The foothills of the Beast Peak were a graveyard of ambition.

  ?Here, the trees were twisted, their bark like scabbed skin, fed by the blood of disciples who overestimated their strength against the spirit beasts.

  ?Jiang Chen moved through the underbrush, a shadow in the twilight. His new [Adrenal Gland] hummed against his kidneys, a dormant engine waiting for a spark.

  ?He found the location mentioned in the dead cleaner's diary: a washout gully hidden behind a cluster of thorny vines.

  ?There, half-buried in mud and rotting leaves, was the drainage pipe.

  ?It was rusted iron, barely two feet wide.

  ?The cleaner had written: Too small for a man.

  ?Jiang Chen crouched, measuring the opening against his shoulders. It was tight. Impossible for a normal human without a shrinking charm.

  ?But Jiang Chen wasn't normal.

  ?He took a breath.

  ?Crunch.

  ?He dislocated his right shoulder.

  ?Pop.

  ?He dislocated the left.

  ?The pain was sharp, white-hot, but distant. His Constitution (6.0) dulled the shock, turning agony into mere information. His arms hung limp, extending his reach but narrowing his profile.

  ?He slid into the pipe like a serpent.

  ?Darkness swallowed him. The air was thick, smelling of stagnant water and rust.

  ?He crawled using his legs and the grip of his fingers, dragging his torso through the sludge.

  ?[Environmental Hazard: Confined Space.]

  ?[Movement Speed reduced by 80%.]

  ?Skitter.

  ?Something moved in the dark ahead. Many somethings.

  ?Jiang Chen halted. He couldn't fight effectively with his shoulders out of socket.

  ?He braced his chest against the cold iron floor.

  ?Crack. Snap.

  ?He slammed his shoulders back into place. The sound echoed down the pipe like a gunshot.

  ?The skittering stopped. Then, it turned into a rush.

  ?Red eyes ignited in the gloom.

  ?[Target Detected: Rust Centipede.]

  ?[Level: 3 (Qi Condensation Layer 1 Equivalent).]

  ?[Attribute: Metal/Poison.]

  ?A swarm.

  ?They rushed him, mandibles clicking, legs scratching against the metal. They were the size of cats, their carapace the color of dried blood.

  ?"Food," Jiang Chen whispered.

  ?The first one lunged.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  ?Jiang Chen didn't have room to swing. He thrust his hand forward like a spear.

  ?[Rending Claw.]

  ?His fingers punched through the centipede's armored head with a wet crunch.

  ?Green ichor sprayed.

  ?[EV +5]

  ?Two more crawled over the carcass, biting at his arms. Their mandibles scraped against his [Iron Skin], leaving white scratches but failing to draw blood.

  ?Jiang Chen grabbed one in each hand and squeezed.

  ?Squelch.

  ?[EV +5]

  ?[EV +5]

  ?He crawled forward, crushing them as he went. It wasn't a battle; it was an extermination. The pipe funneled them directly into his meat grinder.

  ?He ate the cores—small, bitter beads of metal-tainted Qi—as he crawled.

  ?[EV +5]

  ?[EV +5]

  ?[EV +5]

  ?Ten minutes later, the pipe ended.

  ?Jiang Chen kicked the grate open and fell onto cold, stone ground.

  ?He stood up, shaking the centipede guts off his robes.

  ?He was in a cavern.

  ?The air here was dry and cool. The ceiling was lost in shadows, but the walls... the walls glowed.

  ?Patches of luminescent moss clung to the rock, illuminating veins of silver-grey ore running through the stone.

  ?[Location Discovery: The Abandoned Spirit Iron Mine.]

  ?[Status: Sealed/Infested.]

  ?The "Old Mine."

  ?The sect had abandoned it decades ago. Why?

  ?Jiang Chen looked at the ground.

  ?It was littered with broken pickaxes and... cracked bones.

  ?Clang.

  ?Clang.

  ?A rhythmic sound echoed from the deeper tunnels.

  ?Jiang Chen moved toward it, hugging the wall.

  ?In a large central chamber, he saw them.

