Jiang Chen swung the pickaxe.

  Clang.

  Sparks showered the darkness, but not from the impact. The rock itself was charged.

  ?He had spent twenty minutes clearing the collapsed tunnel. With every foot of debris he moved, the air grew heavier. It tasted metallic, like blood and copper wire. The hair on his arms stood up, prickling against his sleeves.

  ?He kicked the final boulder loose. It rolled into the gloom, splashing into a puddle.

  ZZZT.

  A jagged arc of blue electricity snapped from the water, vaporizing the rock into dust.

  ?Jiang Chen froze.

  [Environmental Hazard: Electro-Static Field.]

  [Voltage: Lethal.]

  ?He stepped through the breach, his boots crunching on glass-smooth ground.

  The hidden chamber was a geode, spherical and small, barely ten meters across. The walls weren't stone; they were Fulgurite—sand fused into glass by a strike of heavenly proportions.

  ?In the center of the room sat a single, jagged spike of blue ore.

  It pulsed like a dying heart, sending ripples of electricity through the damp floor.

  ?[Item Detected: Thunder-Essence Shard.]

  [Grade: Earth (Low).]

  [Properties: Pure elemental energy. Highly volatile.]

  ?"Beautiful," Jiang Chen whispered.

  He took a step forward.

  ?Skree.

  ?The sound came from the ceiling.

  Jiang Chen looked up.

  Hanging upside down, clinging to the glass roof with hooked claws, was a creature the size of a wolf. It looked like a rat, but its fur was gone, replaced by translucent, purple skin that pulsed with internal light. Two long, whip-like tails lashed the air, crackling with sparks.

  ?[Target Detected: Thunder-Rat Alpha.]

  [Level: 9 (Qi Condensation Layer 3 Peak).]

  [Speed: Extreme.]

  ?The Alpha didn't posture. It didn't roar.

  It dropped.

  ?Gravity seemed to accelerate it. It fell like a lightning bolt, aiming straight for Jiang Chen's throat.

  ?Jiang Chen didn't have time to think. His body reacted before his mind could process the threat.

  [Skill: Blood Burst.]

  ?Thump.

  The world greyscale again. The pain in his kidneys flared, sharper this time—a warning that he was pushing the organ too hard.

  The falling rat slowed, suspended in the air, its jaws open wide enough to swallow his head. He could see the arcs of electricity jumping between its teeth.

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  ?Jiang Chen sidestepped.

  He moved left, swinging the rusted pickaxe with all his strength.

  ?WHAM.

  ?The pickaxe slammed into the rat's ribs mid-air.

  But the impact didn't crush bone.

  ZAP.

  ?The moment the metal touched the beast, a backlash of current shot up the handle.

  "Nngh!"

  The electricity bypassed his [Iron Skin], frying his nerves. Jiang Chen's muscles seized. The [Blood Burst] faltered, the world snapping back to real-time speed.

  ?The rat shrieked, thrown off course by the blow, but it landed on its feet. It spun instantly, its twin tails whipping out like tasers.

  ?CRACK.

  One tail lashed Jiang Chen's chest.

  His robes burned away instantly. A black, cauterized welt appeared across his ribs.

  The paralysis was immediate. He fell to one knee, his limbs heavy as lead.

  ?[Status Effect: Paralyzed (Minor).]

  [Venom Heart: Filtering Neuro-Electric shock...]

  ?The rat hissed, smelling the weakness. It crouched, gathering energy for a finishing lunge. Its body glowed blindingly bright.

  ?Jiang Chen couldn't move his legs.

  But his mind was racing.

  Metal conducts. Stone insulates.

  ?He dropped the pickaxe.

  He didn't try to stand. He grabbed a handful of the glass-sand from the floor.

  ?The rat lunged. A streak of purple light.

  ?Jiang Chen threw the sand.

  Not at the rat.

  At the puddle of water beneath them.

  ?The sand splashed.

