Chapter 456: Ancient Cultivator's Cave Residence

The strange beast's body rapidly fell to the ground, crashing heavily and kicking up a large cloud of dust. "Qingshan, what kind of sword art was that? Its power is immense!"

Wang Changhao was somewhat surprised. He had hunted demonic beasts with Wang Qingshan for many years and was very familiar with Wang Qingshan's sword arts. This move, "Hundred Swords United," was something he had never seen before. Even the Sword Light Shadow Splitting technique wouldn't be this powerful, easily killing a top-grade second-tier demonic beast.

Wang Qingshan smiled faintly and explained, "I previously acquired a Divine Ability Fruit. After consuming it, I comprehended a minor divine ability, which is this technique. Unfortunately, there was only one Divine Ability Fruit, but I dug up the fruit tree. 'Hundred Swords United' is quite powerful, though it consumes a large amount of spiritual energy."

Hearing the words "Divine Ability Fruit," Wang Ruyan and Wang Changhao exchanged glances, their faces filled with envy. Wang Qingshan actually obtained a Divine Ability Fruit—what incredible luck!

They collected the bodies of the two strange beasts, then released two black eagle puppet beasts, which flew towards the back of the waterfall. The two black eagle puppet beasts flew into the middle section of the waterfall, revealing a cave behind it.

Wang Qingshan and the two others rode the Three-Headed Ferret. The Three-Headed Ferret soared into the sky and followed them. Behind the waterfall was a dark cave, several *zhang* wide at its entrance.

After passing through a passage over a hundred *zhang* long, a rather simple stone chamber appeared before them. There were also some stone tables and chairs on the ground, indicating that someone had clearly resided there.

"A cultivator's cave dwelling!" Wang Ruyan and the two others exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat excited. Some high-level cultivators preferred to build inconspicuous cave dwellings. Could this be the dwelling of a high-level cultivator?

Wang Changhao cultivated water-attribute techniques, and he keenly sensed that the water spiritual energy here was exceptionally abundant.

On both sides of the stone chamber, there was a spacious bluestone passage, leading to unknown destinations. The two puppet beasts headed down the left passage, with Wang Ruyan and the two others following closely.

The passage was not long, and colorful crystals were embedded in its stone walls. After a short while, they reached the end. Several stone chamber doors stood open, revealing a spiritual herb garden, an insect-rearing room, and a spiritual beast park, all completely empty. There were no spiritual herbs in the herb garden, but clear hoof prints on the ground indicated that the herbs had evidently been eaten by two demonic beasts.

They returned the way they came and entered the right passage.

At the end of the passage was a circular stone door, covered with mysterious runes. A faint blue light curtain enveloped the door, its spiritual light fluctuating.

"This must be the dwelling of the cave's owner; the treasures are definitely inside," Wang Changhao said, his eyes burning with excitement.

"Be careful," Wang Ruyan cautioned, "even if only one or two tenths of the power remains from a high-level cultivator's restriction, it's still beyond our ability to withstand."

They retreated some distance and directed the puppet beasts to attack the blue light curtain. To their great relief, the blue light curtain was a defensive restriction with no offensive capabilities. Wang Ruyan and Wang Qingshan also released two second-tier puppet beasts to attack the blue light curtain. The blue light curtain's defense was extremely strong. The two second-tier puppet beasts attacked the blue light curtain with spells like crimson fire blades, azure light swords, and yellow earth arrows. Roaring sounds constantly echoed, and shockwaves surged. Six second-tier puppet beasts fiercely assaulted the blue light curtain. Spiritual light continuously circulated on its surface, yet it remained completely unharmed.

Inside a certain pavilion at the Taiyi Immortal Sect, Xu Zihua's face was full of smiles. Wang Mingren stood respectfully before Xu Zihua.

In the recent sect competition, Wang Mingren broke through ten levels consecutively, ranking forty-ninth. Wang Mingren had originally thought that with his sixth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivation and several sets of artifacts, he should be able to enter the top ten. He had clearly underestimated his fellow disciples, only placing forty-ninth.

"Mingren, your ability to break into the top fifty truly exceeded my expectations. However, you must understand that there are always those stronger than you, and many more capable individuals exist. Many disciples of our sect are currently on missions abroad and cannot return, especially those from the overseas branch, who are rich in combat experience. If the disciples from the overseas branch had also returned for the competition, you might not even have made it into the top hundred," Xu Zihua lectured earnestly.

Wang Mingren nodded honestly and respectfully replied, "Disciple will strictly adhere to master's teachings."

"The Taiyi Secret Realm will only open in three years. For the next three years, the sect will provide you with a period of training to increase your survival rate. You must study diligently and never become arrogant. Senior Brother Li, Senior Brother Ye, and Junior Sister Leng will be responsible for your training."

"Yes, Master." Wang Mingren assented.

Xu Zihua gave a few more instructions, then dismissed Wang Mingren.

Within the cave behind the waterfall, at the ruins of the Jinyang Sect, booming explosions echoed intermittently.

Wang Ruyan and the two others were pale, drenched in sweat, appearing as if they had excessively depleted their spiritual energy. The blue light curtain flickered, looking as though it could dissipate at any moment. Wang Ruyan and the two others had attacked for three days and three nights, yet they still hadn't broken through the blue light curtain's defense.

Wang Qingshan gritted his teeth, formed a hand seal, and countless azure lights emerged before him, transforming into hundreds of azure flying swords. "Hundred Swords United!" As his voice fell, hundreds of azure flying swords surged forward, striking the blue light curtain.

A deafening roar! The blue light curtain shattered into pieces, dissolving into scattered blue light and vanishing. Witnessing this scene, Wang Ruyan and the two others collectively breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of joy appearing on their faces simultaneously.

Each of them took a blue pill, and their pale complexions slowly returned to a healthy rosy hue.

Wang Qingshan formed a hand seal, and nine azure flying swords merged into a single colossal azure sword, which fiercely struck the stone door. With a loud bang, the stone door shattered. A surge of pure water spiritual energy gushed out, revealing a vast expanse of it as far as the eye could see. After a long moment, the water spiritual energy dispersed, and a simple stone cavern, over a hundred *zhang* in size, appeared before them.

Wang Qingshan suppressed the excitement in his heart and maneuvered the puppet beasts inside. The uneven stone walls all around were embedded with numerous blue crystals, and the water spiritual energy within the cavern was exceptionally abundant.

To the left of the cavern was a five-tiered stone shelf, laden with various ores, demonic beast materials, and colorful jade slips. To the right was a blue stone bed, three *zhang* long and one *zhang* wide, emitting a pure water spiritual energy.

In the center stood a blue giant cauldron, about a *zhang* tall, its surface carved with nine lifelike blue dragon-like creatures. These nine blue creatures appeared to be exhaling clouds and mist, looking exceptionally fearsome.

Beside the blue giant cauldron, a vast quantity of artifact-refining materials were piled up, forming a small mountain—an astonishing amount.

Wang Ruyan strode towards the artifact-refining materials. Upon careful inspection, she discovered that all of them were water-attribute materials, their grade yet to be determined.

Wang Qingshan collected all the items on the stone shelf, while Wang Ruyan gathered the water-attribute materials from the ground.

Wang Changhao curiously lifted the lid of the blue giant cauldron. Inside were three drops of black liquid that did not mix with each other, appearing very strange.