Kaisa trotted over to the Mantis' corpse, feeling the stinging sensation of her exoskeleton biting into her skin.
Sensing prey to devour, her living skin had entered an excited state.
Kaisa cautiously extended her small hand wrapped in the carapace, allowing her living skin to sense the valuable absorption points on the corpse, then made contact with the part she intended to consume.
With a hissing dissolve, the chitinous carapace of the void creature was quickly absorbed by her living skin.
Kaisa's brows furrowed lightly, the needle-like pain coursing through her body growing more intense.
The process of absorption and evolution was painful, something she had long been prepared for.
Beside Kaisa, Kassadin watched his daughter's slightly pained expression with a face full of sorrow, his heart unable to help but ache, wishing he could bear her evolution pain for her.
He opened his mouth, words of encouragement on the tip of his tongue, but he held back.
Kaisa was already a mature warrior; he couldn't treat her as the little girl she once was.
She could handle this herself...
It would take some time for Kaisa's living skin to consume the Mantis' corpse.
During this period, Nasus sat cross-legged in front of the void rift, meditating with closed eyes.
Sivir took out a handkerchief from her bag and wiped off the disgusting void fluid from Chalicar.
Taking advantage of this interval, Li Lin opened the system and checked his panel changes:
[Name: Li Lin][Level: 27]
[Health Points: 2549/2549]
[Mana Points: 1132/1132]
[Combat Power: 32]
[Skill Points: 29]
[Wealth: 6328 Blue Essence, 1034 Orange Essence.]
...
After the battle with the void swarm, Li Lin's level had increased by a total of 4 levels, and he had gained a huge amount of skill points, blue essence, and orange essence.
Most of the rewards from the system came from his first kills of different types of voidlings, followed by the elite ones among them, with the least coming from quantity.
Although the "Career Advancement" module was still incomplete, Li Lin had a faint feeling that he was only one step away from "Mechanical Heart."
As long as he experienced another battle, one that didn't need to be as large-scale as the one with the voidlings, he would definitely advance.
Rescuing Kaisa, then it would be time to return to Nashramae.
But before that, they could pass through Sai Kahleek, or inquire about the rumors of the "Void Prophet," and on the way, deal with Malzahar and his pet, Kog'Maw.
Li Lin quickly devised the next itinerary and plan, then spent 200 blue essences from the Essence Store to buy a portable Hextech detector.
He hadn't forgotten his second goal here in the Valley of Songs.
"Rumble said he found a metallic mineral suitable for nuclear fusion here, but with this place devoured by the void, would there be any remnants left..."
Li Lin was uncertain, holding the Hextech detector, he accessed the Data Mind and wandered around the cave.
However, he had almost circled the entire cave, and the values displayed on the instrument were still normal, without detecting any radiation exceeding standards or incorrect values.
Yordles couldn't phase through walls; Rumble said he found radioactive minerals here, and even took some away, proving that they must exist in a spacious area accessible by physical means.
Combined with the void's tendency towards energy...
"Perhaps, these things have already been devoured by the void."
Even though Li Lin had mentally prepared himself, encountering this situation now still brought a hint of regret to his heart.
With Rumble's controllable nuclear fusion technology, whether it was further nuclear power generation or manufacturing large-scale mechanical constructs, with a miniature nuclear reactor as the power core, were all good choices.
But the prerequisite was having the corresponding materials.
Not to mention materials capable of withstanding the high temperatures of nuclear fusion reactions outside of Bandle City, even the supply of radioactive minerals for fusion reactions was now gone, dreaming of developing nuclear energy was simply wishful thinking.
Although theoretically controllable nuclear fusion could extract the corresponding elements from seawater for power generation.
But for now, not even Piltover had reached such technological heights, let alone Runeterra, he had absolutely no clue.
Li Lin sighed helplessly, returning to the group, about to put away the Hextech detector, a long "beep" made him pause for a moment.
"Hmm?"
Li Lin took a deep breath, the excitement in his heart difficult to suppress.
He quickly looked at the changing values on the instrument; the blue pointer pointed to the only place he hadn't been to.
Li Lin's gaze shifted to where Nasus was sitting quietly, then focused on the deep ravine behind him where the void rift opened.
