Volume 2: Shenzhou Academy & The Battle of Venice
Chapter 145
Harvesting Sea-Azure Spirit Ore and Ancient Array Clues
Boiling steam hissed and billowed relentlessly from the abyssal depths of the cavern, thick with the pungent, acrid stench of incinerated squid flesh and the briny tang of sea salt crusting over the jagged rock ledges.
Dense, billowing plumes of white vapor finally began to unravel and drift apart, carried away by gusts of subterranean wind whistling through the fractures in the stalactite-studded ceiling. Down in the hollow of the drained basin, where just moments ago stood the terrifying lair of the High-Rank Warrior Class Red-Tentacled Giant Squid, a desolate, exposed panorama emerged that stole the breath from everyone’s lungs. The cataclysmic destructive might of the Crimson Blaze Flowing Fire had been so sheerly apocalyptic that it had melted the river pebbles along the basin’s rim to slag, flash-boiling thousands of cubic meters of frigid ocean brine into sheer nothingness in the span of breaths. The colossal carcass of the abyssal terror was reduced to a desolate mound of smoldering, charcoal-gray ash, ringed by coiled, carbonized tentacle stumps that resembled charred timber.
Yet, what held the spellbound gazes of everyone present was not the monster’s incinerated remains, but the revealed bedrock beneath the vanished waters.
“H-heavens... Good heavens...”
Gu Xiaowei’s trembling whisper shattered the dead silence. Her eyes went round as saucers, the tactical pack slung over her shoulder nearly slipping from her limp grip to crash onto the stones.
Beneath the immense void of the drained lakebed, there was neither foul muck nor the rotting, skeletal debris of devoured marine creatures one might have dreaded. Instead, across hundreds of square meters, the entire cavern floor was blanketed in a breathtaking expanse of cerulean-blue mineral strata. Tens of thousands of prismatic crystals rose in dense, jagged spires from the uneven bedrock, radiating an ethereal, deep-azure brilliance that seemed to capture the boundless, starry night of the deepest ocean abyss.
The pristine blue light reflected against the hanging stalactites draped from the vaulted ceiling, refracting into countless scintillating specks of light that drifted and swayed like lanterns, transforming the damp, oppressive cavern into a resplendent, star-strewn firmament. A surging pulse of Water-element mana rippled through the air—so pure, soothing, and refined that every pore on their bodies felt as though immersed in the rejuvenating warmth of a vernal hot spring.
“Water Spirit Ore... No, this is top-grade Sea-Azure Spirit Ore!”
Xie Zhaoyuan rushed to the edge of the rocky ledge, the sharp, appraisal-trained eyes of a merchant scion from the Xie Clan Commerce Guild blazing like twin torches. He hastily pushed up his glasses and wiped away the condensing mist, his voice cracking with sheer astonishment: “This reserve... this purity... It must have been nourished by deep-sea subterranean currents for at least five hundred years to crystallize into a mineral vein of such astounding density!”
“No wonder that Red-Tentacled Giant Squid dug its claws in and defended this place to the death, refusing to budge an inch,” Ye Qingwan said softly as she stepped up beside Lin Feng. With a graceful flick of her slender fingers, an emerald vine glided through the air, lightly brushing against a raised crystal spire at the basin’s floor. Instantly, a soft azure halo blossomed, wrapping gently around the vine and returning a serene, tranquil mental resonance. “This mineral source doesn’t merely accelerate the mana recovery rate of Water and Ice mages manifold; the crystalline lattice itself can be sculpted into premier defensive cores. That behemoth relied on this ambient spiritual energy to temper its flesh and hide. Had it been allowed to fester here for another few years, it might very well have mutated into a genuine Commander-level creature.”
“Well, now it’s just barbecued calamari,” Gu Xiaowei giggled, all her previous dread of the writhing tentacles evaporating into thin air. Eagerly sliding down the gentle slope into the basin, her hands—clad in enchanted leather gloves—tapped enthusiastically on an outcropping of crystals: “Hurry down and start harvesting, everyone! If we drag our feet, seawater from the subterranean conduits leading out to the bay will surge back in and drown everything!”
The squad leaped into action without a second’s delay.
From his spatial ring, Xie Zhaoyuan produced specialized magical chisels and reinforced silver chests inscribed with energy-isolating matrices. Carefully dislodging chunk after glittering chunk while tallying figures on his fingers, the grin on his handsome face stretched ever wider:
“A fist-sized chunk like this... boasting ninety percent purity... On the current black markets of the Demon Capital, a single catty of top-grade Sea-Azure Spirit Ore easily fetches eighty thousand gold coins at the bare minimum! Here... one chest, two chests... damn it all, there’s at least five hundred catties of specialized ore here!”
