158. Karst Cave

"Drip, drop," the sound echoed incessantly.

Lingyu felt something gently brush across her face, bringing a slight, moist coolness, as if someone had wiped her skin with a damp cloth.

Though her body ached intensely, her consciousness was gradually returning. Slowly opening her eyes, the first thing that came into view was a cluster of stalactites not far above, water droplets continuously trickling from their tips.

"I..." Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.

"Awake?" A detached voice sounded, very close by.

Lingyu shifted her gaze slightly to see Xu Zheng walking slowly closer, holding a jade cup in his hand.

She blinked, still somewhat dazed.

Xu Zheng half-knelt, reached out to support her back, and brought the jade cup to her lips. "Take a sip."

A fresh, sweet fragrance washed over her, carrying an immensely rich spiritual energy. Unable to help herself, Lingyu parted her lips and drank the liquid from the cup.

The slightly viscous, transparent liquid slid down her dry throat into her stomach. A cool, nourishing spiritual energy slowly dispersed through her limbs and bones, and the pain subsided instantly.

What was this? The finest miraculous elixirs she had ever seen possessed no such healing efficacy.

Perhaps noticing she had been staring at the cup for too long, Xu Zheng remarked, "Is it really that fascinating?"

Startled, Lingyu, still drowsy from just waking up, instinctively raised her head to look at him.

Xu Zheng likely hadn't expected her to look up; just as he was about to withdraw his hand, his head tilted, and his chin collided heavily against Lingyu's forehead.

Both let out a muffled groan simultaneously, one clutching their chin, the other holding their forehead.

After staring at each other with wide eyes for a long moment, Xu Zheng lowered his hand with a trace of annoyance, stood up, and walked away with the jade cup.

"Ahem!" Lingyu cleared her throat to adjust her voice and break the awkwardness. "Thank you."

Xu Zheng let out a soft hum and said nothing.

Taking advantage of the moment, Lingyu observed her surroundings. They were in a limestone cave, roughly a dozen zhang square and quite spacious. The ceiling and rock walls were covered with stalactites of various shapes and colors, shimmering with an intensely gorgeous brilliance under the illumination of moonstones.

The cave had been artificially partitioned into a closed space. The spot where Lingyu lay was a flat stone platform resembling a stone bed, beside which stood an irregularly shaped stone table. Over a zhang long, it was cluttered with books, papers, an inkstone, a brush holder, jade slips, and all sorts of other sundries, all covered in a thick layer of dust. On the other side of the stone table, the rock wall had been carved to resemble a bookshelf, piled high with books and jade slips.

Lingyu's gaze drifted to the other end, where two pools formed by dripping water sat—one large, one small. The large one was about a zhang square, resembling a bath, while the small one was only two or three feet across, barely qualifying as a puddle. Next to the large pool sat a delicate alchemy tripod, surrounded by numerous jars and bottles.

Xu Zheng rinsed the cup in the large pool, put it back into his Qiankun pouch, and then picked up a damp cloth to wipe his hands.

Watching this, Lingyu thought to herself: So he really was the one who wiped her face earlier? Who would have guessed that Young Master Xu would do such a thing?

Oblivious to Lingyu's thoughts, Xu Zheng finished what he was doing, turned around, and asked, "Are you alright?"

Lingyu moved her hands and feet, discovering that the pain had become very mild and no longer hindered movement, though her dantian was completely empty and her meridians had sustained considerable damage. She grabbed her Kanli Sword from beside her and sat cross-legged on the spot.

"Are we safe? Where are the other two?" she asked.

"I don't know," Xu Zheng replied while inspecting the alchemy tripod. "When I woke up, they were gone."

Lingyu frowned and continued, "Where are we? What happened?"

"Do you expect me to know?"

"..." What an unlikable fellow. Lingyu curled her lips and stood up.

It was hard to tell how long it had been since anyone had set foot in this place, as a thick layer of dust had accumulated. She cast a Dust-Clearing Spell, sweeping away all the grime on the stone table.

