Several voices filled with shock and surprise resounded,
"It's too damn hot in here…!"
"How's this an underwater cave? Shouldn't it feel cold & wet underwater?"
"Where are we, where is the water!?"
"Why are rocks on fire…!"
Asking the same question that I had in mind. The voices echoed dully, but no answer came.
Looking around, we seemed to be on a solid rock surface… Strange rocks with a weird glow, and some even stranger-looking crystals all over the place. But for some reason, it feels like we'd arrived at our destination.
One of the guys who seemed familiar with this spoke – confirming my thoughts, "We're in Dalou. We've arrived at our destination"
I looked at him, realizing that he was one of the members of the Black Tower.
"The reason this area is strangely hot is due to a volcano that erupted in the aftermath of the tectonic activity. You already know that an earthquake revealed the cultivator's cave – this is connected to that. There should be negligible damage to the cave though," he said.
I find that hard to believe, a volcano explosion capable of literally vaporizing an ocean didn't damage a Cultivator's cave? That's too much of a stretch even for my fertile imaginations.
"The Saint Class Cultivator seems to have placed many protective formations around his cave. Unless a large chunk of the planet blows up, the cave will remain safe. Now, before we begin, I need to be sure that everyone is here", the Black Tower administrator said.
He then sent out a Divine Sense scanning through everyone.
His eyes however fixated on someone at some distance from us.
Looking in the general direction, I realized that he was looking at a group of cultivators all wearing Blue Robes.
"Why are there only nine of you?" asked the Administrator. No one answered.
"I said, where is the tenth person!" the Administrator spoke with more aggressiveness.
"He couldn't make it," one of the blue-robed cultivators spoke.
"And who are you?" asked the Administrator.
"I'm Shen Ci," he said. "I'm the person leading the Water Palace's cultivators," he said.
I frowned, someone with the same surname as me… Well, it's not an uncommon name, but that's a first given we're from entirely different planets.
"Right, if they didn't make it then there is nothing to worry about. It will, however, reduce your chances of obtaining better loot. You haven't even started and the Water Palace is already at a disadvantage. Tsk.", He clicked his tongue, then turned and looked at another group. These hooded cultivators were wearing black and red. He warned them, "If anyone of you kills another cultivator, I'll personally hunt you down and kill you myself!"
There was no need for him to even explain why. If one looked at the group of hooded cultivators, they'd easily sense considerable Death Energy exuding from them. They were clearly from the Fire Palace.
On the other side was the Wind Palace, and all their members, pretty-looking members appeared to be gentle-hearted, totally out of place given the intense nature of our surroundings. They looked far too serene… Unless of course, you remember that the Wind Palace is among the four top powers of the Vast Expanse, not for their beauty, but for their Might.
Lastly, Earth Palace, was a mix of Demi-humans, yes, actual cat girls…
My eyes were fixated on one of them specifically, the one up front. She had dark, waist-length hair. Her cat ears were propped up and attentive. And her tail slowly swayed from left to right. She was tall, and wore dark-colored robes that further accentuated her beauty.
Our eyes met for a second and I felt as if my breath was sucked… I was more than a bit surprised by seeing something like a cat girl. No scratch that, I was hella surprised… A cat girl! Holy shit, she looks cute!
I suddenly shook my head; it appears I'd actually been charmed…! It only took one look, but then, the moment she realized I shook off her charm spell, she grinned at me.
'I feel like I'm gonna be in trouble…'
"Alright, let's move to the entrance!", the Black Tower administrator said
The group of fifty people walked forward. I had YuYu and Liang Yu each on one of my sides as we moved ahead silently.
The entrance to this cave was basically a massive hole in the ground. It should have melted or deformed due to the explosion of the underwater volcano – however, lo and behold! There was a golden barrier that seemed to have preserved the entrance and everything around & within it.
And I think I might actually know this formation. Isn't this the formation that was protecting the Stone Aged Milk?
If something of such value is hidden here… It will probably cause more problems than it's worth. 'Once I find something, I should ensure I conceal it well, I thought to myself.
"This formation will allow entry to everyone below the Ascendant Stage. Go on in!" the Administrator announced.
"See you at the end," spoke Wei Lei as he dove in face first.