“Over five hundred catties?!” Gu Xiaowei squealed, leaping into the air, her twin short braids bouncing frantically. “Five hundred catties times eighty thousand gold coins... That’s more than forty million gold coins?!”
“Forty million is just the rock-bottom wholesale price for the military!” Xie Zhaoyuan’s cheeks flushed crimson with sheer exhilaration. “If we auction off intact, pristine geodes to high-ranking Water mages or forge them into waterproof battle suits for abyssal monster hunters, the true market value will easily shatter the fifty-million mark! We’re rich! Across the entire history of Shenzhou Academy’s Blood Wave Bay field trials, we’ve struck the most staggering jackpot ever recorded!”
Gu Xiaowei lovingly embraced an azure boulder the size of a giant pumpkin, grinning from ear to ear with smug satisfaction: “Let’s see if those haughty third-year seniors and Imperial Capital prodigies dare look down on our squad now! They’re probably still getting pinched by demon crabs out on the coral reefs, while we’ve swept clean a literal mountain of gold!”
Watching his companions cheering and dancing, Lin Feng leaned casually against a stone pillar, smiling with a quiet shake of his head.
The clash with the Red-Tentacled Giant Squid had consumed a fair portion of his Fire mana, yet the visceral satisfaction of beholding the spoils of a life-and-death duel was always intoxicatingly invigorating. He lightly brushed his chest, feeling the familiar warmth of the Primordial Dragon Pendant steadily absorbing ambient residual mana from the air, refining it into pure vigor to nourish his body.
Firm, measured footsteps echoed from behind.
Lin Feng turned his head to see Senior Sister Gu Ling walking toward him.
The second-year senior of Shenzhou Academy, entrusted with leading and overseeing this practical combat squad, had retracted her mana armor. Her ash-gray combat uniform was torn across the shoulder from the squid’s savage opening tentacle strikes, showing faint streaks of dried blood and stone dust.
Her chiseled, regal face—ordinarily stern, distant, and unyielding—now displayed a complex whirlwind of emotions. Stopping before Lin Feng, her gaze fixed upon the first-year freshman who had just wrought an unimaginable miracle.
“Lin Feng,” Gu Ling began, her voice low and slightly husky.
“Senior Sister Gu, how are your injuries?” Lin Feng asked cordially, devoid of any haughty arrogance.
Gu Ling offered a self-deprecating, bitter smile, shaking her head: “Mere surface scrapes. One of Qingwan’s healing potions already sorted me out. What I wanted to say... isn’t about that.”
Taking a deep breath to quell the lingering tremors in her chest, she spoke: “When I first received the directive from the Dean’s Office and learned I was assigned to lead a squad containing three first-year freshmen, I was genuinely resentful. I believed the academy was coddling you, even thought your leap into the Top 48 of the Battle Rankings was merely dumb luck against an opponent whose element you countered. But just now... seeing your single cast of Crimson Blaze Flowing Fire vaporize a ten-zhang subterranean lagoon and incinerate a High-Rank Warrior monster in under thirty seconds...”
Gu Ling looked directly into Lin Feng’s eyes, her clenched fists slowly uncurling as she bowed deeply from the waist: “I admit I was completely blind. Your strength doesn’t just eclipse any freshman; even among us second- and third-year seniors... virtually none can hold a candle to you. Without you, the four of us would likely be rotting in that abyssal squid’s gullet right now. This life-saving grace is something Gu Ling will carve into her very bones.”
Lin Feng gently caught Gu Ling’s arm, urging her upright with a faint smile: “Senior Sister overstates it. As comrades weathering life and death in the same trench, we share our fates together. Had your shield not blocked those three lethal barbed tentacles ambushing me from behind, I wouldn’t have had the leisure to weave a flawless spell. This victory belongs to the entire team.”
Lin Feng’s humility and mature poise, so beyond his years, elevated Gu Ling’s admiration to new heights. Young prodigies were often cursed with overweening arrogance, but in this youth she saw only the profound calm of a boundless deep lake and an unyielding will of forged steel.
Gu Ling turned and pointed toward the very center of the dried lagoon floor.
There lay the lowest trough of the basin, the very spot where the Red-Tentacled Giant Squid had coiled in ambush for hundreds of years. In the middle of the azure crystalline forest stood a colossal cylindrical crystal pillar, massive as a stone millstone.
The entire pillar radiated an azure luminance so dense it bordered on liquid. Droplets of liquefied Water mana essence condensed along its translucent facets, dripping patter-patter into a shallow puddle that gleamed like liquid jade.
