Chapter 481 - Taming the Platinum Ring - 5
The first days were manageable.
Zhao established a rudimentary camp at the entrance. Fortunately, the tunnel offered protection and a clear view of the corridor for a good stretch, and it was empty. The mountain seemed to be full of passages and chambers reflected in the crystal, but exploring them without the king was guaranteed suicide for a Silver rank.
The mana mountains of the rings had high-level trials, beasts and natural traps that required real power to overcome. Or that had been the intelligence that Victor brought...
And not just that...
The underground Platinum Sprouts and other species couldn’t enter, but there were high-level species that had entered at some point before the Dragons long ago and adapted differently inside here.
After a few days of tension, Zhao understood that the monsters inside the mountain didn’t seem to move from their place.
The realization was both comforting and unsettling. These weren’t wandering predators but still dangerous territorial guardians, each claiming and defending specific areas within the mountain’s crystalline maze.
Luckily, as long as he didn’t venture into their domains, they seemed content to ignore his presence entirely.
His medicine against mana excess worked well initially. A dose every twelve hours kept symptoms under control, allowing him to care for the unconscious king while continuing his own cultivation.
Absorbing the processed crystals for his raptor had been an unexpected burden. There was already excess in his system, and adding more load wasn’t helping.
But he wasn’t willing to ruin his last hope of cultivation to Gold rank if he could avoid it.
With time and concentration, he could continue his beast’s development even under these extreme circumstances. Each day of progress made his mana resistance improve marginally.