Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 20

Volume 6 Chapter 20: The Cave, Trapped Beast (Part 1)

"What on earth is this place?"

Xu Qingfan stared in amazement at the scene before him, his face full of disbelief.

Before Xu Qingfan stood a towering peak, reaching into the clouds, endless in length and width, steep and majestic, with no grass or trees, only rugged stones. The Southern Wasteland was flat, with low hills, but this mountain stood abruptly, making it impossible to ignore.

The stones on the peak were a deep black, reflecting a faint light under the sun, as if the sunlight was being absorbed by the tall dark structure. At first glance, it was hard to bear.

In the distance, Xu Qingfan seemed to feel a hidden yet immensely strong energy, pulsing from the mountain, the energy was strange, sending a shiver down his spine.

Not just him, Xu Qingfan’s spirit pet Little Black, usually fearless, now felt a strange panic in its heart, an instinctive fear that had no reason, trying through their bond to stop Xu Qingfan from wanting to explore the dark mountain, as if something truly terrifying lurked within.

The mountain peak was strange, but that was not the real reason Xu Qingfan was surprised.

The reason Xu Qingfan was so surprised at that moment was that he had never seen this mountain peak before.

The "Sky Escaping Talisman" could instantly move the user two thousand miles away. It was Xu Qingfan’s last means of escape, and to be safe, he had explored all the surroundings within two thousand miles before unlocking the Sealing Ring on Little Gold’s neck. However, during his search, he had not found any sign of this mountain peak.

Furthermore, this mountain peak was so tall that it could be seen clearly even from a thousand miles away. Xu Qingfan believed it could not be part of the scenery from anywhere within five thousand miles of where he had just escaped.

"Wasn’t it said that the ‘Sky Escaping Talisman’ can only move the cultivator two or three thousand miles? How did I end up here? This place is at least five or six thousand miles away from where I left, and maybe even more."

Xu Qingfan thought to himself, his face serious and puzzled.

What Xu Qingfan did not notice was that, while he looked around his new surroundings, Little Gold in his arms was curled up and showed signs of great fatigue, as if it had just used a lot of energy.

Xu Qingfan also did not notice that after he arrived there, the strange aura that had drawn countless demon beasts crazy had suddenly vanished from Little Gold.

"Looking at this place, so barren, with stones everywhere and no plants growing, it should still be part of the Southern Wasteland. Have I entered a deeper part of the Southern Wasteland?"

Looking at the place before him, which seemed untouched by humans, Xu Qingfan thought quietly to himself.

Just as Xu Qingfan was lost in thought, Little Gold in his arms seemed to regain a little strength and, while Xu Qingfan was not paying attention, struggled to jump out of his embrace and wobbled away towards Black Mountain.

Xu Qingfan was slightly surprised, then frowned and quickly moved to Little Gold’s side, stretched out his arms, and picked Little Gold up again, bending down to softly scold, "Little Gold, don’t cause trouble."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Qingfan found himself stunned because, while looking down, he saw the expression in Little Gold’s eyes.

Little Gold had feelings as complex as a human’s, and Xu Qingfan had known this from the very first moment he saw Little Gold.

Little Gold was very clever; its intelligence was even on par with humans, and Xu Qingfan knew this too.

And during this time, Little Gold’s innocent and simple appearance was just a disguise for self-protection, which Xu Qingfan also understood.

Years later, Xu Qingfan saw Little Gold’s gaze again, completely unmasked, filled with human-like emotions and spirit, without a hint of disguise.

Requests, promises, hopes.

This is the emotion that Xu Qingfan felt in Little Gold’s eyes.

"Take me into the Black Mountain, I promise there is no danger. The Black Mountain holds the hope to solve all our problems. Please."

This is the meaning that Xu Qingfan sensed in Little Gold’s gaze.

Since the first time Xu Qingfan met Little Gold, it showed this strange ability to express complex meanings just through its eyes, but Little Gold had not shown this ability for a long time.

"What is there in this Black Mountain? Why does Little Gold care so much about it and why does Little Black fear it so greatly?"

Xu Qingfan became more curious. After hesitating for a moment, he looked down at Little Gold and saw that its eyes were clear, showing no intention of deceit.

Even demon beasts, no matter how intelligent, do not usually master the ways of deceit like humans do, except for the unique nine-tailed demon fox; he had never seen any other demon beast skilled in trickery.

"I do not know where I am right now. Zhuyin and the black-clothed master must be searching for me all over the Southern Wasteland. Whether I return recklessly or stay here, there is a high chance of being discovered by those two terrifying demon beasts and cultivators. I don’t know where to go. Although the Black Mountain is strange, it might be a great hiding place."

