Chapter 115: Silver Mine Life

Why was this happening? An abandoned silver mine appeared to have come alive, which was hard to comprehend.

The nearby trees were sparse, as large ones had been felled during the mining operations. Numerous reddish-brown rocks were piled up, forming small hills.

He saw the name "Miping Silver Mine" carved nearby, realizing the mine had only been abandoned a few years prior.

He circled the silver mine from a distance, observing it from all sides while also keeping a close eye on the tree. The entire tree was extraordinary: ten feet tall, it emitted a faint fiery glow, and its pale purple leaves shimmered brilliantly, as if burning, radiating an astonishing life force. Unfortunately, he couldn't identify what kind of plant it was or what had caused its mutation. Rooted right beside the silver mine, its trunk was about a foot in diameter. Compared to the mutated small pine trees in the Taihang Mountains, it was immeasurably more magnificent. Consider that the small trees discovered by the four extraordinary beings—King Kong, Silverwing, and Fire Spirit—were only three feet tall, yet those trees were enough to make them stand out amongst their peers. It was clear just how extraordinary this tree was! Compared to a towering ancient tree, it wasn't particularly massive, but it possessed a rugged, ancient feel. Its main trunk was covered in palm-sized cracked bark, which peeled open like dragon scales.

"A wondrous tree!" Chu Feng sighed, but he never approached it. Even though the tree was incredibly alluring, he refrained from acting, sensing the profound strangeness of the place.

"From this distance, a strong fragrance reaches me; it must have already borne fruit."

He chose a vantage point and, through the dense foliage, finally spotted two fruits deep within the tree's crown. Both were as large as bowls, entirely silver-white, and emanated a shimmering glow. The two fruits were plum-shaped, and their enticing fragrance wafted through the air.

"If consumed, could this allow someone to contend with a beast king?" Chu Feng wondered, concluding it likely would be enough! Yet, for some unknown reason, he felt an persistent unease, even a sense of dread. The place made him profoundly uncomfortable.

"It's too quiet. No fierce birds approach, no wild beasts pass by. It's extremely peculiar." In fact, there wasn't even a single ant or insect nearby—only vegetation.

Occasionally, the silver mine emitted a "breathing" sound. It truly resembled breathing: when the mine shaft emitted white light, it seemed to exhale, and when it dimmed, it appeared to inhale.

"Huh, there's even a flower bud?" Chu Feng was surprised. After moving to a different vantage point, he spotted a large, silver-white, translucent bud amidst the thick foliage, ready to bloom. This sight gave him an overwhelming urge to rush directly towards it.

However, Chu Feng ultimately retreated silently. After running a considerable distance, he caught a foot-long mountain rat, grabbed it by the tail, and swiftly threw it towards the silver mine. After the rat landed, still dozens of meters from the mine shaft, its eyes darted around, fixed on the wondrous tree with a greedy glint. In an instant, it let out a sudden shriek, then vanished from the spot, pulled by a silvery light that drew it into the mine, where it quickly became silent. Chu Feng's face registered shock; there was indeed something peculiar about this place.

Thus, he ventured far away and successively captured several mutated beasts for experimentation. Each one was swallowed by the silver mine! Chu Feng discovered that a hundred-meter radius around the silver mine was extremely dangerous. It was as if an invisible field pulled any living creature within its grasp into the mine shaft. Beyond that hundred-meter perimeter, however, it was perfectly safe; nothing unusual occurred. From small mountain rats to mutated dogs four or five meters long, the outcome was always the same: any creature that stepped within the hundred-meter zone was immediately swallowed by the silver mine.

Finally, Chu Feng captured a venomous python, seven or eight meters long and vividly colored. He guided its head into the hundred-meter range of the silver mine. He, meanwhile, held tightly to the snake's tail, intending to test the strength of the force within the silver mine. The venomous python hissed, flicking its tongue, but before it could even struggle, the silver mine glowed, poised to swallow it whole. Chu Feng was astonished. As he pulled the snake's tail, he felt an immense force attempting to drag him in as well. He yanked backward with all his might, causing the seven-to-eight-meter-long python's body to go taut, almost tearing apart, and blood seeped from its scales. He quickly released his grip, for the pulling force was terrifying, and the silver light was now spreading, heading directly towards him.

Whoosh!

