Chapter 4 — Beyond the Milky Way: The Miner Who Became a God of War

Ten days after the ceremony to announce the Great Trial, the atmosphere at Black Stone Mine changed completely. The public information screens, which had previously broadcast only dry work instructions, now continuously flashed images of the Abyss Arena — a giant structure built on a bottomless crater, with polished metal stands rising like giant fangs surrounding the dark abyss.

Lam Vũ stood watching the promotional video with the crowd of miners gathered around the public screen, listening to the flashy voiceover praising the glory of the "chosen warriors" who would enter the arena. He noticed that in the video, the lens panned over the noble stands, where families with high-ranking Spirit Bones sat in separate glass cages, far away from the common crowd below.

"I heard that this year the prize is the biggest ever," a miner standing near Lam Vũ whispered. "In addition to the Aurora Crystal, the champion will also be granted an honorary Baron, and will be allowed to leave the mining colonies forever."

"But only people with Spirit Bones can take the exam," another person replied, his voice bitter. "We've just stood on the sidelines and watched all our lives."

Lam Vũ was silent, but in his heart, a determination began to form more clearly day by day. That night, he found Bốc Vấn Sơn in the familiar corner of the basement where the two often met after work hours.

"Uncle Vấn Sơn, I have thought carefully," he said, his voice resolute. "I will participate in the Great Training Trial."

The old man was startled, his old eyes opened wide. "Are you crazy? You don't have a Cot Certificate certifying your Linh Cốt, how can you register? If it's discovered that it's fake, you'll be executed on the spot, without a chance to justify it!"

"I know the risks," Lam Vũ replied, his voice never wavering. "But if you don't do anything, your mother will die in a few months. I'd rather die trying than live a cowardly life watching her slowly get eaten away by the disease." Bốc Vấn Sơn was silent for a long time, his eyes filled with tears. Finally, he sighed, his face looking ten years older in just a moment.

"If you've made up your mind, I won't stop you anymore," he said. "But you have to understand, just getting through the registration gate is a life or death challenge. The Holy See's Spirit Bone authentication system isn't simply paperwork — they have biometric scanners that check the actual bone structure right at the entrance to the Abyss Arena."

"So how can I get through?" Lam Vũ asked, feeling the hope that had just been sparked was shaken.

At that moment, a familiar voice rang out from the darkness behind. "Maybe I can help with that."

Both were startled and turned around to see Tinh Nhược standing there, wearing a dark cloak that covered most of her face. She stepped out into the weak light of the tunnel lamp, her eyes looking straight at Lam Vũ without any avoidance.

"Since when have you been eavesdropping on our stories?" Bốc Vấn Sơn asked, his voice alert, his hand placed on a nearby iron bar as a self-defense reflex.

"Long enough to know he needed a way to bypass the biometric scanner," Tinh Nhược replied frankly. "I once... contacted some technicians who could make a temporary Linh Cốt signal emulator. Not perfect, it could only fool the scanner for a short period of time, but enough to get through the registration portal."

"Why do you want to help my son?" Bốc Vấn Sơn asked directly, his eyes searching without concealment. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

Tinh Nhược was silent for a moment, then replied, her voice careful with each word. "I have my own reasons to be interested in this year's Great Experiment, and I have my own reasons to believe that Mr. Lam Vũ is not an ordinary miner. I can't tell everything right now, but I promise, I have no intention of harming him."

"That's not a reassuring answer," Bốc Vấn Sơn said, his voice still full of caution.

"Uncle Vấn Sơn," Lam Vũ spoke up, placing his hand on the old man's shoulder. "I believe her. Not because I have any proof, but because my intuition tells me so. And right now, we don't have many other options."

Bốc Vấn Sơn looked at him for a long time, then turned to Tinh Nhược, his eyes were still cautious but less harsh. "Okay. But if you have bad intentions, I won't let you leave this mine alive."

"I accept that condition," Tinh Nhược replied, without hesitation.

