A Great Cataclysm of Heaven and Earth?

"Where did he go?"

"He didn't run away, did he?"

"Wait, senior brother, save us! Save us!"

"Stop making noise. Be careful you don't alert the Monster. If he escaped, that's his own ability. If he's still here, offending him like this will leave us no chance of escape ever again."

He listened to the three youths' voices.

Li Fuchan raised his eyebrows slightly.

According to the original body's memories, the one speaking was named He Liuhun, descended from the Lian Nu Yi of the Northern Eight Yi.

He hadn't expected to find someone with a decent disposition in this Demon Cave.

If I escape someday, this fellow might prove useful.

Thinking this, Li Fuchan concealed himself and reached the cave entrance.

This entrance was precisely where he had seen that line of ancient seal script last time. Now, he released his Illuminating Light to shine upon it, and his brows creased slightly.

"With horns ungrown, hidden on Jie Mountain; dwelling in secret in Flying Earthworm Cave."

Illuminating Light was Spiritual Nature, hidden within the soul, resting within the spirit terrace. It could illuminate realms beyond illumination and reveal principles beyond comprehension.

Thus, it could conceal one's body and breath, hide one's tracks, steer one toward fortune and away from calamity, and discern benefit and harm.

Now, as his Illuminating Light fell upon that line of ancient seal script, a faint understanding stirred within him—the guidance of his own Spiritual Nature.

According to the Illuminating Light's guidance, my chance of survival actually lies in these few characters. What does that mean?

Li Fuchan studied them for a long time without results and could only give up.

Since the Illuminating Light could conceal his body and breath, he used that ability to leave the cave, intending to investigate the terrain.

That way, if an opportunity to escape arose in the future, he wouldn't miss it through unfamiliarity with his surroundings.

However, he hadn't inherited the consciousness from the death scene, and his self within that scene had been stimulated by the Three Lights until he was practically drooling. His recollection of the route he had traveled before was already somewhat hazy.

After emerging from the cave, before he could even set his foot down, his gaze abruptly froze. Slowly, he drew back the foot he had extended.

He looked down. Everywhere within sight, densely packed earthworms churned and writhed without end.

Where did all these earthworms come from?

The sight of those worms made Li Fuchan's scalp crawl and his hair stand on end.

He instinctively retreated several steps.

Whoosh.

Golden Light flashed above his head.

Golden Light could protect him and bolster his presence. Now that he summoned it, his earlier fear and revulsion slowly began to fade.

Only then did Li Fuchan dare tiptoe across those densely packed earthworms.

Following the Illuminating Light's guidance, he reached the entrance of a hollow.

Two snow-white snake attendants guarded the entrance, entwined with each other, flicking their tongues and letting out gasps that made his scalp crawl.

"Hiss, hiss. Master brought seven disciples this time, and now only four remain. Who knows whether even one can succeed in cultivation, so we can divide up the leftovers to eat?"

"Heh, with the Green and Red Child Immortals around, we won't even get a whiff of blood."

"I only resent that they seized the advantage. They stayed in this cave longer, and that's how they got the chance to undergo Transformation into snakes."

"Keep your voice down. Don't let them hear."

"Don't be impatient. The two of us guard Master's book cave. There'll surely be benefits for us someday."

As the two snake attendants spoke, neither noticed that someone stood right beside them.

Hearing the two Monsters' conversation, Li Fuchan mused:

So besides that red snake, there's also a Green Snake in this cave. It seems those two attendants have the highest cultivation here, apart from the evil flood dragon.

At this thought, Li Fuchan couldn't help feeling glad he had decided to use Illuminating Light to leave the cave and investigate the terrain.

Good thing I came to scout ahead of time. Otherwise, if a fight really broke out, I'd know nothing of the situation and certainly be caught between those two. My prospects would be grim.

While the two snakes entwined themselves, Li Fuchan silently entered the book cave.

The air here was much better than outside. He could even smell a faint fragrance of books.

Looking at the neatly arranged volumes, Li Fuchan clicked his tongue in wonder.

"This monster actually enjoys reading."

