End of the Magic Era

"Sir Merlin, which path should we take now? The left one or the right one? The path ahead of us seems to be slanted upwards. Also, I can feel the flowing wind. It may be leading aboveground."

Lin Yun didn't say anything. He simply returned to the intersection of the three paths. An earth law rune appeared in his hand. Immediately, Lin Yun's hand became the color of soil, as if it were made of mud. He then stuck his hand to the floor. After that, ripples spread out on the floor, and Lin Yun gradually inserted his hand into it.

A few seconds later, Lin Yun plucked his hand from the floor, and walked 10 meters away. He then gently stepped on the floor. Immediately, the earth shivered, and a gigantic hole appeared. Looking down through the hole, there was another underground cavern. Here, the rocks were thinnest. After breaking the rocky wall, the cavern down below was exposed.

"Let's go. We'll go from here further downwards."

Myers looked at Lin Yun in shock and suspicion.

Mafa Merlin seemed to know this place very well. He discovered another enormous underground cavern, and opened a channel towards it. Furthermore, he didn't destroy the structure of this place at all when he opened the channel. He had definitely studied this place.

However, he didn't seem to be familiar with this cavern on the way here. His subordinates didn't seem to have come to this place before, either. Then how did he know?

Had he studied this plane so deeply? What a horrifying man…

Myers was shocked and suspicious, but he didn't show anything on his face. Lin Yun led his team, and jumped into the hole that was only three meters in diameter. Myers and his people then followed.

Their purpose in exploring this cavern was to explore the ores of this place. No place was more suitable for that purpose than a cavern that led to the underground world.

They moved further down, but didn't feel suffocated at all. The air that was mixed with mana was still flowing in this place.

Moving more deeply, everybody was shocked to see the crystals that were embedded on the walls. Those crystals were glimmering softly, enshrouded in abundant mana. On the floor and above their heads, many crystals were protruding from the rocks too. The moment they entered this place, they found that the aura of mana was more abundant than before.

Myers was the fastest. As a mage who had absorbed a crystal monster's bloodline, he was most sensitive to crystals. The moment he landed, he emerged next to a blue crystal that was half exposed on the ground.

"Oh my God. Mana stones! Mana stones whose purity is horrifying! How can there be such pure mana stones? That's theoretically impossible! How can natural mana stones be so pure? Also, there are so many of them here…"

Myers was losing his cool. This cavern was more than 2,000 meters wide and 300 meters tall. There were a thousand visible mana stones. The smallest of them was the size of a fist, and the biggest was half a meter tall. Also, they were just the parts that were exposed to the air. Their actual sizes were probably twice as big. Furthermore, there might be even more such mana stones inside the walls.

Mana stones had a lot of usages. They could be applied to large alchemy machines, large mana reactors, Mana Crystal Cannons, magic tools that didn't require mana input, and even staffs.

Also, the purer a mana stone was, the more useful it would be. They were much more precious than the mana crystals in beasts' bodies. Most mana crystals were focused on one kind of element, and their power wasn't pure. Only in case of the special beasts whose mana crystals had purely one type of magic power were the mana crystals valuable.

Mana stones, by comparison, mostly contained pure mana, and could be applied to a much wider range than the mana crystals from beasts' bodies. The pure mana stones could even be directly absorbed by mages to help with mana replenishment and meditation. They were very useful.

The mana stones here were of a horrifyingly high purity. If they were dug out, they would be much more useful than purple gold in Noscent. They could be exchanged for anything that one wanted.

Lin Yun looked at them coldly, and didn't say anything.

According to history records, the hole he opened wouldn't be discovered by accident until after the plane was developed for decades. Down from there, the underground cavern would be much more spacious. The channels that looked like a maze almost stretched to every corner of the plane, just like a natural channel.

Also, the items here weren't mana stones, but high-purity magic crystals like those in the Demiplane. They were basically the same, except that the magic crystals here were of a lower quality.

As for mana stones…

Hehe. They were not remarkable at all. There were only mana stones in Noscent. Very few magic crystals had ever been discovered. Even the largest mother lode of mana stones might not contain many magic crystals, which were always considered high-purity mana stones.

