“Well, this is interesting.”

Su Chen found it quite magical.

Ordinarily, it should have been completely annihilated by the world’s will, leaving not even a speck of physical matter behind.

Yet, perhaps because it had stolen a sliver of Su Chen’s own power and used it to manifest an Elemental Rune imprint as a “safety pass,” it had somehow completely escaped the final reckoning.

‘It’s not playing dead, is it?’

Su Chen grew suspicious. His personal Resonance and Perception weren’t enough to tell if there was some trick at play.

But it didn’t matter.

At worst, he could just let his family’s Jade Pendant refine and absorb it.

In terms of practical effect, this dried-out little bug was even more potent than the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures he had encountered before.

“Are you alright?” Captain Zhang teleported over and asked.

“I’m fine.”

Su Chen put away the bug’s corpse, his expression calm.

He looked down at the sinkhole still spewing mist and said calmly, “Two giant statues got away, but I’m certain that even if they aren’t dead, their strength is a far cry from what it once was.”

“I see.”

Captain Zhang sighed, not doubting his words.

But this Underground City was by no means an isolated case.

In the crisscrossing rift zones of the Eastern Territory alone, at least three known Underground Cities lay hidden.

“Understood. I’ll go check out the situation.” After learning the details from him, Su Chen set off immediately.

One lay dormant at the bottom of a molten riverbed. A few days ago, an investigation team perfectly adapted to the geothermal environment had successfully delved deep inside, and the cave dwellers hiding within had been all but wiped out.

After a thorough search, Su Chen found no Secret Space that could be opened with the Unsealing Key in the dilapidated city ruins below.

The only anomaly was a collapsed Nursery Cave in the center.

Hundreds of shriveled, leathery embryos were embedded in the rock walls. They didn’t appear to have died naturally. It was as if they were offerings, drained completely dry until only empty husks remained.

His subsequent investigation of the other two sites also yielded no new discoveries.

However…

Just as he was leaving the rift lands, a warmth suddenly spread across his chest.

The family heirloom Jade Pendant that Su Chen wore had officially entered its feedback phase.

After a day and a half, the enormous Ginseng Fruit it had absorbed had finally finished converting.

Moments later.

WHOOSH!

A vast, gentle torrent of life surged from the jade. Potent Life Energy flooded his entire body.

In an instant.

The pores all over his body opened, and wisps of brilliant light steamed off him. A clear, sonorous chime echoed from deep within his bones, as if every single vertebra was being reforged.

As his heartbeat gradually steadied, the transformation drew to a close. Thanks to his Rune Demon Body, every single pulse was suffused with a rhythmic, runic resonance.

His Sea of Consciousness expanded, large enough to hold more items.

The small tree of Spiritual Energy nourished by his Sea of Consciousness suddenly shot up. Its branches extended, and its roots plunged deep into the very source of his consciousness.

A feeling of profound mental clarity bloomed from within.

‘+20 Physique, +3 Power, +5 Agility, +7 Intelligence, +3 Perception!’

Attributes: Power 53 (106) / Physique 110 (220) / Agility 51 (102) / Intelligence 53 (106) / Perception 65 (130)

‘Body Trait “Vitality Burst” has been upgraded.’

His Personal Healing Power, physical Vitality, and resistance to abnormal statuses all underwent a complete transformation.

‘Not bad. My base Physique attribute has officially broken one hundred. It’s a major boost, but it’s a shame I couldn’t trigger a Soul Sublimation.’

‘It seems the conditions still haven’t been met.’

As Su Chen immersed himself in the experience of his body’s changes, he also realized that the Elemental Suppression effect had unknowingly risen to 15%.

This was not good news.

Judging by the current trajectory of the Broken Star Ring, he expected to face even greater suppression by nightfall.

‘I’ll absorb it first.’

Without hesitation, Su Chen took the dried bug from his Soul Pocket. Just as he was about to have the Jade Pendant devour it, the seemingly lifeless husk suddenly trembled violently.

A barely perceptible Soul Shard abruptly awoke and began to writhe frantically, struggling to escape.

‘Impossible, how did you…’

After leaving behind a fragment of an incomprehensible ancient language, the bug’s remains were swiftly refined and absorbed.

‘That was a close call. It almost slipped through,’ Su Chen sighed inwardly.

