"Well, that was fun. Who would've thought a simple trip to Cyan Town would end with us popping those people's nuggets?"
Yun Che stretched lazily atop Minazuki's back, the wind brushing against his face like a cool hand. Beneath him, the warm scales of the giant healing beast pulsed with a steady rhythm—almost like a heartbeat.
Retsu lay curled against his side, her arms wrapped around him possessively, her fox tail draped over his waist like a fluffy belt. Ever since returning from their little… surgical outing, she'd been glued to him—literally.
Now that they were officially a couple, she no longer held back.
She was soft, warm, and smelled faintly of snow and sakura—and beneath it all, that intoxicating mix of reiryoku and yin energy that clung to her like perfume.
To Yun Che, it felt nice.
To Retsu, it was heaven.
To Yachiru?
It was blissfully addicting.
Even in her shy Yin side, Retsu nuzzled him with small, unconscious motions.
A contented purr bubbled in her throat every time the cold mountain wind carried Yun Che's scent across her nose.
Jasmine sat cross-legged on the other side of Minazuki's ridge, watching them with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
"Honestly, you are quite despicable, aren't you?" she remarked dryly. "Destroying and castrating those men with their own swords? This princess rarely feels impressed by mortals—but that was… extreme."
Yun Che shrugged, unbothered.
"It was Retsu's wish. She wanted to kill them herself, but I suggested something ironic instead. A fate worse than death. And considering what the villagers did afterward… letting them live wouldn't have mattered. Their ending was already written."
Retsu hummed, snuggling even closer. Her eyes softened.
"They were foul men… reeking of the innocent they harmed. I could smell it on them." Her voice trembled—half rage, half disgust. "I couldn't let them walk away. Not after everything they've done."
Jasmine scoffed.
"If this princess handled it, I would have erased them with a single Star God strike. Mortals are fragile. They shatter too easily."
"Sure you would," Yun Che replied with a knowing grin.
"And you still doubt my powers—how irritating," Jasmine muttered, but she couldn't hide the small smile curling at the edges of her lips.
After several hours of travel, the familiar outline of Floating Cloud City finally emerged on the horizon.
It looked exactly the same.
Small. Quiet. Unassuming.
But its people remembered the earthquake-like explosion from a year ago—the day a crippled young man cut off the tip of a mountain. Whispers still lingered on every street corner, Yun Che's phantom reputation haunting the city like a fabled ghost story.
Instead of entering the city immediately, Yun Che directed Minazuki around its edges, heading for a secluded area just beyond the outer walls.
"We're not going into the city yet, young master?" Retsu asked, tilting her head cutely.
"No. We're looking for something first."
His eyes narrowed with purpose.
Deep beneath Floating Cloud City lay a secret.
A treasure.
A spark of divine power disguised as purple light.
The Purple Veined God Crystal Mine.
A resource so valuable it would one day lead an empire to invade Blue Wind Nation.
A resource birthed by a lightning strike far more mysterious than any mortal could comprehend.
Lightning… that struck nineteen years ago.
Lightning… that killed Xiao Lingxi's mother the night she gave birth.
A silent heaviness settled over Yun Che's shoulders.
He had asked the system about her.
All he learned was the pain she carried—
how she had once been a radiant woman who lit up every room…
how her spirit shattered after the death of her son…
and how she faded away after the fateful lightning incident.
The system could find no more.
Which only made Yun Che's suspicion stronger.
"What are you thinking about, young master?" Retsu asked softly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
Yun Che exhaled slowly.
"I'm thinking about Lingxi's mother… and the storm that killed her. And I get the feeling it wasn't just lightning from the sky."
Retsu blinked, sensing the seriousness behind his tone.
Jasmine—who had been quiet for once—opened her eyes.
"That lightning… Yun Che… it wasn't ordinary, was it?"
"No," he replied.
"And whatever caused it… is connected to Lingxi."
Minazuki drifted lower, gliding toward a rocky area where the ground felt hollow.
Yun Che's Sharingan flickered to life.
"Let's go," he said quietly. "It's time we uncover what lies beneath Floating Cloud City."
=================================
Yun Che bowed his head faintly.
A quiet gesture.
A respectful one.
This place—this soon-to-be unearthed mine—was the grave of Xiao Lingxi's mother.
A woman who died alone after giving birth.
A woman whose last act was giving the world his Little Aunt.
He wasn't going to let some overgrown flaming-chicken empire defile her resting place.
With a sigh, he opened the translucent interface of the system map.
"Now… where in the world is that mine?"
Jasmine materialized beside him in her faux body, arms crossed, expression unimpressed.
"You mean you came here without any precise lead?"
