, Yi Min slowly got up from the floor before sitting back on her bed. "But more importantly than that, the three Soul Ascension Realm Experts! How did you suddenly get so strong. The last time I saw you, you were clearly still in the Domain Lord Realm, and I doubt you were hiding your cultivation base considering how oblivious you were about the Sky Empire."
"This…" Not knowing what to say when faced with the curious and questioning look from Yi Min, Xuan Hao froze for a short moment. "I guess you can say I had a lucky encounter in a mystic realm that helped speed up my cultivation…" In the end, he decided to just put his rapid improvement on the mystic realm of the Mirage Sect.
Even if it was not true, it was far more believable compared to him saying he had broken through on his own.
"A mystic realm… No wonder…" showing a look of understanding after hearing this, Yi Min's expression changed into one of admiration.
Although she had never had the chance to explore a mystic realm herself, she had long since heard rumors about the countless treasures and dangers that could be found inside of them. Not to mention someone in the Domain Lord Realm, even someone in the Soul Ascension Realm could easily lose their life inside a mystic realm if they were not careful enough.
Of course, because of this danger, the opportunities that could be found inside a mystic realm could be considered far beyond her current understanding. For Xuan Hao to be able to reach the Soul Ascension Realm and even grow strong enough to easily kill the three Soul Ascension Realm Experts, it was obvious how much danger he would have to go through to grow to this degree in such a short period of time!
"Ehm!" Feeling the burning gaze filled with admiration staring directly at him, Xuan Hao did a rather awkward fake cough to bring her back from her trance like state. "Now that I answered your question, I think it's about time for you to answer one of mine." "Huh? Ah! Sure." Hearing Xuan Hao wanted to ask her something, Yi Min instantly came of her somewhat dazed state.
"Great! Do you have any idea why those three suddenly decided to attack you? Given the current state of the Sky Empire, I doubt they would have dared to leave the safety of the capital city if it wasn't something important." Remembering some of the information about all the powerful forces in the Sky Empire gathering together in the capital to create safety in number, Xuan Hao could not help asking this.
Feeling rather curious as to what had caused these three to take the risk of being attacked by a powerful expert from one of the surrounding empires.
Even if the spiritual metal mine in Yi Min's possession was precious and could give them a lot of useful spiritual metal in the short term, it shouldn't be enough for them to risk their lives, but then again… The terrifying divine tool of the cardinal should have given some level of confidence. Maybe the other two also had their own trump cards and just didn't have the time to use them before dying.
"This…" Hearing Xuan Hao's question, Yi Min froze for a short moment as she began fidgeting with her hands while suspiciously looking around the room for no apparent reason. "Actually, there isn't just a spiritual metal mine below this land, but also a large deposit of Tetonite ore below the capital. To be more specific, directly below the palace…"
"T-Tetonite Ore…?" Becoming on large question mark upon hearing what Yi Min said, Xuan Hao displayed why his blacksmithing skills were about to be overtaken by one of his disciples…
"…"
Not having expected this reaction from Xuan Hao, Yi Min also froze on the spot with a look of disbelief plastered all over her face. Even without her saying anything, it was still rather obvious what she was thinking from the way she was staring at him…
"This… You don't have to look at me like that, what is this… Tetonite ore you mentioned? Is it important enough for three Soul Ascension Realm Experts to risk their lives?"
"I never thought you wouldn't know what Tetonite is… Do you remember the silver sword I gave you?"
"Yes?" "Its core is made out of Tetonite. Although it's a rather small amount and of the lowest quality, you should at least be aware of just how strong it is. Now, the Tetonite that is down below the palace is above that in terms of quality.
The only reason why I haven't begun mining it yet is because the minimum required strength to mine out Tetonite of the lowest quality is the Soul Ascension Realm. The deposit was only recently discovered, and I just recently informed the imperial family about its presence. Because of this not a single bit of it has been mined for now. The piece of Tetonite used in the silver sword was something I got as a gift from an old friend. Even at the core of the continent, Tetonite is one of the strongest and most sought-after metals!"
Whoosh~
Hearing what Yi Min said, Xuan Hao could not help showing a shocked expression on his face as he took out the small silver sword Yi Min had given him in the past before starting to examine it.
"This…"
Spotting the small core that only made up a single gram of the entire sword's mass after using his domain and divine sense to investigate the sword in depth, Xuan Hao was shocked to discover that outside of the core that was made up from Tetonite, the rest of the sword was actually made up of relatively normal spiritual metal.
The only thing that gave the silver sword its strength and allowed it to handle its current strength was the small bit of Tetonite that had been mixed into it. Not only that, but the Tetonite in the sword was apparently of the lowest quality according to Yi Min.
If a sword was made up entirely from Tetonite of a higher quality, it would allow his strength to increase many times over!
"I see that you realized how precious the Tetonite ore deposit is. Even if they had to risk their lives, they might have wanted to get their hands on the Tetonite to invite a powerful expert from outside to help them stabilize the situation in the Sky Empire.
The only problem is… I have no idea where they found out about this from. The only person I managed to inform about the existence of the Tetonite mine was the current emperor of the Sky Empire but given how the imperial family disappeared following the old ancestor's injuries I doubt they would have found out about it from the imperial family." Saying this, Yi Min could not help frowning. Not understanding how the different powerful powers in the capital had managed to find out about the Tetonite ore deposit.
"Don't worry too much about it for now, it might have only been the cardinal and the other two who knew about the Tetonite. If others knew, I doubt the other two religions would willingly allow one of them to go over by himself." Feeling that she might be overreacting a bit given that they had no way to be sure that they had come for the Tetonite in the first place, Xuan Hao did his best to try and calm her down.
