Gemstone Heart

While Xiao Yang was grunting and digging away at the mine, a communication from the God Game suddenly interrupted him.

It was Redbeard. He had sent Xiao Yang a message.

"Little brother Xiao Yang, I'm back from the Abyss. When are you coming to the Myriad Worlds Trading Area? Your big brother's gotten his hands on another goodie this time. You're definitely going to be impressed!"

When the message popped up, a hint of delight appeared on Xiao Yang's face.

Redbeard had returned early. That was great news. It was the perfect chance to ask about advancing to level ten.

The Myriad Realms Trading was tomorrow, and Xiao Yang owed Redbeard a great deal. Now that he had the chance, it was time to impress his big brother in return.

Xiao Yang had made a killing in this Gemstone Mine. One of the rubies, red as a burning flame, would make the perfect gift.

With that in mind, Xiao Yang sent a reply.

"How about tomorrow, Big Brother Redbeard?"

He tapped Send, and the greedy God Game promptly squeezed almost ten thousand Spirit Coins out of Xiao Yang.

At this rate, chatting was going to become unaffordable. Xiao Yang realized he had only a little over ten thousand Spirit Coins left, barely enough to cover the teleportation and admission fees for the next Myriad Realms Trading. But it wasn't a big deal. Thinking of all the assorted junk in his backpack and the huge haul of gemstones he had just picked up, Xiao Yang felt sure he'd finally escape poverty at this Myriad Realms Trading.

Xiao Yang was brimming with confidence. He stopped working, suddenly grabbed Little Bone beside him, and vigorously rubbed its skull.

"Little Bone, we'll be rich soon! Then I'll take you out of the dungeon for a stroll!"

Xiao Yang didn't have any proper tools, so all he could do was use Justice's Condolence to pry at the loose layers of rock. He levered off chunks of ore, and with a bit of luck, he'd find one or two gemstones embedded in the walls.

Little Bone, meanwhile, crouched on the ground and searched through the rock fragments Xiao Yang had pried off, looking for any gemstones that might have been left behind. It had been doing its job just fine, but then Xiao Yang suddenly grabbed it and rubbed it all over. Whether from embarrassment or fright, it vanished into the shadows without a trace.

Xiao Yang burst out laughing at the sight.

"I'm done mining!"

He hadn't come down to the dungeon just to mine. After grunting and digging for half the day, he was starting to feel dazed. This Gemstone Mine was much richer than he'd expected; even his haphazard digging had yielded plenty.

But the work was just so tedious. He'd have to ask Redbeard if he could find some decent mining tools to sell.

He still hadn't pried off even half the gemstones from the Gem Bugs, but Xiao Yang had figured out how to deal with those damned creatures. All he had to do was flip them over and pile rocks around them. Even after they finished charging, they couldn't right themselves. They could only wave their legs helplessly, struggling in vain.

The Gemstone Mine was safe for now. With the Gem Bugs no longer a threat, the Cave Fishmen wouldn't come near a mine so dazzlingly bright.

To be honest, Xiao Yang had been pushing himself too hard over the past seven days. He hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep at all.

As his attributes grew higher, his ability to stay up late had improved by leaps and bounds. He'd stayed up for five or six days straight and was still doing all right, but the fatigue had built up all the same. The moment he relaxed, exhaustion washed over him.

Clutching Justice's Condolence, Xiao Yang found a flat spot in the Gemstone Mine and sat down. Leaning against the cold, jagged rock wall, he quickly sank into a deep sleep.

Before long, Little Bone reappeared from the shadows and dutifully began keeping watch over Xiao Yang.

Of course, a few amusing things happened while he slept, like the argument between Little Bone and the Gem Bugs.

The biggest red Gem Bug finished charging and left its Gemstone State. It waved its legs and struggled to turn over, but couldn't manage it. In a panic, it began hissing, apparently trying to call the other Gem Bugs over to help.

But the other Gem Bugs had also been surrounded by rocks piled up by Xiao Yang, and none of them could turn over either. Hissing rose and fell around the mine, alerting Little Bone, who was guarding Xiao Yang. Annoyed by all the noise the Gem Bugs were making, Little Bone's eye sockets flickered with Soul Flame as it answered them with the clacking of its own bones.

Hiss, clack, hiss, clack. Little Bone and the Gem Bugs started arguing with each other.

Xiao Yang slept soundly and didn't oversleep. When he woke, he stretched. Little Bone had disappeared, and the Gem Bugs were still sprawled on their backs. They looked even worse now, listless and barely moving their limbs.

But unexpectedly, the gemstones had fallen off their bodies. Xiao Yang picked up the ruby dropped by the biggest Gem Bug.

Heart of Life

Quality: Epic

Type: Curio, Material

Effect: Increases maximum health by 100 points.

Description: Kid, you'll never know what that poor Gem Bug went through. It lost an argument!

The first thing Xiao Yang wondered after picking up the Heart of Life was what had happened while he was asleep. The second was that the Gem Bugs could actually produce Epic curios.

Without hesitation, Xiao Yang equipped the Heart of Life. His health leaped from two hundred to three hundred, an increase of almost half. He felt much safer.

Even now, though, Xiao Yang still couldn't figure out what had happened last night. But it wasn't a big deal.

Seeing how listless these Gem Bugs looked after revealing even more of their value, Xiao Yang decided to treat them even better. He'd let the cute little creatures down so they could happily crawl around the Gemstone Mine a few more times.

Maybe then they'd produce more good stuff for him.

The moment Xiao Yang put the Gem Bugs down, the biggest red one flipped over. Almost without pausing, and seemingly out of spite, it fired a dazzling, multicolored beam straight at him.

The familiar scene played out again. Xiao Yang rolled and scrambled around in a frantic dash, yelping as he was blasted.

There was no denying that Xiao Yang's experiences in the dungeon were always a chaotic mess.

Back on the Real Plane, the New Year was just around the corner. Xiao Yang wondered whether he'd be able to crawl out of the dungeon before it arrived.