“That is the Supreme Sea-Azure Ore Mother,” Gu Ling stated solemnly. “This entire five-hundred-catty vein was birthed from that single Ore Mother. Its intrinsic worth accounts for more than half the total value of our entire expedition. It isn’t just mineral; an innate primordial mana Spirit Core has already formed within its heart. If you forge it into protective armor or keep it at your side during meditation, the benefits will be immeasurable.”
Gu Ling turned to Xie Zhaoyuan, Gu Xiaowei, and Ye Qingwan, calling out: “Everyone, this Ore Mother belongs to Lin Feng. Does anyone object?”
“Of course it’s Lin Feng’s!” Gu Xiaowei waved her hands without an ounce of hesitation. “If he hadn’t slain that colossal nightmare, would we even have our lives to stand here gawking? I only wish we had another boulder to gift him!”
“Our Xie Clan Commerce Guild prides itself on absolute fairness,” Xie Zhaoyuan winked with a grin. “The one who shoulders the greatest peril deserves the supreme prize. Lin Feng, if you decline, you’re looking down on your brothers!”
Ye Qingwan smiled tenderly, nodding in quiet, elegant agreement.
Seeing their sincere camaraderie, Lin Feng refrains from further polite refusal. Striding across the basin floor, he approached the meter-tall Ore Mother. The moment his palm brushed the ice-cold, crystalline surface, a pure stream of Water mana filtered through his skin, flowing straight into his sea of consciousness. The last vestige of battle fatigue dissolved without a trace.
Channelling spatial mana from his storage ring, he enveloped the Ore Mother in a gentle spatial warp, securing it into the most protected vault of his dimensional space.
“Pack up quickly. Once we sweep the remaining ore, we make our exit,” Lin Feng instructed.
Just as he turned, a low, guttural rumble echoed from the rock face behind them.
“Grrr... rrrr...”
The Abyssal Thunder Wolf, which had been standing vigilant guard along the slope, suddenly bolted upright. Its pitch-black fur bristled, pointed ears swiveling toward a pitch-black crevice concealed beneath an overhanging crag—the very recess where the giant squid had nestled its back.
The contracted wolf stepped forward with slow, deliberate treads, its sleek black snout sniffing the air inquisitively. It displayed none of its customary hostility when facing foes; instead, within its deep abyssal-blue pupils glinted a peculiar bewilderment mingled with vague, instinctive awe.
“Black Wolf? Did you catch scent of something?” Lin Feng knitted his brows, a ripple of curiosity stirring in his mind.
He knew the temperament of his contracted beast intimately. Blending the bloodline of shadowy abyssal wolves with mutated lightning, it possessed boundless pride and razor-sharp sensory instincts. Rare was the phenomenon that could induce such hesitation in it.
Woof! The wolf looked back at Lin Feng, giving its tail a brief wag before nudging its snout against a colossal boulder sealing the fissure.
“What’s going on, Lin Feng?” Xie Zhaoyuan paused, his sleeves dusted with pulverized stone as he glanced up.
“There appears to be a hidden passage behind the monster’s lair,” Lin Feng replied.
He strode toward the fissure. Concealed by the squid’s bulk for centuries and choked by dense marine moss and petrified mud, without the monster’s incineration and the wolf’s instincts, no one would have ever suspected a secret cavity lay behind the wall.
Lin Feng flicked his hand, unleashing a streak of dark-violet lightning that detonated against the blocking boulder.
CRASH!
Shattered rubble cascaded down, revealing an arched semicircular portal wide enough for two men abreast. A draft of dry, ancient air wafted outward, carrying an uncanny aroma. Peculiarly, this atmosphere bore none of the rank stench of muck or brine, but instead exhaled the faint, solemn fragrance of millennia-old granite accompanied by an invisible majesty that caused one’s breath to hitch.
“How strange... In the depths of the ocean thousands of feet down, how could there be such a bone-dry subterranean passage?” Ye Qingwan approached, wonder painting her delicate features.
“Stay vigilant. I’ll take the lead,” Lin Feng cautioned. Opening his right palm, a crimson flame ignited atop his fingertips, illuminating the smooth, level stone pathway ahead.
The squad filed into the passage in single file. The terrain sloped gently upward, leading into what appeared to be the heart of a colossal petrified coral reef. After fifty paces, the cramped corridor expanded abruptly into a massive, naturally formed circular sanctum.
The instant Lin Feng’s flame illuminated the cavernous vault, everyone froze in utter disbelief.