The fact that it had stolen a sliver of his fate and manifested the aura of an Elemental Rune had kept him on high alert, forcing him to remain vigilant.

Now, he just had to see what miraculous feedback the Jade Pendant would provide after the conversion.

…

「As evening approached.」

Su Chen finally returned to the base camp from the rift zone.

The rift zone was a maze of countless ravines. Trying to explore it thoroughly in a short amount of time was nothing but wishful thinking.

While not quite on the level of finding a needle in a haystack, the sheer scale of the place was beyond imagination. Some areas, like Mist Gorge, were too dangerous to delve into, for fear of ancient traps lying in wait below.

He had spent the afternoon filling in the gaps of their knowledge, following up on intel from previous explorations.

He had managed to open a Secret Space in two locations using the Unsealing Key.

The first was a storage warehouse.

It was filled with stacks of high-purity Nether Sand Ore of uniform size, as well as some high-strength iron ore.

The second was an armory.

The racks lining the long corridor were filled with brand-new suits of armor, Longswords, great-axes, and other conventional weapons, all of exquisite craftsmanship and extraordinary materials.

Although they lacked the extraordinary properties of Magic Armor and Rune weapons, the armor was incredibly durable and the weapons possessed an extreme Sharpness.

However…

Some special, living weapons trembled violently and disintegrated the moment the door opened.

Su Chen couldn’t possibly carry such abundant resources by himself. Besides, much of it wasn’t useful to him, so he naturally called Captain Zhang to have his people retrieve it.

Not long after returning to camp, Su Chen discovered that Xiao Shisan, who had been dormant for some time, had awakened.

The Demon Spirit Core inside the engine was emitting waves of Spiritual Power.

When Su Chen stepped into the vehicle, the seat automatically adjusted its angle, the air conditioning switched to his preferred cool breeze, and even the lights dimmed to a warm, eye-friendly white.

‘Welcome back, Host.’

A line of text appeared on the dashboard, and a childlike voice piped up.

“Is this Soul Pocket Rune of any use to you?” Su Chen asked, holding out his hand to reveal a special Rune.

“Yes.”

Xiao Shisan confirmed, “It is projected to create a ‘Spatial Expansion’ function during the vehicle’s evolution.”

“Excellent.” Hearing this, Su Chen naturally handed the Rune over.

A moment later.

[Devouring Complete]

[Ability Gained: “Spatial Expansion”]

The internal structure of Xiao Shisan had quietly undergone a subtle restructuring.

In the storage compartment behind the cockpit, a three-cubic-meter independent dimensional space had been generated out of thin air.

From the outside, the vehicle’s size and silhouette remained unchanged, as if space itself had been folded and extended. The effect was just like the Undetectable Extension Charm from the Harry Potter novels.

“The space inside the RV really got bigger.”

Yan Ruoruo, who had just returned from the forest, had also just witnessed the RV’s miraculous transformation.

“Master, if I devour more space-type Runes in the future, I can continue to expand the internal space.”

Xiao Shisan added softly, its ghostly Spirit Body emerging from the dashboard.

As its Spirit Body was still nascent, its silhouette was undefined and far from humanoid.

“Good.”

Seeing this, Su Chen began feeding Nether Sand Ore to Xiao Shisan. In addition to reinforcing the vehicle’s chassis, it would also strengthen its Spirit Body.

Only after being fed three whole pieces was Xiao Shisan finally full. It wearily fell back into a dormant state.

Meanwhile.

Outside, the night was as black as ink.

Looking up, the Broken Star Ring hung in the northern sky, like a circular fissure stretching across the sea of stars.

It was closer than it had been during the day.

Countless shattered celestial remnants rotated slowly in orbit, trailing a deathly, ashen light.

An indescribable feeling of stagnation permeated the air.

The Elemental Suppression had quietly climbed, approaching the 20% threshold.

At this level, never mind the top-tier powerhouses, even ordinary Spellcasters felt a distinct unease, sensing the dire consequences brought on by the Broken Star Ring.

‘Don’t tell me we’re going to feel half our Elemental Power suppressed by tomorrow night,’ someone thought uneasily.

Yet, even in this oppressive atmosphere, streams of heavy trucks still rumbled through the city, preparing to haul minerals and lumber all night long for the crystal pylon’s upgrade.

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