Duan Feng had just had breakfast and went back to his room early to cultivate, these days, although he was running around day and night, but he did not delay his cultivation, in just half a month, he had already completed the cultivation of the other three of the five qi control techniques, in addition to the golden qi technique, he had already mastered the four qi control techniques, which was the most difficult one to cultivate, and it was also the most powerful one, because of this, people with low qi realm rashly cultivated might hurt the qi veins, so he planned to cultivate the golden qi technique at the end.

However, a low-realm qi master like him, in just a year or so, he can completely master the four qi techniques, which can be regarded as a miracle, but Duan Feng is not satisfied, although he has mastered the four qi techniques, but due to the low qi realm and the lack of spiritual energy in the body, the power of the qi technique is very limited.

If you want to give full play to the power of the qi, in addition to profound spiritual power, you also need to integrate the four qi techniques and complement each other, so that you can use them freely when you are fighting.

Duan Feng was still a little worried in his heart, because whenever he wanted to fuse the four qi techniques, there would be a cold air flow in the qi veins blocking his luck, he understood that it was because of the five yin poison, although Tianwen helped him temporarily suppress the five yin poison, but it did not mean that it was completely cleared, therefore, whenever he practiced a higher level of qi control technique, that poisonous gas would come out and make trouble, which invisibly increased the difficulty of his cultivation.

"Second son, today I will lead the team to the Black Mountain Mine, you prepare. Sima Yu whispered at the door.

Duan Feng hurriedly collected his strength, sank into the dantian, and said, "Got it, Brother Sima." ”

Duan Feng explained some things to everyone, then changed into the military uniform of the defenders of Phoenix City, mixed in the escort team, and followed the team towards Montenegro. It was about fifty miles from Moonlight City to Black Mountain, and the team walked unhurriedly along the way, passing through several larger market towns along the way, which made Duan Feng very curious.

I didn't expect that there were so many villages and towns here, I thought that Moonlight City was already the western border of the empire, and beyond the Black Mountain was the Netherworld Valley, and because of the perennial mining here, the land was no longer suitable for farming, how could there be so many market towns, and each market town was still very prosperous, which made Duan Feng very surprised.

The person next to him told Duan Feng that although this is located on the border, because this is the largest iron ore mining area in the empire, there will be many outsiders who come here to do business, all to do some transportation and trading. Over time, numerous market towns were formed.

Duan Feng looked at the bazaars on both sides suspiciously, and sure enough, most of them were selling some iron tools. It's just that I always feel a little awkward, why do I rarely see women and children in the market? Most of them are strong young people, and the roads here are not like smooth roads, but from the potholes, they are more like official roads for perennial marches.

By noon, the team had arrived at the foot of the Black Mountain, and although Duan Feng was prepared when he came, because he had heard of the majesty of the Black Mountain, he was still shocked by its majesty when he approached the Black Mountain.

I saw a wide trench appear in front of him, it was a manually dug trench, equivalent to a moat, the width was more than 30 zhang, the depth was more than 10 zhang, and the left and right could not see the edge, Duan Feng couldn't imagine how much manpower it would take to dig such a trench, but why should a mine build a moat? Duan Feng couldn't figure it out.

I saw an iron gate more than four feet high standing on the opposite side of the trench, the iron gate was inlaid with two huge beast patterns, a huge wooden rope bridge hung in front of the iron gate, there were two teams of black-clothed guards standing on both sides of the gate, everyone was masked, and the spirit beasts behind the guards were in a state of imminent battle at any time.

At first glance, it looks less like a mine and more like a well-guarded fortress.

Beyond the gate, a towering black mine came into view, thousands of arm-thick hemp ropes hanging from the top of the mountain, using huge minecarts to transport the ore from above, and as far as the eye could see, the miners pulling the minecarts could be seen.

"No wonder this is the largest iron mine in the Empire, the mine in front of it is so big that I am afraid it will last for the Empire for thousands of years. Duan Feng secretly admired in his heart.

Sima Yu had an accident with the token and the paperwork, only to see the person holding the flag and flicking it a few times to the opposite side, dozens of chains on both sides of the rope bridge slid with a clatter, and the rope bridge slowly fell.

Duan Feng followed Sima Yu into the mine, and after entering, he found that there were as many guards here as there were miners, so heavily guarded, how could he find his brother, Duan Feng glanced around, if he wanted to find someone here, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Along the way, Duan Feng saw groups of miners pulling mine carts from the depths of the mine, each miner was followed by a guard with a weapon in hand, and he walked all the way, roughly speaking, there were tens of thousands of miners here.

At this time, the person next to him said disdainfully: "Tens of thousands? This is the largest mine in the Empire, and there are 100,000 regular miners alone! Not to mention those prisoners who have been temporarily seconded here." ”

Duan Feng's mouth grew in shock, a mine actually weighed 100,000 people!

