Ch 132: The Hidden Cave

Su Wen looked around the chamber.

The battlefield that had been filled with monsters only moments ago was now littered with countless corpses. Blood and dark monster flesh stained the frozen ground, creating a gruesome contrast against the pure white ice.

His gaze then fell upon himself. His robes were tattered and soaked with blood and gore, leaving him looking more like a battle-hardened cultivator.

Su Wen sat down gently and began examining the injuries throughout his body. He didn't take any healing pills, hoping to let his body heal naturally and become stronger in the process, even though he was enduring the pain.

Most of his Spiritual Qi had already been depleted, especially after unleashing the final attack. He slowly circulated his cultivation technique, allowing the Spiritual Qi to flow through his body and meridians, and gradually restore his nearly depleted dantian.

Looking down at his sword thoughtfully, Su Wen then turned his gaze toward Du Yue and spoke. "This sword technique is truly too powerful. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to defeat that Boss Goblin."

Du Yue stood with her back towards him, seemingly staring at the frozen body of the goblin. He was unable to see her expression.

She turned around as she heard Su Wen, quickly changing her expression, her beautiful eyes filled with undisguised pride. "You did well, Husband. Don't forget, that was a Peak Grade 3 monster. Even though it was only a monster, you're still merely in the Foundation Establishment Realm."

She smiled gently. "I'm pretty sure even the top geniuses in the world would struggle to accomplish what you just did."

Su Wen immediately straightened his back. To be honest, he didn't think much of it, nor did he know how strong the geniuses out there truly were. He didn't want to compare himself to others and simply wanted to cultivate at his own pace.

But after hearing such praise from his lovely wife, he could barely suppress the smile feeling quite smug inside. "Do you really think so?"

His voice came out slightly sheepish, though he still maintained a calm expression. "Of course."

Du Yue smiled charmingly. "How often do you find someone who can kill a Peak Grade 3 monster while still being in the Foundation Establishment Realm?"

She paused before smiling sweetly. "Only you, Husband. You're the best."

His heart felt inexplicably warm. A smile almost broke through his calm expression, but he quickly suppressed it and returned to his usual composed appearance.

As the head of the household, he had to maintain his dignity. "Well, it's nothing. It was just luck. That boss monster wasn't really that difficult."

Du Yue tilted her head and looked at him innocently. "Not difficult...?"

She glanced at him. "But Husband, didn't you get beaten pretty badly by it?"

Su Wen's eyes twitched. 'Wife... I'm trying to be humble here. Why are you exposing me?'

Du Yue continued with the same innocent expression. "I was even about to interfere if you hadn't used that final sword strike."

Su Wen coughed lightly. "Ahem."

He lifted his chin slightly, adopting the dignified expression of a wise husband. "That wasn't getting beaten. It was... body tempering."

Du Yue blinked. "Body tempering?"

"Exactly." Su Wen nodded seriously, as if explaining a profound cultivation principle.

"You should learn from me, wife. If you want to go far in cultivation, you can't always avoid taking a few hits." He paused before adding with a solemn expression, "There are also some lessons that can only be learned through fighting."

Du Yue nodded, though her eyes clearly showed that she wasn't convinced. "So? Did you learn anything from nearly getting smashed into the wall?"

Su Wen's expression froze. The image of himself crashing into the ice wall flashed through his mind.

"..."

After a brief silence, he coughed. "I did."

Trying to change the topic, he immediately became serious. "In fact, I discovered a major weakness."

"Oh?" Du Yue crossed her arms and waited for him to continue.

Su Wen spoke calmly. "I'm severely lacking in sword techniques. I only know the Cloud Step Sword Technique, and I don't possess its later forms. The other sword technique I have is Pride of the Heavens."

He continued, "The Cloud Step Sword Technique worked extremely well against these mindless monsters because they couldn't properly adapt to my movements. But if I were to fight human cultivators, it would be different."

