CHAPTER 425: CHAPTER 236: SUPPRESSION_2

The clash between Gu Sheng and the others was fierce but brief. At this moment, the disciples of the Haoyang Sect who were busy mining in the cave hurriedly came out upon hearing the commotion.

"Brother Lin! What happened?"

Although Lin Tianhao was heavily injured, thanks to the assistance of the Heart Sutra recited by Gu Sheng just moments ago, he had recovered significantly and was out of mortal danger. After consuming a recovery pill, it wouldn’t take long for him to fully recuperate. He urgently said to the disciples of the Haoyang Sect, "I’m fine, quickly check on Junior Brother Gu!"

The disciples of the Haoyang Sect then noticed that Gu Sheng had already fallen unconscious, his breath shallow. A few of them hurriedly rushed to his side and helped him up, one of them who had some knowledge of medicine grabbed Gu Sheng’s wrist to check his pulse.

After a while, the person checking his pulse visibly calmed down.

"How is Junior Brother Gu?"

With the support of other disciples, Lin Tianhao made his way over to Gu Sheng’s side, his expression filled with urgency as he asked.

The person who was checking Gu Sheng’s pulse exhaled a breath of relief and said, "Brother Lin, don’t worry. Junior Brother Gu’s breath may be weak, but judging by his pulse, there shouldn’t be any serious problems. It seems he has fainted due to excessive spiritual exhaustion."

Lin Tianhao recalled Gu Sheng’s condition moments earlier, and some realizations began to form in his mind.

"That’s good! Quickly, move Junior Brother Gu to a more comfortable spot to rest."

The group helped both Gu Sheng and Lin Tianhao to a flatter and more stable area. The other disciples took out recovery pills and fed them to Lin Tianhao; once his injuries stabilized, they immediately began asking him what had transpired.

Lin Tianhao recounted the events in detail but left out some key aspects—he did not mention Gu Sheng’s use of the Heart Sutra or the activation of the Vajra Demon Suppression Bell. Instead, he narrated that with combined efforts between himself and Gu Sheng, after a hard-fought battle, they managed to defeat the demonized Kang Tai.

After explaining everything, Lin Tianhao asked, "How is the Spirit Stone mining progressing?"

Kang Tai’s transformation left Lin Tianhao feeling uneasy, and with the Crimson Cloud Secret Realm set to close in less than a month, he began inquiring about the mining progress.

"Over these past days, the main vein of this Spirit Stone ore seam has been mostly mined out. At most, it will take another two days to extract the highest-quality Spirit Stones from the main vein. The remaining slightly lower-quality ones will probably require another half a month to gather."

Lin Tianhao calculated the time and instructed, "Speed up the progress! We must complete the mining within ten days! Given the condition of both myself and Junior Brother Gu, this place isn’t safe anymore. Once we finish, we must leave quickly."

The other disciples of the Haoyang Sect understood the urgency of the situation. Leaving one person behind to look after Gu Sheng and Lin Tianhao, the rest worked tirelessly around the clock to mine Spirit Stones.

Fortunately, they were skilled Golden Bone Realm martial artists whose stamina and vitality far surpassed ordinary people. Otherwise, such a non-stop mining schedule could have claimed lives.

Gu Sheng remained unconscious for a full seven days. If his breathing hadn’t already returned to normal, Lin Tianhao might have believed he had died.

"Hiss! Ah, so hungry!"

The moment Gu Sheng woke, he felt his stomach protesting loudly, the growling sound clearly audible even to himself.

During these seven days, Gu Sheng hadn’t consumed a single piece of food. While martial artists in the Golden Bone Realm weren’t entirely reliant on food, they still couldn’t achieve complete fasting. Seven days without eating or drinking, coupled with his body continuing to operate even in unconsciousness, left him unbearably famished.

Lin Tianhao, whose injuries had mostly healed by now, was overjoyed to see Gu Sheng awaken and slapped him on the shoulder excitedly. "Good brother! You’re finally awake!"

Gu Sheng, still weak, collapsed from the force of the slap.

Looking at Lin Tianhao’s overly excited expression, he couldn’t help but ask with confusion, "Uh, have I been asleep for long?"

