Today, they’d claimed five pockets, with not a single demon to be seen. They’d wandered deeper than ever before, ten miles into the uncharted zone. Would today be the day? Would they find the Gold Source Marrow at long last? The more they gathered, the more convinced he grew that the source of it all—and the likely location of the Gold Source Marrow—was below the ground. He’d soon need to separate from the group in order to find it.
Cha Ming stored the remaining ore after the men took their cut. Their storage treasures were filled to bursting, and he was the only one with enough space. They’d never asked for the details behind his storage space—anything was fine as long as he could smuggle for them and they had a contract in place to ensure delivery. Their faith in contracts bordered on religious, and Cha Ming saw no reason to convince them otherwise.
“Should we go deeper?” Bear One wondered, looking to Cha Ming.
“I don’t see why not,” Cha Ming said. “If we encounter demons, I’ll scare them off. There’s bound to be more ore around here since the demons haven’t dared show their faces.”
Their strange behavior confused him, but who was he to complain if wealth landed on his lap? The men nodded, and they flew out in their usual positions, protecting Bear One as he surveyed the land.
They traveled another three cautious miles, rounding several jagged and broken cliffs before Bear One stopped them. He looked around, confused, before tapping his foot on the ground. “Here,” he said, frowning. “But be careful. There’s something strange going on. I can feel it.”
The men exchanged worried glances. Bear One’s hunches weren’t ever wrong.
Cha Ming took his position beside Bear One and Bear Five. This far out, even he felt exhaustion as his vitality left him, like a steady leak in a used faucet. He placed his hands on the ground and churched the earth, which, for some reason, was free of debris. No rocks had fallen down from the tall cliffs behind them, as the quake had been unusually light.
“Would you look at that,” Bear One said, shooting Bear Three a grin. “Looks like it’s your lucky day.”
Bear Three, confused, walked over to them. His eyes widened when he saw a small but heavy chip of translucent black ore in the bald man’s hand.
“Nice,” Bear Three said. He grabbed the chip, and to Cha Ming’s surprise, it melted in his fingers, leaching into his body, starting from his hands and working up his arms through blackening veins.
“Let’s keep at it,” Bear One said.
Cha Ming, not knowing what was going on, continued to till the earth alongside him. Though the black chips were heavy, they were still much lighter than the life-leaching ore they’d discovered that day. Yet Bear Three seemed more gleeful than ever before.
“You seem surprised,” Bear One said, noticing his confusion. “We’ve been mining for years together, you see, and Bear Three isn’t here to collect ores for his smithing, nor is he here to make money.”
“Then what is he here for?” Cha Ming asked. Each of the men had their own motives. For example, Bear One had revealed he was here saving up to purchase a Limit Awakening Pill, a rare alchemical product that could provide an impetus to break through his mortal shackles and become a demigod. It was also useful for those in the blood-awakening realm.
“Bear Three is here to hunt for special ores,” Bear One explained. “This obsidian glass steel is one of the three ores he’s seeking. He practices a rare cultivation method. It is very powerful, and his strength and defenses are already on par with a peak-marrow-refining cultivator.”
“You mean he’s not one?” Cha Ming asked, surprised. Through soul scanning, he’d analyzed the man’s strength. He’d always regarded him as a peak-marrow-refining cultivator, though a weak one compared to others.
“He is a late-marrow-refining cultivator,” Bear One said. “Though who knows. Maybe he will break through after this batch.”
They continued working, and their pile of black chips grew. At one point, Bear Three stopped absorbing, and his body grew hot. He’d begun refining his body by using his own blacksmith flames. The process seemed excruciatingly painful, and none of them could bear remaining close to him.
Finally, after a half hour of digging and another half hour of painful body refining, the man stopped. He shivered and stood up, shaking himself off and allowing thick carbon coke to break off his body. Then, he clicked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment. He’d not broken through, despite the substantial quantity of ore he absorbed. Cha Ming scooped up the ore, then looked to Bear One, who kneeled down on the ground and frowned.
“Bear Six, help me look down here,” Bear One said.
Cha Ming nodded and placed his hand on the ground. The others knew his strength by now, to the point that they respected him almost as much as they did Bear One. He searched through the earth, wandering between grains and residual metal, feeling his way down. His transcendent force inched past Bear One’s, then proceeded farther along. A short distance later, he felt emptiness.
“There’s a fissure down there,” Cha Ming said. “Below the earth.”
Bear One nodded. “I thought there might be, but I was not strong enough to find it.” He waved the men over. “Let’s dig together.”
At his direction, everyone took out one of their many picks and shovels and began cutting into the thick broken slate they’d been sifting through prior. They dug and dug, and after a full ninety feet of earth was removed, the ground suddenly caved in, revealing an empty cavern.
“You bring us much luck, Bear Six,” Bear One said, his eyes twinkling. “It has been a long time since we’ve found a vein.”
“A vein?” Cha Ming asked.
“This ore that we find around us,” Bear One said, “it is forced up from down below. There
