A Mountain!

Lu Ming smiled slightly. Naturally, he would not reveal the secrets of his system or the Hundredfold Gene, instead offering a vague explanation: "This breakthrough was a bit special; you could say it was a case of accumulation leading to a sudden outburst. I was lucky enough to stumble upon some fortuitous encounters."

He steered the conversation away immediately.

"Now is not the time to discuss this. Let's see what is hidden behind this mist."

Seeing that Lu Ming was unwilling to elaborate, Carlos was sensible enough not to press further; everyone had their own secrets.

He composed his mind and nodded.

"That exceptionally pure and high-level energy fluctuation is coming from behind this mist. The mist is very strange; my spiritual power cannot penetrate it."

Man Ji and Shadow Shuttle gathered around as well, and the four of them looked toward the vast expanse of fog.

Forming a diamond-shaped battle formation with Lu Ming in the lead, Carlos and Man Ji on the left and right flanks, and Shadow Shuttle bringing up the rear, they cautiously stepped into the dense mist.

The fog was thicker than they had imagined, with visibility reduced to less than ten meters, and it exerted a strong interference on their force perception.

The four could only rely on their eyesight and the connection of each other's auras to advance slowly, their concentration at its peak.

After traveling for about several hundred meters, the surrounding mist began to thin out.

They walked a few dozen more steps, and suddenly, the view opened up!

They had passed through the boundary of the mist and emerged into a relatively open inner valley.

However, the scene before them left all four of them stunned.

There were no exotic flowers or rare herbs as they had imagined, nor were there any divine artifacts or secret manuals radiating precious light. Before them stood a mountain!

It was a giant peak that was pitch-black throughout, its surface as smooth as a mirror, towering into the clouds and radiating a cold, metallic luster!

This mountain occupied the vast majority of the inner valley, and its material was clearly not ordinary rock.

"Is this... a mine?"

Man Ji scratched his head, looking somewhat disappointed.

"Going through all this trouble just to guard a pitch-black rock mountain?"

Carlos frowned slightly, stepped forward, and reached out to touch the black mountain body.

It felt cold and hard to the touch. He tried to exert force, but with his Domain Lord-level strength, he could only leave a shallow white mark on the surface!

"This hardness... is extraordinary!"

Carlos's expression changed.

Shadow Shuttle also crouched down to carefully observe the textures on the mountain's surface, then shook his head, indicating he did not recognize it.

Lu Ming also felt that this black metal was extraordinary, but he did not recognize it either.

The types of materials in the universe were vast and numerous; even having lived for ninety thousand years, it was impossible for him to know them all.

"Use your smart computers to scan the database."

Lu Ming suggested.

The four of them raised their wrists one after another, activating the detection and scanning functions of their smart computers and aiming them at the giant black mountain before them.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Almost simultaneously, the smart computers of all four emitted a successful identification tone, and detailed information about this material popped up on their screens.

When they saw the information displayed on the screens, the breathing of all four involuntarily stalled for a moment, and their eyes widened instantly!

[Material Name]: Ink Meteor Mother Gold

[Grade Rating]: E9

[Characteristic Description]: Extremely high density, extreme hardness, excellent energy conductivity, and a certain resistance to soul attacks. It is one of the top-tier materials for forging Tier 5 force weapons, top-level starships, and high-level puppet cores. Its production is extremely rare, and it usually only appears at top-tier auctions.

E9-grade metal!

Ink Meteor Mother Gold!

Looking at the information displayed on the smart computer, then looking up at the complete giant mountain before them, which stood thousands of meters high and likely had a base diameter of several kilometers...

Gulp.

Man Ji subconsciously swallowed his saliva.

Carlos's hands were trembling slightly.

Even the usually calm Shadow Shuttle's breathing grew heavy.

Lu Ming also felt his heart beating faster than it should have.

They were rich!

This time, they were truly rich! A windfall of massive proportions!

A complete, high-purity Ink Meteor Mother Gold mine!

Its total reserves were likely in the trillions of tons!

Its total value... would be an astronomical figure! It far exceeded the surprise the Life Fruit Tree had brought Lu Ming earlier!

This was definitely a treasure that even a World Lord-level powerhouse, or perhaps even an Immortal, would covet!

"E... E9-grade... an entire mountain of it..."

Man Ji's voice was drifting, his eyes bloodshot.

"Am I seeing things? How many Universe Coins would this be worth? Tens of trillions? Or hundreds of trillions?!"

Carlos took several deep breaths, barely suppressing the wild joy in his heart, and said in a hoarse voice, "Priceless... this thing is practically priceless! It cannot be measured simply by Universe Coins! We... we have truly found the core treasure of the secret realm this time!"

Everyone's gaze became incredibly scorching!

After the initial ecstasy, a realistic problem stood before the four of them: how to move this mountain of Ink Meteor Mother Gold, which was worth a king's ransom?

"Let me try!"

Man Ji was the most impatient. With a low roar, his muscles bulged, his Domain Lord-level power erupted, and he swung a giant axe, hacking fiercely at the base of the mountain!

CLANG!!!

With a deafening roar, sparks flew everywhere! Man Ji was forced back several steps by the recoil, his arm numb.

Looking at the mountain again, there was only a slash mark about half a meter deep—a mere drop in the bucket compared to the entire giant mountain!

"Damn it! It's too hard!"

Man Ji bared his teeth.

Carlos also tried to use a thin sword to condense his Origin Power for a thrust, but the effect was even worse, as he could only pierce less than a foot deep.

Shadow Shuttle's attacks were more inclined toward stealth and trickery, so his destructive power against such hard materials was the lowest of all.

The hardness of E9-grade metal was far beyond imagination. With their Domain Lord-level strength, the efficiency of mining this giant mountain would be appallingly low; they would likely struggle to clear it even after hundreds of years.

"At this rate, by the time we finish digging, the secret realm will probably have been discovered by others."

Carlos stopped helplessly, his brows locked in a frown.

Just as the group was at a loss, Lu Ming spoke calmly, "Let me handle it."

The three of them immediately turned their gazes toward Lu Ming, their eyes filled with anticipation.

Having witnessed Lu Ming's strength just moments ago, they believed he might have a way.

With a thought from Lu Ming, the Thunderlight Vine coiled around his body stirred slightly.

"Little Thunder, it's up to you."

"Yes, Master!"

Little Thunder's intent came through.

The next moment, to the astonishment of Carlos and the others, over a hundred vines shimmering with dark golden electric arcs unfurled from behind Lu Ming!

These vines did not lash out at the mountain directly; instead, like the most precise drilling instruments, their tips twisted and coiled until they became incredibly sharp, spinning at high speeds and emitting a low hum!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Countless vines, as if possessing a life of their own, precisely pierced different locations on the mountain!

To their surprise, the incredibly hard Ink Meteor Mother Gold was easily pierced by these spinning vines as if it were tofu!

They watched as chunks of Ink Meteor Mother Gold ore, uniform in size and weighing anywhere from several tons to dozens of tons, were neatly cut and peeled away by the vines like slicing a cake, then coiled up and neatly stacked on the open ground to the side.

The efficiency was jaw-dropping! It was more than a hundred times faster than the clumsy mining methods Man Ji and the others had used!

"This... this is your Thunderlight Vine, Lu?"

Carlos's eyes were practically popping out of his head.