Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory

Chapter 1164: A City Too Quiet

Ethan stared at the spot marked on the map, the excitement in his eyes completely unhidden.

He’d already absorbed all the Primordial Force inside that chunk of golden ore, but the energy lines left behind in his palm were still gently pulsing, like a heartbeat under the skin.

Just a sample had been that high-quality. If that mine really existed, it wouldn’t be worth any less than the mining zone they’d already taken.

He reached out and clamped a hand around the old man’s arm. Pale, bone-white lightning crawled lazily over his fingertips.

"Then let’s move. Now."

The old man’s body stiffened slightly, but he didn’t look panicked.

He was clearly an old fox.

Ethan’s grip had been viciously tight. A normal person would’ve been scared speechless, but the old man only dropped his gaze to his arm, then quickly shook his head.

He didn’t rush to yank free. Instead, he dug into his robe and pulled out another blood-red gem.

This one was smaller than the one embedded in his forehead, but far purer.

A crimson glow turned slowly within it, like the origin of a world compressed deep inside crystal.

The moment it appeared, the Primordial Force in the surrounding air reacted—subtle, but real—and even the energy shield above the mountain rippled in a widening ring.

Cradling the gem in both hands, the old man offered it to Ethan.

"My lord, there’s no need to rush."

His tone was more respectful than before, but also more careful—like he was stepping around a blade.

"In truth, our cooperation can go further. But there isn’t much trust between us. If we talk about who owns the mine right now... neither side will feel at ease."

He lifted his head. The blood-red gem on his forehead gleamed faintly.

"I think we should join forces first and wipe out a small country. Once we’ve confirmed we’re both sincerely working together, then handing the ore over to you will be... safer."

As he spoke, he pressed that blood-red gem into Ethan’s hand.

The instant Ethan closed his fingers around it, the lightning in his palm paused.

The Primordial Core power sealed inside was even denser than what had been in the golden ore earlier. The blood-colored energy sat heavy inside the crystal without leaking out, yet it felt more oppressive than any power that flared openly.

Just holding it, Ethan could feel his own energy pathways being tugged, lightly but unmistakably.

He looked up at the old man.

The old bastard’s bargaining chip really wasn’t small.

The map was already in Ethan’s hands, but the markings were frustratingly vague. The mountains, rivers, and mining areas were all drawn broad and oversized, while the real entrance—and the exact location—were left out entirely. If he wanted to find those two mines, he’d still need someone who actually knew the routes.

And the old man in front of him...

He was that guide.

Ethan went quiet for a moment, then slowly raised his arm.

"Looks like I don’t really get a choice today."

He put the blood-red gem away, a faint smile tugging at his mouth.

"Fine. Then we go all-in—full cooperation."

A flicker of joy flashed through the old man’s eyes before he crushed it down. He nodded, then turned and beckoned toward the void passage behind him.

The light inside the spatial rift immediately stabilized.

Not long after, an army marched out in a rolling flood.

The soldiers’ gear didn’t perfectly match the old man’s style, but every one of them had blood-red crystals set into their forehead, chestplate, or weapon.

Thin strands of energy linked crystal to crystal, knitting the entire force’s aura together into something almost unified.

Farther off, Emerald Castle’s troops were already in formation.

The two armies faced each other across the center of the mining camp for a breath. The atmosphere turned... strange. The old man’s troops looked at Emerald Castle with wariness—and a little unease.

After all, they’d just watched Ethan blast apart a spatial rift with one move and grind the people trying to step out into a mist of blood.

The old man, though, acted like none of that had happened. He simply smiled at Ethan.

"Then it’s settled."

He pointed into the distance.

"We wipe out ten civilizations as fast as possible. When that’s done, those two mines are yours."

Ethan didn’t bother arguing.

He only lifted a hand and issued the advance order to the Emerald Castle army behind him.

The formation surged into motion. The Fallen Star Guard rose first, taking the sky. Powered Combat Armor units formed a sharp forward line. Behind them, the goblin engineering crews held the rear, dismantling the cores of several temporary Creature Dwellings and loading them into mobile arrays.

The silver giants who’d just surrendered were kept in the mining camp under guard, still forced to handle excavation and hauling. They weren’t qualified to follow the main force.

The two armies converged at the mouth of the spatial passage.

The old man’s troops maintained the rift’s stability. One blood-red crystal after another lit up, building a relatively steady pathway through the void.

Emerald Castle’s army filed into the corridor, a vast column pushing toward the destination.

Inside the spatial passage, there was no day or night.

Only streams of energy sliding backward around them, and the occasional spat of spatial turbulence scraping past outside the corridor walls. Time lost its shape. Then, finally, a bright exit appeared ahead.

The army crossed through and landed on an open plain.

The field stretched wide. Wind skimmed low over the ground, sweeping up sheets of gray dust.

Between distant ridgelines sat a small city.

From far away, it didn’t look like much. The walls weren’t tall, and the defense towers didn’t give off any dazzling energy fluctuations.

Even the ambient aura hanging in the world around it felt thin—compared to the mine they’d just taken, it almost seemed poor.

But Ethan only needed one glance for his expression to change.

The system’s scan results had already popped up.

Beneath that small city lay an enormous deposit. The veins ran deep through the entire mountain mass, and some kind of structure pinned the energy down underground, preventing it from spilling outward—why the surface looked so calm.

What caught Ethan’s attention even more...

There was a terrifyingly strong presence inside the city.

That aura was buried deep, pressed down tight, but the system still managed to capture its energy outline.

The target didn’t feel like an ordinary city lord. He felt like a heavy blade driven straight into the city—one that would change the whole place the instant it was drawn.

Ethan understood immediately.

The old man hadn’t brought him here for "cooperation."

He wanted to use Emerald Castle’s army to eliminate this enemy for him.