Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts

Xu Ming and Xu Xuenuo walked into the cave together.

Just like the first time Xu Xuenuo entered the cave, Xu Ming was amazed at the density of spiritual energy inside. This was also his first time witnessing such a scene.

The spiritual energy here was so dense that it had condensed into thick mist.

If this was naturally formed, it would undoubtedly be a dreamland, a paradise countless cultivators would yearn for. If it was man-made, the resources and treasures spent to create such a place must be unimaginable.

Even without considering whether there might be treasures in the cave, the cave itself was already a priceless treasure. Cultivating here for even a year or half a year would certainly yield twice the results with half the effort.

The deeper they went into the cave, the more cautious they became.

For whether natural or man-made, places with such dense spiritual energy were likely to harbor some kind of rare heavenly treasure. And where there were heavenly treasures, there were often powerful beasts guarding them. The rarer the treasure, the stronger the guardian beast.

Sure enough, Xu Ming and Xu Xuenuo discovered several qilin flowers within the cave.

Qilin flowers were second-grade spiritual flowers, guarded by a two-headed blood-scaled serpent.

The serpent, though fierce-looking, was about four meters long and as thick as two strong men. It was a creature that could easily kill ordinary cultivators in the Sea Observation or even Dragon Gate realms.

But Xu Ming was confident that taking down this serpent wouldn’t be too difficult, especially since he had a skilled sword cultivator by his side.

Still, Xu Ming didn’t want to provoke the beast. Who knew if killing it might trigger some trap or attract an even stronger one?

Before Xu Ming could stop her, Xu Xuenuo had already struck.

The serpent didn’t even have time to react. It merely saw this hairless, upright “ape” take a step forward, draw her sword, and in the next moment, its world spun as its head separated from its body. The serpent fell lifelessly to the ground.

Xu Xuenuo extracted the serpent’s gallbladder and tossed it to Xu Ming.

“This is for you. It should be beneficial for warriors like you,” she said.

Xu Ming caught the gallbladder and replied, “It is indeed beneficial. But why are you giving it to me?”

“You’re a warrior, aren’t you?” Xu Xuenuo asked.

“I am,” Xu Ming admitted, “but…”

He hesitated.

Yes, I’m a warrior. But what does that have to do with you? You didn’t even hesitate to kill the serpent, and it turns out it was for me? This makes me feel… complicated. Could it be you’ve fallen for me at first sight? No, that doesn’t seem right either…

Seeing Xu Ming’s expression, Xu Xuenuo realized her actions might have been a bit odd. A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, but fortunately, the cave was so dim that it was hard to notice.

“I just wanted to repay a favor,” Xu Xuenuo said. “Back then, you saved me from that beast. I’m not someone who likes to owe others, but I also don’t like others owing me.”

“Oh, I see,” Xu Ming said with a smile. “In that case, I’ll accept it. But there’s no need to be so formal, Miss Jiang. When we killed that beast, we were helping each other. I wasn’t just helping you; I was also helping myself.”

“That’s what you think. It has nothing to do with me. I have my own principles,” Xu Xuenuo replied. She turned away and began harvesting the qilin flowers, dividing them evenly so each of them received half.

As they continued deeper into the cave, Xu Ming and Xu Xuenuo encountered more spiritual flowers and herbs.

These spiritual plants were of impressive grades, and while the beasts guarding them were formidable, they posed no real threat against the combined strength of Xu Ming and Xu Xuenuo.

However, within this cave, there were indeed some man-made formations and traps.

Yet, all of them were seen through by the peculiar stone in Xu Ming’s hand.

Xu Ming didn’t know what the stone was made of, but he had to admit—it was truly a remarkable item.

“How long have we been walking?”

Xu Xuenuo asked Xu Ming beside her.

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

Xu Xuenuo frowned. “Is this cave really that deep?”

The two of them had been moving quickly, yet after walking for half an hour, they still hadn’t reached the cave’s end.

Xu Ming rubbed his chin thoughtfully and responded, “Don’t you feel like we’ve been going downward this entire time?”

Hearing his words, Xu Xuenuo turned around and swung her sword toward the path behind them.

The sword energy struck the wall ahead almost instantly.

The path they had taken was straight, with no obstacles. Logically, it shouldn’t have hit the wall so quickly, unless…

This cave really was slanted downward.

Her sword energy had struck a slope.

“This cave is a passage?” Xu Xuenuo quickly realized.

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

Xu Xuenuo was silent for a moment.

“Overthinking won’t help. Let’s keep moving.” After a brief pause, she resumed walking forward.

With such courage from the girl, Xu Ming naturally had no reason to retreat.

After walking for another half an hour, the two arrived at a space entirely surrounded by a deep blue hue.

But ahead of them, the path abruptly ended in a dead end.

“No way forward? That can’t be right…”

Xu Xuenuo drew her life-bound flying sword and scanned their surroundings.

The flying sword persistently signaled a single message: Keep moving forward. But with no visible path ahead, where could they possibly go?

Xu Xuenuo stepped closer to the blue wall and reached out to touch it.

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

Opening his hand, he saw that the stone given to him by Mo Zhuer was glowing red, like molten lava.

“Miss Jiang! Get back!” Xu Ming shouted.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Xuenuo turned her head.

The instant she turned, the blue wall began to distort violently, transforming into a massive mouth that lunged toward her!

In a panic, Xu Ming channeled all his warrior’s energy into his palm, wrapping it around the glowing stone, and hurled it with all his strength at the gaping mouth.

“Boom!”

With a deafening explosion, the stone from Mo Zhuer shattered into pieces!

“Roar!!!”

The blue mouth let out a furious roar.

It twisted and collapsed in on itself, creating a powerful vortex that began pulling everything in the cave toward it.

“Run!” Xu Xuenuo shouted to Xu Ming.

“I’d love to!” Xu Ming yelled back, desperately clinging to a piece of rock to resist the pull.

But eventually, even the rock crumbled. Xu Ming was flung forward, slamming into Xu Xuenuo before both of them were sucked into the vortex.

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