Chapter 211: Chapter 188: 7th Princess, Beauty and the Beast (2)

This felt incredible.

So, the question was, should he go back and report first, or press forward to mine?

The answer was simple.

The light was right in front of him; mining was the priority.

As for finding the main group to report back to... in this vast Underworld, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to find them, but that he truly couldn’t. He’d already been traveling underground for over ten hours.

He had no idea where he was now.

’Forget it. I’ll finish the mission first. Reporting back is important, but for now, I’ll have to leave it to chance. Besides, my phone lost signal ages ago. I couldn’t send a message even if I wanted to.’ With his mind made up, Gao Neng continued burrowing toward the light.

He burrowed and burrowed...

And burrowed and burrowed...

The light ahead grew brighter and brighter...

An unknown amount of time passed.

The constant burrowing had turned Fang Tangtang’s initial excitement to a daze. In the end, she dozed off again and closed her eyes.

"Wake me when we get there."

Gao Neng was speechless.

’What kind of nonsense is this?’

’Am I Kuafu chasing the sun?’

’It’s clearly right there, but I’ve been burrowing for so long and still haven’t reached it?’

Gao Neng felt that something wasn’t quite right.

But the light before him was definitely changing. What had started as a single beam of light had now become a vast expanse of it, like a Galaxy.

’Dammit!’

’I refuse to believe I can’t reach you!’

Gao Neng gritted his teeth and sped up again. He stopped caring about the time; he had only one goal: find that light and complete the mission.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity.

The light transformed from a Galaxy into countless brilliant suns.

The Underworld seemed to have turned to day, the light so piercing he could barely keep his eyes open...

"CRUNCH!"

With a soft crunch, the Earth Dragon broke through the final barrier.

The world before him was no longer dark, but filled with a brilliant light.

It was a massive crystalline cavern, dotted with ores that shone like stars. The smaller ones were the size of a fist, while the larger ones were as big as a human head.

’The energy here is so rich.’

Gao Neng’s body shuddered instantly.

His continuous burrowing had taken a huge toll, but the moment he entered this crystalline space, he felt every pore on his body open up in relief.

An immense amount of energy enveloped him, seeping into his body through his skin.

"Whoa, what is this place? Whoa... I feel amazing!" Fang Tangtang didn’t need Gao Neng to wake her this time; she was already wide awake.

It wasn’t just her; Gao Xiaomeng had also opened her eyes.

Her deep blue eyes scanned the surroundings, filled with an intense craving, as if she had just spotted a mountain of food.

SWOOSH!

Gao Xiaomeng immediately leaped out of the backpack.

"Meeeoow..." She let out a cry like a cat, then began to continuously lick a crystal in front of her, looking utterly blissful.

Fang Tangtang was just as excited.

Seeing that Gao Xiaomeng had beaten her to it, she didn’t hesitate any longer. She immediately wriggled out of Gao Neng’s arms and leaped onto a nearby crystal.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Fang Tangtang tapped her fingers repeatedly against the ore.

"It’s crystal ore! All of it is crystal ore! We’re going to be rich! If we can get all this out of here, it would be an absolute fortune!"

’An absolute fortune?’ Gao Neng didn’t know about that, but he did know one thing: the quality of these ores seemed to be about the same as the one he’d found before.

Magnetic Crystal Ore!

He had once given a piece of Magnetic Crystal Ore to Shen Fei.

And what had Shen Fei given him in return?

Two tons of silver ore!

’How many pieces of ore are here now? At least a thousand...’

’A thousand pieces of Magnetic Crystal Ore.’

’This is insane, isn’t it?’

’What is this place? How could the Dark Night Elf Clan just leave a huge pile of Magnetic Crystal Ore like this, completely unattended?’

"Gao Neng, should we start digging?" Fang Tangtang licked her lips, her eyes shining. As she spoke, she had already pulled out a shovel.

’No idea where she was hiding that shovel.’

"Of course we’re digging!" Gao Neng was here for treasure, so of course he’d brought a shovel. It was an essential tool, tucked away in his backpack, and a pretty good quality one at that.