People like Myers certainly couldn't tell the difference…

The reactors in magic battleships mostly consumed magic crystals as fuel. All the mother lodes in this place could meet the magic battleships' demand.

Lin Yun had come to this plane partly for the materials here. More importantly, it was because there were barely any other mother lodes in this place. All the underground mother lodes contained magic crystals and similar ores.

Those were all the fuel that the magic battleships required. When the research on magic battleships went deeper, and when a fleet of magic battleships was established, then a lot more magic crystals would be needed. It would be a waste to use the purest magic crystals in his Demiplane as fuel for the magic battleships. Also, there weren't enough of them.

Lin Yun looked at the magic crystals calmly, partly because he had already been aware of their existence, and partly because the number of the magic crystals here was too low. Even the biggest of them was only half a meter tall. Most were only the size of fists. This small cave of crystals was not worth mentioning at all…

"What a resourceful plane. There are such big high-purity mana stones. Even the smallest of them is the size of a fist. Look at that one. It's half a meter tall. Oh no, it's almost one meter…"

Myers personally dug out the magic crystal that was half a meter tall. He looked at the magic crystal, which was emitting blue light, as if it were an ultimate treasure.

He examined it many times, and finally collected this biggest magic crystal with a smile. After he took it away, he finally remembered something, and looked at Lin Yun awkwardly.

"Sir Merlin, well, this mana stone is very important to me. The mana it contains is very pure and suitable for me. I'll just take it away. Sir Merlin, there are so many more mana stones. Just take whatever you need…"

After picking up the biggest magic crystal, Myers seemed to have become a lot more generous.

Lin Yun remained calm. He didn't even bother to scold Myers, who was already so excited with a half-meter-tall magic crystal. If the man saw a pure magic crystal that was dozens of meters tall, he probably would explode because of excitement.

"Alright, Sir Myers, just keep it if you like it. The rest of you, feel free to collect the magic crystals here if you like them. Just don't destroy the structure of the cavern.

"Xiuban, Reina, if you like the stones, you may dig them too."

Hearing what Lin Yun said, Myers' subordinates couldn't hold any longer. Sunny and Sheldon, who had always been angry with Lin Yun's team, put their grudge aside, and excavated the magic crystals.

Xiuban grinned in disdain.

What a bunch of idiots. Xiuban had seen better things. In Sir Merlin's Demiplane, even the best magic stones were just dropped in the lake. Nobody ever bothered to take them. Would Xiuban ever pick up such garbage? Look at those bumpkins. Were they mining with magic?

Reina didn't bother to look at the magic crystals, either. She, too, had seen a lot. In Lin Yun's Demiplane, the magic crystals had been laid at the bottom of the Mana Lake as pebbles.

In Noscent, a piece of Eternal Dark Gold the size of a fingernail might cause a battle between two Heaven Rank experts, but it was all over the Demiplane like garbage. They had seen too many great things to be attracted to those magic crystals…

Lord Shawn, however, seemed very interested, and grinned at the magic crystals. He had swallowed mana crystals and magic crystals in Lin Yun's Demiplane when he was out of mana. At this moment, the magic crystals were no longer as obviously useful to him as before, but he could still level up gradually by swallowing them.

Inside the Demiplane, it was impossible for Lord Shawn to swallow as many magic crystals as he wanted. His monthly food quota was fixed, and it depended on Lin Yun's mood.

Damn it, those magic crystals don't seem to be of a high quality, but they're surely better than the mana crystals of beasts. Those smelly mana crystals are really terrible food…

However, I cannot dig them in person. Merlin didn't let me join the battle certainly because he considered me as a last resort against those idiotic bloodline transplanters…

Rolling his eyes, Lord Shawn jumped to Xiuban's shoulder.

"Xiuban, how have I been treating you? I always gave you a hand when Syudos was mean to you. I informed you many times when Sir Merlin wanted to beat you up. Don't you think you should return the favor?"

Xiuban looked at Lord Shawn at a loss.

"Why can't I remember any of that? I only remember that you stole a roast leg from me last time, a bottle of potion last, last time, and you spoke ill of me when Sir Merlin beat me up last, last, last time…"

Xiuban frowned and counted. He had a headache very soon because he lost count of the number of lasts he said…

Lord Shawn, seeing that the people of the Thorny Crown seemed determined to collect all the magic crystals here, became anxious.

