Lin Xia stopped in his tracks, his brows tightly furrowed. He crouched down, grabbed a handful of sand, and let it slip through his fingers like a stream of fine water.
"Trouble…"
Lin Xia muttered under his breath, his tone heavy.
"The ground below is filled with this kind of powdery sand. Its fluidity is too strong. Although Larvitar's Dig can temporarily solidify a tunnel, the sand here is far too loose. The soul power required to stabilize it would be enormous, and it probably wouldn't last long. Once we go deep underground and the stabilization fails, the tunnel would collapse instantly…"
Lin Xia recalled the stern warning from his teacher, Lou Gao.
"Xia, remember this! When working underground, especially in unstable geological environments, safety always comes first!"
"Soul power protection can block falling rocks, but it cannot withstand the suffocation and crushing pressure of countless grains of sand! Even a Title Douluo trapped deep underground may not escape unharmed!"
The cases Lou Gao had described, top-tier Soul Masters being buried alive, flashed through Lin Xia's mind, making him shiver involuntarily.
This seemingly harmless ocean of fine sand now looked to him like a giant maw devouring life.
Larvitar seemed to fully understand Lin Xia's concern.
It jumped out of his arms and landed steadily on the soft sand. Its short legs only sank slightly, its own weight and natural affinity with the earth made it far more composed here than Lin Xia.
It patted its chest, covered in dark molten armor, producing dull thudding sounds, then raised its head and let out a few short, firm cries.
"Lar! Larvitar!"
Lin Xia immediately understood its meaning.
"Let me go down! I can handle it!"
Looking into Larvitar's crimson eyes, which shone with confidence, Lin Xia fell into brief contemplation.
Indeed, Larvitar was no ordinary soul beast.
It was the juvenile form of Tyranitar, a creature said to be capable of devouring an entire mountain, a natural child of earth and stone.
Most of its life was meant to be spent deep underground, digging and consuming minerals.
In a sense, the underground was its true domain.
Its molten armor, strengthened by the Phoenix Divine Mark and tempered by the Sun Essence, possessed defensive power and environmental adaptability far beyond imagination.
Moreover there was an unbreakable connection between him and Larvitar.
If any uncontrollable danger arose underground, Lin Xia could instantly recall it into his martial soul space. That was their greatest safeguard.
"Alright!"
Lin Xia no longer hesitated. He nodded firmly, his gaze turning extremely serious.
"Larvitar, go down. But remember—safety comes first! If anything feels wrong, or anything you cannot control, stop digging immediately or call out to me. I will pull you back at once! Understood? Don't push yourself!"
"Larvitar!"
Larvitar once again slapped its chest armor firmly, producing a crisp sound. Its crimson eyes shone with a reliable expression that said, "Leave it to me!"
It took a deep breath. Its small body lowered slightly, and a steady, heavy earth-yellow glow radiated from within, covering its entire body.
With a low growl, Larvitar thrust its two molten-armored foreclaws deep into the powdery sand beneath its feet!
A surprising scene unfolded.
The powdery sand, which had previously flowed like liquid, seemed to be injected with some kind of solidifying agent the moment it came into contact with Larvitar's claw tips!
A thin layer of hardened crust, faintly gleaming with a rocky luster, rapidly spread outward from its claws, forming a temporary solid platform about one meter in diameter.
Immediately after, Larvitar's body spun like a high-speed drill. Using all four limbs in a smooth, flowing rhythm, it burrowed downward!
Its hardened molten claws easily broke through the temporarily solidified sand layer. Its small body was like a stone plunging into water, disappearing beneath the sand in an instant.
At the edge of the hole it had dug, the hardened crust held for only a few seconds before faint cracking sounds echoed under the immense pressure of the surrounding quicksand. It began to collapse and disintegrate.
Loose powdery sand quickly flowed back, burying the opening completely in the blink of an eye. All that remained was a shallow depression and faint spiral patterns formed by the shifting sand.
On the surface, there was no trace of Larvitar left, as if it had never existed at all.
Lin Xia's heart instantly leapt into his throat.
He immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and immersed all his spiritual power inward. Through the invisible connection of his martial soul, he focused entirely on sensing Larvitar's position, condition, and the vague information it transmitted back.
Darkness was the eternal theme underground.
But for Larvitar, it was no obstacle.
Its crimson eyes glowed faintly in the absolute darkness, like two small molten gemstones, enough to see its immediate surroundings.
More importantly, its perception had already merged with the earth itself.
Every time its claws pierced the sand, every subtle vibration caused by its movement through the tunnel spread outward like ripples, then reflected back clearly outlining the structure, density, and even tiny voids within several meters around it.
Its digging speed was extremely fast, yet remarkably cautious.
Each swing of its molten claws precisely struck weak points in the sand layer. The excavated sand was skillfully pressed against the tunnel walls behind it. Through the delicate use of the Sand Power ability, this sand was temporarily compacted and coated with a faint stabilizing energy, barely preventing the tunnel from collapsing immediately.
But this consumed significant energy. It had to keep moving forward, carving out new safe space before the stabilizing force dissipated.
The deeper it went, the sand's moisture and cohesion increased slightly, while the pressure steadily intensified.
The powdery sand layer began to mix with small gravel, making excavation more difficult.
At the same time, the strange fluctuation attracting it became increasingly clear.
It was no longer the pure, stable energy radiation of a mineral vein.
Instead, it felt like a kind of… rhythmic pulsation?
At times faint like a distant heartbeat, at other times clearer—like the slow, deep breathing of some slumbering giant beast.
Within that pulsation was an ancient, heavy presence and even a faint, indescribable sense of order.
It was precisely this complex sensation, so different from a mineral vein, that had made it uncertain before.
Suddenly—
"Sha-sha-sha—!"
An ominous rustling sound came from a section of the tunnel wall above Larvitar, one it had just dug through not long ago!
The stabilizing energy had run out!
A large mass of powdery sand collapsed like a breached dam, instantly sealing off its retreat!
The surging sand carried immense force as it pressed down toward it!
"Larvitar!"
Larvitar reacted with lightning speed!
Instead of trying to resist the overwhelming force of nature, it instantly curled its body, turning its back, covered in hardened molten armor and marked with crimson-gold Phoenix Divine Patterns—upward. At the same time, its claws stabbed deeply into the still-stable sand walls on both sides to anchor itself!
BOOM!
A massive amount of sand poured down, slamming heavily onto its thick back armor!
A dull impact echoed through the underground.
The Phoenix Divine Mark on its back lit up faintly in response, dispersing and absorbing the force of the impact.
Although the blow forced its body to sink slightly and sand seeped into the gaps of its armor, it suffered no real harm.
It shook its head, scattering the sand from its body. Its crimson eyes grew even more alert.
The threat of quicksand truly lurked everywhere.
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