Stalactites Above, Sharp as Fangs; Spirit Artifacts Below, Scattered in Dust

Inside the cave, Mo Chen and his four companions felt a cold, sinister breath wash over them as they ventured deeper. A faint stink of Demon Beast dung lingered in the air.

They extended their Divine Sense and cast their techniques, suspending five fireballs of varying brightness around themselves.

After they had traveled roughly two li through the cave, the passage abruptly stopped running horizontally and plunged straight down.

A seemingly bottomless pit appeared before them without warning, while the drip-drip of water echoed through the cave.

What kind of bizarre layout was this now?

Yang Yiliu could not help complaining. "What cultivator would build a Cave Abode like this? A vertical pit—how could anyone live here?"

Something stirred in Mo Chen's mind. He recalled the mysterious old man he had encountered earlier. That man's Cave Abode had been distinctive, but even there, he had never seen such a strange layout.

An ordinary Cave Abode was designed to shelter from the wind and gather spiritual energy. Who would dig a pit that went straight up and down?

Unless...

This wasn't a Cave Abode.

The five hovered at the mouth of the pit, none daring to descend rashly.

Shen Lekang looked around at them. Seeing that no one dared go down, he said, "Since no one dares descend, I'm willing to scout ahead for everyone."

With that, Shen Lekang withdrew his Wind-Riding Technique and dropped straight down, soon vanishing into the darkness.

The others exchanged glances, then each wrapped themselves in a Spirit Power Shield and cautiously followed.

After descending roughly five hundred zhang, they finally set foot on solid ground.

Yet the sight before them made everyone draw a sharp breath, leaving them momentarily at a loss.

Five sinister cave openings stood in a row ahead. Their irregular shapes looked as though some tremendous force had torn them open.

That was not even the most unsettling part. Stranger still, several broken Spirit Artifacts lay scattered around each entrance.

Something was wrong. Had the intelligence been mistaken?

Hadn't the information said this was the ruin of a Cave Abode occupied by low-tier Demon Beasts?

Why were there Spirit Artifacts left behind by wave after wave of treasure hunters?

They extended their Divine Sense to examine the objects closely. Thick dust covered the Spirit Artifacts, and some still bore dark brown bloodstains. Clearly, they had lain abandoned for years.

Above them, stalactites hung like sharp fangs, dripping water from time to time. Below lay the Spirit Artifacts left behind by those who had come before.

The scene was far too eerie!

Mo Chen lowered his gaze to the pile of junk at his feet: cracked jade plaques, short daggers that had lost every trace of spiritual radiance...

They might all be damaged goods, but there were so many of them.

Even if he sold these dusty, damaged Spirit Artifacts to a crooked Magic Artifact merchant like Yuan Ming, each would fetch at least a few dozen Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

But Mo Chen was not the only one making those calculations.

Shen Lekang and the others had been lingering over the Spirit Artifacts with their eyes for quite some time.

Well, well.

Truly, people died for wealth, just as birds died for food.

And in the treasure-hunting trade, there was a rule: these treasures could be divided freely.

As a result, more and more cultivators formed exploration parties or sold intelligence, and there were always people willing to go.

An empty purse could bring even a hero to his knees!

Who would turn their nose up at Spirit Stones?

Thus, everyone quietly moved toward the caves within the cave. Yuan Ming even bent down, picked up a fairly intact Jade Pendant, and casually tucked it into his robes.

His two fat hands swiftly swept usable Magic Artifact fragments into his Storage Bag, while he muttered, "What a shame, what a shame. If only they were intact..."

Seeing someone start collecting treasures without triggering any Restrictive Wards, the other four grew bolder as well.

Even Xiao Liuwan and Yang Yiliu, the two women most fond of maintaining a dignified air, picked up a few better-looking pieces, wrapped them in silk handkerchiefs, and put them away.

Shen Lekang was the quickest. He selected only a few useful pieces, then straightened and swept his gaze over the five cave openings.

"Everyone!"

Shen Lekang suddenly called out, "Five entrances, five of us. How about each of us chooses one to explore? If anyone encounters a Demon Beast, fly back here at once so we can regroup."

After a brief, hushed discussion, Yuan Ming and the two women agreed.

Shen Lekang turned to Mo Chen. "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Mo?"

Mo Chen's gaze passed over their faces. Seeing the four of them talking among themselves, he could tell they were keeping him somewhat apart.

