Lou Gao sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
This kind of ore was one of the finest auxiliary materials for forging sharp weapons and sturdy armor—extremely valuable! And yet, he had completely failed to notice it before!
"Little fellow, that nose of yours… no, that perception of yours…"
Lou Gao stared at the Larvitar rubbing against Lin Xia's pant leg with smug delight, so shocked he was almost at a loss for words.
When Lin Xia saw this, he immediately asked, "Larvitar, how did you do that?"
After all, the mineral deposit was still buried underground, yet Larvitar could sense it—something it clearly couldn't do before!
Larvitar tilted its head as if thinking for a moment, then let out a few cries.
"Larvi, Larvitar!"
Hearing Larvitar's explanation, Lin Xia was instantly stunned.
Only then did Lin Xia truly realize that after devouring the Void Stone, Larvitar's perception of earth energy and mineral essence had risen to an utterly inconceivable level!
It wasn't just sensitive to top-tier spatial gems like Void Stones, its insight into ordinary yet precious metal deposits was equally astonishing. It could even penetrate layers of rock, sensing subtle differences in deep-seated energy!
This was practically a divine skill born for prospecting!
After this successful verification, Lin Xia directly explained the change to Lou Gao.
And after hearing it, Lou Gao completely changed his strategy.
He used the map only as a reference for overall direction, while entrusting the actual prospecting work entirely to Larvitar!
The little fellow had become a true "treasure-hunting radar."
Thus, over the month-long journey toward Norton Volcano, a remarkable sight emerged.
As the group followed their planned route, Larvitar would suddenly stop, its small nose twitching, crimson eyes locking onto some seemingly unremarkable mountain hollow, cliff face, or even a crack in the ground, excitedly crying out, "Larvitar!"
What followed was a storm of flying sand and shattered stone.
Every excavation was accompanied by Lou Gao's exclamations and Lin Xia's delighted smile.
The second discovery: inside a heavily weathered sandstone mountain, they dug out a small nest of extremely pure Stardust Silver Sand, containing gentle stellar power—an excellent material for crafting precision Soul Guidance circuits.
The third discovery: beneath what looked like a swampy wetland, after breaking through a hardened calcareous layer, they found a sizable reserve of Mystic Heavy Water Copper, a material capable of effectively channeling and stabilizing water- and ice-attribute Soul Power.
The fourth discovery: halfway up a barren blackstone mountain devoid of vegetation, Larvitar forcibly carved out a passage and uncovered a deeply buried Earthfire Flame Crystal vein. While its purity wasn't top-tier, its sheer quantity made up for it. The fire-attribute energy it contained made even Lin Xia feel his skin grow faintly warm, as if he were already sensing the breath of a volcano.
The fifth discovery came just three days ago, when they were crossing a dried ancient riverbed littered with massive cobblestones. Larvitar kept crying at an enormous, utterly unremarkable boulder.
Lin Xia and Lou Gao worked together to move it aside, revealing a naturally formed small crystal cavern beneath!
The cavern walls were covered with crystalline, translucent Voidlight Jade Marrow, emitting faint spatial fluctuations and a pure Soul Power glow!
Five entire mineral deposits!
Each different in type, each priceless beyond measure!
Every discovery made Lou Gao, the divine craftsman, so excited that his beard trembled as he shouted again and again, "Fortune! Truly heaven-sent fortune!"
These ores not only greatly enriched the Blacksmith Association's reserves, but many of their unique properties also gave him new and superior ideas for material selection in different parts of Soul Guidance mecha.
Lin Xia's spatial Soul Guidance Device ring was already stuffed full of mineral samples and selected raw ores of all sizes, each shimmering with different hues of treasure-light.
At this moment, they were standing at the entrance of the fifth deposit, the Voidlight Jade Marrow crystal cavern.
Larvitar used its little claws to scrape together the last scattered pieces of ore, pushing them to Lin Xia's feet as if presenting a treasure. Then it lifted its small head, its crimson eyes sparkling as it looked at Lin Xia. Its tail spun rapidly like a drill, and its throat rumbled with a satisfied yet expectant "grrr," its face clearly saying, "Praise me! Praise me!"