"Once they understood the principles behind my sword technique, they would eventually find a way to defend against it and counterattack."

Su Wen's expression became more solemn. "And Pride of the Heavens is extremely powerful, but it consumes far too much Spiritual Qi, Soul Sense, and physical strength. I can't use it repeatedly in battle."

Du Yue nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm... that's true."

She thought for a moment before asking, "Do you want to visit the Treasure Tower and look for some sword techniques?"

"Sure. We can try." Su Wen nodded, though his eyes brightened slightly. "But honestly, I'm more interested in obtaining techniques from the Five Great Holy Lands after we arrive at the Central Continent."

"Those sects have existed for countless years and stand at the peak of the cultivation world. Their collections should contain far better sword techniques than anything we can easily find here."

Du Yue nodded. "It won't be long before we reach there."

Su Wen smiled. But suddenly, his gaze fell upon the Boss Goblin behind her. "Wifey..."

Du Yue's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. "What are you going to do with that ugly goblin?"

Su Wen pointed towards it. "And why didn't you let me kill it?"

Du Yue's cheerful smile froze for a brief moment. Her beautiful blue eyes blinked innocently, as if she had just been asked a question she didn't expect. For a moment, she didn't answer.

Then she quickly recovered and waved her hand dismissively. "Mmm... nothing, Husband."

Her eyes darted briefly towards the goblin before quickly returning to Su Wen. "I-I just want to preserve its body so we can sell it later. If it's alive, it'll remain fresh. Don't worry about it."

Su Wen frowned. "When did my wife start worrying about something like that?"

He glanced at the massive goblin. "And won't it be troublesome to carry it around? Since it's still alive, it won't fit inside the storage ring."

Du Yue's eyes shifted slightly. "It's fine!"

Her reply came a little too quickly. Before Su Wen could ask anything else, Du Yue immediately opened the entrance to the mountain.

She stepped inside with one foot, then turned back with only her head out. "I'll put it inside the mountain."

With that, she disappeared.

Su Wen stared at the empty space where she had been standing.

"..."

He scratched his head. He couldn't understand why his wife was acting so strangely.

Meanwhile...

The moment the Peak Grade 3 Goblin was brought inside the mountain, its connection with the dungeon was instantly severed as if it had died.

At the same time, a vast amount of impure Spiritual Qi gathered above the volcanic mountain.The dungeon greedily absorbed it, causing the entire mountain to tremble faintly.

The disturbance was so great that the mercenaries nearby immediately noticed it. Even those currently inside the Central Guild raised their heads and looked towards the dungeon.

Expressions of awe, respect, curiosity, and surprise appeared across their faces.

At the same time, inside the Central Guild Master's office...

Aldren Pike sat comfortably behind his desk, leisurely sipping tea while examining several treasures.

Suddenly, he paused. He raised his head and looked towards the distant dungeon. "Oh?"

A faint smile appeared on his face. "Someone has cleared the dungeon."

He thought for a moment before someone immediately came to mind. "Don't tell me it was that couple from earlier?"

His eyes narrowed slightly with interest. "Hmm... interesting."

With that, he ignored the disturbance and continued examining the treasures on his desk.

Inside the mountain...

Du Yue appeared on the road leading down the mountain, at the very place where Su Wen had once buried her father like a tree in the ground.

Her eyes landed on the Boss Goblin. The cheerful smile on her face slowly disappeared. The warmth in her beautiful eyes vanished completely, replaced by a cold, terrifying emptiness.

A dangerous and malicious aura suddenly erupted from her body, causing the surrounding air to tremble.

She raised her delicate hand. Instantly, the earth beneath the goblin shifted. The snow covering the ground was blown away, revealing the soil beneath.

Before the goblin could react, the earth swallowed its enormous body, burying it deep underground. Only its head remained exposed.

Du Yue slowly crouched beside it and picked up a small branch from the ground. Her beautiful eyes turned as cold as ice.

