Chapter 363: Cavern Spirit
Chapter 363: Cavern Spirit
Unaware that his discarded Scarlet Serpent corpse was being divided up by various Grandmasters, Chen Mu wouldn't have paid much attention even if he knew. For him, the only thing of value was the Scarlet Serpent's heart, and he didn't need anything else.
He continued his exploration on the fourth layer, and several days passed in a blink of an eye.
"The earth's meridians have changed so drastically, is it really impossible to find it?"
Chen Mu followed the markings on the demon hide map, but still hadn't found anything.
It wasn't entirely without clues, as the map had special markings indicating specific areas. Chen Mu had managed to locate a few of these marked areas.
For instance, the area with the earth fissure and surging magma he had passed before was one of the marked locations.
However, the problem was that he had only found that one marking. Following the clues from that mark, he couldn't find any further leads. The earth's meridians had shifted over time, causing some areas to sink and others to rise, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact locations.
But just as Chen Mu felt the leads were becoming vague.
"Hmm?"
His gaze suddenly flickered, a hint of surprise in his eyes as he looked towards a distant direction.
He quickly strode forward, covering ten li in the blink of an eye, and soon reached the area. There, on the desolate wasteland, a sharp peak rose about five or six zhang high, its entire body resembling a green stone.
"Mountain Green Stone."
Chen Mu recognized the type of stone, known for its extreme hardness, durability against moisture and dryness, and resistance to erosion from wind and sun, often remaining unchanged for thousands of years. If it were on the ground, it would be a valuable mining resource, but in the Earth Abyss, it wasn't particularly rare, and for someone like him, it was useless.
On the demon hide map, the closest marking to the depicted area was a patch of Mountain Green Stone forest.
Chen Mu had been searching for this Mountain Green Stone forest, but hadn't found it until now.
As he looked at the protruding Mountain Green Stone, he narrowed his gaze and peered behind it. However, in the vast wasteland, he couldn't spot another Mountain Green Stone; it seemed like there was only this one here.
"Even with the drastic changes in the earth's meridians, it's unlikely that a Mountain Green Stone would be separated and moved thousands of li away within a mere hundred years. Since there's one here, the Mountain Green Stone forest should be nearby, not too far."
The thought flashed through Chen Mu's mind.
He immediately explored the area around the Mountain Green Stone, and finally, about twenty li to the south, he spotted a scattered patch of green stone protrusions.
The marked Mountain Green Stone forest on the demon hide map was supposed to be a towering stone forest, but after a hundred years and the earth's changes, most of it had been buried underground, with only the tips barely visible.
"The Mountain Green Stone forest is here, so the location indicated on the map should be..."
Chen Mu landed on one of the protruding stones, looked around, and then closed his eyes to carefully sense the surrounding environment. Soon, he took a deep breath.
Found it! It's indeed here!
The marked Mountain Green Stone forest on the map grew on a 'stone vein', and the ultimate location recorded on the map was within this stone vein. Having found the Mountain Green Stone forest, he had also located the stone vein, right next to the forest.
"Let me see what this map has recorded here."
Chen Mu turned his gaze towards the back of the Mountain Green Stone forest, took a few steps forward, and soon reached the edge of the forest and the underground stone vein.
Although it was called a stone vein, it was actually a mountain, buried beneath the ground.
Chen Mu lifted his foot and stomped, causing the earth to surge. A force of heaven and earth rippled beneath his feet, and the soil and rocks split to the sides as he dove underground.
Even on the fourth layer of the Earth Abyss, Chen Mu couldn't easily pass through the earth like he would on the ground, due to the influence of the environment. Instead of treating the soil and rocks as non-existent and directly phasing through, he had to use the force of heaven and earth to clear his path.
Soon, Chen Mu reached a depth of seven or eight zhang underground.
On the ground, seven or eight zhang, or even seventy or eighty zhang, would be nothing to him. But on the fourth layer of the Earth Abyss, just descending seven or eight zhang underground subjected him to pressure far beyond what he would experience on the ground at a depth of two or three hundred zhang.
After feeling the intense weight and pressure, Chen Mu didn't force his way further down. Instead, he closed his eyes, took a few steps forward, and carefully sensed the conditions ahead.
Even though his vision was useless in the underground, Chen Mu's perception allowed him to sense the vastness of the stone vein. It was like an underground stone mountain, but its composition was chaotic, as if every type of rock existed within.
Among them were materials like mountain greenstone.
And even more.
Through his perception, Chen Mu could detect various types of jade minerals, such as 'Cold Jade' and 'Flaming Jade', embedded within the stone vein in a complex manner. It was less like a stone mountain and more like an abnormal earth meridian movement, where all the minerals were piled together, forcibly compressed into one place, forming this underground stone vein.
Chen Mu quickly approached the stone vein, reaching out to touch its outer layer. His hand felt the icy sensation of a rock iron ore exposed on the surface, and beneath it seemed to be a Cold Jade ore, which he could roughly sensed to be of considerable size.
However, neither the rock iron ore nor the Cold Jade ore was of interest to Chen Mu at this moment.
"The marked location on the map is inside this stone vein. There should be a cave here, but if this vein was formed by the compression of earth meridians, why would there be a hollow space inside?"
The image of the demon hide map appeared in Chen Mu's mind once more.
But soon, he shook his head. The world between heaven and earth was already full of anomalies, especially within the earth meridians. Finding the hidden cave within this stone vein would reveal its secrets.
Chen Mu began to meticulously explore the stone vein section by section.