Before their eyes stood not raw, jagged limestone, but a colossal marble megalithic wall towering over ten meters high, standing proud in the deepest recesses of the subterranean chamber!
This monumental wall was sculpted with peerless precision from a single monolithic slab of lustrous obsidian marble shot through with metallic gold veins. Despite eons of relentless erosion, the patches of ancient moss and crusted sea salt clinging to its face could not conceal the suffocating majesty and solemn grandeur of the ancient work.
“Th-this is a man-made ruin?!” Gu Ling’s voice trembled in disbelief. “Impossible! Blood Wave Bay has always been an untamed maritime wilderness untouched by human habitation! Tens of thousands of years ago, this was already the deep ocean abyss. How could such a pristine marble wall exist buried deep beneath the seafloor?!”
Xie Zhaoyuan hastily hoisted an illuminated mana stone, casting bright luminescence across the wall’s surface.
Lin Feng remained silent. Approaching the foot of the wall, he lifted his hand.
Whoosh...
A controlled gust of wind swept across the slab, blowing away the crusted moss and dust. The ancient bas-relief hidden beneath was finally unveiled in all its glorious splendor under the magical light.
It was a monumental, awe-inspiring relief carving of breathtaking craftsmanship.
At the absolute center of the obsidian marble wall loomed the depiction of a colossal Nine-Headed Black Dragon!
This sovereign leviathan bore no resemblance to any Western dragon or horned behemoth recorded in the grand bestiaries of the Magic Federation. Its sinuous body stretched across the stone like an undulating mountain range piercing through layers of thunderous storm clouds. Nine proud draconic heads reared toward the firmament, each crowned with a distinct, regal manifestation: one bore blazing horns of lightning, another was draped in boundless primordial darkness, a third clamped raging infernal fire in its jaws... Razor-sharp dragon claws trampled down furious tsunamis, exuding a domineering aura that gazed down upon heaven and earth, holding absolute dominion over myriad realms!
Looking upon this magnificent carving, Lin Feng’s heart hammered violently against his ribs!
Those winding lines...
Every single carved dragon scale, every stylized arc of lightning encircling the nine draconic heads...
They were identical... one hundred percent identical to the primeval motifs etched into the surface of the Primordial Dragon Pendant resting against his chest since the day he transmigrated into this world!
Not a millimeter of variance, not an iota of difference!
“What kind of beast is this?” Xie Zhaoyuan craned his neck, his eyes bulging with disbelief. “A nine-headed dragon? In the entire ancient archives of the Demon Capital, the multi-headed dragon with the highest count ever recorded was merely the Three-Headed Sea Serpent of the Northern Abyss. This nine-headed monstrosity... what prehistoric era did it hail from?!”
“Look, there are characters carved below the mural!” Ye Qingwan suddenly pointed to the bottom corner of the stone wall.
There, a single line of script was incised deep into the obsidian marble. The glyphs were ancient and razor-edged, as if gouged by the talons of a primeval divine beast. This script belonged to none of the languages spoken by modern nations, bearing no resemblance even to the ancient script of the ancient Shenzhou continent.
“This writing... is completely lost, an extinct tongue,” Gu Ling shook her head helplessly. “Even the foremost archaeological academicians of the Imperial Capital Academy wouldn’t be able to decipher it in a hurry.”
Yet, while his three companions knit their brows in bewilderment, to Lin Feng’s eyes, those primeval characters began to shift in a bizarre, miraculous fashion!
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
Beneath his thin inner garment, the Primordial Dragon Pendant pressed against his skin suddenly scorched like a glowing coal! A torrent of scorching, benevolent warmth surged violently upward, flooding Lin Feng’s optic nerves.
The jagged, incomprehensible carvings on the stone wall suddenly seemed to spring to life. In his field of vision, each glyph radiated a shimmering golden luster, automatically transmuting into a lucid stream of consciousness that thundered directly into the depths of his soul:
« PRIMORDIAL DRAGON GOD TEMPLE — SEAL LOCK NO. 3: BLOOD WAVE BAY »
Primordial Dragon God Temple!
Seal Lock Number Three!
Lin Feng’s mind reeled as if struck by a lightning bolt out of a clear sky!
He understood now! The mystical dragon pendant he possessed was no ordinary relic. It was the master key... the supreme token of authority for the Primordial Dragon God Temple! And this Blood Wave Bay, harboring a vast Sea-Azure Spirit Ore vein and attracting throngs of bloodthirsty sea beasts, was merely the external camouflage concealing an ancient seal buried since the primordial dawn of time!
Before he could ponder further, the moment Lin Feng deciphered the ancient script in his mind, the spiritual resonance between the Primordial Dragon Pendant and the obsidian wall breached its critical threshold!
