Lin Xia smiled as he gently soothed Larvitar. He then took out several pieces of high-grade purple lightning iron—each one crackling with especially active electric arcs—from his ring and placed them on the ground.
Larvitar immediately pounced on them. Despite already being stuffed, it hugged the largest chunk, opened its small mouth, revealed teeth harder than refined steel, and took a fierce bite.
Crack!
A sharp, crisp sound echoed through the cave.
"Zzzzt—!"
Streams of purple lightning burst from the shattered ore like tiny spirit serpents, drilling straight into Larvitar's body. They raced across its skin, flashing and fading as they coursed through it.
Yet even in this moment of excitement, Lin Xia did not forget Lou Gao, who stood quietly beside him.
Lou Gao's gaze—filled with amazement, satisfaction, and a hint of indulgence—remained fixed on Larvitar. That unreserved trust and support sent a warm current flowing through Lin Xia's heart.
Lin Xia knew all too well how tempting purple lightning iron was. As a rare lightning-attribute ore, it held irresistible appeal for a Divine Craftsman who had spent his entire life working with minerals and forging metal.
But monopolizing was never the path a disciple should take.
With that thought, Lin Xia made his decision.
The dark-silver storage soul tool on his left ring finger glimmered faintly. With a soft clatter, a small pile of ore appeared on the open ground by Lou Gao's feet—each piece radiating deep purple light, threads of lightning dancing across their surfaces.
They weren't the largest pieces, but their color was rich and their lightning-attribute fluctuations extremely active. They were clearly high-grade ores that Lin Xia had carefully selected.
"Master." Lin Xia looked up at Lou Gao, who was momentarily stunned, and smiled sincerely.
"Please take these. I have plenty stored away—more than enough for me and Larvitar to chew on for a long time. I don't need this small portion. You can use them for forging research, or distribute them to anyone in the association who needs them."
Lou Gao stared at the small pile of priceless purple lightning iron, then at Lin Xia's calm, open expression. An indescribable warmth surged through his heart.
This kid… clear-minded, grateful, and—most importantly—not greedy. In the face of such enormous value, he still knew how to share.
To Lou Gao, that temperament was far more precious than raw talent.
His thick brows lifted, the lines on his face smoothing out. Without any false politeness, he reached out and gave Lin Xia's shoulder a firm pat.
"Good kid! You've got a conscience—and you remember your master's craft. I won't lie, I really want this purple lightning iron. With it, I might be able to forge a few truly fine pieces!"
Lou Gao squatted down and deftly stored the ore into his own storage soul tool. His rough fingers brushed against the lightning dancing across the surface, his eyes burning with a craftsman's passion for top-tier materials.
Seeing that Lou Gao had accepted the ore, Lin Xia smiled and asked,
"Master, what about the resources you mentioned earlier? This purple lightning iron shouldn't count as part of that, right?"
Lou Gao straightened up, dusted off his hands, and looked deeper into the abandoned mine cave—toward the rock wall at the very end, where excavation had stopped before the collapse sealed it off.
The relaxed look on his face faded slightly, replaced by a hint of complicated nostalgia.
"The resources I mentioned before…"
As he spoke, Lou Gao walked over to the seemingly ordinary rock wall, its surface covered in dust and the marks of time.
He took a deep breath. Spirit power stirred around his body as he let out a low shout.
"Vajra Chisel!"
In an instant, dense, earth-yellow light gathered in his hands, extending outward. In the blink of an eye, it formed a massive chisel-shaped Tool Spirit with an ancient design, as though cast from refined gold, radiating an unstoppable sharpness.
The chisel's tip gleamed with cold light—it was Lou Gao's Tool Spirit, the Vajra Chisel.
"Hah!"
Lou Gao lowered his stance, planted his feet, and gripped the handle with both hands. His surging spirit power poured into the Tool Spirit like a raging river.
Without any fancy movement, he pressed the chisel tip against a seemingly solid seam in the rock wall and thrust forward with force.
Boom!
A deep, thunderous roar shook the mine cave, sending dust cascading down.
The rock wall shattered like a cracked eggshell, instantly opening an irregular hole nearly a meter wide.
Gravel and dust billowed out, revealing what lay hidden behind it.
Lin Xia stepped forward at once, peering inside by torchlight.
Beyond the opening was not a long tunnel, but a relatively small cavity—like a mineral pocket. Inside, piles of dark red ore reflected a muted metallic sheen.
"Red copper ore?" Lin Xia recognized it immediately. He had just read about it that morning in The Continental Basic Ore Illustrated Guide.
Red copper was a mid-grade, fairly common metal ore with good ductility and spirit conductivity. It was often used for ordinary soul tool casings and everyday metal items.
Its value… was nowhere near comparable to purple lightning iron.
"That's right—red copper ore." Lou Gao withdrew the Vajra Chisel, looking at the pile with a mix of regret and relief.
"When we last surveyed this place, what we found was the tail end of a small red copper vein. The reserves weren't large, and the purity was average. I'd planned to mine it to replenish the association's stores, but before I could act…"
He didn't finish the sentence, only shook his head. Then he turned back to Lin Xia with a relaxed smile and gestured toward the ore.
"There. That's the resource I mentioned. Not worth much—tasteless if you take it, a pity to throw away. But…"
Lou Gao deliberately dragged out his words, casting a teasing glance at Larvitar, which was still hugging its purple lightning iron and looking slightly dazed from the earlier explosion.
"For your little glutton, it's still ore. No matter how ordinary the energy is, it's better than chewing on plain rocks."
"Take it back as a dessert. It's good for grinding its teeth and filling its belly. Better than gnawing on the wall, right? Hahaha!"
"Lar?"
Larvitar seemed to understand the word dessert. Though still clutching the purple lightning iron, it curiously leaned forward, ruby eyes fixed on the dark red ore in the hole.
It twitched its nose as if sniffing—then a very clear look of disdain appeared on its face.
Mmm… bland taste. Weak energy. Nowhere near as good as the fragrant, tingly purple stone.
The little fellow promptly pulled its head back and returned its full attention to its purple lightning iron feast, tail flicking lazily as if to say: This kind of "dessert"? Not interested.
Seeing Larvitar's expression—clearly someone who had tasted luxury and could no longer settle for less—Lin Xia couldn't help but laugh.
Still, as his master said, even a mosquito's leg was meat. No matter how ordinary the red copper ore was, for Larvitar—who needed vast amounts of ore to grow—it was still a resource that added up over time.
"Master's right," Lin Xia said. "Larvitar, get to work!"