"Brother Zhou, someone’s been asking around about Cultivation Techniques lately..."

Somewhere in the mine tunnels, Brother Zhou was drinking wine and eating meat, surrounded by a group of burly Mining Slaves who served as his guards.

Just then, the Shi Family Brothers suddenly approached, knelt on the ground, and gave a report.

"So many fools think they’re clever. Do they really believe they can escape after ending up here? Investigate this quietly at once and find them for me," Brother Zhou said coldly after listening.

Cultivation Techniques and the like were trivial, but if the Guards found out, they would surely think his supervision was lax. On the other hand, catching the person should earn him a good amount of Ore, and the Guards would reward him for it.

"Yes, Brother Zhou!"

Hearing this, the Shi Family Brothers and the others nodded in unison.

That night, Zhang Chi followed his usual routine of Cultivation and rest. He also took some time to catch a few strange snakes, roasting and eating them to replenish his strength. By the next morning, his Vitality was fully restored.

Early the next morning, he quietly hid outside the former nest of the Four-legged Strange Snakes.

DONG... DONG...

After a while, the bell signaling the start of work in the mines finally rang. Another hour passed before the Mining Slave appeared, looking extremely cautious.

"Hm?"

Seeing the scorched-black mine tunnel, completely devoid of any strange snakes, the Mining Slave couldn’t help but freeze.

’Could this be his handiwork? Did he tell me to come here to show off his power?’

The thought sent a storm of shock through the Mining Slave’s mind.

It turned out that the Guard Captain had never publicized the matter of exterminating the Four-legged Strange Snakes.

And news didn’t travel well among the Mining Slaves.

That was why this Mining Slave had misunderstood.

In reality, Zhang Chi had no particular reason for choosing this meeting spot.

He simply felt it was secluded and relatively close to the Poisonous Miasma Mine Tunnel.

"I knew you’d come. So, did you find anything?"

At the same time, having confirmed no one was following, Zhang Chi appeared behind the Mining Slave with his face covered.

The Mining Slave, however, didn’t turn around. Instead, he tore a strip of cloth from his clothes and blindfolded himself.

It seemed that after "learning" of Zhang Chi’s strength, he had become more confident in him and took him more seriously.

Since Zhang Chi had been unwilling to be seen yesterday, he naturally had to cooperate.

’This guy isn’t bad!’

Zhang Chi nodded to himself, taking in the scene.

"Senior, I have an Iron Refining Secret Skill, a Spirit Contract technique for taming Demon Beasts, and a Body Refining Technique. As for the others, I haven’t found them yet, but I’ll keep trying!" the Mining Slave said at once.

He had originally planned to offer only one of them and see how things went before revealing the rest. But Zhang Chi’s immense "power" had clearly made him change his mind.

"Really? Good, very good!"

The surprise was so sudden that Zhang Chi was momentarily stunned, but his face quickly broke into a wide smile.

Without further ado, the two got down to business. The Mining Slave began to impart the knowledge, while Zhang Chi diligently recorded and studied it.

Night fell in the blink of an eye. Zhang Chi had successfully recorded all the Secret Techniques on a large stone he had prepared in advance.

However, time was limited, and he only managed to master the Iron Refining Secret Skill and the Spirit Contract.

He hadn’t had a chance to ask about the Body Refining Technique yet.

Fortunately, there was still plenty of time, so Zhang Chi wasn’t in a hurry.

Given his huge gains, he was in a good mood and left four pieces of Middle Grade ore in one go.

Before leaving, he asked for the man’s name and learned that this Mining Slave was called Xiao Yunhong.

’This is great! He got the Secret Techniques, but he didn’t just cast me aside. He still paid me. He even asked for my name and didn’t knock me out, which obviously means he trusts me more.’

’And now that he has these Secret Techniques, he’s sure to become even more powerful. Brother Zhou’s days are numbered.’

At the same time, the Mining Slave, Xiao Yunhong, was also in a fine mood.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chi quickly made his way to the new nest of the Four-legged Strange Snakes.

WHOOSH!

He formed a Hand Seal, silently chanted the Technique, and a ball of crimson flame suddenly erupted in his right palm.

This was the Fire Bomb Technique.