Despite the mockery on his lips, Li Fuchan's heart sank.

After all, it went without saying which was harder to deal with: a muddleheaded, crazed monster that knew only how to gulp blood and devour flesh, or a well-read, mannered monster versed in scheming.

Following the principle that knowing yourself and your enemy kept you imperiled in none of a hundred battles, Li Fuchan picked up a book and skimmed it.

It recorded terminology concerning pill refinement.

"The Enchantress pairs with the Golden Lord; flying mercury swallows sunken lead; green and red join to aid the fire; three lights shine forth to birth the yellow sprout... The two energies of water and fire unite dragon and tiger; heaven and earth couple to produce an infant. After three times a hundred days of such work, the 'nascent soul' is first attained. Swallow the infant to undergo Transformation into a dragon..."

Li Fuchan read for a while, and the Illuminating Light between his brows flickered.

Cold sweat seeped down his entire back.

That evil flood dragon isn't eating people. He's refining pills.

His conjecture hadn't come from nowhere. A considerable amount of evidence supported it.

According to the information in his memories, before the original body's arrival, there had been several other disciples in the cave besides those who had been eaten.

According to them, the first disciple eaten had also practiced an immortal art.

But it hadn't been the Three Lights Purifying Tribulation Curse he was currently cultivating. It had been the Mysterious Female True Enchantress Art.

That art had only one ability: upon mastery, the body underwent Transformation into an Enchantress.

The thought sent a chill of revulsion through Li Fuchan, but he couldn't help recalling the death scene he had drawn upon in advance.

If the pill manual's account is correct, perhaps being swallowed last time wouldn't have killed me. After all, I still needed to shine forth and produce the Yellow Sprout.

It seems I misjudged things last time. If I hadn't ended the Tribulation Divination myself, perhaps I could have learned more. Still, that was my first experience with such a situation. Misjudging things at the brink of life and death was only natural.

Thinking this, he sank his thoughts inward again to inspect the two newly formed scenes deep within his consciousness. Both were currently a murky, chaotic black, displaying no images.

This meant the new death tribulations hadn't yet been triggered, unless he jumped into them himself.

Li Fuchan withdrew his consciousness and wandered around the book cave some more. Sure enough, he discovered several more cultivation manuals.

They included the Great Golden Lord Heart Sutra, the Jade Nectar Mercury-Returning Nine Chapters, and others, all matching the descriptions in the pill manual.

What puzzled Li Fuchan, however, was that these arts seemed incomplete. Most leaned only toward techniques and offered no means of cultivating higher realms.

For example, according to the Three Lights Purifying Tribulation Curse, the Outer Scenery realm had four stages: storing, manifesting, Transformation, and true.

Upon reaching the final stage, one could claim the title of True Person, wield many wondrous abilities, and gain the qualifications to form a Dao Fruit.

He was currently at Stored Vision, but these manuals recorded no methods for cultivating Outer Scenery.

He considered it and arrived at a conjecture:

Perhaps the evil flood dragon feared encountering someone highly gifted. Once that person perfected Stored Vision, they'd be hard to control, so he cut away half the cultivation arts.

He set down the manuals in his hands and began considering his path ahead.

In truth, he currently had only two choices. The first was to attempt escape.

With Illuminating Light concealing his body, perhaps he really did have a slender chance of getting out alive.

The second was to find a way to guide one of the two chaotic scenes deep within his mind into simulating the kind of death he needed. After all, dying within a Tribulation Divination did no harm.

Li Fuchan now had only those two choices.

He had essentially ruled out the first method.

Although Illuminating Light could conceal him, he should have nowhere to hide before the Old Flood Dragon.

Moreover, he was unfamiliar with this place. Blundering around at random, he was more likely to be eaten than to escape.

As for the second choice, the risk was enormous. Two death scenes already existed deep within his consciousness. Another attempt would leave him with five ways to die. One wrong step would mean his death and the extinction of his Dao.

Li Fuchan hesitated briefly before his gaze grew resolute once more.

If I don't use the plug-in now, dying later will put an end to everything.

With that thought, he immediately retraced his route to Flying Earthworm Cave, sat down again, and pretended to cultivate.

