Although Vaan had already absorbed mana equal to an Early-stage Senior Witch, the accumulated amount in his Upper Dantian was less than a Peak-stage True Witch.
However, that didn't mean he lost a portion of the mana.
As the nebulous cloud of mana followed the cosmic flow in Vaan's Upper Dantian, it continuously refined itself into higher-quality refined mana, strengthening the magic power.
Thus, even if he only had the mana supply of Peak-stage True Witch, its output was equivalent to an Early-stage Senior Witch—or possibly even stronger.
However, this was only the initial result of Vaan's short cultivation.
His magic power would keep increasing as he continued refining nebulous mana clouds and strengthening his mana core. And the stronger his mana core became, the faster the refinement and recovery of mana.
In other words, the gap between Vaan and other wizards and witches at the same rank would only widen over time.
If there were only one downside to Vaan's seemingly powerful mana cultivation, it would be the difficulty and mana demand.
The difficulty and demand for mana would increase exponentially with every advancement.
However, Vaan believed this was an acceptable price.
If he wanted to become the strongest, a mighty being that could no longer be threatened and stepped on by others, knowing the path was not enough. He had to put in more hard work than anyone else. Naturally, he would also require more resources than anyone else.
This power-hungry path pursued the absolute peak of magic and truth. All obstacles in the way would and had to be crushed.
Just by looking at the solidifying core at the center of the Upper Dantian, it was like a black hole, greedily and endlessly devouring everything around it and turning them into power it could use.
'An insatiable appetite for power, and ambition as grand as the universe… This is the path of the warlock,' Vaan's eyes flickered with an unfathomable glint.
Since he didn't trade his manhood for the ability to cultivate magic, he naturally needed a different name from the wizards, lest it invite misunderstandings.
Nevertheless, after Vaan stabilized his mana cultivation at the Peak-stage True Warlock rank, he ended his cultivation and didn't continue further.
So long as Vaan had the dark underground space to himself, there would be plenty of chances to cultivate his magic.
However, it wasn't the purpose of his trip.
'This underground space is rather vast. I wonder how far it extends,' Vaan glanced around as he resumed his investigation.
When he spread out his Omni-Sense, the end of the underground cave could not be seen.
And when it seeped through the ceiling… Well, there was no need to consider the ceiling for the time being. The enormous dimensional crack completely covered the underground cave's ceiling.
Naturally, Vaan wouldn't be able to discover the surface even if he sent his Omni-Sense past it.
He would only see the surface of the moon.
Still, it didn't change the fact that the underground space was incomparably vast and possibly very deep as well.
Judging by the rock formations and overall layout of the underground space, Vaan concluded the place had either existed for a very long time or been formed over such a period.
There were no signs of life or any traces of their visit – This remained true as Vaan explored the vast underground space.
However, the gentle breeze flowing through the vast underground space suggested a high possibility of an existing opening. And if there was an opening, it implied there was a way into the underground space from the outside world.
Of course, there was also a low chance that the soft breeze didn't come from an opening but a natural wind-type oddity that formed within the underground cave.
Either way, Vaan made it the direction of his investigation.
Still, the potential opening or wind-type treasure wasn't the sole reason for his choice of direction. The subtle echo of dripping water also came from the same direction.
Although Vaan couldn't see the ceiling, the underground space was similar to the one in the Blackmoon Region, albeit on a far grander scale. Even so, that was more than enough to excite him regarding his potential discovery.
As the source of the dripping water became clearer over time, Vaan started to see more stalagmite formations in the vast underground space.
Eventually, Vaan finally reached the edge of the dimensional crack that hung above his head. As such, it no longer obstructed his Omni-Sense from seeing past the underground ceiling.
However, just as he suspected much earlier, the underground space was incredibly deep under the earth.
The surface was outside of the detection range of his Omni-Sense.
Nevertheless, Vaan didn't dwell on it and continued to follow the direction of the dripping water and gentle breeze.
The closer he got to the source, the more stalactite and stalagmite he found.
However, the more interesting point Vaan noticed about the hanging stalactites was the direction of their formation. Their tips didn't point directly down but were on an angle, pointing diagonally in a particular direction.
As Vaan observed more such tilted stalactites on the ceiling, he found out they collectively created a spiraling cone-like formation.
In other words, there was a single point where the tips of these several hundred thousands of tiled stalactites intersected.
There were all pointed to one single, very specific location.
If Vaan wasn't wrong, that specific location was also where all the dripping water gathered and accumulated over the years.
Although the formation of stalactites was extremely rare and unheard of, Vaan could only consider it possible because it was in Chaos.
Since Chaos was a world that the will of the mighty could freely change, the only thing that made sense in Chaos was that nothing could make sense.
However, even if the stalactites' spiral cone formation might have formed naturally in Chaos, it was also the only point of interest he had discovered to be unnatural thus far.
As such, Vaan couldn't help but feel more vigilant and swept the area with Omni-Sense several times as a precaution against hidden dangers. Alas, he still didn't find anything remotely threatening.
Even so, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong.
Either way, Vaan still decided to take the risk to explore the area.
'If the dripping water source is what I think it is, the risk is worth it,' Vaan thought as he ventured deeper and deeper into the underground space.
Before long, Vaan reached the source of the dripping water sound. A large white lake could be found straight ahead. Above it, the spiral cone formation of stalactites pointed down at it like an inverted pyramid.
The occasional drops of white liquid from the tip caused splashes in the white lake.
Although the droplets of white liquid generated some subtle shifts in the wind with its splashes, it was not the source of the soft breeze in the underground space.
As such, the possibility of the opening wasn't gone.
It still existed.
However, that was the least of Vaan's concerns at present. His eyes lit up the moment they landed on the white lake.
'Stalactite Milk!' Vaan rejoiced.
Just as he had anticipated, the underground space had Stalactite Milk.
Furthermore, it wasn't just a pond of Stalactite Milk but an entire lake of it! And most importantly, its age and potency were far greater than ten thousand years!
Even Vaan could not accurately guess the Stalactite Milk's age at a glance.
However, he was confident it was at least over a hundred thousand years. Such potency and amount were more than enough to raise his Earth Spirit Body to the next level.
In fact, the Stalactite Milk Lake was far too much for one person's usage.
Vaan could create a whole army of genius earth-attribute witches with the Stalactite Milk Lake if he so chooses to.
Still, that was something he would consider another time.
Without further adieu, Vaan created a large spatial portal and drained the Stalactite Milk Lake into his Heaven-Swallowing Space.
"This whole trip has been incredibly fruitful," Vaan grinned.
After acquiring the azure crystals and lake of Stalactite Milk, Vaan could be considered extremely wealthy.
In fact, he could already be considered the wealthiest person in Pangea.
If he put a small bottle of the hundred-thousand-year Stalactite Milk up for auction, all the influential and wealthy figures in the world would raise a storm fighting over it.
That was how valuable Vaan saw the Stalactite Milk.
"Such a precious resource… The potency of this Stalactite Milk is enough for regular people to call it an elixir from the gods," Vaan muttered thoughtfully.
Suddenly, his gaze flickered before disappearing from the spot with a spatial shift.
Boom!
Not even half a breath after Vaan disappeared, the spiral cone formation of stalactites slammed into the ground with tremendous force.
The ground couldn't withstand the impact and shattered, shaking up the whole underground space with terrible rumbles!
"It would be strange if such a priceless resource wasn't guarded… But what am I facing?" Vaan narrowed his eyes.
He still didn't detect any nearby life, even until the last moment.
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