Chapter 34

Chapter 35: The Bottomless Gorge of the Vortex Wind

Is this just a common item? I don’t even have a common item; I’m completely naked! Qian Xing’s eyes moistened. After realizing the insignificance of his own strength, even a piece of trash-like magical treasure could significantly increase his chances of survival!

In Qian Xing’s repeated bows and heartfelt thanks, Lei Yue took out a jade slip, on which were inscribed the basic methods for refining magical treasures, even some basic techniques for alchemy and common knowledge about various alchemical ingredients.

These things, in the cultivation world, were possessed by various sects and were not exclusive to the Pill Cauldron Sect.

Since he had already given the Cold Ice Technique, he might as well do a good deed to the end and give some basic techniques as well.

After all, in Daoist cultivation, it was also important to accumulate a certain amount of merit. With a certain amount of merit, the tribulations one would encounter would be much lighter.

Therefore, since there was already a cooperative relationship, Lei Yue treated this gift of techniques purely as a way to accumulate merit, without any expectation of reciprocation.

However, for Qian Xing, this was like opening a door. Once the door was opened, there were infinite possibilities!

After consuming the demon core, Qian Xing’s Cold Ice Technique finally broke through to the second level! The time he could hold the array flag was also close to the duration of a stick of incense.

The three Lei people believed that the time had come to delve deeper into the lair of the Black Star Sand Beast—the source of the Earth Lung Vortex Wind.

Qian Xing was wearing a simple robe made from the fur of the Black Star Sand Beast, a fluffy mass that looked like a smaller version of the Black Star Sand Beast.

To avoid the naked appearance, this attire actually played a certain role in the hunt for the Black Star Sand Beast.

The beast, whose sense of smell had been almost completely lost due to the beast pill from the Pill Cauldron Sect, mistook Qian Xing for a young member of its own kind. By the time it realized that this young member was blinding it, it was already at a disadvantage under the blows of the Starfire Axe, and it wouldn’t be long before it met its end!

The deeper they went underground, the more often they heard the rolling thunder, like trains passing through tunnels.

At such times, the four-person team would dart like frightened rabbits to the nearest side passage. If there was no nearby side passage, they would find a recess in the cave wall and tightly press against it.

They had to do this because, accompanying the rumbling sound like a train passing, was a thick, black Earth Lung Vortex Wind, sharp as countless rolling blades, filling the entire cave!

The four-person team witnessed a gust of Earth Lung Vortex Wind surge through a fork in the Gobi, slicing two huge Black Star Sand Beasts into countless pieces in an instant!

From an Earthly perspective, the Black Star Sand Beast was born under the influence of the Earth Lung Vortex Wind, yet the Earth Lung Vortex Wind was also its greatest enemy!

Therefore, even if the four people couldn’t avoid it, they would huddle in the recesses of the cave wall, relying on the energy shield formed by the Earth Soil Talisman to resist the myriad cutting edges!

The smooth, mirror-like cave walls were also easily explained as to why they had so many such recesses.

The Black Star Sand Beast had a natural ability to dissolve stone into sand, and its sensitivity to the Earth Lung Vortex Wind was much stronger than that of ordinary creatures. When it sensed the approach of the Earth Lung Vortex Wind from a distance, it would dissolve the nearby cave walls into sand, hiding in the recesses like the four-person team, avoiding direct confrontation with the Earth Lung Vortex Wind!

After hunting several more Black Star Sand Beasts, Qian Xing’s Cold Ice Technique had reached the late second level, just one step away from the third level. However, the effect of the Black Star Sand Beast’s demon core on his cultivation gradually slowed down!

According to the three Lei people, the earth element energy had already been absorbed in large quantities, and the solid foundation had been laid. The next step was to continuously absorb extremely cold air to enhance the cultivation of the Cold Ice Technique.

Simply consuming a large number of demon cores would only lay a solid foundation for the steady advancement of the Cold Ice Technique after absorbing a large amount of cold air, and the effect on the current cultivation improvement was not significant. Instead, the Black Star Sand Essence had increased considerably.

As they delved deeper underground, the rumbling thunder grew louder and more continuous day and night.

Finally, at the top of a fork in the cave, the three people saw a flickering red light, illuminating the cave entrance brightly, then turning to a dark red glow. The distance from the cave entrance to the fork where the four people were was over forty miles!

This showed that the fire source at the cave entrance must be extremely intense.

The four people darted towards the cave entrance. The closer they got, the louder the thunder-like sound became, like a summer thunderstorm with countless lightning strikes in the sky.

Quickly reaching the cave entrance, the four people activated the Earth Soil Talisman, and a yellow turtle shell of light enveloped them. Looking out, they saw a magnificent and grand scene!

Outside the cave entrance was a huge cave several miles wide, its depth unfathomable!

A massive black wind column, half a mile thick, surged violently from the depths of the cave. The sound of countless thunderclaps came from this huge black vortex wind column.

On the side of the cave, there were countless, densely packed, honeycomb-like black holes, some a hundred feet wide, others just wide enough for one person to pass through!

This massive black vortex wind column swayed, and from its main body, it occasionally separated out black vortex winds of various sizes—some a hundred feet wide, some ten feet wide, some a few feet wide, and some just large enough for one person. Like generals, lieutenants, and soldiers led by a marshal, they rushed into the countless caves, accompanied by the sound of dozens or hundreds of trains passing, heading in unknown directions.

At the bottom of the endless cave, there were also huge flames, swept up by the black vortex wind column, rushing straight to the top!

"Such a magnificent and powerful vortex wind column should have already broken through the ground. Why can’t we see it on the surface?"

Lei Hai asked the question, but the other three people had the same question in their minds, and no one could answer.

Because the four people had been underground for over forty days, allowing Qian Xing to consume demon cores and increase his cultivation, no one knew how deep they had gone or where they were.

"Look at that big hole!"

Lei Hai pointed to a large cave entrance and said to the others.

Upon closer inspection, at the edge of that large cave entrance, there were several huge Black Star Sand Beasts poking their heads out!

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