Deep within the mine, the air was so hot and dry it was suffocating.
A group of miners crowded around a freshly opened gap, craning their necks to peer inside, yet none dared enter.
The gap was not large, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. A dense, razor-sharp Geng Metal Qi seeped from within.
Yang Dingtian shoved through the crowd and walked up to the gap.
He twitched his nose twice, then his eyes widened.
"Good grief, that smell..."
It was the pungent scent of metal, yet mixed within it was a primordial aura from the ancient wilderness. It stirred the Divine Ape Bloodline in his body into a frantic throb.
"Get out of the way!"
Yang Dingtian roared and reached out to grab the rocks along the edge of the gap.
The rocks were hard as iron, but in his hands, they were no better than crumbling tofu.
"Open!"
He exerted force with both arms, and his muscles bulged like coiling dragons.
With a deafening crack, he forcibly tore a gaping hole through the entire rock wall.
The scene within was exposed before everyone's eyes.
It was a naturally formed karst cave, not very large—only about ten zhang across.
At the center of the cave stood a stone pool filled with golden liquid.
The liquid was viscous as mercury, and tiny golden arcs of electricity danced across its surface.
Directly above the pool hung an enormous golden stalactite, suspended upside down. A drop of golden liquid slowly dripped from its tip.
"Drip."
The crisp sound echoed through the deathly silent mine.
"Wh-what is this?" Zhao Wuji stared dumbfoundedly. He had never seen such a treasure before.
Yang Dingtian, however, seemed possessed as he walked step by step toward the pool.
The blood in his body was