"This was also a battlefield from the great war," Shibeng said, casually pointing to an open area.

The ground was littered with all sorts of shattered stones—apparently the remains of Mineral Race members who had fought here.

Even the adjacent stone walls were studded with jagged, crystalline spikes of all colors, creating a bizarre sight.

Some of these spikes even emitted a faint glow, dotting the passage like brilliant streetlights.

’In the eyes of the Mineral Race, these are probably just scattered limbs, right?’ Mo Ling thought, then glanced at Shibeng.

Shibeng, however, remained expressionless, seemingly unfazed by the remnants of war.

’He’s not scared at all?’

Humans would surely recoil from a place littered with the remains of their own kind, but the Mineral Race seemed to have no such concept.

As they continued forward, Shibeng said to Li Luo, "We’re almost there. Ahead is a Quartz Race mining outpost. There are a lot of them in the Thorn Stone Forest, so we can’t bypass this outpost. We have to go through it."

"Are they hostile to humans?" Li Luo asked, a little worried.

"No. It’s very rare to find any Mineral Race hostile to humans inside the Thorn Stone Forest, regardless of their faction," Shibeng replied.

But then he pointed to Block and added, "However, they might think this friend of ours has Abnormal Vein Disease, just like I did."

’That’s going to be a pain,’ Mo Ling thought.

’Surely we don’t have to let every single one of them rub against it like before, right?’

Fortunately, Shibeng said he would help explain and told them not to worry. With that, he started walking ahead.

It wasn’t long before they entered a vast cavern. The debris of war was gone, and the ground here was completely clean.

Like a giant tree, an immense quartz vein hung inverted from the ceiling, growing downward from a towering stone pillar.

Countless thick branches plunged into the ground, rooting themselves deep within the earth.

A network of solutional caves formed channels along the vein’s edge, leaving behind a spiderweb of stone pillars that stretched from the cavern walls to the vein, providing support.

These support pillars above also served as bridges, connecting everything in an intricate, accessible network—a work of divine craftsmanship.

An ant nest—that was the only comparison Mo Ling could think of upon seeing the mining outpost.

It looked perfectly natural, yet it possessed the meticulous and ingenious touch of artificial construction.

’It seems that wherever there are intelligent beings, the fruits of civilization are sure to follow. To think so many wonders were hidden beneath the desolate Thorn Stone Forest.’

’How marvelous.’

Mo Ling and Li Luo were both stunned into place by the sight of the vein.

Shibeng stood silently beside them, also gazing up at the vein, his expressionless face betraying no thoughts.

Soon, a Quartz Race Guard approached. To Mo Ling’s surprise, security at the mining outpost was not tight at all.

The Quartz Race member simply came over, exchanged a few words with Shibeng, and left. They seemed incredibly relaxed.

There wasn’t much Mineral Race activity around the base of the outpost, but Mo Ling did notice many motionless Quartz Race members on the stone bridges near the vein.

They all had a vacant look, like stone statues staring blankly ahead.

Some were even lying down, their four arms spread out, completely lifeless, like carelessly discarded toys.

Utterly lifeless.

The contrast was stark. Suddenly, Shibeng’s cold demeanor seemed to have a bit of humanity to it.

’I had assumed the mining outpost would be something like a military installation—heavily guarded, difficult to pass through, and that they might even give us a hard time.’

’I never expected it to be like this.’

Shibeng didn’t linger. After speaking with the Quartz Race Guard, he prepared to move on.

But just then, a deafening clang of metal and stone reverberated through the outpost.

HUUUMMMMMMMMM...

The tremendous sound echoed through the vast outpost, creating endless reverberations. It was so intense it felt as if his very organs were vibrating, his skeleton going numb. It was enough to feel like his brain was being shaken loose.

Thankfully, the dizzying sound lasted only a moment before gradually subsiding.

’What’s happening?’

Mo Ling quickly looked at Shibeng and saw that fearful expression had returned to his face.

’Did something terrifying just happen? It’s stirred up Shibeng’s fear again.’

Mo Ling immediately immersed himself in Block’s field of vision, warily observing his surroundings.

Before long, a group of Quartz Race members had surrounded Mo Ling and the others.

It was the same group that had been lying around lifelessly on the vein earlier. Now, their faces were masks of terror, and ripples undulated across their bodies.

Where before they were like lifeless statues, they now trembled all over, a faint sound emanating from all of them at once.

’Was that clang of metal and stone just now their resonance?’ A guess formed in Mo Ling’s mind.

Sure enough, as soon as they saw Block, that sound began to emanate from them again, passing from one member to the next.

’Are they misunderstanding me again?’ Mo Ling felt a sense of helplessness.

As expected, the Quartz Race members surrounding them pointed at Block and cried out in fear, "There! Abnormal Vein Disease!"

They looked like they wanted to get closer, yet their faces were filled with apprehension.

Mo Ling had Block fly a short distance, and the edge of the encircling group shifted along with it.

The reaction from these Quartz Race members was exactly the same as Shibeng’s had been.

’It seems Abnormal Vein Disease really is a terrifying thing to them.’ Mo Ling stopped his little experiment, worried the group of Quartz Race members might do something drastic.

Shibeng, however, was calm. He unhurriedly explained the situation to the surrounding Quartz Race and then waved at Block.

Once Mo Ling maneuvered Block closer, Shibeng placed his hand directly on it, right before the astonished eyes of the Quartz Race.

After a moment, he raised his hand and showed it to them.

To make sure they believed him, Shibeng repeated the demonstration several more times, even rubbing other parts of his body against Block.

This time, he even walked up to the Quartz Race members to show them the spots where he had touched Block.

At first, the Quartz Race members shied away, not daring to let Shibeng get near. But after a little while, they saw that he wasn’t undergoing any strange transformation and began to slowly accept the situation.

The moment Shibeng had waved at him, Mo Ling understood his idea.

’The only way to prove to these Quartz Race members that it wasn’t Abnormal Vein Disease was through a live demonstration.’

After this whole performance, the Quartz Race finally lowered their guard, but the faint resonant hum from their bodies still hadn’t stopped.

Finally, a bolder member of the Quartz Race approached Block, tapped it lightly with a finger, waited for a moment, and then returned to his companions.

Murmurs began to spread among the Quartz Race.

"It’s not here! This isn’t the Abnormal Vein Disease! It’s somewhere else! Go find it!"

Hearing the content of their conversation, Mo Ling was a little surprised.

’Somewhere else?’

’Perhaps this isn’t just a simple misunderstanding.’