Chapter 1146: Digging a Hole

He Lingchuan rolled his eyes, casually picked up a few pebbles, and tossed them inside the entrance. He heard the pebbles rattling as they rolled downwards, as if on a slope, but they soon stopped. It was quite deep.

The two waited for a while, allowing the air inside and outside the cave to circulate. "Go ahead!" Dong Rui gestured for He Lingchuan to go first. "You have higher cultivation, so you lead the way." He Lingchuan began to miss his aunt.

He took out fluorescent spores to use as a lantern and stepped into the entrance first. The Ghost Ape stayed outside to keep watch. Back then, He Lingchuan had entered True Master Dongli's cave dwelling by Xianling Lake, which contained a small hill and an unknown light source. But this place… this was merely a crude cave, cold, dry, and filled with a stale, musty odor from long disuse. This accumulated putrid smell was truly comparable to the fishy odor of Julu Port's docks.

Dong Rui suddenly pointed forward: "Look, your bear!" In the depths of the cave, there was a shadow. On closer inspection, it was a large, curled-up bear. As they reached this point, the divine bone necklace grew even hotter, almost leaping from his chest. What was this thing so excited about? Although the White Bear King He Lingchuan had seen in the Coiling Dragon World was severely wounded, its body was still thick and rounded. However, the bear before him was emaciated, its fur dry and dull, its lips shriveled, revealing rows of sharp teeth—it was already a mummified corpse. Yet, He Lingchuan could still identify it because it had lost half a forepaw and was blind in its left eye. The large bear lay on its side, facing the cave entrance. Seeing the bear's corpse, He Lingchuan let out a long breath. Thankfully, it had died quietly here, without causing any trouble. The White Bear King had probably intended to hide in the cave to escape pursuit, perhaps even using a long slumber to recover, as it was a bear's natural ability. Who knew that this place had already been raided by black wolves, and all supplies and provisions had been taken. The White Bear King, too gravely injured and without sustenance, had died in frustration. It had lived a magnificent life, slaughtering foes throughout armies, yet in the end, it had died in silence.

Dong Rui took out a candle, which ignited spontaneously with a hiss. He observed the flame's color, even blowing on it twice before saying, "It's fine. There are no curses or specters here." He Lingchuan squatted beside the bear's corpse, observing carefully: "Its posture is unusual." The White Bear King's forepaw clutched a dark, indistinct scale, larger than a human palm, appearing both oval and rhomboid, entirely smooth, and even reflecting the light from the spores. However, there was a bloody hole in the bear's chest. Dong Rui brought a fluorescent spore closer for a look and was also surprised: "Huh, how did this bear's heart become like this?" After drying out here for a century, the White Bear King's internal organs had long since atrophied along with its flesh. Yet, both could see that the bear's heart resembled a honeycomb, riddled with small holes. Dong Rui even made a wry joke: "People speak of a 'seven-holed exquisite heart,' but this bear, I'd say, has thirty-six."

He Lingchuan drew his Floating Life Blade, intending to pry up the scale on the ground. As soon as the blade tip touched the scale, the blade itself pulsed, making He Lingchuan's hand tremble. The blade tip struck the scale with a clear "clang," resonant and prolonged, like a bell or a chimes stone. It was as if two musical instruments had struck each other. Dong Rui was also startled. To be honest, though the Floating Life Blade shared a spiritual connection with He Lingchuan, he couldn't grasp the artifact's emotions at this moment. Anyway, it was as agitated as the divine bone necklace. He Lingchuan composed himself, flicked his wrist, balanced the scale on the blade tip, and brought it close to the fluorescent spores. Under the light, the scale revealed subtle raised patterns, compact and intricate, possessing a linear beauty. Its edges also had tiny serrations. As Dong Rui watched, he asked, "What animal's scale is this? A snake's, a turtle's, or a crocodile's?" He was more knowledgeable about monsters than He Lingchuan, and immediately saw that it wasn't something naturally grown on the White Bear King. "Not a turtle scale, nor a crocodile scale." He Lingchuan had interacted with the old turtle at the bottom of Xianling Lake and had, of course, acquired its… scales. "Turtle and crocodile scales aren't like this." Dong Rui chuckled, "Dare to touch it with your hand?" He Lingchuan shot him a sideways glance: "This scale was originally on the White Bear King's chest, and it ripped it off even in death. That suggests it's not a good thing. You want me to touch it with my hand?" Dong Rui coughed, "How did this thing get onto the White Bear King's chest?" "The White Bear King wasn't large in stature, but its cultivation was very high. At its peak, it commanded thousands of wolves, and even the few hundred defeated soldiers who fled into the mountains were completely devoured by them. During the Julu Kingdom era, they also attacked cities and consumed the populace."

Dong Rui, accustomed to his way of speaking, said, "Are you saying it became so formidable with the help of this scale?" "When the White Bear King was defeated and fled, other monsters pursued it, aiming for this very scale, which they called the 'Heart Scale'." Dong Rui mused, "Born from it, died because of it. This scale truly has a character."

The divine bone necklace continued to heat up, constantly signaling to He Lingchuan that it wanted to eat, eat, eat. But He Lingchuan ignored it completely, simply wrapping the scale in a piece of deerskin and placing it into his storage ring. This item seemed very powerful. Before he understood its origin and purpose, he shouldn't waste it. As soon as the scale was put away, the divine bone necklace also quieted down, as if it knew it wouldn't get to eat and stopped making a fuss.

Next, the two continued to search the cave, finding over a dozen magical artifacts, as well as materials like horns, hides, and teeth from demonic beasts, all likely collected by the White Bear King. During the years it reigned supreme in White Fur Mountain, many cultivators sought to hunt it, but instead were killed by it. Their personal weapons and magical artifacts, as spoils of war, were all hidden by the White Bear King in the cave. However, these magical artifacts, having been out of contact with spiritual energy for so long, were now lackluster. Several of them would likely require re-consecration to be usable again.

Just then, an unusual sound suddenly came from behind Dong Rui. He Lingchuan turned his head and was surprised to see Dong Rui's backpack moving: The rarely seen Bat Demon Puppet crawled out of the bag, flapped its wings, and pounced onto a large piece of brown soft leather, devouring it with gusto. It ate as if it hadn't had a meal in centuries. Moreover, the Bat Demon Puppet's appearance was different from when He Lingchuan had last seen it. Then again, this creature's appearance changed every few days; it was the demon puppet Dong Rui tinkered with the most. He Lingchuan didn't bother to ask much, knowing that the bat would probably have a new look next time it appeared. He then pointed at the soft leather: "What is it eating?" It looked very fragrant and appetizing.

Dong Rui also squatted down to examine the leather. After rubbing it with his fingers for a while, he suddenly exclaimed with delight: "Excellent, excellent! This is the soft throat hide of a Treasure Lizard! I've been looking for it for ages, specifically to feed to my demon bat. I can't believe I found it in this dilapidated cave!" He Lingchuan murmured an "Oh" and remembered that this very material seemed to be on a list Dong Rui had given to Fang Canran a month or so ago. However, Fang Canran had never managed to acquire it; this item was valuable but impossible to find on the market.