Magic Crystal Mine

Bal lay prone on the ground, his gaze fixed on Dole. "You brat, you're pretty clever too. I gave you Naluye's book, and you actually knew what to do with it. You didn't waste all my painstaking effort. Once you finish this book, becoming a transcendent creature won't be a problem. And Naluye's story is fascinating enough to see you through life out there—as long as you don't do anything stupid."

Dole's long-standing doubts were finally answered. He fell silent. Now that he understood the truth, he was no longer so afraid of Bal. He had always thought the fellow was strange. So he was an intelligent creature.

He glanced into the distance. Through gaps in the woods, he could see a city nestled among the far-off mountains. Descend this mountain and cross two more, and he would reach Duomeng City.

He let out a long breath, tugging at the wound on his chest. Pain instantly made him furrow his brow.

He raised his head and asked, "If I want revenge, can you help me?"

Bal nodded his dog head. "Naturally. But I won't make a move myself. At most, I can provide technical support. I know a little about both your human wizard and warrior systems, and I can guide you."

Dole closed his eyes, then opened them again. His face, smeared with brownish blood, was filled with heaviness and grim resolve.

"Alright. I'll be relying on you these next few days." Enduring the pain, he picked up the unidentified beast beside him and brought it to his mouth. A bloody stench rushed into his face. He suppressed the urge to vomit and viciously tore into it.

This hatred could not exist beneath the same sky.

Aoduo, Sam, Carmen, Fele, Dis—you five just wait for me.

As someone from the slums, Dole had always believed that less trouble was better than more. Yet even so, people had targeted him again and again, and now they had even tried to kill him. Dole felt his fury burning through every shred of reason. To hell with backing down. To hell with enduring it. He'd had enough.

He did not know whether Manager Harley was still looking for him, but it no longer mattered. Having escaped death, all he wanted now was to grow stronger—and then kill.

Watching Dole stuff down mouthful after mouthful of meat while forcing back his nausea, Bal nodded inwardly. Only those who could endure pain, disregard the harsh conditions of survival, and struggle to live were worthy of becoming strong.

What Bal liked about Dole was precisely that. This was a tough child. Having gone through a life-and-death ordeal, Bal reckoned there would no longer be weakness or compromise in the boy's heart. He would become ruthless. Growing up in the slums, he had already been rather indifferent. Whether ruthlessness or indifference, both were necessary qualities for becoming strong.

After finishing the meat, Dole looked at Bal lying on the ground. He wiped the blood from his mouth, swallowed down every trace of his urge to vomit, then closed his eyes and calmed his mind, preparing to meditate.

There was nothing he could do now. He could only meditate.

Once he entered meditation, the waves of pain coming from all over his body gradually eased, then vanished. In his world, only three antique bronze-colored copper coins remained.

All three coins had been fully constructed, their patterns clearly visible. He began constructing the fourth.

The moment he started, the fourth coin took shape at a speed visible to the naked eye. Its outline emerged, details filled in, and in less than an hour, the fourth copper coin appeared.

Dole had not expected it to be so easy. For the past day, he had been in pain every moment, enduring every moment. He had never imagined it would improve his spiritual power so greatly.

With the fourth coin visualized, Dole had officially stepped into the rank of a beginner wizard apprentice. By wizard standards, an intermediate apprentice's spiritual power was at least seven to nine times that of a beginner apprentice. That meant he needed to visualize at least twenty-one Mafa Copper Coins before he could touch the threshold of an intermediate apprentice.

Too slow.

After consolidating for a while, Dole began pushing toward the fifth.

Time slowly passed.

Before long, he fell into a deep sleep.

Dole's injuries were severe. Eighty percent of his skin was torn open; his face, neck, and body had not a single uninjured spot. He looked utterly miserable, so his wounds healed very slowly. Even with Bal applying medicine every day, he could forget about standing up within ten days or half a month.

The next day, Dole ate a portion of spiritual power herbs and continued meditating. For these few days, there was nothing else he could do. He could only meditate.

Over the past few days, he had also noticed something: Bal took him to a different location every day, though they always remained around this mountain peak. When he slept at night, Dole could sense a mysterious force gathering toward Bal, though he had no idea what it was.

Then he remembered that Bal had once been a terrifying level-seven creature, and he felt relieved again. A lifeform like that could crush him to death with a casual slap. It was only natural for it to cause a little commotion.

Spiritual power herbs could only be taken once every three days. By the time Dole finished his third portion, he could finally stand. After eating raw meat for days, he was almost sick of it.

Once he could move, he made his own fires and roasted his own meat. As for salt and such, Bal naturally brought it up from the foot of the mountain. Dole did not ask where it came from. Just like that book about Naluye, who knew where it had come from? As long as he had it, that was enough.

In the past, eating meat had felt unimaginably luxurious to Dole. Every day he passed through the market, he would drool at the sight of it. Now that he ate meat every day, he was starting to dislike it. He needed other nutrients to replenish his body. After all, humans were not purely carnivorous animals and could not survive on meat alone.

More than ten days passed, and his wounds had completely healed. He could move around again. Most of his injuries had been superficial; his muscles, tendons, and bones had suffered little damage. Once the external wounds healed, there was no major problem left.

His spiritual power had also advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching twelve copper coins. He was not far from twenty.

When he had spiritual power herbs, his progress was extremely fast. Without them, it became very slow. Dole was now desperate to improve, so he prepared to descend the mountain.

His entire body was covered in scars, one gash after another, making him look horrifying. Looking like this, surely no one would recognize him.

He told Bal that he planned to go down the mountain.

Bal did not speak. Instead, with a lift of his hand, several objects flew out from it—some containers and basins.

Dole's heart jolted. Bal had spatial equipment.

Shaking his head, Bal said, "There are no wild beasts on this mountain, but there are plenty of medicinal herbs. Don't go down the mountain until you can brew a potion that changes your appearance. Stay here obediently for the next few days."

Dole was startled. This fellow must have read The Legend of Naluye, because in the book, Naluye had relied in his early days on face-changing potions and another thing called Hallucinogenic Potion to hide himself.

He thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. What have you been doing these past few days?"

Bal pointed beneath his feet. "There's a small magic crystal mine in these mountains. I've been absorbing its power to recover."

Dole's eyes flew wide, his face filled with disbelief. "A magic crystal mine? How is that possible?"

A smile appeared on Bal's dog face. "Did you forget those white crystals you gave me before? Those were magic crystals too."

Dole was dumbfounded. Those were magic crystals! A single standard magic crystal could be exchanged for a great many gold coins!

But then he thought of it: those shattered magic crystals could at most be considered magic crystal scraps.

For transcendent wizards and warriors with ranks, magic crystals were the source of power. A magic crystal mine was important to any faction or family, regardless of its size. If they knew there was a magic crystal mine here, they would surely swarm over like bees.