The Golem Mage

The fight outside was nearing its conclusion when a deafening boom suddenly erupted from within the cave, even Damien, still levitating in the air like a vigilant scout, couldn’t maintain his composure.

The explosion’s sheer intensity told him instantly that something incredibly bad had happened inside the mine.

—

Meanwhile, inside the mine, Arthur and Brandon stared at Alec in disbelief, they had been mining for over twenty minutes, and with the assistance of the golems, they had successfully extracted over three hundred massive power stones.

These were all high-grade stones, capable of being refined into smaller pieces for creating High rank cultivation pills, r used as high-rank materials for alchemy, forging, or even being used directly for cultivation.

However, only high-rank mages could safely utilize the raw energy inside it for cultivation; as it was far too volatile for anyone below Tier 7, even for those capable, absorbing raw power stones came with risks, as residual energies would eventually linger, potentially impeding the future breakthroughs of the person if not managed properly.

Fortunately, mages had developed careful methods of slowly drawing from such energy, allowing it to integrate into their bodies safely—though it required avoiding any additional cultivation pills during that period to allow the body to fully adapt and absorb its effect fully.

Their space sacks were filled to the brim, bulging like overstuffed pouches, even the low-rank space ring Brandon had been given was completely full, and several power stones still lay scattered across the ground, unable to fit into storage.

But then, disaster struck, the loud explosion erupted just moments after Alec finished draining the mana pool dry from its bowl-shaped mana veins.

The explosion wasn’t simply the result of Alec absorbing the remaining pool—it occurred because the very foundation of the cave had been destabilized.

Alec’s golems, aided by Arthur and Brandon, had excavated so aggressively that they had almost completely uprooted the structural veins anchoring the entire cavern.

The enormous high-rank power stones embedded in the walls and the bowl-shaped mana veins that housed the glowing, miracle-like mana water seemed to share a symbiotic relationship.

The mana veins had existed underground for an incredibly long time, and the environment prolonged exposure to the rich veins had naturally led to the formation of such extraordinary cultivation resources appearing in its surroundings.

After being born because of the Mana pool veins, the massive power stones steadily absorbed ambient mana from the world, drawing in the surrounding energy while simultaneously channelling part of it into the attached mana veins as some form of payment.

In turn, these veins continued producing more power stones with this energy while leaving small to upgrade itself, creating an intricate network through the walls, feeding off the cycle of absorption and release.

Over the years, this process allowed the pool’s effects to grow increasingly potent, transforming it into the highly enriched resource of high rank it had now become.

But Alec and his group had completely disrupted that balance.

First, they had mined out nearly all the power stones that had acted as both anchors and suppliers of energy to the pool. Then, Alec had drained the accumulated spirit water that had taken countless years to amass, this sudden and total depletion caused the entire delicate system to destabilize, resulting in the loud explosion that shook the mine.

It was then Alec realized that the mana veins might not have been entirely mindless—they may have already developed a rudimentary form of consciousness to make such noise, unfortunately, this was not the best time to reflect on that discovery, as they had already been exposed.

The sight of Arthur and Brandon still crouching with pickaxes in hand, frozen in place like guilty thieves, made the scene unintentionally ridiculous.

They didn’t dare move or even strike their pickaxes again as the battle outside had come to a halt.

Three Tier 7 lions had been killed; though none of the human priests accompanying Damien had died, however they had all sustained serious injuries.

After all, fighting a single Tier 7 lion was no small feat, let alone facing seven of them while being only five in number, their survival had only been possible due to Damien’s constant assistance.

Now, both sides—the surviving lions and the Evil Sect priests—stood in a tense standoff, shifting their attention toward the loud explosion that had echoed from inside the mine.

The lions gathered on the left, while the priests stood on the right, although the darkness inside the cave obscured their vision, they all extended their mental senses to investigate what had happened within.

Even Damien, still levitating with his hands behind his back, projected his mental sense into the cave, the moment it swept through, Alec felt a chilling wave washing over him, probing his very being.

Instantly, he knew they had been discovered, and staying any longer would be suicidal.

“Move out, time’s up!” Alec shouted, quickly swiping his hand to recall his golems.

Arthur and Brandon, who had been frozen in place, hoping the fight outside would resume without bothering about the explosion so they could get back to stealing, immediately sprang into action, scrambling for one overloaded space sack each.

Alec then rushed toward the third sack, slinging it over his shoulder before quickly swiping his hand to collect the remaining power stones piled in the center of the room, even though there was barely any storage space left in his space inventory.

One after another, they dove back into the hole they had tunnelled through earlier, disappearing like sneaky thieves sliding down a chimney—except without the red and white suits.

As soon as Alec was inside, he manipulated the earth to swiftly seal the hole behind them.

Meanwhile, outside, Damien’s expression darkened as he swiftly descended into the cave, the Tier 7 lion demonic beasts tried to block his path, but with a flick of his hand, dozens of green flaming needles materialized, shooting through the air and piercing the lions instantly.

Their massive bodies collapsed one after another, lifeless.

Damien had already sensed the auras of three human mages inside the cave, which made no sense.

He knew the Snow Lion Overlord’s pride wouldn’t associate with, let alone permit, mid-rank human mages into their domain.

It didn’t take him long to piece together the truth: while he and his priests had been fighting the lions outside, someone else had used the distraction to steal what he had come for, and that thought infuriated him greatly.

He dashed into the cavern, floating effortlessly, his five injured priests trailing behind, when they saw the state of the cave, their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

The once treasure-filled mine was now almost completely stripped bare, but what stung Damien the most wasn’t even the stolen power stones—it was the empty hollow where the holy pool once gleamed.

“ARGGHHH!” Damien roared, his voice trembling with fury, the sheer force of his rage sent vibrations rumbling through the ground, shaking even the narrow tunnel where Alec and his crew were desperately tunnelling away.