Chapter 80: The Odd Fish King

In the water, carving out a cave was no big deal for Chen Chen, who now possessed the strength of 70,000 catties of bloodline power. Although the rock wall in front of him was over a dozen feet thick, breaking through it was just a matter of time.

However, Chen Chen soon realized that he had underestimated the situation. This was not just any rock wall; it was a solid barrier made of some kind of metal ore, so hard and sturdy that it left him speechless!

Each time he swung his sword, even with the resistance of the water reducing his strength by about 60-70%, the remaining force was still at least 20,000 catties. Such immense power would normally shatter ordinary rocks like tofu, but now, each swing of his golden sword only managed to scrape off a small piece.

Moreover, during this process, his arms were repeatedly jolted, causing intense pain. Over time, he even experienced cramps in his hands.

"Damn, could there really be subterranean black crystals inside? Otherwise, why would the surrounding rock walls be so hard and stubborn?" Chen Chen was almost at his wit's end. The rock wall in front of him was incredibly hard, as if it were made of metal, making it extremely difficult to excavate.

Fortunately, he had pushed his bloodline power to its limits through the consumption of a large amount of black stone fish flesh. If it were in the past, even if he had cultivated to the peak of the Blood Fusion Realm, he would not have been able to make the slightest dent in this solid barrier!

"Whatever, they say that with enough effort, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle. Since I have nothing better to do, I'll just keep working hard!"

Chen Chen made his decision, vowing to break through the over ten-foot-thick, hard wall. He started digging around the small hole he had previously made, bit by bit.

This process was extremely arduous. In just a few days, over ten days had passed, and even with Chen Chen's steady nature, he had several times considered giving up. The progress was excruciatingly slow; each day, he worked himself to exhaustion, but by the end of the day, he had only managed to dig a few inches into the rock.

Such a snail-like pace was almost impossible for anyone to endure, especially in the dark, endless underground river.

During this time, Chen Chen naturally could not spend all twelve hours of the day working at the cave entrance. Apart from the few hours he spent resting and sleeping, he also devoted a lot of time to sitting in meditation and cultivating the "Spirit Concentration Inquiry Technique"!

As a result, the process of excavating the cave each day was not entirely fruitless. The severe overexertion of his bloodline power, though initially exhausting, gradually revealed its benefits.

Each time he was utterly drained, he would sit down to meditate, absorb and exhale, and run his cultivation technique. His cultivation advanced at an unusually rapid pace, and each small step forward was built on a solid foundation.

This was actually a rather good cultivation cycle. Realizing its benefits, Chen Chen quickly calmed down and stopped worrying about how many inches of rock he had excavated each day. Instead, he focused on the cultivation opportunities that arose from the severe overexertion of his bloodline.

...

Before he knew it, another month had passed. According to Chen Chen's estimation, he had been in the underground river for at least two months.

This was a time of loneliness and darkness, but Chen Chen felt that each day was fulfilling. A few days ago, he had broken through to the seventh level of the Blood Fusion Realm, and his current bloodline power had reached a terrifying 80,000 catties. Moreover, the bloodline in his body had become even thicker and more robust on the already nearly极限的基础之上.

Of course, during this process, besides the benefits of pushing his body to the point of bloodline exhaustion, the large consumption of black stone fish flesh also greatly helped him. Over the past two months, Chen Chen had lost count of how many black stone fish, considered rare treasures by the world, he had consumed. In this narrow passage, a large number of black stone fish suffered every day...

In his mind, the restoration of the ancient mirror also brought Chen Chen considerable joy. The two fine cracks that had previously worsened were now completely repaired.

Chen Chen vaguely felt that, strictly speaking, the ancient mirror had not fully repaired those two fine cracks the last time. The apparent repair was more of a surface-level fix, and the mirror had likely entered a long period of dormancy to consolidate its results, aiming to completely repair itself. However, due to his dire situation, the mirror had been forced to act, saving him but also undoing its previous progress...

Now, seeing those two small cracks fully repaired, Chen Chen was genuinely happy for the ancient mirror. Additionally, he noticed that a larger crack was also showing signs of repair.

"One, two, three, four, five..."

In his spare time, Chen Chen's consciousness entered his mind, standing before the ancient mirror, and carefully counted the cracks on its surface. The final result was... a total of seventeen!

"Seventeen large cracks, it seems you were seriously injured, Mirror Brother. It's hard to imagine what kind of power could have shattered you, a treasure of such caliber, into this state. And... Mirror Brother, you are not an ordinary item. Where do you come from, and how did you end up in my mind so miraculously..."

In front of the ancient mirror in his mind, Chen Chen spoke to himself, with many questions he couldn't understand. The ancient mirror never gave him any response.

After exiting his mind, a new day of hard work began. The golden sword in Chen Chen's hand was repeatedly raised and lowered, raised and lowered...

This action had almost become a fixed physical labor for Chen Chen over the past few days. After so much time, his initial enthusiasm for breaking through the rock wall to enter the adjacent natural cave had cooled. Now, Chen Chen was more focused on using this process to train his body, aiming to make further progress beyond his limits!

"Crack!"

A few days later, as he once again exerted his arms and thrust the golden sword, a sound of something breaking finally echoed in front of him.

Currently, he was underwater, and the sound of the crack was extremely faint, but it was still captured by Chen Chen's keen hearing.

"Finally, it's through. That was really tough!" A hint of joy appeared on Chen Chen's face, but his words were not overly excited, rather, they carried a sense of relief.

It had been a whole month!

A mere rock wall over ten feet thick, Chen Chen had been excavating for over a month, and now, he had finally made significant progress.

When he thrust the sword just now, it had pierced through the rock wall. Chen Chen lowered his head and observed through the small hole, confirming that he had indeed excavated to the edge of the other side of the rock wall. He extended his finger into the small hole and estimated that there was still about an inch of rock left to break through!

This thickness was nothing to Chen Chen, who had seen the light at the end of the tunnel. He quickly dug with his sword, and after about an hour, he had successfully excavated a hole large enough for him to crawl through.

Without hesitation, Chen Chen put away his sword and moved through the newly excavated hole...

...

"Wow... so many black stone fish! It seems I was right; this is indeed their lair!"

Floating in the spacious cave, Chen Chen gazed at the magnificent school of fish, unable to stop marveling. Now that he was inside the natural cave, the scene before him was much clearer than when he had observed through the small hole, and the sight was even more breathtaking.

The vast stalagmite was surrounded by a dense mass of black stone fish, a sight that was truly hard to believe!

At this moment, Chen Chen had become extremely cautious, his heart pounding like a deer. He gently swam towards the stalagmite, and all the mysteries would be revealed in the next moment. Chen Chen was extremely tense.

The short distance of a dozen feet, Chen Chen quickly swam over. The nearby black stone fish, startled by his presence, scattered, making way for him, circling around, seemingly very angry at this unexpected visitor.

However, Chen Chen could not afford to care about that. Approaching the stalagmite, he casually grabbed a handful of sand from it and spread it in his hand.

In the next moment, the crystal-clear black grains, illuminated by the light from his forehead, sparkled like drops of ink turned into crystals, or like black, transparent diamonds, with sharp edges reflecting a faint light that made Chen Chen's eyes slightly sore!

"There really are subterranean black crystals here..." Chen Chen was almost ready to let out a triumphant cry. The black, shiny grains in his hand were not yet true subterranean black crystals, but rather the residue and outer layer left during the transformation of subterranean black crystals, which were still of immeasurable value. Adding some of these to the process of refining medium-grade spiritual treasures could greatly enhance their quality!

Moreover, since these special traces of subterranean black crystals had appeared, it was evident that there might