Though untold years had passed, the ink had dried up and the writing brushes had cracked, but the paperweights, inkstones, and other items remained as clean as new, faintly gleaming with a luster that suggested they were no ordinary objects.

Right opposite the stone stool lay a volume titled *Records of Exotic Flora Across the Seas*. Lingyu carefully picked it up, flipped through it, and set it aside. Beneath the book lay a thick stack of paper, densely covered in handwriting, some with diagrams that looked like hand seals.

After flipping through them for a while, Lingyu pressed the book back down. They were all alchemy techniques, leaving her completely baffled.

"Could this be where that predecessor Medicine King practiced alchemy?" she muttered, gazing at the densely packed books on the shelf.

"Most likely," Xu Zheng actually answered her.

Recalling the events carefully, Lingyu found the whole situation extremely bizarre. "When you woke up, were we already here?"

Xu Zheng gave a casual, indifferent hum.

"Before we ended up here, we entered the Ten Thousand Swords Heart-Trial Formation, right?"

Xu Zheng didn't answer, presumably feeling it was unnecessary.

Not expecting a reply anyway, Lingyu continued, "Ten thousand swords fired simultaneously, and we almost got turned into a beehive. Right after that, I threw out the Sword-Sealing Box, and then the aftermath was too powerful and blasted us out..."

With that, she looked at Xu Zheng. "Where is the Sword-Sealing Box?"

Xu Zheng flicked his wrist, tossing the Sword-Sealing Box over.

Lingyu caught it and let out a long sigh of relief. Good thing it wasn't lost; high-grade magical treasures were expensive!

Thinking this, she cast a sidelong glance at Xu Zheng. "Tell me, Young Master Xu, if I hadn't asked just now, would you have just pretended you didn't know?"

Xu Zheng glanced at her and said coldly, "Do you take me for someone with so little class?"

Lingyu spread her hands and let it go. Fine, she had measured a gentleman's heart with her own petty yardstick; how could Young Master Xu be as petty as her? If he truly didn't want to give it to her, he wouldn't have used it in the trade in the first place.

"It really is strange. How did we get blasted all the way here? Could the wooden house and waterfall we saw have been fake?"

Xu Zheng offered no answer, largely because he had no answers to give. He had pondered these questions long ago, but unfortunately could not make any sense of them.

Failing to get answers, she decided to put the matter aside for now and flipped through the Sword-Sealing Box in her hand. "...Why did you know the Sword-Sealing Box could store the sword qi of the Ten Thousand Swords Heart-Trial Formation? Wait, if it can absorb so much sword qi, isn't the Sword-Sealing Box extremely powerful? Wouldn't it be great to just throw it out when fighting sword cultivators?"

"You're thinking too much!" Seeing her excited expression, Xu Zheng said coldly, "The reason the Sword-Sealing Box could absorb the sword qi of the Ten Thousand Swords Heart-Trial Formation is that that sword qi had no one manipulating it. As for using it to fight enemies and absorb other people's sword qi—wait until you reach the Core Formation stage before talking about that!"

Lingyu felt as though a basin of cold water had been poured over her, dampening her excitement. A moment's thought made her realize the logic behind it. She was only at the Foundation Establishment stage and could not properly utilize the Sword-Sealing Box, meaning it currently remained in an ownerless state and could only store ownerless sword qi. Still... with this item, wouldn't she become the bane of all sword cultivators once she reached Core Formation?

With this thought, Lingyu looked at Xu Zheng with increasingly strange eyes. What on earth was this Young Master Xu thinking? As a sword cultivator himself, how could he willingly hand such an item over to others? Was there some hidden story behind this?

"Since you're fine, you'd better think about how to get out of here." Xu Zheng had finished examining the alchemy furnace and walked over to her. "There must be restrictions in place here. I wonder how we can break them."

Lingyu nodded. "Too bad I know nothing about restrictions and arrays. What about you, Young Master Xu?"

"If I understood them, would I need to ask you?"