If he were above ground, he could forcibly shatter the stone vein and clear a path, but here, it was not possible. On the one hand, despite the stone vein's chaotic composition, it had formed a cohesive whole, with an extremely powerful earth meridian force within. On the other hand, the environment in the Earth Abyss was inherently more challenging to manipulate.
Fortunately, this stone vein wasn't extremely vast, extending only about ten li underground.
Chen Mu meticulously explored every part of the vein, and after about half a day's effort, he finally discovered an unsealed passage leading into the interior of the stone vein.
"This should be the place."
Standing at the entrance of the passage, Chen Mu gazed into the stone vein's interior, perceiving it briefly before his eyebrows furrowed slightly.
With his current perception ability, he couldn't fully analyze the situation inside the cave. His perception extended no more than ten zhang inward before abruptly stopping, unable to provide any further clarity.
However, Chen Mu's skills were now at a level where he feared nothing. Even if he encountered a Ninth Stage Sky Demon, his current strength would allow him to engage in battle, and there were very few situations that could pose a threat to him.
Stepping forward, Chen Mu took a step into the passage.
The moment he entered the cave, he immediately felt something different.
If the pressure from the Earth Abyss outside the cave and on the outer side of the stone vein had been intense, it now weakened slightly as he stepped inside.
This surprised Chen Mu. Since his arrival in the Earth Abyss, he had never experienced such a sensation. The pressure from the Earth Abyss had always intensified the deeper he went, but here, it was notably different.
"No wonder this place is so peculiar. Despite the intense pressure from the earth meridians, this cave remains intact, and the stone vein isn't compressed into a solid mass. What is inside this cave that can resist the pressure of the Earth Abyss?"
Chen Mu's gaze penetrated deep into the cave.
A vast expanse of stone, spanning several li, hovered in mid-air, seemingly floating in a void.
As he peered ahead, he noticed numerous stones, some as large as islands, floating in the pitch-black void.
"This place is..." Chen Mu's face finally showed a hint of emotion.
Although he had entered this place through an underground passage, he was certain they were no longer within the stone vein or even the Earth Abyss. This explained the absence of the oppressive force from the Earth Abyss.
A Cavern!
This was a small-scale Cavern, a rare phenomenon according to ancient texts.
Despite being located within the central stone vein, it was, in fact, a separate spatial dimension. Within his line of sight, the area spanned several dozen li, significantly larger than the stone vein outside.
Chen Mu had read about such Cavern worlds in ancient texts, but the descriptions were scarce.
"Caverns are rarely seen in this world."
"This place, recorded on the Demon Hide Map, is indeed a Cavern." Chen Mu's eyes flashed with determination.
Within this small stone vein, measuring only a dozen li across, was a space spanning several dozen li. He extended his perception, carefully examining the interior of the Cavern, and everything seemed filled with mysteries.
The ability to contain the vastness of the universe within a tiny space.
Chen Mu's Heaven and Earth Realm, controlling the Eight Aspects, allowed him to do almost anything, yet it couldn't alter the essence of the void. Even when he fought with all his might against Qin Mengjun, a Marrow Washing Grandmaster, he could only create a few cracks.
"Speaking of Cavern Divine Artifacts, like the Heaven and Earth Flask, they are likely similar to this place."
As Chen Mu sensed the environment of the Cavern, he couldn't help but think of the legendary Heaven and Earth Flask, recorded in the Great Xuan Spirit Armament Manual. It was said to contain the Heaven and Earth within, but this was clearly an exaggeration.
Gazing at the void surrounding him, Chen Mu's first thought was whether he could obtain a Cavern Spirit Armament of his own, like the Heaven and Earth Flask. He had longed for such a treasure.
However, this Cavern presented a significant challenge.
If this stone vein, spanning over a dozen li, was considered a Heaven and Earth Flask, then this Cavern Spirit Armament was too large! Even if the interior space of the Heaven and Earth Flask was small, its physical size was also small. Carrying this entire stone vein as a Spirit Armament would serve no purpose.
"Speaking of Spirit Armaments, they all have a refining process. But I've never heard of how the Heaven and Earth Flask was refined. Perhaps the refining process involves..."
Chen Mu carefully examined the Cavern, deep in thought.
A sudden realization struck him.
Could the Heaven and Earth Flask have once been a massive stone vein like this, gradually refined and condensed, its physical form reduced until it became the Heaven and Earth Flask? If so, it was not feasible for him. Aside from his limited knowledge of refinement techniques, even with expertise, reducing the size of this stone vein would take more than a day and was not a short-term endeavor.
However, this was to be expected.
If it were easy to refine, there would be more than one Heaven and Earth Flask in the world. That single Heaven and Earth Flask might have been the result of generations of effort.
Having never encountered a Cavern before and never seen the Heaven and Earth Flask, Chen Mu's understanding was limited. After a moment of contemplation, he temporarily set aside his thoughts and decided to thoroughly explore this Cavern.
The Cavern was neither small nor large, spanning approximately several dozen li, with only seven or eight larger 'islands' floating in the air. Chen Mu quickly circled these areas, but to no avail.
Compared to the Earth Abyss, this Cavern was much smaller, and it was normal for it not to produce any rare treasures. Even if there were any, they would have been taken by the creator of the Demon Hide Map, leaving none behind.
Only this Cavern itself was left behind.
Perhaps this was why the creator of the Demon Hide Map had recorded the location, intending to use it later, but something must have happened, causing the map to eventually end up in Chen Mu's hands.
(End of Chapter)
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