Michael continued until the enormous cavern barely resembled what it had been before. Several walls had been pushed back dozens of metres. The floor had dropped considerably. Parts of the ceiling were missing.
The richest visible crystal deposits had all been transferred into the Mausoleum along with enormous quantities of surrounding rock.
Michael finally stopped.
"That should be enough."
There was no point stripping the entire mountain bare. He could always return if necessary.
Michael closed the gateway and dusted his hands.
The Skeleton Chief looked around.
"…"
Michael turned toward her.
"Do you know anywhere else like this?"
"Senior?"
"Places with valuable resources."
Michael stepped over a large crack running across the cavern floor.
"Preferably somewhere guarded by strong undead."
The Skeleton Chief paused.
Michael continued.
"Or anything unusual. Mines. Treasures. Special environments. Powerful undead territories."
The violet flames within her skull shifted.
"I know several."
Michael smiled. If she had spent more than fifty years trapped within the Netherworld and this mine was the only valuable location she knew, then those decades would truly have been wasted.
"Tell me."
The Skeleton Chief thought briefly.
"There is a valley northeast of here."
"What's there?"
"Grave Flowers."
Michael stopped.
"Grave Flowers?"
"Dark-element spiritual plants. They grow from areas where large quantities of soul energy have accumulated."
"What guards them?"
"A Corpse Giant."
"Rank?"
"Emperor."
"Good."
Michael gestured for her to continue.
"There is also a lake farther north. The water itself is poisonous to the soul, but crystals occasionally form beneath it."
"What grade?"
"I don't know."
"You never collected them?"
"I couldn't."
"Why?"
"Ghosts."
Michael's interest immediately increased.
"How many?"
"Thousands."
Michael's smile widened. That was even better than crystals, even if they were of a lower grade.
"What else?"
The Skeleton Chief hesitated before listing off several more, and the smile on Michael's face couldn't help but grow. When she was done listing everything, Michael, eager and in a hurry, immediately dashed off to these locations with her.
Over the next several days, Isabella proved far more useful than Michael had expected. With her knowledge of the surrounding region, he avoided wasting time searching blindly and moved directly between locations that possessed either valuable resources or powerful undead.
A valley filled with Grave Flowers. An underground river carrying dense energy. A ruined burial ground containing several Rare and Extraordinary-grade materials. Yes, a burial ground. Apparently some undead cultivated this way.
A lake occupied by thousands of ghosts, most of whom ended up inside the Mausoleum after Michael arrived. Several small undead territories.
One location after another was emptied. By the time Michael checked the resources accumulated within the Mausoleum, even he felt satisfied.
There was enough. More than enough.
The primary materials required for the resurrection ritual had finally been gathered, while the excess dark crystals, soul-nourishing treasures, ores, plants, and miscellaneous Netherworld materials would remain useful long after the Demigod was revived.
Without Isabella, collecting this much would have taken him at least twice as long. Perhaps longer. Michael had the strength to take whatever he encountered, but strength did not tell him where the useful things were. Her fifty years in the Netherworld had saved him an enormous amount of time.
By the third day, Michael had already decided it was time to return. Lucky's evolution should be nearing pletion. The Origin Battlefield would reopen soon. And most importantly, the Demigod's resurrection could finally begin.
However, just as Michael prepared to end the expedition, something unexpected happened.
They found a treasure.
Michael stood at the edge of a narrow ravine, staring toward a strange tree growing alone from the black stone below. The tree was barely three metres tall. Its trunk was pletely black, almost resembling charcoal, while thin silver lines pulsed beneath the bark like veins.
There were no leaves. Instead, dozens of pale-blue flames floated around its branches. Each flame gave off astonishingly pure energy.
Michael activated Detect.
[Nether Soul Tree]
[Grade: Epic ★★★]
[Description: A naturally formed spiritual tree born in regions where immense concentrations of death and soul energy overlap. Its wood, roots, and Soul Flames possess exceptional patibility with rituals involving souls, undead evolution, resurrection, and spiritual restoration.] Michael's eyes lit up immediately.
"Three-Star Epic."
This was easily the most valuable wild resource he had encountered during the entire expedition. More importantly, it was perfect. With this tree added to the materials already gathered, the Demigod resurrection ritual would bee far more stable. Seeing its description, it would also be far more useful after that.
Michael descended into the ravine without hesitation. Isabella followed him.
"Senior, I've never seen this before."
"Neither have I."
Michael approached the tree. The closer he came, the stronger the soul fluctuations became. Even his own soul felt strangely refreshed.
He placed one hand against the black trunk.
"I'll take the entire thing."
There was absolutely no reason to harvest only portions. The Mausoleum possessed more than enough space to transplant it. If he could keep it alive, it might continuously produce useful resources in the future.
Michael's consciousness connected to the Mausoleum. He quickly selected an environment possessing high concentrations of dark energy. The ground inside the Mausoleum shifted, and a large pit appeared.
Michael smiled.
"Perfect."
He crouched beside the Nether Soul Tree and extended his mana underground, carefully surrounding the roots.
He was just about to tear the surrounding earth free when he suddenly stopped.
"…"
Michael's expression became serious.
"Something's here."
The moment those words left his mouth, a face appeared inches from his own.
"…!"
Michael's heart nearly jumped out of his throat.
It was the face of a woman. Beautiful. Unnaturally so.
Long black hair drifting around her head as though submerged underwater. Dark lashes framed a pair of pletely silver eyes without visible pupils. Her features were delicate enough to appear almost artificial, yet the faint smile on her lips made the sight infinitely more unsettling.
More importantly, there had been absolutely nothing there a moment ago. Now her face was so close that their noses were barely separated.
Michael instinctively jerked backward. At the exact same moment, "Ghost!"
Isabella screamed.
If an undead could be scared by its own kind, there was little need to elaborate on Michael's feeling.
What made his heart beat faster was the aura he sensed from the ghost.
It was a demigod.
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