A few years ago, a group of Blood Cultists infiltrated the Vein Realm in an attempt to locate the Mystic Realm Core and seize control of the realm. However, they were discovered by the Alliance, and its elite members killed them. Due to certain reasons, their bodies were left uncleared within the Vein Realm.
The power within their corpses converged, giving birth to a unique treasure: the Blood Demon Jewel.
The Blood Demon Jewel has three functions:
First: Blood Storage—it can store up to ten tons of blood.
Second: Bloodlight Restoration—it consumes the stored blood within the jewel to heal injuries.
Third: Bloodfiend Disguise—it can mimic the aura of a Blood Fiend (Blood Cultist).
By utilizing the third function, Bloodfiend Disguise, one could infiltrate the stronghold of the Blood God Sect.
Halfway through his journey, Li Cunxu felt it was inappropriate. This was the perfect moment to bond with Xiao Yi; how could he let her leave his side? Thus, he turned back and picked up White Spider.
"You have one opportunity to enter the Black Iron Level Resource Secret Realm, which allows you to stay in the Vein Realm for ten days. Exceeding this time will consume your second opportunity. Once all opportunities are exhausted, the Vein Realm will automatically eject you," the Gatekeeper of the Secret Realm explained, then handed Li Cunxu a backpack.
"This is a ten-cubic-meter Spatial Backpack, lent to you for free to carry ores. Remember to return it when you exit the realm."
"Is there a larger one? I'd like to switch to a bigger Spatial Backpack."
"The largest Spatial Backpack has a twenty-cubic-meter capacity, but it weighs ten kilograms."
The ten-cubic-meter Spatial Backpack was as light as a regular backpack, but Li Cunxu preferred the twenty-cubic-meter one. He had a premonition that this trip would yield a great harvest, and the ten-cubic-meter backpack might not be enough.
The Gatekeeper continued, "This is an Iron Pickaxe, a semi-finished Spirit Tool engraved with Spirit Patterns. It can speed up your digging. It's also lent to you for free and must be returned upon exit."
Li Cunxu took the Iron Pickaxe, and the Gatekeeper handed him a kerosene lamp.
"This is also a semi-finished Spirit Tool engraved with Spirit Patterns. When lit, it can illuminate a ten-meter radius. The light might not be particularly strong, but it can produce oxygen, so you don't need to worry about the lack of air in the mine. If you remove the lamp's base, there's a red safety button inside. Pull out the wire safety and press the button, and you can voluntarily exit the Secret Realm."
Carrying the Iron Pickaxe and holding the kerosene lamp, Li Cunxu stepped through the blue light curtain of the Secret Realm's portal.
Inside the mine, the miner's lamps dotted the winding tunnels like stars in a deep underground galaxy. The air was filled with the damp scent of earth and a faint trace of coal dust.
Li Cunxu found a tunnel unlit by the miner's lamps.
"Little Soft, set the Rebirth Ground here."
As he spoke, the ground began to flicker with earthy yellow light spots, and one by one, Earth Slimes were resurrected through reincarnation.
Before entering the Vein Realm, Li Cunxu had commanded the Water, Grass, Fire, Ice, and Wind Slimes to eliminate all the Earth Slimes, precisely for this moment—to have them reincarnate within the Vein Realm. He also took the opportunity to level up the other Slimes.
"Little Soft, disperse three-quarters of the Earth Slimes into various tunnels to search for underground rivers. Once found, report back. The remaining quarter will stay with me to dig and mine."
Li Cunxu released seven Earth Slimes with Digestion Talent from his Pet Pouch to assist Xiao Yi in conducting mutation experiments.
The Earth Slimes, like loyal scouts, hopped and skipped into the branching mine tunnels.
Digging deeper along the abandoned mine shafts, with the assistance of the Earth Slimes, the excavation speed was fast, but it was all dirt and no ore, which was frustrating and made one doubt.
After three hours of digging, Li Cunxu considered whether to switch to another mine shaft. After careful consideration, he thought that other shafts might be the same, so it was better to continue digging.
In the fourth hour of digging, the iron pickaxe struck, and sparks flew.
"Finally, we've hit something."
He dug out a hard object from the dirt, which was a piece of red iron ore.
Li Cunxu threw the iron ore to White Spider.
"I remember there's a metal-attribute Slime called the Iron Slime. You give the Earth Slime with the Digestion Talent a shot of the Slime Mutation Needle and see if it can mutate into an Iron Slime."
Continuing to dig deeper, he kept finding iron ore.
"Could I have hit an iron vein?"
Li Cunxu wasn't interested in the iron ore, so he threw down the iron pickaxe and began meditating on the spot.
His spiritual power was just a bit short of reaching the Black Iron Intermediate Stage, and Li Cunxu hoped to break through to it through his own efforts.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Cunxu was shaken awake by White Spider.
"Xiao Yi, what's wrong?"
"Sisi~ (A Slime has mutated.)"
Li Cunxu looked closely and saw a yellow Slime with round, ball-like hands growing on both sides, holding a small iron pickaxe in its right hand, digging vigorously, several times faster than the Earth Slimes.
"This isn't an Iron Slime, what kind of Slime is this? I don't recall it. Huh? Where's my iron pickaxe?" Li Cunxu noticed that the iron pickaxe he had thrown on the ground was missing.
"Sisi~ (It ate the iron pickaxe, and then it mutated.)" White Spider extended a claw and pointed at the Slime holding the iron pickaxe.
Li Cunxu checked the Slime's panel.
[Pet Beast]: Unnamed Slime.
[Attributes]: Earth, Metal
[Talent]: Kindred Division
[Skills]: Craft Iron Pickaxe, Digging
"Unnamed, it's mutated into a Slime that hasn't appeared in the world before."
Li Cunxu was certain that this kind of Slime hadn't appeared before; if it had, it would have been named by the naming-crazed humans long ago.
"So it has a digging skill, no wonder it's so fast."
"What name should I give you?"
After pondering for a few seconds, Li Cunxu handed the naming rights to White Spider.
White Spider's Fate Weaver needed to influence the fate of others, and mutating a completely new Slime race and naming it was just in line with influencing fate.
White Spider quickly said, "Sisi~ (It has an iron pickaxe and can mine, let's call it Miner Slime.)"
Li Cunxu asked, "Do you get Fate Points for naming it?"
"Si~ (Yes, but very few.)"
White Spider nodded.
In his backpack, there were twenty bottles of Breeding Potion and some compressed biscuits. Li Cunxu took out one bottle of Breeding Potion and a bowl, poured a drop into it, and with his bare hands, he created a Water Orb, placed it in the bowl, thoroughly mixed it with a drop of Breeding Potion, and fed it to the Miner Slime.
The Miner Slime quickly split into a Little Miner Slime. The Little Miner Slime, born into confusion, hopped over to the pile of iron ore after a few seconds. It began picking and choosing, trying to lift a piece of iron ore that didn't exceed its own size. However, its strength was too weak, and it couldn't lift it. It then switched to a smaller piece of iron ore, swallowed it, and the ore slowly began to take shape inside its belly. The shaping process was so slow that it was imperceptible to the naked eye.
The Big Miner Slime couldn't stand watching any longer. It picked up a piece of iron ore, swallowed it, and through its pale yellow translucent body, the iron ore could be seen rapidly shaping into an Iron Pickaxe at a speed visible to the eye.
The Big Miner Slime spat out the Iron Pickaxe and tossed it to the Little Miner Slime. The Little Miner Slime tried to pull the pickaxe out of the ground, but its strength was too weak, and it struggled like someone trying to pull the sword from the stone, failing to lift it.
(End of Chapter)