"Well…" Yun Che coughed, tilting his head as if the sky suddenly fascinated him. "The system told me it was somewhere under the ground and far from the city. It failed to mention exact coordinates."
In reality, he remembered the novel—but not the exact path to the mine.Walking around the outskirts like a headless chicken was starting to feel like a tradition.
Retsu, sensing the impending endless walking, summoned Minazuki. Jasmine immediately boarded the Shikai beast with a dramatic sigh.
"Walking hurts my feet," she announced primly.
Yun Che deadpanned. "You're floating."
"And? It hurts my dignity."
They circled the outskirts for half an hour—until the system abruptly chimed.
=====================
[Ding… Detected unusual energy from beneath the ground.]
=====================
Yun Che's lips curled into a grin so sharp it made Jasmine shift uncomfortably.
"I hope that smile means something other than trouble…" she muttered.
He didn't reply, simply leaped off Minazuki, landing atop a barren patch of earth. Unlike the lush grass around it, this area was dead—no flowers, no weeds, no signs of life.
A perfect circle.
A scar in the land.
As if lightning itself had punched a hole through the world.
"Oh yeah," Yun Che said, cracking his knuckles. "This is definitely it."
Jasmine floated above him, expression tightening. Retsu remained beside her, fingers laced nervously.
"Relax, toots," Yun Che called up to Jasmine with a cocky smirk. "I got this."
"That nickname is unnecessary," she hissed.
He summoned Zangetsu, the massive blade appearing with a whisper of cold wind. With no hesitation, he drove the sword straight into the deadened ground.
"Be careful, young master," Retsu called softly. "We don't know how deep it is."
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jasmine asked. For the third time.
"Nope," Yun Che replied honestly. "I just hope I don't collapse the entire city. But the system detected something, and if we can't find a natural entrance…"
He grinned.
"We make our own."
Reiryoku surged down his arms, crackling along Zangetsu's edge. The earth trembled in response. Dust leapt from the ground. The air itself seemed to coil back in fear.
Then—
CRRRRRRRAAAAACK—
Spidery fractures erupted outward from the sword's point of impact, racing across the barren circle like lightning veins. The sound echoed like bones breaking beneath the earth.
The ground quivered.
Retsu clasped her hands nervously.Jasmine's eyes widened.
"I knew it."
Yun Che tapped the cracked ground with the tip of his boot—smooth, confident, smug.
"Why isn't this working? Must more be energy used?" he muttered under his breath, quoting an old game line out of habit.
The moment the words left his mouth, fate answered.
The fissures beneath his feet expanded violently—splitting wider, deeper, longer—before the entire patch of land gave way.
A clean, gaping hole swallowed him whole.
"SHIIIIITTT!!!"
"YOUNG MASTER!" Retsu shot forward, nearly diving in after him. At the edge, she spotted him lying flat at the bottom, giving her a shaky thumbs-up with a dust-covered grin.
"Young master, are you well?"
Her voice trembled with worry.
Yun Che stood up, patting dirt off his clothes and resheathing Zangetsu. "I'm okay. I mean… WOOOOW—"
"Young master? Anything down there?" Retsu called, leaning in.
"Not anything, Retsu." His voice echoed from below. "It's everything. This place is a freaking goldmine."
He raised his hand, chanting a brief Kido.
A bright sphere of light flared to life, illuminating the cavern.
What it revealed stole his breath.
Purple.
Brilliant.
Everywhere.
Crystals studded the walls and ground like veins of divine amethyst, glowing faintly under the Kido light.
"Minazuki…" Retsu whispered. Her eyes sparkled like stars as she hopped down beside him, landing gracefully. "So beautiful…"
She reached out and brushed her fingertips over one of the shimmering crystals, admiration radiating from her expression.
"Purple Veined God Crystals," Yun Che confirmed, stepping beside her. "Not ordinary ones, either."
A soft chiming resounded as the system notification unfolded before them.
===================
[Ding…]
[These crystals contain energy from black lightning.]
[Normal strikes create only 1–2 kilograms per decade.]
[The lightning that struck Xiao Lingxi's mother produced roughly 50 kilograms—a once-in-a-millennium anomaly.]
[Absorption effect: Significantly boosts early-stage cultivators. System exchange rate: 5000 XP per kilogram.]
====================
Retsu tilted her head, confused.
"Xiao Lingxi? Her mother?"
"I'll introduce you after this," Yun Che replied softly, patting her head.
Retsu drank in the beauty of the cave. The shimmering purple light reflected in her eyes, making her look even more ethereal.
Despite the visual abundance, Yun Che quickly realized something important—the cave was spaced wide, but the actual crystal mass was limited.
"About fifty kilos," he murmured. "Still… that's enough to start a war."
