Li Yan gave the sealed gate one final glance before turning away.
The decision settled firmly within his mind. "Not yet. I will return after the competition ends."
With that, he left the cavern behind and retraced his steps through the long tunnel. Several minutes later, he emerged once more at the central clearing.
Li Yan's gaze gradually shifted toward the fourth tunnel.
Without pause, Li Yan stepped into the fourth tunnel.
At first glance, it resembled the others. The passage was broad and stable, its walls bearing the familiar marks left behind by generations of miners.
The air carried a faint stillness, while scattered tools occasionally appeared along the sides of the tunnel—rusted picks, broken rods, and extinguished Qi lanterns resting where they had been abandoned.
Li Yan moved steadily through the passage, his Spiritual Sense sweeping the surrounding stone as he searched for anything unusual.
There was little to find.
The tunnel extended somewhat farther than the first, yet its condition revealed nothing new. The remaining traces of Fire Qi hidden within the walls were sparse, and the abandoned tools suggested only that miners had once worked here before eventually moving on.
After a brief inspection, Li Yan returned to the junction.
His gaze soon settled upon the final unexplored passage.
Then he stepped forward.
The fifth tunnel initially appeared no different from the others.
For roughly ten meters, the passage maintained the same dimensions and construction. The walls were smooth and deliberate, shaped by skilled hands rather than natural formation. Everything felt familiar.
Then the surroundings began to change.
As Li Yan advanced deeper into the passage, faint light gradually appeared along the walls.
Qi lamps embedded within the stone awakened one after another, illuminating the corridor ahead with a soft golden glow.
The sudden light revealed a remarkably different scene.
Dust still covered every surface, muting much of its former appearance, yet the craftsmanship beneath remained obvious.
The corridor was symmetrical.
Orderly. Refined.
Li Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. "If cleaned… this would resemble the sect's inner corridors."
The comparison was difficult to ignore.
Unlike the previous tunnels, which had clearly been designed for mining operations, this place felt more like a facility intended for regular use. Comfort and practicality had been considered during its construction.
He continued forward. His Spiritual Sense expanded instinctively.
The result surprised him. Only a handful of Fire Qi Stone traces remained hidden within the surrounding stone.
Compared to the earlier tunnels, the difference was obvious.
Li Yan immediately understood.
Unlike the mining passages, this area had clearly served a different purpose.
The corridor stretched onward beneath the steady glow of the Qi lamps. The silence here felt different as well.
Not oppressive. Simply still.
After roughly forty meters, the structure of the passage finally revealed itself.
Four doors. Two on each side. Evenly spaced and identical in appearance.
Li Yan slowed to a stop.
His gaze moved across them calmly.
Given what he had discovered behind the third tunnel, he had no intention of assuming these rooms were harmless.
His Spiritual Sense extended toward the nearest door. The perception flowed through the barrier and spread across the room beyond.
No movement. No hostile presence. No signs of life. Only silence.
"A chamber?"
Satisfied, Li Yan placed his hand against the door and pushed it open. The hinges moved smoothly. At almost the same moment, the Qi lamp mounted within the chamber flickered to life.
Warm light filled the chamber.
Shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Rows of mining tools rested upon them—iron picks, chisels, reinforced drilling rods, and various pieces of equipment designed for long-term use within the Fire Mine.
Along another wall sat neatly arranged sets of fire-resistant protective gear.
Dust covered everything. Thick. Undisturbed.
Li Yan's gaze swept slowly across the room. "These have been untouched for years…"
Nothing appeared damaged. Nothing appeared looted. Everything remained precisely where it had originally been placed.
After a brief inspection, Li Yan turned and exited the chamber, closing the door behind him without a sound. His attention shifted immediately to the second door directly opposite.
Once again, his Spiritual Sense extended outward.
The chamber beyond lay silent and undisturbed. No living presence stirred within the range of his perception. Yet something felt different.
Li Yan did not hesitate.
He pushed the door open.
The moment the gap appeared, a dense wave of Fire Qi surged outward, pressing against him like a warm tide. It was not violent, but its concentration far exceeded that of anything in the hallway.
His eyes sharpened.
Then he stepped inside. The Qi lamp mounted on the wall flickered to life. Warm light spread throughout the chamber, revealing its interior.
Li Yan's brows rose slightly.
The room was vast, spanning nearly a hundred square meters. The walls were bare, yet the air itself shimmered faintly from the density of Fire Qi gathered within.
And in the far corner—
A mound.
Fire Qi Stones.
Stacked together in a massive pile that resembled a small hill of crimson crystal.
For a brief moment, Li Yan simply stood there. Then he walked forward. With every step, the Fire Qi in the room grew denser. The source was obvious.
Thousands.
There was no need for an exact count.
Each Fire Qi Stone was roughly the size of a palm, glowing faintly as streams of pure Fire Qi circulated within. Together, they transformed the entire chamber into a reservoir of energy.
Li Yan stopped before the pile and observed it quietly. "So this is where they stored them…"
The chamber's purpose was immediately clear—a storage room.
A place where extracted Fire Qi Stones had been gathered before transportation or distribution elsewhere.
He extended his Spiritual Sense and quickly inspected the room. There were no formations. No traps. No hidden mechanisms. Only the enormous stockpile.
For a brief moment, a thought surfaced in his mind. "With this… cultivation would be easier."
The temptation was quiet, but real. Yet it passed just as quickly. Li Yan shook his head faintly. "Not now."
His reasoning was simple.
The Fire Mine itself already provided more than enough Qi for his current needs. Taking the stones from this storage would only tempt him to use them, weakening the foundation he had worked to build.
