Chapter 984: We’re surrounded
Within a dimly lit dungeon shrouded in drifting dust, Jian suddenly sneezed.
"Ah-choo!"
He rubbed his nose with a puzzled expression.
"Who’s talking about me?"
Muttering to himself, he tightened his grip on the pickaxe in his hands and swung it once more.
Clang!
Clang!
The sharp sound of metal striking crystal echoed throughout the silent dungeon as Jian continued mining into the rocky wall.
The stone was unbelievably tough—even as a Celestial, he found it difficult to break and had to exert considerable strength with every swing. Bit by bit, he carefully pried chunks of shimmering earth-attributed natural crystals from the unyielding rock.
Dust clung to his clothes, and a layer of sweat covered his forehead.
Jian’s once-neat, wealthy appearance had become rather miserable after spending the past two and a half days mining without rest.
After all, these natural crystals were meant to compensate the owner of the building they had destroyed during the fight they got into shortly after arriving in the Celestial Realm. Until they mined enough to repay the damages, none of them would be allowed to leave.
Just like Jian, James, Alec, Nine, and the others who had entered the Celestial Realm with him, everyone was in the same miserable condition. Even the group of Celestials they had fought was no exception. Covered in dust and sweat, they silently mined natural crystals within the dungeon, their earlier hostility long gone.
The mining itself wasn’t difficult.
The real challenge was the environment.
The walls of this place were unbelievably tough, requiring immense strength to chip away even the smallest piece. On top of that, the entire dungeon was saturated with dense, violent earth essence that constantly weighed down on their bodies.
Worse still, the overwhelming pressure made the place incredibly unstable. A single careless strike or an excessively loud noise could trigger a massive explosion, burying everyone alive. Because of that, every swing of the pickaxe had to be precise and carefully controlled.
In the midst of the exhausting labor, only two people remained completely idle.
The first was Bia. She considered the dungeon far too dusty to dirty her own hands. Besides, Nox was already there, miserably doing her share of the mining while grumbling under his breath. So why should she do it? Completely unconcerned, Bia sat quietly off to the side with her eyes closed, meditating as she took advantage of the rich earth essence permeating the dungeon to deepen her comprehension of the natural law of earth.
The second was Zron, the old dwarf.
Unlike Bia, he looked busy. But in reality, however, he was secretly stuffing natural crystals into his mind space whenever no one was paying attention. From time to time, he even casually swiped crystals that others had painstakingly mined, slipping them away without anyone noticing.
That was precisely why everyone’s assigned baskets seemed to stay half-empty no matter how hard they had worked over the past few days. Unknown to them, a shameless old man had been quietly helping himself to their hard-mined crystals all along.
Suddenly, Asher, the half-dragon Kyle had met in the Lost Treasure Tomb, set his pickaxe down.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he let out a light chuckle, trying to ease the dead silence that had settled over the dungeon.
His maroon-gray eyes curved, and the golden scales scattered across his body shimmered faintly under the dim light as he turned to Kelvin—Jian’s childhood friend—who was mining beside him.
"Do you think Kyle went through something like this when he first came here, just like us?"
He asked with a grin.
"If he did..."
He paused, unable to hold back a laugh.
"I seriously can’t imagine him obediently staying here and mining until the end. He’d probably disappear on the spot and find some other way to solve the problem."
"Haha..."
Hearing his words, Alec and the others nearby couldn’t help but laugh as well.
Even Bia, who had been sitting with her eyes closed and meditating, couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from curving upward.
Jian clicked his tongue and placed his pickaxe down, resting his chin on the handle as he looked at Asher.
"Yeah, that guy definitely would have used Instant Teleportation and disappeared without a second thought!"
A smile appeared on his face, and his crimson eyes flashed with a hint of nostalgia.
"Unlike us good and responsible people, who—despite all having Instant Teleportation now—still came here to mine crystals and repay our debt."
He shook his head dramatically, as if he was deeply moved by their dedication.
"Truly, the difference between us and Kyle is the difference between good people and a troublemaker. But since he was a powerful and ridiculously lucky troublemaker, he could always avoid the consequences. Hahaha."
Everyone around chuckled with him, shaking their heads in amusement.
If only they knew that Kyle had indeed gone through something similar, mining crystals just like them after arriving here—and in an even more dangerous dungeon, where violent flames and raging winds intertwined endlessly. All of that had happened because Kyle had somehow managed to anger the leader of the clan he had joined.
If they knew the truth, they would probably be left completely speechless, unable to believe that someone like Kyle actually had the patience to endure such a situation.
The group of Celestials who had bad-mouthed Kyle—the ones Jian had fought—were mining in the distance. They felt their hearts tremble when they heard his casual words.
Their expressions became terrified.
They had learned something they were never supposed to know.
These people were actually talking about Kyle—the Ice Devil—as if he were nothing more than an old friend! There was no fear, hatred, or reverence in their voices, only familiarity and even a hint of nostalgia.
A chill ran through their hearts.
Damn it.
If they had known this from the beginning, they would never have fought Jian and the others, let alone dragged themselves into this miserable situation!
The only good thing was that there were more people mining alongside them. Because of that, Jian and his group at least restrained themselves from questioning those Celestials about the Ice Devil again.
Jian hummed and turned back to continue mining. However, the sudden lighthearted atmosphere was interrupted by a loud voice echoing from outside the dungeon.
"Everyone inside the dungeon, come out."
Alec and Carcel frowned as they exchanged glances.
The voice did not belong to the owner of the building they had damaged—the very person who had sent them here to mine and repay their debt. Moreover, the person who called out carried an extremely strong pressure. The pressure alone caused the entire dungeon to tremble slightly.
Something was wrong.
However, they had no choice but to go out. They were the weaker party here and had to avoid creating unnecessary trouble for now. Besides, only by stepping outside would they be able to understand what was happening.
James and Hubert took the lead, gesturing for the others to follow behind them.
Jian tossed the pickaxe aside and followed the two older men alongside the others. However, before they could leave the dungeon, Nine suddenly stopped.
His golden eyes lit up with an ethereal glow, and the threads within them moved slowly, swirling like flowing lava beneath a surface of gold. He slowly raised his hand.
"Stop."
The simple command caused everyone to halt.
All eyes turned toward him.
The playful atmosphere from moments ago vanished completely.
Nine’s expression was solemn as he stared into the darkness ahead. A faint killing intent flickered within his golden eyes.
"I sense danger."
A pause.
"We’re surrounded."