Chapter 8 — Buried Remnants
The faint traces of old mining tunnels led Hao Tian upward, winding through layers of cooled magma and jagged rock. The air, though thick with heat, felt easier to breathe than the furnace-like zones below. He could hear water dripping somewhere distant, echoing softly through the stone corridors.
Following the marks of ancient miners—scratched stone, piles of discarded debris, and occasional hollowed-out walls—he realized the tunnels had once been systematically dug, perhaps for fire veins or minor mineral deposits. The craftsmanship of the walls and ceiling was crude but deliberate, and the presence of occasional timber supports suggested the miners had not expected to encounter a sudden collapse or eruption.
After several hours of careful movement, Hao Tian stumbled upon his first sign of human remains. A skeleton lay slumped against the wall, a rotted helmet perched atop its skull. Its clothing had long since decayed, leaving only tattered fragments clinging to the bones. Dust coated every surface, but the heat made it almost shimmer, faint wisps rising as if the stones themselves were breathing.
Hao Tian knelt, careful not to disturb anything unnecessarily. The skull tilted slightly as he brushed away some debris. A faint crack across the collarbone hinted at a fall or impact, perhaps during a collapse. Nearby, a rusted dagger lay partially buried beneath a pile of rubble. Its blade was pitted with corrosion, but the balance seemed intact. He lifted it carefully, testing the weight and swing. Not perfect, but usable.
"This could be useful," he muttered. He placed it at his belt, alongside the pickaxe he had carried since entering the mine.
Moving further along the corridor, he found more skeletons—three more, seemingly miners or guards based on the fragments of armor and belts still clinging to their remains. One still clutched a spear, its shaft broken, tip long rusted. He carefully removed the spearhead, attaching it to a salvaged wooden shaft from the debris. It wasn't elegant, but it was solid. The dagger and spear would give him versatility in the battles to come, a precaution he now knew he needed more than ever.
The deeper he went, the more he realized the tunnels were labyrinthine. Some passages had partially collapsed, leaving sharp rubble to navigate. Small animals—scuttling cave rodents, insects—had made the area their home, and occasionally a faint flicker of heat reminded him of the fire veins still humming below.
And then he felt it—a subtle warmth, different from the surrounding heat of the mountain. It was faint, barely distinguishable from the lingering warmth of the stones, but Hao Tian had learned to trust his senses. The Nine Transformations Origin Flame pulsed softly, not actively tugging or guiding him, but he could feel the hint of energy lingering nearby. Something was here. Something unnatural.
He moved carefully, scanning the walls and the floor. His eyes caught a faint shimmer against the blackened stone. The subtle heat signature intensified slightly as he approached. There, partially embedded in a crevice, was a small cluster of fire crystals. Four pieces, irregular in shape, translucent and glowing faintly red-orange. They emitted a quiet warmth, almost as if breathing, and a delicate pulse of fire Qi rippled outward, detectable only by those sensitive enough—or those with a guiding flame like his Origin Flame.
Hao Tian's heart raced. The crystals were small, only slightly larger than his fist, but even at this size, they held concentrated fire energy. He could feel the potential in them—the heat radiated in gentle waves, not strong enough to burn, but enough to leave a lingering warmth on his fingers as he approached.
He assessed the situation. Collecting the crystals would be simple, if it weren't for the creature that now appeared from a side tunnel. A 7th-stage body-refining fire beast, a molten-scaled lizard nearly twice the size of the Fire Lurker he had faced before, slithered into the open. Its scales shimmered as though lava flowed beneath them, and its eyes burned with a cautious, calculating intelligence. Hao Tian realized immediately why the crystal vein had been untouched.
The beast wasn't guarding the crystals consciously. Its instincts, refined over its early body-refining cultivation, were enough to make it protective. The concentrated fire Qi was linked to its survival, feeding its latent potential should it reach the Qi Refining stage.
Hao Tian's mind raced. Confronting a 7th-stage beast directly was suicidal. Even with his newly raised body-refining cultivation, he was no match in a straight fight. He needed a plan—and quickly.
Scanning the cavern, he noticed loose stones, cracks in the walls, and a shallow stream leading away from the crystal vein. Inspiration struck.
He carefully picked up a small rock, tossing it into a shallow hollow near the far side of the cavern. The sound echoed sharply. The beast's head snapped toward the noise, nostrils flaring. Taking advantage of its distraction, Hao Tian slid quietly toward the first crystal, pressing it gently out of its crevice. Its warmth pulsed faintly against his palm.
