Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 44

Volume 6 Chapter 44: Reunion (Part 2)

Feng Qingtian stood still for a moment, looking at the image in the "Earth Mirror," then walked around the mountain wall, feeling it with his hands.

At that moment, Feng Qingtian was in the center of a long cave, which was much wider than the paths in front and behind him. It was there that Xu Qingfan had first entered the cave and continuously encountered the young ancient wild beasts.

After feeling around for a moment, Feng Qingtian’s face suddenly showed a hint of joy, and he reached into his robe to take out a spirit tablet used to honor his ancestors. When Feng Qingtian left Jiuhua, he took nothing with him except for this spirit tablet. Xu Qingfan thought Feng Qingtian took it to honor his ancestors, but now it seemed more complicated.

Looking at the spirit tablet in Feng Qingtian’s hand, Xu Qingfan suddenly remembered that the "Qiongqi" family, where Bai Yu belonged, also had a similar spirit tablet, identical in design and material except for the names carved on them, which only the official heirs of the Bai family could possess. When Xu Qingfan took Bai Yu as his apprentice, Bai Yu’s father had only given that spirit tablet to him to keep safe, saying that the secret of the Bai family was hidden within it. However, Xu Qingfan had studied it for a long time without finding anything unusual.

While Xu Qingfan wondered about the purpose of these ancestral spirit tablets from the Mythical Beast families, he saw Feng Qingtian place the spirit tablet into a small, unnoticeable groove in the mountain wall.

It seemed to be Feng Qingtian’s first time doing something like this, and even his usually cold face showed signs of anxiety and anticipation.

Then, silently, the mountain wall in front of Feng Qingtian suddenly cracked open, revealing a slightly smaller cave.

Feng Qingtian’s face seemed to show a hint of excitement as he put the spirit tablet back into his robe and entered the cave.

Then, the mountain wall quietly closed behind him. Xu Qingfan tried to use the "Earth Mirror" to investigate the hidden cave, but after it closed, the image on the "Earth Mirror" turned dark, and he could no longer see what was inside the cave. Just before the wall closed, he vaguely saw that there seemed to be a large hall within, filled with carvings of various ancient wild beasts and even the five great Mythical Beasts. In the center of the hall was a striking spirit coffin, but Xu Qingfan didn’t have time to look closely before the wall silently closed.

"Huh?"

Xu Qingfan let out a soft "huh" as he noticed a common Spirit Fox following Feng Qingtian into the mysterious cave. The fox looked around with bright, shining eyes, and Xu Qingfan felt an odd sense of familiarity upon seeing the fox, even though he had never encountered a common Spirit Fox before. He shook his head, dismissing it as a mere illusion.

After seeing the cave wall close with no further movement, Xu Qingfan hesitated for a moment and quickly flew toward the hidden cave. When he arrived, he knocked on the cave wall, but found nothing unusual, as if it were solid.

However, it was certain that this seemingly ordinary cave wall contained a large amount of mysterious iron ore, which Xu Qingfan could not break open with sheer strength.

Next, Xu Qingfan found the slot where Feng Qingtian had placed the spirit object and gently touched it, wondering to himself, "What is Feng Qingtian doing here? Why would he come at this time? It’s hard to say if the kylins know about this hidden cave, but even the ancient beasts that have occupied this place for thousands of years probably don’t. Since it seems this is Feng Qingtian’s first visit, how does he know this place so well? Can the spirit object from the Bai family fit into this indentation to open the hidden cave? Most importantly, what is hidden inside this cave?"

Filled with confusion, Xu Qingfan made a decision: after finding Jin Qinghan and Dongfang Qingling, he would definitely return to this cave with Bai Yu and the spirit object from the Bai family to uncover its secrets.

Xu Qingfan had a faint feeling that the secret behind the rise of either the Feng family or the Mythical Beast family was right before his eyes. Once he discovered these secrets, he could begin to guess what Feng Qingtian had been doing during all his years away from Jiuhua and what his true intentions were.

What Xu Qingfan hesitated over now was what to do next: should he lie in wait for Feng Qingtian to show up, or leave this place to search for Jin Qinghan and Dongfang Qingling?

"Forget it, Feng Qingtian. I have other things to do, so I won’t meet you this time. You want to destroy Jiuhua, and I want to protect Jiuhua, so we will meet again sooner or later. If we meet now, a great battle is unavoidable, but with our current skills, it will only waste time. I can’t manage you, and you can’t manage me. As for the secrets of this mysterious cave, I will investigate them next time."

