45: Exploring the traces of the Heavenly Dao in Meteor Valley, encountering a guardian beast at the Origin Mine.

The road to Meteorite Valley was covered in light frost. A Qing's dragon back was warm and cozy. Nian Xue was wrapped in a small cloak, her little hand clutching the corner of Lin Chen's clothes.

"Daddy, are there lots of star stones in Meteorite Valley?" she asked, looking up, her white breath drifting into the cold air.

Lin Chen condensed a wisp of the Law of Light at his fingertips to help warm her hands. "Yes, but the stones there might hide bad things. We have to be careful."

The Star Spirit Clan Leader walked ahead holding a crystal, its light flickering. "Fifty miles ahead is Meteorite Valley. The Heavenly Dao aura inside is very thick."

The group continued forward. The closer they got to the valley entrance, the more black patterns appeared on the ground—it was energy seeping from the Heavenly Dao Origin mine, forming traces on the earth.

Upon reaching the valley entrance, Lin Chen's Divine Thought suddenly tensed: behind the mountain wall on the left side of the valley, three mythical-grade Early Stage auras were hidden, along with the sound of stones grinding.

"There are mine-guarding beasts inside. Their aura belongs to 'Origin Mine Spirits'." The Star Spirit Clan Leader lowered his voice, his crystal light pointing toward the mountain wall. "They are guarding the entrance to the mineral vein."

These mine spirits didn't rush out. Instead, they blocked the entrance with stones, leaving only a narrow gap—clearly planning to ambush the group once they drew near. Quite cunning.

"A Qing, take Nian Xue back a bit," Lin Chen instructed, his figure flashing as he teleported behind the mountain wall.

Three gray-stone-colored mine spirits indeed rushed out. Their bodies were covered in sharp mineral crystals, and they held Ore hammers in their hands, swinging them at Lin Chen's chest.

"Is this all you've got?" Lin Chen snorted coldly. The Space Law was activated, and the mine spirits' movements instantly froze, unable to get even an inch closer.

The Star Spirit Clan Leader took the opportunity to use the crystal to interfere with the mine spirits' Origin. The crystal light shot directly at the mine spirits' cores, making their movements even more sluggish.

Lin Chen condensed Void Power at his fingertip and tapped the mine spirits' cores. The mine spirits instantly turned into fragments of mineral crystals filling the sky, leaving behind only three mythical-grade Early Stage crystal cores.

He picked up the crystal cores and activated Sublimation: the first time turned them into eternal-grade, and the second reached heavenly dao grade. The Origin aura became three times thicker, and he distributed them among the team members.

After absorbing them, Lin Chen's Origin concentration rose from 75% to 80%, and his Divine Thought expanded to 305 kilometers. Nian Xue absorbed the powder while in A Qing's arms, her concentration going from 66% to 71%, her little face turning rosy. The Star Spirit Clan Leader also broke through from epic-grade Late Stage to mythical-grade Early Stage.

"The entrance to the mineral vein is clear. Let's go in and take a look." Lin Chen pushed aside the pile of stones. Inside was a deep mine tunnel, its walls shimmering with black Origin light.

Nian Xue held A Qing's hand and hid behind Lin Chen. "Daddy, it's so dark inside. I'm a little scared."

Lin Chen took out a glowing origin crystal and handed it to her. "Take this, and it won't be dark anymore. Daddy will protect you."

The group advanced along the mine tunnel. From time to time, black origin liquid seeped from the stones on both sides, dripping onto the ground with a "sizzle" sound, showing strong corrosiveness.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, an open cavern appeared at the end of the tunnel. In the center was a massive Origin mineral vein glowing with a deep black light—it was precisely the energy source for the heavenly dao main body's healing.

Beside the mineral vein lay a giant beast ten times larger than the previous mine spirits. Its body was composed of pure black mineral crystals, its eyes were two clusters of crimson flames, and its aura reached mythical-grade Middle Stage—it was the mine-guarding beast, the "Meteorite Mine Lord."

The Mine Lord didn't open its eyes but sensed the group's aura. Its low voice echoed in the cavern: "Outsiders, you dare to intrude upon my mineral vein? You seek death!"

It didn't rush forward but instead slammed its claws onto the ground. The stones at the top of the cavern instantly crashed down, intending to bury the group first before dealing with them slowly.

"Husband, I'll freeze the falling rocks!" Clear Snow's voice suddenly came from the mine tunnel entrance—she had finished clearing the remnants in the east and had arrived!

Pale purple ice and snow instantly spread, freezing the falling rocks in mid-air. Clear Snow teleported to Lin Chen's side, her nine tails unfolding. "I'm late. I hope I didn't miss anything important?"

Lin Chen held her hand, his eyes full of warmth. "You arrived just in time. Let's take it down together."

Seeing that the falling rocks were ineffective, the Mine Lord finally opened its eyes and spat a beam of black Origin light at Nian Xue—it wanted to target the weakest person to force the others to lose focus.

"You dare touch my daughter!" Lin Chen teleported in front of Nian Xue. The Space Law condensed into a shield, firmly blocking the beam and reflecting it back at the Mine Lord.

The Mine Lord was hit by its own beam, and a crack opened in the mineral crystals on its body. Clear Snow took the opportunity to expand the Ice and Snow Domain, and the pale purple cold Qi seeped through the crack, freezing its Origin.

