Chapter 368: Chapter 253: Earth Pivot World Record’s Second Form, Obsidian Ore Vein
By around four in the afternoon, Li Xiang had taken out a total of nine Bat Caves, large and small, causing nine suspected earthquakes of corresponding sizes. The local residents were on edge, and some with a stronger sense of caution had already evacuated to safer areas.
However, many people weren’t concerned. In a country like Japan, where geological disasters are frequent, tremors of this intensity were hardly a big deal.
After all, the saying went: small quake, no need to run; big quake, can’t run.
Li Xiang was oblivious to all this. It wasn’t like he was doing it on purpose; he was just lost in the thrill of "collapsing" one cave after another, harvesting Achievement Points and Spiritual Medicine, and having the time of his life.
Sometimes, he felt the destruction wasn’t intense enough and would repeat the process several times, fearing that some bats might have survived. He was a Mountain God within the earth!
Besides, the epicenter was far enough away that the tremors couldn’t possibly hurt anyone; they weren’t even strong enough to knock a glass of water off a table.
Furthermore, with all the ruckus he was causing, Mount Fuji’s crater wasn’t even perfectly round anymore.
Mount Fuji used to be stunningly beautiful from afar, but now it looked somewhat lopsided. If you looked from just the right angle, you could even see that the once-round crater now seemed to be missing a piece.
What a pity for one of the world’s most scenic mountains to be ruined by him. But Li Xiang didn’t care. Once the Apocalypse came, countless famous landscapes would be gone forever anyway.
’Earth Pivot World Record, second form, time for an upgrade!’ Looking at the more than 1.3 million Achievement Points he’d harvested in less than a day, Li Xiang couldn’t help but flash a brilliant smile.
When he poured his massive amount of Achievement Points into the Golden Threaded Great Lifebound Rune, it immediately grew slightly larger, and its golden light shone even more brilliantly. The power of his various Earth Superpowers was also enhanced or evolved, leading to more intricate and profound variations.
His Earth Vein Perception Ability, which originally had a range of only a few hundred meters, now extended to over two thousand meters.
In other words, he had a clear, unobstructed view of everything within a two- to three-thousand-meter radius around him.
The Quicksand Technique, which originally had a diameter of three to four meters, expanded to over ten meters.
The Rock Armor Technique upgraded into "Crystal Vein Armor." Previously, the Rock Armor Technique was a crude application of adding Armor to himself or to structures. Now that it had evolved into Crystal Vein Armor, it was far more refined. It also gained a new ability: he could now extract the essence of ore veins, compressing and condensing it into unique Crystal Armor or weapons with a hardness comparable to superalloys. There was even a chance to create Extraordinary Spirit Armor or Spiritual Soldiers.
He tested it a few times using the surrounding rock, but perhaps because the stone was too ordinary, the quality of the resulting armor and weapons was merely average. He created over twenty pieces, but not a single one was an Extraordinary Item.
Non-Extraordinary Items were worth far less. Their defensive capabilities weren’t much better than a heavy-duty bulletproof vest, and they were extremely cumbersome.
He suddenly remembered the many Jadeite Rough Stones he had in his storage.
Jadeite was relatively precious, after all. Its quality far surpassed that of ordinary stone, and it was a type of ore vein. So, Li Xiang tried again. After creating dozens of pieces of Crystal Armor and weapons, he finally succeeded with one.
It was a set of Tier Four Extraordinary Battle Armor made of jadeite. Since it was condensed from jadeite—with several parts even being of "glassy imperial green" quality (the kind that is green through and through) and plenty of "icy, fully green" sections—its looks alone, forgetting its Defense Attribute for a moment, suggested it wasn’t meant for combat. It was a work of art, or perhaps ceremonial dress.
Wearing it into battle would be ridiculously flashy, and it would be a magnet for enemy fire. It was probably only suitable for specific occasions, as ceremonial Battle Armor.
If this Armor were put up for auction, it could likely fetch a staggering price of tens, or even hundreds, of billions.
But it most likely wouldn’t sell. Its value was too high, and there would be very few buyers.
Besides, Chinese men were unlikely buyers; no man wants to be decked out in green.
Some young women, on the other hand, didn’t mind at all; you could often see fashionable girls on the street wearing green clothes and even green hats.
Although Li Xiang had plenty of jadeite, the success rate for creating Extraordinary Armor or weapons was too low. He wasn’t about to waste it like this, so he stopped trying.
Aside from the Superpowers already mentioned, a rising tide lifted all boats, and his other Earth Superpowers were enhanced as well.
His Earth Escape Technique was naturally enhanced as well. Before, he could travel nearly two hundred kilometers in an hour; now he could cover four to five hundred.
Li Xiang entered the main peak of Mount Fuji and sank deep into the earth.
Along the way, he discovered another three Bat Caves and annihilated them one by one.
As he sank to a depth of five to six hundred meters below sea level, fluorescent blue ferns suddenly appeared in the rock crevices.
These relict species, born during the Quaternary period’s ice age, had leaves covered in silica crystal scales that absorbed geothermal heat. He’d seen them before in some of the Bat Caves. ’This plant is pretty useful,’ Li Xiang thought. ’I could plant a moderate amount in my future underground base. For one, it would keep the underground from being so dark. For another, it could help sustain the ecology, providing oxygen and food for animals as part of the ecosystem.’
This kind of plant existed back in China, too, so there was no need to collect any samples here.
After passing through a zeolite belt, the Basalt gradually changed into an inky, glass-like substance. Li Xiang had his Night Vision Superpower and Earth Vein Perception Ability, and he’d also learned a bit about ore veins from Jiang Cai’Er. He immediately knew this was likely a rather precious type of Stone, but he couldn’t identify what it was.
He took a high-powered flashlight from his system’s storage and shone it on the Ore.
Under the intense beam, the surrounding walls of Ore instantly refracted countless rainbow-hued halos.
’Could this be an Obsidian Ore Vein of extremely high purity?’
Li Xiang was overjoyed. Obsidian is a black Gemstone, a type of volcanic rock used in many religions and myths. It was considered a material with mystical Attributes. For example, the Magic Blades of priests in some religions were forged from Obsidian.
