Chapter 1274 - 645: Heavenly Artifact Stone Axe
"This potion seals your wound, and now it starts to have a healing effect." Ning Xiaoxian calmly said, "However, this potion has exhausted your life force, and in the next six months, you’ll often feel weak and fatigued, with a mystified mind and slow thoughts." As for being impotent in bed, she couldn’t bring herself to say that.
Aji was indifferent. He deeply bowed to her and Changtian, saying, "Thank you both for saving my life."
"Fourth" urged from the side, "Enough chit-chat, the person is saved, let’s move quickly." This mining cave is not a place to linger; if a few more lizards or Mountain Anchors come, there will be big trouble.
The group hurriedly returned the way they came. With the aid of the potion, Aji temporarily didn’t need support, and everyone’s speed increased significantly. Once they exited the mining cave, they saw a Mutated Lizard lying outside, of course, long dead. Both Boss Kun and "Fourth" scrutinized the creature but couldn’t find its fatal wound, making them even more curious about Ning Xiaoxian and Changtian’s methods.
Before them was the straight and spacious Bronze Avenue, seemingly without ambushes, yet faint rustling sounds were soon heard behind them, signaling more Mountain Anchors approaching. They hastily quickened their pace, finding a hidden spot to look back from. Sure enough, they saw over forty Mountain Anchors rush to the cave entrance, working together to drag the Mutated Lizard’s corpse inside. Seeing the shadowy stretch of long legs filled them with dread. These monsters were originally their arch-enemies, with deep-seated animosity, and at this moment, the Mountain Anchors were eager to consume its flesh, leaving them no time to notice the crew.
Someone grumbled softly, "Why do these big ants risk their lives squeezing into the mining cave, is there treasure?"
Having reached a temporary agreement, Ning Xiaoxian didn’t hold back, smiling as she said, "There is treasure. That mineral is treasure for the Mountain Anchors. This mineral called Yunying Stone is relatively soft, not very useful for Humans, but if Mountain Anchors don’t gnaw on it every ten days or so, their shells will become increasingly soft, losing their protective ability, essentially awaiting death in this underground palace. Just like humans must consume salt, otherwise, they become weak. Hence, regardless of how dangerous the bronze hall is, they must venture inside."
As she had entered the mining cave earlier, she also glanced at the situation inside. It’s not unusual for many low-level demons in the Hidden Stream to regularly consume certain specific minerals, so this feature doesn’t surprise her. Similar to how many monkeys and parrots in Amazonia consume berries containing mild toxins, requiring periodic intake of special clay to neutralize them.
The person she just saved from the lizard’s mouth was named Han Chunlin. Upon hearing this, he interjected, "How unlucky these Mountain Anchors are, having their life-sustaining mineral blocked by the monsters in the bronze hall."
Ning Xiaoxian glanced at him with a smile, "I’m afraid the underground palace was originally designed this way. These creatures have lived in the underground palace for a long time, adapting to the nearly airless environment but still requiring food. You see, the paths for the Mountain Anchors are too narrow for Mutated Lizards, they simply can’t get through; if these lizards can’t catch Mountain Anchors for an extended period, they’d starve to death, unable to reproduce until now."
She summed up, "Therefore, the underground palace deliberately built side halls between the Mountain Anchors’ habitat and the ore veins to allow the lizards to hunt Mountain Anchors for survival. At the same time, Mountain Anchors need to eat Yunying Ore once every ten days, and the number of prey the lizards catch is limited, effectively controlling the population of the lizards."
Was this deliberately done by the underground palace’s designer? Everyone couldn’t help but feel a chill in their hearts. Han Chunlin said, "These big ants live on the fish from the river? We passed through the passage, finding their numbers extremely high."
Boss Kun thought further, pondering, "Mountain Anchors live off the prey sent by the river, and the big lizards hunt Mountain Anchors... following this logic, wouldn’t there be even more powerful monsters later on?"
Upon this speculation, everyone collectively swallowed.
Changtian calmly said, "Very likely. The person who built this underground palace probably considered that over time, no matter how intricate the mechanisms, they’d decay; there are only two things capable of long-term operation, protecting this underground palace from outside intrusion and preventing the treasures from being taken away. One of those is the ever-proliferating, thriving life. The further inside we go, the more formidable the monsters will likely become. These things were originally intended to serve as Guardians, forming their ecology within the underground palace."