Genetic Ascension

Chapter 2131: Dozens of Birds

The last time Sylas had seen something like this it was back when he used it to freeze time so that he wouldn't lose as much to the time dilation. But this item, while just as substantial if not more so, wasn't related to time at all.

Aetherstone Mines were extremely valuable, but also extremely difficult to actually mine. There was a great deal of caution that needed to be taken.

The problem was that the deeper you went, and the more valuable the Aetherstone, the more energy was concentrated and the more troublesome it would be to cut into such a thing.

It was the same concept as the formation of valuable stone back on pre-Summoning Earth. A great amount of pressure was applied on Aetherstone mines over a long period of time, and this pressure compressed the energy into more and more valuable states.

But it likewise made them more volatile.

The difference was that the stone of pre-Summoning Earth was usually made more stable by the amount of pressure it withstood. By comparison, Aetherstone was only stable if you left it alone. One could imagine that if you started chipping away at it, the energy forced into a calm state by all the pressure around it would suddenly release and then, well… boom.

Sylas had begun to notice that this was the case of basically all highly valuable ores of post-Summoning worlds. Simply by virtue of what they were, these valuable ores were formed into what they were by special energies. So, the more concentrated this energy, the more likely they were to go boom as well.

The difference, of course, was that Aetherstone was formed from highly permeable and often fragile stones. This made the energy within them easily accessible.

These other ores were more rigid and solid in their build, and as such far more difficult to actually destabilize. So usually, it was safer.

All of this didn't seem relevant, and it was honestly something Sylas didn't think about much, especially considering his current power. He couldn't remember the last time he needed to use Aetherstones.

The only Rune Masters that needed to rely on Aetherstones to forge even the largest scale formations were those beneath Spark Mastery.

Technically speaking, so long as a Rune Master could draw a formation to Spark Mastery, the formation would fuel itself with energy and there was no need for Aetherstones at all.

However, if one extrapolated what those of the Skai Heaven had to deal with compared to those of the Cryst Heaven, one could imagine that mining in those regions was far more precarious.

Just from a cursory glance at the treasures, one could easily see just how well integrated Aether was in every treasure, and Aetherstone mines were probably even more volatile as a result. The odds of finding an ore that would be easily destabilized by its density of energy were even higher as well.

This item…

'Interesting.'

Not only was it capable of locating mines of value, it was also able to mine them naturally on its own, refining them into their best states.

Part of the reason mining Aetherstones was so complicated was because you had to account for sizing, the lattice structure, and fault lines. Sylas was vaguely aware of these things, but Aetherstone obviously wasn't formed in pieces in nature. They were instead formed in one large piece, and it was a miner's job not only to dislodge them in perfect pieces, but to also make sure they were of a usable size.

If they were too large, they weren't functionally useful. The absorption wouldn't be uniform, whether that was for a person or a formation.

But if they were too small the energy within would be worthless and the stone would dissipate and be useless.

This was where fault lines came into play. There were built-in cracks and fissures an Aetherstone would most likely break across. These fault lines both allowed them to be broken into smaller pieces and maintained a good hold on the energy within.

This same logic could be applied to ores of all kinds as well.

This mine found locations, mined them into their perfect states, and then stored them away.

It didn't even function using formations—at least not completely—it seemed to be a very unique metal that was able to practically automate the process as though sending out its own magnetic field and receiving feedback.

Maybe the most shocking thing was that it didn't have to move.

From a single location, it could mine every valuable ore and Aetherstone mine on an entire planet.

Of course, it would be highly detrimental to a world's environment to do this, but that was what made the item so shocking.

Not only could it mine, but it could leave seeds behind to replace the function of a mine in an ecosystem and even accelerate its growth such that it could be reharvested once again in the future.

No, that still didn't do this item justice. Because the idea that it didn't need to move wasn't as simple as allowing it to mine every deposit on a world.

It could reach further beyond that.

To an entire star system.

Further beyond that.

To an entire quadrant.

Further beyond that.

To an entire galaxy.

You just had to deposit this thing in one place and it would be able to scan, locate, and mine the resources of an entire galaxy in a matter of months.

Sylas felt that it was almost a shame he had only received this item when he was so close to leaving for the Demi-God Plane. There was no way it would be as effective there as it was here on the Mortal Plane.

However… that was only at its full scope.

What if it had the help of a Progenitor to help it along?

And what if Sylas leaked Demi-God Aura into it while it was seeding the mines it had cleared?

Suddenly, Sylas felt that with this one treasure, he had killed a dozen birds with a single stone.