In Dou Qi Continent, One Talent Trait Every Day

Xiao Yi Xian suddenly called out to him, her voice trembling.

"What is it?"

"There's a snake..."

On the cliff face beside them, a brown venomous snake, nearly indistinguishable from the rocks, flicked its scarlet tongue at Xiao Yi Xian.

A Rock Snake, a mid-tier first-rank magical beast. Highly venomous!

Rock Snakes usually concealed themselves on cliffs, precipices, and stones, using their coloration to blend in perfectly. They waited for prey to fall into their trap before delivering a fatal strike.

Clearly, this Rock Snake had set its sights on Xiao Yi Xian.

"Don't move. Stay quiet," Xu Qi reminded her softly.

Xiao Yi Xian immediately shut her mouth and even held her breath, her eyes fixed tightly on the Rock Snake.

But clearly, when it came to snakes, staying still did not necessarily mean one could remain hidden.

The Rock Snake continued inching closer to Xiao Yi Xian, steadily closing the distance.

Two meters, one and a half meters, one meter...

As she watched the Rock Snake slowly approach, Xiao Yi Xian's heart pounded so hard it seemed ready to leap from her chest.

Hiss!

The Rock Snake finally attacked. Its body shot forward as it opened its jaws, bared two long venomous fangs, and lunged at Xiao Yi Xian.

"Ah—!"

Terrified, Xiao Yi Xian immediately squeezed her eyes shut.

At that critical moment, Xu Qi used a rock beneath his feet to leap into the air. One arm wrapped around Xiao Yi Xian's slender waist while his other hand shoved the torch into the Rock Snake's mouth, pinning it against the wall.

Then Xu Qi pushed off the wall with both feet once more and jumped straight down toward the stone platform at the cave entrance below.

They landed safely!

The entire sequence was smooth and seamless, completed in one fluid motion!

Xiao Yi Xian was still cowering in Xu Qi's arms, too frightened to open her eyes.

Only when Xu Qi said, "All right, we landed safely,"

did she finally open her eyes tremulously.

Realizing she was still pressed against Xu Qi's chest, she hurriedly pulled away. Her pretty cheeks flushed crimson, hot and burning.

Fortunately, the light was poor right now, so Xu Qi could not see it...

"We're... at the cave?"

Coming back to her senses, Xiao Yi Xian realized that they had landed on a stone platform halfway up the cliff.

Before her stood a pitch-black cave hidden behind vines.

"This is the cave you mentioned, right?"

Xu Qi relit the torch, pushed aside the vines at the entrance, and walked in. Xiao Yi Xian followed closely behind.

The cave was damp. The two walked one behind the other without either of them speaking.

This profound silence felt like a demon constantly gnawing away at her, leaving Xiao Yi Xian's nerves increasingly taut.

Until,

Xu Qi suddenly stopped ahead of her. Caught off guard, she crashed straight into his back.

Xiao Yi Xian hurriedly stepped back, her pretty face flushed as she complained in a low voice, "Why did you suddenly stop?"

"There's no way forward."

Holding up the torch, Xu Qi illuminated a massive stone door ahead. A faint yellow glow emanated from its surface.

Hearing this, Xiao Yi Xian stepped forward and carefully examined the yellow runes on the stone door. She quickly came to a conclusion. "There should be some kind of earth-element mechanism or seal placed on it. There should be a switch somewhere nearby."

As she spoke, Xiao Yi Xian took out a fire starter and began searching the surroundings for the mechanism.

Just then, a dull boom made her nearly jump out of her skin.

"What are you doing?!"

Xu Qi had pressed one palm against the stone door. With a slight exertion of force, several huge cracks appeared across the sturdy door.

Xu Qi shrugged. "It's just a stone door. There's no need to make things so complicated."

He possessed Earth God's Favor and had profound mastery over earth-element techniques.

With a casual inspection, he had found the flaw in the Sealing Technique on the stone door and easily broken it.

"This is a senior's dwelling. If you're so rough, what if you damage the treasures inside?!"

"It probably won't break that easily."

Xu Qi pushed again with his palm, directly forcing open the cracked stone door and revealing a pitch-black cave beyond.

Holding the torch, Xu Qi strode inside.

Though Xiao Yi Xian did not approve of this fellow's rough methods, she still hurried after him.

The cave was filled with damp air. Moonlight stones were embedded in the surrounding walls, their soft glow illuminating the entire cave.

The cave was not large. At its center, a skeleton sat in a stone chair, presumably the owner of this cave.

Directly before the skeleton, three locked stone boxes had been placed in a neat row.

In one corner stood a huge stone altar.

A great many medicinal herbs grew atop the altar, and every single one was extremely rare...