This cave was located about 20 miles from downtown San Antonio, Texas. It was said to be jam-packed with over twenty million bats, making it the world’s largest gathering of mammals.

But with so many bats inside, the population of other mammals was relatively low, perhaps consisting of just tens of thousands of rats. And, of course, bats are the only mammals that can fly.

The bats in Blanken Cave didn’t hibernate; they were a migratory species. They roosted here when the weather was warm, and when it turned cold, they flew south to warmer regions like Mexico for the winter.

The Lunar New Year celebrations were over, and the first month of the year had passed. Since Texas was a fairly southern state, it had already become quite warm. Li Xiang figured that even if not all the bats had returned, the majority of them probably had.

The bats here were mainly free-tailed bats. They were medium-sized, with a body length of about 7-13 centimeters and a tail length of 4-8 centimeters. Because their faces resembled a dog’s, they were also called "dog-faced bats."

A membrane of skin attached to their hind legs extended from the end of their tails, making it appear as if the tail was "free" from the body—hence the name "free-tailed bat." Their flight speed was extremely fast; the Guinness World Records certified their top speed at 51 kilometers per hour, and they could reach an altitude of three thousand meters during migration.

Blanken Cave was under the strict protection of an international bat conservation organization. The general public wasn’t allowed inside and could only observe from the outside. Only researchers, speleologists, volunteers, and specially invited guests were permitted to enter.

But how could that possibly stop Li Xiang, who possessed the Earth Escape Superpower?

He used Earth Escape and slipped inside in broad daylight. The sight of the densely packed bats made his heart pound with excitement. ’It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen bats this densely packed.’

There were at least two to three thousand per square meter, possibly even more; the official figure was five thousand. Anyone with trypophobia would faint on the spot.

The cave was dark and gloomy, but with his Night Vision Superpower, Li Xiang could see everything as clear as day.

With so many tourists outside, Li Xiang didn’t act immediately. Instead, he wandered about, scouting for other entrances to the cave.

And sure enough, he found them—seven in total.

He left the area, put on sunglasses and a hat, and went to grab a bite in San Antonio City. Thanks to the wondrous effects of the Creation Lotus, his English was fluent and indistinguishable from a local accent.

The smoked beef brisket here was excellent. The aroma of pecan wood smoke mingled with the sizzle of rendering brisket fat. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, it was served with a secret local sauce. Li Xiang devoured three large servings.

The crispy tacos were also quite tasty, but the drinks were a little disappointing. Li Xiang tried several kinds. ’Hmm, they’re nowhere near as good as the Persimmon Spirit Wine Sister Yao brews.’

That night, he returned to the area near the Bat Cave and cultivated his Breathing Technique out in the wilderness. Since the bats flew out to forage at night, he waited until dawn, around eight in the morning, before making his move.

By this time, the bats had mostly returned to the cave. It was early morning, so no tourists had arrived yet. There were only a few scattered farmers working nearby and some people out for a morning jog. Based on Li Xiang’s experience, this was the perfect opportunity.

He sealed the seven exits one by one. In the past, he would have had to haul massive boulders to block them, but now, with his Earth Superpower, it was much easier.

Using his Earth Pivot World Record Divine Technique, the soil and rock at the entrance seemed to come alive, growing slowly. Before long, the opening had "healed" itself shut.

The process was slow, mainly to avoid startling the sleeping bats inside.

Once all seven entrances were sealed and the bats had no escape, Li Xiang activated his Collapse Technique. Instantly, with an unending RUMBLE, the massive protected cave collapsed.

Meanwhile, the system in Li Xiang’s mind prompted continuously: "Congratulations, Host. You have slain a Tier Five Mutated Creature..."

"Congratulations, Host. You have slain a Tier Three Mutated Creature..."

"Congratulations, Host. You have slain a Tier Six Mutated Creature..."

...

Li Xiang’s head was ringing from the constant notifications, so he ordered the system to turn them off. Finally, he took stock of his gains: a staggering total of over three million Achievement Points and nearly ninety thousand Spiritual Medicines ranging from Tier One to Tier Eight. The main varieties included Blood Wing Grass, Night Pupil Flower, Frost Moon Dew Lingzhi, Star-Patterned Gentian Vine, Poisonous Gland Fruit, and Flame Heart Glaze Ginseng, among others.

He had also obtained three Extraordinary Items, though they were of a relatively low Tier:

One was the Tier Eight Shadow Cloak, which allowed the wearer to move as a shadow for 12 seconds (2-hour cooldown).

