Chapter 3: Trial of the Dragon Earth Cave

Di Yuan followed the map given by Orochimaru and found one of the sacred sites, the Dragon Earth Cave.

Passing through layers of mist, a towering palace came into view, its exterior adorned with lanterns, making it especially splendid.

Thick columns were entwined with golden serpents, and directly before the palace stood a red‑topped gate bearing a plaque that read "Dragon Earth Cave".

Di Yuan's spirit perception swept the entire palace and discovered that all the splendor was an illusion, yet the sensation felt strikingly real, even the touch seemed genuinely tangible.

"So this is the trial Orochimaru spoke of?" Di Yuan murmured softly.

Squeak——Bang

As soon as the words fell, the great gate of the entrance was slowly pushed open.

A young woman in a white long robe, wearing a golden crown topped with a small golden sphere, and sporting dark‑green hair, appeared at the doorway.

"Welcome to the Dragon Earth Cave," the young woman said gently.

Di Yuan's spirit perception was so strong that he quickly saw the woman's true face, yet he did not expose her.

Wanting to see what this so‑called trial truly was, he cunningly followed the young woman into the palace.

Inside the palace, the walls were carved with various murals, still festooned with splendid lanterns and four columns entwined with golden serpents.

At the center of the hall stood an extremely long banquet table, laden with more than a dozen rich and tempting dishes.

"I am Tian Xin Shenji. The journey to the Dragon Earth Cave is long; you must be exhausted!"

"Sit down, rest, and feast to your heart's content. If you have 'any need', you may call me directly," Tian Xin Shenji said with a coquettish smile.

Di Yuan imagined an ugly, snarling snake face smiling coquettishly at him, and a wave of nausea rose in his stomach.

Di Yuan's eyes flashed with disgust as he shouted, "What is your purpose in creating these illusions?"

"You saw through it, huh? Can't you just enjoy the meal? I thought you'd be fresh human meat!" Tian Xin Shenji's gentle cheeks instantly turned back into a snarling snake face, baring fangs and spitting venom in anger.

Instantly, the palace and everything inside vanished, revealing the original mist and a desolate land strewn with chilling white bones.

Di Yuan gripped his long sword, ready to fight at any moment.

"You failed; you could not deceive him." A woman's voice came from the mist to Tian Xin Shenji.

"Hmph, I knew it naturally." Tian Xin Shenji replied with a dissatisfied snort.

Di Yuan's eyes flickered as he asked, "What happens if the trial is not passed?"

"Look at the surrounding white bones; the White Snake Immortal said that those who fail the trial can be devoured by us."

After speaking, Tian Xin Shenji floated upward, slowly disappearing into the mist behind her until she vanished.

Di Yuan glanced around, spotted a distant light, and ran toward its source.

Di Yuan arrived at a place filled with stalactites, with a stone gate at its center.

It seemed the second trial lay behind the stone gate; Di Yuan stared at it, thinking to himself.

Then Di Yuan stepped through the stone gate.

As Di Yuan's rear foot entered the gate, a stone slab fell from above, sealing the door shut.

A cute woman in white, her hair tied in a bun, appeared before Di Yuan.

"I am Shi Chu Daoji. You can only leave if you fill the grooves on the stone gate with the stones on the ground." The woman pointed at the multicolored stones and the variously shaped grooves on the gate, speaking softly.

Di Yuan looked back at the gate and the floor; when he turned again, Shi Chu Daoji's figure appeared elsewhere inside the cave.

Shi Chu Daoji's soft voice echoed again, "Even if you kill me, it won't help; only by completing this will the stone gate open."

Di Yuan ignored Shi Chu Daoji and began placing stones into the gate's grooves.

After a tea break! Di Yuan filled the grooves with suitable stones, the stone slab roared upward, revealing the opening, and Di Yuan walked out.

The surrounding stalactites vanished in an instant, exposing the misty realm, and Shi Chu Daoji's figure gradually faded.

Pfft!

Di Yuan's neck was bitten by a snake‑faced woman.

Di Yuan felt a shiver; the woman was so fast that even his spirit perception couldn't catch her.

Di Yuan looked resentfully at the white‑clothed woman floating ahead in the air.

The woman spoke, "You passed the trials of those two, which shows you are no ordinary person, but that does not mean you can pass my trial. I am Tuan Jin Ji, and I will test your heart in the third trial."

In this moment, Di Yuan's mind flashed back to his past life, when he braved hardships and reached the Tribulation Crossing stage, only to perish in a thunder tribulation.

In an instant, a trace of resentment stirred in his heart, but it was only a faint trace.

Then Di Yuan only saw darkness before his eyes; when he opened them again, he was no longer in the misty realm.

Di Yuan instinctively touched his neck and found the wound had vanished.

Di Yuan muttered to himself, "This Dragon Earth Cave is no simple place! It seems I fell into an illusion the moment I stepped into the mist."

A massive cavern appeared before Di Yuan's eyes; outside the cavern stood a towering red‑tile, black‑pillar gatehouse, and at its center a plaque engraved with the three characters "Dragon Earth Cave."

Di Yuan thought to himself, "So this is the real Dragon Earth Cave!"

Tuan Jin Ji suddenly appeared before Di Yuan.

"Huh, you passed the 'Heart' trial so quickly?" Tuan Jin Ji said after a brief pause in her breath.

Di Yuan had guessed that this stage required overcoming the obsession in his heart.

"What a pity, you couldn't be devoured by me!" Tuan Jin Ji reverted to a snarling snake face, her poisonous mouth flicking out a tongue.

Tuan Jin Ji shifted back to a human face, pointed toward the distant Dragon Earth Cave stronghold and said, "That is the real Dragon Earth Cave; the White Immortal awaits inside. Hurry over!"

Di Yuan nodded and strode toward the stronghold ahead.

Squeak——Bang!

Di Yuan pushed open the stronghold's gate, which then closed automatically.

Inside the stronghold was spacious; in front of the gate were three towering tiers of steps, with several stairways between them.

The main hall contained a few massive columns, and with a few lamps it looked especially shabby.

"What is it? Come up and speak." An ethereal, ancient voice echoed from the topmost step.

Di Yuan didn't hesitate; in a few steps he reached the top floor.

Di Yuan then saw on a throne resembling a bed lay an old grandmother with orange hair and yellow pupils, a green cat's‑eye stone on her chest, a purple silk band as a forehead protector, the protector inlaid at the front with an olive‑green horn‑shaped ornament, her head bearing a red luminous pearl, dressed in a white robe.

Di Yuan said without hesitation, "I wish to cultivate in the Dragon Earth Cave; I don't know if the White Snake Immortal will allow it?"

End of chapter!