"What are you doing?"
Sivir, who had finished her task, got up and came to Li Lin's side, looking at the strange mechanical device in his hand.
The eye-like device was covered with densely packed numbers and Piltover language, making her lose interest instantly.
"Searching for minerals."
"Oh?"
Just as Sivir was about to sit down, she perked up again.
"Where did you find minerals in this desolate place? I know several places with iron, copper, silver, and even gold mines. Some belonged to Piltover families, and some to Noxian people. But after Noxus attacked Ionia, they stopped mining," she said with a hint of excitement in her voice, leaning towards Li Lin and patting his shoulder.
"How about it? I can draw you a map, guaranteed to be reliable... or I can be your guide and take you there directly," she offered, her tone shifting slightly, "but hey... it'll cost you."
I thought you'd realize your Azir heritage and undergo a character development, but it seems I was wrong... Li Lin thought to himself, slightly amused.
"No, I'm not interested in those. I'm looking for something else," he replied, looking down at the data on his Hextech detector and heading straight for Nasus.
"Huh?" Sivir felt extremely surprised. Gold, silver, copper, and iron mines were essential resources fought over by nations. How could someone not be interested in them? What other minerals were valuable?
With a puzzled mind, she quickly caught up with Li Lin, who had already walked far ahead.
Approaching Nasus, Li Lin respectfully greeted him, "Sorry to disturb you, Grand Scholar."
Nasus half-opened his crimson eyes and uttered a word, "What is it?"
"My Hextech device detected a radioactive mineral here, probably in this ravine. Can I check it out?" Li Lin inquired.
Radioactive minerals... What are those? Sivir's brow furrowed beneath her metal mask.
Nasus had never heard of this strange term concocted by Li Lin and subconsciously asked, "Radioactive?"
"In simple terms, it's a mineral that emits radiation, harmful to the human body," Li Lin explained.
"Hmm... there are indeed some stones below emitting continuous energy radiation. I thought they were influenced by the Void," Nasus said as he propped himself up with his battle-axe and stepped aside, making way for Li Lin.
Out of scholarly habit, he still wanted to clarify, "But if it's harmful to your kind, why is it considered a mineral?"
"Because the metal elements extracted from it can undergo a fusion reaction, producing powerful energy. I call it 'nuclear fusion,'" Li Lin replied without hesitation.
Nuclear fusion? Nasus couldn't help but feel a ridiculous idea that he was already behind the times.
As a divine warrior, Nasus could easily perceive that Li Lin's aura was different from when he first met him, purer, as if he were a mage mastering higher-level magic. Moreover, a mysterious power enveloped him, a power that even Nasus, whose eyes could penetrate the human soul, couldn't fathom. This mysterious little fellow was definitely not a simple ordinary person.
During the brief silence, various thoughts flashed through Nasus's mind.
Then, he waved his hand in front of Li Lin's face, and deep blue magical energy surged, casting a magical barrier over him.
Without waiting for Li Lin to ask anything, Nasus spoke first, "In any case, it's not very safe down there. This barrier can protect you, not only from the Void but also from the effects of that radiation."
[You have received Nasus' Blessing of Celestial Magic!]
Noticing the prompt on the system panel, Li Lin couldn't help but smile, "Thank you very much, Grand Scholar!"
"No need, it's just a small assistance between scholars, nothing worth mentioning," Nasus replied with a rare smile. "Hurry down, I can sense that the little girl's evolution from devouring is nearing completion. It's time to leave this troubled place."
Li Lin nodded heavily, pulling out the rope Kassadin had stuffed into his bag earlier and tying it around himself.
Sivir also lent a hand, securing the other end to a sturdy rock crevice.
Then, with one hand holding the Hextech detector and the other pulling the rope, he slowly descended from one side of the ravine.
Through Data Mind, Li Lin tried to avoid the areas sealed by Nasus' magic, eventually reaching the bottom of the pit.
Looking around, he saw various forms of radioactive minerals filling the space where he was. There were lumps, powders, blocks, stalactites, kidney-shaped formations, and more.
There were still plenty of minerals. The Void hadn't completely devoured them!
(End of this chapter)