Then, a faint sinister smile appeared on her lips. "Ant... ant... ant..."

She repeated the words softly, almost like a broken recording. "Dare to hurt my husband?"

Her voice was gentle, almost affectionate. Yet the murderous intent hidden within it sent chills through the surroundings.

She lightly tapped the branch against the goblin's face. "You ugly thing! You were having a great time chasing my Husband around, weren't you?"

A terrifying killing intent erupted from her body. The temperature around them dropped sharply, and the entire area seemed to be dyed in an illusion of endless blood.

The goblin's eyes trembled. It couldn't understand what Du Yue was saying.

But its instincts...

Its instincts understood perfectly. Du Yue lightly tapped its head with the branch once more.

"Wait here for me. Then I'll teach you how to chase..."

The goblin's eyes trembled violently. For the first time in its unintelligent existence, a trace of fear appeared within them.

It felt as though it had encountered something far more terrifying than itself. A devil wearing the appearance of a harmless girl.

Du Yue slowly stood up and took a few deep breaths.

Then...

The terrifying aura surrounding her disappeared. The coldness vanished from her eyes. The sinister smile faded away.

In its place was once again the cheerful and lovely smile of a young village girl. It was almost as though the gentle village girl from before and this terrifying woman were two completely different people.

Du Yue opened the entrance to the mountain once more. "Time to go back to Husband."

With a cheerful little hum, she stepped through the entrance and disappeared. Behind her, the terrified Boss Goblin remained buried beneath the earth.

Su Wen had already collected all the corpses he needed into his storage ring. Then, together with Du Yue, he approached the pool of water. He crouched beside the pool and slowly extended a finger towards the water.

However, the moment his fingertip was about to touch the surface... His danger instincts suddenly warned him.

Su Wen paused. Then, cautiously, he only dipped the very tip of his finger into the water.

Instantly, a terrifying chill rushed through his body. The cold surged into his finger, and his fingertip froze almost immediately, turning into ice.

Su Wen hurriedly pulled his hand back and shook his finger, trying to dispel the lingering cold. "Damn, it's so cold!"

He looked at the pool in surprise. "No wonder this water remains liquid despite such an extreme temperature. It's actually filled with such rich Yin-oriented Spiritual Qi!"

Du Yue completely ignored the spirit water. Her gaze was fixed entirely on his frozen fingertip. Before Su Wen could react, she grabbed his hand and gently placed his frozen finger into her mouth.

Su Wen froze. His entire body stiffened as he stared at her in disbelief. Her beautiful blue eyes looked deep and clear, while her soft pink lips gently wrapped around his finger, as if she were trying to suck out his soul.

"Y-You... what are you doing?" Su Wen tried to pull his hand back, but instead, a strange sensation spread through his finger, making his thoughts suddenly go blank.

The ice covering his finger melted almost instantly inside her mouth. Finally, Du Yue released his finger. She lightly licked her lips before smiling. "Mmm... It's fine now, Husband."

Su Wen stared at her in disbelief. "You... why did you do that?"

His face quickly turned red. He hurriedly looked away, trying to calm his suddenly restless thoughts. 'This wife of mine...'

Du Yue blinked innocently. Her expression was as pure and natural as ever, as if she genuinely couldn't understand why he was reacting this way.

Seeing her innocent expression only made Su Wen feel even more embarrassed. "Nothing..."

He turned his head away and forced himself to regain his composure. "You go and cultivate with this spirit water."

After finally calming down, Su Wen looked towards the spiritual herb growing on the block of ice in the centre of the pool. "Once you finish cultivating with this spirit water, take out that herb."

"It seems to be a Nine-Petal Ice Lotus, and it's even a Peak Grade 3 spiritual herb. I'll refine it for you. Both this spirit water and the Nine-Petal Ice Lotus are extremely suitable for your physique."

Du Yue blinked in surprise. "But, Husband, you..."

Before she could finish, Su Wen interrupted her. "Don't worry. Both of these things are useless to me at this stage."

