Even though it was night time, the sounds of collisions still rang out from the depths of the ancient mine. Cultivators wearing only tattered beast skins swung their shovels, constantly hacking at the rock walls.
The deepest part of this ancient mine was tens of thousands of meters from the surface. However, the lowest level was filled with dense poisonous gas. After tens of thousands of years, no one had ever come here, so the depths of the mine were filled with all sorts of dangers.
The Ancient Mine extended in all directions and branched off into many different directions. In one of the branching tunnels that were two thousand zhang underground, there was actually a lava lake. The scorching aura melted the surrounding rocks, turning them into crystals.
This was the mine where the other half of the Spirit Crystal had been found. Apart from that, there were also a large number of Spirit Crystal fragments. It was precisely because of the scorching lava that the surrounding rocks had melted into more solid crystals, and some of the scattered Spirit Crystals were buried within.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The shovels struck the surrounding rock walls, causing sparks to fly. However, these rock walls that had been burned by the flames were too hard. Most of these mine slaves were Blood Refining cultivators, and the shovels in their hands were also made of fine iron. However, when they struck with the shovels, sparks flew everywhere, leaving only a grayish-white mark.
The eyes of the cultivators in the mine turned red, and they were drenched in sweat. The fiery-red shovels in their hands kept striking down. As mine slaves, they had no way to survive. They could only stay in this dark mine until they died.
The mine slaves' faces were flushed, and some even had scarlet spots on their bodies. This was because they had been near the lava for a long time, causing the fire poison to enter their bodies. In the end, when the fire poison accumulated in their bodies to a certain extent, it would erupt, and they would die from the fire of desire.
Clang!
Accompanied by the sound of metal colliding, a scarlet shovel was split in two. A mine slave let out a heart-wrenching roar. His entire body curled into a ball, and he kept rolling on the hot rocks. His flesh made sizzling sounds, and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
"Fire poison attacking the heart!"
The fire poison in this mine slave's body had accumulated to the extreme, and it finally erupted, continuously burning his internal organs.
However, the miserable state of the mine slave did not cause any reaction from the other mine slaves. None of the mine slaves had the slightest fluctuation in their eyes. They were already in despair. Ever since they entered this mine, their fates had already been decided.
Puff!
At this time, a big man with a naked upper body came from the other side of the mine. He kicked the slave miner who fell to the ground violently into the molten lava and instantly turned into nothingness.
"Hurry up and get to work. If you can't complete this month's quota, all of you will be thrown into the lava."
The naked brawny man cursed as he glanced at the surrounding slave miners. Then, he turned around and walked out of the mine. He didn't want to be eroded by the rich fire poison.
"What are you looking at?
We've only mined less than ten Spiritual Crystal Fragments this month, and it's almost the end of the month. I don't think you guys want to leave this place alive! "
The fierce middle-aged warrior was the leader of the slave miners in this mine and also a Thousand-man Commander of the Origin Spirit Hall. Unlike these slave miners, they rotated every month, and because they went deep into the vein, they could get two mid-grade Primordial Stones every month.
"If it weren't for the two Primordial Stones, I wouldn't have stayed in this dark mine for a month."
In his eyes, these slave miners were just some human-shaped animals. It was not a pity for them to die. Even if they were all dead, there would still be a steady stream of new slave miners. His words were nothing more than to give these slave miners some hope and let them work hard. Obviously, such words did not have the slightest effect.
This branch of the mine was thousands of meters long. After several years of mining, it had become very spacious. Just as the warrior was cursing and walking toward the intersection of the branch and the main vein, the person who came to him suddenly made him shiver. His original arrogance suddenly disappeared.
"Greetings, Elder Shi. How come you have the time to come to the mine? Don't worry, these slave miners are honest and mine Primordial Stones for our Origin Spirit Hall."
The elder mentioned by the brawny man was the old man of the Third Heaven of the Heavy Building Realm, whose will was plundered by Xiao Chen. At this moment, his divine soul had already been occupied by Xiao Chen, and he came to this mine.
Xiao Chen hid in the Mountain and River Seal cave. The Mountain and River Seal turned into the size of a speck of dust and attached to the elder's body.
"Transfer the slave miners to other branches of the mine. This elder has something important to do and can't be disturbed by others."
"This … yes!"
The warrior was a bit hesitant. He felt that Elder Shi's expression was a bit sluggish and his tone was stiff, but he didn't dare to disobey. He was just a normal chiliarch, and Elder Shi was the strongest warrior in Yuan Spirit Hall after the Hall Master.
Then the warrior turned around and entered the mine. At this moment, there was a whip in his hand. He drove the slave miners in the mine to another mine like livestock.
A moment later, Elder Shi's figure stood in front of the rolling lava. In the next moment, a spatial crack appeared beside him and Xiao Chen's figure appeared beside him.
"This is the lava!"
