Underground Dark Cave

The medicine's effects were worse than expected. Several packets of the most basic Golden Wound Medicine could barely suppress the worsening of his Skin and Flesh wounds; they did next to nothing for the hidden injuries in his internal organs or his still-sluggish Qi and Blood. Li Yuan leaned against the shadows of the back alley behind Lame Old Six's tavern, chewing tough, dry jerky as he felt the faint, stifling ache in his chest, his brow deeply furrowed.

He did not have enough money, his strength had yet to recover, and returning directly to the martial hall was far too risky. He needed somewhere he could both hide and obtain resources and information. At the bottom of Black Mountain City, news traveled fastest—and came in the most tangled, mixed-up forms.

He lowered his conical hat and entered the tavern. The place still reeked of cheap liquor and sweat. Several familiar hunters were animatedly spitting as they talked about something. Li Yuan sat in a corner and ordered the cheapest bowl of fiery liquor, while his ears caught every conversation around him.

"...It's absolutely true! In that old forest west of Savage Ravine, a piece of ground collapsed and exposed a pitch-black hole! Take one look inside, and cold air comes rushing up—it's bottomless!" A man missing one ear gestured wildly.

"Old Dog, you're drunk again and talking nonsense, aren't you?" someone beside him sneered.

"Bullshit! I saw it with my own eyes!" The man nicknamed Old Dog grew agitated. "And I wasn't the only one! Didn't several Netherworld Cult bastards die around there a few days ago? That hole is damned strange, if you ask me. For all we know, it might have something to do with them!"

The words "Netherworld Cult" pricked Li Yuan like a needle. He lifted his wine bowl to hide half his face, but his gaze sharpened as it fell upon Old Dog.

An Old Hunter who had been silently drinking all this time finally spoke in an unhurried voice, hoarse and rasping. "Old Dog isn't lying. When I was young, I went there once with my master to gather herbs. That place was cursed. My master said there seemed to have been some ancient sect's ruins beneath it long ago. Later, it collapsed and was buried underground. Over the years, people have occasionally picked up some strange stone fragments there."

Stone fragments? Li Yuan's heart stirred as he recalled the several pitch-black, untraceable Black Fragments in his robes.

"The area around that hole hasn't been peaceful lately." The Old Hunter took a sip of wine, his cloudy eyes sweeping across the tavern. "At night, you often see Green-skinned figures prowling about, carrying all sorts of strange contraptions. I advise you lot not to go poking around there if you don't have to. Bad luck."

That was all the information there was. The drinkers soon turned their conversation to other gossip.

Li Yuan set down several copper coins and rose to leave. West of Savage Ravine. The old forest. A collapsed hole. Frequent Netherworld Cult activity. Possible ancient ruins... and those strange fragments.

Every clue seemed to faintly point toward that place.

Without hesitation, he got his bearings, left the city once more, avoided the main road, and plunged headfirst into Black Mountain Forest.

This time, he was even more cautious. He suppressed his aura to the utmost, moving like a shadow among the trees as he silently slipped toward Savage Ravine. The injuries within his body kept him from moving as swiftly as before, but his instinct for danger and experience in the hunt had only grown sharper.

Toward evening, he found the area Old Dog had described. The trees here were exceptionally tall and dense, their canopies blotting out the sky and sun, leaving the surroundings dim. In an inconspicuous mountain hollow, he saw the collapsed opening.

The hole was roughly a zhang wide, its edges jagged and uneven. It looked as though something had burst through from within, yet also as though it had naturally caved in after years of neglect. A damp, bone-chilling current of air mixed with the earthy smell of soil and a faint scent of sulfur poured ceaselessly from within.

Li Yuan did not approach at once. He lay concealed behind a huge boulder in the distance and observed carefully. There were clear footprints around the opening—more than one person had been here, and the tracks were fresh. On a broken branch in a clump of shrubs, he also found a small scrap of hooked dark-green cloth, the same color as the cloaks worn by Netherworld Cult disciples.

This was the place!

He waited patiently until the sky had gone completely dark, until only the wind and the chirping of unknown insects remained in the forest.

Like a civet cat, he slid to the edge of the opening and peered down. It was utterly black inside, bottomless, and the cold, sinister air was even stronger. He picked up a pebble and gently tossed it down.

The sound of the pebble striking the rock walls traveled down layer by layer. Only after a long while did an exceedingly faint echo return, as though it had finally landed on solid ground.

It was incredibly deep!

Li Yuan took a deep breath and hesitated no longer. He checked the Talisman Fragments and Black Fragments inside his robes, then tucked the sharpened Iron Rod behind his waist. Gripping the edge of the opening with Both Hands, he slowly lowered his body into that unknown darkness.

The rock wall was cold and wet, covered in slick moss. Relying on his strengthened finger strength and control over his body, he slowly climbed down like a gecko. The farther down he went, the darker it became, until darkness swallowed everything completely, leaving only a tiny, blurred point of light from the opening above.

The silence around him was terrifying. There was only the faint rustle of his clothes scraping against the rock wall and the sound of his restrained breathing. The cold, sinister air seeped in through every opening, trying to penetrate his clothes and erode his Qi and Blood. He silently circulated his Crimson Sun Qi and Blood. A warm current flowed through his Whole Body, warding off the cold outside while cautiously repairing the hidden injuries in his internal organs.

After descending roughly twenty or thirty zhang, his feet finally touched solid ground.

He released his grip and landed on soft earth layered with humus accumulated over who knew how many years. In the darkness, he widened his eyes, struggling to adapt to this absolute absence of light. At this moment, the enhancement of his five senses by Crimson Sun Qi and Blood came into play, and his vision gradually began to make out vague outlines.

This seemed to be a massive underground passage, winding toward unknown depths. The air barely circulated, carrying a heavy moldy odor along with that faint, indistinct scent of sulfur. He crouched and pinched up a little dirt from the ground, holding it beneath his nose. Beyond the smell of humus, there was also an extremely faint trace of... blood? And the lingering, familiar aura of Netherworld Curse Power.

He rose, his eyes fixed on the depths of the passage, where an even denser darkness awaited.

There was no turning back.

He gripped the Iron Rod at his waist and suppressed his aura to its lowest point. Like a ghost merging with the darkness, he crept step by step toward the depths of what might be the nest of the Netherworld Cult disciples.

His footsteps made not the Slightest sound upon the soft earth. Only his pupils, faintly glinting with a crimson-gold hue in the absolute darkness, flashed with a hunter's Cold Light.

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