It was just the first day—only half a day, in fact—and Su Zhan's luck had already taken a surprising turn.
They had been incredibly lucky to dig out a natural low-grade spirit stone.
"A natural low-grade pure spirit stone is worth at least ten refinement-grade spirit stones . If I can exchange one, it's equivalent to a hundred impure spirit stones… This will greatly speed up my progress!"
Non-natural pure spirit stones were artificially created by purifying and fusing impure spirit stones.
But natural pure spirit stones, untouched by any refining process, offered far superior effects—whether used for absorption, cultivation, alchemy, weapon refinement, talisman crafting, or formation construction.
Their value far surpassed that of ordinary spirit stones.
"Just one Clone No. 1 had this kind of success rate… If I deploy three, four, or even more—won't the chances be even higher?"
Thinking this, Su Zhan couldn't help but smile.
"I just don't know how many clones the black mark can create …"
"No rush. I'll wait until I gather enough spirit stones, then try feeding them to the mark!"
Half a day quietly passed.
"I've got 200 impure spirit stones. These two natural pure spirit stones should count as double, right?"
Including the two he found in the morning, only 22 more low-grade spirit stones were needed to reach the third stage.
"Clone No. 1, go again!"
At Su Zhan's command, Clone No. 1 instantly transformed into a shadow and dashed away.
About an hour later, Clone No. 1 returned successfully—bringing back 20 low-grade spirit stones.
Everything was ready.
Time to begin.
"First, the natural pure spirit stones."
Unlike ordinary spirit stones, when fed to the black mark, these emitted a brighter, more intense light, making the black brand shimmer with eye-catching brilliance.
As expected, after swallowing the spirit stone, no new clone emerged—no change, no ripple of power.
"Let's test them… one spirit stone at a time."
The black mark flickered faintly. Spirit stone tone after spirit stone melted into his palm, leaving only a trace of cold Qi behind.
The third—nothing.
The fifth—still nothing.
The eighth—dead silence.
Then came the tenth—
"There."
Su Zhan's eyes narrowed, then brightened.
A single natural pure spirit stone could match twelve refined ones. The black mark's worth was beyond doubt .
But what happened next caught him completely off guard.
What stood before him was not one clone…
But two.
"What…?"
He froze, then quickly realized.
This had to be the third stage's reward.
"So that's it…"
"Every stage… brings something new—intelligence, vision, and now… quantity."
His mind raced. If the number of clones could grow faster than the stages themselves, the future would be terrifying. Today a squad—tomorrow, an army.
The thought made his blood stir.
He thought he had already grasped the growth path of the black mark, but now a new and unexpected development had appeared. And it touched the thing he desired most—
More clones.
One extra clone meant half again as much work.
Two meant twice as much.
And more… could multiply his power beyond imagination.
He couldn't help but smile.
"Clone No. 2, Clone No. 3—take your tools."
Su Zhan stepped out, returning with two hoes. In the mine, almost everything was precious—except hoes. Those were given without limit.
"Yes, Master!" the new clones replied in unison before vanishing into the tunnels, silent as shadows.