......

Fang He also understood this point, but hearing Chen Yan's name still triggered a stress response in him.

"Then don't worry about it, I've managed to invite someone anyway. If there's nothing else, you should leave now."

Using retreat as advance, he tested the other party's attitude once more.

The Mustached Man indeed took the bait, but he wasn't stupid either. Holding his compass, he planted himself firmly in place: "No hurry. Didn't you say you invited someone else? Let me watch and learn some skills, alright."

For a moment, Fang He didn't know what to do. Just as he was organizing his response,

the Mustached Man's peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of Lu Ding and Zhan Tingzhou approaching from the horizon.

Oh!?

Someone actually dared to come?

Did they eat bear hearts and leopard gall bladders or something?

Taking the Fang family's job meant going against Master Chen Yan, didn't it?

No way!

I need to ruin this for them.

The Mustached Man's eyes shifted craftily.

Since he already knew that taking the Fang family's job meant opposing Chen Yan, his coming here wasn't with the intention of actually working.

He just wanted to annoy Fang He, stimulate the Mineral Nodes in the Iron Stone Cave again, and make those things go completely berserk.

Then he could go back and claim credit from Chen Yan, while also currying favor with the master.

Who would have thought that two young men would suddenly appear to intercept his plans.

The Mustached Man sneered as he spoke: "Inviting two beardless kids? Mine Owner Fang, you really aren't afraid of things going wrong, are you."

Fang He heard this and looked up.

"Young men?"

He saw Lu Ding and Zhan Tingzhou flying down and landing.

Fang He was dumbfounded - how could someone actually come?

He quickly walked up to inquire.

"Who might you two be?"

Lu Ding instinctively looked at his own shoulder insignia, thinking, is this person blind?

But they were empty.

Oh!!

He remembered now - originally, to secretly enter Xiankong Town and avoid detection, he had taken them off first. Later, after arriving, because of the matters with Zhao Shaolin and the Xiankong Town 749 Bureau, he had forgotten to put them back on.

My mistake, sorry.

Just as Lu Ding was about to take out his shoulder insignia and put it on,

the Mustached Man ran up and started his sarcastic remarks.

"What? Too scared to even announce your affiliation? Don't tell me you're just rookies wanting to practice, afraid you'll mess things up and be too ashamed to show your faces later?"

Hearing this, Lu Ding slowly stopped his hand movements.

Goat-ass mustache, stinky and annoying, and you're still pushing it?

This was the first time he'd encountered someone daring to provoke him to his face.

Fang He turned his head: "Yang, shut up. They're not the ones I invited."

Zhan Tingzhou quietly approached Lu Ding and whispered: "He should be Fang He, the youngest son of the former Iron Stone Cave mine owner, current Iron Stone Cave Mine Owner. The Iron Stone Cave has numerous passages - if we want to find the Earth Dragon Immortal, we might need his help."

Lu Ding understood.

So I help you, you help me?

Immediately he clasped his hands: "We are exactly who he invited. What do you want to do about it?"

Fang He, who had been about to say something more to the Mustached Man, turned his head at these words: "Huh????"

When did I invite them? If I invited people, how come I don't know about it?

The Mustached Man, who had already lost interest upon hearing Fang He say these two weren't the ones,

now perked up instantly upon hearing Lu Ding's admission.

"Hmph, Mine Owner Fang, what are you trying to deny?"

Fang He looked left at Lu Ding, then right at the Mustached Man: "What am I denying?"

But the Mustached Man simply wouldn't listen, staring directly at Lu Ding.

"What do I want to do?"

His eyes scanned up and down: "Looking at your youthful appearance, you must have just completed your training."

After saying this, he looked at Zhan Tingzhou, confirming repeatedly that both faces were unfamiliar: "And wearing a mask too, hiding your head and concealing your tail."

"The matters here aren't something you can handle. Better leave early."

Lu Ding found this interesting. Although he already knew what would happen next, he couldn't help but ask the classic scenario question.

"Oh? What if I don't leave? Are you going to compete with me to see who's more capable?"

The Mustached Man's eyes widened slightly.

How does this person know what I'm thinking?

He put his hands behind his back: "Correct."

