Chapter 171: Red

Many hours later, one could find Leonel in a familiar position. His hands were pressed flush against a wall as Force slowly flowed out from his hands. 

Though this seemed simple for him, it was actually quite difficult. Since he forewent placing Force Nodes in his hands, it was a bit more difficult for him in comparison to another to achieve this result. But, with how high his spirit was, how could his Force control not also be great?

Soon, another ore had manifested. This time, it radiated a dirty gold light. It was quite similar to the fur coat of the bear king, albeit much less resplendent. 

'Black Tempered Vein Ore…' Leonel smiled happily. 

Vein Ores were another family of metals. They could be considered another ore type that was almost as important as Urbe Ores. However, they were just barely lacking. 

In truth, the value of Vein Ores was above Urbe Ores. However, the reason Urbe Ores could be considered a step above in usefulness was because it had an impossibly wide variety of applications. One could use Urbe Ores in practically every Force Craft imaginable. It was for this reason that the universal currency of the universe were Urbe Coins. 

However, Vein Ores were used in particularly intricate creations. They had characteristics very similar to Force pathways that linked one's Force Nodes. When they were used in crafts, they allowed Force to flow more freely. 

That said, this wasn't the most important use of Vein Ores. Their greatest use was in drawing more permanent Force Arts. 

Take for example Leonel's pistol craft. He had to draw the Force Arts directly onto the alloys he fused with his Black Urbe Ore. However, had he liquefied a compatible Vein Ore first, and then used it to inscribe the Force Arts, their power would gain a great boost. In addition, it would greatly strengthen the nozzles as well, allowing them to withstand many more shots. 

There was a final more secretive use of Vein Ores as well. In fact, Leonel wouldn't even be aware of this had it not been for the words of the creator of [Dimensional Cleanse].

According to the creator, there was a special type of Vein Ore that could be absorbed. The special energies of this Vein Ore could be used to strengthen one's Force Nodes. 

Though this wouldn't increase the amount of Force one could hold, there were many other benefits to this. 

Firstly, it would be possible to replenish one's Force Nodes faster. It was necessary for many to artificially cap their consumption of Force to avoid damaging one's Force Nodes. Though Force Nodes are self-created, they can't be willfully abandoned. This is a law enforced by the Universe itself. So, injuries to Force Nodes needed to be avoided at all costs. 

Secondly, this would make it easier to compress Force Nodes in the future when it becomes necessary to cross the boundary of a higher Dimensional body. 

For someone like Leonel, this second point was especially important. Though his Force Nodes being constructed of a hundred cells sounded grandiose, the truth was that this made his future path far more difficult as well. The more Force he had, the harder it was to compress, and the more pressure there would be on his body. 

The third reason was enough for any Force cultivator to go wild with greed. Everyone was limited in the number and length of Force pathways they could create. Especially in the beginning phases of creating a Fourth Dimensional body, many could only connect their Force Nodes via a single path. But, this greatly limited their Force wielding abilities. 

With the help of a special Vein Ore, it was possible to create many more Force Pathways, allowing one to unlock many Force wielding abilities usually reserved for higher Dimensional warriors.

This aside, there was a fourth reason that would greatly benefit Leonel even now. 

If his Force Nodes were sturdier… wouldn't it also be much easier to withstand the Force Eruption?

Unfortunately, Black Tempered Vein Ore wasn't the Vein Ore he needed to undergo this process. In addition, according to the author of [Dimensional Cleanse], it was best to wait until forming all nine Nodes before undergoing this tempering process. So, no matter how eager Leonel was for this benefit, he could only throw it to the back of his mind. 

'Alright, I think I've cleared out all the ore veins in this section of tunnels… as expected, not all the tunnels are linked. If I want to explore more tunnels, I'll have to leave the hive and enter through another entrance…'

Leonel was hesitant to do this. He didn't know what the situation was outside. If he left, he would probably expose everyone to danger again. Even if he set everyone else apart, he still needed to worry about himself. After all, he would still need a while longer to recover to his peak. 

'Forget it, forget it. I've harvested enough for now and have all the materials I need. Even though I didn't find a Dual Water-Earth Elemental Vessel ore, I did find an Earth one. If I combined that with the Rushing River Vein Ore I found, it would still be possible to combine the two Beast Crystal abilities…'

Much like Elemental Vessels, there were different types of Vein Ores as well. Rushing River Vein Ores were especially good at inscribing for Water Elemental Force Arts. So, if Leonel was careful with his planning, it would be possible to combine the two without much issue. 

Just like before, Leonel took his time to dig the entire vein out. He knew that if he kept the core of the vein intact, it might be possible for the vein to grow more ores for him in the future. Who knows, maybe the Segmented Cube had this ability as well. Even if it didn't, Leonel would still do this. 

Just when Leonel was content with his gains and about to return to the cave to get started on the blueprints, his steps suddenly froze. 

There, on the wall he just extracted the vein from, there were faint cracks. 

It was incredibly difficult to spot, but there seemed to be a faint light coming from the other side. If it wasn't for the fact most of the hive was so dark, it wouldn't have been so hard for Leonel to spot the cracks because even if his side was dark, the other side would be flooded with light. 

'This part of the wall is so thin…? I can probably pass my Internal Sight through then to see if it's worth getting Little Tolly's help to knock it away. It might not necessarily be a good thing to have a path to another network of tunnels…'

After having this thought, Leonel snaked his Internal Sight forward, passing through the gaps to see what was on the other side. But, the result left him stunned speechless. 

Not only was the other side almost like an entire separate world, what shocked him the most was that there were actually other people there. Not just the fact they were other people, but the fact they were other people with characteristics Leonel was all too familiar with. 

'Red hair… red eyes… The Brazinger Clan?'