"Idiot, don't bother with the details. Stop counting. Help me dig those… crystals. I'll pay you with a bottle of Health Potion!"

Xiuban grinned and looked at Lord Shawn mockingly.

"Do you take me for a fool?"

"Two bottles! That's the most I can offer!"

"Deal!"

Reaching an agreement, Xiuban grinned, and started digging the magic crystals. It was easy for Xiuban to dig with his monstrous body. He stabbed his hand into the rocks as easily as if he was stabbing into sand. He dug out a whole magic crystal easily, and then continued digging others.

While digging, Xiuban grinned and glanced at Lord Shawn now and then as if he were an idiot.

Lord Shawn is truly dumb. He's as dumb as those bumpkins. He's exchanging two bottles of Health Potions for those worthless stones that Sir Merlin uses as ornaments. He has been a lot more stupid ever since he got a third eye. It's possible that his brain is broken. Does he think I'm a fool? Will I be interested in the item that Sir Merlin isn't?

But never mind. Even I have only gathered a dozen bottles of Sir Merlin's Health Potions. I wouldn't mind getting two more. Lord Shawn is truly stupid…

In only a dozen minutes, all the magic crystals that were exposed to the air in the cavern had been dug up. 80 percent were claimed by the people of the Thorny Crown, and the last 20 percent were claimed by Xiuban alone…

Having gotten so many magic crystals when the exploration just began, the people of the Thorny Crown were in a good mood. Even Sunny and Sheldon found Lin Yun's team much more agreeable.

After the digging, Lin Yun led the way forward. Inside the cavern, besides the new hole in the ceiling that Lin Yun had created, there were another couple of channels. He chose one that led downwards, and continued moving.

After moving for a dozen minutes along the zigzagging channel, they found themselves in another cavern, which was dozens of meters tall, 1,000 meters long, and 300 meters wide. This cavern was even more brilliant than the last one. So many magic crystals had been gathered on the walls that they looked like blooming flowers. There were a lot more magic crystals here, and they were even bigger. One of them was even three meters tall.

The people of the Thorny Crown were astounded to see so many magic crystals. Myers seemed enlightened, and glanced at Lin Yun, who had been calm all the time.

Mafa Merlin already knew this. He knew that there were a lot of such mother lodes, and the deeper they went, the purer and bigger the mana stones would be. He naturally wasn't interested in the mana stones they encountered at the beginning…

Myers thought for a moment, and realized many things. Although the magic crystals here were better and bigger, Myers didn't want to excavate them. After all, they wouldn't be going anywhere. The most important thing to do at this moment was exploration.

Hardly had they entered the cavern when Lin Yun frowned. He heard such frequent rustling noises that he felt his ears were ringing.

"Have you mastered Rock Disguise and Air Fusion?"

Lin Yun suddenly looked at one of the bloodline transplanters, who had rock for skin. His hands seemed to be made of stones, as if he were actually a rock puppet.

He was a bloodline transplanter who had absorbed a rock giant's bloodline, which gave him special abilities after it melted with the human bloodline.

Lin Yun unveiled the bloodline transplanter's special abilities easily. Myers' crystal eyes glittered, and he nodded at the bloodline transplanter.

"Yes, I have, Sir Merlin."

Everybody else was puzzled. Even Myers was also wondering why Lin Yun suddenly asked that.

Exactly at this moment, the rustling noises became louder and louder. Everybody detected a strange wave inside the cavern that felt like a soul wave and a mana wave.

Lin Yun looked at the channels that the cavern was connected to, and frowned.

"Hide all of us with Rock Disguise and Air Fusion. Make sure that we're completely unnoticeable, or we'll be in big trouble."

Before Lin Yun finished, everybody had heard the rustling noises loud and clear.

Myers nodded. They walked to a corner of the cavern, where the warlock who had transplanted a rock giant's bloodline released his mana. Then, a dent that was 20 meters wide and five meters deep appeared in the rock behind him. Everybody walked into the dent. Then, the dent was covered in green light.