After thinking carefully for a moment, Xu Qingfan finally gritted his teeth and whispered to himself, "No matter how dangerous the Black Mountain may be, is it more dangerous than facing Zhuyin and the black-clothed master? Besides, if Little Gold is not wrong, there may be a chance in the Black Mountain."

Although he thought this way and had made a decision in his heart, Black Mountain was still too strange, so Xu Qingfan dared not act carelessly. He sat cross-legged in front of Black Mountain, set up a barrier to keep Little Gold safe and prevent it from running around, and began to meditate to restore the Spirit Qi inside him.

Two days later, neither Zhuyin nor the dark-clothed master found this place, but Xu Qingfan’s Spirit Qi had already returned to more than half. Then he stood up, took Little Gold, who had been waiting anxiously, back into his arms, and slowly flew towards Black Mountain. Because Black Mountain appeared very strange, Xu Qingfan flew with great caution.

The black mountain was extremely tall. At first glance, it seemed very close to Xu Qingfan, but in reality, it was hundreds of miles away. Xu Qingfan spent more than three incense sticks’ worth of time to finally reach the foot of this high mountain.

Upon reaching the foot of the black mountain, he felt even smaller, and the Black Mountain in front of him appeared even more magnificent.

Xu Qingfan hesitated slightly but decided to fly towards the top of the black mountain. According to Xu Qingfan’s guess, if there was something unusual in this black mountain, it should be at the top. He originally planned to fly around the black mountain to inspect the surroundings, but this black mountain was so vast that flying around it would take more than ten days, and Xu Qingfan simply didn’t have the energy to waste that much time.

Although this black mountain reached high into the sky, flying to the top was also something that required a lot of determination.

"Woo woo…"

Just as Xu Qingfan had just lifted off and had not flown three yards, Little Gold suddenly called out anxiously, as if the top of the mountain was not the place it wanted to go.

"You lead the way."

Xu Qingfan placed Little Gold on the ground and said softly.

As soon as Little Gold was free from Xu Qingfan’s arms, it immediately ran towards the southern foot of Black Mountain, and as it ran, it felt incredibly familiar with the surroundings of the dark mountain.

Xu Qingfan quickly followed behind, amazed at how fast Little Gold was.

Black Mountain was vast, and although Little Gold was fast, it wasn’t until that evening that it finally reached its destination.

"Woooo…"

Little Gold stopped, turned around to Xu Qingfan, and called out continuously, its voice full of hope.

Xu Qingfan crouched down beside Little Gold and looked around, only to see a very large cave in front of Little Gold; the cave was so wide that even the Zhuyin he had seen before could easily go in and out.

In fact, the Zhuyin had indeed come out of this cave before.

The cave was deep and bottomless; in the dim evening sunlight, nothing could be seen inside, just a dark void, and at the same time, Little Black on Xu Qingfan’s shoulder seemed even more frightening.

After calming Little Black, Xu Qingfan followed Little Gold into the deep cave.

The cave was dim and had no light; the sunlight coming from outside was instantly swallowed by the darkness within. Even when Xu Qingfan used his "Sky Eye Skill" to the fullest, he could only barely see things within ten feet in front of him. He relied on his Spiritual Sense to navigate, instead of his eyes. At the same time, the cave was much larger and deeper than Xu Qingfan had imagined. Following behind Little Gold, he didn’t know how long they had been flying and still had not reached their destination.

"How long have we been flying in this cave? Three hours? Or five hours? Or even longer? Does this cave run all the way through this black mountain?"

Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but wonder during their continuous flight.

"Wuwu…"

While Xu Qingfan was lost in thought, Little Gold suddenly stopped in front and called out in alarm.

At that moment, something unexpected happened.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Xu Qingfan’s feet cracked open, and a red monster with a human head and a body four or five times longer emerged from the earth, pouncing toward Xu Qingfan. Amazingly, he didn’t notice it until it was too late.

Fortunately, Little Gold had already warned him, and Xu Qingfan narrowly avoided the attack. He focused on the attacker and realized it was a much smaller version of the Zhuyin he had seen before; it was an undergrown Zhuyin.

Although it hasn’t fully grown, Zhuyin’s reputation is so high that Xu Qingfan does not dare to be careless; the impressive power of Zhuyin has left a deep impression on him.

With a swift motion of his hands, the "Five Spirit Bell" transformed into a protective shield, guarding Xu Qingfan. At the same time, the "Rainbow Ruler" appeared in Xu Qingfan’s hands, and with a flick of his wrists, it turned into seven beams of light, swiftly attacking Zhuyin.