Although Larvitar's understanding of illusions was limited, it still knew what "moving straight ahead" meant.
Its crimson eyes suddenly lit up with astonishing brightness, all confusion swept away, replaced by pure excitement and determination!
Larvitar let out a piercing, powerful screech. Its short hind legs stomped the ground, and its body, armored with rock-like plating, shot forward like a cannonball, colliding with the thick black rock wall Lou Gao had pointed at!
"Clang! Crack! Boom—!!!"
Its incredibly sharp claws instantly tore through the solid rock, sending fragments flying like an explosion!
Without pausing, Larvitar transformed into an unstoppable tunneling machine. Using the most brute-force, direct method, it carved a brand-new vertical passage nearly two meters in diameter straight down through the heavy black rock!
Lin Xia and Lou Gao followed closely behind.
After digging less than thirty meters downward, Larvitar's vigorous excavation suddenly froze!
Immediately, its unique scream, full of excitement and desire, pierced through the roaring collapse of rocks, echoing clearly throughout the tunnel.
"Larvitar——!!!!!!"
This cry was even more piercing than when it first discovered the Black-Patterned Rock Python's scales, filled with the sheer ecstasy of finding a peerless treasure!
Lin Xia and Lou Gao's hearts raced wildly.
They exchanged a glance and saw the same brilliant spark erupting in each other's eyes! Lou Gao's excitement even made his beard tremble!
"Quick! Hurry forward!"
The two quickened their pace and rushed to the end of the tunnel Larvitar had dug.
The scene before them left both the seasoned artisan Lou Gao and the two-lifetimes-experienced Lin Xia holding their breath, deeply shocked!
At the end of the tunnel was not a larger cavity, but… a wall!
A wall composed of countless dazzling crystals, dreamlike and surreal!
These crystals were not transparent but had a deep, dark silver hue, as if they could swallow all light!
Within the crystals, countless tiny silver specks, like stardust, slowly flowed and rotated, forming intricate, unfathomable star maps!
They were densely embedded in the black bedrock, layer upon layer, creating an immense, flowing dark-silver sea of stars covering the massive rock face ahead!
The entire crystal wall emanated an indescribable spatial fluctuation!
Staring at it felt as if one could see the folds of space itself, sensing a disorienting blend of near and far!
The surrounding air twisted slightly under the intense spatial force, and light refracted in strange ways across the crystal surfaces.
A pure, ancient, vast spatial energy assaulted them, so dense it seemed almost tangible!
"This… this is… Void Stone? No! It's… a crystal vein of Void Stone?!"
Lou Gao's voice trembled violently from overwhelming excitement and disbelief. His fingers quivered as he reached out to touch the flowing star maps, but he dared not, as if afraid of disturbing this marvel.
"The scale… the purity…!"
Larvitar, however, could no longer contain itself!
Its crimson eyes locked onto the flowing dark-silver star sea, and drool almost streamed from its mouth!
The aroma contained within was even more refined and exquisite than the Black-Patterned Rock Python's scales, immediately making Larvitar mouth-water!
"Larvitar——!!!"
Larvitar let out a proclamation-like roar, using all four claws as it pounced on the Void Stone deposits!
It seemed to say, Everything is mine! All mine!
Watching Larvitar eagerly clawing at the crystals, scattering rock fragments and continuously shouting "Larvi, Larvi," Lin Xia could only helplessly pat his forehead.
Turning to Lou Gao, whose eyes also gleamed in awe at the magnificent mineral treasure, he asked.
"Teacher, this Void Stone vein… should we… just take it all?"
Lou Gao, hearing Lin Xia's words, responded decisively.
"Of course! Is there even a question?! Take it all! Every single piece! Not a single one can be left behind! Heaven above, Void Stone! In my lifetime, I've only read about it in fragments of ancient texts and legends! To think there's such a divine artifact buried beneath Gengxin City!"
"This isn't just dumb luck, it's like stepping on the luckiest chain of ten consecutive moments in history!"
Lou Gao rubbed his rough hands together, pacing around the mineral wall, eyes burning like he was gazing upon a peerless treasure—no, this is a peerless treasure!
"We're in luck! Lin Xia! This time, we really hit the jackpot! This stuff is the absolute top-tier material for forging supreme spatial Soul Ring, constructing large-scale spatial formations, and even… even creating the core power source for your Soul-Conductor Mecha!"
Lin Xia, infected by his teacher's frenzy, soon regained composure and raised a key concern.
"Teacher, this single Void Stone vein… will it be enough? After all, the things we want to study will consume a lot…"
Lou Gao stopped in his tracks, eyes flickering with calculation and deeper ambition.
"Of course not! By itself, it barely supports a corner of our grand blueprint!"
"Void Stone is the core of the core, but your Soul-Conductor Mecha is a system-level project, requiring multiple top-tier materials working together! Strength, energy conduction, Soul resonance, physical defense, elemental resistance… not a single one can be lacking!"
Lou Gao patted Lin Xia's shoulder, his voice firm and decisive:
"Don't worry! I have it all in mind! Around Gengxin City, and even farther afield, there are old mining sites I know of!"
"Some were too dangerous before, or too uncertain to explore, some had materials of insufficient quality. But now is different! With this Void Stone as a base, and with the little guy's digging skills, there's no reason we can't try…"
"And besides, we've got firearms, don't we?"
Lou Gao patted the AK in his hands, a confident, almost "ferocious" smile spreading across his face.
"With this thing, we can tackle the really tough challenges! Go extract from those ancient mines where the legendary terrifying Soul Beasts dwell! However—"
Before Lou Gao could finish speaking, Larvitar suddenly let out a painful wail.
"Larvitar!!!"
Both of them turned to look, only to see Larvitar, who had been vigorous moments ago, happily devouring the mineral wall, now moving extremely slowly.
Its small claws were still clinging to a basketball-sized piece of Void Stone, struggling to pry it off, but its movements were as if slowed ten times.
Even more striking was its round, swollen belly, puffed up like a fully inflated balloon, so large that it made its rock-plated body look slightly awkward.
Its normally sharp, crimson eyes now drooped, full of a pitiful expression as if saying, I'm stuffed, I can't move, this is so uncomfortable.
"Huh?"
Lin Xia was utterly surprised.
He knew Larvitar's appetite better than anyone. Back when it gnawed through the incredibly hard scales of the Black-Patterned Rock Python, it was like munching on biscuits. Chewing through several tons of tungsten-steel-grade refined metal would have been nothing for it.
And yet… it had only eaten…
Lin Xia estimated, it was just seven or eight basketball-to-human-head-sized chunks of Void Stone, and Larvitar was already in this state?
The energy contained within the Void Stone was likely far beyond imagination!
Moreover, it wasn't just the sheer energy—there seemed to be some unique property affecting Larvitar's normally formidable digestion and absorption.
"There's a problem!"
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