I, Stone Golem, only want to forge.

"You should just keep turning left from here and you'll get there..."

A miner goblin led Murphy and his companions to the cave entrance and then pointed slightly inside.

Looking into the dark cave, it couldn't help but think of the countless insect eggs inside.

It got goosebumps all over its body and shivered.

However, seeing that Siri and Sylph were both lightly dressed, the goblin gave them a special reminder.

"It's probably a bit cold inside this cave, and some parts might even freeze over further in. Be careful to keep warm."

"Thank you very much." Although Sri wasn't afraid of the cold, she still thanked him.

Sylph was in the same situation, but she did so because she had brought the Red Stone.

Murphy stepped into the cave first.

The cave was pitch black, probably because all the lights were turned off to prevent the spiders from escaping.

Murphy has a sense of the earth, so he doesn't need his eyes.

Siri, on the other hand, has his own abilities.

Only Sylph, having no other choice, grabbed a nearby torch and lit it.

The flickering firelight gradually illuminated the surrounding area.

At first, everything seemed normal, but as you went further in, you could see some faint cobweb-like scratches on the walls.

"It really does get colder the further we go in."

Sylph breathed out a warm breath, which condensed into white mist in the air.

"And the temperature has dropped a bit too low, something's not right."

As they continued forward, the spiderwebs on the walls became increasingly numerous, eventually covering large sections of the wall.

There was even a faint glow of fireflies shining through the spider silk.

The cave became a bit brighter.

"ice?"

Murphy looked at the crystal-clear object on the ground and spoke.

"The ice is a bit strange."

Siri shook his head, bent down, and gently poked the ice block with his fingertip.

The so-called ice shattered instantly and floated behind him.

Murphy was stunned for a moment when he saw this.

o_O

Then a glint of wisdom flashed in his eyes.

"Is this a living thing?"

Sri nodded

"They look like living beings, and there are a lot of them..."

Sylph had somehow ventured a little ahead, but after hearing their conversation, she immediately ran back.

"Are those living things? There are so many of them over there!"

Upon hearing this, Murphy and Siri both stood up and hurried forward with Sylph.

After turning a corner, a bright light came into view, so bright it was almost dazzling.

Murphy looked up.

The entrance consists of clusters of insect eggs, piled up densely together without any gaps.

The viscous, silky sac wall was stretched into a semi-transparent state by the reddish-brown liquid inside.

You can even vaguely see the bizarre-looking spiders inside, trembling as the eggs wriggle.

However, these insect eggs are not the main point.

After the insect eggs, the piles of snow-white crystals are the most important part!

"Are those things some kind of moss or fungi?"

Sylph frowned as she saw the white crystals in the distance, and then asked with a serious expression.

"It's gotten colder around here because of that thing, right?"

This creature, whose origin and purpose are unknown, is far more terrifying than any so-called spider.

What's even more terrifying is why this thing is entangled with this spider.

"Miss Sylph, could you please tell me if your caves don't have anything like this?" Siri asked.

"I'll go ask now."

Sylph immediately took out the gem and went outside the cave to inquire about the situation.

"This type of crystal is not found in the Stone Man Cave."

Murphy said.

"This thing might be symbiotic with spider eggs."

Upon hearing this, Sri shook his head.

"Although I don't know much about cave spiders, I have seen their former ovaries, and this kind of thing doesn't exist."

Murphy walked up to the ice crystals and casually picked up a piece.

Then it opened its field of vision and began to carefully observe the ice crystals.

Through its field of vision, it discovered that although these ice crystals appeared calm on the surface, they were in constant motion inside.

Its speed is so extraordinary that it can even see the trajectory of movement.

Murphy pondered for a moment and came up with some guesses:

Is it possible that the spiders preyed on the stone men not because they actually wanted to eat them?

Instead, these ice-crystal-like things entered the spiders' bodies and parasitized them!

These ice crystals need to prey on the stone golems.

Otherwise, it simply couldn't understand the point of those spiders eating stones.

Murphy took the ice crystal and walked over to Siri.

"Let's get out of the cave first; I want to test things out."

Seeing this, Sri nodded and followed Murphy out of the cave.

On their way out, the two happened to run into Sylph, who had just returned after asking for something.

"I asked, and yes, such things exist, and they're found near spider eggs!"

After answering quickly, she watched the two walk out and then pressed for more information.

"So is there some danger inside? Should we head out?"

"Oh, Mr. Murphy wants to try something," Sri explained.

Murphy ignored the two and walked out of the mine first, taking a gel torch with him before he left.

Sylph and Siri quickly followed.

But when they arrived at Murphy's side, they saw that he had lit a torch.

Murphy waved the torch slightly in front of the ice crystal.

The ice crystals, which had been as still as lifeless objects, suddenly began to twist and deform, becoming extremely soft!

"Is it because it's afraid of fire?"

Sylph exclaimed in surprise, a surge of joy welling up inside her. If the ice crystals were afraid of fire, wouldn't it be much easier to deal with them!

But her joy quickly turned to ice.

These ice crystals aren't afraid of fire; they want to devour it!

Although the ice crystal was held in Murphy's hand, the end near the torch was spreading and extending wildly.

Seeing this, Murphy moved the torch closer, and the ice crystals, as if possessed, instantly enveloped the gel on the torch.

But then something even stranger happened.

These ice crystals can actually be melted by flames!

Many of the ice crystals that came into contact with the flames fell to the ground and turned black.

Even so, it still enveloped the gel at the top of the torch like a tidal wave.

Only after forcefully extinguishing the fire did it begin to devour the gel.

"What is this thing...?"

Sylph looked at the ice crystal that had hardened and calmed again after consuming the gel, her mouth slightly agape, and murmured.

"Feel it, has this thing gotten cold?"

Upon hearing this, Sri immediately stepped forward and touched it.

In an instant, a biting chill swept over his fingertips, but all that came was the chill; no frost formed on his fingertips.

"It has gotten colder, but it seems to be only a sensory experience..."

After Siri finished expressing his feelings, I looked at the ice crystals on Murphy's hand as I looked at my fingertips.

"Was this thing just absorbing heat? Were those spiders preying on the stone golems also because these ice crystals absorb heat?"

Murphy nodded again, looking at the ice crystal in his hand.

Suddenly asked

"Was the coldness you felt just now a spiritual coldness?"

Siri nodded halfway, then suddenly understood what Murphy was talking about.

"You mean, this thing converts heat into mental coldness!"

Upon hearing Siri's words, Silver was immediately surprised and asked:

"Huh? What does that mean? The hotter it is, the colder it is?"

Murphy didn't say anything, but instead took a lot more gel from the torch in the mine, lit it, and fed it all to the ice crystals in his hand.

Some of the ice crystals were burned away, but they still managed to engulf all the gel.

Murphy took the ice crystal and walked to a small puddle, then dropped it in.

What happened next shocked Siri and Sylph.

The small puddle was starting to boil!

Seeing this, Murphy scooped out the ice crystals and handed them to Sri.

"Touch it again."

Siri reached out and touched it; the bone-chilling coldness still traveled up his fingertips.