After some time, Shibeng finally calmed down, thanks to Li Luo’s persuasion.

But he was still wary of Mo Ling and didn’t want the Block to come near.

Li Luo explained repeatedly that the Block was just a relic with its own consciousness. It wasn’t a living creature, nor did it have the variant-vein disease.

But Shibeng still refused to believe. He seemed so deeply troubled by the variant-vein disease that he was willing to be mistaken just to stay away from the Block.

Mo Ling decided not to provoke him for the time being.

Only when Mo Ling had the Block fly back up into the sky did the distorted, rippling waves on Shibeng’s body slowly subside, the metallic, stony sound fading away.

"So, can you tell me about the variant-vein disease now?" Li Luo asked.

Shibeng’s trembling body gradually settled. He glanced at the Block in the sky and finally seemed to relax.

Leaning against the stone wall, he slowly sat down.

As his fear subsided, Shibeng returned to his usual state of emptiness. He nodded at Li Luo and began his story.

...

No one knows where the variant-vein disease came from.

It was a contagious disease that ravaged the Mineral Race.

The disease was first discovered during a massive war.

One day, as soldiers of the Iron Race went to a mineral vein to rouse their newborn kin from their state of emptiness, they discovered a newborn with a peculiar appearance.

He was supposed to be just an ordinary newborn of the Iron Race, but his body was emitting specks of red light.

This red light dotted the surface of the newborn’s body like grains of sand, making him look completely different.

Not only that, but sand-sized red crystals also pierced through his skin, forming shimmering crystal clusters.

Although the Mineral Race were creatures capable only of feeling fear, their innate knowledge included a concept of aesthetics.

This newborn could only be described with one word—ugly.

A member of the Mineral Race so full of impurities was not only unwelcome among the Iron Race, but was subject to prejudice throughout the entire Thorn Stone Forest.

Although impure members of the Mineral Race were common, it was extremely rare to see one with so many impurities, especially one that wasn’t a companion mineral and had such a peculiar appearance.

However, war is the great equalizer.

No matter how strange he looked, he was cannon fodder all the same. The newborn was pushed straight onto the battlefield.

But to everyone’s surprise, the battle was a plot by the rare Mineral Races. They had laid an ambush with a large force in the nearby caverns, forming a pincer movement to wipe out the main army of the common Mineral Races from the flank.

As expected, the flank attack inflicted enormous losses on the common Mineral Races. When they tried to retreat, they were cut off by a strike force that had circled around to their rear.

They were surrounded.

Now, all the common Mineral Races could do was fight with their backs against the wall. Fueled by their fear, they prepared to fight to the death, hoping to take as many of the enemy with them as possible.

It was then that the newborn, the one full of red crystal impurities, unleashed his unparalleled abilities.

Under his control, the red crystals morphed into piercing needles that shot across the battlefield, reaping the lives of the enemy.

Furthermore, his regeneration was incredibly fast; in contrast, his own iron body seemed utterly unremarkable.

After eliminating the enemies in one direction, he made the red crystals erupt from the ground into a sea of crystal clusters, completely cutting off the pursuing enemy forces.

Thanks to him, the main army of the common Mineral Races managed to retreat successfully.

After retreating to a nearby mineral-vein stronghold, the newborn no longer looked as he had when he was first conscripted.

He was tall and slender, and the red crystals all over his body had become large and sharp, embedded in his iron skin.

Red ripples pulsed across his body, impossible to calm, as if he were in an extremely unstable state.

The veins of red crystal continued to spread through his iron frame, threatening to take over his entire body.

His now even more grotesque appearance terrified the other members of the Mineral Race.

No one dared to approach him.

However, as the hero responsible for such a great military achievement, he was received by the general of the stronghold.

But when the general walked up to him and got a clear look at his appearance, he attacked him without a word.

"That’s Ruby!"

Who would have thought that the red crystals covering his iron body were actually Ruby!

Iron and Ruby, two completely unrelated minerals, had somehow appeared on a single member of the Mineral Race.

Facing the general’s surprise attack, the strange Mineral Race member reacted with incredible speed, transforming his arm into a Ruby spike and pinning the general to the ground.

He then erupted another field of crystal clusters, cordoning off the area. He punched a hole in the edge of a stone pillar and escaped through it.

By the time the others reacted and shattered the crystal wall, he was already gone, leaving only the struggling general pinned to the ground.

After they freed the general, he immediately demanded to know who had conscripted the strange creature.

After a few rounds of questioning, they confirmed that he had indeed been born from an iron vein.

This left the general baffled.

But he was certain it was Ruby. As an old general who had fought the rare Mineral Races for so many years, how could he possibly not recognize it?

The general ordered his subordinates to investigate the matter and repair the stone pillar, then went to handle other matters.

It wasn’t long, however, before the most terrifying thing happened.

The general discovered bluish-green patches appearing on his abdomen where the strange newborn had pierced him.

Moreover, an emotion other than fear emerged in his mind: he felt ’curiosity’ about what was happening to him.

As time went on, the patches began to gradually expand, eroding his body.

This time, he recognized the bluish-green patches as well.

Turquoise!

The moment he recognized it, he ordered a few of his trusted subordinates to lock him away, and he began to study his own changes.

The Turquoise patches gradually spread over his entire body, forming a bluish-green network of veins, and the general felt a powerful force brewing within them.

After some more time, these bluish-green veins began to swell, growing thicker and stronger, and started to form large patterns that covered the general’s entire body.

Not only that, but the general’s physique began to change as well.

His already robust frame became even more exaggerated. His arms were encased in swelling, river-like patterns, within which a contained energy pulsed.

This pulsing made the Turquoise veins seem to throb as if they were full of life.

As the general’s body continued to grow, he had to be moved from one prison to the next.

As he continued to transform, his subordinates no longer dared to approach him. They knew he was infected and were terrified of him.

And so, the general simply watched himself change, meticulously documenting the entire process.

This endlessly growing power finally drove his subordinates to panic, and they conspired to kill the general.

Time passed. As the Turquoise spread to cover his entire body, the general’s original stony substance was completely replaced. His new form was menacing and imperious.

The curves of the Turquoise were like ripples on water. His entire body was smooth and dense, with a faint, waxy luster.

The general surveyed his new form. There was no trace of his former self left.

Now, he was a perfectly pure member of the Turquoise Race.

And at the same time, emotions other than fear flooded the general’s mind.