The Valley, the Waterfall, and the Hidden Treasure

Even at the initial stage, a body strengthened by fourth-stage Dou Qi gave Chu Chen plenty of stamina.

The trackless forest might as well have been level ground to him. More than ten miles of travel at night did not frighten him in the slightest.

He had even taken special care with his appearance today.

Not his face. He had changed his shoes.

On his feet were boots sized for an adult. His legs were so short that the boots looked more like pants.

Of course, a child his size could not wear adult boots properly. He had wrapped old clothes around his legs and feet, layer after layer, to make sure the boots stayed on.

It was all to disguise his footprints, so no one could tell from the tracks that a child had entered the forest.

There was one small problem: once the boots were on, he could not bend his legs at all.

He had to hop along... or, more accurately, propel himself through the trees by pushing off the ground.

To be fair, it was a quick way to travel. He just had to watch out for trees.

Chu Chen found it worked well enough. With his powerful Soul Force, checking the terrain ahead was no trouble.

Bounding along like this also gave him good practice controlling his strength. Once he began concentrating his Dou Qi in his legs whenever he pushed off, he felt an odd spark of inspiration.

If I keep this up, I might even create a movement Dou Technique of my own.

Something like Burst Step, the mid-grade Profound-class movement Dou Technique Yun Yun had given Xiao Yan in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Time passed as he traveled, and before he knew it, darkness had fallen completely.

The sun had set, but clouds hid the moon. The forest was so dark he could not see his hand in front of his face.

Chu Chen had no choice but to take out a tinder stick and use its faint glow to light his way.

He could use Soul Force to find a path, but he still needed the map to get his bearings.

"I should've come during the day..."

An hour after leaving the village, Chu Chen muttered to himself as he studied the map and checked his direction.

If the old herb gatherer had drawn it correctly, the waterfall should be nearby. But...

Shouldn't I be able to hear water near a waterfall?

I can't hear a thing!

Could the map be wrong?

Chu Chen frowned and listened closely. Then his brow cleared.

A faint sound of running water came from ahead and to the left.

He hurried toward it. Sure enough, the sound grew louder with every step.

Following it, he crossed a slope and passed through one last stretch of forest. The view suddenly opened before him.

Mountains ringed a valley thick with grass and trees. Its surroundings were far more lush than anything near Holy Soul Village.

Deep in the valley, a waterfall poured over a cliff hundreds of meters high and crashed into a deep pool below with a thunderous roar.

At some point, moonlight had broken through the clouds. It spilled across the waterfall, turning it silver, like a river from the heavens hanging upside down.

"This is it."

Chu Chen's eyes lit up, excitement surging through him.

The valley looked exactly like the one in the original story where Tang Hao had hidden Ah Yin's true form!

According to the story, the Cave lay in the rock face behind the waterfall.

The only problem was the height. The water rushed down with tremendous force. Even Tang San had needed the Eight Spider Lances to climb the waterfall on his first visit.

In other words, it would be hard to climb!

Fortunately, Chu Chen had no intention of fighting his way up against the falling water. He looked instead at the cliff beside it.

That was his plan: go down from above.

The waterfall was said to be hundreds of meters high, but that was only an approximation. Its actual height was under two hundred meters.

The rock faces on either side looked sheer, but they could hardly be as smooth as mirrors.

There were bound to be protrusions he could use as footholds.

So, as far as Chu Chen could tell, climbing up should not be too difficult!

With that thought, he walked to the base of the cliff. By moonlight and the reach of his Soul Force, he examined the rock face while quietly regulating his breathing and recovering from the journey.

After a little over fifteen minutes, he was ready. He had also mapped out a climbing route in his head.

He drew a deep breath, channeled all his Dou Qi into his legs, and kicked off hard. His body shot upward like an arrow, landing on a rocky ledge nearly ten meters above.

Without pausing, he pushed lightly off the ledge and sprang higher. His hands caught a crack in the rock, and he clung to the cliff like a gecko.

"Phew..."

Chu Chen breathed a little harder and glanced down at the seemingly bottomless pool. He felt no fear.

Fourth-stage Dou Qi had given him coordination and strength far beyond those of an ordinary adult.

With his Soul Force spread around him, every detail within several meters appeared clearly in his mind. He could judge how secure each foothold was before putting his weight on it.

And so Chu Chen kept climbing.

Sometimes he leaped from one hold to the next; sometimes he used both hands and feet.

The waterfall roared beside him, and its spray made the rock slippery, but neither slowed him much.

About fifteen minutes later, he reached a point a little above the middle of the cliff.

A recess in the rock formed a natural shelter from the spray, where he could stop and rest.

He looked up. The top of the waterfall was still some distance away in the moonlight, but he was in no hurry.

His Soul Force spread outward like a web, searching every inch of the cliff.

Suddenly, he sensed something unusual in the rock face about ten meters behind the waterfall.

There was an opening, with what seemed to be a sizable space beyond it. More importantly, a faint trace of life and an indescribable fragrance of plants drifted from within.

"Found it!"

Chu Chen's eyes flashed. Elated, he fixed the opening's position in his mind, especially its height above the ground.

Once he was certain, he resumed climbing. Another fifteen minutes later, he finally reached the summit.

"Whew, it really does feel high up here..."

Chu Chen glanced down and muttered under his breath. Then he took a large coil of hemp rope from the Flame Ji Ring.

After looking around, he tied one end to a large boulder directly above the waterfall.

He recalled the Cave's position and the waterfall's height, made a quick calculation, and gripped the rope at the right point.

Here goes...

With that thought, he leaped off the cliff...