After saving Bai Sulan, Yuan placed her on the ground and quickly fed her some medicine.
Then he realized that he didnât have any on him since he mainly relied on his regenerative abilities and didnât need them. Fortunately, Feng Yuxiang was there, and she had plenty on her.
"What happened to me...? Am I dead?" Bai Sulan mumbled as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Youâre still alive," Yuan responded.
Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly sat up.
"T-The Phantasm Serpent! What happened to it?!" she asked him.
"I took care of it. Are you going to complain and say that you couldâve defeated it yourself?"
Bai Sulan shook her head and said, "No, why would I say that? That thing was beyond my league."
After a moment of silence, she looked at him and said, "Thank you, handsome little brother. You saved my life."
"Little brother, huh?" Yuan smiled.
"Well, you are younger than I."
A moment later, Yuan turned to look at where the mountain had once been, and he noticed a massive hole in the ground.
"So thatâs where it came from..." he muttered.
Bai Sulan nodded and explained, "I was hunting the Phantasm Serpents when the ground suddenly started shaking. Before I knew it, that thing came out of the ground with its mouth wide open. Thatâs the last thing I remember before waking up and seeing you."
Yuan looked at the tunnel again and used divine sense to scan it.
After a brief moment of silence, he smiled and said, "Iâll be right back."
Then he turned and walked toward the gaping hole in the ground. Without hesitation, he leapt in, leaving Bai Sulan staring after him in stunned disbelief.
"Whatâs he doing?" Bai Sulan asked Feng Yuxiang.
"I donât know, but heâll be fine."
After jumping into the tunnel, Yuan followed the winding path, retracing the serpentâs movements step by step.
Eventually, he reached the end of the tunnel, which opened into a vast underground cavern that appeared to be the serpentâs lair.
The air was thick with a pungent scent, and piles of bones from all kinds of magical beasts were scattered throughout the cavern.
However, what truly caught Yuanâs attention was the intricate carving on the wall at the far end of the cavern. Upon closer inspection, he realized it wasnât just a wallâit was actually a massive sealed gate, and there was a powerful formation protecting it.
Yuan approached the sealed gate and spoke out loud, "Yu Ning, can you take a look at the formation?"
She responded a few moments later, "There are several defensive formations protecting this gate. All of them are between level eight and nine. Whatever is behind it... it must be extremely valuable, perhaps even priceless."
"What are the chances of you cracking the formations?" Yuan then asked.
"None. This is way beyond me, even during my peak days," she sighed.
"So I will have to force it open, huh?"
Without hesitation, Yuan drew Number One Under Heaven and struck the gate with all his strength, making the entire cavern quake from the force. Hell, even Feng Yuxiang and Bai Sulan felt the tremor even though they were thousands of miles away.
"T-That was extremely reckless, Young Master!" Yu Ning exclaimed afterward. "What if the defensive formations had retaliated?!"
Fortunately, there was no response from the formations, but the gates remained sealed.
Yuan smiled and said, "I struck it because I couldnât feel anything from itânot even a hint of danger."
"Still, you should warn me before you do something like that next time. Itâs bad for the heartâsoul," she sighed.
"Alright."
Yuan turned his focus back to the gate, studying its intricate inscriptions.
"These markings... they look familiar," he muttered to himself.
Then, his eyes widened in realization, and he exclaimed, "Thatâs it! Han Zexianâs Cavern!"
Though it wasnât the exact same, the inscriptions around this gate resembled the ones found in Han Zexianâs Cavernâthe method to contact an Outer God.
âWhatever is behind this gate is likely connected to the Outer Gods... I need to get insideâbut if brute force wonât work...â
Yuan narrowed his eyes. For now, the only option was to hone his skills as an Array Master and unlock it properly.
Suddenly, the entire cavern began to shake violently as an ominous presence flooded the space, thick and oppressive.
Yuan immediately put distance between himself and the sealed gate, which was now leaking an ominous aura.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The gate shuddered under three thunderous strikes from the other side, each impact shaking the entire cavern even more violently.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Whatever was pounding on the gate didnât stop, as if it were desperately trying to break freeâor to announce its presence to the world outside.
"How creepy..." Yuan muttered, shaking his head as he lowered his guard when it was clear whatever was inside wouldnât be breaking out anytime soon.
He stopped paying attention to the gate and began looking around the cavern with more scrutiny.
Once he was unable to find anything of interest, he decided to leave.
However, just as he turned to leave, Yuan found himself unable to move, almost as if something unseen was holding him in place.
Then, as if sensing Yuanâs attempt to leave, the entity behind the gate began pounding even harder, each impact echoing with greater force. It was to the point that Yuan worried the entire cavern might collapse.
Yuan sighed before shouting at it, "What the hell do you want me to do?! Unless you have a method to help me open the seal, stop causing such a ruckus!"
Surprisingly, the banging stopped.
âIt understood my words?â Yuan swallowed nervously.
"Knock once if you understand me," Yuan spoke to it again.
Bang!
"Knock twice if youâre a human."
"..."
"Knock once if youâre an Outer God."
BANG!
Yuanâs eyes widened with surprise at this response.
"Thereâs an Outer God behind this door...? What in heavenâs name is this place?" he mumbled in a dazed voice.