Chapter 49: Into The Cave

Once we came down, we were stopped in our tracks while we gazed at the rocks. There was no seeming entrance to the said caves, if it weren't for Xi Son's confirmation that these rocks weren't natural, no one could ever be able to convince me otherwise.

I thought high hard and low on where the entrance to these rocks could be but came to no favorable answer.

"Should I break them?"

"And risk the probability of destroying the entrance? There are too many variables and things at risk, perhaps this could even be a test that we need to figure out before entering. I say we spend a little bit of time contemplating, thinking about all possibilities before acting rashly then suffering consequences we don't want. After all, this is a cave made by an ascendant." I spoke.

"I'm surprised you know about the Ascendant stage of cultivation, it's rare to find people with such vast knowledge even when they're still young cultivators." Xi Son said while delivering a stab in between his words, stating that I'm far weaker for my knowledge. He might as well say that I was actually tightening the noose around my neck, but better keep my paranoia in check. Now I need to focus.

I got closer to the boulder formation and deduced that if there was going to be an entrance, there should be a gate, and most rocks here were too small to act as a gate, besides the largest one among them. I slowly climbed up and tried to understand how this boulder would act as a gate while it looked like a completely ordinary oversized tall boulder.

Then it hit me like a train. And I grinned.

I climbed down and took a few steps back, "I think I figured it out," I replied.

Xi Son waited for me to answer.

"Here, the grass, why is it this small, it should have been thick and overgrown, yet it never went past this area. Then that bird's nest, it doesn't look natural, most birds would usually lay their nests on trees, and their nests won't be aas perfectly round as that one." I replied.

"I don't really understand."

"This is another form of inscription, a formation, nay, a restriction. It's a puzzle that only those who can see can unlock." I replied.

"But I fail to see a key to said restriction." Xi Son said.

"Because there is no key," I replied and sat down in a meditative state.

The man frowned, unable to understand.

"This is actually a clock, it will open on its own at a certain time, though I don't know when, the large boulder is acting as the clock's longer hand, then you have the other boulders acting as the hours of the day. I presume that when the large boulder's shadow is over the bird's nest, then something will happen."

And that didn't seem like it would take a lot of time, as it only took a few hours before the sun moved, causing the larger boulder's shadow to cover the nest, and then I felt a small vibration, almost subtle, but to Xi Son, it was loud enough that it woke him from his meditation with a wide grin on his face.

Yet, his expression disappeared almost immediately when nothing seemed to have changed.

I also found myself in a perplexing situation, unable to discern the right way to enter this 'gate'.

Xi Son's pervasive Divine Sense swept right through the boulders with no signs of any change. But I didn't fall to despair.

"The bronze plates, can I see them?" I asked.

And the noble presented them almost too eagerly. Just as I grabbed the plates, trying to see if I could figure something, one of them shone brightly in my hand.

On the boulder, there was a seam that I didn't notice before, and it probably was hidden, but the seam was a perfect square.

I placed the square shining plate on it and immediately the massive boulder shook and literally opened up like an iron maiden.

Inside the boulder was a tunnel that led down.

"Well, that worked," I mumbled.

I gave the rest of the plates back to Xi Son, who eagerly pocketed them and jumped into the tunnel, not giving heed to what possible dangers an Ascendant Cultivator's cave could entail.

I sighed as I followed after him, jumping inside the small hole within the boulder I fell down to the dark unknown. Not wanting to die flattened on the ground due to my inability to fly, I unceremoniously pulled out my flying sword and plated my feet above it mid-fall.

The sword swooped down and carried my weight with no visible strain. In this darkness, it was a little bit hard to see where Xi Son was, but not impossible.

I pulled my finger and used my green flame, the same flame I used to light my pipe with when I was smoking Joyful Weed with Elder Yun.

The small flame danced as it lit the dark cave in green light.