Xu Qingfan looked at the mountain wall in front of him, which seemed normal, and murmured to himself.

Xu Qingfan made this decision because he realized that at this moment, he could not enter the mysterious cave, while he didn’t know how long Feng Qingtian would be inside. If too much time passed, it would delay Xu Qingfan in finding the whereabouts of Dongfang Qingling and Jin Qinghan. After all, the longer these two remained missing, the more danger they would be in. Moreover, even though the entrance to this mysterious cave was here, the entrance was not necessarily the exit. If Feng Qingtian left somewhere else, wouldn’t Xu Qingfan be waiting for nothing?

After making his decision, Xu Qingfan let out a soft sigh and turned to leave.

But just then, something unexpected happened.

Xu Qingfan had walked a little over ten steps when suddenly, he felt a strange stir in his heart, as if a very dangerous snake was staring at him in a creepy way. His body shook involuntarily, and he quickly turned around, only to see that the mountain wall was silently closing, and before it stood Feng Qingtian, looking coldly at him. In his icy gaze, there seemed to be a hint of surprise, as if he hadn’t expected to see Xu Qingfan here.

Feng Qingtian had been inside the hidden mysterious cave for less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, and he was already out, which surprised Xu Qingfan.

However, given the situation, even though Xu Qingfan did not wish to encounter Feng Qingtian early, especially in this circumstance, he quickly regained his calm, a smile appearing on his lips as he spoke first, slowly saying, "Feng Qingtian, long time no see. I didn’t expect to run into you here. Or should I call you ‘Lie’ now? I heard Junior Brother Jin say that you have joined the ‘Ming’ organization."

Xu Qingfan’s tone was calm, but it must be said that under Feng Qingtian’s cold gaze, even a seasoned practitioner like Xu Qingfan felt a sense of tension in his heart.

Upon hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Feng Qingtian’s eyes grew colder as he asked icily, "How did you end up here?"

Xu Qingfan smiled and asked, "Why can’t I be here? Can only you come?"

Feng Qingtian turned to look at the mountain wall behind him and then stared at Xu Qingfan, asking again, "So, you already know the secret of ‘Jiazi Cave’?"

Xu Qingfan shook his head and said, "I’ve been here twice, but I never discovered that there was such a hidden cave. I only learned about its existence when I saw you coming in and out, and just now I found out from you that this mysterious cave is called ‘Jiazi Cave’."

At this point, Xu Qingfan paused, and a wry smile crossed his lips as he said, "To be honest, you and I will eventually have a battle, but I don’t want it to be now. Neither of us is fully prepared. However, now that I know about this cave, whether you believe that I know its secret or not, you won’t let me go, right?"

Feng Qingtian nodded slightly and said coldly, "Since we will eventually fight, why not do it now?"

Xu Qingfan’s smile faded more. He said, "If we fight now, it would just be a waste of time. You are very strong, having reached the peak of the Golden Core Stage. And I’m sure after joining the ‘Yin’ organization, you’ve learned many powerful dark techniques, right? I’ve made great progress in these years, but I still don’t have the confidence to defeat you. To be honest, even though I don’t think I can win, I also won’t underestimate myself; cultivators below the Mahayana Stage can’t kill me. So fighting you now would just waste our time."

Just as Xu Qingfan said, seeing Feng Qingtian here was a surprise and curiosity for him, but he didn’t want to fight at this moment. First, he had his own things to do, and second, he thought that fighting Feng Qingtian would just waste time and Spirit Qi, and in the end, neither of them could do anything to each other, so there was a sense of seeking peace in their words.

But it was clear that Feng Qingtian didn’t appreciate it.

"It seems you have changed quite a bit over the years, at least you have more confidence in yourself now. If it were before, you wouldn’t have said such things," Feng Qingtian looked at Xu Qingfan strangely and said coldly, "But how can you know if we can’t do anything to each other without trying? I also don’t want to deal with you now; I’m not ready yet. But since you know about ‘Jiazi Cave’, I can only find a way to keep you here."

Knowing that this time a big battle with Feng Qingtian was unavoidable, Xu Qingfan thought of their last bloody fight and felt a strange sense of time slipping away. He took a deep breath, stopped talking, and slowly began to channel the Spirit Qi inside him, releasing a powerful energy that flowed from his body.

Seeing Xu Qingfan’s actions, Feng Qingtian was taken aback at first, but then without hesitation, he quickly flew away from the cave, escaping!

Xu Qingfan stood still, astonished as he watched Feng Qingtian retreating, noticing Feng Qingtian’s seemingly panicked figure, feeling confused.

"What just happened?"