"You're quite right, Brother Shen."

Mo Chen nodded.

Shen Lekang chuckled softly, then rose into the air and vanished into the leftmost opening.

Yuan Ming chose the one just left of center. Xiao Liuwan and Yang Yiliu exchanged smiles, walked hand in hand, and entered two neighboring openings, still looking as though they were strolling through a garden admiring flowers.

Mo Chen chose the rightmost one.

Before stepping inside, he took one last look at the Magic Artifact wreckage littering the ground.

The way the junk lay scattered did not look random. Rather, it seemed...

Deliberately arranged into some kind of shape.

Whatever. Pick it up first and worry about that later.

No reason to leave free loot lying around.

The entrance was deep and narrow, and a cold, damp breath washed over him.

Mo Chen formed a hand seal, and eight flaming spirit birds fluttered out, illuminating his surroundings.

Finally, alone.

Mo Chen was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when his nerves tightened again.

Something was wrong with this place!

The rock beneath his feet was slick, but the water droplets on it had a faint jade-green sheen.

Mo Chen crouched, picked up a drop on the tip of his sword, and flicked it onto the stone wall beside him.

Hiss!

A small pit corroded into the wall.

Poison.

Were Burrowing Rats... poisonous?

Was this intelligence even reliable?

Still, after years of swallowing fire to cultivate, he could force out the poison with yang fire even if he were poisoned.

He would have to see how the others fared.

Mo Chen recalled his flaming spirit birds and instead coated his body in spiritual power, forming a thin protective film.

If this water was poisonous, then the monster in this cave... probably wasn't anything harmless either.

After several dozen more steps, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a limestone cavern, with an underground river winding around its edges.

In the middle of the cavern, the river formed a broad pool of black water.

The surface was black as ink, yet an eerie red glow shone up from beneath it.

The pool was roughly twenty zhang across. A small patch of flat ground protruded abruptly from its center, supporting a round stone table. A Jade Slip lay quietly on the tabletop.

A Jade Slip?

This pool, this stone table, this Jade Slip...

It looked a little too staged...

No matter how he looked at it, it was bait deliberately placed there.

Mo Chen did not hurry forward. Instead, he walked halfway around the pool and discovered some indistinct runes carved into the rock walls, almost completely eroded by moisture.

A trap...

Wasn't this an obvious trap?

But... if he didn't take it, wouldn't this whole trip have been for nothing?

Even a thief didn't leave empty-handed. He would use something else to test for mechanisms and Restrictive Wards.

Mo Chen stopped beside the black pool in the center of the cavern, then formed the seal for the Object-Controlling Art and sent his Flying Sword across the deep water, aiming precisely to lift the Jade Slip from the stone table.

The instant the sword tip touched it, a cloud of deep emerald Poison Mist erupted from beneath the Jade Slip and spread in a flash.

Mo Chen was ready. With a wave of his hand, he unleashed a Wind Art and blew the Poison Mist away.

Sure enough, it was a trick.

Once the Poison Mist dispersed, the pool's surface grew calm again.

Mo Chen probed beneath the water with his Divine Sense. Finding nothing unusual, he swept his Flying Sword in a circle around the stone table, but still nothing happened.

Was I overthinking this?

Mo Chen pointed at the stone table and simultaneously sent the three objects on it flying toward him.

Just as the objects left the tabletop, the pool suddenly began to rise.

The water level climbed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At the same time, the underground river surged into waves a zhang high, forming an ever-tightening Water Prison that forced Mo Chen toward the deep pool in the middle.

Mo Chen's expression changed, and the thought of immediately taking flight flashed through his mind.

Flying up now would make him a living target.

Mo Chen's hands raced through the seals for the Wood-Growing Art.

Several vines abruptly sprouted from the ground beneath Mo Chen's feet. The instant they touched the pool, white rootlets emerged, greedily drinking in the spiritual energy within the water.

Once the vines had woven a net across the surface, Mo Chen leaped onto the Vine Net and sprinted toward the entrance.

Just then, a ripping sound rang out, and a huge hole suddenly tore open in the middle of the Vine Net!

An ink-black Demon Snake shot out, sending water spraying through the air.

The Demon Snake raced along the Vine Net toward Mo Chen, moving every bit as fast as he could with his Wind-Riding Technique—if not faster!