Chapter 203 — What the Magic Tide Brought

"Maybe it isn't resonance but a kind of magic transfer," Gao Yang said, drawing a breath and suppressing his excessive inner excitement as he slowly voiced his guess. "Only ore connected to a rune substrate or magic array changes, because those have an energy-consuming unit—energy flows within them. The other ores have no downstream structure to consume energy, so naturally they don't change."

"Magic transfer—you mean transmission?" Hedy stared in astonishment at those unremarkable stones. "These really are fascinating things."

"Their prospects for application are enormous," Gao Yang said, looking into Hedy's eyes. "If this stuff can be purified and mass-produced, perhaps our magic could expand to an incredible scale—the transmission range of magic would be greatly extended, even beyond the territory."

Hedy frowned slightly. "But the magic field it produces right now is far too unstable. Detonating a rune substrate doesn't require very stable magic, but driving those magic-powered machines is another matter."

"So we need to keep researching and find a way to make it stable," Gao Yang said gravely. "Not just stable—we have to guarantee it's controllable, too. By the way, is there a lot of this ore?"

"According to the survey team's estimates, quite a lot. There's a large weathered zone in the eastern extension of the Dark Mountains—beneath those loose, fragile rock layers it's all this strange new ore."

"New ore," Gao Yang murmured, stroking his chin. "It was the same with firing Rebecca crystal earlier—only that special limestone from the Dark Mountains can form those crystals. And Pierre also found medicinal herbs in those mountains with entirely special properties."

"I remember you said, Ancestor, that this is the corruption of the natural environment by the magic tide, which caused many ordinary minerals and plants to undergo changes in nature," Hedy said. "And you also guessed that on the southern slopes of the Dark Mountains there would be even more of these new resources."

"This is no corruption from a magic tide—this is nature's gift," Gao Yang corrected Yan Qi, then let his gaze drift out the window; through the glass in that direction he could just make out a small stretch of the Dark Mountains' slopes. "I'll go take a look at the excavation site of the new ore. It seems the so-called Tide of Destruction has brought more to this world than anyone imagined."

And while Gao Yang was studying the new Dark Mountains ore with Hedy and Rebecca, another team was also at work deep within the Dark Mountains.

Strictly speaking, deep within the ruins in the mountains.

Sir Byron and the exploration team he led had been operating in this newly discovered region for more than a week. They had drawn up detailed new maps and recorded all manner of new discoveries; twice they had sent messengers out to report their progress and received replies. Byron considered the expedition to have achieved remarkable results, and judging that prolonged time underground in the ruins would accumulate stress among the soldiers, he decided it was time to leave this place.

But just as he was sorting through the accumulated records and preparing to arrange the return journey, two soldiers who had been sent ahead to scout suddenly came running back into the room serving as their temporary base. "Sir, we've found a strange place up ahead."

"A strange place?" Byron frowned. Both soldiers were veterans who had followed him through these depths for quite some time, and they rarely reported anything in such vague terms—which made him rather uneasy.

"Yes, sir. It's a circular hall, but there's a strange stone ring at its center."

,