"We'll compete in geomancy and earth arts, to see who can handle the Mineral Nodes in this mine."

Mineral Nodes generally refer to human-shaped corpses in mine pits.

Folklore says that however many Mineral Nodes are dug out of a mine, that's how many people will die.

Lu Ding hadn't expected to encounter this here.

Mineral Nodes that even the Five Decays of Heaven-Man were helpless against, requiring specialists to handle - how incredible must these be?

Probably could yield some great loot!

Suddenly, Lu Ding became interested.

Zhan Tingzhou also heard the Mustached Man's words and thought to himself, isn't this work delivered right to their doorstep?

During those years searching for his sister in his previous life, he learned whatever he could. As a rogue cultivator, he couldn't be picky.

Coincidentally, geomancy and earth arts were within his range of knowledge.

Although not specialized, he was after all a half-step to godhood expert in his previous life. Whatever he did casually was countless times better than these so-called specialized minor cultivators.

Wasn't this just delivered to their doorstep?

He flew forward: "I'll compete with you."

The Mustached Man glanced sideways, his tone slightly disdainful: "You?"

Although he appeared quite confident on the surface - after all, he was putting on a good act -

in reality, he himself wasn't confident he could handle the Mineral Nodes in Iron Stone Cave.

He had come purely because Fang He couldn't find professionals.

He came to kick someone who was down.

Originally, the Mustached Man's plan was to first get Fang He to give him the shares, since Fang He was the one in a hurry.

Once he got the shares,

the Mustached Man would just dive into that cave and wake up all the Mineral Nodes.

When all the Mineral Nodes came alive later,

basically no one in Xiankong Town could handle them.

Then he'd just gift the shares to Master Chen Yan, curry favor with Chen Yan, and wouldn't his future days be prosperous?

As for whether Fang He would acknowledge it if he didn't handle the Mineral Nodes,

the Mustached Man wasn't worried. Even Xiankong Town's 749 Bureau had to show respect to Master Chen - whatever they said would be considered right later.

Thinking of these things, the Mustached Man twisted his mustache and smiled lewdly.

"Fine, either of you can compete. Don't say I, as your senior, am bullying you. How about this - I'll let you go first."

"If you win, I'll leave immediately. If I win, you leave immediately. How about that?"

If these two could handle the Mineral Nodes, then he could just clasp his hands and say, "Heroes emerge from the young, this old man's skills are inferior," - just a simple phrase.

If they couldn't handle it, even better - he could pin the blame for activating the Mineral Nodes entirely on them.

He couldn't lose either way.

Fang He watched all this, well aware of how dangerous the Mineral Nodes in that mine were.

A single misstep could truly get people killed.

Plus, although he couldn't see what Zhan Tingzhou looked like, Lu Ding looked young.

This was his own matter - no need to drag others down with him.

He tried to persuade them: "You two..."

Zhan Tingzhou raised his hand to interrupt: "No need to say more."

Then he looked at the Mustached Man: "I'll compete with you..."

Lu Ding directly interrupted him with action.

His clearly-knuckled hand reached forward, seemingly ordinary but actually carrying one of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Methods - [Mountain-Shaking Earth-Quaking] - making it impossible for the Mustached Man to dodge.

Grabbing him by the collar, the faint blue veins on the back of his hand resembled leaf veins after rain, faintly visible through the delicate muscle texture.

Lu Ding lifted the Mustached Man up and slammed him heavily to the ground!!

BANG!!!

The ground shattered, with chunks and fragments of broken stone bulging up from the leveled surface.

The Mustached Man lay on the shattered ground.

Letting out a pained: "Hah........"

"Cough cough cough cough cough......." coughing sounds gradually arose.

Lu Ding didn't bend his knees, slowly lowering himself while looking down from above: "Still want to compete?"

Originally he just wanted to listen, to see if the subsequent development would be as classic as he imagined.

As expected, it was the classic of classics, plus he had heard about the Mineral Nodes.

Lu Ding didn't want to waste time.

Might makes right.

Why compete in geomancy and earth arts with others when he had cultivated such strength?

What difference was there between this and a Golden Core stage senior sister being framed by a Qi Refining stage junior sister, yet instead of immediately smashing her mouth, choosing to confront her?