  ?[Target Detected: Iron-Hide Beetle.]

  ?[Level: 8 (Qi Condensation Layer 3 Equivalent).]

  ?[Passive: Heavy Armor (Immune to normal steel).]

  ?They were massive—the size of wheelbarrows. Their shells were literal metal, formed by consuming the Spirit Iron ore for generations.

  ?There were three of them, gnawing on a vein of ore exposed by a collapsed wall.

  ?A Layer 3 beast was dangerous. Its defense was absolute against a Layer 2 cultivator.

  ?But Jiang Chen looked at the evolution option he had skipped.

  ?Rending Claw -> Void Claw (Armor Penetration).

  ?He didn't have Void Claw.

  ?But he had 86 EV (56 + 30 from Centipedes).

  ?And he had [Blood Burst].

  ?He picked up a rusted iron pickaxe from the ground. It was heavy, the wood handle rotten, but the head was solid.

  ?"Hey," he said.

  ?The three beetles stopped eating. They turned slowly, their faceted eyes fixing on the intruder.

  ?They hissed, a sound like steam escaping a valve.

  ?They charged.

  ?They weren't fast, but they were tanks. The ground shook with their weight.

  ?Jiang Chen didn't retreat.

  ?He activated his new organ.

  ?[Skill: Blood Burst.]

  ?Thump-thump.

  ?His heart didn't beat; it hammered.

  ?A rush of chemical fire flooded his veins.

  ?The world turned grey. The sound of the beetles' charge dropped an octave, slowing into a drone. Dust motes hung suspended in the air.

  ?Jiang Chen moved.

  ?He didn't just run; he blurred.

  ?He stepped inside the guard of the first beetle.

  ?It tried to snap at him, but its jaws moved in slow motion.

  ?Jiang Chen swung the pickaxe.

  ?He didn't aim for the shell. He aimed for the joint where the head met the thorax.

  ?CRACK.

  ?The pickaxe buried itself deep.

  ?Jiang Chen didn't stop. He vaulted over the dying beetle, using its shell as a springboard.

  ?He landed on the back of the second one.

  ?[Rending Claw.]

  ?Red Qi coated his fingers. He jammed his hand into the gap of the wing case.

  ?He ripped upward.

  ?The beetle shrieked as its internal organs were exposed to the air.

  ?The third beetle rammed the wall where Jiang Chen had been a split second ago, stunned by the impact.

  ?Exhale.

  ?The 10 seconds were up.

  ?Color rushed back into the world. Sound crashed into his ears.

  ?Jiang Chen skidded to a halt, his chest heaving, his vision spotting.

  ?[Hunger: Critical.]

  ?The crash of adrenaline left him ravenous. His stomach roared louder than the dying beasts.

  ?He dropped the pickaxe and fell upon the first beetle.

  ?He didn't bother cooking it. He cracked the shell and tore into the raw, metallic meat.

  ?[Consumed: Iron-Hide Beetle Flesh.]

  ?[EV +35]

  ?[Effect: Iron Skin proficiency increased.]

  ?He ate the second one.

  ?[EV +35]

  ?He walked to the third one, which was still dazed, trying to turn around.

  ?Jiang Chen placed a hand on its head.

  ?"Thanks for the meal."

  ?Crunch.

  ?[EV +35]

  ?He sat amidst the carnage, wiping blue beetle blood from his mouth.

  ?The mine wasn't just a resource node.

  ?It was a training ground.

  ?[Current EV: 191 EV.]

  ?Jiang Chen looked at the silver veins in the wall.

  ?"Mining is hard work," he muttered, standing up. "I'd rather just eat the miners."

  ?But as he turned to explore deeper, the System pinged.

  ?[Alert: Anomaly Detected.]

  ?[Proximity: 50 meters.]

  ?[Signal: High-Grade Spirit Source.]

  ?Jiang Chen froze.

  ?High-Grade?

  ?In a trash mine?

  ?He looked toward a collapsed tunnel to his left. The air wafting from it wasn't stale.

  ?It smelled of ozone. And... lightning?

  ?He gripped the pickaxe.

  ?"Show me."