But Chen Mu's goal was very firm, because he already had an idea on how to cultivate the Nether Spring Source.
According to the theory of mutual generation of the five elements, earth generates metal, and metal generates water.
Because ores rich in metallic elements are colder than ordinary stones, they condense a large amount of water vapor into dew, which is then absorbed into the ground. Over time, the amount of water underground increases, and springs will gush out from the ores. This is the origin of the ancient belief that metal generates water.
The same applies to cultivating the Nether Spring Source Nether Spring Source. As long as the necessary metallic substances can be found, the Nether Spring water will become increasingly surging, eventually transforming into the turbulent Nether River.
The only thing Chen Mu didn't understand was the internal structure of the spring, which belonged to the realm of the creator god. He still had a long way to go.
Having determined what he wanted, Chen Mu manipulated his substitute to take the two divine artifacts almost simultaneously and temporarily seal them inside his body.
"Trial complete! Now we're sending you back to the entrance of the secret realm."
A familiar voice rang out, and Chen Mu entered the space tunnel once again.
When Chen Mu opened his eyes, Mingye and his substitute puppet were standing unharmed beside him.
He reached out and quickly scanned the contents of the image-recording rune. Finding that no one had entered or left during this time, he felt relieved.
"Let's go! This time, we'll go into the Second Grotto-Heaven together."
Chen Mu can still enter five more grotto-heavens, but Mingye only has two left: the Second Grotto-Heaven and the Fourth Grotto-Heaven.
Since Ye Beihen was in the Fourth Grotto-Heaven, Chen Mu didn't want to run into him, so he decided to go to the Second Grotto-Heaven first.
"Good!"
Mingye naturally wouldn't refuse, and the three figures stepped into the Second Grotto-Heaven simultaneously.
The Second Grotto-Heaven, the Nimble Grotto-Heaven.
Within this cave, all energy and Soul Power are unusable; even the physical body is reduced to that of an ordinary person, with only combat skills remaining.
The challenge of Nimble Grotto-Heaven is to traverse a steep and treacherous mountain range and reach the other side.
The mountains are teeming with ferocious beasts, including birds of prey that can attack people, making them extremely dangerous.
If their power hadn't been sealed, these beasts wouldn't have been able to even break through their skin.
However, their bodies are now just like ordinary people's; apart from the combat skills in their minds, they can't use anything else, which puts a lot of pressure on them.
Fortunately for Chen Mu, his Biological Intelligent Brain possesses a wealth of knowledge in mechanics, and with a little practice, he can become a top expert.
Although Mingye also has an AI, it is external and cannot be used in the Nimble Grotto-Heaven, so her advantage here is not obvious.
" Mingye, let's spend a few months getting used to our new bodies. Once we have sufficient combat power, then we can begin traversing the mountains."
Chen Mu could sense that, apart from an anomaly like himself, it wouldn't be easy for other cultivators to pass the test of this cave heaven, because some of the ferocious beasts in the mountains and forests could even release their Spiritual Power.
A beast capable of projecting its Spiritual Power is equivalent to a cultivator at the True Spirit Realm. While it might not amount to much in the outside world, it is the absolute overlord here.
Excellent combat skills can indeed unleash physical combat power tenfold or a hundredfold, but the gap between ordinary people and True Spirit Realm cultivators is more than a thousandfold, which is difficult to bridge with skill alone.
However, those ferocious beasts that can release Spiritual Power are very rare. As long as you can skillfully avoid them, there is hope of passing the test.
" Han Zishu only had one divine artifact on her, and I previously thought it had been taken away by the goddess who escaped."
Now it seems very likely that Han Zishu failed the test of the Nimble Grotto-Heaven and left prematurely.
Judging from the timeline, Han Zishu left Nimble Grotto-Heaven in just over three months, which Chen Mu estimated would be very difficult for her to do, hence his estimate.
"Never mind, we'll know for sure once we check the remaining number of divine artifacts in the Nimble Grotto-Heaven later!"
Although Chen Mu and Mingye both possessed advanced combat skills, these were previously based on Spiritual Power or physical strength. But now everything has returned to square one; they have nothing but ordinary human bodies.
Therefore, they need to simplify those advanced combat techniques so that ordinary people can use them; this is what they will be doing in the coming months.
Their current bodies are far too fragile; they could be killed by wild beasts at any moment. Although being killed here wouldn't affect their physical bodies, failing the test would mean they would never be able to enter again.
More than two months later, in the bamboo forest.
Chen Mu carried a long spear made of sharp stones and wooden sticks on his back, with a stone dagger at his waist. He straightened his clothes and prepared to head towards the Nimble Mountain Range.
" Mingye, once we enter the Nimble Mountain Range, just follow behind me."
If I get stuck, just go ahead and don't worry about me. I'll catch up with you soon.
In fact, the designers of the Nine Great Grottoes probably didn't expect that there would be situations where participants in the trials would help each other.
After all, in previous years, there was usually only one divine artifact among the nine grotto heavens in the Kunlun Secret Realm. Among those who participated in the trial of the same grotto heaven, only one victor could obtain the divine artifact.
Once all the divine objects are taken, the grotto-heaven trial will disappear, and no one would want to be beaten to it by someone else.
This time, the number of divine objects in the cave trial was extremely large. Chen Mu even used a substitute to add another layer of trial participant status. Such a loophole should not occur under normal circumstances.
Okay! I'll do whatever you say.
Mingye's equipment was also very simple, with two stone daggers at his waist and a tight-fitting combat suit that was very lightweight.
"Let's go!"
With a light step, Chen Mu shot forward like an arrow through the jungle.
Whoosh whoosh!
His agile movements were like those of a monkey, leaping swiftly through the trees. Occasionally, a wild beast would see him and try to attack, but he would quickly shake it off and could not catch up with it at all.
"Heh, even without Spiritual Power, my speed is still unmatched by any of you."
Chen Mu even slowed down his pace to allow the puppet doppelganger and Mingye to catch up.
In the Nimble Grotto-Heaven, the strength of the puppet substitute is not much different from that of the original body. Since one of the two bodies has mastered the combat skills, then both have mastered them.
Therefore, he used the puppet double as a backup to protect Mingye's safety.