Mountain Cave, a Heap of Good Loot for Free

Not far from Chen Xiaofan stood a mountain cave, pitch-black within, with mysterious auras drifting out from time to time.

This was already on the far side of the mountain range. Above lay sheer cliffs thousands of fathoms high, impossible to scale. If not for his Sword Riding Flight earlier, he would never have found a way down.

Yet beneath this cliff, he had discovered a cave.

He had not cared at first. Caves in the mountains were perfectly normal. But then another thought struck him: a cliff? A cave?

Could there be some fortuitous encounter?

As a transmigrator, Chen Xiaofan knew that novels from his previous life had written this sort of plot countless times. Whenever there was a cliff, there was bound to be a cave; and whenever there was a cave, there was bound to be a fortuitous encounter inside.

Glancing aside, he saw that night was already falling.

"Let's go in and see whether there's any fortuitous encounter. Even if there isn't, I can still sleep soundly inside."

Chen Xiaofan muttered to himself, then walked straight into the cave.

The dim cave was lit only by the lingering glow of the setting sun, casting everything in golden hues. But farther in, that light vanished, leaving only a gray blur before his eyes. The air carried a faint scent of blood.

The deeper he went, the colder and gloomier the air became. Yet the cave was enormous, and Chen Xiaofan felt as though he were walking inside the body of a giant dragon.

Not long after.

Chen Xiaofan reached the deepest part of the cave. Lighting the firestarter he carried with him, he saw that this seemed to be the nest of the Man-eating Scorpion from earlier.

Many corpses lay strewn across the ground, their flesh completely gone. Beside them were scattered weapons and some old silver notes covered in dust.

All these skeletons had died in the same manner. Each skull had a huge hole in it, as though it had been pierced through by a scorpion's venomous stinger.

"Don't come over! Don't come over!"

Just as Chen Xiaofan looked around, he suddenly heard a miserable scream coming from deeper within.

He froze slightly, only then noticing a stone door not far away. There seemed to be a room behind it.

Chen Xiaofan first gathered all the silver notes from the ground and stuffed them into his pocket.

The larger notes were worth over a thousand taels, while the smaller ones were worth two or three hundred. These skeletons had apparently all been wealthy in life. After counting them, he found that there were more than six thousand taels in total!

"Getting things for free makes me happy." Chen Xiaofan smiled.

Though the silver notes were covered in dust, they could still be exchanged for real gold and silver at a bank after a wipe. Who would not like that?

Then Chen Xiaofan headed toward the stone door.

"Don't come over! Don't come over!"

The person inside seemed to sense danger approaching, and his cries grew even louder.

Chen Xiaofan chose to ignore him and walked straight over.

Reaching the door, he slashed with his sword. A cold flash streaked through the air, and with a thunderous boom, the stone door split in two and crashed down.

Chen Xiaofan glanced inside and found a ragged, disheveled middle-aged man.

There were also quite a few skeletons beside him. As outside, silver notes were scattered all over the floor, along with weapons and various medicinal herbs.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Chen Xiaofan asked the man in a low voice.

Unexpectedly, the man only kept repeating, "Don't come over! Don't come over!"

He said nothing else.

Chen Xiaofan shook his head. This man had apparently already gone mad.

He inspected the cave and found that the skeletons here had been wealthier than those outside. Quite a few had left behind substantial possessions. The weapons on them had been buried here for who knew how long, yet they still gleamed with a cold light and remained exceptionally sharp.

Medicinal herbs, pills, ointments... were scattered everywhere as well.

There were even several Martial Arts Manuals. Judging from their covers, they seemed to contain sword techniques, fist techniques, saber techniques...

Chen Xiaofan first picked up all the silver notes on the ground. After counting them, he found that there were actually more than ten thousand taels!

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he began gathering the Martial Arts Manuals.

"Heavenly Dipper Swordplay. Not to be passed on outside the sect. Anyone who casually teaches it to outsiders shall be deemed to have violated sect rules and be executed..."

Casually opening one manual, Chen Xiaofan could not help but feel both shocked and delighted.

Just as he had expected, the cave beneath the cliff immediately yielded martial arts that were not to be passed outside the sect!

He looked through the others.

"Heavenly Dipper Saberplay. Not to be passed on outside the sect. Anyone who casually teaches it to outsiders shall be deemed to have violated sect rules and be executed..."

"Heavenly Dipper Fist. Not to be passed on outside the sect. Anyone who casually teaches it to outsiders shall be deemed to have violated sect rules and shall..."

Almost every manual had these words written in the "Cultivation Outline" on its first page. They carried an intense killing intent, and an unyielding authority emanated from between the lines.

Ignoring the madman beside him, Chen Xiaofan picked out the better weapons from the ground and took them. He also swept up all the herbs, pills, and ointments. Then he sat cross-legged and began cultivating these martial arts.

After the time it took to burn an incense stick.

Because you studied Heavenly Dipper Swordplay and comprehended its essence, you went on to analyze its force-generation techniques and mastered Heavenly Dipper Shadowless Sword!

Half an hour later.

Because you studied Heavenly Dipper Saberplay and comprehended its essence, you successfully analyzed its techniques and mastered Heavenly Dipper Blazing Fire Saber!

An hour later.

Because you studied Heavenly Dipper Fist and comprehended its essence, you successfully analyzed its techniques and mastered Heavenly Dipper Mountain-Splitting Fist!

Three hours later.

Because you studied Heavenly Dipper Shadowless Leg and comprehended its essence, you mastered Heavenly Dipper Shadowless Divine Leg!

It was not until the latter half of the night that Chen Xiaofan slowly opened his eyes, his face glowing with delight.

He had learned every martial art scattered across the ground. Without exception, all of them had reached the level of consummate mastery.

Turning his head, he saw that the madman had somehow quieted down. He was curled up in the corner, shivering.

"I wonder what effects these pills have..."

Chen Xiaofan did not pay much attention to the madman. He took out a pill he had just picked up, wiped away the dust, and put it into his mouth.

At once, crackling explosions rang out from within his body.

"Oh?" In only a moment, the medicinal effect left Chen Xiaofan both shocked and delighted!