The faint twitch of Riven's finger was followed by stillness.
Darkness wrapped around him like a coffin—heavy, suffocating. No sound. No light. Only the dull throb of pain reminding him that he was still alive.
He had no idea where he was or how he had gotten here, but one thing he knew for certain—this was not Herb Mountain.
He tried to move, but the attempt sent a wave of excruciating pain surging through his body. It felt as if his very soul was being torn apart. He couldn't sit, couldn't turn, couldn't even lift his head. The only thing he could manage was the faint twisting of his fingers.
As the reality of his condition sank in, memories of his parents surfaced—his mother's gentle smile, his father's strong and steady presence, the simple perfection of the life they once had. Hot tears welled up and slid down his face. He couldn't scream, couldn't even form words, but that didn't mean he couldn't cry. And so, in the suffocating darkness, he let his silent tears fall.
An unknown amount of time later, Riven finally managed to calm his emotions. His breathing steadied, and with great effort, he pried his eyes open. Slowly, painfully, he pushed himself into a sitting position, resting his back against something solid.
Only then did he take in his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be an underground chamber. The walls shimmered faintly, reflecting a pale glow. Leaning closer, he realized they were studded with crystals—perfectly spherical, each the size of a clenched fist.
Recognition struck him like lightning. Earth Crystals.
"Isn't this… the Earth Crystal Mining Site?" he murmured inwardly, shock flickering in his eyes. "Judging by their size and purity… this has to be the inner area, the one only cultivators are allowed to mine in."
He was utterly stunned. In his five years as a slave under the Argus Clan, he had only ever heard of this place by accident. The Earth Crystals here were so durable that only powerful cultivators could extract them—ordinary tools would shatter long before even leaving a mark.
These crystals were one of the main materials the Argus Clan used to forge their heavy armor.
The main problem was that these crystals were incredibly sturdy and durable, coupled with their immense weight. Just a single crystal could weigh up to fifty kilograms, and here the walls and ceiling were composed entirely of them.
Riven shook his head and whispered, "If fate wills it, then I can only die here."
All of a sudden, a devastating storm of pain erupted from his left ribcage. Looking down in horror, he saw a piece of wood a few centimeters long sticking out of his ribcage. The pain was so unbearable that he couldn't even faint.
Gathering all of his courage, he pulled the wooden splinter out of his ribcage, causing blood to gush out like a fountain. Then he fainted again.
Unknown to Riven, as he lost consciousness, a strange phenomenon was occurring. A whirlpool of spiritual energy gathered with his body at the center, continuously allowing his body to absorb spiritual energy. Even though he was crippled and didn't have a dantian to store spiritual energy, his bones and cells were still being nourished by it. The energy also had the ability to heal him from severe injuries.
Riven had been able to survive all the life-threatening injuries he had sustained in the past because of this strange phenomenon.
Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned to hours. It wasn't until the next day that Riven finally regained consciousness and opened his eyes. The moment he did so, he was startled and hurriedly jumped to his feet.
After a moment, his eyes lit up in understanding as he remembered what had happened the day before.
He hurriedly checked his body, examining his ribcage and other parts that had been badly injured. To his pleasant surprise, they were nothing but faint scars now.
Riven was overjoyed. He had thought that this time, the damage he had sustained might be too severe for his body to recover from, but now it seemed his worries had been unnecessary.
Riven had known long before his world turned upside down that his body was special. He knew this because he had been able to recover from almost every injury he had sustained. But he had never thought he would be able to recover from the type of damage Wang had inflicted on him. He had thought he was really going to die before taking revenge for his parents—that his death might have been too soon and too regretful.
"Ah... it looks like even the heavens don't want my soul. What an irony," he thought as he traced his hand across the smooth surface of the mining wall.
After observing the walls of the underground chamber for over an hour, Riven started walking in the opposite direction. Even if it was just a hunch, a lead was still better than staying in one place. Besides, the pressure here was beginning to be too much—he was secretly panicking already. After all, being in an underground chamber covered by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Earth Crystals, each weighing over fifty kilograms, was not encouraging at all. Riven was secretly terrified. Just imagining this whole place crashing down on him sent his brain into panic mode.
Riven had been walking for hours now, and still he hadn't seen any exit from the chamber. When he had traced his hand across the surface earlier, though the change was minimal, Riven had been able to feel that the crystals were becoming bigger—that was why he had decided to walk in this direction. His intention was that maybe he might find an exit this way that would take him out of the Argus estate. Unfortunately, he had no idea what type of great danger he was walking into. After all, there was more to the reason why this place could only be accessed by cultivators.