Seeing him return, He Liuhun and the others neither questioned him nor informed on him. They merely watched in silence.

Li Fuchan ignored them and cultivated on his own.

Without any subsequent cultivation methods, however, he could only secretly polish the Three Lights Curse, ensuring the Three Lights protected him and shifted seamlessly.

This continued until a month later.

A chaotic scene in his mind slowly became clear.

It worked.

As long as a death scene appeared, he immediately gained the ability to perform Tribulation Divination.

Overjoyed at the sight, Li Fuchan immediately immersed his consciousness in it.

The scene was currently at the moment when he first mastered the Golden Light Mantra. Li Fuchan had assumed the death scene would continue with Tribulation Divination.

He had expected it to proceed until Red Snake Boy appeared in the second month, but this time, unexpectedly, a substantial change occurred.

Just as he devoted himself to cultivation, a female voice abruptly rang out in the darkness.

"To think you mastered the Three Lights in only a month. You truly have the makings of superior livestock."

Li Fuchan's heart lurched. Hiss—this monster has cheats.

Although he had already prepared himself for changes in this death Tribulation Divination, he had never imagined that his secrets would be exposed so soon after he entered the death scene.

Li Fuchan had intended to feign ignorance and muddle through, but Illuminating Light shone from the darkness. It actually shared the same origin as the Illuminating Light he cultivated, and it also revealed the owner of that female voice.

She was six feet long, with a human head and a stone-blue snake's body. Her hair was coiled into a high bun, her brows finely shaped, her bones like steel. Her face was cold and imposing, and her eyes spat a glint of chill light.

The moment Li Fuchan saw her appearance, a name sprang into his mind.

Green Snake Boy.

Seeing that she had already revealed herself, Li Fuchan knew he couldn't keep pretending. Continuing would merely provoke the monster's anger.

So he rose of his own accord and likewise released the Illuminating Light between his brows to answer hers.

"It really is you."

At this, Green Snake Boy's eyes brightened with delighted surprise.

She turned to look at the three people behind Li Fuchan. The Illuminating Light between her brows blazed, seizing them.

Illuminating Light could suppress spiritual awareness. Under Green Snake Boy's radiance, the three were instantly struck unconscious by her Illuminating Light.

Green Snake Boy stared fixedly at Li Fuchan as though she had discovered a precious treasure.

"It's truly unimaginable. A Lower Beast actually managed to master the Three Lights first, in one short month."

Facing Green Snake Boy's ill-intentioned gaze, Li Fuchan tensed. Golden light revolved above his head, shielding his entire body as he prepared for a desperate fight.

The likeliest outcome, however, was that this Green Snake would slap him dead with her tail. He could sense that her Illuminating Light differed from his. It was absurdly powerful.

Seeing Li Fuchan so wary, Green Snake Boy smiled reassuringly. "No need to be nervous. I sought you out because I need your help. Besides, we cultivate the same art, so naturally I can see your Three Lights blazing."

Seeing that this Green Snake hadn't moved to kill him, Li Fuchan understood that his death tribulation didn't lie with her.

Though still wary and unwilling to trust her few words, he nevertheless took the initiative to ask, "What do you mean?"

"The Illuminating Light's divinations foretold the emergence of a savior."

Li Fuchan's brows knitted.

Green Snake Boy explained, "You're merely a mortal who has only just attained cultivation. However exceptional your talent, you don't know the truth of this world."

"The truth?"

"Indeed. The Illuminating Light revealed a Heaven-and-Earth Cataclysm: the calamity of the Celestial River flooding backward, the disaster of the sun falling. It will happen in sixty-two days. That Old Flood Dragon intends to exploit the cataclysm, swallow the infant, undergo Transformation into a dragon, and escape."

Li Fuchan was stunned by her words.

A Heaven-and-Earth Cataclysm? Things are this intense right at the beginning? How can the story develop after this?

Besides, is this something I can avert?

