Chapter 229

Chapter 229: You’re not falling for me at first sight, are you?

Ming and Xuenuo entered the mountain cave together.

Ming was just as amazed as Xuenuo was upon entering the cave for the first time, marveling at the density of spiritual energy within.

This was the first time Ming had seen such a spectacle.

The spiritual energy was so dense it had turned into a thick mist.

If this was naturally formed, how many would dream of cultivating here? If man-made, what treasures must have been spent to create such a place?

Not even considering if there were treasures inside the cave, the cave itself was already a treasure. Cultivating here for half a year would be incredibly efficient.

As they ventured deeper into the cave, both grew increasingly cautious.

Whether natural or artificial, places with such dense spiritual energy often birthed rare treasures.

And where there are treasures, there are usually monster beasts guarding them. The rarer the treasure, the stronger the beast.

Sure enough, Ming and Xuenuo found several Qilin Flowers in the cave.

These second-rank flowers were guarded by a double-headed Bloodscale Snake.

Though the snake looked fierce, four meters long and as thick as two burly men, ordinary Sea Observing Realm cultivators or even Dragon Gate Realm ones could fall to it.

But Ming believed he could take it down without much difficulty.

Especially with a powerful sword cultivator by his side.

Still, Ming didn’t want to disturb it unnecessarily.

Who knows if killing the smaller one would bring a bigger one? Or if it would trigger some kind of trap?

Unexpectedly,

Before Ming could stop her, Xuenuo directly slashed the snake in half.

The snake didn’t even have time to react. It merely watched as the hairless upright ape took a step forward, drew its sword, then became somewhat ethereal, causing the snake to feel dizzy before its head fell off, lifeless.

Xuenuo plucked the snake’s gallbladder and tossed it to Ming: “Here, this should be useful for martial artists.”

Ming caught the gallbladder: “It does have some effect, but why give it to me?”

Xuenuo: “Aren’t you a martial artist?”

Ming: “I am indeed a martial artist, but…”

Ming hesitated.

He was a martial artist, that was true.

But they weren’t particularly close, yet she had killed the snake for him, leaving him feeling somewhat complex. Could she possibly have fallen for him at first sight? But that didn’t seem likely either. Looking at Ming, Xuenuo also realized her actions might have seemed inappropriate.

Xuenuo’s cheeks flushed slightly, but luckily the cave was too dark to notice: “I was merely repaying a favor. You saved me from that monster back then. I don’t like owing others, nor do I like being owed.”

“Ah.” Ming smiled, “In that case, I’ll accept it. But miss, there’s no need to be so formal. Killing that beast, we helped each other. I wasn’t just helping you, but myself as well.”

“That’s your interpretation, not mine. I have my own standards,” Xuenuo turned around and began harvesting the Qilin Flowers.

She divided them fairly, giving half to Ming.

Continuing onward, Ming and Xuenuo encountered many more magical herbs.

These herbs were of high quality, and while their guardian beasts were strong, they were no match for the combined strength of Ming and Xuenuo.

However, there were indeed some man-made magic array traps in the cave.

All of which were revealed by the stone in Ming’s possession.

Ming didn’t know what the stone was made of, but it was undoubtedly a great tool.

“How long have we been walking?” Xuenuo asked Ming beside her.

Ming thought for a moment: “About half an hour.”

Xuenuo frowned: “Is this cave really this deep?”

They had been walking fast, yet after half an hour, they still hadn’t reached the bottom.

Ming touched his chin and replied: “Have you noticed, miss, that we’ve been going downward the entire time?”

Upon hearing Ming’s words, Xuenuo turned around and thrust her sword backward.

The sword qi quickly hit the wall.

The path they came from was straight, without any obstructions, so logically, the sword qi shouldn’t have hit the wall so fast.

Meaning, the cave was indeed “tilted.”

Xuenuo’s sword qi struck the slope.

“This cave is a passage?” Xuenuo immediately understood.

“Exactly,” Ming nodded, “If I’m not mistaken, we’re heading towards the center of this peak.”

Xuenuo: “…”

“Overthinking won’t help, let’s keep moving,” Xuenuo paused for a moment before continuing forward.

Seeing the girl so brave, Ming naturally wouldn’t back down.

After about another half-hour, they arrived at a place surrounded entirely by blue.

There was no path ahead, only a dead end.

“No way out? That can’t be…”

Xuenuo drew her Life-Bonded Flying Sword and scanned her surroundings.

Her flying sword kept indicating “move forward.” But with no visible path, where should she go? Xuenuo stepped forward and touched the blue wall.

At that moment, Ming suddenly felt his palm grow hot.

Ming opened his palm to find the stone given by Mo Zhu’er glowing red like molten magma.

“Miss Jiang! Move away!” Ming shouted loudly.

“What’s wrong?” Xuenuo turned around.

In the instant Xuenuo turned, the blue wall began to twist, eventually forming a massive mouth swallowing Xuenuo!

Ming panicked and used all his strength, wrapping Martial True Qi around the stone in his palm, hurling it at the giant mouth! “Boom!”

With a tremendous explosion, the stone given by Mo Zhu’er shattered!

“Hooooowwwww!!!”

The blue mouth roared.

It twisted and collapsed, sucking everything in the cave toward it!

“Hurry, escape!” Xuenuo shouted loudly to Ming.

“I want to escape too!” Ming clung to a rock with all his might.

Finally, the rock broke, and Ming tackled Xuenuo, falling into the twisting void.