The cave wasn't big, but it was deep, it was like a large well that led down. I descended, while Xi Son raced forward. He seemed interested in whatever an Ascendant's cave would entail in treasures and resources, but I was more curious on why an Ascendant would build a cave in such a remote plane area.

Once we arrived at the bottom, I saw Xi Son standing in front of a square platform, frowning.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"This, this is a long-range teleportation platform, it needs to be powered with spiritual stones to activate. Though I have, I'm really reluctant to part with them…" Xi Son said.

And he was right, Spiritual Stones, though useless for me unless I use them to power X, for a regular cultivator they can use them to cultivate. Unlike pills that restore energy, Spirit Stones can bolster one's inner Qi and help them cultivate to higher realms, there are rare pills that can do the same effect, but nothing is as Pure as Spirit Stones, after all, Spirit Stones are the condensed form of Heavenly Energy, given shape into small marble-like objects that can power a person with no side effects as would pills and their impurities that they leave in the body.

"I wish if I could help, but the few Spirit Stones I have I already used them for my project, I only have some weak ones," I stated as I pulled out thousands of regular Spirit Stones that I got from the cultivators that tried to kill me in the Poison Cave.

"Good, that's more than enough, Quantity is quality in itself." Xi Son said as he pulled another two thousand to my thousand Spirit Stones.

Though it pained me to part with so many Stones, I wanted to be a 'part' of this expedition, at least now, Xi Son would feel apprehensive from outright ending my life, at least, he would feel slight guilt now that I'm actually helping him without regard to my wealth. Or so I believe.

I still have X ready to go out at a moment's notice if Xi Son proved a threat, but I should stay passive for now.

Xi Son waved his hand, carrying all the spirit stones and placing them on the platform, which instantly devoured them, turning them to dust and lit up.

Several runes shone brightly under the platform, I was fascinated with the complexity of said runes before Xi Son gestured for me to follow while saying, "Though I respect your need for knowledge, these runes are ancient and would require a lot of time studying not to mention properly using them. It would be best not to waste time trying to figure these things lest the gate closes." Xi Son said.

But I didn't need to study them right now, I memorized the whole platform, all thanks to my Mind's Eye, a seriously overpowered ability, though I'm sure every cultivator has it, when it comes to photographic memory, it proved beyond helpful when I needed to study this later on.

I stood next to Xi Son and immediately the teleportation gate lit up, and I felt as if my body was being disintegrated molecule by molecule, and immediately my sight went dark before it was assaulted by a bright pervasive light.

Opening my eyes, I found myself in a large swath of green fertile land. I would have sworn that we were ejected outside of the cave if not for the dense heavenly energy that was swirling about in this area.

"My God, the Spiritual Energy in here is several folds stronger than back at the capital." Xi Son stated the obvious.

But for me, it didn't matter if it was thick or thin, I can't cultivate spiritual energy, but that's not enough to put a damper on my mood. After all, high spiritual energy means that spiritual herbs are more prone to bloom and blossom in such areas.

And the poison god's book had already sent me a private message, more like telepathic audio that several herbs could prove useful to me in this area.

"We should explore the area, let's split up, and here," Xi Son said, giving me a jade.

"If you find yourself in danger, just break this and I'll appear as soon as possible. I wouldn't want you to die on me, not before I repay your help," Xi Son said in a faithful smile though I felt it was a blatant lie.

He wanted to keep track of me, perhaps I might get lucky and find something that would interest him.

"Thank you for your benevolence," I said as I pocketed the jade.

After all, I also have my way of dealing with his tracking mechanism, unless he uses Divine Sense to look for me, I could easily alter this jade and send him to the wrong location. Though if I find myself in trouble, I won't hesitate in breaking it, better have him deal with any shenanigans I might encounter than me dying meaninglessly in a bloody Ascendant's cave.

Damn, sometimes I do some stupid stuff. Still, every dangerous encounter is worth the risks, the treasures that these expeditions award are worth the risks, at least the spiritual herbs. Now, let's see, which way should I head to?