Ambush? Mu Bai narrowed his eyes, hurriedly sensing the surrounding aura.
A martial artist at the Great Perfection of Houtian could already sense the slightest disturbance within a radius of thirty zhang, yet he did not discover the aura of any living creature.
Just the split second Mu Bai relaxed his vigilance slightly, a black shadow suddenly burst out from behind a broken tree!
The speed was astonishing, almost transforming into a black line as it lunged straight at Mu Bai's face.
His long sword left its sheath, a cold flash appearing instantly.
Mu Bai used his sword as a shield, precisely blocking that black shadow.
Looking closely, it turned out to be an entirely pitch-black snake with a fleshy crest like a rooster's comb on its head, currently darting out its scarlet tongue.
Black Crown Viper? Mu Bai frowned.
This was an extremely rare poisonous creature, rumored to grow only in places rich in spiritual Qi, and its poison could kill an elephant within three breaths.
The snake missed its first strike, yet twisted mid-air and lunged again.
Mu Bai let out a cold snort as a strand of Sword Qi an inch long suddenly burst from the tip of his sword, precisely severing the snake's head.
The snake's body was still writhing after hitting the ground, but Mu Bai had already turned his attention behind the broken tree.
There, a patch of grass that was entirely crimson red was swaying in the breeze, with morning dew still lingering on its blades.
Red Spirit Grass... A trace of surprise flashed through Mu Bai's eyes.
This was one of the main ingredients for refining True Qi Pills and was extremely precious, while True Qi Pills were medicinal pills capable of increasing the True Qi cultivation of Houtian martial artists, making them very valuable.
The Black Crown Viper must have been guarding this spiritual herb.
Mu Bai carefully dug up the Red Spirit Grass by the roots, packing it away in the jade box he carried with him.
This unexpected harvest put him in a great mood; it seemed White Deer Mountain truly was extraordinary, yielding such spiritual objects before even reaching his destination.
Bypassing the broken tree, Mu Bai continued forward.
As the altitude increased, the mountain path grew steeper and steeper, forcing him to abandon his horse and walk.
The black horse had been tethered by him in a concealed grove at the foot of the mountain.
At high noon, Mu Bai finally arrived at the location marked on the map—a cave hidden by the edge of a cliff.
The cave entrance was covered by dense vines, and had it not been for the guidance of the map, it would have been utterly impossible to discover.
Mu Bai stood at the cave entrance, not recklessly charging straight in like others would have.
He knew deep down that a Cave Mansion left behind by an Innate expert was bound to have powerful protective measures, and if he didn't act with caution, he feared he would meet with misfortune.
Thus, he calmed his mind and carefully sensed the aura around the cave entrance.
Sure enough, the moment his head poked into the cave entrance, the subtle sound of wind abruptly rang out.
Shocked in his heart, Mu Bai hurriedly pulled his head back swiftly.
No sooner said than done, cold-gleaming flying darts were seen shooting out from within the cave like lightning.
These flying darts were extremely fast and possessed astonishing might; if anyone had been standing at the cave entrance at this moment, they likely would have been turned into a hedgehog in an instant.
Following the flying darts came a loud crash.
Mu Bai looked closely and saw a massive stone gate plummeting fiercely from above like Mount Tai crushing the peak, slamming heavily into the cave entrance.
This impact was immense, causing the ground to tremble as the world spun and dust flew everywhere.
How close! Mu Bai secretly rejoiced at his own vigilance, while a surge of excitement also welled up in his heart.
This succession of mechanical traps precisely proved the authenticity of this Cave Mansion.
Clearly, the inheritance inside was still safe and sound, otherwise these mechanisms would not have been triggered only now.
The problem now turned into how to enter this cave.
Looking at the stone gate before him, Mu Bai hesitated somewhat. He first grabbed the giant boulders at the cave entrance tightly with both hands, exerting all his strength to try and lift it.
However, no matter how hard he tried, this massive stone gate was as though nailed to the ground, showing no reaction whatsoever, not even moving a fraction of a millimeter.
Mu Bai's brows furrowed tightly as he pondered inwardly: Since this stone gate is so heavy, is there really no way to open it?
In the blink of an eye, however, this thought was overturned by him. One had to know that this inheritance was left by this Innate expert to his own descendants; setting up an unsolvable puzzle clearly made little sense.
A token?!
At that moment, as if recalling some important matter, his eyes lit up and he hurriedly reached out to grope inside his bosom.
Before long, he fished out from his bosom the jade pendant he had previously obtained from the robust man.
This jade pendant was entirely emerald-green, crystal-clear, and carved with exquisite patterns.
Mu Bai examined the jade pendant, then cast his gaze toward the stone gate, beginning to observe carefully.
Sure enough, hard work pays off. After a thorough search, Mu Bai finally discovered a small groove on the stone gate.
This groove was hidden extremely deeply; had he not been so meticulous, he likely would have found it hard to discover.
What was even more important was that the size of this groove matched the jade pendant completely, as if it had been custom-made for this very jade pendant.
Joy stirred in Mu Bai's heart, and without hesitation, he jammed the jade pendant in his hand into that groove.
A crisp click echoed as the jade pendant and the groove fit together perfectly.
Immediately following that, the stone gate emitted a rumbling roar, as though the entire earth were trembling because of it.
Accompanied by this loud noise, the stone gate began to rise slowly. At first the speed was very slow, but as time passed, the speed of its ascent grew faster and faster.
After quite a while, that massive stone gate finally opened completely, while the deafening sound gradually dissipated and the mist began to slowly clear, revealing the deep cave behind the door.
The cave was very deep, impossible to see the end of at a glance, with only some fluorite emitting faint specks of light inside.
Mu Bai gripped his long sword with a trace of excitement, looking toward the deep cave as a hint of a smile curved the corners of his mouth.
Interesting...
Before you continue