Green Snake Boy wasn't surprised by the utter distrust on Li Fuchan's face. "Had I not fed the golden and treasure lights I cultivated for thirty years to my Illuminating Light, causing it to change and greatly enhancing its ability to seek benefit and avoid harm, glimpsing a corner of heaven's secrets, I wouldn't believe something so absurd either."

She pointed at Li Fuchan. "According to my Illuminating Light's revelation, you are the one who can save the world."

Li Fuchan kept his expression impassive. "What makes you say that? I'm merely a Lower Beast. What can I do?"

"Join forces with me, kill the Old Flood Dragon, and offer the Nascent Infant Pill to heaven and earth to avert the calamity."

"Why don't you choose someone with higher cultivation? Surely I'm not your only candidate in this cave?"

At this, Green Snake Boy openly revealed Red Snake Boy's existence. "Apart from me, the only one in this cave whose cultivation is high enough to undergo Transformation into a snake is Red Snake Boy. Unfortunately, they're dead set on following the Old Flood Dragon. Besides, they've swallowed and slaughtered too much living prey. Their destined tribulation cannot be escaped. The Heaven-and-Earth Cataclysm won't spare them."

"And you've never eaten anyone?"

Green Snake Boy smiled faintly. "Just release your Golden Light and examine me."

Gold was the substance of flowing splendor, hidden at the Brow Peak, in the pool within the forehead, three feet above the head.

Majestic and upright, it was a pure-yang light of bodily protection, able to distinguish wickedness from righteousness and truth from falsehood, and break the energies of foul yin and evil demons.

For Green Snake Boy to say this, either she truly had never killed and eaten anyone, as she claimed, or she had other means of deceiving heaven and crossing the sea.

Still, Li Fuchan naturally wouldn't pass up such an opportunity to openly investigate her secrets.

He immediately released Golden Light above his head and shone it upon Green Snake Boy.

Before he could examine her closely, illuminating light blazed across his entire field of vision, dazzling enough to nearly blind him.

Just as Green Snake Boy had said, how could Illuminating Light of this caliber fail to notice that he had mastered the Three Lights?

Green Snake Boy hasn't merged the Three Lights into Conjoined Taboo either. Instead, she fed her golden and treasure lights to her Illuminating Light, taking an unorthodox path. It clearly carries a hint of Outer Scenery now. Ancient Arts like these take the unusual as the orthodox. With Illuminating Light of this caliber, I'm afraid I'm no match for her.

Thinking this, Li Fuchan saw her release Illuminating Light to resist his examination and stopped trying to force his light through, reining in his Golden Light.

Afterward, he used golden light only to shield his whole body, guarding against the green snake suddenly attacking.

Seeing this, Green Snake Boy's expression remained unchanged. She merely asked, "Well? Can we cooperate? If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have come alone."

Li Fuchan's expression shifted repeatedly. After a long while, he finally nodded. "We can, but I need to see your sincerity."

Green Snake Boy chuckled. "Certainly. I'll return tonight, a quarter-hour into the midnight watch."

"Fine."

After Green Snake Boy left, Li Fuchan looked at the three unconscious people in the corner.

In an instant, viciousness gathered between his brows. What Heaven-and-Earth Cataclysm? What savior?

He didn't believe half a word of it.

When he examined the Green Snake for blood baleful intent, she resisted with Illuminating Light. How could her conscience possibly be clear?

The Green Snake couldn't be trusted. She likely hadn't killed him yet only because she still had something to gain from him.

In this Demon Cave, no one could be trusted. He had to decide everything for himself.

Li Fuchan settled back into a cross-legged position and could not help pondering.

Green Snake fed both lights to Illuminating Light, making it blaze all the brighter. If I fed Illuminating Light and Treasure Light to Golden Light, could I catch her off guard and fight my way out of the cave?

There were too many variables.

First, would that mountain-sized Old Flood Dragon intervene? Second, did the Green and Red Child Immortals still have some formidable trump card hidden away?

Whatever happens, I need to scout the lay of the land inside this cave again.

Li Fuchan glanced at He Liuhun and the others without trying to wake them. Instead, he released Illuminating Light from between his brows, shrouding his whole body in it and concealing his form before leaving the cavern once more.