Chapter 48: Sustainable Living Gemstone Vein

These gemstone bugs possessed various elemental affinities, and each one was different. After taking a few rounds of target practice, Xiao Yang's various elemental resistances had all improved.

In the end, the weak fire resistance obtained from the giant root of the Red Logan and these newly added, messy elemental resistances were integrated together into a more general and comprehensive term:

Elemental Resistance (Faint)

The weak fire resistance was integrated into Faint All-Elemental Resistance. It was hard to say whether this was a gain or a loss, but undoubtedly, the versatility of all-elemental resistance was much greater. The damage from the energy bombardment of these gemstone bugs on Xiao Yang instantly dropped by ten percent.

Improvement was a good thing, but it hurt immensely. The speed of the gemstone bugs' beam attacks was too fast to dodge. Every time, Xiao Yang barely had time to twist his body before taking a ferocious hit.

This thick beam of light struck Xiao Yang's body, especially when it hit his backside, feeling just like the cold medicine injection the clinic doctor would give you in the rear end when you had a cold—only it was a super-thickened version, with a super-thickened needle.

Every time, it could make Xiao Yang howl in agony, a sensation difficult to put into words. He always felt that his career as a divine game player seemed different from what he had imagined; shouldn't it be about adventures, harvests, and gazing at different sceneries?

How come day after day he was stuck in a dim dungeon, matching wits and courage with all sorts of bizarre things and suffering bizarre injuries?

Lying behind a large boulder, Xiao Yang wore an expression of utter despair. At that moment, the World Membrane Fragment (Life) began to take effect, and his health bar surged upward. Before long, Xiao Yang was back to full health, restored to a lively state.

Completely recovered, Xiao Yang leaped out from behind the large boulder in one bound.

In short, having paid such a painful price, Xiao Yang was determined to conquer this gemstone mine and those gemstone bugs no matter what; otherwise, all the suffering he endured would have been for nothing!

Xiao Yang had been somewhat enraged and humiliated by the energy beams. Charging once more toward the gemstone mine before him, he dashed inside. Finally, all these gemstone bugs had dimmed down, their accumulated energy completely exhausted. Now it was Xiao Yang's turn!

Facing Xiao Yang's attack, these energy-depleted gemstone bugs curled up into balls. In an instant, they looked like genuine gemstones, exceptionally beautiful.

However, Xiao Yang, infuriated and tortured for so long, paid no heed to such details. He fiercely swung the weapon in his hand, "Greetings of Justice," and delivered a heavy blow onto the hard shell of a gemstone bug. Then, Xiao Yang was dumbfounded, as he realized he couldn't deal a single point of damage.

Unwilling to accept this defeat so easily, Xiao Yang stubbornly swung the "Greetings of Justice" for several consecutive strikes. His hands ached, yet not a single damage number popped up. Evidently, some unexpected change had occurred, and Xiao Yang cast another appraisal skill on these gemstone bugs.

***

Sure enough, the situation he least wanted to face had appeared.

[Gemstone Bug (Gemstone State)
Special Creature
Traits: Gemstone Healing, Energy Convergence, Hardened Shell, Energy Immunity
Description: Perhaps you could try tapping these large gemstones with a pickaxe.]

Xiao Yang was dumbfounded. Did these gemstone bugs have a defensive stance as well? This was the first time Xiao Yang had ever seen a monster with two forms—or perhaps it wasn't even a monster. True to its "special creature" label on the character panel, this gemstone bug was peculiar in every aspect.

Yet Xiao Yang was flabbergasted.

The bad news was that he was completely helpless against these gemstone bugs in their gemstone state. The good news was that he could practice his elemental resistance again.

Silence, a brief silence. Things had reached this point; obviously, there was no immediate solution, so he simply had to accept it.

Recalling the remark in the description about tapping these large gemstones with a pickaxe, the problem was that Xiao Yang didn't have a pickaxe right now. He smashed the "Greetings of Justice" in his hand against the largest and most dazzling red gemstone before him, but nothing happened. Perhaps he should pick a soft persimmon to squeeze first.

Xiao Yang searched among the group of gemstone bugs for the smallest one. Most of the other gemstone bugs were the size of basketballs, with the largest red gemstone bug reaching the size of a millstone. The one Xiao Yang chose now was only the size of an apple—a green gemstone bug. Xiao Yang smashed his club fiercely against the curled-up green gemstone bug, and a red number popped up.

Xiao Yang dealt five points of damage. Against this little fellow, he was at least able to break through its defense. However, the instant the damage number appeared, a green number followed right behind, restoring five health points. The damage Xiao Yang inflicted was instantly healed back to full.

Yet Xiao Yang refused to give in. He went right ahead and battered it with club strike after club strike. Before long, amidst the dense flashing of red and green numbers pulling back and forth, the green gemstone bug finally cracked under the pressure. It suddenly shook its body, and a piece of its outer shell detached, falling right in front of Xiao Yang.

Startled by this turn of events, Xiao Yang picked up the shell that had fallen from the green gemstone bug.

[Pure Green Gemstone (Small)
Quality: Excellent
Description: This is a pure green gemstone, particularly precious even among green gemstones.]

Wait! What was going on here? Could it be that these gemstone bugs were a sustainable, harvestable mobile gemstone mine?

Lost in thought, Xiao Yang gained a profound appreciation for the "special" tag attached to this special creature for the first time.

If this was truly the case, then how were these gemstone bugs any different from a mobile printing press of cash? No wonder the divine game's description of them used the phrase "extremely expensive."

Goodness gracious, Xiao Yang felt like he might really strike it rich.

To verify his hypothesis, Xiao Yang picked another small gemstone bug to pound on. After a flurry of random strikes, Xiao Yang obtained a Pure Purple Gemstone (Small). Instantly, the way Xiao Yang looked at these gemstone bugs lit up.

Good things! These gemstone bugs were all good things! Caressing the largest gemstone bug, which was the size of a millstone, Xiao Yang sighed with such emotion.

Yet, sighs aside, perhaps the lingering trauma from the severe beating he had just endured was still too profound. As he stroked the millstone-sized gemstone bug, Xiao Yang's face flickered between joy and murderous intent.

After all, it was precisely this largest red gemstone bug that had formed the head and brutally battered him just moments ago!

Xiao Yang's emotions were very complicated right now. If anyone asked him how he felt at this moment, the answer would probably be: suffering and joy intertwined!