Chapter 65

PS: Brothers, please give me a few recommendation votes, don't let the ratio of views to votes look so bad...

********

The mine was filled with traces of excavation, with rocks everywhere and only a small amount of soil. It was about two meters high and two meters wide, making it quite spacious for a person to walk through.

Inside, there was no more mithril ore, and the air was filled with a grayish-white hue. It was silent, with only the occasional sound of insects chirping.

Yang Dingtian held the Flame Feather and moved forward. Despite the darkness and lack of light in the mine, the Flame Feather's glow was enough to illuminate the surroundings for several meters.

Yang Dingtian held his breath and cautiously moved forward. Although there were not many beasts here, it was still more dangerous than the outer areas of the Red Wilderness, as this was inside a cave, not on a wide, open plain.

After advancing several hundred meters, he encountered no beasts.

After advancing a thousand meters, he still encountered no beasts.

After advancing two thousand meters, he still encountered no beasts.

"How can this be? Why haven't I encountered even one beast?" Yang Dingtian was disappointed and surprised. Ning Ning had said that although the abandoned mine had very few beasts, there should still be at least a few dozen. Why hadn't he encountered even one?

Next, Yang Dingtian had to take out the Blood Black Gold from the box to attract the Gold Eaters. Blood Black Gold had an irresistible allure to gold-type beasts, and any Gold Eater within a few hundred meters would definitely be attracted.

But Yang Dingtian was disappointed again; no beasts appeared.

At this point, Yang Dingtian was already four thousand meters deep in the mine, with only another thousand meters to reach the bottom.

The entire mine was winding and interconnected. Yang Dingtian continued to move deeper, even exploring every fork in the path. He didn't know how many turns he had taken or how many forks he had passed. The mine remained silent, and the initial sounds of insects had long since disappeared.

With only five hundred meters left to the deepest part of the mine, he still encountered no beasts.

"How can this be? What happened? Why are all the beasts gone?" Yang Dingtian was shocked.

Was he going to return empty-handed today?

At this point, the temperature around him was getting colder. As he approached the deepest part of the mine, the frost on the ground became thicker, eventually turning into a layer of ice. Yang Dingtian knew this was due to the unfrozen water pool.

Ning Ning had said that a few months ago, an earthquake had occurred here, and unfrozen water had surged from the depths of the mine, forming a pool that drastically lowered the surrounding temperature.

Yang Dingtian continued to move forward. The ground was now not just frost but a thick layer of ice. The air ahead was faintly illuminated, and the unfrozen water emitted a bright light. Yang Dingtian knew he was close to the deepest part of the mine.

Yang Dingtian pinned all his hopes on the unfrozen water pool, hoping to find ice-type beasts there. After all, the main goal today was to find ice-type beasts, and Gold Eaters could be found elsewhere, but ice-type beasts were only found in the northern continent, thousands of miles away.

The deeper he went, the colder it became. Eventually, the entire mine was crystal clear, completely covered in ice.

Turning a corner, the entrance ahead emitted a snow-white light.

Yang Dingtian knew he was about to reach the deepest part of the mine, and the unfrozen water pool was right in front of him. Whether there were ice-type beasts or not would be decided in this moment.

Holding his breath, Yang Dingtian slowly moved forward, reaching the end of the mine passage.

Below was a vast cave, as large as a football field and several hundred meters deep, formed by the collapse during the earthquake.

The entire cave was covered in ice, like a crystal palace, with sharp icicles everywhere. In the center of the cave was a transparent pool of water, about two hundred meters in area, emitting a snow-white light that illuminated the entire vast cave.

This was the unfrozen water pool.

And the beasts Yang Dingtian was concerned about.

There were dozens of various Gold Eaters, using their sharp claws to dig through the ice layers to find various metals to eat. Yang Dingtian finally understood why he hadn't seen any beasts in the entire mine; all the beasts had gathered here because this was where the metals were, and the earthquake had brought some metals from deep underground to the surface.

There were also ice-type beasts, leisurely swimming in the unfrozen pool.

It was truly a case of "when all seems lost, a new path appears."

However, the number of Gold Eaters was overwhelming, with dozens of them here, and one of them was a second-grade beast. Despite having the Flame Feather, if dozens of beasts attacked him, it would be extremely dangerous, even a death sentence.

But there was a way. Yang Dingtian took out the Blood Black Gold and waved it in the air, then quickly put it back in the jade box. It couldn't be exposed to the air for too long, or all the Gold Eaters would rush over.

Sure enough, a few of the Gold Eaters below seemed to smell an irresistible scent and immediately looked up toward Yang Dingtian's hiding place, but they saw nothing. Most of the beasts continued to dig through the ice for food. The beast closest to Yang Dingtian hesitated for a moment and then quickly ran toward him.

