The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 158: Fire Vein Origin Stone
As soon as Adrian appeared inside the Blood Star, he collapsed on the ground in utter exhaustion. He didn't even take time to change or heal his wounds. He figured he would deal with troublesome matters when he woke up, so he just crashed near the Rainbow Rose.
He wanted to replenish his exhausted Qi, so he decided to sleep near the Rainbow Rose, killing two birds with one stone. Hours passed, and that was how Adrian spent his first night in the mystic realm, hiding inside his pendant, trapped dozens of feet underground, with an untold number of beasts chasing him.
After sleeping for an unknown number of hours, Adrian woke up feeling more refreshed. Now that he had some sleep, he had recovered all his lost Qi.
However, his previous injuries were still present, though they were slightly better now that he didn't have to run around with them. He sat up and had a light breakfast. He also took another healing pill, ensuring his injuries healed faster.
Then he decided to lightly cultivate to pass the time. A few hours later, he let out a light breath, breaking his concentration, and ended his cultivation session.
He observed his body to find that his injuries were all fully healed. Even his skin that had been singed by the molten poison was fully healed, without leaving a single scar.
He changed his clothes to some neat ones and readied himself to continue his exploration. With his sword in hand, he let out a deep breath, and he appeared inside the collapsed cave. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Immediately he appeared in the cave, he took up a fighting stance, ready to face any beast that might have entered the collapsed cave. Luckily for him, no beast seemed to have wandered inside, and the entrance was still closed.
He debated whether the tunnel was safe enough to move around. He thought that enough time had passed, and things ought to have calmed down.
He cleared the way and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that no beasts were roaming around. However, another problem arose for him. When he was running from the scorpions, he had taken several twists and turns and had ended up far deeper into the tunnel.
Now, he had gone too far, and going back was not possible. However, Adrian was unfazed. Seeing how deep the tunnel was, there had to be more entrances, so he wasn't going to be trapped here.
When he stepped out into the tunnel, he noticed something intriguing. There were more fire vein ores appearing now, illuminating the once dim underground tunnel. He started harvesting them one by one, and soon ended up with a sizeable amount.
For a cultivator of the fire element, these items were very useful, and could even be sold for a sizeable sum outside.
As he kept moving further, he noticed the amount of fire vein ore increasing by a great amount, to the point where he couldn't take a few steps without finding fire vein ore.
Even in a mine, it would be impossible to find this much fire vein ore. Their appearance had to mean something. Perhaps there was a treasure hiding in the depths of this tunnel, causing the appearance of so much fire vein ore.
A hint of anticipation appeared in Adrian, and he began speculating on what treasure it could be. With renewed resolve, he continued to harvest more ores while simultaneously being wary of the scorpions that were still roaming about.
He didn't want a repeat of last time, so anytime he encountered a powerful Scarlet Flame Scorpion, he quickly retreated inside the Blood Star, not even attempting to fight.
Like this, he spent the whole day harvesting fire vein ore while simultaneously moving deeper inside. Now he had reached a region teeming with scorpions. He was standing on a ledge, staring down at a cavern that was teeming with scorpions.
Most of them were at Rank 1, with many fewer being at Rank 2. He also spotted a handful at Rank 3. When he thought that was all, he noticed a Scarlet Flame Scorpion that was bigger than the rest.
Even the Rank 3 scorpions would be dwarfed near it. The aura it emanated was great, and the pressure coming from it was suffocating. It was quite clear that this scorpion was far more powerful than the rest and was of a much higher rank.
Specifically, it was a Rank 4 Scarlet Flame Scorpion. As soon as Adrian saw the scorpion, he immediately ducked and retreated, afraid the scorpion would see him.
A Rank 4 beast was equivalent to a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, and had senses far sharper. Adrian, luckily, moved fairly quickly and was able to avoid its sight.
Now, lying down, Adrian wanted to take another look at the beast, shimmied on his stomach, inching closer to the ledge. He moved slowly, careful not to make any noise or cause any commotion.
Carefully, his head poked out over the ledge, peering at the massive beast below. It was indeed as big as he had seen. Its crimson carapace was of a deeper hue than the rest.
Its pincers were also larger, with their serrated interior as sharp as blades. Its stinger shone with a deadly glint, as a molten drop of venom dripped from its tip. It was a beautiful beast... if one could forget about how deadly it was.
However, just as Adrian was still mesmerized by the beast's features. Something else in the cavern caught his attention. On the wall behind the Rank 4 Scarlet Flame Scorpion was a large stone.
The stone was of a deep crimson hue, far deeper than the color of the Rank 4 Scarlet Flame Scorpion. It resembled a fire vein ore, but was larger than anything he had ever seen before.
Also, its interior seemed to possess molten flame that was constantly swirling around in a mesmerizing pattern. From the stone, a sweltering amount of heat was radiating it, increasing the temperature drastically.
"A Fire Vein Origin Stone!"
Adrian's eyes widened as he recognized what the stone he was staring at was. His breathing became ragged, and he had to spend a few seconds calming himself down.
He was thankful that he was from a big family; otherwise, he might have shouted out loud from the sheer shock of what he was staring at. As he had said earlier, the stone in front of him was a fire vein origin stone.
The Fire Vein Origin Stone was a treasure born from the Heavens. Born in a region with extreme fire Qi, it is basically a coalition of extreme heat and fire Qi present in the atmosphere.
However, fire itself was intangible. With the combination of earth Qi, it would form an outer crust for itself, giving it a body and shape. All in all, it was a very precious natural treasure.
All the fire vein ore was because of the fire vein origin stone. Like its name, it was the origin of all fire vein ore that was appearing in this tunnel. When a Fire Vein Origin stone is formed, it would turn the area where it appeared into a fire vein ore mine.
That was just a passive use of it, not even taking into consideration the tremendous amount of uses of the Fire Vein Origin Stone itself.
A Fire Vein Origin Stone the size of a fist would be considered a Gold rank treasure. While he couldn't tell the actual size of the stone, it was way bigger than a fist.
He was almost salivating just thinking about getting his hands on the treasure. With something like that, reaching the Golden Core realm would be as easy as breathing. Ascending even higher than that would be possible.
However, he had a problem. And his problem was in the shape of a huge dinosaur-sized scorpion with a stinger filled with molten venom. As he scouted the situation further, he noticed that the Rank 4 Scarlet Flame Scorpion lingered around the Fire Vein Origin stone.
It never moved more than a few meters away from it, always scuttling around it. Furthermore, no other scorpion was near the stone.
Whether it was from fear of the Rank 4 Scarlet Flame Scorpion, or whether they couldn't handle the power coming from it, none of them went near it. If he was going to steal the Fire Vein Origin Stone, he would have to find a way to deal with the scorpion.
Whether that meant killing it or whether it was to somehow steal it under its nose, he had to plan for it. The idea of giving up on the Fire Vein Origin Stone didn't even appear in his mind.
He had to have it, and he was willing to take risks to obtain it. However, simply having the will wasn't enough. He was talking about killing a beast comparable to a Nascent Soul realm expert while still being at the Foundation establishment realm himself.
He needed to plan extensively for it.
A/N: Hey, guys. I know I haven't been able to update for a while. I want to apologise, and to assure my remaining fanbase that haven't given up on me, and are still patiently waiting that I'm still here. The novel isn't going on hiatus or getting dropped.
WE'RE BACK, BABY!!!
