Chapter 9: A Different World

Very soon, Hai Wuya left Hai Tian and the other two behind. Even though Hai Tian could see through the illusionary barriers, the restrictions inside the cave were extremely dangerous. Didn't even a few of the Salu family's Great Swordmasters get injured?

With no choice, Hai Tian had to stay outside the cave, but he planned to sneak in after everyone else entered. With his knowledge of restrictions from his previous life, he would find it much easier than Hai Wuya and the others.

"Alright, everyone, follow me inside. You must concentrate fully, or you'll easily get hurt." The Salu Clan Leader, with a very serious expression, gave another warning before leading the Salu family's experts into the cave.

The Hai family and the Li family also followed closely behind. However, Hai Tian noticed that the Li family's white-robed elder glanced at him coldly as he entered the cave.

"Strange, why is this old man looking at me like that?" Hai Tian shook his head and immediately dismissed the white-robed elder's gaze, sitting down to recover the sword spirit energy he had expended earlier.

Xiao Yu was also very bored. He didn't dare wander around the vast Seventh Rank Mountain Range, as he might encounter a spirit beast and be in trouble. With no choice, he also sat down in a meditative posture and began his first cultivation.

It must be said that Xiao Yu was truly a genius. He memorized the high-level yellow-grade cultivation technique in a very short time and generated a bit of sword spirit energy in no time, which made Hai Tian very optimistic about him.

Hai Yun, who was standing nearby, also noticed Xiao Yu's situation, his eyes filled with shock and jealousy. As the top young expert of the Hai family, he couldn't bear the thought of being surpassed by two juniors. Where would his face be?

Moreover, Li Tianxiang, who had previously made him suffer, was also standing nearby. The more Hai Yun thought about it, the angrier and more frustrated he became, his heart burning with a raging fire that had nowhere to vent.

"Bang!" Hai Yun punched the wall next to him, and countless pieces of rubble fell, revealing a gray, flat stone brick inside.

"What is this?" Hai Yun looked at the stone brick in surprise and pushed it with force.

"Rumble!" A series of loud noises echoed, immediately waking Hai Tian and Xiao Yu. They quickly ran over, and Xiao Yu exclaimed, "What's happening?"

Out of fear of the unknown, Hai Yun seemed to temporarily forget his jealousy towards Hai Tian and Xiao Yu, his face filled with confusion.

"Rumble!" The noise grew louder, and soon, a stone door opened beside the gray stone brick, slowly moving to the side.

"This is..." Hai Tian was also quite surprised. The inside of the stone door was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.

Li Tianxiang, who had been standing nearby, also stood up and walked over, looking at the dark entrance and glancing at Hai Tian, "Do you think this could be another entrance to the cave?"

"I think it's very likely. Otherwise, it would be too coincidental for this entrance to appear next to the cave," Hai Tian was also extremely shocked, but he quickly calmed down. It was very normal for a cave to have multiple exits. Many experts would do this in their cultivation caves.

A few seconds later, the two-meter-high stone door finally stopped, and the dark entrance seemed like a black hole, devouring everything.

"What do you think? Do you have the courage to go in?" Hai Tian turned his gaze to Li Tianxiang.

Li Tianxiang smiled slightly, "Of course. If you can go in, why would I give up? But what about them..." He then looked at Xiao Yu and Hai Yun.

Without a word, Xiao Yu stood up, "I'll go with Brother Tian. Wherever Brother Tian goes, I'll follow."

"Hmph! If you can go in, why should I fall behind?" Hai Yun, seeing that they were all going in, knew that if he didn't, he would be looked down upon, and he wouldn't be able to get any treasures inside.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Hai Tian shrugged and smiled, "Alright, but I must make one thing clear. If there are treasures inside, everyone must rely on their own abilities. If anyone is dissatisfied, we can settle it outside the cave. But if anyone fights inside the cave, don't blame me for being unfriendly!"

The cold voice and icy gaze made Hai Yun and Li Tianxiang's hearts skip a beat, and their sword spirit energy became chaotic. They quickly sat down to meditate, calming their dantians.

This time, the way they looked at Hai Tian was different. Who would have thought that just a cold shout from Hai Tian could make their sword spirit energy fluctuate so violently? It seemed that Hai Tian's strength was truly above theirs.

Realizing this, Li Tianxiang sighed in relief, indifferent. There were too many geniuses in this world, and he didn't mind one more Hai Tian.

But Hai Yun's gaze became even darker. When Hai Tian and the Sword King fought, he thought it was a coincidence, but now he had personally experienced Hai Tian's terrifying power.