"Yes!" Hearing Xiao Chen's question, Elder Shi answered mechanically.
Hearing this, Xiao Chen's eyes flashed with a bright light. The azure light in his eyes looked at the surging lava, as though he wanted to discover the mysteries within.
Originally, after knowing that there were Spirit Crystals in the Ancient Mine and the secrets of the various Wanderer forces in Xuanling City, Xiao Chen became cautious. These six Wanderer forces all had Marquis Combat Divisions behind them, or the shadows of forces comparable to Marquis Combat Divisions.
After getting the information he wanted, Xiao Chen's Spiritual Will was like a sharp sword. He wanted to completely occupy Elder Shi's Spiritual Sea to prevent the news from leaking.
His Spiritual Will was already at the Venerable level. It was a very simple matter to completely crush Elder Shi's Spiritual Will.
However, when Xiao Chen entered his Spiritual Soul, he found that Elder Shi was trying his best to hide something, even at the cost of destroying his own Spiritual Soul.
However, Xiao Chen was even faster. Before the old man's soul self-destructed, Xiao Chen instantly shattered the old man's soul and saw through everything, instantly understanding what happened.
The key was still this mineral vein where the Spirit Crystals were found. However, the secrets within were something that even a Venerable would covet.
This was because after Xiao Chen understood Elder Shi's memory, he learned that there was a connection point to a secret realm within the lava.
What was a secret realm!
It was rumored that some powerful people used their absolute strength to open up a space above a space node in the void. According to Xiao Chen's knowledge, only Venerables at least at the Eighth Heaven of the Heavenly Building Realm were qualified to find a space node in the void to open up a secret realm.
Of course, this kind of secret realm was only of the lowest level. It was more appropriate to call it a space.
When a cultivator with a secret realm died, there was a chance that their secret realm would be preserved. If someone could obtain this secret realm, it would be a great opportunity.
It was rumored that the Hundred Worlds that the Hundred Races currently resided in were secret realms created by the combined efforts of the powerful people of the Hundred Races in ancient times. However, the secret realms created by the Hundred Races could already be called small worlds after being continuously strengthened by the powerful people of the various races.
It was rumored that some of the more powerful races, such as the Ghost Race and the Yao Race, had endless emperors. They had even imprinted the profound mysteries of the Great Dao that they had comprehended on their respective secret realms. The Great Dao was born, and the rules were orderly. It was the true embryonic form of a world. In some aspects, it was not the slightest bit inferior to the human world.
Of course, other than the secret realms created by powerful people, there were also secret realms that were created by various factors in the Great Wilderness. For example, the ruins of the Xuankong Marquis, the secret realm created by the Clan Protecting Formation, and the secret realms formed naturally in the Great Wilderness. In the center of the Myriad Mountain Territory, there was a naturally formed Myriad Mountain Secret Realm that opened once every ten years.
And under the blazing lava, there was a link to the secret realm. According to the investigation of the Spirit Yuan Palace, it was very likely left behind by a fallen powerful person.
After hearing this news, Xiao Chen rejoiced. Fortunately, he managed to restrain this Elder Shi before he destroyed his own consciousness.
The link to the secret realm was less than ten feet below the lava. However, due to their low strength, even if they gathered all the Heavenly Building Realm cultivators of the Spirit Yuan Palace, they could not open this secret realm.
Moreover, Xiao Chen knew that the Hall Master of the Spirit Yuan Palace had already sent this news back to the Fenghou Division. It would not be long before the Venerables of the Spirit Yuan Palace would descend.
The temptation of a secret realm left behind by a powerful person was not small. If one could find the source of the secret realm and refine it, it was equivalent to carrying a small world with them. If they were lucky, there was a high chance that they could obtain the inheritance of a powerful person.
Xiao Chen only knew that this news had already been sent to the Fenghou Division, but as for when it was sent out, Elder Shi's entire soul sea had already turned into chaos. All that was left was his instincts. The relevant information had already been destroyed.
The only thing Xiao Chen could do now was to quickly enter the secret realm before the cultivators from Yuan Fenghou's Division arrived. He had to find the secret realm's Origin and refine it. As long as he refined the Origin of this secret realm, even if a Venerate came, he would still be able to hide in the Mountain and River Mark's Paradise and remain invincible.
Plop!
Xiao Chen's body was like a meteorite falling into the surging magma. Immediately, a surging tide of flames surged. The scorching magma surrounded his body. This magma was filled with boundless fire poison, trying to seep into his body.
However, Xiao Chen's body was strong and he had cultivated the Golden Battle Body. The raging lava could not harm his body in a short period of time.
In just a moment, Xiao Chen was able to find the link to the secret realm. On the red rock wall, there was a black crystal the size of a baby's fist.
The crystal didn't seem to exist in this space. The surging magma came out of the crystal, but the crystal was real.