The mine's day and night cycle was brutally divided by labor and gasps for breath, but for Silas, every descent of darkness was a secret moment to test his new powers and plan for the future.
The fusion with the Stone-Claw Mongrel brought significant changes. In the deepest shadows of the communal cage, Silas focused intently. With a slight thought, half-inch long energy claws, black as obsidian, instantly extended from his fingertips, dark and cold, emanating a heart-stopping sharpness. He carefully tested them on the hard stone wall; the claws left clear, deep gouges, far more effective than any steel tool. He even tried channeling energy into his rusty pickaxe. When digging through tough ore layers, his efficiency skyrocketed while the noise dropped to a minimum. The only cost was the rapid depletion of his spirit and mixed internal energy, making his thirst for power more urgent than ever.
The Earth Sense ability was even more marvelous. Closing his eyes and concentrating, his consciousness sinking into his feet, a blurry world composed of vibrations and echoes presented itself. The regular footsteps of guards a hundred paces away, the twitches of a sleeping slave in the next tunnel, even the dull flow of underground water veins deep within the rock, were all discernible. To his greater surprise, rock layers of different densities and compositions gave distinct feedback. After a few attempts, he could roughly judge whether the rock wall behind contained rich ore or fissures. This intangible appendage became his perfect tool for finding resources and avoiding danger.
The Dire Rat Spirit had also grown considerably. Its phantom form was more solid, its range of activity expanded to over a meter around him, and its digging and carrying capacity increased proportionally. All his gains—high-quality scale-iron ore, scattered inferior spirit crystal fragments, and especially that core piece of blood-iron ore—were stored safely into the Mirror Dimension Space with a single thought. The interior of this artifact was stable and absolutely concealed, far superior to any physical hiding spot.
The continuous investment of resources brought returns. Silas cautiously absorbed the energy from the spirit crystal fragments and the blood-iron ore. While insufficient to directly propel a realm leap, they effectively replenished his consumption and continuously nourished his body and the deeply hidden seed of the Law of Life.
Quantitative change triggered qualitative change. On a utterly silent deep night, the surging energy finally broke through that intangible barrier! The Spirit-Suppressing Manacles grew intensely hot and vibrated violently, their runes flashing, but they failed to fully suppress this momentum born from the refinement of his life's origin.
"Hum!"
A hum resonated from the depths of his soul. Silas successfully advanced from the First Rank Mid Stage to the First Rank Late Stage! His five senses sharpened dramatically, his energy control became exquisitely precise, and his physical strength and recovery ability climbed another step. He clenched his fist, feeling the surging power. If he faced a Stone-Claw Mongrel now, he was confident he could win in a straight fight.
However, joy was quickly replaced by calm analysis. He keenly realized that as his realm improved, the power boost from the previously fused ordinary wolf remains had become minuscule, like a stream merging into a river, unable to cause ripples anymore. He needed stronger, more ancient biological samples!
A bold plan formed in his mind: Dig downward, search for possible ancient creature fossils existing in the oldest rock layers! Those giant beasts sleeping for millennia, even if only skeletons remained, the primal life force they contained was absolutely incomparable to modern beasts.
His progress in strength was difficult to completely conceal. The coordination and power occasionally revealed in his movements, and his abnormally fast recovery rate (old injuries were long gone), were all noticed by Old Elmer, who was observing him secretly. The old man's leg injury, nourished in secret by Silas's life energy, was almost healed, though the pretense remained. The look he gave Silas held amazement and a complex kind of expectation.
One night, when only the sound of even breathing remained, Old Elmer silently moved closer. His voice was extremely low, but held much more vitality: "Lad, I can see you're quite unusual... seems you have a unique understanding of 'vitality'?"
Silas's heart tightened slightly, remaining silent.
Old Elmer smiled, his wrinkles smoothing out, a trace of reminiscence flashing in his eyes: "Don't be nervous. Before I ended up here, I was a wandering physician, dabbling in the superficial arts of regulating vitality and clearing blockages. Just because I refused to serve only the powerful and stumbled upon some dirty secrets, I was thrown into this damned place."
His gaze fell on Silas's steady hands: "Your path is special. If supplemented with a deep understanding of the human body, you might achieve twice the result with half the effort. For instance, knowing the vital points of Qi and blood allows you to stimulate potential at the lowest cost; understanding the properties of herbs allows you to find healing methods even in desperate situations."
As he spoke, he took out a smooth, warm, dark brown bone chip from an inner layer of his clothing. It was only the size of a thumbnail, densely covered with needle-tip carved tiny characters and diagrams of meridians and acupoints.
"This is some knowledge passed down in my line of wandering physicians," the old man said solemnly, placing the bone chip in Silas's hand. "It contains herb illustrations, detailed properties, the mysteries of human body meridians, and basic medicine-making techniques. It's not a cultivation method, just the accumulation of ancestral experience. Perhaps... it might inspire you. I ask for nothing else, only hope this bit of knowledge won't die here with me."
Silas took the bone chip. It felt cool and warm to the touch, and he could sense the accumulated wisdom of ages within. This systematic knowledge of life's operating rules was exactly what he most lacked when wielding the seed of the Law of Life! He said in a low, serious voice, "Thank you."
Old Elmer waved his hand and retreated into the shadows: "Survive. Get out." The words seemed directed at Silas, and also at his own vanished past.
Silas gripped the bone chip, his heart surging. A path combining the Law of Life with ancient medicine was vaguely revealed. He even felt a faint, eager resonance from the seed of the Law of Life within him towards the bone chip.