The Star Spirit Clan Leader used the crystal to interfere with the Mine Lord's perception, and A Qing spat out Little Dragon Breath. Although it wasn't very powerful, it managed to delay the Mine Lord's movements.

Lin Chen condensed all his Origin, and the Anti-Heavenly Dao Rule formed a golden sphere of light in his palm. He teleported above the Mine Lord's head and smashed it fiercely into its core.

"Bang!"

The golden sphere of light exploded, and the Mine Lord's core shattered completely. Its massive body crashed to the ground, turning into fragments of mineral crystals filling the sky, leaving behind only a mythical-grade Middle Stage crystal core.

Lin Chen picked up the crystal core, sublimated it twice to heavenly dao grade, and gave it to everyone to absorb. After absorption, his Origin concentration rose from 80% to 85%, and his Divine Thought range expanded to 310 kilometers. Clear Snow's went from 53% to 58%, and the cold Qi of her Ice and Snow Blade could now freeze origin liquid. Nian Xue's went from 71% to 76%, and the purple-gold patterns on her forehead mark became clearer.

Clear Snow inspected the mineral vein and frowned. "Husband, more than half of the Heavenly Dao energy in the mineral vein is gone. The main body must have just left recently."

Lin Chen nodded, his Divine Thought sweeping through the cavern. There were fresh footprints on the ground pointing toward another passage deep in the cave, with the main body's aura still lingering inside.

"It escaped inside. Let's chase it!" Lin Chen picked up Nian Xue and was the first to rush into the passage, with Clear Snow and the team following closely behind.

The Heavenly Dao aura in the passage grew thicker, and the black patterns on the ground became denser. Occasionally, drops of origin liquid fell to the floor, corroding small pits.

Nian Xue leaned in Lin Chen's arms, her little hand tightly clutching the glowing crystal. "Daddy, is the bad Heavenly Dao running out of strength? Its aura is so weak."

"Yes, it's injured and hasn't recovered yet. We can catch it." Lin Chen comforted her softly, but his gaze was firm—this time, he had to completely eliminate the heavenly dao main body and prevent it from harming the myriad races ever again.

There was a faint light at the end of the passage. Lin Chen quickened his pace. In his Divine Thought, the aura of the heavenly dao main body was right ahead. Its aura flickered, clearly indicating its injuries were severe and it couldn't have run far.

The group rushed out of the passage into a circular clearing. In the center was a black altar, and the figure of the heavenly dao main body was slumped upon it, covered in wounds, with black Origin constantly seeping from them.

"You... actually chased me here..." The main body lifted its head, its voice weak yet fierce. "Even if I die, I'll take you all with me!"

It suddenly stood up and formed seals with its hands. The black runes on the altar instantly lit up, and rich Heavenly Dao energy began to gather—it wanted to trigger a final self-detonation and perish together with everyone!

"Don't let it finish the seals!" Lin Chen teleported next to the main body. The Space Law locked its movements, and the Anti-Heavenly Dao Rule struck toward its hands.

Clear Snow's Ice and Snow Domain instantly enveloped the altar, freezing the light of the runes. The Star Spirit Clan Leader used the crystal to interfere with the main body's Origin, and the attacks of the team members were simultaneously fired at the main body.

Locked by the Space Law, the main body was unable to move and could only watch helplessly as its self-detonation was interrupted. Its black Origin continued to dissipate, and its aura grew weaker and weaker.

"No—! I refuse to accept this!" The main body let out a shrill roar, and its body began to turn transparent; it clearly wouldn't last much longer.

Lin Chen looked at it, his tone cold. "You harmed the myriad races, wanting to seize the Origin to ascend. Today is the day you die!"

He condensed the last of the Anti-Heavenly Dao Rule and slammed it hard into the main body's core. The main body let out a scream, and its body completely turned to ash, leaving behind only a black origin pearl—containing the main body's final Origin energy.

Lin Chen picked up the origin pearl and activated Sublimation: the first time turned it into Transcendence Level, and the second reached origin level. The Origin aura was a hundred times thicker, purer than any crystal core before it.

"We finally dealt with it." Clear Snow breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against Lin Chen, her eyes full of exhaustion but carrying a smile.

Nian Xue poked her head out from Lin Chen's arms, looked at the altar in the clearing, and whispered, "Daddy, the bad Heavenly Dao is gone. No one will bully us anymore, right?"

"Yes, no one can bully us anymore." Lin Chen picked her up and kissed her forehead. "In the future, we can live a good life and explore the Legendary Level World."

The team members all breathed a sigh of relief, smiles appearing on their faces—they had finally completely eliminated the heavenly dao main body and protected the future of the myriad races.

A Qing ran to Nian Xue's side and said happily, "Little sister, in the future, we can go see the stars of the Legendary Level World together!"

Nian Xue nodded, her little face full of anticipation. "Yes, yes! We'll also take Mommy and Daddy, and take everyone along!"

Lin Chen looked at the scene before him, his heart full of warmth—this was everything he wanted to protect: his wife and child by his side, companions walking with him, and peace for the myriad races.

He squeezed Clear Snow's hand and looked at the team members around him, his gaze turning toward the sky outside the cavern—the sunlight was shining through the cracks of the cave, warm and bright, like a new hope.

Next, what they had to do was return to the Azure Dragon Realm, tell everyone the good news, and then prepare together to explore the Legendary Level World and start a new journey.