sinovels Chapter 980 Mysterious Crystal
Chapter 980 Mysterious Crystal
"The bloodlines of the rock rhinoceroses in the breeding farms are severely degraded; they can't compare to the wild ones." Kuishan interrupted him, throwing the broken tooth on the ground. "Wild rock rhinoceroses are at least three times the size of those in the breeding farms, and it's common for their tusks to be over two feet long. This tooth was most likely left by a wild, adult rock rhinoceros."
Ying crouched on the other side of the traces, picked up some bone ash with his fingertips, smelled it, rubbed it between his fingers, and frowned slightly: "There's a faint smell of blood, but I can still smell it. This rock-armored rhinoceros must have been injured, and seriously injured at that."
"The injured wild rock-armored rhinoceros..." Yun Yin spoke for the first time, his voice low and slow, "Injured in a place like this, it won't live long."
He didn't finish speaking, but everyone understood what he meant.
Wild rock rhinoceroses are among the most formidable pack animals on this wasteland; the defenses of an adult are so strong that even iron weapons struggle to penetrate them. What could wound a wild rock rhinoceros, breaking its teeth and leaving a drag mark, is either another, even more ferocious beast, or—something else entirely.
The atmosphere among the six people became even more tense.
Kuishan stood up, his gaze comparing the direction of the drag mark with the direction of the bone tower. His expression darkened slightly: "The directions are the same. That rock-armored rhinoceros ran deeper into the mountains."
No one responded.
After a few moments of silence, Kuishan resumed his steps: "Keep moving forward. Stay alert, rotate scouting positions every half hour. Yunyin, come ahead and lead the way with me."
Yunyin nodded and silently stepped forward.
The six resumed their journey, but this time, their pace slowed considerably, and their perimeter doubled. No one spoke, only occasionally exchanging information through gestures and glances. Lin Qiye brought up the rear, his gaze sweeping over the terrain and environment along the way, memorizing every possible hiding place.
As darkness fell, there was no true distinction between day and night in the Ash Wasteland. When the gray-white dome in the sky darkened, it was night.
Kuishan stopped at a natural depression formed by several half-buried giant beast ribs: "We'll camp here tonight."
The six unloaded their backpacks and nimbly began setting up tents and deploying warning rune arrays. Ying walked around the camp to confirm the coverage area of the warning rune arrays, and then scattered some fine sensory bone powder along the way—as long as a creature stepped into the sensing range, the bone powder would emit a faint glow and send a warning to the mental imprint of the array setter.
Kuishan built a simple campfire in the center of the camp using a few pieces of dried animal bones—not an ordinary flame, but a source fire lit by a fire-type source crystal. It produced no smoke, no smell, and would not reveal the location of the camp, while providing enough light and warmth.
After everything was arranged, the six of them sat around the fire, roasting dry rations and drinking hot water.
Qingya shrank his neck and muttered, "This place is so cold. It's not winter, but it feels so much colder than the arena."
"It's not a matter of temperature." Shadow took a bite of dry rations, chewing slowly, his gaze fixed on the blurry outline of the mountains in the distance. "It's just that the aura of this area itself is off. The flow of Origin Qi here is much more sluggish than over at the arena, and it's mixed with... something else."
"Don't say such creepy things." Kuishan glared at her. "Everyone, eat and drink your fill, get some rest. We have to travel early tomorrow morning."
No one spoke again. After finishing their dry rations and assigning watch shifts, they went into their tents to rest.
Lin Qiye was on the second shift of night watch.
He sat on a bone at the edge of the camp, leaning against the rib of a colossal beast several meters tall, his gaze slowly sweeping across the dark wasteland. All around was silent, save for the faint rustling of the wind through the layer of ashes.
He remained on high alert for about half an hour when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a fleeting, extremely faint light in the darkness of the distance, which then vanished. The light was located about ten miles away in the direction they were about to travel, in the outer edge of the mountain range.
Lin Qiye's gaze sharpened slightly.
He didn't disturb anyone else; he just sat there quietly, gazing in the direction the light had appeared, and memorized it.
The light extinguished quickly and disappeared completely, never to reappear a second time.
Lin Qiye silently withdrew his gaze, firmly engraving that location in his mind.
Nothing happened that night.
As dawn broke, the team set up camp, ate a quick meal of dry rations, and continued their journey toward the mountains.
The closer you get to the mountains, the more sluggish the flow of primal energy in the air becomes. It feels as if something is blocking the channels for the flow of primal energy, making each breath more difficult than before, requiring more primal energy to maintain a normal breathing rhythm.
Qingya's complexion was clearly not good; a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and his breathing became much more rapid than before. But he gritted his teeth and remained silent.
The group marched in silence for about two hours.
When they were less than a few miles from the edge of the mountain, the layer of ashes ahead suddenly underwent a dramatic change—the grayish-white powder covering the surface was churning and separating to the sides in an extremely unnatural way.
The scene resembled a gigantic, invisible creature rising from the depths of the earth, pushing aside layers of the surface. The six men immediately stopped. Kuishan raised his right fist, and everyone gripped their weapons, their muscles tense, their eyes fixed on the churning layer of ashes.
Then they heard a deep rumble. It came from underground, dull and resonant, as heavy as the heartbeat of the earth.
As the sound grew louder, the grayish-white bone powder slid completely to both sides, revealing the dark red rock layer below and—a large patch of fluorescent blue crystal fragments. These crystal fragments, varying in size and densely packed, were embedded in the rock layer, like a torn starry sky inlaid deep within the earth's crust.
The largest piece of it was flashing intensely.
It seemed to be breathing, like a living thing. With each flash, a faint, fluorescent blue ripple spread outwards, stirring the surrounding source energy and creating an extremely unsettling fluctuation.
Lin Qiye's heart skipped a beat. He saw the largest crystal, embedded deep within the rock strata, with only an irregular facet visible, its surface riddled with cracks, like a gigantic star about to shatter. He felt an extremely faint resonance—from deep within him, from a corner he had never touched before.