Chapter 9 — The Weight of Stone and Choice
The light vanished behind him as Hao Tian retreated.
Not suddenly. Not in panic. But step by careful step, backing away from the collapsed tunnel like a man who had just glimpsed hope—and seen it sealed shut by the mountain itself.
The rubble-filled passage lingered in his mind like an afterimage burned into his eyes. That thin blade of pale light filtering through the cracks. The faint hint of wind. The promise of the surface.
And the impossible wall of stone choking it.
He exhaled slowly, steadying his breathing.
"…Not yet," he muttered.
The mountain did not care about impatience.
He turned and walked back the way he came, following the dim fire-veins and the memory of his own footsteps. The tunnels felt different now—not endless, not suffocating, but… tense. Like a maze that knew he was close to leaving and did not intend to make it easy.
He did not go far before choosing a side passage and slipping into it.
This cavern was small, dry, and mostly stable. The ceiling was low but solid, the walls thick with dark stone instead of brittle ash or layered sediment. The air was warm but not choking. Most importantly, there were no visible beast tracks, no bones, no signs of recent activity.
Hao Tian sat down with his back to the wall and let out a long breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Only then did he feel how tired he truly was.
His body still ached from the earlier fight. His arms felt heavy. His ribs complained every time he shifted. But compared to the first days underground, this exhaustion was… different.
It was the exhaustion of someone who had survived.
He drank a little water, wiped the dust from his face, and closed his eyes for a moment.
The darkness behind his eyelids was calm.
But his mind was not.
That blocked tunnel… it was real. It wasn't a dead end. It was an exit that had been buried.
Which meant two things.
First: someone, long ago, had come this way from the surface.
Second: if that debris could be cleared…
He opened his eyes.
His gaze was steady.
"…I can get out."
The problem was the debris itself.
It wasn't just loose stones. It was a partial cave collapse. Broken rock slabs, compacted earth, chunks of hardened stone fused together by time, pressure, and heat. Even with tools, even with his current strength, digging through it alone would take weeks.
If the tunnel didn't collapse even further in the process.
He leaned his head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling.
There were other possibilities.
He could search for another exit.
This underground system was massive—ancient volcanic tunnels, old mining routes, natural caverns. If one path led up, others might too.
But that also meant…
More unknown beasts.
More dangerous zones.
More chances to die before finding anything.
He had survived this long through caution, not gambling.
Another option… was brute force.
He almost laughed at the thought.
Even if he spent days, even weeks, chipping away at the debris, his body would give out long before the mountain did. And every strike risked triggering another collapse that could bury him alive.
That left only one real possibility.
And it was a dangerous one.
His eyes slowly drifted toward the deeper tunnels—the direction where heat grew heavier, where the fire crystal vein lay, where a certain terrifying presence lingered.
The 7th stage body-refining beast.
That monster was strong.
Strong enough to protect a resource vein.
Strong enough that Hao Tian hadn't even considered fighting it.
But also…
Strong enough to move stone.
Strong enough to smash through debris that he could never hope to clear.
He sat in silence for a long time.
Using a beast.
Luring it.
Tricking it.
If he failed, he would die.
Not maybe.
Not possibly.
Certainly.
He exhaled.
"…But if I don't try, I'll die here anyway. Just slower."
The choice, in the end, was not between safe and dangerous.
It was between dangerous and impossible.
He closed his eyes and began to think.
Not wildly. Not emotionally.
Like a miner.
Like someone who had spent years judging stone, pressure, collapse patterns, fault lines.
The beast was territorial. It guarded the fire crystal vein because it was using the ambient fire Qi to prepare for a breakthrough. Which meant…
It wouldn't stray too far.
It would not abandon that place easily.
But beasts were still beasts.
They reacted to provocation.
To intrusion.
To pain.
If he could anger it enough… and then lead it…
His fingers tightened unconsciously.
He would need bait.
He would need distance.
He would need a path that let him run while forcing the beast to follow.
And he would need to survive long enough to reach the blocked tunnel.
Only then would the real gamble begin.
He opened his eyes and slowly stood.
