The mountain ranges undulated, a vast sea of lush green forest stretched endlessly. The helicopter traversed the forest, stopping at a small airstrip on its edge, surrounded by towering peaks.

As soon as the helicopter landed, two rows of armed soldiers in camouflage swiftly approached, maintaining vigilance.

Old Qiao, Qin Yang, and their companions disembarked from the helicopter.

"Salute, Chief!"

Seeing Old Qiao disembark, a captain quickly stepped forward, saluting.

"Hmm."

Old Qiao nodded.

The captain glanced at Jiang Huo'er, Thunder God, and the small tower behind Old Qiao, but his gaze lingered on Qin Yang a little longer. After another salute to Old Qiao, he withdrew with the soldiers.

"Let's go, young Qin Yang. This place is heavily guarded; stay close."

Old Qiao said.

Led by Old Qiao, Qin Yang and the group walked along a path through the forest.

On either side of the path was green grass and low shrubs. Along the way, Qin Yang could sense many hidden protectors around them.

The path led to a heavily guarded military camp. Even with Old Qiao, the soldiers meticulously checked Qin Yang and the others.

Behind the military camp was a towering mountain. After passing through it, they arrived at the foot of the mountain, facing a thick, wide bronze gate.

Beside the bronze gate was a password input device.

Old Qiao entered a long string of passwords, and with a beep, the device retracted into the mountain, revealing a fingerprint scanner. Old Qiao placed his index finger on it, and after it passed, a facial recognition scanner emerged.

Old Qiao leaned in, allowing the green light to scan his face repeatedly. Once the scan was completed, the scanner withdrew.

Rumble~!

The thick bronze gate rumbled and slowly parted.

"Password, fingerprint, facial scan, it's quite secure."

Qin Yang noted, his expression tensing slightly.

The location of the secret treasure storehouse was flanked by a vast forest on one side and undulating mountains on the other. It was not easy to find, and even if found, one would have to pass through the military camp stationed here.

"Haha, young Qin Yang, the treasures inside tempt countless factions and old monsters. How can we not be strict?"

Old Qiao chuckled.

By now, the three to four centimeters thick bronze door had opened slowly. Old Qiao took the lead and walked inside.

Qin Yang, Jiang Huo'er, and the others followed closely. As they entered, the bronze door closed slowly behind them.

It wasn't dark inside. Wall lamps embedded in the thick stone walls lit the entire passage brightly. The passage, like a palace built inside the mountain, echoed only with Qin Yang's group's footsteps.

After walking about fifty meters, another bronze gate appeared before them.

Old Qiao again entered a long password and scanned his retina, after which a voice recognition device emerged.

"I am Qiao Yunzhou, please open the door!"

Old Qiao said in a deep voice.

Beep beep~!

After verifying the voice recognition, it emitted a series of tones, and the second bronze gate began to open slowly.

With the opening of the second gate, they proceeded forward again until they reached a third bronze gate, where Old Qiao once again entered the password, and this gate also opened.

"Alright, young Qin Yang, we've arrived."

Old Qiao announced, then walked inside.

Qin Yang and others closely followed; upon entering the third bronze gate, their view suddenly widened.

Before them lay a vast palace, filled with tens of thousands of shimmering metals and ores, organized on the ground and on stone shelves, in all colors.

"This is the Metal Ore Hall, filled with precious metals and unrefined ores accumulated over decades."

Old Qiao said with a satisfied look in his eyes, glancing at Qin Yang.

"Cyan Profound Iron, Purple Pattern Steel, Cold Iron Ore..."

Qin Yang scanned over the materials, slightly surprised, murmuring to himself.

As a former disciple of the Celestial Dao Sect in the Immortal Yuan Continent, Qin Yang had deep knowledge in artifact refining. The black metal with a faint cyan gleam was Cyan Profound Iron, the strange metal with purple patterns was Purple Pattern Steel, and the unrefined ore was Cold Iron Ore...

Cyan Profound Iron, Purple Pattern Steel, and Cold Iron are materials for weapon crafting. However, while these were rare metals and ores in the eyes of Old Qiao or the Ancient Martial Artists, they weren't as precious to Qin Yang.

Weapons used by cultivators are divided into Treasures, Spiritual Treasures, and Magical Treasures, with each having upper, middle, and lower grades.

At most, these metals and ores could be refined into lower or middle-grade Treasures, of little use to Qin Yang, who already possessed the White Jade Flying Saber and Purple Blood Soft Sword.

Activating the Celestial Eye, Qin Yang swiftly scanned through most of the metals and ores, his face tinged with slight disappointment. As expected, the weapon crafting potential here was limited to Treasures, falling short of crafting Spiritual Treasures.

"Little Lei, Huo'er, you two haven't chosen your rewards from the last mission yet. Go pick one."

Old Qiao said with a chuckle.

"Yes, thank you, Old Qiao."

Jiang Huo'er and Thunder God both showed a hint of joy on their faces.

As superpower users, Jiang Huo'er and Thunder God could draw energy from ores during their cultivation. Their targets were clear: Jiang Huo'er chose a Fire Spirit Ore, and Thunder God chose a Thunder Spirit Ore.

The Fire Spirit Ore was crimson, formed at the volcano's base, rich in fire energy, while the Thunder Spirit Ore, generally formed on mountain peaks, was pale silver, enriched with thunder energy after being tempered by lightning.

After scanning everything here, Qin Yang shook his head lightly; there was nothing particularly appealing to him among the metals or ores.

"Old man, let's go check out the other halls."

Qin Yang suggested, thinking there might be other halls since there was a Metal Ore Hall.

"What's this? Not interested in the metals and ores here?"

Old Qiao asked upon seeing Qin Yang's lack of enthusiasm.

"Yes, these aren't useful for me."

Qin Yang nodded, speaking frankly.

Old Qiao's eyes shifted; true, why would young Qin Yang need these metals and ores? He wasn't a superpower user, needing not to absorb energy from ores, nor did he seem inclined to craft weapons at such a young age.

"Haha, young Qin Yang, are you worried these ores might be useless? How about this, I can do you a favor. You pick what you like, and I can have someone forge a weapon for you. How does that sound?"

Old Qiao offered with a smile. Compared to other halls' items, metals and ores weren't as rare, given that they could be discovered periodically.

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