Exploring the Cave Abode

The two sat aboard the boat and, with the wind's help, arrived after a little over two hours. Before their eyes lay a cluster of reefs roughly half a kilometer long.

"Eldest Senior Brother, is this the place?"

Standing aboard the boat, Wang Qing surveyed their surroundings and spoke excitedly as he looked at the jumbled reefs ahead.

"Yes, this should be it. Wang Qing, have Guiwu scout the seabed. We'll circle around here first."

"All right, Eldest Senior Brother."

Zhao Yi steered the boat while Wang Qing leaped from reef to reef. Together, they searched the reef cluster first.

By the time they finished searching the reefs, Guiwu had already surfaced and climbed onto a reef to wait for them. Wang Qing jumped over and communicated with Guiwu for a while, then Guiwu crawled back into the sea.

The two continued circling the reefs a few more times.

The nautical chart only briefly described the location's bearings. They did not know exactly where the cave abode was.

Zhao Yi moored the boat beside a reef, and Wang Qing called Guiwu back.

"Come on, let's go underwater and take a look!"

Wang Qing nodded.

Over the next few days, Zhao Yi and Wang Qing repeatedly dived underwater to investigate, resting on the reefs at night.

After several busy days, they finally located the cave abode. It was extremely well hidden, with an illusion formation set up outside. Had Guiwu not stumbled into it while chasing a sea fish, Zhao Yi and the others would have needed another ten days or half a month to find it.

Taking a deep breath at the surface, Zhao Yi exchanged a determined look with Wang Qing. Then they plunged into the sea and swam toward Guiwu. They reached the place where Guiwu was lingering, roughly a hundred feet underwater, and found Guiwu going in and out of the reef. Looking at the illusion of an intact reef outside and at Guiwu's unharmed body, Zhao Yi quickly swam forward and reached out to touch the illusory reef. Nothing behind it blocked his way. Drawing the dagger at his waist, Zhao Yi slipped inside, with Wang Qing close behind.

Once inside the illusion formation, Zhao Yi saw a dark tunnel. Its entrance was five or six feet across. Looking carefully inside, he found nothing but pitch darkness.

Zhao Yi took a luminous pearl from inside his robe and nodded to Wang Qing behind him. Understanding, Wang Qing patted Guiwu and pointed toward the tunnel entrance ahead.

Guiwu slowly swam over to Zhao Yi and nudged him with its head, expressing its displeasure at being sent in first. Zhao Yi stroked Guiwu's head soothingly, then shoved it inside.

The two followed one after the other into the dark tunnel. Though its entrance was small, the interior was rather spacious, allowing Guiwu's five-foot-wide body to move freely.

The beast and the two men swam forward for a dozen or so breaths before reaching a bend. Beyond it, flat, smooth stone slabs lined both sides, with faint traces of carved decorations visible on them.

A luminous pearl was embedded in the tunnel ceiling roughly every ten feet. The pearls gave off a faint glow, barely enough to make out the tunnel's interior.

They continued swimming forward for about a hundred feet before an opening appeared overhead. Guiwu lingered near it while Zhao Yi swam over and poked his head out.

"Whew!"

There was air and no water. Zhao Yi gulped great lungfuls of air. Before long, Wang Qing also poked his head out, panting heavily. After resting briefly, the two climbed out.

Looking at the layout around them and the things inside the cave, Zhao Yi and Wang Qing were utterly astonished.

"Eldest Senior Brother, is this that cultivator's cave abode?"

"Yes, perhaps."

Zhao Yi shook the water off himself as he answered uncertainly.

"This... this is far too bare. Could someone have beaten us here?"

Wang Qing complained, his face full of disappointment.

"All right! Let's look around first."

The two circled the cave abode, one going left and the other right, before finally believing that this was indeed a cultivator's cave abode. It was simply so crude that Zhao Yi and Wang Qing found it hard to believe.

The cultivator's cave abode at the end of their treasure hunt was an underwater limestone cavern. Zhao Yi and Wang Qing had entered its central hall, which was completely empty and roughly twenty feet high. Pointed rocks crowded the ceiling, constantly dripping water.

The hall had two chambers on the left and one on the right.

Wang Qing entered the first opening on the left while Zhao Yi waited in the hall.

"Eldest Senior Brother!"

Hearing Wang Qing call softly, Zhao Yi hurried over.

Inside was only a stone bed with a meditation cushion on it, upon which sat a cultivator. Seeing this, Zhao Yi and Wang Qing said nothing. Each took out a Golden Light Talisman and slapped it onto himself, immediately becoming enveloped in a layer of golden light.

Feeling that he had some protection, Wang Qing strode forward and pushed the corpse over onto the bed.

Clatter!

White bones scattered across the bed, and the clothes on the corpse instantly turned to drifting ash. As the remains fell, a box appeared on the bed behind them, previously hidden by the corpse.

Zhao Yi inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the cultivator had truly passed away in meditation, with none of that damned body-possession business.

Turning sideways, Wang Qing reached out and picked up the jade box. Zhao Yi also walked over, picked up a bone, and examined it carefully.

"I can't open it, Eldest Senior Brother."

Zhao Yi took the jade box and turned it over in his hands a few times.

"This is a Spirit-Sealing Jade Box. It takes magical power to open. Put it away for now."

Zhao Yi also packed the cultivator's bones into a sack, intending to burn them once they returned to the island and scatter them into the sea. Cultivation was like that: one came from heaven and earth and returned to heaven and earth.

They left the first chamber and entered the second. Inside were three bookshelves and a writing desk, with some books on each shelf. Zhao Yi carefully picked up a book, wiped it gently, and leafed through a few pages. After confirming that it was undamaged, he packed all the books from the three shelves into waterproof cloth bags, one by one.