Looking at the greatest "contributor" of the past month, Lin Xia felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment and warmth well up in his heart.
Lin Xia crouched down, not stingy with his praise. Instead of simply patting it, he gently tapped Larvitar's cool, hard forehead armor with his knuckles, a gesture that signified special closeness and approval between them.
"Well done, Larvitar!"
Lin Xia's voice was filled with genuine admiration.
"That was amazing! Five mineral deposits! Your perception is simply unbelievable! Without you, we might not have found even one! You're the best treasure-hunting expert!"
As if performing a magic trick, Lin Xia pulled out a small piece of specially made energy biscuit mixed with a bit of Purple Lightning Iron powder from his pack and held it up to Larvitar's mouth.
This was a snack reward Lin Xia had made in spare moments along the way. It wasn't that he refused to give it raw ore—rather, Larvitar liked it much more when it was made into treats!
"Lar-vi~!"
Larvitar let out a satisfied cry tinged with a hint of coquettishness, clamping down on the biscuit in one bite. Crunch, crunch, it chewed happily, its big eyes squinting into blissful slits. Even the layer of black rock sheen covering its body, faintly glowing due to its excitement and the praise it had received, seemed to shine a little brighter.
Lou Gao stood to the side, watching this warm and deeply satisfying scene. While carefully placing the last few highest-quality pieces of Voidlight Jade Marrow into his own storage Soul Guidance Device, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.
Smoothing the beard that had been tousled by the wind, he looked at the mining site before them—once again completely "cleaned out" and laughed as he scolded.
"That little monster… following you is really a waste of its talent! If it specialized in prospecting, every mine owner on the entire continent would treat it like an honored ancestor!"
Lin Xia stood up, brushing the dust from his hands, and lifted the thoroughly satisfied Larvitar into his arms, his gaze turning southward.
After the continuous high-intensity digging and the exhilaration of repeated harvests, their original goal, the scorching lava of Norton Volcano and the temptation of possible top-tier fire-attribute ores, once again became irresistibly vivid.
"Teacher!"
A trace of barely concealed urgency entered Lin Xia's voice. His eyes were sharp as a hawk's, as if trying to pierce through layers of mountains.
"How far are we from Norton Volcano now?"
Hearing this, Lou Gao immediately reined in his smile and pulled out the animal-skin map from his robes, its surface polished smooth from constant handling and now marked with several new points.
His finger traced the winding route they had already traveled, finally stopping at a region marked in dark red, representing the Extreme Southern Volcanic Belt.
After carefully comparing the surrounding terrain, he lifted his head to glance at the sky and the faint yet unusual dark-red clouds lining the distant horizon.
"Almost there!"
Lou Gao's voice was firm and decisive, the fire belonging to an adventurer and forging fanatic reigniting in his eyes.
"Judging by the terrain and the signs, once we cross the next two mountain ridges and pass through a sulfur valley, it'll be at most… three to four days' journey! As long as—"
He paused, casting a helpless yet amused glance at the Larvitar in Lin Xia's arms.
"As long as our 'treasure-hunting radar' here doesn't get distracted halfway by some nice-smelling rock and delay the trip."
Larvitar seemed to understand and let out an indignant "Larvitar!" as it bumped its little head against Lin Xia's chin in protest.
I'm doing this for everyone's snacks and materials, okay?!
Lin Xia laughed and rubbed its small head.
"Alright, I know how capable you are. But there's something even tastier ahead."
He carefully set Larvitar down on the ground and patted its back armor.
"Destination: Norton Volcano. This time, we're speeding up! Larvitar, lead the way!"
"Larvitar——!!!"
Larvitar answered with soaring morale, its crimson eyes locking onto the south. Its short limbs erupted with strength utterly disproportionate to its size, and it shot forward like an arrow released from the bow, charging toward the mountain ridge ahead.
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