"Shen Bao, you've crossed me too many times now! And you remained safe just because you are backed by Master Rain… But once we're in the dungeon, you better watch your back!" came the words of Wei Lei as he rushed briskly past me.
I ignored his shenanigans, firstly because I was too preoccupied with discovering more about the mystery of this new Cave. And secondly, because I knew I could squish the pretentious little twit with relative ease.
Okay, so it seems someone from the Black Tower had found the entrance to a Cultivator's Cave. Usually, these are places filled with intrigue, various dangers, and even death traps! But – and there is always a very big But – they are always intended to find a successor for the former Owner, and hence well sought out by other cultivators. It will help them gain phenomenal knowledge, and even a smidgen of the treasures found there would make them truly wealthy.
The document in my hand was one of the copies handed out to all participants. It detailed the discovery of the cave, which, unsurprisingly, turned out to be pure dumb luck.
Someone from the Black Tower was commissioned to locate a special submarine herb, that only grows on a specific planet. Yes, an herb from the depths of the oceans, if you can imagine that. And when he went about exploring, there was an earthquake and it co-incidentally caused an underwater mountain to shatter. Thus, exposing the entrance to this cave.
The cultivator in question headed in, to check, probably hoping to find good loot. But since he was at the Ascendant Stage, he was denied entry into the cave.
It was a limited-access cave that only the younger generation can enter. Anyone at the Ascendant Stage or above will not be able to pass through the entrance. And even if anyone far above the Saint Class could break through the barrier, they would not bother seeking the treasures of someone beneath their own stage.
More details about the cave appeared in smaller paragraphs. This illustrated the location and apparently, the name of the cultivator who designed the cave.
"Roushi Zhe… Meat Philosophy? Cannibal? Such a strange name, perhaps he's someone who just earned a strange title. No further information about this person came from the Black Tower though. He seems to be a rogue cultivator who lived and died alone without having any achievements recorded.
Strange…
No matter, I'll bring Y with me, and let's see how this goes. One can never be too careful so I might as well bring along as much firepower as I can!
I decided against heading to Liang Yu's place for now. She's probably still dealing with all that stuff that happened back then. And having both her and Yu-Yu accompanying me will be awkward as well.
I sighed as I realized that I don't have many places to go to.
"What's going on brother Shen Bao?", asked someone.
I turned to find Huang looking at me.
"Ah, brother Huang, can I crash at your place for the night, I need to prepare some stuff," I said.
"Oh, sure I'm a bit occupied for the night, I'll need to head to a Blue Robe meeting. But you are welcome to drop by my house. Here," he said as he handed me a pentagonal wooden token.
"The map to my house is inside this token, and you can use this to open the door, I'll have to apologize for not being able to host you well today, I'll make sure to make up for it later." he said, surprising me with his level of trust.
"No need, this is helpful enough. Thank you," I said as I took the token.
He soon headed out on a carriage that seemed to be waiting for him.
I scanned through the Token, and easily found the way to his house. It was not very far in fact, and he was living on the Upper Island.
It took me a few minutes to get there. It was nothing too fancy, a simple two-storied house with a small garden surrounding it. It had no servants and no maids, and the door only needed a token to open it.
I scanned it with my divine sense and didn't find anything strange so I proceeded to take a room and begin my preparations.
First things first, I need to restock on Pills. So, I made X watch the house while I was inside the Lord of Lords Pagoda.
I began by making pills, soul pills, poison pills, and healing and regenerative pills. These were not for me, but for my companions in case of an injury or incident.
Once that was done, I made many more explosive tools and a large amount of ammo. It took quite a long time.
'I should probably make a puppet that can create more poison bullets and explosives for me…', I thought. I made a note of the idea, and I'll do it later when I have the time.
Several hours later, I finished everything I needed to and decided to take a rest.
After a good meditation session, I opened my eyes.
"It's time," I mumbled as I stood up, then walked out of Huang's house.
Outside the House someone was already waiting for me, it was Master Rain.
"Brat," he started.
"Yes?"
"Don't get cocky! Be careful at all times, you may be smart but you're not experienced. You may be strong, but you are still prone to making mistakes! I don't like this needlessly early exposure to the outside world. Learn what you can but at all times be Careful," he said and then immediately disappeared from view.
'What was that all about…'
It's really strange to hear Master Rain actually being worried about someone. But it's sound advice, and the least I could do is take heed... I'm not God, and I can still slip up, I need to keep my eyes open at all times.
"Brother Shen Bao, what are you doing? You'll be late!", spoke someone.
Looking up it was Brother Huang inside the same carriage from yesterday.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"Because I'm tasked to take you to the teleporter that will bring you to Dulou," he said.
"Dulou? Ah right, that's the name of the planet that cave is located on," I said.
"Yes, now get in, quickly!", he said. I moved to the carriage and climbed on.
The ride was short and we quickly found ourselves in the midst of a substantial crowd.
"You're late!", Liang Yu chided.
Looking at her I smiled, she was wearing a long ankle-length crimson robe of phoenixes and dragons it looked pretty good on her.
"Don't you think that a dress will make you trip and fall? It'll hardly be useful in case we need to run," I said.
"Ahem,"
I turned to see YuYu also in a dress, this one was turquoise colored, with vivid ice dragons and flowers all over it.
'Bruh, they looked dressed for a date more than a dangerous dungeon exploration…'
"You too, both of you look good," I said smiling.
But the atmosphere between the two of them seemed rather…electrifying.
So, I decided not to make it any more awkward and shut up.
"And, now with everyone here," spoke the class teacher, "We'll begin teleportation. I hope all of you are ready! Once you arrive in Dalou, you must rely only upon yourselves, you are forbidden to fight anyone from the other teams, and everyone must make sure to come back alive. Discovering treasures and loot is good, but survival comes first! The world's treasures are worthless once you're dead." he declared.
With that said, the ground around us shone brightly. A formation that I didn't realize was present, had already been activated. Rapidly, the world changed around us as we were scooped into a ginormous teleportation array.
Instead of the instantaneous teleportation that I've experienced, this one was different.
A huge tunnel of the spatial matter seemed to manifest like a twister. And all ten of us were propelled forward like bullets. 'Is this a wormhole?' I wondered.
Clothes, skin, flesh – everything seemed to expand, stretch and elongate painfully, and the experience rattled us.
I tried to speak words of comfort to the two girls next to me, but the tunnel disappeared before I could even open my mouth.
"AHHHHH!", shouts and cries of agony and pain came from the cultivators all around. As they finally seemed to return to their normal forms, the shock of what happened started to sink in.
"God damn, I don't ever want to experience that again!", someone in the group said
"BleearrrghhHH!!"
Turning, I saw a few familiar faces throwing up from the nauseating experience.
Which frankly was freaky… Having to see yourself 'stretched thin' until you resemble a wire, and then immediately snap back to your original form… That's not something I want to experience again either if I didn't have to. Will the trip back be equally as difficult?
"The Heavenly Academy is finally here, ah, surprisingly only two threw up, that's a record! You're the group with the least people throwing up. No wonder the Heavenly Academy is so sought out," spoke a man with a voice powerful enough that it boomed through the area we were standing in.
Which brings me to my next thought… Exactly where the hell are we!?
This does not look like an 'underwater' cave… Frankly speaking. This place feels way too hot to be an underwater cave… Especially with all these flames rising from all over…