The mine swallowed him in silence.
Stone walls pressed in on either side, the air within damp and close, clinging faintly to the scent of old ore.
His footsteps echoed lightly along the carved path, accompanied only by the soft hum of his spiritual energy suppressing the darkness.
The faint glow of his spiritual essence lit the tunnel just enough, casting long shadows that danced along the jagged walls.
Fang Yuan walked calmly, his breathing slow and measured.
Each step was deliberate and controlled while his senses extended outward, feeling through the stone and soil for shifts in spiritual pressure.
Threads of energy drifted through the corridors like forgotten whispers, residue of something deeper below.
He passed the first marker shaft where miners had dug too shallow to find anything.
A few wooden crates and pickaxes lay abandoned along the side, tools tossed aside when the beast's presence had been discovered.
Fang Yuan knelt, placing a hand to the stone floor and it felt warm.
Not with heat, but with intent.
Spiritual pressure had soaked the stone like steam through rice paper.
And there, nestled in the deeper waves of qi, was a pulse. Although faint, it was rhythmic like the heartbeat of a spirit beast.
"Eh… it's actually sleeping?" he murmured in surprise.
He rose and continued downward.
The mine's structure shifted slightly as he descended.
Reinforced beams gave way to smoothed stone, the marks of tools replaced by the quiet geometry of nature.
He soon reached a wider chamber, the second shaft, the one mentioned in the report.
A cavern opened before him.
Faint light spilled in from a fissure in the ceiling, where moonlight filtered through crystals embedded high above.
The glow refracted across the walls like pale water rippling over ice.
And in the center of it all, sleeping coiled around a patch of stone veined with faintly glowing lines was the beast.
Its eyes were closed, but Fang Yuan could feel it watching through instinct alone.
And beside its tail, nestled carefully as if warded by its very heartbeat, were three small sprouts of something glowing greenish-gold.
The leaves shimmered faintly, emitting a rhythm of spiritual energy in harmony with the beast's own.
Fang Yuan's gaze narrowed.
"Hollow Yeklo Grass? Seriously?" Fang Yuan blinked twice, leaned forward, and blinked again just to be sure.
Hollow Yeklo Grass!
Fang Yuan's heart nearly skipped a beat.
This wasn't just any herb, this was the core ingredient for refining the Hollow Soul Pill!
A rush of excitement surged through him like wildfire.
His hands clenched at his sides as he stared at the pale, glowing stalk nestled gently in the earth as if the heavens themselves had placed it there just for him.
There it was, tucked beneath a nest of spiritual vines and glowing ever so faintly with a silvery mist that shimmered like starlight.
The legendary herb.
He let out a low whistle.
He had only ever seen it mentioned in ancient texts.
A herb so rare, one was more likely to stumble upon ten princesses bathing in the wild naked than to lay eyes on it in person.
He took one careful step forward and squinted, just in case his eyes were playing tricks on him.
They weren't.
"Oh heavens… I take back every time I cursed your name while writing sect expense reports," he whispered, hands lifted dramatically toward the rocky ceiling.
"I'm your most devoted servant! Your most loyal son! Please, continue to rain fortune upon me like this preferably without the deadly beast attachments next time."
Of course, the heavens did not respond.
Just the dripping of water from a stalactite somewhere above.
Fang Yuan looked back at the enormous creature sleeping just meters from the herb.
It looked like a tiger. Except it was white.
And twice the size of a carriage. And its fangs were long enough to stake a cultivator in two directions at once.
"A sabertooth, huh?" he muttered, rubbing his chin.
He narrowed his eyes.
A beast like this… it must've bonded to the herb. Maybe even incubated it for years.
He began slowly circling the edge of the chamber, footsteps silent, spiritual energy held tight within.
His gaze moved with precision, checking for other beasts, hidden nests, traps, alternate tunnels.. anything.
But he found nothing.
Just the sleeping oversized furball and its glittering prize.
He grinned.
"A half-step Nascent Soul beast core... and a Hollow Yeklo Grass," he whispered gleefully, lips curling.
"The heavens are either feeling generous tonight... or setting me up for something catastrophic. Either way—I accept."
He cracked his knuckles quietly, rolling his shoulders.
"Now, let's hope you stay asleep, Mr. Fangs. Because I really hope you stay alive and raise another one of this herb."
Then, just as he stepped into the fringe of the beast's sensing range—
Its eye cracked open.
A single, glimmering violet slit. And behind it, awareness.
Fang Yuan didn't flinch.
He straightened to his full height, hands loose by his side, and met the beast's gaze head-on.
"I don't suppose you're the sort that negotiates, are you?" he asked conversationally.
The cavern rumbled faintly as the beast uncoiled.
Dust fell from the ceiling. The spiritual pressure surged.
Fang Yuan sighed. "Didn't think so."
He raised a hand, and a thin band of silver energy lit across his palm.
A formation seal.
Just in case.
Then he smiled and said, calmly and without fear, "Well then… shall we?"
The beast's eyes locked onto Fang Yuan, its amber pupils narrowing as it sized him up.
There was a flicker of hesitation in its stance. It was subtle but clear.
And the beast sensed something it didn't expect, the person in front of it was something dangerous.
Fang Yuan couldn't help the smug curl at the corner of his lips.
The beast took a step back as he took a step forward.
"Yes, that's right," he thought, voice purring in his head. "You finally realize who you're dealing with."
But the satisfaction was short-lived.
In the next instant; too swift for even his refined senses to properly catch the beast's entire posture shifted.
Fang Yuan's eyes widened.
"No—"
His voice thundered through the cavern, echoing off the stone walls like a crashing tide.
"NO!!"