Chapter 8: Finding the Cave

The outskirts of the Magic Beast Mountain Range.

Assigned to the front of the herbal gathering team, Lin Feng, who was responsible for scouting, was now carefully exploring the forest.

Soon after, Lin Feng saw a clearing appear before him, and after a quick search of the surroundings,

Seeing no danger, he waved back to signal safety.

The other few mercenaries from the exploration team behind him saw the gesture and all came to Lin Feng's side.

Seeing the new faces beside him, Lin Feng couldn't help but sigh again at the cruelty of the Qi Continent.

Originally he was just a member assigned to the exploration team; after setting out with the team, less than half an hour later he was ambushed by three first-rank magic beasts.

Although Lin Feng quickly defeated the beasts attacking him and then went to help the others, this assault still cost the team one member.

A single small-scale magic beast attack made Lin Feng, who had just entered the Magic Beast Mountain Range, feel its cruelty.

However, in order not to draw attention, Lin Feng has so far only used the qi of a two-star Fighter.

At the same time, he did not use a Mysterious Tier combat technique; instead, he used a scroll called Stone-Breaking Fist, a Yellow Tier intermediate combat technique.

But after a morning's ordeal, aside from him, the other four members were either dead or now lying in the rear to recover from injuries.

And he had smoothly been promoted to captain of the exploration team.

When the exploration team members had all gathered, Lin Feng looked at one of the scrawny mercenaries and said, "The map."

Hearing that, the mercenary quickly produced the map and spread it out.

Lin Feng glanced at the map, then pointed to the nearby clearing and said, "This place is less than two hours' journey from the herb-gathering site; the herb-gathering team has already been out for a while, so we can rest here for a bit and still reach the herb-gathering valley before evening."

Having said that, Lin Feng made a mark on the map and handed it to another mercenary, saying, "Go inform the main force."

"Yes, Captain!"

The mercenary replied, took the map, put it away, and turned to run toward the rear.

Seeing that mercenary leave, Lin Feng looked at the other three and said, "You three, follow me to carefully scout the surroundings to prevent any magic beast ambush."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Everyone, we're already near the herb-gathering area; please rest a while—we've walked a long way and everyone is tired."

After a while, when the main body of the herb-gathering team arrived where Lin Feng and the others were, a woman's soft, clear voice suddenly rang out in the quiet ranks.

The advancing footsteps paused slightly, and the whole team came to a stop in unison.

Turning his head, he looked at the white-clad woman whose smile held not a trace of impurity, and gave an honest nod.

The arrival of the main force gave Lin Feng and the exploration team a precious chance to rest.

As for guard duty, it was naturally left to those mercenaries in the rear.

Meanwhile, most others sat where they were, eyes half-closed, cultivating to replenish the qi expended during the march.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Lin Feng slowly headed into the small grove beside them.

Earlier, when he looked at the map, he had memorized the locations of several nearby cliffs.

Now was the perfect time to go check whether any caves existed.

Entering the grove, the light was dim, but since this was an area he had previously scouted, he didn't need to worry about a sudden magic beast attack.

As he went deeper into the woods, the light grew ever darker.

After walking another stretch, the dim view suddenly brightened.

Lin Feng lifted his eyes and saw that he had reached the edge of the small thicket.

Stepping out of the thicket, what appeared before him was a somewhat steep cliff.

Below the cliff lay a lush, verdant forest, quite beautiful.

His gaze swept the cliff's edge, then suddenly stopped; he walked forward to the cliff's edge and continually scanned the surrounding rock faces.

His eyes slowly swept across the sheer wall, and after a moment, they abruptly stopped at a section of rock face concealed by a horizontal log.

The strange trees on the steep slope here, though arranged with exquisite craftsmanship, still revealed something unusual to Lin Feng.

Squinting his eyes and using the slanting sunlight, he seemed able to see a black void in the cliff face through the gaps in the trees.

Instantly, the corner of Lin Feng's mouth curled upward.

On the cliff above, concealed by the horizontal log and not far from the herb-gathering area of the Ten Thousand Herb Studio's herb-gathering team, all of this matched what was described in the original work.

If he weren't so unlucky, this cave would be the one that contains the flight technique!

Having noted the location, Lin Feng prepared to return to the team, after all, it wasn't suitable to stay out too long.

"What is this?"

Just as he was about to turn back, Lin Feng's peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a rope tied to a large tree directly above the cave; he exclaimed in surprise and hurried over to the tree.

Arriving at the tree, Lin Feng picked up the object bound to the trunk, confirmed it was a rope, and his expression darkened.

"Could someone have gotten here first?"

As Lin Feng pondered, the rope in his hand was suddenly jerked downward with force, then began to move rhythmically.

Seeing this, Lin Feng instantly realized that someone was still down below!

He quickly drew a dagger from his Space Ring, went to the cliff's edge, and with a grim face said, "If you run, I can't help it, but since I've run into you, I'm sorry."

The rope swayed for a moment, then a pure white hand like jade suddenly reached out from the cliff before him.

Afterward, a delicate face with an ethereal aura appeared from below the cliff.

Gazing at the quite handsome youth crouched before him, Xiao Yixian was taken aback, her mind still struggling to react.

But when she saw the dagger flashing with cold light in the youth's hand, Xiao Yixian's pretty face instantly turned panicked.

"Xiao Yixian?"

Lin Feng was also startled, then coldly said, "Hand over the stuff, or don't blame me for being rude!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yixian's beautiful eyes first flashed with panic, then she quickly concealed it and said with a smile, "Oh, it's Captain Lin Feng of the exploration team—did you drop something down there? I've just been gathering herbs below and didn't see anything you dropped."

"Hand over what's in the cave below, or I'll kill you."

Lin Feng didn't have the patience to waste time with her; although Xiao Yixian was very beautiful and had great potential, what he cared about more now was his own strength.

The things inside are of immense value, especially that fragment of a map; he must get his hands on it.

Hearing about the cave, Xiao Yixian stared for a moment, but still unwilling to give up, she said: "I've been gathering herbs and haven't found any cave down here. If you're looking for something, everything I have is in the bamboo basket behind me; if you want it, just take it."

Lin Feng slightly shifted the dagger in his hand, bringing it near Xiao Yixian's pretty face, and coldly said: "Don't play dumb with me—what's the stuff in the cave? If you keep talking nonsense, believe it or not I'll slash your face a few times; let's see how you'll show your face after that."