BZZZZZZT——!!
A low, resonant chime tore through the subterranean silence.
The entire obsidian marble wall shuddered violently. Stone dust showered down from the cavern ceiling, and the bedrock beneath their boots trembled as if an earthquake had ruptured beneath them.
“What’s happening?!” Gu Ling’s face pales, instantly raising her hands to manifest a protective barrier. “Has an ancient trap been sprung? Fall back, quickly!”
“Wait!” Ye Qingwan cried out in alarm, her anxious gaze snapping toward Lin Feng: “Lin Feng! What’s wrong with you?!”
Lin Feng was entirely immobilized.
From his chest, a blinding burst of pitch-black radiance erupted through his garments, condensing into the ethereal silhouette of a roaring black dragon coiled around his torso. At the exact same instant, all nine pairs of eyes on the carved Black Dragon upon the obsidian wall ignited simultaneously with an ancient, abyssal-violet fire!
ROARRRRRR——!!
A primeval dragon roar echoed straight into the deepest strata of their souls. Xie Zhaoyuan, Gu Ling, Ye Qingwan, and Gu Xiaowei all felt their heads spin violently, their knees trembling as they nearly collapsed under a suffocating, divine pressure.
Immediately following that world-shaking roar, an extraordinarily pure stream of violet-black essence—the Ancient Primordial Dragon Qi accumulated over tens of thousands of years within the megalithic wall—coalesced into a colossal ribbon of light. Roaring forward, it detached from the stone face and slammed directly into Lin Feng’s chest!
BOOOOOM!
Lin Feng’s body convulsed with sheer power. Rather than being blasted backward as the others feared, he hovered half a meter above the floor, completely cocooned within a radiant, pulsating purple-black sphere of energy.
The Ancient Dragon Qi flooded into his flesh like a raging, tempestuous deluge, yet it carried an incomparably gentle warmth. It caused no harm to his vessels; instead, it instantly melded with his bloodline and magical essence, cascading through every meridian, purging and purifying every lingering impurity within his body. His entire skeletal framework emitted crisp, rhythmic popping sounds, akin to divine metal being forged and tempered in celestial fire.
Yet, the most cataclysmic transformation unfolded within his sea of consciousness!
In the boundless expanse of Lin Feng’s spiritual realm, four magical domains resided.
His fiery orange-red Fire Nebula and his deep-violet, thunder-wreathed Lightning Nebula—both already fortified at the Intermediate tier—let out triumphant hums upon contacting the Ancient Dragon Qi, voraciously drinking in the energy to expand their celestial boundaries.
However, the remaining two domains were the true epicenter of this spiritual upheaval!
The Shadow Stardust—a tranquil constellation of pure obsidian night—and the Summoning Stardust—a misty, cerulean celestial orb—had both remained shackled at the Primary Tier-3 bottleneck for far too long. Now, they were like parched deserts greeted by torrential rain!
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Under the fierce guidance of the Primordial Dragon Pendant, the Ancient Dragon Qi acted like a divine blade slicing through the night, charging straight into these two dormant Stardusts and delivering a devastating impact against their unyielding mental barriers!
The seven Shadow Star Particles began revolving at ten times their normal velocity, erupting with an abyssal gloom as if seeking to swallow the void whole. The seven Summoning Star Particles danced wildly, the contract tether linked to the Abyssal Thunder Wolf widening exponentially, channeling a gargantuan surge of power into the dark beast that prompted it to throw back its head and howl a soul-shaking cry!
Crack... crack...
Glowing golden fissures spiderwebbed across the mental barriers of both magical elements!
The two small Stardusts, previously modest as quiet brooks, swelled uncontrollably under the frenzied nourishment of the Ancient Dragon Qi. Star particles shattered and reformed, mana billowing like a stormy ocean surge, preparing to shed their chrysalis and emerge as two fully fledged Intermediate Nebulas!
An all-encompassing, four-element magical tempest—Lightning, Fire, Shadow, and Summoning—exploded outward from Lin Feng’s hovering form. The localized shockwave swept through the circular sanctum, whipping up gale-force winds that forced everyone stumbling back a dozen paces!
Xie Zhaoyuan shielded his eyes against the ferocious wind, his jaw slack as he stammered in sheer bewilderment:
“Th-this aura... Inconceivable... Lin Feng... is he attempting to break through two elements simultaneously?!”
Outside the subterranean depths, the crashing waves of Blood Wave Bay roared violently against the rocky cliffs, as though bearing witness to the dawn of a magical monstrosity never before seen in the annals of human history!