Ji Jue chuckled self-deprecatingly, yet he hadn't expected that after becoming despised by people in the association, causing trouble all over the city, and opening blood and sweat factories in the wilderness, he'd virtually stopped doing everything, but would still be considered righteous by the elder.

The elder also laughed, holding his hand and gently patting it: "When facing those beyond redemption, who persist in evil, there's naturally no need for moral compassion.

Moreover, if someone can offer a stable job to those wavering due to survival, allow the elderly and children in the wilderness to enjoy air conditioning, drink clean water, and help the disabled stand up from their wheelchairs... how bad can such a person be even if they're bad?"

"Promoting mutual care is also the church's purpose."

Amidst the roar of the helicopter restarting, he waved his hand for the last time, raising his voice to tell the young man in front of him: "No need for guilt, just treat it as an investment or repayment from the Chongguang Church, Mr. Ji."

Just like that, after once again refusing Ji Jue's offer to stay, he boarded the helicopter and left in a hurry.

Leaving Ji Jue alone on the deck, watching the helicopter disappear into the horizon.

After a long silence, he sighed soundlessly.

Another favor owed...

.

.

With the support of the Chongguang Church, Chun Jun's preparations advanced significantly, but the gap needed couldn't be closed overnight.

Ji Jue finally got a break from his monotonous studies, allowing him to handle some tedious matters.

Time slipped away bit by bit, day after day, and in a flash, half a month had passed. During this period, Ji Jue had that inexplicable dream once again.

It felt like a reminder from the Embers.

As Tong Ting had said, when encountering such things, one can only be more prepared. Besides that, the more you do, the more mistakes you make. The urgency surfaced once again.

Currently, Chun Jun's preparations still seemed far from completion, and Pan Ying's refinement also needed time. Nevertheless, Little Ox's [Unmoving as a Mountain] sequence unexpectedly came together.

Carrying the blessing, those who sought him out were actually a group of miners from a mining settlement involved in mineral excavation!

In Hai Province, there are many large and small mineral veins, but the majority either have minimal reserves, sparse content, or are in complex terrains, even in layers of silt, or all of these complexities combined, making them completely unfit for large-scale development.

In the wilderness, settlements that survive by mining are not uncommon, and in fact, most people in these settlements do not hesitate to take on side jobs, as striking a find means cash, and there's always a market.

As for the cost... it's merely life; they're on the brink of starvation, after all, so how could fear of death deter them?

Don't talk to me about safety production; as long as it doesn't collapse, they dig relentlessly... Every year, there are rumors of settlements getting rich from precious mineral finds, but every month, there are also grievous news of cave-ins.

Life and death in the wilderness are commonplace.

Everyone's accustomed to it.

And now, watching this group of dust-covered settlement members who traveled far to the Coast, specifically seeking him out, delivering a boulder by truck.

A stone several cubic meters in size, resembling a raw jadeite.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed raw jadeite, with a watery, smooth green gleam visible on the cut surface. However, its quality was mediocre, and the content was not significant.

What was truly precious was the blessing it contained. Amid long-term geological changes or in special circumstances, natural blessing materials form in the earth veins and can, with minor processing, be separated into a complete blessing. This is one of the sources of blessings in the Ruins line.

Sometimes, under fortuitous circumstances, these naturally formed blessings get consumed by beasts, causing a plethora of transformations, which is also the cause of most Disaster Beasts.

Lying in front of Ji Jue now was a piece of literal natural treasure.

And it was exactly what was missing from the [Spring Flow and Vein Transformation] in the [Unmoving as a Mountain] sequence!

Through a complex and vast underground water system, nurtured and transformed for who knows how many years, the extensive water networks spanned everywhere, entwining with the earth veins, and after numerous earthquakes or events, a natural crystal like this was born.

The intricate changes between earth veins and water veins constituted the movement of the Ruins.

With this blessing, the Chosen One's spiritual essence could easily extend and expand along the earth and water veins without hindrance — when coupled with [Man and Heaven Integrated], which connects areas of spiritual essence flow as a whole, along with [Solid Rock], which distributes damage across the whole, it creates the top-tier defense blessing sequence in the Ruins line, [Unmoving as a Mountain]!

"Are you guys sure?"

Ji Jue patted the smooth surface of the stone, informing them: "Although from the perspective of an origin stone, it's not worth much, what's inside is priceless. Even if the demand isn't high, it's still worth several hundred million."

For the time being, I can't come up with that kind of money.

Upon hearing this, the eyes of a few young people in the group immediately lit up, their expressions shifted, but the leading middle-aged man ignored their urging and became even more resolute.

"We'll sell it to you, Boss Ji, regardless of the amount, you name the price, we won't haggle!"

Seeing him so determined, the young people behind him became anxious, whispering a reminder: "Uncle..."

Uncle turned back and gave him a glance, his expression immediately shifting from fawning to fierce and cold. With long-standing authority, his gaze swept across, and all the young people fell silent, too intimidated to speak again.

This trip to the Coast to sell this item was his sole proposal, and even the speed was astonishing — they dug it out at night, smoked on the spot for two hours, and set off that very evening, arriving at Xinquan before midday the next day.

He even paid to facilitate connections through acquaintances, meeting with Yan Jian and Lu Feng.

Yan Jian and Lu Feng knew nothing about these things, but the origin stone uncovered before their eyes was immediately noticed by Isis.

"Can you tell me why?"

Ji Jue was curious: "There are so many buyers in the wilderness, surely selling this isn't an issue?"

The middle-aged man, with a face lined with wrinkles showing premature aging, grinned, revealing teeth stained with tobacco residue, his attitude exceedingly humble: "Higher connections, we can't reach any of them.

But those we can reach, we don't trust a single one."

Nowadays, anyone making a living in the wilderness needs to have some expertise, though not much, they at least need some skills.

As observed by Ji Jue, the man appeared ordinary, yet there was a lean, dark-skinned middle-aged woman following him, who had a faint spiritual fluctuation, somewhat stronger than most.

Though her aptitude wasn't to the level of fine jade, it was sufficient to detect the anomaly of this origin stone.

The existence of the Chosen One wasn't an unheard-of secret in the wilderness; besides, things connected to the Chosen One were often valuable, very valuable, exceedingly valuable.

Or, dangerous, very dangerous, extremely dangerous!

Whether a blessing or a curse, the settlement couldn't hold onto it, moreover, a settlement village with just ninety or so people relied on poverty for protection, and obtaining this object, even a blessing could turn into a curse.

They could either bury it back, pretending nothing happened, and live in fear, or dispose of it swiftly, earning as much as possible, then move away as quickly as possible, preferably into the city, starting anew.

Unfortunately, the wilderness is not an authentic mall with honest selling, and the manners and faces of many caravans or buyers barely qualify as human-like.

The only way they could find was this little conscience that's still present amidst the wilderness in the Coast area.

Previously, when purchasing goods at a discount, numerous self-proclaimed 'smart people' would claim, if they were the factory manager of the Coast, they'd surely do certain things and make way more money, and so on.

But in fact, when something arises, no one seeks those smart people.

The news had already been leaked.

A settlement of ninety or a hundred people, every mouth can't be kept tight, not leaking a morsel. What's more, among them, those who didn't partake in mining and can't share the money, wouldn't they find their own means to earn?

The time is pressing, they couldn't afford to gamble.

The man lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with Ji Jue.

Beneath the chill blast of air conditioning, he wiped away the sweat, speaking out the most critical reason:

"The rain season is coming soon."

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