"Keep going."
Uncle Qu spoke, and the group tightened their formation again.
Li Yuan fell back slightly, reaching for the Flame Snake Tube inside his robe. With a thought, he equipped it.
[Obtained trait: Precision (White)]
The deeper they went into the mine cave, the darker red the walls became. Many places were veined with blackened ore, as though they had been scorched by fire for years, then thoroughly steeped in yin energy. The wooden supports on both sides had long since rotted down to half their length. Now and then, broken iron picks and hollowed-out wooden handles could still be stepped on amid the rubble beneath their feet.
Li Yuan swept his gaze around and asked, "What did this cave used to mine?"
"A Fire-Attribute Ore Vein." Uncle Qu did not turn back. He raised his lantern toward the fork ahead, his voice low. "It's been here a long time. The first ones to open this mine were a group of Demonic Cultivators. They mined Yuyang Stone."
"Later, the Yuanyang Sect drove those people away, and most of the ore in the mine was dug out. Only after that did this area gradually gain some life, with one market town after another springing up."
Uncle Qu kept talking as he walked onward.
The mine tunnel turned a corner, and the passage ahead suddenly narrowed.
Uncle Qu halted and raised a hand, stopping the Guard Squad cultivator in front of him.
"Don't move."
Everyone tensed.
As the lanternlight tilted, the patch of darkness on the ceiling swayed with it.
Li Yuan's pupils abruptly constricted.
That was not rock.
A grayish-white beast-shaped shadow crouched above them. Its limbs were thick and long, its back arched high, its head thrust forward. Half its face had rotted away, leaving only an