The venomous python plunged into the silver mine and instantly became silent. Chu Feng frowned, a slight chill running down his spine. He was fortunate to have been so cautious; otherwise, he likely would have perished there. The hundred-meter radius around the silver mine was a death zone; any creature stepping within it was doomed. At the very least, with his current strength, there was no way he could approach it safely.

"That flower is about to open. I'll wait here and then use some tactics, perhaps stirring up a strong wind, to gather some of its pollen." Chu Feng remained highly cautious, unwilling to rush in. He decided to wait outside.

As darkness fell, he ate some food and drank some water, then sat quietly, keeping watch from a short distance. The bud had opened slightly, revealing small gaps. It could fully bloom at any moment, or within two days at the latest. Chu Feng was perfectly capable of waiting.

In fact, the flower bloomed earlier than he had anticipated. As the silver moon hung high, the bud on the wondrous tree's branch opened with a soft "pop." Instantly, Chu Feng's hair stood on end. Without a second thought, he fled at top speed. It was an instinctive premonition that he was in immense peril, his life under threat. He fled the area at subsonic speed. Chu Feng moved with such force that he created a strong wind, causing the air to roar. He was incredibly fast, and soon he stood atop a mountain peak, a full ten miles from the silver mine.

The area around the silver mine was no longer quiet; a disturbance had erupted in the mountains. Originally, there had been no living creatures nearby, but after the petals bloomed, their fragrance permeated for miles, drawing in beings from outside. Before long, numerous fierce birds and beasts appeared, rushing towards the silver mine. Even the creatures deep within the primeval mountains became agitated, roaring, but they couldn't emerge, as if an unseen barrier held them back.

Chu Feng felt incredibly frustrated and regretted watching helplessly. Was he about to miss a great opportunity? Suddenly, his eyes widened in utter shock. The wild boars, hunting dogs, badgers, green wolves, and leopards in that area all inexplicably collapsed. Chu Feng's vision was exceptionally sharp, comparable to Du Huaijin's clairvoyance. He clearly saw that after the bud on the strange tree bloomed, it emitted a brilliant glow, and pollen began to spread. It appeared those creatures died instantly upon inhaling the flower's fragrance!

"What's happening?!" Chu Feng was shocked and utterly bewildered.

Subsequently, he witnessed an even more astonishing scene: a white light emerged from the silver mine. Metallic silver was coalescing, forming a creature that continuously inhaled the flower's fragrance.

"Metal has come to life?!" Chu Feng was horrified.

In the night sky, an eight-meter-long bat, radiating terrifying fluctuations, swooped down at incredible speed. This was undoubtedly a very powerful mutated beast. Even Chu Feng would likely have to exert significant effort to deal with it. As it flew, the bat emitted black ripples from its mouth, causing landslides and tremors that destroyed the rock piles around the silver mine as it charged towards the wondrous tree. Tragically, upon inhaling the pollen, it immediately plunged to the ground, dead on the spot. All creatures that had rushed forward perished, dying in the potent fragrance of the pollen.

A shiver ran down Chu Feng's spine. He finally understood why he had felt such an overwhelming urge to flee earlier; the pollen was deadly, not an opportunity at all.

Near the silver mine, all creatures were utterly dead. However, a brilliant white light emanated from within the mine as metallic liquid coalesced. The silver mine had indeed come alive! Furthermore, clumps of silver-white metal, presumably pure silver, appeared on the surrounding ground. Upon contact with the pollen, they began to metamorphose, taking on the forms of living beings. Finally, silver dogs, silver leopards, and other metallic beings emerged, mimicking the deceased creatures on the ground. They moved swiftly, dragging the corpses into the ancient mine or burying them around the wondrous tree.

"As fertilizer!" Chu Feng realized.

The flower remained open for a long time before its fragrance finally began to fade. As the silver mine pulsed with white light, all the silver creatures—silver leopards, silver boars, silver bats, and others—rushed towards it. They transformed into metallic liquid and merged into the ancient mine, coalescing into a single life form. Within the mine, the metal continuously deformed, lacking any fixed shape! Eventually, tranquility returned to the ancient mine's vicinity as the silver mine life form submerged itself within the mine.

"This is terrifying," Chu Feng murmured to himself. "Is this plant specifically for metal, capable of promoting its evolution?" He felt the situation was extremely grave. Indeed, the world was still undergoing profound changes, and more mysteries continued to emerge!

