"What’s an Energy Gemstone?" Flora Bloom asked, confused.

"It’s a special type of mineral vein that contains Fire Element Energy," Saul Sterling explained. "This particular one is extremely pure. We’re quite lucky to have found it here."

"Hey, Cynthia Grant! Could you try being a little more ladylike?"

Cynthia Grant suddenly whipped her head around, her face dark. "What’s it to you? I’ll do as I please, got a problem with that?"

"Everyone, look! There are so many more gemstones over here!" After hearing that the gemstone could help superpower users train, Shauna Wallace had started scanning the surrounding area.

The others turned to look and saw that next to the huge red gemstone, the ground was littered with colorful fragments.

The cave inside the hill strongly resembled the lair of some large animal. In one dim corner, illuminated by the massive red gemstone, an area of over forty to fifty square meters was completely covered in colorful gemstone fragments.

Calling them fragments was only fair in comparison to the massive red gemstone. Of these scattered, colorful gems, the smallest were the size of a quail’s egg, while the largest were bigger than a person’s head.

Lex Cross and Saul Sterling exchanged a bewildered glance.

Such a large quantity of Energy Gemstones, from all different elements and with such pure energy, was a rare sight even in their home, the Star Nation.

Across the universe, superpower users advanced very quickly in the early stages—much like the newly awakened users on Earth—as long as they had enough Zombie Crystal Cores to fuel their upgrades.

But once they surpassed the High-level threshold, further advancement became extremely difficult. That was why, generally, only major factions possessed experts who had broken past the High-level rank. The reason was simple: only they controlled Energy Gemstone mines.

Of course, the quality of these mines varied depending on the power and size of the faction that controlled them.

Yet even a family as powerful as Lex Cross’s only controlled two Energy Baryte mines, and the quality of the Energy Baryte they extracted was merely comparable to the gemstones before them now.

Cynthia Grant excitedly dove into a mountain-like pile of gemstones in the corner. "Whoa, I can feel it! My superpower is growing so fast! I... I... I... I..."

Suddenly, Cynthia Grant went silent, lying stunned and motionless in the pile of Crystal Stones. Five walked over and nudged her with a foot. "Hey, don’t go suffocating yourself in there!"

Cynthia Grant suddenly kipped up. "HAHAHA, I’m about to break through to the Middle Level!" Laughing wildly, she plopped right back down into the pile of Crystal Stones. "This stuff is incredible! If I just sit here a little longer, I’ll definitely break through to the Middle Level!"

Seeing this, Five and the others were tempted. They all found spots among the piles of gemstones, sat down, and closed their eyes to begin training. An opportunity like this was too good to pass up.

Lex Cross also sat down beside Flora Bloom, next to the giant red Energy Gemstone, and began to train.

Seeing everyone else hard at work absorbing energy from the Crystal Stones, Flora Bloom knew she couldn’t fall behind. She leaned against the red Energy Gemstone and started absorbing its power once more.

In just a few minutes, not only had her second superpower, the Fire Element, reached Level 3, but her Water Ability had also advanced to the Second Level of the Middle-Level rank.

The energy was so pure that upon entering her body, it automatically flowed into the vortex in her sea of consciousness to be absorbed by her two Crystal Cores. It was unlike the energy from Zombie Crystal Cores, which she had to consciously guide.

Suddenly, the Golden Crow’s urgent voice echoed through Flora Bloom’s mental link. "Master, run! I messed up!"

Flora Bloom’s heart skipped a beat. She snapped her eyes open and jumped to her feet. Not only could she hear the Golden Crow in her mind, but she could also hear its actual, child-like voice crying "Help!" getting closer and closer.

The cave began to shake, and rubble suddenly rained down from the ceiling.

"It’s the Golden Crow. That little rascal is in trouble again!" Flora Bloom frowned, her eyes fixed on the cave entrance. The Golden Crow’s tiny body was fleeing for its life, and behind it, a mass of fiery, glowing light swarmed, looking just like a cloud of fiery beetles in the night and illuminating the entire cavern.

Flora Bloom’s eye twitched. She quickly shouted for everyone to grab the gemstones on the ground, while she herself swept as many as she could into her storage space. The first thing she secured, of course, was the massive red Energy Gemstone.

"Golden Crow, what is that thing behind you!"

"No time to explain, Master, just run!"

Exasperated, Flora Bloom shouted, "Everyone, run! That damned Golden Crow has stirred up trouble again!"

Lex Cross glanced back at the swarm of flying insects that had instantly illuminated more than half the cavern, and his face fell. A shroud of black energy enveloped the group. "Run towards the wall! Now! Don’t look back!"

Flora Bloom had rarely seen such a grim expression on Lex Cross’s face. It meant the swarm of fiery beetle-like insects the Golden Crow had provoked was far more dangerous than she had anticipated.

"Cynthia, stop grabbing them! Your life is more important!" Flora Bloom shoved Cynthia Grant, who stumbled forward and was caught by Five. Without a word, Five grabbed Cynthia and pulled her to the front of the group.

As he ran, white energy emanated from Saul Sterling’s body. "Straight ahead! The exit is inside a wheel of light on the left, a thousand meters from here!"

The group sprinted. Annelise Locke, despite dragging a massive snake tail, showed no signs of slowing down. It hadn’t been many days since she’d first struggled to move with it, yet she could now outpace those running on two legs. The potential of a Beast Type, humanoid Serpent Woman was clearly immense.

"Master, wait for me! AHH! That hurts! Stop biting me, will you! Help me, Master!"

Exasperated, Flora Bloom glanced back at the Golden Crow as she ran, frantically layering water shields behind it.

When the fiery, glowing swarm of insects crashed into the shields, their advance seemed to slow for a moment. But each shield they hit was instantly evaporated, its Water Energy boiled away.

Seeing the Golden Crow pulling away, the insects didn’t give up. Instead, they grew even more agitated, chasing with greater ferocity and speed!

’Just what in the world did that Golden Crow do to make this furious swarm so relentless? They look dead set on devouring it whole.’

For superpower users like them, a thousand meters was no great distance. The group rounded a corner to the left and finally saw what Saul Sterling had described: a spinning, roulette-like object embedded in the stone wall.

The Crown Prince, the leopard cat, arrived first. He reached out, touched it, and vanished.

"Everyone, hurry! Touch the wheel of light to get teleported out!" The white light of Saul Sterling’s superpower was flickering weakly, a sign that he couldn’t hold on much longer. Using his ability on a spatial teleporter like this had clearly pushed him past his limits.

One by one, the others touched the wheel of light and vanished from the cave. Seeing the Golden Crow was now within arm’s reach behind her, Flora Bloom snatched it firmly in her hand. She and Lex Cross touched the wheel together and reappeared in the wetland park.

When everyone vanished, the swarm chasing the Golden Crow seemed completely unable to see the white wheel of light. They circled inside the dead-end passage for a long while before reluctantly flying away.

’Just as I thought. This wetland park is definitely connected to that forest dimension!’

Flora Bloom and the others were all gasping for breath. Some leaned against tree trunks, others collapsed onto the ground, resting and panting heavily with no regard for their appearance.

Lex Cross went to Flora Bloom’s side and gently touched her stomach. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern. "You’re pregnant. Won’t such a frantic chase cause any problems?"