Roxanne Lin gave Evan Lin a look full of emotion. "Lin Feng, this time my Phoenix Nirvana let me break through several realms at once. I never expected Nirvana to have such benefits. Plus, with the powerful wood element and Immortal Essence you poured into me, I broke through another realm—so now I’m at the strength of an ordinary Immortal. Of course, for us sacred beasts, our ranks can’t really be compared to humans."
"So that's how it is. It's a pity you can't enter the Ascension Pool to transform your body right now, or your strength could improve even further," Evan Lin said somewhat regretfully. As things stand, there’s no way he could leave this place—even if he wanted to help her, he was powerless.
"I know about the Ascension Pool—it’s in my soul memories. The Immortal Essence you gave me is way more than what I’d absorb from the pool. At this point, even if I went in, it wouldn’t do much. Honestly, the thing I’m happiest about is skipping the ascension lightning tribulation entirely. There probably isn’t anyone else in the Immortal Realm who managed to ascend here without facing lightning tribulation," Roxanne Lin said with a laugh.
"I’m not sure about that either, but as long as you’re alright, I can relax. Let’s go check on Shadow and Goldwing. I didn’t expect those two to start absorbing Immortal Essence the moment they arrived in the Immortal Realm. Could they have reached ordinary Immortal strength too? If so, that’s honestly terrifying—it’s hard to believe," Evan Lin said.
The two of them headed over to where Goldwing and Shadow were mining Immortal Stones. Another month had passed, and the two beasts had already expanded the cavern, piling up plenty of Immortal Stones on the ground—no less than five hundred low-grade stones, and seventy or eighty mid-grade ones among them.
“Nice work! You actually managed to dig up so many Immortal Stones. Want to take a break?” Evan Lin called out to them.
“No need—I just absorbed the energy from thirty mid-grade Immortal Stones and I still need to burn it off. Big bro, if you’re free, you should help us dig! There’s more and more Immortal Stones the deeper we go. Goldfeathers and I even dug up some high-grade stones!” Shadow replied without looking back, his massive claws still tearing into the stone ahead.
The Immortal Stone mine was incredibly tough, but to those two, it felt like ordinary rock—they weren’t affected at all. Evan Lin and Roxanne Lin stood there for about half an hour, and in that time, the two beasts dug up nearly a dozen more low-grade Immortal Stones, with Shadow even unearthing a mid-grade stone.
“Lin Feng, I want to try digging too! They look like they’re having so much fun. Immortal Stones are absolutely essential in the Immortal Realm—just as important as Starstones were in the lower realm. The more we get, the more it’ll help us grow stronger in the future. These low-grade stones can even be traded for high-grade or supreme-grade Immortal Stones,” Roxanne Lin said.
Evan Lin thought Roxanne Lin made a lot of sense. At first, he’d really looked down on low-grade Immortal Stones, but once he realized they could be traded for higher-grade ones, he immediately got fired up too. Unfortunately, he couldn’t mine them himself just yet—he’d have to break through Earthshift to the second layer first.
"Roxy has plenty of tools over there. Pick out a few—these rocks are really tough, so be careful not to hurt your hands," Evan Lin said.
"I don’t need those! I’ll dig in my true form—I bet I won’t lose to them," Roxanne Lin said. She transformed into her Scarlet Phoenix body, and Evan Lin noticed she’d changed a little—especially the phoenix crown on her head, making her even more beautiful than before.
With that, Roxanne Lin joined the mining squad, while Evan Lin returned to his resting spot. He took out the Native-Soil Crystal from his storage ring and realized that, in his hand now, it felt as light as a normal pebble—almost weightless.
But he remembered that back in the lower realm, the Native-Soil Crystal weighed tens of thousands of jin. This had to be a sign of just how much his late Heavenly Immortal body had improved.
Once he calmed his mind, Evan Lin began absorbing the earth-element energy inside the Native-Soil Crystal. Now that he’d mastered Earthshift, he no longer needed to comprehend earth element from scratch—he could just absorb its power directly, making things much easier.
As earth-element particles kept pouring into his body, Evan Lin realized the Native-Soil Crystal’s earth element was a whole grade higher than what he could use before. The energy was pure gray, while his own earth element had only been light gray—there was a big difference between the two.
As more earth element flowed in, the Native-Soil Crystal in his hand shrank bit by bit. But he noticed his original earth element inside was slowly merging with the new energy—this surprised him. Maybe it was a kind of survival of the fittest, even within elemental power.
After completely absorbing the earth element, Evan Lin activated the Earthshift technique and circulated the energy through his dantian and meridians. After several cycles, he realized all his old earth element had vanished, replaced by tiny gray crystals in his meridians and dantian—his earth element had condensed into visible particles.
Evan Lin kept circulating those tiny crystals for who knows how long before he finally stopped. He found a fava-bean-sized gray core floating in his dantian, while the little crystals in his meridians and dantian had disappeared.
That gray core, about the size of a fava bean, quietly hovered in his dantian. With just a thought, Evan Lin could make it spin and release a flood of tiny crystals. He laughed—this core was like an upgraded Earth Spirit Pearl, but way higher grade. He just hadn’t figured out what to call it yet.
He activated Earthshift with a thought, and instantly a layer of gray stone armor appeared over his body. He could tell this defense was many times stronger than before—without even realizing it, he’d successfully cultivated Earthshift to the second layer.
Standing up, Evan Lin let out a long breath and laughed, "I have no idea how tough this defense is now. I’ll have to find someone to test it out when I get the chance."
Glancing at the nearby mine tunnel, Evan Lin called over, "Tong’er, how long have I been cultivating this time?"
"Big brother, you’ve been in the mine for seventy-two days this time. There’s only eighteen days left before you have to turn in your Immortal Stone quota. Don’t keep cultivating—I’m worried you’ll lose track of time again," Chu Tong said.
"Got it. Keep watch here—I’m going to see where the real treasures in this mine are hidden." With a thought, Evan Lin activated Earthshift again and slipped straight into the earth beneath the mine tunnel...