Much later, he once again approached the silver mine, stopping a hundred meters away. "Oh?!" He spotted a glimmer of silver on the ground. It was a piece of gleaming metal that hadn't mutated into a living creature, but it appeared to have come into contact with some pollen. Chu Feng carefully wrapped it in animal hide, then turned and departed.

He wasted no time, rushing eight hundred li overnight towards Shuntian. He felt it was crucial to have a specialist identify this piece of metal. After an eight-hundred-li overnight journey, it was late when Chu Feng returned, yet Shuntian was still bustling, with people occasionally visible on the streets. Chu Feng swept through like a gust of wind. Even so, he overheard keywords like "Ox God King," "Chu Feng," and "White Snake," clearly spoken by people who had just emerged from a cinema.

He had no time to pay attention to that now. He went directly to the Jade Pure Palace and had someone find the old man Lu Tong, waking him from his slumber.

"Kid, are you over-excited?" Lu Tong grumbled, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "I know you're the Ox God King, famous across the land, but you don't need to celebrate in the middle of the night!"

"Old man, something major has happened! I saw a silver mine come to life..." Chu Feng quickly recounted the events and then produced the pristine white metallic sample. All traces of sleep vanished from Lu Tong's face. He exclaimed, "What?! Even minerals are mutating and evolving? And that strange tree only promotes the evolution of metallic life forms?!" Knowing the gravity of the situation, he took the metal sample and immediately contacted the head of a specific laboratory. He then dispatched a specialist to deliver it overnight. Chu Feng didn't wait at the Jade Pure Palace, deciding to return the next day for the results.

It was quite late, but when he arrived home, he found both his parents still awake in the living room. His mother, Wang Jing, was particularly excited. Upon seeing him, she immediately exclaimed, "Son, your performance this time was truly impressive!" Chu Feng felt a headache coming on, unsure of what was happening, as he had long since turned off his communicator.

"'Ox Demon Great Sage' is receiving rave reviews! So many people are looking for you, they've been contacting your father and me," Wang Jing said, beaming with delight.

"Who were they?" Chu Feng asked, a slight sense of trepidation.

"So many people," Wang Jing replied. "For instance, that young lady you went on a blind date with contacted us several times tonight, asking if you were back. She's so proactive; I think there's definitely something brewing between you two!"

Chu Feng knew immediately that it wasn't "something brewing," but rather fury. He suspected Xia Qianyu was calling on behalf of Jiang Luoshen, trying to trick him into coming out so she could fight him to the death. Sure enough, Wang Jing continued, "There was another young woman who said her surname was Jiang. She sounded very emotional, her voice trembled when she spoke, and it almost seemed like her teeth were chattering. She told me to tell you to call her back when you returned, and that you'd know who she was." Chu Feng knew without a doubt it was Jiang Luoshen! How could that be excitement? It must have been pure rage, her wanting to fight him to the death! It was probably because after "Ox Demon Great Sage" premiered, she had once again dominated the trending topics. And it was likely all because of him!

As for Jiang Luoshen's teeth chattering? Impossible! Chu Feng suspected she was more likely grinding or clenching her teeth, fuming with uncontrollable anger!

"What's going on? Has there been another explosive news report?" Chu Feng wondered suspiciously.

"Just watch the news yourself tomorrow morning," Chu Zhiyuan said, advising him to get some rest.

Wang Jing also told Chu Feng, "There really were many people looking for you, and they all sounded very agitated. Still, I can't shake the feeling that something isn't quite right."

Chu Feng stood up and mumbled, "The world is so beautiful, yet they are all so irritable." Never mind. He wasn't in the mood to deal with it now. He went to take a shower and then straight to bed. After an eight-hundred-li dash back to Shuntian, he was already quite tired and naturally drifted into a deep sleep very quickly.

That night, Chu Feng slept soundly, but many others were troubled and couldn't sleep. These sleepless individuals included Jiang Luoshen, Xia Qianyu, King Kong, Silverwing, Xu Wanyi, the Mu family, and even Lin Nuoyi. Some were so furious they wished they could storm directly into Chu Feng's home. Even among the mutants, some were sleepless. For instance, the Great Black Ox was fuming in Kunlun, desperate to contact Chu Feng to help him catch some individuals, but the boy had gone incommunicado and was completely ignoring him. Naturally, many other mutants also found themselves unable to sleep. The public release of two blockbusters today seemed to have opened up a new world for them!