The Legend of Fangren

Chapter 108 Dig, dig, dig!

Now, only Fang Shi was left. Looking at the cave full of dark gray hard rocks, he wondered how many treasures had yet to be unearthed. And that lava was something he had never encountered before; he was determined to take it with him.

However, the lava cannot be filled immediately. It is said that the secret realm of the cave is a state of balance formed after extreme yin gives rise to extreme yang. The lava is so hot that it must be extreme yang. If it is filled too early, it will disrupt the balance of yin and yang, and the cave may collapse, which will only increase the danger.

It's safest to start digging from the individual branch tunnels.

"Start digging!"

Fang Shi took out his ordinary gray stone pickaxe and crawled into a side cave, starting to make clanging noises. To be on the safe side, he decided to explore the side cave that Wang Touzi had just explored first, so that if there were any strange things inside, he could deal with them as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

Back inside the cave, past the soldiers' corpses, we reached the deepest part and used torches to illuminate the cave.

There was a gap at the end of the cave, which was obviously left by the Xuan Stone Monster. Fang Shi tried to dig deeper a few times, but did not find any branching into the cave.

That is truly strange. In the secret realm, life can only exist at the boundary between Yin and Yang. The center of this cave is scorching magma, while the side caves are cold and yin. The location where this stone monster was born is close to the Yin of the earth. Without the vital Yang energy of Xuan Qi, how could it revive?

As he pondered, Fang Shi's gaze fell upon the stone wall, where there were still many crystals that Wang Touzi and the others had not yet had time to mine.

The text states that crystal is another name for essence. These crystals are actually essence earth, also known as earth essence. They belong to the earth element and have the effect of accumulating earth energy, which can gather and absorb mysterious energy.

"It is likely that Attorney Chu unintentionally carved out the cave, allowing the yang energy of the lava to seep into it, where it accumulated in the crystals, thus giving birth to the stone monster."

No wonder the stone monster was able to revive after being killed once, and even became stronger. It must be because it devoured the crystal that the King had taken and extracted, absorbed the profound energy within it, and gained the power of living yang.

The body formed from the extremely Yin earth and stone was harder than the other strange creatures near the central lava. Even the King's cultivation level couldn't withstand such crushing pressure, and he could only faint.

Thinking about it that way, the stone at the end of the side tunnel must be something good.

Upon realizing this, Fang Shi no longer bothered to deduce anything strange or not; he simply put everything into his backpack, knowing that even the most formidable monsters wouldn't cause any trouble.

Go! Graystone Pickaxe! Today, we're the little underground darlings.

With a series of chisels, the once seamless stone wall crumbled and shattered in the blink of an eye, scattered at Fang Shi's feet. He heard the sound of items being sucked into his backpack, which was truly exhilarating.

Since it's so enjoyable, we should make it even more enjoyable, not letting any resources slip by, until we've squeezed this branch hole dry!

Ten minutes later————

My heart... emmm... seems like I dug a little too big.

Holding a torch, the light that had just illuminated the surrounding stone walls was now being swallowed by darkness. He couldn't see the walls to the left or right, nor the ceiling above. He had managed to expand the entire side cave into a long, narrow underground structure, more than thirty meters long and four or five meters wide and high, much larger than the original cave that was only about the width of four or five people's shoulders.

Checking the backpack, I found the following items: 50 Unknown Stones, 9 Unknown Rough Ore, 13 Unknown Crystals, and 132 Soil.

The exact nature of the object needs to be determined by consulting the records, but given that it was dug up with a common pickaxe, it is probably only of the first rank at most.

Fortunately, this is just a side cave. Roughly counting, there are at least a dozen side caves in this cave secret realm. If we dig them all out, we won't have to worry about not getting anything. Even if we don't get anything, we can exchange the low-grade minerals for high-grade minerals.

Dig, dig, dig! This is just the beginning!

Fang Shi let out a roar to encourage himself.

But who knew that when he roared, a few strands of sand fell from above and covered his face.

"No way!" Fang Shi thought in surprise. He quickly darted out of the side tunnel, only to hear a loud rumbling sound behind him. It had collapsed.

"————" Fang Shi was still in shock. Although he had the power to dispel evil, if he were buried for a moment, he would probably be unable to move and lose his life.

The saying goes that yang soil becomes sand, yin soil becomes stone, and the yinest soil gathers to produce metal. Therefore, the yin power of the earth gives rise to minerals such as gold and stone. Digging up the "yin objects" at the edge of the secret realm also disrupts the balance of yin and yang, so the earth naturally fills the void with the power of yin gathering.

He's learned his lesson the hard way; he's learned from his mistakes.

"Now we know where to look for minerals. Earth is the middle element, and the yin aspect forms stone. Extreme yin produces metal, and all kinds of metal and weapons come from this."

The secret realm is indeed full of hidden treasures.

Those people who came to this secret realm before only took the treasures from the surface of the caves. Few of them dug deep. Even those who did dig deep only made a shallow pit compared to Fang Shi.

Oh dear, let alone this secret cave, how many abandoned caves like this are there in other places? As far as Fang Shi is concerned, aren't these all treasures buried underground?

What's the difference between this and finding money on the street? It's incredibly satisfying.

Come on, let's hurry up and dig up all this unwanted "money" first. Then we'll go back to the city and ask around. This is going to keep us busy!

Ding ding dong~ Ding ding dong~ One branch tunnel after another collapsed~

Fang Shi learned his lesson and started using stone blocks to build a frame every time he dug a section of road, holding up the soil and greatly reducing the risk of collapse. When he returned, he would cover the gaps with a smooth, seamless finish.

After solving all the dozen or so side caves, Fang Shi returned to the lava lake beside the main cave.

Staring at the lava lake, Fang Shi pondered, "Beneath this extremely yang lava, there must be something extremely yin to balance it. There must be good minerals here; we can't let this opportunity pass us by."

However, the main cave is much larger than the side caves. If we rashly excavate the surrounding stone walls, it might cause a major landslide. It would be best to take preventative measures first.

Erecting a high stone frame allows stone wall blocks to automatically connect to adjacent stone walls when placed, unlike other complete blocks that cannot fit together, making it the perfect choice for a support structure.

Before long, eight stone wall supports were erected from the cave floor along the stone walls to the top, connecting at a single point to form a stable structure.

"Alright, let's start dredging the lava."

Speaking of lava, Fang Shi didn't just see it as fuel. Although in reality, lava and water blocks can't infinitely generate stone like in the game, that doesn't mean lava can't cool down.

As the core of the extreme Yang power in the entire secret realm, there's an 80-90% chance that this pool of magma, once cooled, will turn into either good stones or good minerals—either way, it's a win-win situation.

Next up is the gray iron bucket! Holding lava in one hand, it boasts ultimate heat insulation, making it a core technology for the blocky beings.

Fang Shi took out the gray iron bucket, and with a scoop, the power of dissolving automatically scooped up a block of magma.

With a hiss, a melting sound was heard. The lava didn't rise, but the gray iron bucket disappeared into the lava without a trace.

Fang Shi: "————"

Tools are judged by their quality.

Wow—this is definitely good news! It means that the lava lake in front of us is of a higher grade than Tier 1!