The moment the flame appeared, the surroundings were illuminated, and the temperature rose noticeably.

He didn’t throw the flame, but the Four-legged Strange Snakes were scared into scattering in all directions.

Thus, without facing any attacks, he retrieved some Four-legged Snake eggs from the holes in the rock wall.

The Snake Eggs were completely black, with a few having small white dots on their surface. They were only about the size of a fingertip, but they contained a startling life force.

’This should be enough!’

Counting twenty-one in total, Zhang Chi nodded in satisfaction and quickly left.

It turned out this particular Spirit Contract technique could only be used on the young, such as Demon Beast Eggs.

Otherwise, Zhang Chi could have directly formed a contract with some adult Four-legged Snakes.

Fortunately, the Four-legged Snakes grew quickly, so he wouldn’t have to wait too long.

Returning to the vicinity of the Poisonous Miasma Mine Tunnel, Zhang Chi immediately sat down cross-legged. He took out the Snake Eggs, forced out a drop of Essence Blood, and, with the aid of his Spiritual Power and Divine Thought, began to inscribe the Spirit Contract pattern on the eggs.

HUFF!

The task was physically and mentally draining. Before long, his forehead was beaded with sweat, but he finally finished.

’So many things require Essence Blood. Looks like I need to hurry up and practice that Body Refining Technique. I don’t expect to reach Great Success, but it should boost my Combat Power and make my Blood Qi more vigorous, so I don’t get so weak so easily.’

’Besides, a strong Physique is beneficial for improving one’s Magical Power and Divine Soul.’

Zhang Chi mused as he rested.

Luckily, the Snake Eggs weren’t large.

Otherwise, he would have certainly had to expend much more Essence Blood to complete the inscriptions.

"Huh?"

Immediately, Zhang Chi looked at the complex and arcane Spirit Contract patterns and saw them suddenly emit a faint, bloody light.

POP!

Then, eleven of them burst one after another, shattering the Snake Eggs along with them.

Apparently, the inscriptions on these eleven Spirit Contracts were flawed and had disintegrated on their own, taking the Snake Eggs with them.

Fortunately, the other ten Spirit Contracts seemed to be successful and were instantly absorbed by the Snake Eggs.

Now, all he had to do was wait for the Snake Eggs to hatch.

During this process, he could also nourish them with Spiritual Power to accelerate their incubation.

Furthermore, there were special materials and methods that could not only speed up hatching but also, to a certain extent, enhance the potential of the Spirit Beasts.

But Zhang Chi’s current conditions were limited, so he had to keep things simple.

’This Spirit Contract only works on the young of Demon Beasts. The Four-legged Snakes aren’t true Demon Beasts, so I don’t know if this will even work! For now, I can only trust to luck!’

After resting, Zhang Chi nourished the Snake Eggs with his Spiritual Power for a while, then carefully hid them away. Next, he began to attempt refining iron using the Secret Technique.

This Secret Technique involved two methods. The first was to use Magical Power to cleanse the impurities from the Ore.

The second was to use flames to refine away the impurities.

Any flame would do, whether it was a Cultivator’s magical flame, a True Fire, or even Earth Fire or an Artifact Refining Flame.

Using both methods together would yield better results.

However, Xiao Yunhong had advised against doing so.

Xiao Yunhong felt that the first method would cause a Cultivator to be tainted by more of the Cold Iron Gold Fiend.

Zhang Chi had agreed on the surface, but inwardly, he disagreed.

Because he had the Jade Pendant to protect him, he naturally didn’t need to worry about the Gold Fiend.

Besides, while the two methods seemed simple, they actually involved specific techniques and strict requirements regarding the timing of the cleansing, the methods used, the control of the heat, and so on.

Therefore, this Secret Technique might be worthless in the eyes of Cultivators from major powers, but to a Loose Cultivator, it was quite precious.

For Zhang Chi, it was a timely salvation.

Now, if he could refine Cold Iron, not only would it be easier to carry out in the future, but he could also shape it into a sharp weapon to use with the Low Grade Magic, the Exorcism Technique, that he had acquired some time ago.

In that case, although its lethality couldn’t compare to a Magical Artifact, it could serve as a supplemental tool alongside his Magic.