'Dumb idiot, would it hurt if you wait for others to go first? What if that was a trap? And after all that shit you talked about how useless the teacher's advice about cave hunting is, you dive in face first into the unknown!'
I shook my head at the idiocy of this fella. But soon we all heard him speak, "It's safe here." he said.
The rest of the cultivators nodded at each other and they began diving into the formation one after one.
"Let's go," I said to both YuYu and Liang Yu.
Just as the three of us jumped, my eyes caught the eyes of the cat girl who seemed to have a smile wide enough that it could reach her ears. She then rushed forward and dove into the hole.
The moment we went past the barrier I felt the power of Spatial laws manifesting, fully grounding me and disabling the ability to teleport and fly.
"Shit!", I cursed as we fell rapidly into the unknown darkness. Were Wei Lei's words a lie? Perhaps he jumped in to trick us and managed to stick himself to one of the walls of this deep hole?
I opened my eyes wide and they shone in a bright emerald color as a wave of Divine Sense spread out of me like a sonic boom.
My Divine Sense spread so fast that it managed to reach all the way to the end of the hole in seconds and I was thankful to see what was at the end.
I retracted my Divine sense and spoke, "No need to worry, there is a cushioning formation at the end".
And soon, the three of us landed slowly on the formation.
Yet one thing caught me by surprise since I was using my divine sense, I had true 360 degree vision. And I was able to see something really interesting.
The cat girl from earlier had jumped into the hole and dove into one of the walls, then using her legs and arms she was sprinting in a spiral around the hole going down.
She managed to move in a circular way across the walls of the hole all the way until she reached the bottom and landed on her feet… Well, technically she is a cat, so that should be expected.
What was impressive was the fact that she had immediately resorted to a solution that will keep her safe from splattering on the ground in case there was no formation to cushion our fall.
She stood up, looked at me and smiled again.
'What's wrong with this girl…'
"Hey, Shen Bao, what are you waiting for, we need to go, we have to get the treasures first," Wei Lei said.
"You dumb idiot, why did you have to say my name," I said to him through a divine sense message.
"Who cares who you are, just let's get going," he said as he pointed at a door up front.
'Damn idiot, there is a Black Tower Administrator above us and this fuck face is exposing me… I might actually have to get rid of him and make it look like an accident.'
Hold on, why am I thinking so somberly…
I shook my head and moved forward to the gate he pointed at.
The gate was made of stone and seemed to react to us, and soon it opened up revealing… a White Wall. Oh, the irony.
"The fuck is this!?" asked Wei Lei.
I approached it, used my divine sense but it didn't seem like my Divine Sense was able to penetrate through this wall.
I grabbed a small pebble on the ground and threw it at the wall.
The pebble stuck itself into the white wall then slowly 'drowned' in it.
"What is that? It looks interesting," spoke the voice of a woman.
Turning, it was the cat girl, she had an attentive look on her. Her feline eyes were fixated on the wall.
"It looks like viscous matter, perhaps a screen for cultivators to pass through…"
"Move back," I said as I slowly shoved my hand forward.
"What are you doing, what if that thing is poisonous," Wei Lei said.
'That would be awesome. If it's poison, I'll actually be beneficial to me.'
My hand touched the wall and it soon seemed to get sucked in. I pulled my hand back, and it was normal, nothing was sticking to it.
"Seems safe, I felt no resistance after going through the wall for a bit. It looks like this is some sort of barrier. I'll go in first, YuYu, Liang Yu, after me," I said.
"Like hell you are, the treasures are mine," spoke Wei Lei and shoved me to the side and moved in forward, diving face first into the viscous wall.
'Dumb idiot, as if anyone would put treasures in the first room.'
I shook my head and walked after him.
Just as I walked in, I felt a mind-numbing pain going through my head.
My vision darkened, and soon I opened my eyes, to find myself on the ground laying supine.
"What the hell was that," I muttered as my eyes seemed to be blinded by the bright rays of sunshine and my nose filled with the smell of grass, two things that have no way of being in a cave… I've been transported to another area, and from spreading my divine sense around me I realized… That there's not a soul in sight. Well, there were two tigers – the size of elephants – coming my way.
And I was completely paralyzed.
'Shit…'