He moved to the second, then the third, maintaining perfect control over his movements. When the beast lunged slightly, thinking it was investigating the noise, he stepped behind a jagged outcrop, slipping a small piece of broken stone into a pile of loose rocks. The cascading noise drew the beast further away.
Finally, he approached the fourth crystal, the largest of them all. Its heat was stronger, slightly more insistent, and Hao Tian had to move with extreme care. The creature, now mildly irritated, advanced toward him, sensing the disturbance in the energy of its territory. But he had already planned his escape route.
Sliding along a narrow side passage, he clutched the crystals to his chest. The beast, distracted by the noises he had created, hesitated at the tunnel entrance. Hao Tian allowed the slight gap between himself and the creature to grow, weaving through the uneven floor with agility, feeling the heat of the crystals mingling with the faint pull of his Origin Flame.
At last, he reached a wider, safer corridor. He stopped, panting, heart hammering. The beast remained behind, its body tense, but it had not followed him further. He exhaled, placing the four fire crystals carefully into his satchel, handling them with extreme care. Their heat radiated softly through the cloth, a subtle reminder of both their value and the danger that lingered nearby.
Hao Tian sat against the cavern wall, running a hand over his sweating face. His body was aching, but his mind felt sharper than ever. The lesson was clear: power alone wasn't enough; cunning, patience, and careful observation could make the difference between life and death.
He cataloged the crystals mentally—their quality, the slight impurities, the heat waves they emitted—and tucked them safely. If refined and handled properly, each could be worth ten copper coins or more, making them invaluable not just as cultivation resources but as potential currency for supplies once he returned to the surface.
Even as he rested, the subtle pulse of the Origin Flame within him remained. It did not interfere with his thoughts or movements, but the quiet warmth reminded him that this was only the beginning. The spiritual flame seed he had discovered earlier had been a blessing, and these fire crystals were a step toward understanding just how much the underground mountain still had to offer.
And yet, he could feel that something far greater waited deeper, hidden beneath layers of stone and heat, a treasure that even the faint pull of the Origin Flame only hinted at.
For now, however, survival and careful acquisition of resources were paramount. The mountain would not be conquered in a single day, and Hao Tian had learned well that patience, observation, and calculated risk were more valuable than reckless greed.
Hao Tian did not linger near the fire crystal vein.
He understood very well that although the 7th-stage body-refining beast had been temporarily fooled, it was only a matter of time before it realized something was wrong. Once it noticed the loss of the crystals, the creature would likely scour every nearby tunnel in a rage.
Even if it did not, Hao Tian had no intention of testing his luck.
He tightened the straps of his satchel, checked that the four fire crystals were cushioned between layers of cloth and leather scraps, and quietly moved away from the cavern, retracing part of his path before deliberately choosing a different tunnel—one that followed the old mining traces upward.
The further he went, the clearer those traces became.
The tunnel walls were no longer purely natural. Tool marks appeared more frequently—straight lines, chiseled grooves, and wedge-shaped fractures left behind by human hands rather than the slow violence of magma and time. Occasionally, he even saw the remains of crude support structures, their wooden beams long since charred or rotted into fragile black husks.
The temperature, too, began to change.
It was still warm—this was, after all, the heart of a volcanic mountain—but the suffocating heat had faded into something more tolerable. The air flowed more freely, and sometimes he could even feel faint currents brushing against his skin.
"That means… I'm getting closer to the surface," Hao Tian murmured.
That realization gave him strength.
His body still ached from the previous battles and the strain of constant movement, but hope was a powerful thing. Every step forward now felt lighter, driven by the promise of escape rather than the fear of being buried alive.
Still, he did not lower his guard.
If anything, he became even more cautious.
The upper layers of such a mountain were often home to different kinds of creatures—some weaker, some faster, some far more cunning. And unlike the deep-dwelling beasts, which often relied on brute force and heat resistance, these creatures tended to hunt, ambush, and swarm.
He kept his pickaxe in his right hand and the salvaged spear in his left, moving slowly, listening to every sound.
That was why he noticed it.
A faint scraping noise.
Not stone shifting.
Not water dripping.
Something… rhythmic.
Hao Tian stopped.
He crouched slightly, holding his breath.
The sound came again—soft, deliberate, like claws brushing against rock.
He slowly leaned toward the tunnel wall and peered into a side passage.
At first, he saw nothing.
Then something moved.
A creature slithered partially into the light of the fire-vein glow.
