Next day, inside the Spider Cave.

Whhoooosh!!!

Fierce flames swept through the cavern, mixed with a terrifying storm gale. The fire aided the wind's power, and the wind boosted the fire's strength, sweeping mightily through the air.

In the darkness, the spiders that originally surged like tides were caught in the massive flame storm, immediately curling up and losing the breath of life, as the flame storm swept through, a smell of roasted meat filled the air.

After a while, the intense flames finally subsided.

At this time, a shadow two to three meters tall, along with many figures, slowly appeared at the cave entrance.

"They should all be dead, shouldn't they..."

Austin slowly retracted his wings, folding the membrane wings onto his back, gazing at the scorched and smoky scene before him, secretly pondering in his heart.

Austin didn't know flame talent magic, nor could Quik's red crystal demonic artifact produce flames sweeping through every corner of the cave like a storm; the spectacular earlier scene was only the result of the vast amounts of pine oil, dry wood kindling, and the turbulent storm gale created by Austin's wings.

Though the method seemed a bit crude, the effect was indeed excellent.

At least upon entering this spider cave, those small spiders resembling a black tide had already lost signs of life; maybe there were survivors deeper inside, but if they dared to come over, a fire would suffice once more.

"Begin digging."

At Austin's command, the beastmen behind him started bustling around, wielding stone shovels and stone axes, banging on the ground and walls. Whenever they knocked out a pebble-sized stone emanating a bluish glow, they carefully collected and placed it into baskets.

Without the spiders' harassment, the beastmen could freely dig these glowing stones.

"Your Highness, this is your target for coming here, I never thought there really was a Magic Stone Vein here."

Following Austin, the dark elf who accompanied him gazed at the glowing stones being collected by the beastmen, eyes shimmering – like watching money.

He even couldn't help but squat down and put his hand on them, stroking them.

Although the dark elf was recently subjugated, there were indeed few extraordinary ability users under Austin's command, and his advantage in the dark cave became even greater, hence he was brought along.

"Oh, Adinlek, have you seen this kind of thing before?"

Though the Magic Stone was quite useful, enabling Austin to transform the beastmen's biological bloodlines, he really wasn't clear about these stones' intrinsic nature.

In the inherited memories, there existed something called Magic Crystal, containing a high purity of magic power crystal, extremely rare worldwide, also precious collectibles of giant dragons.

Magic Crystal and Magic Beast Crystal Core were different; the former was produced naturally in certain veins, while the latter crystallized inside powerful magic beasts.

Moreover, the magic power within Magic Crystals was far larger and purer than what was in Magic Beast Crystal Cores.

Yet, compared to the inherited memories' Magic Crystals, these magic stones were too far-reaching from those translucent, shimmering gems.

"Sub-Magic Stone, a derivative vein of Magic Crystal Mine; your Highness, there must be Magic Crystals deep within the cave!"

The dark elf spoke with utmost certainty:

"Your Highness, you wish to advance your realm by consuming substantial amounts of sub-magic stones, correct? However, for your current state, sub-magic stones are of no use, as the magic within is too little compared to the vast magic power within you – merely the size of a hair strand. Only true Magic Crystals could possibly shatter that wall of strength."

Austin's eyes flickered momentarily; indeed, he felt the same after beastmen experiments.

Compared to the dragon's body's magic power, the amount of magic in a sub-magic stone was less than a fingernail's size.

Sub-magic stones could trigger the beastmen's extraordinary evolution path mostly due to that little bit of magic acting as an initiator, activating the dragon radiation transformation authority; therein lay not much magic power, and Austin was crystal clear about it.

"Alright then, the magic power in sub-magic stones is indeed too little."

Austin silently contemplated; although there might be dangers deeper within the cave, the problems ought to be minor.

With a team organized from the beastmen, instructing others to continue digging sub-magic stones, Austin led the beastman squad along with Quik Dark Elf and several dragon vein attendants into deeper cave exploration.

Even if, as the dark elf declared, these sub-magic stones weren't quite useful for him, they could ignite the beastmen's potential, and through Austin's dragon radiation transformation, transform the beastmen into extraordinary life, thus the more, the better. Even if Austin himself didn't use them, he could provide them to the clan beastmen; hence Austin parted with the majority of the beastmen to mine sub-magic stones in the cave's passageway.

As for himself, he led the elite deeper into exploration; anyway the ordinary beastmen would likely just suffer needless casualties facing more formidable magical beasts.

With the progression of the team, firelight flickered on the walls, rugged and uneven, light and shadows crossed, and it seemed the spiders were frightened by that large fire and didn't come out again.

One dragon and the group slowly pressed forward, and the deeper they delved, the cave's shape became ever more bizarre, while Austin felt the surrounding rock layers contained more sub-magic stones increasingly.

"Adinlek, have you seen a cave produced with Magic Crystal veins?"

Being able to instantly identify sub-magic stones and ascertain Magic Crystals were deeper in the cave, the dark elf ought to have seen something similar before.

"Indeed, Your Highness, long ago in the Underworld, I once made a livelihood under an underground lord, and he happened to possess a Magic Crystal Vein."

"Oh, the Underworld...then your vein also had magical beasts inhabiting it?"

"That's correct, Your Highness; wild Magic Crystal veins typically have innate powerful magical beast guardians, but once cleared away, there's nothing much to worry about. Since this cave houses spiders, then the deepest entity should be akin to a Spider Empress or such spider magical beast."

Austin nodded slightly, without speaking.

Yet if truly arriving at the cave's end, then the confrontation might involve not just the Spider Empress, but also those large spiders from before and numerous small spiders driven into the depths by the flames.

Soon enough, the space ahead suddenly brightened, becoming more spacious.

"Everyone, be careful."

Feeling the faint unease in the air, Austin's steady voice echoed in the space.

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