Mo Ling was a little frightened by Shibeng’s words. He quickly checked the Block, only to find it was exactly the same as before.

"Replaced? It looks exactly the same to me."

But Shibeng still looked terrified.

Recalling Shibeng’s earlier description of the Heterovein Sickness, Mo Ling came up with a way to prove he wasn’t infected.

While Li Luo and Shibeng were talking, he slowly descended. Then, just as Shibeng’s mood stabilized and his guard was down, Mo Ling accelerated and shot toward him.

By the time Shibeng noticed the Block and tried to flee, it was already right in front of him. Before he could react, it bumped right into him.

The Block pinned Shibeng against a stone wall. Mo Ling even rubbed it against him for good measure before flying far away.

After being touched like that, Shibeng began to tremble all over. The ripples across his body pulsed faster than ever before.

He stared blankly at his body, frozen in place like an immovable boulder, unsure of what to do.

His expression was frozen in a stupor, his arms spread wide in bewilderment. He was utterly shocked.

It seemed he wanted to detach the contaminated parts of his body as he had done before. His joints began to tremble again, but this time was different—Mo Ling had rubbed the Block all over him.

He didn’t know what to do.

Mo Ling watched Shibeng with a hint of mischievous glee. His objective had been achieved.

Shibeng’s hoarse, raspy voice, mixed with a grinding, stone-on-stone rumble, seemed to be trying to form words.

But he was stuttering so badly he couldn’t get anything out. He was too terrified to speak.

’Did I scare him too badly?’ Mo Ling started to worry.

Fortunately, after a while, Shibeng’s rigid body finally began to move.

He cautiously touched the parts of his body that had been rubbed, then snatched his hand away as if he’d been pricked by a needle.

After repeating this several times, he stood still and carefully observed his body for any changes.

Nothing unusual appeared. He was still made of black basalt.

No multicolored veins had appeared on him, nor were there any hidden blemishes.

Other than the ripples of fear still pulsing through his body, everything was normal.

Shibeng remained frozen for a long time before the tremors finally began to subside. He started to inspect his body meticulously, as if he wanted to crack himself open to check inside.

After a while, the ripples across his body finally stabilized, and his fear receded.

Shibeng returned to his calm state, showing no trace of the panic-stricken figure he had been moments before.

"Friend, please don’t scare me like that again," he said faintly, his manner suddenly quite seasoned.

Seeing this rapid change in demeanor, Mo Ling was inwardly delighted.

’Now you should believe I don’t have Heterovein Sickness, right?’

’Radical methods really are the way to go.’

Now that he had calmed down, Shibeng no longer stuttered. He also seemed completely unbothered by Mo Ling’s earlier act of intimidation.

It was as if the whole incident had never happened.

’What a good temper,’ Mo Ling mused. ’The Mineral Race don’t get angry or hold grudges. Once the fear passes, it’s all over.’

After a while, the atmosphere completely relaxed.

Seeing that Shibeng was finally no longer on edge, Li Luo took the opportunity to ask him for the way out of the Thorn Stone Forest.

Even if the path was blocked, they could just fly over any obstacles.

"We’re still a long way from the exit. We have to go through a cavern first to get closer," Shibeng replied.

At this, Mo Ling’s interest was piqued by the cavern beneath the Thorn Stone Forest.

Driven by curiosity, he wanted to see for himself what was happening among the Mineral Race.

Just then, Li Luo glanced at the Block, a questioning look on his face.

Mo Ling vibrated slightly in response.

They communicated with perfect understanding.

Shibeng seemed happy to lead them around, though his expression no longer betrayed any emotion.

He led Li Luo behind a cluster of hidden stone pillars. The bases of several pillars here were joined together in a natural formation.

A hidden entrance was nestled between the disc-shaped bases of the pillars; you would never find it unless you squeezed between them.

But that wasn’t all. The entrance led to a stone fissure that sloped downward. It was exceptionally dim, with only faint sunlight filtering in from above.

The fissure looked like an ordinary crevice in the rock, stretching down and out of sight.

But as they descended, the crevice gradually widened until it became as spacious as a grand avenue.

They continued downward until the fissure opened up, revealing a vast space before them.

Li Luo was about to take out a light source but stopped, mesmerized by the sight before him.

Many openings dotted the cavern ceiling, allowing shafts of light to pour down and illuminate the entire space.

Not only that, but the cavern walls were studded with colorful, glowing ores. These veins of ore, like rivers of light, reflected the sunbeams to every corner of the cave.

The stones had a vitreous luster in the sunlight, and their shifting colors decorated the once-dim cave in a magnificent display.

It was like a dream, as if someone had switched on strips of colored lights.

"That is fluorite," Shibeng explained, seeing Li Luo’s interest. "This kind of stone is all over the cavern. It’s everywhere."

Li Luo murmured, "Fluorite."

"That’s right," Shibeng nodded.

"The Fluorite Race are born from these veins. They are a common type of Mineral Race, and because they provide illumination, the rarer Mineral Races won’t destroy their veins."

’So that’s the reason,’ Mo Ling thought, looking at Shibeng’s eyes.

’It seems the Mineral Race needs light to survive, too.’

Mo Ling flew to the cavern wall and carefully observed the fluorite veins.

He discovered that the fluorite was exceptionally pure, its colors brilliant and translucent. This high purity was what made its fluorescence under the sunlight so pronounced.

’What a bizarre environment.’

When he was up on the surface, Mo Ling had occasionally seen flashes of light from fissures in the ground. He had assumed they were just cracks between rocks, never imagining that a whole new world lay hidden beneath them.

The space was so vast that Mo Ling’s field of vision couldn’t encompass it all. He had to move back and forth to observe everything within the cavern.

The ground was flat and spacious, with paths leading in all directions. It looked well-traveled, and the stone walls bore signs of having been worked, as if to widen the passages.

Every so often, the main passage would branch off into a fork, which in turn led to another giant cavern with an unknown destination.

’Without a guide, I’d definitely get lost in here,’ Mo Ling thought.

Shibeng, however, was very familiar with the area and began to explain the situation.

This cavern was originally a battlefield, but since the war died down, the area had become desolate and empty.

During times of peace, most of the Mineral Race stay within their own veins. These veins are well-hidden in the upper layers, deep inside the stone pillars, making them very difficult to find.

The ones found wandering outside are deserters, like Shibeng, or members of the Mineral Race who have been exiled due to the Heterovein Sickness.

Of course, they are few in number, which is why there are no other active members of the Mineral Race to be seen in these passages.

As he spoke, Shibeng led Li Luo deeper into the winding passages.