131: Chapter 131: Continuing the excavation, approaching the spiritual vein.

He did not speak, but raised his hand and tapped lightly on the hilt guard of the Titanium Alloy Dagger at his waist.

" Clang. "

The sound was not loud, yet it pierced through the dead silence like a nail.

In the distance, several young mechanics crouching behind cover jerked their heads up, their eyes unfocused for a fleeting moment, before they instinctively straightened their backs.

Their hands gripping the tools were still trembling, black mud and blood stains embedded under their fingernails, but this tapping sound was like some kind of secret signal, pulling them back from the edge of numbness.

Chen Wuwang tapped again.

" Clang. "

The rhythm changed this time: three short, one long.

An old craftsman in the engineering team understood and immediately roared in a low voice, " Shift change! East team retreat, West team advance! Fifteen-minute rotations, no dragging! "

The crowd began to move. Weary clansmen dragged their feet as they retreated, while a new group of people carried their tools and stepped forward quickly.

No one complained, and no one asked any questions.

Continuous combat had left their minds numb, but the patriarch's orders were ironclad law.

Chen Wuwang stood in place, his gaze sweeping across the entire construction site. He knew these people could not hold on for much longer—not physically, but mentally.

Having just finished a fierce battle, their bodies were too tired to move, but their nerves were stretched to the breaking point. If they kept dragging it out like this, they would collapse before the enemy even arrived.

He turned and walked toward the central command platform with steady steps.

His Mechanical Prosthetic Eye hummed slightly as it pulled up a real-time scan of the underground rock strata.

The signal from the Spiritual Vein was twenty percent stronger than last night, and the distance had shrunk to less than a hundred zhang. The closer they got, the more dangerous it was, but they also could not stop.

" Tiezhu. " He spoke, his voice not loud, but with immense penetrating power.

" Here! " A rough voice came from below.

Chen Tiezhu was crouching in the maintenance bay of the earth dragon, half his body inside, his wrench tightening bolts in rhythmic jerks.

His forehead was covered in sweat, which mixed with grease and dripped down, leaving several black streaks on his face.

Hearing the call, he didn't even look up: " The drill has been modified, the pulse frequency is set to once every three seconds, and I've added double-layered deflector plates to the heat vents. It'll hold up. "

" Go ahead then, " Chen Wuwang said, " Don't force it, take it steady. "

" Understood! " Chen Tiezhu finally climbed out, wiped his face, and jumped into the cockpit, " I'm going to chew through this rock today no matter what! "

The roar of the mech starting up made the soles of his feet go numb.

The massive body of the earth dragon moved forward slowly, its six mechanical legs gripping the ground firmly, and the spiritual energy drill at the front began to rotate slowly, emitting a pale blue halo.

" Shell-stripping mode, activate! " Chen Tiezhu roared, slamming both hands onto the control stick.

The drill cut into the rock strata, emitting a shrill grinding sound. Gravel splashed, and sparks flew in all directions.

On the monitoring screen, the temperature curve began to climb, and the warning light flashed twice before Chen Tiezhu manually suppressed it.

" Hold on... hold on... " He gritted his teeth, his fingers sliding rapidly across the control panel, inputting a sequence of runes—

That was a temporary reinforcement method he had secretly studied last night, simplifying the soul-suppressing patterns used in Artifact Refining and embedding them into the energy circuit. Although it could only last for an hour, it was enough to gain some progress.

The rock strata began to disintegrate, stripped away layer by layer. The readings on the detector were jumping faster and faster.

" Almost there! " Chen Tiezhu suddenly laughed, his voice transmitted through the external speakers, shaking the entire construction site, " Almost there, almost there! The concentration of Spiritual Qi has doubled! We're about to dig into the Spiritual Vein! "

This shout was like lighting the fuse on a powder keg.

The clansmen, who had been working in silence, all looked up in unison, their eyes brightening.

Some threw down their tools and crowded forward; some clenched their fists and roared in low voices; even the few wounded soldiers leaning against the wall with their eyes closed opened them.

" Really?! "

" The Spiritual Vein?! "

" Patriarch! Is it really about to break through?! "

Chen Wuwang did not turn back, but the corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly.

He raised his hand and tapped the hilt guard of the dagger again—this time four times, rapid and forceful.

The entire scene fell silent instantly.

" Happy? " His voice turned cold, " Save your laughter for the day you actually touch the Spiritual Vein. Right now, if anyone dares to move out of line, I will break their legs. "

Before his voice had even faded, a young clansman at the front could no longer restrain himself.

He saw a crack appear where the rock had collapsed ahead, with Spiritual Qi vaguely leaking out, and without thinking, he rushed over to claw at the rubble with his bare hands.

" Move aside! Let me see! " He roared, not caring that his fingernails were cracking.

" Boom—! "

The gravel loosened, and the rock wall above let out a groan of unbearable strain, on the verge of collapsing.

Chen Wuwang moved.

He took a step, his boot sole stomping heavily onto the ground, and a low-frequency shockwave instantly spread out. The surrounding support frames hummed as spiritual energy was injected into them, forcibly stabilizing the rock structure.

The man froze in place, his face turning deathly pale.

Chen Wuwang walked up to him, stared at him for two seconds, and suddenly laughed: " Want to die? Fine, I'll send you on your way. But don't drag others down with you. "

The young man was trembling all over, his lips quivering, unable to speak.

" Install additional spiritual energy support frames, " Chen Wuwang ordered as he turned, his voice returning to calm, " In the forward area, set up a dynamic protective net every ten zhang. You are allowed to increase speed, but you must work within the safe zone. Anyone who crosses the boundary will be thrown into solitary confinement. "

The order was passed down, and the engineering team acted quickly.

New support frames were transported up, spiritual energy was activated, and a semi-transparent protective net formed, extending forward.

The earth dragon continued to advance, the drill digging deeper. The rock strata were getting harder and harder, but Chen Tiezhu gritted his teeth and pushed on, the pulsed drilling tearing through the obstacles bit by bit.

" Eighty zhang... eighty-five... ninety... " He muttered while staring at the data, his voice growing more and more excited, " Patriarch! Ninety-two zhang, the Spiritual Qi concentration has broken through the threshold! Within the next thirty zhang ahead, it's all high-purity spiritual currents! It's definitely the main trunk! "

Chen Wuwang stood on the high platform, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye locked onto the rock wall ahead.

In his field of vision, a thick band of cyan light was taking shape, like the veins of the earth, pulsing quietly.

He didn't speak, just raised his hand and tapped the hilt guard of the dagger for the third time.

This time, the rhythm was very slow.

One tap, another tap, like counting heartbeats.

The clansmen lowered their heads and worked, their movements twice as fast as before, but no one shouted anymore.

The excitement was still there, but it had all been suppressed—since the patriarch hadn't smiled, they dared not relax.

The wind swirled ashes in from the tunnel entrance, carrying a hint of damp, fishy stench.

Chen Wuwang suddenly narrowed his eyes.

He smelled it.

It wasn't the smell of blood, nor was it the smell of scorched earth.

It was that extremely faint, extremely subtle sense of breathing, as if something deep underground was slowly opening its mouth.

He slowly raised his head and looked toward the rock wall ahead of the earth dragon that had not yet been broken through.

The crystal membrane had not yet healed.