"These would stay here for now." His gaze lingered on the mountain of stones for a final moment before he turned away.
Without taking a single one.
The chamber remained as it was—silent, untouched, waiting.
The door closed softly behind him.
Immediately, the dense Fire Qi receded, and the hallway returned to its steady warmth beneath the glow of the ancient Qi lamps.
His gaze shifted toward the third door. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and extended his Spiritual Sense once more. The familiar wave spread through the stone wall, covering every corner of the room beyond.
Nothing moved. No hostile presence existed—only stillness.
Satisfied, Li Yan placed his hand against the door and pushed it open.
The moment he entered, the Qi lamps inside the chamber flickered to life, illuminating the room.
Its purpose became obvious at a glance. "This should be the overseer's room."
The chamber was modest but functional.
A wooden bed rested against the far wall. Nearby stood a study table and a single chair. Bookshelves occupied one side of the room, filled with rows of neatly arranged volumes.
Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust.
Li Yan walked toward the shelves. His movements remained calm, but his attention sharpened. He pulled out one of the books and brushed away the accumulated dust.
The title became visible—Mining Log — Volume 1.
His eyes narrowed slightly. Opening the book, he found page after page of meticulously recorded entries.
Dates.
Quantities of Fire Qi Stones extracted.
Transportation schedules.
Storage records.
Every detail had been documented with remarkable discipline.
Li Yan returned the book to its place and selected another.
Mining Log — Volume 2.
Then another. Volume 3.
Volume 4.
The sequence continued uninterrupted. Dozens of volumes filled the shelves.
His gaze shifted toward a different section. The labels there were different—Accident Log — Volume 1.
Li Yan pulled it free and opened it. Inside were records of every incident that had occurred within the mine.
Minor injuries. Equipment failures. The tunnel collapses. Rare casualties. Each entry listed the cause, response, and outcome with impressive detail.
"They documented everything…"
His expression remained calm, but his mind had already begun piecing together the mine's history.
This had not been some crude excavation site. It had been managed with strict organization and long-term planning.
Li Yan continued examining the records.
Volume after volume passed through his hands. Mining reports. Supply inventories. Worker assignments. Accident records.
He paid particular attention to the final volumes, searching for any clue that might explain the abandoned tools he had found in the first and fourth tunnels.
Several minutes passed. Li Yan eventually pulled multiple volumes from the final section and compared their dates, which were over 250 years old.
His brows gradually furrowed. The records remained orderly. No missing pages. No signs of tampering. No indication of panic.
Everything appeared perfectly normal. Yet after a certain point, every record simply ended.
Not gradually. Not after some documented incident. They simply stopped as though everyone responsible for maintaining the logs had vanished at the same time.
The room fell silent.
Li Yan slowly closed the final volume in his hands.
A thoughtful light appeared in his eyes. Now, the abandoned tools at the ends of tunnels #1 and #4 felt even stranger. Because whatever had happened here…
It had left no explanation behind.
Li Yan returned the log carefully to its place on the shelf.
His gaze drifted upward, settling on a smaller collection of books arranged neatly along the highest shelf. Unlike the mining records, these volumes carried a faint lingering aura, as though they had been handled frequently by their previous owner.
Li Yan reached up and pulled one free. "Advanced Array Structures."
Then another. "Qi Conduction Formations."
A third followed. "Stability Arrays for High-Temperature Zones."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "So whoever managed this mine was proficient in arrays."
The conclusion felt reasonable.
Maintaining a Fire Mine of this scale required more than simple administration. The tunnels had remained stable despite the dense Fire Qi. The sealed beast gate still functioned after years of abandonment. Even the Qi lamps throughout the fifth tunnel continued operating.
None of that happened naturally.
Li Yan flipped through several pages.
The contents were detailed and complex, covering subjects far beyond anything he had studied so far. Even a glance revealed their value.
After several minutes, he closed the book. "The logs stay."
There was no reason to remove them. They were part of the mine's history and might prove useful later.
The array of books, however, was different.
Li Yan studied them for a moment before storing them inside his storage ring. "I'll show these to Elder Ji later."
If these books originated at the Shadow Knowledge Pavilion, he needed to determine whether they were copies or originals. Either way, their presence inside the abandoned mine carried significance.
With that, Li Yan left the overseer's chamber. The door closed quietly behind him.
The hallway stretched ahead beneath the steady glow of the Qi lamps, their golden light reflecting softly against the carved stone walls.
Only one room remained unexplored—the fourth door.
Without delay, Li Yan extended his Spiritual Sense. The familiar wave passed through the stone wall and swept across the chamber.
No beasts. No hidden dangers. No living presence. Only silence.
He stepped forward and pushed the door open. The moment he entered, the Qi lamps within the chamber flickered to life.
Warm light flooded the room.
The room was enormous.
More than twenty wooden tables stood arranged throughout the hall, each surrounded by rows of chairs. The furniture bore countless signs of use—scratches, knife marks, tally lines carved into the wood, and faded markings left behind by years of daily activity.
Several cups still rested atop the tables. Some even contained dried residue at their bottoms. The sight immediately caught Li Yan's attention.
His gaze slowly moved across the hall. "This should have been a gathering hall."
A place where miners rested after work. Where overseers held discussions. Where workers ate, drank, and escaped the monotony of the mine.
The atmosphere felt different from the rest of the tunnels.
Less rigid. More human.
His eyes swept across the interior, then stopped. A smile slowly appeared on his face.
What immediately caught Li Yan's attention was a long wooden counter. Behind it, rows of shelves lined the wall.