Nest

After drinking half the water from the small pool, Shi Yi filled his waterskin with the rest. Under the flashlight's beam, he saw that the droplets were not transparent, but milky white, much like milk.

Shi Yi secretly marveled at this.

After drinking only half of it, his entire body felt pleasantly warm, and his mind became clear and refreshed.

The space here was simply too cramped. Otherwise, Shi Yi would have wanted to test the effects of practicing the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Strength Training Fist.

Such a wondrous item surely aided cultivation. The warm current inside his body was proof enough. As for whether it had other effects, he would only know after completely absorbing that warm current.

"The water on this stalactite is still dripping. After some time, it will fill this small pool again. I can keep obtaining this wondrous item endlessly, so there's no need to destroy this opportunity merely out of curiosity."

Shi Yi looked at the stalactite on the stone wall.

In the end, he gave up on damaging the stalactite to investigate its interior.

He did not yet fully understand the properties of this wondrous item. If he destroyed it but failed to obtain something more precious, this opportunity would have been wasted!

The stalactite dripped slowly, but if he came back to collect it at intervals, it would be enough to sustain his cultivation for a long time.

If he lacked cultivation resources in the future, he could even exchange this wondrous item for them.

An endless supply—that was the key.

"I should keep investigating deeper and see where the other side leads."

Once Shi Yi had made up his mind, he set off again.

There was airflow here, meaning there had to be at least two vents. Otherwise, he would not feel any wind inside.

Now that he knew this place concealed such an opportunity, he naturally had to block the exit so no one else would discover it.

"Hm?"

Shi Yi continued onward. The space grew larger and larger, and he could now stand fully upright as he walked. But at that moment, he abruptly stopped.

He smelled a fishy stench mingled with foul odor, making him halt instinctively.

He examined his surroundings and found gray fur and brown matter on the ground.

"Could the front be that Silver Giant Wolf's nest?"

The thought surfaced in Shi Yi's mind.

Zhao Cheng had told him that ordinary beasts found it extremely difficult to transform into oddities. Unless they had consumed special treasures, encountered extraordinary opportunities, and accumulated strength over a long period, transformation was possible; otherwise, under normal circumstances, ordinary beasts would find it hard to transform.

Ordinary beasts were not particularly strong. Take wild wolves, for example: a Martial Disciple in the Blood Essence Realm could easily handle several with bare fists, let alone while wielding a weapon!

But once they transformed into oddities, their strength underwent a qualitative leap.

Like the Silver Giant Wolf they had encountered—it possessed at least the combat strength of Muscle Refinement, while its speed far surpassed that level. It was exceedingly difficult to deal with.

That man from the Divine Constable Bureau had decisively given up on going down the mountain and instead chosen to hide on it because he knew he could not outrun the Silver Giant Wolf. Otherwise, he would definitely have been the first to flee!

Mount Jiuhua was not particularly unusual. Shi Yi had not seen anything special elsewhere on Mount Jiuhua today, and as for traces of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, this was the only place he had found.

Setting aside other possibilities, the reason that Silver Giant Wolf had been able to transform into an oddity was very likely this wondrous item beneath the stalactite. Even the oddities that had appeared on Mount Jiuhua years ago might have been connected to it.

Then everything made sense!

As for why the small pool beneath the stalactite was full, it was most likely because after the white giant wolf transformed into an oddity, its body grew too large to enter the cave, leaving the pool beneath the stalactite full.

After the droplets splashed, blue auras dispersed into the air, and his Double Pupils had seen them as well.

"If that's the case, continuing onward could be dangerous?"

Shi Yi hesitated.

"No. The Silver Giant Wolf is still hunting the others. Its nest should be empty."

Shi Yi considered it, then shook his head.

Compared to everywhere else right now, the Silver Giant Wolf's nest was actually the safest place.

"I should go out and take a look. If possible, I'll seal off the passage first."

"This time, another oddity has appeared on Mount Jiuhua. People will definitely come to investigate."

"If I want to obtain this wondrous item for the long term, I'll need to take some measures to conceal it."

"If I encounter danger, I'll leave immediately."

After thinking it over, Shi Yi continued onward.

He had just experienced the effects of this wondrous item. It was greatly beneficial to his cultivation.

If he abandoned the wondrous item here, obtaining it again would be difficult.

Shi Yi continued forward, and the fishy stench and foul odor grew increasingly intense.

Then dense vines appeared ahead, concealing everything.

Yet he could see some fur on the ground. Some was gray, some was half silver and half gray. There were also broken vines, though they had been covered by newly grown ones.

Shi Yi's expression turned thoughtful. Then he slipped through the vines.

In an instant, his view opened up.

A large cave appeared before him. He also saw silver fur scattered on the ground, identical to that of the Silver Giant Wolf he had seen before.

"Looks like I guessed correctly. This cave entrance leads to the Silver Giant Wolf's dwelling."

"The reason no one found this entrance before was probably because of these vines."

Seeing this scene, Shi Yi knew his guess had been right.

The fur beside the vines had been left by the Silver Giant Wolf, while the broken vines had been snapped when it entered the cave. The traces were far too obvious.

The changing color of the fur was evidence of the Silver Giant Wolf's transformation.

When the Silver Giant Wolf had still been weak, it might even have hidden beneath these vines to escape danger.

"I need to seal the cave entrance behind me with stones, so no one will discover it after cutting down the vines."

"The traces around the vines also need to be cleaned up."

After surveying the area, Shi Yi felt that relying on the vines alone was not enough.

He needed another layer of protection.

There were plenty of stones here, so sealing it would not be a problem. He only needed to remain wary of the Silver Giant Wolf returning.

Once he had made up his mind, Shi Yi got to work!

If the Silver Giant Wolf returned to its nest, he would be able to see the blood essence on its body and leave a step ahead of it.

Overall, there was some risk, but not much.

To be safe, Shi Yi carried the stones into the vines one by one, leaving no drag marks. Once he had nearly finished, he also cleaned up the traces he had left behind.

As for whether the Silver Giant Wolf would discover that he had put things there, he was not too worried about that.

Not to mention that the Silver Giant Wolf's current size prevented it from entering this cave, it was uncertain whether it could even return this time. After all, it had been nearly an hour since the Divine Constable Bureau man fired the signal.

He was avoiding the Silver Giant Wolf now because it was stronger than him. But once the people from the Divine Constable Bureau arrived, it would be the Silver Giant Wolf's doomsday!

Oddity flesh and blood were rare treasures in the eyes of martial arts experts. They would certainly make a move to kill this oddity.

Even if the Divine Constable Bureau could do nothing to the Silver Giant Wolf, martial arts experts from other places would soon come to hunt it down!

"This cave entrance is sealed rather simply. There's still a risk of it being discovered, but this is all I can do!"

Shi Yi looked at his handiwork. The seal was not tight, and he could still feel a faint breeze passing through it. But for the time being, this was as much as he could do. Besides, not sealing it completely had been intentional.

Now that there were two layers of protection, the chance of discovery was even lower!

If someone still discovered it and forcibly took away the Stone Stalactite, then it would mean that the continuation of this opportunity was not meant for him!