Chapter 33: Does This Cave Hold a Secret?

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After trying several more times without success, Yun Yi finally gave up on the idea of continuing his cultivation.

“Forget it. I’m done cultivating,” he decided inwardly, setting the matter aside for the time being.

Yet this surrender was only temporary. Yun Yi knew that in this fantasy world where strength reigned supreme, only by constantly improving his power could he survive more securely.

Just then, Yun Yi suddenly noticed a detail he had previously overlooked. “That’s right. There’s another passage from this small cavern leading to the main cavern. Could it be...?”

He raised his head and gazed toward the cavern’s dark, profound entrance, curiosity and a desire to explore flickering in his eyes.

During the past dozen or so days of devoted cultivation, Yun Yi had poured nearly all his attention into refining the hard-won essence of the blood and increasing his own cultivation. The tiny body of his contained extraordinary power, and every refinement of the blood was accompanied by a surging increase in the spiritual energy within him, causing him to nearly forget everything in the outside world.

Now, as an inexplicable intuition welled up within him, he suddenly realized that this seemingly ordinary cavern, covered in the marks of passing time, might conceal even deeper secrets and unknown opportunities.

This was not a groundless fantasy, but something rooted in the keen perception he had possessed upon first entering the cavern.

Even then, he had sensed that the spiritual energy within the cavern was far denser than outside. It seemed that some mysterious force was silently nourishing this space, filling every inch of its ground and every wisp of its air with vitality and life.

“It seems this main cavern is far from as simple as it appears. It must be hiding secrets unknown to others.” Yun Yi pondered silently, his eyes gleaming with curiosity and yearning for the unknown world.

With that, he began fluttering through the spacious cavern on a pair of wings that, though small, were strong and powerful. Each beat produced a faint yet crisp buzzing sound, like a meteor streaking across the silent night sky, or a heartfelt call to this mysterious space.

Yun Yi searched every part of the main cavern, sometimes skimming along the walls and sometimes soaring straight upward. His body was small, but within this vast space he appeared exceptionally agile and nimble.

However, despite exhausting himself and nearly turning every corner of the cavern upside down, he still failed to find the legendary opportunity.

“Could it be that my perception was wrong after all?” Yun Yi muttered, a trace of unwillingness and confusion in his voice.

He had clearly sensed that some formidable power was hidden within the cavern. Why, then, could he never find its true source?

“Or is my method too limited, and have I failed to reach the cavern’s real secret?” he wondered, beginning to reflect on his approach to the search.

Perhaps he had relied too heavily on instinct and perception while overlooking other possible clues and methods.

After all, the secrets within this cavern might not be so easily uncovered through his efforts alone.

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Just then, an idea flashed through Yun Yi’s mind like a sudden spark.

“Of course! If I can’t find any clues in the main cavern, perhaps I’ll discover something in the smaller caverns connected to it.” He abruptly beat his wings and rose from the stone wall, new hope and determination shining in his eyes.

Yun Yi remembered that he had discovered the main cavern by accident through one of the smaller passages.

At the time, he had merely been curious and wanted to explore the unknown depths. He had never expected to stumble into this place filled with mystery and opportunity.

Now, as he once again found himself lost and perplexed, that small cavern had become his new hope.

Thus, Yun Yi abandoned his aimless search of the main cavern and turned instead toward the smaller caverns connected to it.

He beat his wings, darting through the cavern with the agility of a rabbit.

Time passed swiftly. Relying on his nimble form, Yun Yi quickly traversed the network of caverns and soon arrived at the entrance of the small cavern connected to the main one.

Compared with the main cavern, this passage was narrower and more secluded, like a casual stroke drawn by nature between the rocks, yet one that cleverly concealed endless secrets.

The moment he entered the small cavern, Yun Yi eagerly began his search.

His compound eyes gleamed with a sharp light, like two searchlights sweeping across every corner of the dim cavern.

His wings beat gently to keep his body balanced while releasing faint sound waves in an attempt to detect anything unusual within the cavern.

However, after a careful search, Yun Yi still failed to find any clue.

A deep sense of disappointment rose within him, as though cold water had extinguished all his enthusiasm and hope.

“What? There’s nothing here either. Where exactly is the clue?” he muttered, his voice tinged with helplessness and confusion.

Just as disappointment welled up in Yun Yi’s heart, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. He abruptly raised his head and looked toward the passage connecting the main cavern and the small cavern.

He murmured, “That’s right. The main cavern and the small cavern are connected like the two sections of a gourd—one large and one small.”

The words were like a flash of light that pierced the fog in his mind.

He gently beat his wings to maintain his balance, then once again examined the surrounding environment with his keen eyes.

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This discovery made him realize that his earlier search had perhaps been too straightforward and had failed to make full use of the cavern’s unusual structure.

The gourd-shaped arrangement seemed to hint at some hidden pattern or clue.

Various possibilities rapidly flashed through Yun Yi’s mind as he considered how to make use of this distinctive feature in his search.

Suddenly, an idea streaked through his mind like lightning.

“Perhaps I can start from this feature. That’s it—I’ll look for objects that occupy corresponding positions in the two caverns and are the same in shape, though different in size.” He spoke excitedly to himself, unprecedented brilliance shining in his eyes.

He immediately took action, darting nimbly through the cavern.

First, he returned to the main cavern and began searching carefully.

His compound eyes were as sharp as blades, overlooking no corner.

After considerable effort, he finally found a nearly circular rock in one corner of the main cavern. It harmonized perfectly with the cavern’s overall structure, like a work of art painstakingly carved by nature.

Yun Yi then swiftly flew back to the small cavern.

Relying on his memory, he located the spot corresponding to the rock’s position in the main cavern.

After carefully comparing the two locations, he was delighted to discover that the small cavern indeed contained another rock of the same shape, though clearly smaller in size.

The two rocks were like the two parts of a gourd—one large and one small—fitting together perfectly.

This discovery filled Yun Yi with excitement. He felt that he had found the crucial clue to unlocking the cavern’s secret.

He carefully examined the smaller rock in the small cavern, identical in shape to the one in the main cavern, trying to uncover more secrets within it.

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