Lin Tianhao nodded heavily and said, "Yes! Seven whole days! During this time, your mouth wouldn’t open, not a drop of water passed through—you were at risk of starving or dehydrating to death if you hadn’t awakened soon."

"Phew! No wonder I feel so hungry. Water, give me some water quickly!"

Gu Sheng’s throat felt as dry as fire; Lin Tianhao retrieved a water pouch from his storage bag and handed it to him. "Drink slowly, I’ll go get you some food."

Ten minutes later, Lin Tianhao returned carrying a wild deer. Skillfully, he kindled a fire, sliced the meat, and began roasting it.

Under the warmth of the flames, the aroma of cooked meat quickly filled the air, and Gu Sheng, overwhelmed by hunger, couldn’t wait any longer.

"Hey! Let me have a piece first!"

Disregarding whether the meat was fully cooked, he snatched a piece from Lin Tianhao and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Eat slower! This whole deer is yours!"

Gu Sheng devoured an astonishing amount, consuming nearly half the deer by himself.

After finishing, he felt warmth spread throughout his body, and his strength rapidly returned.

With his energy restored, Gu Sheng began asking about the events following their battle with Kang Tai.

At the time, Gu Sheng had been injured and passed out, leaving him unaware of what happened afterward.

From what he could remember, Lin Tianhao had been gravely wounded and shouldn’t have been capable of defeating the transformed Kang Tai. Seeing them now sitting here chatting, the resolution of the conflict was obvious, but he couldn’t help feeling curious.

When Gu Sheng brought this up, Lin Tianhao’s expression turned serious, and he recounted Gu Sheng’s actions on that day in detail.

Upon hearing everything, Gu Sheng furrowed his brows tightly and fell into a contemplative silence.

Although the Vajra Demon Suppression Bell had saved his life once again, it had now been exposed, and Gu Sheng wasn’t confident Lin Tianhao would treat him the same as before.

After a brief silence, Lin Tianhao sighed deeply and patted Gu Sheng’s shoulder. "What’s done is done. Look on the bright side! Based on what I know of Peak Master Wen, he will do his utmost to protect you! I also have some influence within the Haoyang Sect, and I’ll do my best to advocate for you. As for the final outcome, I can’t guarantee it."

Gu Sheng heard this and solemnly cupped his hands toward Lin Tianhao. "Brother Lin, thank you so much!"

Lin Tianhao chuckled and said, "Don’t mention it! You and I get along so well; I certainly don’t want to see you meet a grim fate."

Not wanting to dwell on heavy topics, Lin Tianhao purposefully changed the subject.

Three days later, the disciples of the Haoyang Sect staggered out of the cave, all sporting large dark circles under their eyes.

Though their faces bore signs of exhaustion, their eyes shimmered with intense excitement.

By now, they had completed the mining of the Spirit Stone vein. In front of them lay two piles resembling mountains of Spirit Stones.

The sheer abundance of Spirit Stones temporarily stacked together created such concentrated spiritual power that it had begun to condense into liquid form.

"Junior Brother Gu, we’ve extracted a total of 2,216 pieces of top-quality Spirit Stones from the main vein and 3,642 slightly lower-quality ones from the subsidiary veins. I’ve already divided them into two equal parts—you may choose whichever pile you like!"

Even Lin Tianhao hadn’t expected this Spirit Stone vein to yield so much; splitting it into two equal shares still provided them with more Spirit Stones than they’d had in the past ten years combined!

"Hmm? Equal shares? Didn’t we agree on a 60-40 split?"

Gu Sheng’s gaze revealed some confusion.

Lin Tianhao laughed and said, "If it weren’t for you, we’d all have perished under Kang Tai’s hand, leaving us with nothing. You contributed immensely; this equal share is what you deserve!"

Though Spirit Stones were precious, Gu Sheng was principled. Lin Tianhao had chosen to help him conceal the matter of the Vajra Demon Suppression Bell, and Gu Sheng now regarded him as a true friend. He had no intention of taking advantage in this situation.

Gu Sheng’s eyes remained firm as he said, "That won’t do! We agreed on a 60-40 split, so 60-40 it is! Besides, these brothers worked tirelessly to mine while I did nothing. It’s only fair that you take the larger portion!"