Chapter 3014 — Adventure in the Cave 3 (Part Two) (Monthly Tickets Requested—Three Updates Today, With More Tomorrow!)

"I see. So there's a corresponding trial before the third stone gate as well?" Wei Zhao asked at once.

"Naturally!" Jiao Yazi said. "It should be about the same as the last one."

"Understood." Wei Zhao nodded, his confidence settled. He strode quickly into the second stone gate, skirted the platform, and came to the front of the third gate, where he saw the words carved on the stone tablet beside it: "The gate may be opened once the divine art of the second layer is first mastered."

By now Wei Zhao had already advanced to the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, perfected. Opening the gate should pose no difficulty at all.

Wei Zhao placed his hand upon the third stone gate and circulated the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. As before, in that instant every thread of true qi in his body was stirred into motion, and his Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art was forcibly elevated of its own accord to the second-layer grand completion.

There was no need for Wei Zhao to circulate the mental technique at all—it ran as though of its own will—and the energy within his body was slowly channeled through his palm into the stone gate.

Yet having the experience of opening the second gate behind him, Wei Zhao was not in the least flustered, and faced all that lay before him with a serene mind.

As time passed, the true qi in Wei Zhao's body dwindled and dwindled, until at last all of it had entered the stone gate. Then, afterward, that energy and true qi within the gate flowed back into Wei Zhao's body once more.

Without surprise, this round of energy and true qi was purer still than what had been in Wei Zhao's body before. The stone gate had once again helped Wei Zhao complete a filtration, and then the energy flowed back into the gate once more, cycling to and fro in this fashion.

At last, the third stone gate suddenly let out a rumbling sound, and the flow of energy between Wei Zhao and the gate ceased accordingly. The stone gate began slowly to rise.

"Phew!" Wei Zhao let out a long breath. It seemed this third gate was indeed like the second—opened in the end by the same means.

"Brat Lin, what are you standing there dazed for? Dawn is nearly here—aren't you going in to see what's there?" Just as Wei Zhao paused to catch his breath, Jiao Yazi's voice rang out abruptly in his ear.

Only then did Wei Zhao come back to himself. Turning to look, he saw that at some unknown point the faint white of dawn had already shown at the horizon. This time it had taken longer than the last, because the energy of the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art was greater than that of the first, and so Wei Zhao's time had grown all the more pressing.

"It's already this tight this time—next time won't it be broad daylight straight away?" Wei Zhao started in alarm and asked hastily, "If there is still a stone gate after the third-layer grand completion, will I be trapped here for five years?"

"Five years? No need for that. The five-year covenant is long gone. You need only wait a day—when night falls, use the same method inside and you can open it." Jiao Yazi said.

"That's a relief." Wei Zhao breathed easy. If he had to wait five years, he might as well wait himself to death—and who knew what great troubles might have befallen his household out there!

Beyond the third stone gate there was still none of that splendid great hall that lay behind the first. Similar to the second gate, this was a most austere little chamber. There was still no source of light within, yet it remained bright as day—though Wei Zhao was no longer surprised by such things.

Directly ahead in the stone chamber stood a small platform, and upon it was still placed a small box of antique charm. Beyond that, within the third stone gate there was nothing else at all.

This left Wei Zhao utterly disappointed! He was already a Heaven-rank expert, and he had dreamed that behind the third stone gate he might obtain a formidable Heaven-rank divine weapon. But now it seemed there was nothing here but a box.

How could a divine weapon possibly fit inside such a small box? It stood to reason it could not. Somewhat dispirited, Wei Zhao walked toward the platform and took down that antique little box.

The box was light and airy, much like the last one, which only deepened Wei Zhao's disappointment. It seemed there could be nothing inside but the mental technique formulas.

"There's no divine weapon here?" Wei Zhao asked Jiao Yazi, somewhat let down.

"What's there is there, and what's not is not. What you see is what you get." Jiao Yazi apparently did not know either what good things lay behind the stone gate, and so he offered a piece of ambiguous nonsense.

Wei Zhao was somewhat speechless, but since he had come, having something was always better than nothing. For now he could only pin his hopes on the fourth stone gate.

For in this third stone chamber, Wei Zhao had seen the fourth stone gate.

Perhaps these stone chambers were arranged according to Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow? It was only that he had entered five years late, which had caused some desynchronization between his strength and the mental technique formulas—or perhaps, in theory, the third layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art was the one truly suited to the Earth rank?

Wei Zhao could not work it out either, for every mental technique formula was linked to cultivation rank differently, with nothing to serve as reference, and he did not know whether his conjecture was correct.

He came before the fourth stone gate. Here too a stone tablet stood to one side of the gate, and as Wei Zhao had expected, a passage was carved upon it in seal script.

"Three layers perfected, weapon in hand; strike the gate with the weapon, and only then may you enter!"

"What? Weapon in hand?" Wei Zhao was stunned. What kind of rotten trick was this? Where was he supposed to get a weapon? Behind the third stone gate there was only a small box, and inside it was presumably the mental technique formula—where in the world was he to find a divine weapon?

Could it be that the inscription meant he need only strike the gate with any Heaven-rank weapon to open the fourth stone gate? Though this guess was a bit far-fetched, after turning it over and over Wei Zhao truly could not think where else he might get his hands on a divine weapon.

Seeing that dawn was about to break, Wei Zhao did not linger. He went straight out of the stone gate and came to the mouth of the cave. Day was just breaking now; Wei Zhao waited until the stone gate had fully closed before leaving the place and heading toward the village.

This time Wei Zhao had returned discreetly, and the villagers knew nothing of it. Now that day had broken, if he were to go down the mountain carrying a little box in his bare hands, it would inevitably rouse suspicion. Though the Xuanyuan Cave Mansion lay at the foot of the mountain on the other side of West Star Mountain and was unlikely to be discovered, Wei Zhao, ever cautious, decided to hunt a wild beast on the mountain before going back.

Otherwise, if Wei Zhao returned to West Star Mountain Village for no apparent reason and the first thing he did was not go home but climb the mountain, it would seem odd no matter how one looked at it.

With this in mind, Wei Zhao did not hurry down the mountain, but instead walked deeper into the mountain range, planning to bag some game at random—and give himself a treat besides.