hhnovel Chapter 84: The Unveiling of the Hidden Cave Mansion
Chapter 84: The Unveiling of the Hidden Cave Mansion
[Ding! You have successfully claimed a share of Ye Fan’s opportunities. Ye Fan’s Heavenly Fate Value decreases by 100 points!]
[Ding! You have gained 200 points of Villain Value!]
As these system alerts echoed in Jiang Chen’s mind, he felt a spark of interest. ’So, even getting spiritual plants counts as seizing opportunities?’ he thought.
’It actually makes sense. Though it might not seem like much, even a dull knife, if used to cut through flesh, can eventually take down Ye Fan!’ Realizing this, a subtle smile appeared on Jiang Chen’s lips.
Immediately, he altered his path, opting for the reliable strategy of staying one step ahead of Ye Fan.
Yet, after a long duration of navigating the Black Crystal Sky Piercing Shuttle, occasionally pushing it to Heavenly Origin realm speeds, and infusing his Shadowblade Sword with cold Qi through the Cold Sky Frost Brilliance Art to efficiently eliminate monsters with single strikes on numerous occasions, Jiang Chen had used up a considerable amount of Origin Power.
To keep going, he had been taking pills to replenish his Origin Power. At this point, his stock was almost gone. Luckily, he was on the verge of breaking through the bottleneck of the Heavenly Origin realm, which lessened his worry.
As Jiang Chen continued on his way, he kept collecting spiritual plants, expertly staying ahead of Ye Fan.
Throughout his travels, he came across blood-colored monsters. Overcoming them didn’t reduce Ye Fan’s Heavenly Fate Value, showing that these monsters weren’t predestined for Ye Fan. However, for Jiang Chen, securing these Monster Cores beforehand was still advantageous.
As time went on, and Jiang Chen managed to outpace Ye Fan for the third time, suddenly, a thunderous explosion sounded nearby! The noise was so overwhelming, it felt as if one’s ears were bombarded by relentless thunder.
"Whoa, what’s happening now?!" Jiang Chen exclaimed, his eyebrows raising as he looked towards the origin of the noise. He saw a huge cloud of gray-brown dust and smoke rising into the sky from that direction.
’This commotion is definitely going to attract Ye Fan,’ he reasoned. ’But that place isn’t far, and it’s even closer to him. Trying to cut him off now would be pointless.’
’Sigh, looks like Heavenly Fate’s handiwork again!’ Jiang Chen muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes before directing the Black Crystal Sky Piercing Shuttle towards the source of the disturbance.
Quickly, a shocking sight came into view within the range of his divine sense. He saw half of a massive mountain crumble, with smoke and dust shooting up from its center.
In the remaining half of the mountain, an exposed cave entrance, clearly modified by human hands, was revealed! Judging by the size and decorations of the entrance, it bore a striking resemblance to the cave mansions described in ancient texts.
Surrounding the mountain, more than a hundred cultivators had already gathered!
Jiang Chen observed that these cultivators were from seven different sects.
’That means if Ye Fan’s Heavenly Fate Value drops below 588 points, I can directly eliminate him!’ he reflected, his eyes shining with expectation. However, he knew it was crucial to stay focused on the current task and not get lost in thoughts of what might come.
Next, Jiang Chen decisively set aside his speculative thoughts and turned his attention to Ye Fan and the other disciples ahead. Thanks to the expansion of his divine sense, which had grown along with his cultivation base, he had a wider range of divine sense than anyone else there.
This advantage allowed Jiang Chen to monitor everyone around him without being detected in return. Even the protagonist, Ye Fan, whose divine sense was a notable shortcoming, remained unaware of Jiang Chen’s surveillance.
While Jiang Chen was quietly observing from a distance, Ye Fan’s arrival did not go unnoticed by the disciples below the partially-collapsed mountain.
"Isn’t he from the Azure Jade Sect?" one disciple murmured, their voice tinged with curiosity.
"I know him; that’s Ye Fan. Rumor has it his aptitude for cultivation isn’t anything special, but he’s got a keen grasp on cultivation methods," another disciple shared, passing along what they knew.
"Ye Fan! Junior Brother Ye Fan! Come over here!" shouted an excited member of the Azure Jade Sect, trying to catch his attention.
"..."
The group showed a mix of responses, and as soon as Ye Fan was spotted, his sect members eagerly called out to him.
With just seven people from the Azure Jade Sect present, and combining their numbers with those from the Purple Bamboo Spirit Mountain, their total only reached fifteen.
In this assembly of over a hundred disciples, they were the smallest group. Thus, gaining another Middle-stage Spiritual Awakening realm cultivator meant a modest boost in their combat strength!
’Looks like they’ve spotted me,’ Ye Fan thought with a sigh. ’I need to find a cultivation method to improve my divine sense as soon as I can.’
’Also, I can’t fall behind in my cultivation progress. Whenever I get the chance, I should jot down my insights on cultivation methods to trade for spirit stones and buy pills!’ With these thoughts, despite his internal frustration, Ye Fan maintained a composed facade as he stepped out from behind the large tree and flew towards his sect members to unite with them.
As Ye Fan approached, a cultivator at the Mysterious Platform realm and a true disciple of the Azure Jade Sect stepped forward with a smile, saying, "Junior Brother Ye Fan, we lost sight of you during the escape earlier. I was worried you had been taken down by that three-headed monster!
Finding you here is great news." He quickly introduced Ye Fan to the rest of the group, especially to those from the Purple Bamboo Spirit Mountain.
One by one, everyone greeted Ye Fan, taking the time to get acquainted. However, when the members from the Purple Bamboo Spirit Mountain learned that Ye Fan was only at the Middle-stage Spiritual Awakening realm, their attitudes shifted, displaying a hint of disdain.
Ye Fan, the protagonist, was no stranger to this kind of treatment. In fact, he almost relished encounters with people who underestimated him. Seeing their embarrassed faces—like they had just swallowed something foul—when he disproved their assumptions with his actual capabilities, was among his greatest satisfactions.