The four towering figures quickly disappeared down the corridor, their heavy footsteps gradually fading away. The room finally returned to silence.
Lin Xia stood at the doorway, holding the pile of brand-new daily necessities, gazing in the direction his Senior Brothers had left. A smile unconsciously curved his lips.
Larvitar also relaxed. It rubbed its small head against Lin Xia's calf and let out a soft "yu ji", as if saying—
Those big guys seem pretty nice?
Lin Xia closed the door and immediately began tidying up.
He spread out the thick cotton quilt that carried the scent of sunlight, changed the sheets and pillowcases, neatly placed the toiletries on the washstand, and folded the new clothes into the wardrobe.
Under his hands, the room was quickly refreshed, filled with a warm, homely atmosphere.
Once everything was done, Lin Xia sat down at the table. With a slight stir of thought, he took out dozens of pieces of Mithril Ore from the spatial soul tool ring Lou Gao had given him.
These weren't large chunks, but compact blocks formed from fine metallic sand. They shimmered with a soft silver glow, cool to the touch, and emitted pure, refined metallic energy.
Lin Xia picked up a piece of Mithril Ore and popped it straight into his mouth.
Crunch.
The crisp sound echoed in the quiet room. He chewed slowly, feeling the pure metal energy melt on his tongue, flow down his throat, and spread into his limbs and bones, nourishing both his spirit power and physical body.
At the same time, he opened one of the books Lou Gao had given him and began reading intently under the sunlight streaming in through the window.
Meanwhile, Larvitar froze the instant it saw the small pile of dazzling, silver-shimmering Mithril Ore appear on the table.
Its ruby-like eyes exploded with unprecedented brilliance.
"Yo—ji!!!"
A cry filled with pure shock and joy pierced the stillness of the room!
Like an arrow loosed from a bow, Larvitar leaped onto the table. Its short claws moved so fast they were almost impossible to see as it grabbed the Mithril Ore and stuffed it into its mouth at a frantic pace.
"Crunch crunch crunch—! Gulp gulp gulp—!"
Its little head became a blur, cheeks puffing out until they nearly split its gray-green face. Its throat let out extremely satisfied "mm-mm" sounds, its eyes squinting into happy crescents, its tail wagging so hard it thumped loudly against the table.
It ate like a glutton who had starved for centuries and suddenly stumbled upon an imperial feast—every bite full of resentment and compensation for the past half month of gnawing on nothing but ordinary rocks.
The cool, pure energy of the Mithril Ore spread through its body, making every scale feel like it was cheering.
Lin Xia lifted his head from the book, looking at Larvitar's "starving ghost reincarnated" performance. His mouth twitched, torn between laughter and affection.
This little guy had followed him through mountains and wilderness ever since its Spirit awakened. The best thing it had ever eaten was a bit of Iron Ore. How could it not lose its mind over something like this?
Lin Xia shook his head helplessly, watching Larvitar sweep the table clean of dozens of Mithril Ore pieces in the blink of an eye. Even after the pile vanished, it kept pawing at the tabletop, as if afraid it had missed something.
With a silent sigh, Lin Xia tapped the spatial soul tool ring lightly.
Whoosh—
Another pile of Mithril Ore of the same size appeared on the table, instantly filling the empty space.
"Eat slowly. There's plenty."
Smiling, Lin Xia watched Larvitar pounce joyfully onto the new pile. He also picked up another piece of Mithril Ore for himself.
Time slipped by quietly.
About half an hour later, the familiar crunching sounds suddenly stopped.
Lin Xia instinctively looked over, only to see Larvitar hop lightly down from the table.
Instead of collapsing contentedly or wandering around as it usually did after eating its fill, the little fellow walked straight over to Lin Xia. It raised one gray-green claw and tugged gently—but insistently—at Lin Xia's pant leg.
Lin Xia's concentration broke, but he felt no irritation. He put down his book and looked down, asking softly,
"Larvitar? What's wrong? Are you full?"
"You ji! You ji you ji!"
Larvitar chirped excitedly. First, it pointed emphatically at its round little belly. Then it pointed toward the closed door and the courtyard outside, eyes sparkling with impatience and excitement.
Immediately after, it wrapped both small claws around Lin Xia's pant leg and leaned back, trying to drag him along as if it wanted to pull him outside right away.
"Hm?"
Lin Xia was startled by this unusual behavior.
But seeing the intense excitement in Larvitar's ruby eyes, a thought struck him like lightning.
He crouched down, bringing himself level with Larvitar, his eyes lighting up with sudden shock and joy.
"Larvitar… did you learn a new Move?!"
"You ji!"
Larvitar nodded vigorously, its blunt little horns bobbing up and down in absolute confirmation.
Letting go of Lin Xia's pant leg, it bounced in place twice, then pointed urgently toward the door again, letting out a soft, urging whine.
"Really?!"
Lin Xia's joy exploded instantly. A bright smile spread across his face as he stood up.
"Let's go! Hurry—show me!"
With permission granted, Larvitar shot toward the door like a gray-green arrow. Using its claws, it deftly pushed the slightly ajar door open and dashed into the backyard.
Lin Xia followed close behind, his heartbeat quickening with anticipation.
Larvitar didn't run around randomly. Its small nose twitched as if searching for the perfect spot.
Soon, it locked onto a relatively open patch of ground in the corner of the courtyard—just dirt and stubborn weeds, no fragile flowers in sight.
It turned back and called out "you ji" to Lin Xia, signaling him to watch closely.
Lin Xia held his breath, eyes fixed on Larvitar.
The little fellow lowered its body slightly. An invisible energy ripple spread outward from its small form.
In the next instant, its short front claws and the gray-green armored head both lit up with a concentrated layer of earthy yellow light—dense, heavy, and sharp.
It felt as if earth energy itself was being compressed into a single point.
Then Larvitar moved.
In a blur of motion, its entire body spun like a high-speed drill and plunged headfirst into the ground beneath its feet.
Puff—whoosh!
There was no violent impact, no flying dirt.
The moment Larvitar's glowing head and claws touched the soil, the solid earth seemed to turn into soft quicksand, parting effortlessly.
In the blink of an eye, a perfectly round hole—nearly half a meter wide, its edges smooth and clean—appeared before Lin Xia's eyes.
The displaced soil seemed to be instantly compressed into the surrounding walls by some unseen force. The entire process was unbelievably smooth.
Only a faint earthy yellow glow and wisps of soil-scented air lingered around the opening.
"This… what is this?!"
Lin Xia stared wide-eyed, disbelief written all over his face.