"And that's not counting the guards, and the prisoners, plus the guards, this mine has to feed at least 300,000 people. ”

Duan Feng looked at the miners who walked by, all of them were young and strong, if these people were armed, they would probably be a powerful army, and judging from the working conditions of these miners, these people's ability to cooperate was extraordinary.

Duan Feng couldn't help but sigh: "What a waste!"

The person next to him asked, "What waste?"

Duan Feng said: "It's a waste of manpower, so many young people actually come here to mine. ”

The man said, "You're new here, aren't you?"

Duan Feng asked, "Yes, is there something wrong?"

The man said, "No wonder. There's nothing wasteful, it's called making the best use of things, and they can't find a job outside anyway, so it's good to have something to eat. ”

"How can you not find a job? Now that it is not a time of war and there is no famine, how can you not find a job?"

The man looked at Duan Feng with an incredulous expression, and the person in front of him made him a little incredulous, "Who are you, why don't you know anything?"

Duan Feng knew that his words had aroused the suspicion of others, he really didn't know much about folk affairs, in order to avoid revealing his identity, he could only smile and say, "It's nothing, just curious." ”

The man looked at Duan Feng suspiciously, and didn't continue to ask.

At this time, Sima Yu had already finished contacting the person in charge, and he only needed to wait for the miners to load the ore into the truck. I'm afraid it will take a day.

Duan Feng asked, "Does it take so much time to load the car? There are so many people here, how can it be so slow?"

Sima Yu said: "Although there are many people here, the efficiency is very low, which is why so many people are needed here, right?

Duan Feng was right when he thought about it, of course he hoped that the longer the better.

At night, when the miners were still loading, Duan Feng took advantage of the night to sneak out of the barracks and look around for his brother's whereabouts. Looking at the vast mine, the lights were bright, and people came and went, Duan Feng really didn't know how to find it.

At this moment, a pair of patrolmen suddenly walked towards him, and Duan Feng secretly hid behind a large rock. I heard one of the patrolmen say, "It's unlucky to have to serve him so late!"

Another person said: "Forget it, the message from above, don't let him die, what can we do." ”

"What the hell is this man coming from?"

"I heard that it turned out to be a big official in Phoenix City, and he was only sent here half a year ago, and I don't know why, the upper authorities just didn't let him die. ”

"I really don't know what the people up there are pumping again. ”

"Shhhh ”

The patrolman's voice grew quieter and quieter, and faded into the night.

Duan Feng thought to himself, judging from the words of the two patrolmen, it was likely to be his elder brother, so he quietly followed them along the route of the soldiers.

The patrol rounded two ridges and crossed a hundred-meter-wide open-pit to an abandoned mine, the entrance of which was blocked by a wooden door, and a faint candle flickered in the cave, and the patrol came out not long after entering.

Duan Feng took advantage of no one, sneaked into the cave, took advantage of the faint light of the candle, and slowly groped in the cave, the hole was not deep, but it was very secret, and there were several forks in it, so that Duan Feng couldn't find a clue for a while.

Suddenly, Duan Feng felt a chill in his neck, he looked sideways, and a dagger flashed with cold light on his neck.

"Who are you?" a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Big brother, is that you?"

When the man heard this, he immediately withdrew the dagger in his hand and said, "Second brother?"

"It's really you, big brother!" When Duan Feng heard this, he immediately turned around and hugged Duan Yun, and the tears in his eyes couldn't stop flowing.

The two brothers reunited after the catastrophe, so naturally they had a lot to say, Duan Feng told the eldest brother about what happened during this time, and also asked about the situation in Phoenix.

Before you know it, the sky is about to dawn, and the howls of the miners gathered outside are coming and going.

"Feng'er, you go quickly, someone should come to check on the sentry later. ”

"I'm here to save you this time, and we're going to go together!"

Duan Yun hurriedly urged: "No, this place is heavily guarded, you can't rescue me, if it drags on any longer, neither of us will be able to leave, don't worry, they don't dare to do anything to me at present." ”

Duan Feng asked, "Why?"

Duan Yun replied: "They still have the handles in my hands, and they won't do anything to me until they get these handles." So, you go first, and we'll meet again when we have a chance?"

Duan Feng insisted on leaving with Duan Yun, but Duan Yun refused, and in desperation, Duan Feng could only reluctantly leave the mine and return to the camp. After going back, Duan Feng told Sima Yu about his brother.

"The eldest prince is right, even if you rescue him, you can't take him out of the mine. ”

"So what to do?"

"I think that since the eldest prince insists on staying here, he must have his own plans, and when the time is ripe, we will make a decision. ”

"It seems that this is the only way to go. Duan Feng was reluctant to look at the direction of the mine.

The next day, Sima Yu set off to return to Phoenix with the escort team, although Duan Feng was reluctant, but when he saw that his brother was fine, he was half relieved, as for the rescue, he would find a way later.