And in the original timeline, it did.
Empires would burn villages for even a kilogram.
Sacred grounds killed for less.
A vein producing two kilograms in ten years was considered a miracle worth dying for.
But this?
Fifty.
In one place.
A once-in-a-thousand-years phenomenon.
"Unbelievable…" Retsu whispered.
Yun Che nodded.
"Yeah. And the Divine Phoenix Empire is not getting a single pebble."
He clenched his fist, eyes narrowing.
"This mine belongs to my Little Aunt's mother. I'm not letting anyone desecrate her grave."
The crystals gleamed like captured lightning.
He already knew what needed to be done.
"I'll stash around thirty-five kilos for Jasmine," he decided. "And the rest… we'll figure out something useful."
Power. Wealth. Weapons.
This mine held endless possibilities.
Retsu looked at him with soft admiration.
He might need to hide the crystals from Mizu and Kaze, or those two little gluttons would probably eat Heaven-Tier resources like popcorn.
"Goodness… so many god crystals. What is this place?" Jasmine descended gracefully from above, touching down beside them.
"This," Yun Che spread his arms, "is exactly the spot I've been searching for. No one knows why the black lightning struck here specifically and created a massive vein underneath."
He carefully omitted the part about Xiao Lingxi's mother. Jasmine didn't need another mystery to obsess over—yet.
Jasmine folded her arms, contemplating the cavern. "There must be something special buried here to attract Heavenly Lightning. I'll look into it once I have time." She glanced around. "But how do you plan to clear so many? Even with all three of us, it should take days."
Yun Che smirked.
"No problem. I've got it covered."
He raised his right hand. Air warped around it—space folding, spiraling—before forming a swirling vortex infused with system power. A suction force erupted so fiercely that Retsu and Jasmine both felt the tug in their bones.
One by one, the purple crystals ripped themselves free from the walls and floor, zipping toward his hand and vanishing as though swallowed into another dimension.
It lasted only seconds.
Then—silence.
The once-glittering cave was stripped bare, smooth stone gleaming under the fading Kido light.
"I don't even know what to say…" Jasmine muttered, stunned. Even after all this time with Yun Che, the system still had ways of shocking her.
A familiar chime echoed in Yun Che's mind.
=====================
[Ding… Acquired 50 Kilograms of Purple Veined God Crystal]
[Description: Contains crystallized heavenly lightning. Value equivalent to 5000 XP per kilogram.]
[Ding… Partial sample collected for analysis. Compensation granted: 30,000 XP.]
======================
Yun Che shrugged—thirty thousand free XP was thirty thousand XP.
Not bad.
He dusted his hands and turned toward Jasmine.
"Well, that was easy. Jasmine—minus the thirty-five kilos you need to rebuild your body, can I keep the rest?"
"Hmph. Do what you want," she said with practiced haughtiness. "As long as you don't forget my share."
Retsu leaned closer, curious. "Young master, are we going to consume them?"
He shook his head immediately.
"Nah. The XP requirements for Earth Profound Realm are too high. Fifty kilos won't be enough for either of us. Better to save them for crafting or emergencies."
"Then what's next?" Jasmine asked, excitement bubbling in her voice—until a new notification interrupted him.
==========================
[Ding… Analysis complete.]
[The system has created a Purple Veined Crystal Cave inside the host's inner world.]
[Production: 2 kilograms per month.]
[Growth will increase as the host breaks through higher realms.]
==========================
Inside the inner world, a ten-meter-deep cavern spontaneously formed beneath the floating island. Purple crystals sprouted from its walls like budding flowers. Zanpakutō spirits nearby gathered curiously around the new miniature mine, poking at the crystals as if testing them.
Another notification chimed.
======================
[Ding… Achievement Unlocked: "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"]
[Reward: 10,000 XP + 5,000 SP]
A frame of chibi version of him threw crystals in the air while wearing a farmer's outfit.
=======================
Yun Che froze.
He now had a farm for Purple Veined God Crystals.
Two kilos a month.
Twelve kilos a year.
More as he grew stronger.
If word got out, every sacred ground on the continent would try to turn him into a breeding pig for god crystals.
"...What's wrong?" Jasmine asked, puzzled at his deadpan expression.
"Go into the inner world. You'll see," he replied flatly.
Jasmine blinked, then quietly slipped into his inner world—where a shriek of delighted disbelief echoed almost instantly.
Meanwhile, Yun Che stretched his back and grinned.
"Oh yeah… time for our next stop." His eyes glinted dangerously. "The Xiao Clan. I owe them a big debt."
He leapt effortlessly out of the cavern, Retsu and Jasmine close behind, and the three vanished into the open sky—toward Floating Cloud City.