’I just need to dig up a hundred ores.’

’That should be enough to complete the mission, right?’

’Too easy.’

Gao Neng started digging at once.

He’d already seen Gao Xiaomeng with a crystal in her mouth. He couldn’t tell if she had swallowed it or was just tasting its "sweetness."

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

"We’re the best little miners, you and I!"

"We dig for ore beneath the sky! We dig for ore, we control the ore...!"

...

’I’m not going to worry about what Gao Xiaomeng is up to,’ Gao Neng thought. ’I’ll dig my own ore and leave none for anyone else. A hundred pieces? How is that enough? I’m going to strip this place clean.’

’At least a thousand pieces of ore...’

’Just thinking about it is enough to make a guy cry tears of joy, you know?’

’From this day forward...’

’The word ’poverty’ will be erased from my dictionary forever. From now on, call me ’Gao Neng the Mine Magnate’.`

His second attribute, the ’Ore Control Excavation Technique’, unleashed its incredible power at this moment. His shovel and pickaxe would perfectly avoid any part of the rock that might damage the ore.

Any piece he unearthed was guaranteed to be whole.

One swing, one ore!

Another swing, another ore!

Perfectly intact.

Not a bit of energy was lost.

’What a great skill.’

While Gao Neng was happily digging away, Fang Tangtang was moving just as quickly. Gao Xiaomeng, meanwhile, was continuously swallowing and spitting out the crystal ores.

However, they had no idea that far above their heads, a grand banquet was currently underway.

「In the Dark Night Elf City, where chrysanthemums bloomed everywhere.」

More than twenty delegations of suitors stood praying beneath the Ancient Elf Tree. Separated by a frigid pool, they gazed up at the verdant green that towered into the clouds.

"Sha’na’re, sha’na’re, shal’an..." (Elvish)

"GRAK-TOK-GREE-GREE-GREE..." (Beast Tongue)

"GHRUM-GHA, GHRUM-GHA, GHRUM..." (Hill Giant Tongue)

...

A cacophony of different languages filled the air. Every suitor praying had a sacred expression, for no race would dare blaspheme the great Ancient Elf Tree.

Even though they came from different peoples.

After a full ten minutes of prayer, Elf Queen Una, dressed in black royal attire, emerged. She was barefoot as she stepped from beneath the Ancient Elf Tree into the frigid pool.

"I, Elf Queen Una, on behalf of the God of Nature, thank you all for traveling so far. As dusk falls, my daughter, Wu Dingxiang, shall, under the watch of the God of Nature, publicly choose a husband!"

The crowd erupted!

The Elf City cheered.

The twenty-some delegations of suitors cheered.

"Presenting the Seventh Princess of the Elves, Wu Dingxiang!" a loud voice announced.

All eyes focused once more on the frigid pool.

A figure was slowly rising from the water. Her beautiful black hair was slick with water, and her fair, rosy face gave off a faint, chilly aura.

She was a young woman of such exquisite features it was hard to believe she was real.

Her dark eyes were bright, crystalline, sparkling, and full of life. A single glance was enough to be utterly captivated, unable to look away.

If the Elf Queen was the bright moon in the sky...

...then Seventh Princess Wu Dingxiang was the goddess who lived on it. Every glance, every smile, every little movement—she was beautiful to the point of unreality, as breathtaking as a landscape painting. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

And now, she stood in the frigid pool.

Bathing in its most sacred waters.

This was the engagement rite of the Dark Night Elf Clan: a bath of purification. Only the Prince chosen by the Seventh Princess would be allowed to enter the frigid pool and stand beside her.

At this, the Princes from all the suitor delegations stepped forward.

They were a motley crew.

They were unbearably ugly.

For example, the Hill Giant Prince had a deadpan, perfectly square face. His body was a mass of bulging muscles, he stood a full five meters tall, and his eyes glowed like lanterns.

The representative from the Beastman Race was even more ridiculous.

He was truly a half-beast.

He had two horns like a bull, wore a large red cape, and constantly snorted mist from his two upturned nostrils.

A real-life Beauty and the Beast.