After entering the earth layer, Evan Chu found that the soil in this mine was indeed extremely tough. Even with his newly advanced Earthshift at the second layer, moving inside was slow and strenuous, but at least he could still make progress.
He clearly remembered that the old man who passed on his cultivation had said the real source of Immortal Stones was likely hidden beneath the mine, but the exact location would have to be found slowly on his own.
While moving through the earth layer of the mine, Evan Chu slowly spread out his Divine Sense. He discovered that, for some unknown reason, his Divine Sense was actually restricted here—it could extend no more than fifty meters at most. After tunneling about twenty meters down, he found quite a few Immortal Stones, including a good number of mid-grade ones.
But Evan Chu wasn't interested in these Immortal Stones right now. What he needed was to find the Immortal Stone Spirit Vein of the mine—only then could he locate the highest-quality stones. He had a feeling he could find some supreme-grade Immortal Stones; as for Immortal Crystals, those heaven-defying treasures, he hadn't even dared to hope for them.
Evan Chu kept diving deeper. The further down he went, the greater the resistance. At his current speed, he could only descend about a hundred meters per day. But by now, he'd already discovered quite a few high-grade Immortal Stones, which confirmed that the old man's words were absolutely correct.
After a few days, Evan Chu finally stopped. The nonstop use of Earthshift to tunnel downward was extremely draining, both mentally and physically. Surveying his surroundings, he found that low-grade Immortal Stones were as common as dirt here, mid-grade stones were unusually abundant, and even high-grade Immortal Stones could be seen—dozens of them, in fact.
Evan Chu went ahead and slowly extracted the high-grade Immortal Stones from the mine. With his upgraded Earthshift, getting these high-grade stones was almost effortless—he barely needed to use any Chaos Immortal Force. In just about half an hour, he'd collected over sixty high-grade Immortal Stones.
After stashing them in his storage ring, Evan Chu began to recover his earth element and replenish his mental energy. It took him half a day to fully restore himself. This time, instead of tunneling deeper, he paused—he'd suddenly sensed a very pure wisp of Immortal Essence not far to his left. Though faint, it startled Evan Chu; he felt it was a sign that the Immortal Stone Spirit Vein was nearby.
He slowly approached the Immortal Essence and tried absorbing some—it was actually stronger than the energy inside a high-grade Immortal Stone! His heart raced with excitement. Following the faint thread of Immortal Essence, he began searching for its source.
Evan Chu found that the Immortal Essence first extended to the left, then gradually shifted direction to the right, and finally plunged straight downward. The concentration of Immortal Essence kept increasing, and all around him appeared more and more mid-grade and high-grade Immortal Stones.
"Wait, is this not just a small Immortal Stone vein? Could it actually be a massive Immortal Stone vein?" Evan Chu wondered in confusion. By now, he'd spent nearly seven days down in the earth layer and only had about eleven days left. It was impossible to harvest a huge number of Immortal Stones in this trip, but at least he could pinpoint where the vein was located.
He ignored the high-grade Immortal Stones scattered around him and kept tunneling downward, following the thread of Immortal Essence. At one point, he stopped—because right in front of him, the concentration of Immortal Essence was so dense it was beyond his imagination. The area felt almost like a vacuum, with barely any earth, and Immortal Essence saturated dozens of meters all around.
Evan Chu sensed that if he cultivated here, he could probably break through to the Golden Immortal Realm in no time. But he didn't have the luxury—there was no way to see how the Immortal Stones were distributed through the thick Immortal Essence. Still, he was certain this must be the most concentrated spot for Immortal Stones.
He'd have to absorb some of the Immortal Essence before he could get a clear look at the surroundings. But with so much concentrated Immortal Essence, even if he went all out, he couldn't absorb much at all, which left Evan Chu feeling stuck.
Just as he was feeling frustrated, a flash of inspiration hit him. Glancing at the Timewheel Bracelet on his wrist, he chuckled, "What if I poured all this Immortal Essence into the Timewheel Bracelet? What kind of cultivation paradise would the inner world become? Training inside would be insane!"
On that thought, Evan Chu started channeling a portion of Immortal Essence into the Timewheel Bracelet using his Divine Sense. At first, he worried it would be a hassle, but the moment the first wisp entered, the rest of the Immortal Essence surged after it like a flood breaking through a dam, streaming into the Bracelet nonstop.
He didn't even need to control the Immortal Essence with Divine Sense anymore—it was hard to believe. And the absorption speed kept increasing, until energy vortices started swirling in the surrounding space. Evan Chu had never seen anything so bizarre before.
Even with all that Immortal Essence, the pocket still couldn't withstand the Timewheel Bracelet's absorption. After a day, more than half the Immortal Essence was gone. Evan Chu made himself stop—greed always brings trouble, and sometimes disaster strikes when you least expect it.
Carefully surveying the area, Evan Chu nearly had his heart leap out of his chest—he actually saw several Immortal Stones shining with a purple glow, the supreme-grade kind! There were countless mid-grade and high-grade Immortal Stones too, so many it felt like a dream.
He couldn't believe his luck. In the Immortal Realm, Immortal Stones were priceless treasures—and here he was, standing in a pile of them. If anyone found out that such terrifying riches lay beneath a 'waste' mine, it would trigger a war among the powers of the Immortal Realm.
But Evan Chu didn't collect the stones right away. Instead, he left a secret mark and prepared to head back the way he came. Time was running short—if he forgot to submit his Immortal Stones, Goldwing, Roxanne, and the others could be in danger. Now that he knew the vein's location, he'd have plenty of chances to harvest it later.
Getting down here had been slow, but the return trip was much faster. Evan Chu made it back to the surface in just four days. Roxanne and the two beasts were still hard at work, their pickaxes ringing through the tunnels. Evan Chu turned to Tom Chu and asked, "Tom, how many days do I have left before I need to submit my Immortal Stones?"
"Big Brother, you have two days left. Good thing you made it back in time—I was worried sick!" Tom Chu replied.
Evan Chu thought he still had about four days left—had he miscounted while recovering his strength? Without wasting time, he headed straight for the tunnel where the three were mining Immortal Stones...