"I already have plenty of Peak Grade 2 and Early Grade 3 spiritual herbs. I'll refine them into pills, and they should be enough to support me to reach the eighth Body Refinement cycle and then into the ninth. So for now, go and cultivate."

Du Yue didn't say anything. She simply looked at him quietly for a moment before nodding.

"Alright." However, inwardly, her heart felt incredibly warm.

She naturally understood that Su Wen wasn't saying those things because the spirit water and Nine-Petal Ice Lotus were truly useless to him. He was giving them to her because they were more suitable for her cultivation.

He had fought desperately through the dungeon, risking his life to obtain these resources. Yet the moment he found something that could benefit her, he didn't hesitate to give it away.

A soft chuckle escaped her lips. With her back turned towards him, Du Yue's eyes curved into a gentle smile. Her heart was filled with warmth she could barely conceal.

Du Yue stepped inside the spirit pool, but unlike Su Wen, she didn't experience the same icy effect. Her physique and cultivation were strong enough to resist the extreme cold.

She began circulating her cultivation technique, the Pure Yin Vein Resonance Method. Immediately, the white-silver spirit water surged towards her, forming a whirlpool above her head as the rich Yin Spiritual Qi began pouring into her body.

Su Wen didn't linger there. Instead, he started looking around the white, empty chamber. Suddenly, a warm wave of air brushed against his face. "Hmm...?"

Su Wen looked around, searching for the source of the warm air. He soon walked towards the chamber wall. It was the same section of wall where the Boss Goblin had smashed him earlier. Spiderweb-like cracks still covered the surface from the impact.

Su Wen narrowed his eyes. "Looks like there's something behind it."

He didn't waste any time. He clenched his fist and punched straight into the wall.

Boom!

The icy wall immediately cracked apart. A surge of scorching air suddenly rushed out from behind it and slapped against his face.

Su Wen's eyes widened slightly.

Behind the broken wall was a dark, black cave. And at the other end of the cave...

There was a bright red glow. Su Wen slowly walked inside. With every step, he could feel the temperature gradually rising.

The sudden change from the extreme cold of the previous chamber to the warm temperature inside the cave was surprisingly comfortable. However, as he continued walking deeper, the temperature continued to rise.

The comfortable warmth soon became hot. Even his robes had begun heating up, and the hot fabric pressed against his skin.

Su Wen frowned slightly but continued forward. After a few minutes of walking, the temperature had risen to an even more terrifying level.

Heat washed over his body from every direction. Even so, Su Wen's powerful body cultivation allowed him to withstand the temperature without needing to use his Spiritual Qi.

This level of heat was still within what his body could endure. He continued forward. Another few minutes passed. The temperature became even more intense.

The heat surrounding him was now enough to make ordinary cultivators feel as though they were being roasted alive. Su Wen's robes were already hot against his skin, and sweat began forming across his forehead.

Yet he still relied purely on his physical body to resist the heat. He gritted his teeth and continued forward.

Finally, after a few more minutes...

Su Wen stepped out of the cave. The moment he emerged, his expression changed. "What the..."

The heat instantly became several times more terrifying. It felt as though he had suddenly been thrown into a furnace. His entire body felt as if it were being roasted over an open fire.

This time, even his powerful body could no longer withstand it. Su Wen immediately circulated his Spiritual Qi, forming a protective layer around his body to block the terrifying heat.

Only then did he finally feel slightly better. He slowly raised his head and looked ahead. His expression froze.

What appeared before him was completely opposite to the icy chamber he had just left. A massive magma pool stretched across the area.

Bright red magma bubbled and churned violently, while flames burned everywhere around it. The ground beneath his feet was charred completely black, with cracks spreading across its surface as scorching heat continuously rose from below.

Su Wen stood at the edge of the magma pool. Even with his Spiritual Qi protecting his body, he could still feel the terrifying heat radiating from it.