"Hmm? This... this cave looks like the lair of some giant cave creature!" Shawn Young frowned and speculated.
"No way! Could this be a python's nest?" Jade Swann furrowed her pretty brows, still shaken by her encounter with the jungle giant python.
"A python is possible, but the cave is glowing with white light, which is very different from a python's dark lair! So it probably isn't a python!" Shawn Young thought for a moment and said.
"Hmm? Maybe—it's a mutated python? Honestly, with a place like this, having monsters isn't even surprising!" Jade Swann said.
Shawn Young nodded, saying, "Yeah, that's possible too! There are plenty of bizarre creatures in this world, especially in a remote and primitive place like this. It's normal to find monsters humans have never seen before—"
"Uh—we should just go! We haven't finished our mission yet, so let's not get too curious!" Jade Swann reminded him.
"Oh! Okay!" Shawn Young replied, just about to turn around and lead Jade Swann out, when he suddenly felt a violent fluctuation in his consciousness. He was startled and quickly checked—it turned out the disturbance wasn't from the Second Sight, but from the Heavenly Sanctuary.
Immediately, Shawn Young waved at Jade Swann and said, "Wait, I have something to deal with!"
"Uh—what's wrong?" Jade Swann asked curiously.
"Help me keep watch. I... I'm going to enter the Second Sight for a moment—Primordial Spirit fluctuation—" Shawn Young hurriedly lied.
"Oh! Sure!" Jade Swann was a cultivator herself, so she knew a Primordial Spirit fluctuation needed to be checked quickly. She immediately stood by Shawn Young, taking on the role of protector.
Shawn Young quickly sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and focused his mind. In an instant, his consciousness transformed into a beam of white light, spiraling rapidly into the Heavenly Sanctuary. As soon as he entered, he saw the Red Dragon excitedly flying in mid-air. Spotting Shawn Young, it immediately soared over and called out enthusiastically, "I can feel it! The Dragon's Rest is nearby, and the Thousand-Year Earth Dragon is lurking inside. Hurry up and get moving!"
"Oh! The Thousand-Year Earth Dragon is nearby? How do I find it?" Shawn Young quickly asked.
"It has its own cave. Just follow the tunnel deeper and you'll find the Dragon's Rest. The Thousand-Year Earth Dragon is inside, and I'll guide you on how to capture it!" the Red Dragon said excitedly.
"Oh! The cave you're talking about—is it the one glowing with white light? I can sense a strong innate Yin energy inside! So you mean the Thousand-Year Earth Dragon is in there?" Shawn Young continued to ask.
"Exactly! The Thousand-Year Earth Dragon is a spirit of extreme Yin, absorbing earth energy for a thousand years. With my body being pure Yang, it's a perfect Yin-Yang match. As long as you can bring it into the Heavenly Sanctuary, this place will be perfect!" The Red Dragon flipped its body, clearly very excited.
"Alright! I'll do my best!" Shawn Young nodded. After all, his father really needed the medicine refined from the Thousand-Year Earth Dragon, and with this opportunity, he wouldn't let it slip by.
"Whoosh—" Shawn Young's consciousness returned. Jade Swann saw him get up and immediately asked, "What's up with your Primordial Spirit? Why the sudden disturbance? Was it—did we do too much? Did you use up your energy?"
"No way—you know I practice dual cultivation. The more we do it, the better I get. It's for another reason. Come on, let's go check out that cave—" Shawn Young explained, then grabbed her hand and headed for the glowing tunnel.
"Hmm? Are we really going into that tunnel? What if there's a mutated giant python inside?" Jade Swann asked nervously.
"Heh—don't worry, you've got me! Even if there is a giant python, we'll just catch it alive!" Shawn Young laughed, pulling Jade Swann into the tunnel. They crawled and climbed along the winding walls for about half an hour before the passage suddenly opened up into a massive sunken pit!
Standing at the edge of the sinkhole and looking down, they saw a nightmare forest of grayish-white trees, twisted and clawing at the air. The trees were densely packed, leafless, their bare branches arranged in chaotic patterns. Yet, in the chaos, there seemed to be a hidden order. These Earthglow Trees grew deep underground, thriving without sunlight, emitting a faint grayish-white glow. The pit below wasn't dark at all—instead, it was shrouded in a strange, shimmering light, like something out of a fantasy, eerie and otherworldly!
A wave of bone-chilling Yin energy swept up from the forest in the pit, carrying a weird earthy stench and a bizarre scent, something between orchid and chrysanthemum. The mix of smells first made their heads spin, then their bodies grew cold, but their minds became oddly clear, as if their organs were purging toxins. It was a strange sensation.
"Uh—what is that smell? Why does it change so much? That's just weird!" Jade Swann muttered.
"Earthglow Tree—feeds on earth energy, grows without sunlight, gathers the essence of earth elementals, shining bright. This is Sleeping Dragon Valley, home to the Celestial Ginsengwood Formation!" Suddenly, Shawn Young recalled a passage from the Codex of Ascension.
"Whoa! So this is Sleeping Dragon Valley! Those trees are Earthglow Trees, formed from the essence of earth energy! They seem almost sentient!" Shawn Young blurted out.
"Uh, Sleeping Dragon Valley? Earthglow Tree? How do you know all this?" Jade Swann's curiosity was instantly piqued.
"Oh, I read about it in an ancient book!" Shawn Young replied vaguely.
"Huh? What kind of book could be that amazing, even recording stuff like this? Let me read it someday, okay?" Jade Swann was clearly interested.
"Uh—that book was burned—so you can't read it even if you want to. If you're curious, just ask me!" Shawn Young said quickly. He wasn't lying—the Codex of Ascension had vanished from this world, its contents now imprinted in his mind. Only Shawn Young knew its secrets!
"Hmph! Why are you so stingy? I'm your woman now, you think I'd steal your secret manual?! Seriously—" Jade Swann pouted, pretending to be upset.
"No, really, I'm telling the truth—there's no need to lie to you," Shawn Young explained hurriedly.
"Hmph—I don't believe you," Jade Swann said, feeling a bit grumpy.
"Uh—well—what I'm saying is—" Shawn Young was about to explain further when, suddenly, something unexpected happened.