Chapter Six: Heart of the Mine… Where the Forgotten Dao Sleeps
The air deep inside the sulfur mine thickened with every step, as if they were inhaling molten lead. Darkness here wasn't merely the absence of light—it was a physical mass pressing against the senses, broken only by the faint glimmer of raw sulfur crystals that shone like demon eyes on the damp walls.
Zhang clutched the edge of Zhuo Fan's thin robe, shivering uncontrollably.
"Fan… the smell… it's death. Even the beasts outside never dared enter this passage."
Zhuo Fan didn't respond immediately. His focus was entirely on balancing the residual energy in his veins. The black substance coating his meridians was now cooling, leaving behind a sensation akin to torn tissues.
"Breathe… one… two… three…" he counted the rhythm.
"Oxygen drops by 0.5% every ten steps. Air pressure rising. This isn't a normal mine… it's like a giant 'lung' breathing underground."
Suddenly, Zhuo Fan stopped and raised his hand, signaling Zhang to stay silent.
Before them, the narrow corridor opened into a vast natural hall. It was far from empty; at its center lay a massive mass of black fur and spiritual silk, five meters wide—the Forsaken Rat King, a creature that had lived here for centuries, feeding on raw sulfur essence.
But Zhuo Fan's gaze wasn't fixed solely on the beast—he looked at what it guarded.
Behind the slumbering mass of fur, a smooth stone wall bore ancient bronze inscriptions, glowing faintly with golden light, so subtle that an ordinary laborer might mistake it for mere reflection.
"Those inscriptions…" Zhuo Fan's eyes widened.
"They aren't decoration… they are broken Dao equations. This place must have been a hiding spot—or an observatory—for a great cultivator before these mountains became the Long Yuan Sect."
"Fan… let's get out before it wakes!" Zhang whispered in panic, noticing the king's sword-like claws.
"Step back, Zhang," Zhuo Fan said emotionlessly.
"Ember Serpent chases us from behind, and the King… is in front. According to calculations, the serpent would surely kill us, but the King… is in a 'shedding' phase. Look at its fur—it's pale gray. At its weakest, it absorbs the wall's energy to repair itself."
Zhuo Fan took a step forward… then another.
He calculated the distance between the beast's paws and the weak points on the ground. Any misstep, any shifting pebble, would spell their end.
Suddenly, the bronze wall trembled, releasing a wave of spiritual pressure that nearly crushed Zhuo Fan's bones. The beast awoke! Its eyes didn't fully open, but a muffled roar erupted, sending debris raining down from the mine walls.
"Damn!" Zhang screamed, falling to the ground.
Zhuo Fan froze, his eyes tracking the threads of energy flowing from the wall into the beast.
"The beast isn't guarding it… it's a parasite! It steals the inheritance energy to compensate for its weakness!" Zhuo Fan thought at lightning speed.
In that instant, Zhuo Fan made a decision born of a calculating, death-defying mind. Instead of fleeing, he charged toward the bronze wall.
"Fan! What are you doing?"
He didn't answer. His bleeding hand pressed against one of the glowing inscriptions.
"If this wall seeks a 'heir' to inherit it, and my body is a 'sieved vessel'… perhaps the wall doesn't need a reservoir, but a 'processor' for its data!"
He activated Dark Derivation at full power. Not to absorb the energy, but to decipher the code beneath his palm.
A scream erupted from deep within Zhuo Fan as millions of pieces of information flowed into his mind—not words, but images of colliding stars, drying seas, and endless numbers.
The Forsaken King, sensing its 'source of food' being drained, stood fully and let out a scream that shattered Zhang's eardrums. Its massive claw rose, aiming to crush Zhuo Fan's head.
"Distance: two meters… speed: unavoidable physically…" Zhuo Fan calculated coldly, recklessly, diving into the symbol.
"The only solution: change the wall's energy 'frequency' to repel the parasite!"
Before the claw could strike, Zhuo Fan shouted:
"Reflected Calculation… Sixth Circle!"
The golden light of the wall turned crimson. The energy that the beast had been siphoning became spiritual fire, released back into its veins.
The beast exploded from the inside with a scream that shook the entire mountain, scattering its remains everywhere.
Zhuo Fan fell to the ground, partially burned, his mind staggering from the overload of information. Yet before him, the bronze rocks crumbled, revealing a small cavity containing an ancient leather scroll and a black dagger that reflected no light.
"I won my gamble…" Zhuo Fan thought as his vision blurred.
Outside the mine, Ember Serpent stood in shock, hearing the explosion and seeing black smoke rise.
"This child… what did he do down there?"
For the first time, Ember Serpent felt fear of a servant without cultivation. He no longer chased Zhuo Fan merely for the secret—he chased him because the child's survival threatened his very existence.
Inside the cavity, Zhuo Fan reached for the scroll with trembling hands.
He didn't yet know that it wasn't a combat technique, but the Celestial Calculation Ledger—a tome lost for thousands of years, the cause behind fallen emperors and shattered heavens.
The legend was beginning to take shape.
The boy who once counted leaves was now counting the fate of the world.