Chapter 12: Fang Yuan.
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.