Action followed immediately. Relying on Earth Sense, Silas selected a hidden corner deep within a long-abandoned branch tunnel where the rock layers seemed exceptionally ancient. The Dire Rat Spirit dug downward day and night, while Silas used every opportunity to personally take over, using his energy claws and pickaxe to painstakingly advance into the deeper, ancient rock system. The process was slow and tedious, but his perseverance was astonishing.
Perseverance paid off. Several days later, the Dire Rat Spirit sent back an urgent feedback—the rock layer ahead had suddenly become abnormally loose, seemingly... dug through!
Silas's heart leaped. He carefully widened the gap. A wave of stale, damp air, mixed with a strange gamey smell, assailed his face. Before him wasn't the expected dense rock layer, but a deep, dark, obviously not modern-miner-dug ancient tunnel! The walls were rough, covered in chisel marks of a different style, and the air was thick with danger.
He decisively sent the Dire Rat Spirit in first to investigate. However, shortly after the spirit ventured into the darkness, it sent back strong signals of fear and warning! Immediately after, a hair-raising rustling sound surged from the depths of the ancient tunnel like a tide!
Silas's pupils contracted. He instantly condensed his energy claws, standing ready.
The next moment, the darkness seemed to writhe like a living thing! Dozens of fist-sized, shiny black-carapaced Iron-Gnawing Centipedes with ferocious mouthparts charged out first! They could easily bore through rock and devour metal! Close behind were several creatures the size of raccoons, with patchy fur revealing pink, tough skin, degenerated eyes but sharp fangs—Cavern Hyenahounds! Their sense of smell and hearing were extremely acute! From the air came the sound of flapping wings as a group of Shadow-Winged Bats with half-meter wingspans, emitting silent ultrasonic waves, their cold-gleaming claws, dove down!
These creatures generally emitted energy fluctuations at the First Rank Mid Stage. Individually, they might not be strong, but their numbers were vast, and in this narrow, dark environment, they cooperated seamlessly, making them extremely troublesome!
"Perfect timing!" A cold light flashed in Silas's eyes. Instead of retreating, he actively met them! His recent breakthrough gave him confidence, and the robust recovery power from the seed of the Law of Life made him fearless of a battle of attrition!
The battle erupted instantly! Energy claws tore through the darkness, precisely shredding the centipedes' carapaces; he sidestepped a hyenahound's pounce, gutting it with a backhand swipe; for the diving bats, Earth Sense predicted their trajectories in advance, claws swinging out, bringing down a rain of blood. He moved like a phantom in the narrow space, every strike finding its mark. Wounds healed rapidly, his stamina incessantly supported by life energy.
Against his enhanced perception and recovery, the attacks of these subterranean creatures seemed futile and fragile. In less time than it takes an incense stick to burn, the entrance to the ancient tunnel was carpeted with a layer of strange creature corpses, their stinking blood soaking the rock.
Silas breathed slightly heavily, sporting a few shallow wounds that were healing at a visible rate. He cleaned the battlefield, storing the remains of these First Rank Mid Stage creatures one by one into the Mirror Space—while not comparable to ancient fossils, they were still good fusion materials, especially their unique cavern adaptation abilities might be useful.
After a short rest, he ordered the Dire Rat Spirit to investigate deeper, this time with extreme caution. He followed closely behind, cautiously stepping into this ancient tunnel sealed for countless years.
The spirit advanced about a hundred meters before suddenly relaying an extremely strong and pure energy fluctuation signal! Silas's heart jumped. He quickened his pace. Rounding a bend, the sight before him made him catch his breath!
The rock wall ahead was no longer ordinary stone but had a crystal-clear texture, shimmering with a soft, pure light! Large patches of Pure Spirit Stones were embedded in the rock layer, like brilliant stars in the night sky, their density extremely high, their quality far surpassing any spirit crystal fragments he had obtained before!
"This is... a Spirit Stone vein!" Even with Silas's iron will, he couldn't hide his excitement now. He roughly estimated that this exposed section of the vein could yield at least five thousand standard-sized Pure Spirit Stones!
It was an unimaginable windfall! Enough to support his cultivation for a long time, even laying a solid foundation for impacting higher realms in the future!
He forcefully suppressed the impulse to start mining immediately, ordering the Dire Rat Spirit to explore further for possible fossil traces. However, after the spirit ventured much farther, the feedback remained the same: deeper tunnels, more complex branches, and faint signs of other dangerous creatures, but no trace of large creature fossils.
The search for ancient fossils was not something achieved overnight.
Silas hesitated no longer, making a firm decision. He swung his energy claws, starting to efficiently and quietly mine these Pure Spirit Stones. Chunk by chunk, crystals containing vast, pure energy were carefully pried from the rock wall and instantly stored into the Mirror Dimension Space.
Only after mining most of this exposed vein, leaving a small hill of spirit stones piled inside the mirror space, did he stop, satisfied.
Taking a last look at the deep, unknown ancient tunnel, full of danger and opportunity, Silas decisively retreated, cleverly resealing the entrance with rubble to conceal the traces.
Returning to the shadows of the cage, his heart was in turmoil. Although he hadn't found the longed-for ancient fossils, the breakthrough in his realm, the acquisition of medical knowledge, and especially this accidentally discovered spirit stone vein had already given him enormous gains.
His capital was now unprecedentedly substantial. The path ahead seemed to have become clearer and... full of possibilities.