It looked like a hybrid between a salamander and a centipede—about two meters long, with a low, elongated body, six short but powerful legs, and a segmented tail that ended in a hardened, bone-like spike. Its hide was a dull, ash-gray, mottled with faint red lines that glowed whenever it moved.
A Scoria Crawler.
Hao Tian recognized it from the bestiary sections of the old manuals he had skimmed in the town's small library.
A low-to-mid-tier fire-attribute beast.
Dangerous in groups.
Annoying alone.
This one, however, was alone.
And judging by the density of its aura…
"Fourth stage of Body Refining," Hao Tian judged silently.
He tightened his grip.
Before his recent breakthroughs, this would have been a life-threatening fight.
Even now, it would not be easy.
The Scoria Crawler's head tilted slightly, its tongue flicking out, tasting the air. Its small, ember-like eyes locked onto Hao Tian.
Then it attacked.
It did not roar.
It did not hesitate.
It simply lunged.
Fast.
Much faster than Hao Tian expected.
He barely managed to roll aside as the creature's hardened head slammed into the spot where he had been standing, cracking stone.
Before he could regain his footing, the segmented tail whipped toward him like a flail.
He raised the spear shaft horizontally.
CRACK!
The impact rattled his bones.
He was thrown back several steps, boots scraping against stone.
"So strong…" Hao Tian inhaled sharply.
The creature did not give him time to recover.
It charged again, this time hugging the ground, its legs pumping, its body weaving unpredictably.
Hao Tian forced himself to calm down.
Brute force would not win this.
He remembered how he had fought before.
Terrain.
Timing.
Precision.
He retreated deliberately toward a narrower section of the tunnel, where broken stones and jagged rock jutted from the walls.
The Scoria Crawler followed, confident, relentless.
When it lunged again, Hao Tian suddenly stopped retreating and stepped forward instead.
He slammed the pickaxe down toward its head.
The beast twisted, the blow glancing off its armored skull, but it still staggered slightly.
That was enough.
Hao Tian spun the spear and thrust it toward one of the glowing red lines along its side.
PCHI!
The spearhead pierced the hide.
The creature shrieked—a harsh, grinding sound—and thrashed violently.
Hao Tian was forced to let go or be dragged off his feet.
The Scoria Crawler retreated a few steps, blood—dark and steaming—dripping onto the stone.
But it was far from dead.
In fact, it seemed angrier.
It reared slightly, then slammed its tail into the ground.
Stone fragments exploded outward.
Hao Tian raised his arms, taking several cuts across his forearms and cheek.
Pain flared.
He gritted his teeth.
"Fine," he muttered. "Let's end this."
He picked up a jagged stone from the ground and threw it—not at the beast, but at a fragile-looking section of the tunnel wall behind it.
The stone struck.
The already-cracked rock collapsed.
Not enough to bury the creature—but enough to create dust, noise, and momentary confusion.
That was all Hao Tian needed.
He rushed in.
The pickaxe came down again and again, this time targeting the already wounded section.
CRACK! CRUNCH!
Finally, with a desperate thrust, he drove the spear into the creature's neck joint.
The Scoria Crawler convulsed.
Then went still.
Hao Tian stood there for several seconds, breathing heavily, waiting to make sure it was truly dead.
Only then did he slump against the wall.
"Still… too close," he said quietly.
As expected, the beast only had a pseudo-core—useless for now—but its hide and spike tail could still be sold or used later.
He took what he could carry and moved on.
The tunnel continued upward.
And then…
He saw it.
A faint, pale glow.
Not firelight.
Not reflected crystal light.
Real light.
Natural light.
Hao Tian's heart began to pound.
He broke into a hurried walk, then a cautious jog, following the bend in the tunnel until he reached a collapsed section of rock.
And beyond the cracks…
Blue.
Sky-blue.
Real daylight filtered through narrow gaps between fallen boulders and shattered stone.
He had found it.
An exit.
But his smile froze.
The collapse was massive.
Dozens of tons of rock.
Even with tools, even with time, even with his strengthened body…
He could not clear this alone.
He pressed his hand against the warm stone, staring at the thin beams of sunlight.
So close.
So close he could feel the breeze.
He closed his eyes.
Then slowly exhaled.
"It's fine," he said quietly. "I found it. That's enough."
He memorized the location.
Every turn.
Every slope.
Every crack.
Then he turned back into the mountain.
Not defeated.
Not desperate.
Just… determined.
Because now, he knew the way out.