Seeing their expressions, Hai Tian smiled smugly in his heart. He was actually not a match for Hai Yun and Li Tianxiang, but he had used a small sound attack technique with his sword spirit to intimidate them. Otherwise, if they fought inside the cave, it could endanger him and Xiao Yu.

The cave was full of terrifying restrictions. If they accidentally triggered a powerful restriction, they might all die without a trace.

"Alright, let's go in." Hai Tian's tone relaxed, and he directly pulled Xiao Yu into the dark entrance.

Li Tianxiang and Hai Yun followed a bit later, but as soon as they entered, the stone door behind them closed, and the light dimmed.

"Brother Tian! What's happening?" Xiao Yu cried out in fear.

Hai Tian scanned the surroundings. The walls of the cave were lined with several night pearls, and the dim light allowed him to see the inside clearly.

This was a stone room with nothing inside, but there was a long corridor at the back, also lined with night pearls.

"Xiao Yu, don't be afraid. It seems the owner of this place set it up to close the stone door once everyone is inside. I think there must be a mechanism to open the stone door in this room." If there were outsiders present, they would have noticed that Hai Tian was surprisingly calm, not at all like a child.

Hai Yun and Li Tianxiang, both young, were also panicked by the situation. Hearing Hai Tian's words, they calmed down slightly and unconsciously regarded Hai Tian as their leader.

"What do we do now?" Li Tianxiang scanned the surroundings, feeling at a loss.

"We don't need to look for the mechanism yet. This corridor must lead to other parts of the cave. Let's go and see." Hai Tian held Xiao Yu's hand and walked at the front.

Hai Yun and Li Tianxiang quickly followed, not wanting to stay in this place any longer.

The corridor was not very long, only about ten meters. Soon, Hai Tian reached the end and found two longer corridors beside him. These corridors were very narrow, only wide enough for two feet to stand side by side, with no walls on either side, like a narrow bridge.

At the other end of the corridor, there seemed to be a stone room, which made him feel puzzled.

"Brother Tian, which one should we take?" Xiao Yu hung his head, now completely relying on Hai Tian.

"Let's take the left one." Hai Tian hesitated for a moment and chose one at random.

But before he could step forward, Hai Yun shouted, "Wait, why should we take the left one? Can't we take the right one?"

"If you want to take the right one, that's your choice. I'm taking the left one!" Hai Tian said coldly.

"You!" Hai Yun was speechless with anger. If he went alone on the right, who knew what dangers he might encounter? This cave could injure even Great Swordmasters, let alone him.

Hai Tian ignored Hai Yun and walked towards the left.

But as soon as he took a step, he suddenly stopped and shouted, "Wait, stop!"

Everyone was startled, and Hai Yun sarcastically said, "You said to go, and now you say to stop. What are you doing? Playing with us?"

"If you want to die, go ahead. Look what's below this corridor!" Everyone followed Hai Tian's gaze and saw that the corridor below was pitch black, like an endless abyss. If they fell, they would be crushed to death.

Li Tianxiang shivered involuntarily and asked, "Has the cave already dug through the bottom of the Seventh Rank Mountain Range? How much manpower and resources would that require?"

"You're wrong. This isn't a dug-out area, but a restriction!" Hai Tian turned to Xiao Yu, "Find me a small stone."

Xiao Yu, not knowing what Hai Tian was up to, quickly found a thumb-sized stone and handed it to him.

Hai Tian took it and glanced at Hai Yun and Li Tianxiang, "Watch carefully!"

Instantly, Hai Tian threw the stone down. Everyone watched with wide eyes as the stone fell about twenty meters and the dark abyss suddenly lit up. A muffled sound echoed, and the gray stone turned to dust.

"This... so powerful?" Hai Yun looked at the abyss, which seemed like a demon's mouth, in shock.

"So, we must be very careful when we walk this path." Hai Tian became even more serious, sensing that the owner of this cave was not an ordinary person.

"Wait, why must we take the left one? Can't we take the right one?" Hai Yun suddenly shouted.

Hai Tian looked at him disdainfully, "If I'm not wrong, the right side is the same."

Xiao Yu immediately ran to the right corridor and looked down. Indeed, he saw the same abyss as on the left, shivering and turning back, "Brother Tian, you were right. Both sides are the same."

"Do you have any more questions now?" Hai Tian asked, tilting his head.

Hai Yun was extremely angry. He didn't understand why Hai Tian knew so much, but he knew that if he confronted Hai Tian now, he would die without a trace. He was already regretting coming in.

"Alright, let's be careful and go." Hai Tian ignored Hai Yun and carefully stepped onto the left corridor.