Lingyu remained silent for several breaths, but finally couldn't help herself. She crossed her arms and stared at Xu Zheng. "Let me tell you, Young Master Xu, answering someone's question directly won't cause you to lose a piece of flesh. Is it really that hard to put on a pleasant expression? It's either a rhetorical question or a look of disdain. Do you know how awkward that makes things?"

Xu Zheng's expression instantly darkened as he glared at her without speaking.

"What? Unconvinced? You think I enjoy talking about you? If I didn't have to look at your face right now, I wouldn't even bother!"

After a moment, Xu Zheng withdrew his gaze. "Complain about me? Is your own attitude any better? Don't think I didn't notice—when you called me 'Young Master Xu,' you were mocking me in your heart. Your own attitude is crooked, yet you have a whole list of criticisms for others!"

"Ha..." Lingyu laughed in sheer exasperation. "No one has ever accused my attitude of being crooked. Why don't you reflect on yourself and figure out why my attitude becomes crooked whenever I face you?"

Xu Zheng replied with absolute fluency, "I never make things difficult for myself! If I get bitten by a dog, I'm not going to stop and wonder if it's because my flesh tastes too good!"

"..." Lingyu felt a torrent of words churning in her throat, barely managing to keep them under control. Fortunately, her reason prevailed and she swallowed them back; after all, they weren't here to engage in a street brawl.

She forced herself to speak in a calm tone. "Young Master Xu, acting awkward when you're a teenager can still be called cute, but you... don't you think you're a bit too old for this?"

Xu Zheng's expression grew so dark it seemed ready to spark lightning. Just when Lingyu thought he was about to flip out, he let out a huff and turned his head away. "I won't argue with a woman!"

This time, Lingyu genuinely laughed. "Fine, my mistake. Actually, your inner self is a true, undeniable youth."

Xu Zheng snapped his head back, glaring straight at her.

"Alright, let's talk about business." Lingyu put on a serious and solemn expression, ignoring his anger. "Neither of us understands the art of restrictions. How are we supposed to get out?"

The two of them continued to stare at each other with wide eyes, neither able to answer.

Lingyu slapped her forehead. "Next time I go treasure hunting or adventuring, I must remember to bring a formation master along. Traveling with a bunch of sword cultivators has no future at all."

"..."

Despite saying that, the two of them carefully inspected the limestone cave once more.

"There's nothing here." After thoroughly checking every inch of the surroundings and finding nothing, Lingyu gave up.

"No, there is something." Xu Zheng was standing on the stone table, flipping through the stack of paper. These papers were slightly yellowed but perfectly preserved, the ink on them still clear.

Lingyu walked closer. "These are all about alchemy. Can you read them?"

"I can't read the alchemy parts, but not everything here is about that." Xu Zheng pointed to the papers he had already finished reading and placed back on the table.

Puzzled, Lingyu picked them up.

Written on the paper in neat, small script were the following words:

* Unwittingly, it has already been three years since I left the sect, and I have finally found the Seven-Leaf Phoenix Tail Flower in the East China Sea. This flower has harsh growing conditions and withers the moment it leaves the East China Sea. After much deliberation, I simply built a secondary estate right above the East China Sea.*

*...*

*Xingduan's sword heart has shattered, his dantian ruined, and all his cultivation has drained away, making him no different from a crippled person. Were it not for my forceful use of medicine to preserve his life, he would have perished long ago. In these days, he occasionally regains consciousness, yet remains silent and unmoving. I know his heart is as dead as ash; if not for me, he likely would have ended his own life. For a sword cultivator, to lose their sword heart, their cultivation, and even be unable to lift a sword—what kind of sword cultivator is that? Especially someone like Xingduan, whose talent is peerless and who was born to practice swordsmanship...*

*Xingduan, Xingduan, even if I exhaust my life's blood and stake the reputation of the Medicine King, I will mend your sword heart and restore your cultivation!*

*(P.S.: A notice in advance—court is just a few days away. Over the next week or so, I might not be able to maintain daily updates. Your understanding is appreciated.)*