Another was also Tier Eight: the Blood Fang Blade, a sharp dagger that could drain 10% of a target’s health on hit.

The final item, however, was Tier Ten: the Night Wing Boots. They possessed the ’Stepping into the Void’ trait, allowing the wearer to walk on air for 3 minutes each day.

However, given Li Xiang’s current level of power, these three Extraordinary Items, while perhaps precious to other Extraordinary Beings, were of little use to him.

In his previous life, obtaining even one of them would have made him so happy he wouldn’t have been able to sleep for days on end.

’They’re not completely useless, though,’ Li Xiang mused. ’The three minutes of air-walking could be useful. If I shoot upward at hypersonic speed and then use this Extraordinary Item, I might be able to reach heights I never could before.’

Dressed in his Giant Whale Saint Armor, Li Xiang stood upon the still-warm rubble mixed with the corpses of countless bats. Surveying the boundless rewards in his system inventory, he felt a surge of heroic spirit and was suddenly inspired to compose a poem on the spot.

He was a college student, after all. His literature grades had always been pretty good, and he loved reading both classical and world-renowned literary works. So, in this fit of poetic inspiration, the first two lines tumbled out: "Blood wings obscure the sun, heaven and earth go dark; the ground splits and mountains fall, the cavern collapses..."

And then... nothing.

’Crap, of all the times to get writer’s block...’ Li Xiang slapped his forehead, completely speechless.

’A proper quatrain needs four lines. What good are just two?’

But no matter how long Li Xiang wracked his brain, he couldn’t come up with anything he was satisfied with.

Jiang Cai’Er had previously composed poetry on a livestream using an alias. When the two of them were on a date later, she had naturally come clean about it. Li Xiang had seen how effortlessly she wrote poetry online, so he’d wanted to give it a try himself this time.

The result... a complete failure at showing off. ’Good thing no one else is here,’ he thought, ’or I’d die of embarrassment.’

It just goes to show, it always looks easy when you’re just watching from the sidelines.

’Forget it. How can I compare to my Cai’Er Baby? She’s a monster of a genius!’ Li Xiang gave up. Just as he was about to leave using Earth Escape, his Earth Vein Perception Ability detected a mineral vein deep underground.

An earthy yellow light immediately bloomed around him as he made his way toward the vein.

It wasn’t a special Spirit Vein, but a vein of vanadiferous-titaniferous magnetite, which might also contain other heavy metals or rare elements.

Li Xiang had been learning about mineralogy from Jiang Cai’Er for a long time, so he could now identify some ores on his own. While not perfectly accurate, he was usually pretty close.

The quality of this vanadiferous-titaniferous ore was excellent—a fine material for crafting Crystal Vein Armor. Li Xiang tried his hand at it on the spot. After about an hour, he had acquired a set of Tier Four Extraordinary Spirit Armor, two Tier Three Extraordinary Battle Sabers, and five other Mortal Weapons. Even for Mortal Weapons, their hardness and toughness were comparable to high-strength alloys, making their quality quite good.

Beyond weapons, using these ore veins to craft items like hoes, kitchen knives, chopping knives, and fruit knives was also an excellent idea, as they would be extremely practical.

Sensing the vast reserves in this ore vein, Li Xiang suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with the last two lines of his poem:

"A Crystal Vein, spied in a chasm’s dark, / Divine Soldiers forged to conquer every plight!"

"Whoa, not bad at all! ’A masterpiece is a gift from heaven, chanced upon by a skillful hand,’" Li Xiang slapped his thigh, thrilled. He had finally composed a decent poem, and the sense of accomplishment was immense. He decided he would share it with Jiang Cai’Er later, so he wouldn’t seem so uncultured in front of her.

’As a man, don’t I have my pride?’

"Hmm, the title of the poem will be... Ugh, stuck again." Li Xiang was exasperated. ’Why is writing a simple poem such a struggle for me?’

He was a stubborn person, however. While purifying the ore vein deep underground, he wracked his brain for a good title—one that was both cool and fitting.

The ore vein’s reserves were immense. Crafting Crystal Vein Armor would take a very long time and was an exhausting process, so he certainly wasn’t going to do it on-site. Instead, he would perform a preliminary refinement, extract the essence, and condense the ore into one-ton blocks of raw material, storing them in his inventory for future use.

Perhaps he could mix and match it with other raw ore in his inventory to develop new alloys. There was a deep science to it that would require time and experimentation.

Collecting tons upon tons of ore essence was a purely physical task that required no concentration. His Great Lifebound Superpower could be activated almost instinctively, so Li Xiang’s thoughts were free to wander in a "sea of poetry."