"…First, I need to prepare."
Over the next stretch of time, Hao Tian moved carefully through nearby tunnels.
Not far.
Not deep.
He wasn't searching for treasure now.
He was searching for terrain.
He memorized turns. Narrow passages. Slopes. Collapsed areas. Stable stone. Fragile stone.
He tested rock with the end of his pickaxe, listening to the sound it made.
Hollow.
Solid.
Cracked.
Layered.
He noted everything.
He also found something else.
A narrow side passage filled with loose ash and brittle stone layers.
Unstable.
Very unstable.
If something heavy ran through it…
"…Good," he murmured.
He didn't smile.
He wasn't happy.
He was planning.
When he finally returned to his resting spot, his mind was clearer.
He ate a little meat from one pf the creatures he had slain previously, rested a little, and forced his breathing into a slow, even rhythm.
Then, he waited.
Not for hours.
Not for a day.
Just long enough for his body to settle, for his thoughts to sharpen, for the mountain to feel quiet again.
In the silence, something faint stirred within him.
Not a thought.
Not a voice.
Just a subtle, warm awareness.
The Origin Flame.
It did not pull.
It did not urge.
It simply existed, calm and steady, as if silently watching.
He did not rely on it.
This plan was his.
"…Just this once," he whispered. "Lend me a little luck."
He stood.
Checked his grip on the pickaxe.
Adjusted the crude dagger at his side.
And began walking.
The path toward the fire crystal vein felt heavier this time.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Every step reminded him that he was walking toward something that could kill him in seconds.
The air grew hotter.
The stone underfoot grew darker.
The faint, oppressive pressure returned.
He slowed his breathing.
Listened.
Then he felt it.
The ground-level vibration.
Heavy.
Slow.
Powerful.
The beast was there.
He did not approach openly.
He circled.
Moved through side tunnels.
Climbed a short rocky slope and peeked down.
And saw it.
The massive, flame-veined creature lay coiled near the crystal outcropping like a living furnace. Its breathing was slow, deep, each exhale accompanied by a faint shimmer of heat.
It looked… calm.
Too calm.
Hao Tian swallowed.
"…Sorry about this."
He picked up a fist-sized stone.
And threw it.
The stone struck the cavern wall.
Clack.
The beast's eyes snapped open.
Then Hao Tian threw another.
And another.
One struck the crystal wall.
Crack.
A small chip fell.
The temperature in the cavern spiked.
The beast rose.
Slowly.
Terribly.
It turned its head.
And saw him.
For one heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then—
The cavern shook.
Hao Tian ran.
He did not look back.
He did not hesitate.
He sprinted down the pre-chosen path, boots pounding stone, lungs burning.
Behind him—
A roar.
Not a sound.
A wave.
Heat slammed into his back like a hammer.
Stone shattered.
The beast charged.
Faster than he wanted to believe.
The tunnel narrowed.
He ducked, slid, nearly fell.
Claws scraped rock behind him.
The unstable passage was ahead.
He ran into it and felt the ground shift under his feet.
Good.
He smashed his pickaxe into the wall as he ran.
Crack.
Crack!
Chunks of stone fell.
Behind him, the beast barreled through.
The tunnel began to collapse.
Not fully.
Not enough to stop it.
But enough to slow it.
Enough to anger it even more.
Hao Tian burst out of the passage, lungs screaming.
The blocked tunnel was ahead.
The light.
The debris.
He ran straight toward it.
At the last moment, he leapt aside.
The beast did not.
It slammed into the collapsed passage.
The mountain shook.
Stone exploded.
A thunderous crash echoed through the tunnels.
Hao Tian rolled, slammed into the wall, and lay there gasping.
Dust filled the air.
He could barely see.
But he could hear it.
The beast roaring.
The sound of stone breaking.
The sound of something enormous tearing through the debris he could never move himself.
He did not stay.
He forced himself up.
Ran.
And did not stop.
Not until his lungs felt like fire and his legs threatened to collapse.
He did not know if it worked.
He did not know if the tunnel was clear.
He only knew one thing.
He had made his choice.
And now, the mountain would answer it...