Chapter 56: The Cave |
After soaking in the spirit spring, everyone felt refreshed and invigorated.
The fatigue that had built up over the past few days had completely vanished. Their bodies and minds felt light, and even their voices seemed several decibels louder than before.
“This spirit-filled spring was absolutely worth it!”
“I feel like my bottleneck has loosened!”
“If I go back into seclusion, I’ll definitely achieve a breakthrough!”
The few disciples from Tianyan Peak did not idle around. They moved about the valley, studying the terrain.
Before long, they discovered a stone platform.
Half-buried behind a patch of vines, it would never have drawn attention if one of the disciples had not nearly tripped over it.
They cleared away the vines, revealing the platform in its entirety.
The disciples of Tianyan Peak gathered around to study it for a while before reaching a unanimous conclusion.
“This is a teleportation array,” the leader said, lifting his head, his tone carrying a trace of provocation. “It leads outside.”
“Are you certain?” Zhou Wu walked over and asked.
“Of course. Although we’ve never seen such an ancient formation before, the fundamental principles are the same. As long as spiritual energy is infused into it, it can be activated.”
Zhou Wu nodded and sent someone to inform Lu Fengmian.
Lu Fengmian was taking attendance.
One hundred people. After coming and going for several days, not a single one had gone missing.
This was the task assigned to him by the system, and also a promise he had made to himself.
He examined them one by one.
People from Wanren Peak, people from Baicao Peak, people from Tianyan Peak, people from Lingzhuan Peak…
Halfway through counting, his brows knitted slightly.
He started over from the beginning.
It was still wrong.
Ninety-nine.
One person short.
Lu Fengmian’s gaze swept across the crowd, faces passing through his line of sight.
Everyone from Wanren Peak was present. Everyone from Baicao Peak was present. Everyone from Tianyan Peak was present…
From the General Affairs Hall, Wang Shun was there, Li Qing was there, Zhao Hu was also there…
Xiao Jin was missing.
Lu Fengmian lifted his head, his gaze darkening.
“Where is Xiao Jin?”
They looked at one another.
“Xiao Jin? Which Xiao Jin?”
“The one from the General Affairs Hall? Wasn’t he just here?”
“I didn’t notice…”
Someone muttered under his breath, “For trash like that, it doesn’t matter if one is missing.”
Lu Fengmian’s gaze swept over him, and the man immediately shut his mouth.
Zhou Wu stepped forward and lowered his voice. “Senior Brother, the secret realm is about to close. We don’t know how long this teleportation array will last, so we must leave as soon as possible.”
Others nearby also tried to persuade him.
“That’s right, Senior Brother, please don’t take the risk.”
“Perhaps he has already left on his own?”
“The secret realm is about to close. For the sake of the outer sect disciples, you mustn’t…”
Lu Fengmian merely raised his hand, signaling everyone to be silent.
Then he said, “He is my junior brother; I cannot abandon anyone.”
Everyone was stunned.
Those who had been trying to persuade him suddenly did not know what to say.
Lu Fengmian turned to look at Zhou Wu.
“Take them out first.”
Zhou Wu opened his mouth as if to argue, but when his eyes met Lu Fengmian’s, he swallowed his words.
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry,” Lu Fengmian said. “I’ll leave as soon as I find him.”
Zhou Wu nodded and began organizing everyone toward the teleportation array.
Lu Fengmian remained where he stood. Only after the last person vanished into the glow of the array did he turn and leave.
Closing his eyes, he activated the True-Seeing Eye Technique.
Within the scope of his vision, he could still detect lingering traces of spiritual energy. Xiao Jin had not left long ago; the traces had yet to fully dissipate.
Following those faint remnants, Lu Fengmian walked deeper into the valley.
Xiao Jin did not know how long he had been walking.
He had been absent-minded the entire time, knowing only that something ahead was waiting for him, and he had to go and see it.
He passed through the forest, pushed aside dense vines, and a narrow tunnel appeared before his eyes.
Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
Beneath his feet were slick stone walls, and droplets of water occasionally fell from above, striking his shoulders.
All around was silence—only the sound of his own footsteps and breathing remained.
He did not know how long he walked before, suddenly, light filled his vision.
A massive cavern appeared before him.
The ceiling of the cave was so high that its end could not be seen—only a patch of pitch-black darkness.
A faint glow seeped from the cave walls, its source unknown, casting the entire cavern in a hazy halo.
At the center of the cave lay a secluded, tranquil pool.
Suspended directly above it was a crystal.
It was only palm-sized, its body a mixture of jet-black and brilliant white, as though an entire galaxy had been sealed within it.
Light flowed slowly inside the crystal, brightening and dimming as if it were breathing.
It floated there without any support.
Yet the space around it was slightly distorted.
Xiao Jin’s footsteps halted.
He stared at the crystal, and the fog in his mind suddenly thickened.
He could not remember anything. He only remembered that it was his.
He had to obtain it.
He lifted his foot and walked toward the pool, step by step.
Just as he was about to step into the water—
A massive black shadow suddenly lunged down from the top of the cave!
Xiao Jin snapped back to his senses!
There was no time to think. He rolled to the side.
“Boom!”
The black shadow slammed down, grazing his body and striking the spot where he had just been standing. Broken stones flew everywhere!
Xiao Jin flipped over and looked up.
From the shadows at the top of the cavern, a gigantic serpent slowly extended its head.
Its entire body was pitch-black, its scales glinting with a cold sheen, and a pair of vertical pupils locked onto him.
Even the portion of its body exposed above the ground was thicker than a human.
It coiled along the stone wall at the top of the cave and began to slither downward.
Xiao Jin retreated two steps, his heart pounding like thunder.
If he had been even a moment slower…
Lowering his head, he cast a glance at the crystal fragment floating above the pool.
Then he looked up at the giant serpent that had already descended halfway down the cave wall.
It was over.
Xiao Jin did not know how he had managed to dodge the first few attacks.
Perhaps it was the instinct to survive. Perhaps it was luck.
Each time the giant serpent swooped down, he narrowly evaded it.
Rubble exploded around him, deep trenches were carved wherever the serpent’s tail swept; like a mouse chased by a cat, he rolled across the ground, crawled through cracks in the rock, utterly disheveled.
But after all, he was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining.
He had no strength to counterattack, no means to withstand a direct blow, and he could not even outrun the serpent.
The giant serpent seemed unwilling to grant him another chance.
It arched its body, gathering strength, then lunged at him once more!
Using the last of his strength, Xiao Jin rolled aside to evade the strike.
He had barely caught his breath when, from the corner of his eye, he saw a black blur—
A serpent’s tail sweeping horizontally.
It was too late to dodge.
Xiao Jin stood frozen in place, watching the tail draw closer, his mind blank.
He was finished.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Clang!”
A sharp, piercing collision exploded in his ears.
Xiao Jin froze.
The intense pain he had expected did not come.
He opened his eyes and saw a fan suspended before him.
Cloud patterns surged upon it, its ribs like jade, perfectly blocking the sweep of the serpent’s tail.
It was that fan.
It was Senior Brother’s fan.
“Senior Brother!”
Xiao Jin blurted out.
The serpent’s tail was knocked aside. The fan spun in the air and flew back in the direction from which it had come.
Xiao Jin looked toward where the fan had been.
A figure as white as moonlight rushed in from the cave entrance.
Lu Fengmian raised his hand, and the cloud-bearing fan steadily returned to his grasp.
He glanced at the giant serpent, then at Xiao Jin, who sat on the ground in tattered clothes and utter disarray. His brows furrowed slightly.
Then he stepped forward, standing in front of Xiao Jin.
“It’s fine now.”