Chapter 166 Rock Giant

"How bizarre. Why haven't I seen a single magical beast after wandering around for so long?" Jian Zhengjin certainly didn't believe the magical beasts were taking a collective holiday.

Flying straight ahead, it seemed that apart from those panicking alien and bizarre creatures, not a single magical beast had been encountered so far. What on earth was going on?

As he flew further, he was about to temporarily leave the forest environment and enter an area filled with sand and rock.

This was a sandy region spanning several kilometers, entirely surrounded by the Magical Beast Forest. It stood out as conspicuously as an eye within the forest.

With nothing better to do, Jian Zhengjin used his Ore Detection skill to survey the area from above, and suddenly a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.

Right in the center of this sandy area, which was several kilometers in diameter, there was actually an ore vein glowing with a purple light!

Amethyst, a rather rare and precious gem, was one of the essential high-grade materials for the late game.

In the game, such resources were practically unfindable unless luck favored you, usually only discovered in the late game after traversing nearly half the map!

He hadn't expected to spot an amethyst vein right here, which filled Jian Zhengjin with abnormal excitement: "A good find! Forward!"

The counterfeit dragon immediately dove downward, descending toward the direction of the amethyst vein.

Behind him, Badi, Zhuoma, Wofu, and Karl followed closely.

"Whoa!" Landing right in front of the ore vein, Jian Zhengjin found it hard to believe. This amethyst vein was quite abundant, more than enough to supply his future needs!

It was just that the tier of his current mining tools was too low. While an iron pickaxe could indeed mine amethyst, the wear and tear ratio was even more severe than that of gold ore!

Jian Zhengjin didn't want to waste even a shred of such precious mineral resources. Most importantly, these minerals were items meant for the late stage of the game!

Upon returning, he would have to use all his resources to level up his tool-making skill first!

At least once he crafted an epic-quality steel pickaxe, he could mine the amethyst vein without any loss.

"Lord Gene, what are these?" Zhuoma and Badi looked at each other in bewilderment, neither of them understanding what these purple stones were for.

"You don't even know what an amethyst vein is? It's an extremely precious kind of ore!" Jian Zhengjin replied.

"Isn't the most precious ore gold?" Zhuoma asked, puzzled.

"I have a generational gap with you people!" Jian Zhengjin rolled his eyes and took out a pen and paper from his virtual backpack. "Let's mark the location first so I can find it accurately next time!"

While Jian Zhengjin was sketching a simple map, Wofu and Karl suddenly looked ahead with vigilance.

"There's movement!" Wofu's ears twitched a few times. "It seems to be coming from underground!"

"Yeah!" Karl nodded. "Something is approaching, and it's not small."

"This is just a sandy area; anything here would be visible at a glance..." Before he could finish his sentence, Jian Zhengjin saw five huge stone pillars suddenly burst out of the ground directly beneath him. Though he didn't fully understand what was happening, he immediately used Instant Retreat.

"Boom!" The five stone pillars broke through the sand and extended out of the ground, unexpectedly transforming into the shape of a giant hand that clenched tightly into a fist.

"What the heck?!" Jian Zhengjin was startled. Wasn't this hand a bit too huge? For a fleeting moment, he even thought he was Sun Wukong, and the thing before him was the palm of the Buddha!

"Lord Gene, be careful!!" His four subordinates immediately assumed a defensive posture, while all their magical beasts trembled with fear.

Jian Zhengjin quickly leaped back onto the head of the counterfeit dragon, having it carry him up into the air.

"Whoosh—!" The giant hand was entirely composed of sand and rock, yet though made of stones, it seemed to possess a life of its own. Failing to grab Jian Zhengjin in its initial sweep, the palm pressed down hard against the ground. Immediately afterward, the sand and soil in a large surrounding area began to shake violently, as if an earthquake had struck.

Zhuoma, Badi, Wofu, and Karl quickly pulled their panicked mount beasts backward, putting as much distance between themselves and the threat as possible.

"My amethyst mine!!" Jian Zhengjin cried out with a heart-wrenching shriek as he watched the crystal vein gradually become buried amidst the tremors.

However, the very next moment, the amethyst vein actually burst through the soil once again, rising higher and higher.

A gigantic humanoid rock monster crawled out from the sandy region, and the amethyst vein was actually growing right on its back!

It was practically a Transformer!

Seeing the rock giant emerge, Jian Zhengjin was dumbfounded.

On the rock giant's face were carved features resembling stone sculpture, and even its eyeballs could move flexibly.

"Big brother, which department are you from? May I ask your surname?" Jian Zhengjin's voice trembled slightly.

"Uha!" The rock giant did not answer, instead letting out an angry roar. As it fully climbed out of the sand, the rubble beneath its feet defied Newton's law and floated into the air, subsequently shooting toward Jian Zhengjin in the sky like a dense barrage of bullets.

"Oh my god! Run!" Jian Zhengjin saw the overwhelming shower of debris heading his way at a terrifying speed. If he were hit, wouldn't he immediately be smashed into meat paste?

Fortunately, the counterfeit dragon's flying speed was not slow. It quickly banked in the air, dodging the dense hail of stone bullets at an astonishing speed and instantly pulling away to a safe airspace.

Down below, Zhuoma and the other four had also retreated back into the forest along with their magical beasts, watching cautiously.

"Buddy, aren't you a bit too fierce?" Jian Zhengjin stood on the dragon's head and shouted at the rock giant.

"Uha!" The rock giant raised its right hand, its arm rapidly transforming into a giant cone with an extremely sharp front end, which was then fired off like a cannonball.

"Dodge it!!" Jian Zhengjin controlled the dragon to fly head-on toward it, then suddenly executed a rapid descent, brushing past the stone cone.

"Boom!!" The stone cone flew far into the distance, snapping a giant tree that was at least a hundred years old and embedding itself deep into the forest floor.

"So arrogant? Take it down!" Provoked, Jian Zhengjin immediately gave the order to the counterfeit dragon.

"Roar~" The counterfeit dragon let out a roar, flying straight toward the rock giant while opening its mouth to spew a scorching column of fire, "Wusu——!!"

"-1! -1! -1..." A dense stream of damage numbers popped up above the rock giant's head, revealing a terrifying total of 50,000 for its health pool!

Having a few thousand HP already made something an absolute damage sponge, but this rock giant's health was a staggering 50,000—that was simply terrifying! Moreover, the counterfeit dragon's powerful third-tier magic could only deal a mandatory 1 point of damage!

This thing was at least a fourth-tier existence or higher!

Jian Zhengjin felt his face darken. If even the counterfeit dragon's third-tier magic couldn't deal damage to it, let alone first-tier magical beasts or Zhuoma and the others!

What should he do now? Could it be that the amethyst mine was just going to vanish into thin air like this?

Watching countless pebbles float up around the rock giant once more, Jian Zhengjin hurriedly ordered the counterfeit dragon to turn around and retreat.

Though its attack and defense were high, fortunately, its movements weren't fast enough. Since he couldn't beat it, escaping with his life shouldn't be a problem!