  At the same time, Jiang Chen slammed his palms onto the dry ground, channeling every ounce of his Qi into his skin.

  [Iron Skin: Maximum Density.]

  ?The rat hit him.

  But the moment it made contact, its electrical aura discharged.

  The electricity sought the path of least resistance.

  It didn't go through the grounded, iron-hard Jiang Chen.

  It arced out—jumping from the rat's wet claws into the puddle Jiang Chen had splashed.

  ?BOOM.

  ?A thunderclap detonated in the small room.

  The water flash-boiled into steam.

  The feedback loop fried the rat instantly. Its internal organs cooked in a microsecond.

  ?Jiang Chen was thrown backward, slamming into the glass wall. Smoke rose from his skin. He smelled like burnt toast.

  ?He coughed, spitting out a puff of black smoke.

  "Grounding..." he wheezed, his voice trembling. "...physics."

  ?In the center of the room, the Thunder-Rat Alpha lay twitching. It was dead, its nervous system overloaded by its own power.

  ?Jiang Chen dragged himself forward. His nerves were still misfiring, his hands shaking uncontrollably.

  He reached the corpse.

  He didn't have the strength to chew.

  He placed his hand on the rat's scorching hot chest.

  ?[Skill: Rending Claw (Absorption Mode).]

  He dug his fingers in.

  ?[Consumed: Thunder-Rat Alpha (Essence).]

  [EV +45]

  [Attribute Gained: Reflexes +0.5]

  [Passive Unlocked: Minor Lightning Resistance (5%).]

  ?The energy rushed into him—sharp, spicy, and invigorating. It cleared the paralysis instantly, jumpstarting his heart like a defibrillator.

  ?He stood up, rolling his shoulders. The burn on his chest itched as it began to knit together.

  He looked at the center of the room.

  The Thunder-Essence Shard was still there.

  ?He walked over.

  He wrapped his hand in his ruined sleeve and grabbed the crystal.

  It buzzed angrily, stinging his palm.

  ?"Eat it," the Serpent hissed from his Dantian. "Pure power."

  ?Jiang Chen hesitated. Eating a rock?

  Then he remembered the Slag.

  He opened his mouth and tossed the shard in.

  ?CRUNCH.

  ?It was like biting into a live wire.

  Lightning exploded in his mouth, shooting down his throat, illuminating his skeleton from the inside out.

  ?[Consumed: Thunder-Essence Shard.]

  [EV +60]

  [Warning: Energy overload.]

  [Mutating...]

  ?Jiang Chen fell to his knees, screaming silently as his veins turned blue.

  The [Adrenal Gland] he had just evolved pulsed violently. The lightning energy didn't just vanish; it was drawn to the new organ.

  It fused.

  ?[Evolution Synergy Detected.]

  [Skill Upgrade: Blood Burst \rightarrow Thunder-Blood Burst.]

  [New Effect: When activated, speed doubles AND attacks carry a paralyzing shock. Stamina cost increased.]

  ?Jiang Chen collapsed onto the glass floor, panting.

  Blue sparks danced in his breath.

  He felt... fast. Even lying still, he felt like he was moving at a thousand miles an hour.

  ?[Current EV: 296 EV.]

  ?He stared at the ceiling, watching the afterimages of the lightning fade.

  "Nearly three hundred," he whispered.

  He was ready.

  ?He stood up and retrieved his pickaxe. The handle was charred, but the metal was fine.

  He turned to leave the Thunder Grotto.

  But as he stepped back into the main mine tunnel, he heard voices.

  ?Human voices.

  Echoing from the entrance he had come through.

  ?"...tracker says he went this way."

  "A servant? In the sealed mine? Impossible."

  "Elder Han's orders. Bring him back. Or bring back the pieces."

  ?Jiang Chen stopped.

  He tilted his head.

  Two voices. Layer 3 disciples, judging by the confidence in their tone.

  ?He smiled. His teeth sparked blue.

  "Delivery," he murmured.