The three people began discussing plans in the dim tunnel light. Tinh Nhược explains that the Linh Cốt signal emulator requires some special components that she can get from old contacts, but transporting them into the Black Stone Mine without detection will take several days.

"In the meantime," Tinh Nhược said, turning to Lam Vũ, "you need to prepare your physical strength and basic fighting skills. Đại Thí Luyện is not a child's game — each round has the real possibility of death. If you enter it without any preparation, you will die in the first round, no matter how great your hidden strength is."

"Uncle Vấn Sơn promised to teach me," Lam Vũ replied.

"Good," Tinh Nhược nodded, her eyes slightly satisfied. "Then I can also contribute. I have... a certain amount of combat experience."

Bốc Vấn Sơn looked at her, his sharp eyes as if trying to read the real person behind the cover of "thief prisoner". "Where did you get that combat experience, an ordinary prisoner?"

Tinh Nhược smiled faintly and did not answer the question directly. "There are things that, when the time has not yet come, it's best not to ask too deeply, sir."

The conversation ended when the curfew whistle sounded, forcing the three people to quickly separate and return to their separate cabins to avoid being discovered illegally gathering after work.

On the way back, Lam Vũ couldn't help but whisper to Tinh Nhược who was walking in the same direction. "Do you really believe that I can survive the Great Trial?"

Tinh Nhược stopped walking and turned to look at him in the dim darkness of the hallway. "I believe in what I saw — the way you reacted when saving people in the tunnel collapse, the way you looked straight at injustice without bowing your head and accepting your fate. But believing is not enough. You have to prove it yourself with your own survival."

"You speak as if you have seen many people fail in similar battles," Lam Vũ commented.

Tinh Nhược's eyes flashed with a pain that was hard to name, which she quickly hid. "That's right. I've seen too many people I trust fall because of unfair battles. I don't want to see it again."

That sentence hung in the air, carrying a layer of meaning that Lam Vũ felt but could not fully understand. He looked at her, wondering what she had gone through to carry such deep pain in her heart, hidden behind a calm, almost cold exterior.

On the way back to the living area, the three almost encountered a patrol group that suddenly changed their route. Cung Thiết Ưng, the notoriously brutal supervisor of the entire Black Stone Mine, personally led the Saint Guard team to inspect the abandoned mines after receiving a report of "strange noises" from another patrol group a few days ago. The three people quickly ducked into a dark rock crevice, holding their breath as they waited for the patrol to pass.

"This area must be examined more closely," Cung Thiết Ưng's voice rang out, cold and authoritative, just less than ten steps from where they were hiding. "I don't like abandoned bunkers with no one monitoring them. Who knows, maybe someone is planning something bad."

The patrol team's flashlight scanned through the rock crevice, just a few inches away from Lam Vũ's face. He held his breath, his heart pounding, feeling the warmth of Tinh Nhược standing next to him, one of her hands silently placed on his shoulder as a reassuring signal. A few tense seconds passed that seemed like a century, then the patrol continued to move in another direction, the sound of footsteps fading away.

"It was almost exposed," Bốc Vấn Sơn breathed a sigh of relief, his voice still shaking. "Gung Iron Eagle is not the type of person to be easily fooled. He rules the entire Blackstone Mine with an iron fist, and he is loyal to the Holy See to the point of being sick. We must be more cautious from now on."

"From now on, we change the meeting place each time, no longer using a fixed place," Tinh Nhược proposed, her eyes still alertly looking towards the direction the patrol had just left. "And don't move in groups of three at a time, it's too easy to notice." Lam Vũ nodded, feeling more clearly than ever the true danger of the path he had chosen. This was no longer a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a life-or-death battle with a giant power system, ready to crush anyone who dared to challenge its established order.

That night, when returning to the cabin, Lam Vũ lay looking up at the stone ceiling, both worried and feeling a new warm feeling that he had never experienced before - the feeling of no longer being alone in the fight for his mother's life. He didn't know where the road ahead would lead, but for the first time in many years, he felt a glimmer of real hope, however fragile, shining through the seemingly endless darkness of his fate.