Knowledge was precious in any world! What people called a foundation was built from these little drops and trickles gathered together!

Wang Qing searched the writing desk. Its contents were simple: a brush rack, several brushes, an inkstone, half an ink stick, a paperweight, and two books placed in the center.

"Eldest Senior Brother, these seem to be books on talisman crafting. This one is the "Low-Grade Talisman Compendium", and the one underneath is the "Yuansheng Record of Talisman Dao"."

Holding the books, Wang Qing called softly to Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi stood, took the books, and looked them over. He nodded. "Take everything on the desk back with us. Our Linghua Island has no talisman inheritance. This opportunity has finally come our way. We'll have your Second Senior Brother examine them carefully when we return."

Afterward, the two searched the room thoroughly once more. Only after confirming there was nothing else to discover did they leave.

They then went to the third cave. It contained only a spring, whose water flowed out from its source and eventually reached the opening through which they had entered.

Seeing that it was running water, Zhao Yi cupped some in his hand and took a sip. It was indeed good, sweet and bracingly cold. Zhao Yi nodded inwardly. This was a good place; he could live here long-term and cultivate in seclusion.

Back in the hall, Zhao Yi carefully circled it several times, then entered each chamber for another look.

"Wang Qing, why do you think this cultivator who passed away in meditation built his cave abode here?"

"Perhaps he liked peace and quiet. Hidden beneath the sea, no one would disturb him."

Zhao Yi nodded. "Yes, that's possible."

"This cultivator should have been a senior at the Spirit Attraction Stage." As he spoke, he took a white bone from the cloth bag and held it out for Wang Qing to see. Wang Qing leaned closer.

"Look, the bone is translucent as jade, and it feels warm, smooth, and fine." Zhao Yi then squeezed it hard, but it did not change at all.

"You know how strong I am. A meridian opening cultivator's bones couldn't withstand my grip!"

"You're right. It feels quite nice!" Wang Qing took it and toyed with it in his hands.

Zhao Yi shot him a couple of glares, and Wang Qing sheepishly put it back into the cloth bag.

"Eldest Senior Brother, what are you trying to say?"

"Would a spirit drawing cultivator casually choose some hole in the ground as his cave abode? And in such a hidden place, too!"

"You went into the chamber on the right earlier and saw the things inside. Those were signs that he lived here long-term!"

At this, Wang Qing also grew serious.

"Eldest Senior Brother, I'll tap the floor carefully again and see whether there's a hidden chamber!"

"Yes! That's one way!"

Frowning, Zhao Yi paced through the cave abode before finally plopping down beside the stone table in the hall. His cultivator's intuition told him there was still something here he had not discovered. He was extremely agitated.

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Yi slowly closed his eyes and actually began meditating right there in the cave abode.

He circulated the Spirit Origin Body-Nourishing Art, feeling the true qi flow through his body as a strand of true qi lingered around his mouth and nose.

One greater celestial circuit, two greater celestial circuits, three greater celestial circuits...

Time slowly passed. Zhao Yi had completed twelve greater celestial circuits and felt a slight increase of one strand of true qi within him.

Zhao Yi's eyes flew open, wild joy filling his heart. "There's spiritual qi in this cave!"

When he normally meditated and cultivated on Linghua Island, even near the Spirit Spring, he needed to circulate his cultivation art through thirty-six greater celestial circuits to gain one strand of true qi.

Now, he needed only twelve greater celestial circuits. His cultivation efficiency had risen threefold!

At this thought, Zhao Yi could no longer contain his joy and finally burst into wild laughter, his voice shaking the entire cavern.

Wang Qing, who was lying on the ground, jumped in fright and hurriedly asked, "Eldest Senior Brother, what's wrong?"

Hearing Wang Qing's voice, Zhao Yi finally stopped laughing. His head snapped toward the first opening on the left. In a few swift movements, he reached the entrance, leaped onto the stone bed, and sat cross-legged on the cushion. He slapped himself hard twice to suppress his excitement, then took a deep breath. A cool sensation washed over him, and he soon entered a meditative state.

Seeing this from outside the chamber, Wang Qing had already taken a Golden Light Talisman in hand and was watching Zhao Yi nervously.

Could Eldest Senior Brother have been possessed? Thinking of the biographies he usually read, Wang Qing shuddered inwardly.

Zhao Yi, seated on the cushion, knew nothing of Wang Qing's thoughts. Dense spiritual qi rose from beneath the cushion and poured endlessly into his body. Zhao Yi gave a muffled grunt. The spiritual qi was too dense for his body to bear comfortably, leaving him somewhat intoxicated by it.

Slowly adjusting his breathing, he controlled the speed at which his true qi circulated. One greater celestial circuit, two greater celestial circuits, three greater celestial circuits, four greater celestial circuits...

"Ding! True qi cultivation +1."

If Zhao Yi's cultivation could be displayed on a panel, perhaps he would have seen those words.

Opening his eyes, Zhao Yi stopped meditating. Just four greater celestial circuits could increase his true qi cultivation by one strand. A month and a half of cultivation here would equal a year of bitter cultivation on Linghua Island.

Six or seven years ago, to help Zhao Yi reach minor achievement of meridian opening sooner, Master had rented a cultivation chamber for him on Azure Cloud Island for three days. In that chamber, just as now, Zhao Yi could increase his true qi cultivation by one strand every four circuits.

There should be a spirit vein in this cavern. Moreover, the cushion beneath his backside was a magical artifact, one capable of gathering spiritual qi and focusing the mind.

This was his opportunity-his opportunity to break through to the Spirit Attraction Stage!