Yang Dingtian immediately retreated several hundred meters. He couldn't kill the Gold Eater here, or it would attract the entire group of Gold Eaters.

Retreating to a corner a hundred meters away, Yang Dingtian found the most advantageous position and waited for the Gold Eater to arrive.

Sure enough, a minute later, a Gold Eater sneaked up. Yang Dingtian hid the Flame Feather behind his back to cover its light, making the entire mine pitch black. The only thing visible was the Gold Eater's two small, fiery red eyes.

This was a Gold-Eating Demon Rat, about the size of a rabbit. Its attack power was not strong, but it was extremely agile, with very sharp teeth and a preference for attacking the groin. For Yang Dingtian, this was a very dangerous beast, and he had to prevent it from getting close and entangling him, or it would be very dangerous.

Yang Dingtian held his breath and locked all his pores. Even so, the Gold-Eating Demon Rat still detected him. It stopped, sniffed with its small nose, and quickly locked onto Yang Dingtian's position, its two fiery red eyes staring intently at him.

"Whoosh..." Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, the Gold-Eating Demon Rat charged forward at an astonishing speed, far beyond Yang Dingtian's imagination.

The most critical part was that it closed its eyes as it charged, making the entire cave pitch black and completely invisible.

What a cunning beast. Yang Dingtian immediately felt a great danger and swiftly swung the Flame Feather behind his back, instantly filling the dark mine with a dazzling light.

At that moment, Yang Dingtian was horrified to find that the Gold-Eating Demon Rat was less than a foot away from his groin. Its mouth was already open, revealing sharp fangs, and in less than 0.01 seconds, it would bite his vital area. However, when the Flame Feather flashed with brilliant light, the Gold-Eating Demon Rat hesitated for a moment, only moving forward by inertia.

"Swine Slaying Sword Technique, Split in Two."

Yang Dingtian swung the Flame Feather toward the Gold-Eating Demon Rat, lightly and swiftly.

"Whoosh!" Instantly, the Gold-Eating Demon Rat was split into two halves in mid-air, silently, without even a scream.

"Truly a wonderful treasure." Yang Dingtian stared in amazement at the Flame Feather.

The Gold-Eating Demon Rat, which had been eating gold for years, had skin and fur as hard as steel, making it much harder to kill than the Fire-Eyed Demon Wolf and the Wind Snake. With weak mystic energy, even the best steel sword could not harm it. But the Flame Feather cut through the Gold-Eating Demon Rat's steel-like body as easily as cutting through tofu.

Yang Dingtian squatted down to examine the Gold-Eating Demon Rat's corpse. The wound was pitch black, completely burned, and not a drop of blood had flowed out. The Flame Feather was truly amazing.

He easily extracted the beast core from the Gold-Eating Demon Rat's brain, which was still hot, looking like a fire-red metal walnut with complex patterns. He placed the beast core in the box.

The third gold-type beast core was in his possession.

Next, the fourth ice-type beast core. There were at least three ice-type beasts swimming in the unfrozen pool. Next to the pool were dozens of Gold Eaters. He had to deal with these dozens of Gold Eaters first, or he wouldn't get the ice-type beast core and would risk his life.

Yang Dingtian had two plans. The first was to throw the Blood Black Gold far away. The dozens of Gold Eaters would surely rush to fight over it, and in the end, only the second-grade Gold Eater would remain. Yang Dingtian would kill the second-grade Gold Eater and then go to the unfrozen pool to kill the ice-type beasts.

The second plan was to place the Blood Black Gold a thousand meters away in the mine, attracting all the Gold Eaters, and then go to the unfrozen pool to kill the ice-type beasts.

Both plans had their drawbacks and uncertainties, but Yang Dingtian ultimately chose the first plan.

However, Yang Dingtian didn't know if things would go as he expected. Even if they did, he would still have to kill the second-grade Gold Eater, which was much stronger than a first-grade Gold Eater.

Holding his breath, Yang Dingtian grabbed the Blood Black Gold and threw it hard toward the group of Gold Eaters.

"Whoosh..." The several-pound Blood Black Gold was thrown dozens of meters.

The Gold Eaters, who were digging through the ice, paused, sniffed frantically, and then charged toward the Blood Black Gold like mad.

The Blood Black Gold's allure to Gold Eaters was indeed fatal. Dozens of Gold Eaters were already fighting fiercely, tearing at each other, with blood splattering and screams echoing.

These low-level Gold Eaters, upon seeing the Blood Black Gold, went completely mad, fighting each other without hesitation.