Chapter 316 - 8: Depths of the Mine

Chapter 316: Chapter 8: Depths of the Mine

"Calm down and take your time. Li Hua’s been in there for a while, so a little more time won’t make a difference. First, just tell me what happened. Didn’t he say he was taking you to live in the family building at the Lord Service Center? How did you end up in this abandoned Black Salt Mine District? And manage to provoke these Lizard-men?"

Lin Yu calmed Li Xintong, letting her explain everything first to satisfy his curiosity. He was still quite confident in Li Hua; after all, the Sword Immortal hero from his domain had put on a rather impressive display.

Reassured by him, Li Xintong was no longer in a hurry. (Perhaps it was because she wanted to spend a little more time with the handsome guy?)

Then, she began to recount the events of the last few days.

It was a long story, and it all started with her power of invisibility.

Li Xintong wasn’t born with the ability to turn invisible; she acquired it by accident.

Li Xintong and Li Hua’s home was located outside Black Salt City, not far from the Black Salt Mine. Years ago, their parents had been miners at the Black Salt Mine and had earned a good living.

However, one day, an accident occurred. There was a disaster at the Black Salt Mine, and their parents were killed. The mining company compensated them with a sum of money, in addition to a promise of free, permanent housing in the mine’s residential area.

But not long after, the company paid out so much in compensation that its cash flow dried up, and it went bankrupt. Soon, there were hardly any people left in the company housing buildings.

Over the years, those who could afford to gradually moved away, until finally, only the two siblings remained in the district.

The two of them learned through online classes and cultivated a small plot of farmland on an empty lot next to the district. Using the compensation money to buy other necessities, they managed to get by and didn’t fall too far behind others their age.

After that, Li Hua entered the Lord Contest. He successfully passed the first stage, and upon returning to Cuiwei Star, he exchanged his points for credits and gave them to Li Xintong.

Thanks to those credits, Li Xintong had a very comfortable year. With time on her hands, she began exploring the abandoned mine.

There were all sorts of rumors about strange things in the mine, but she paid them no mind. After all, she had lived nearby for many years, and the mine had been her playground as a child. She was familiar with every part of it, except for its deepest sections.

While exploring the depths of the mine, she accidentally touched a Broken Crystal Stone and awakened the ability to turn invisible.

Afterward, she returned to the mine several times but never found another Crystal Stone like it.

A little over ten days ago, Li Hua returned from the Lord Contest. He was planning to take her to live in the family building at the Lord Service Center, but then Li Xintong showed him her superpower and explained what had happened. This piqued Li Hua’s interest, and the two of them began searching the mine together for similar Crystal Stones.

They didn’t find any more Crystal Stones. Instead, deep inside the mine, they discovered a large group of Lizard-men. The Lizard-men attacked them on sight.

During the fierce fight, Li Hua lured most of the Lizard-men deeper into the mine. He gave his wristband to Li Xintong and told her to escape and find help.

However, the Lizard-men were guarding the mine’s exit, so Li Xintong couldn’t get out. She could only resort to hit-and-run tactics against the Lizard-men who were chasing her.

After hearing Li Xintong’s story, Lin Yu also grew interested in that Crystal Stone.

"That Crystal Stone... sounds like quite a treasure. Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you to keep it a secret?"

"I’m not afraid. I can tell that you’re a good person." As she said this, her eyes sparkled.

Lin Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He really couldn’t figure out how women thought, especially rebellious young girls.

"Let’s go. We’ll head to the place where you found the Lizard-men. We might run into your brother."

"Okay! Let’s hurry! My brother said you’re probably really strong. Can you go SWOOSH~ SWOOSH~ SWOOSH~ like him?"

As she spoke, Li Xintong mimicked the motions of wielding a sword.

"I can’t do that. Your brother and I aren’t the same class..."

The two of them headed deeper into the mine tunnel, talking and laughing. Behind them, seeing that the pair had gone some distance, the two bound Lizard-men began to struggle violently.

The vines wrapped around them suddenly tightened. Blood seeped from their bodies and was absorbed by the plants. When the vines finally loosened, only a few desiccated, shattered corpses remained.

The vines then shot off, rapidly pursuing Lin Yu.

...

Deep inside the mine, the rough-hewn tunnels of earth and rock gradually gave way to smooth, artificial walls. Glowing fixtures were mounted on them. Unlike the common electric lights on Cuiwei Star, these objects seemed to have no wiring and shone on their own. Under their light, the darkness slowly began to recede.

"This place doesn’t look abandoned, does it?"

"I don’t know. In all the years we’ve lived just outside the mine, we’ve never seen these Lizard-men. Sometimes adventurers would show up, but they never stayed for more than a day or two."

"Back when there were rumors of non-human races in the Black Salt Mine, some adventure-streamers even came to explore, but they all came up empty-handed. Eventually, people just stopped coming."

Li Xintong added, sharing her impressions of the Black Salt Mine over the years.

Lin Yu said nothing more. He activated his avatar’s perception, forcing himself to endure the disorienting superimposition of two visual feeds—one fast, one slow. Aided by the deep fusion between his avatar and the World Tree, he used the World Tree’s powerful processing core to analyze everything around him.

"Spiritual Shielding Cobalt Alloy, reinforced polymer materials..."