Mo Wen meticulously searched every corner of the cave, unwilling to waste so much time without finding anything. With the changes in his cultivation, he discovered that his sensing ability had increased several times, and he had gained significant control over it. What was once difficult to concentrate was now manageable, allowing him to adjust the area of his sensing at will. Moreover, its penetration power had greatly improved; he could now delve nearly ten zhang into the mountain, compared to just one or two zhang before.
To enhance the precision of his search, he limited his sensing area to about a zhang in radius. He first scanned the ground and then began examining the stone walls, almost pressing against them as he searched in one direction. The scene within the walls became clear in his mind, and he began to construct a mental image of how the entire cave had formed.
In pursuit of accuracy, after two days he had only covered a small portion of the cave. At that moment, he was searching a narrower corner of the cave.
At the sharp angle of the cave, Mo Wen halted his steps and scrutinized the stone wall before him. From an outside perspective, this wall faced towards a small island and was located at the innermost corner of the cave. He had previously focused on this area during his searches but found nothing. Now that there were no barriers of spiritual power within the cave, this stone wall still obstructed his sensing penetration. His ability could only reach about a zhang into the wall before it could go no further. His intuition and desire for treasure told him that something lay behind it; even if it wasn't the source of that spiritual power, it couldn't be far off. He marked the wall and continued searching elsewhere, planning to return after exploring the rest of the cave.
Three days later, Mo Wen stood before the stone wall again, this time equipped with a set of tools. After checking with his senses, he noted that their depth had decreased by several feet. Choosing his tools carefully, he began working around his mark. Although the cave was formed from lava, to avoid any leakage of spiritual power like last time, he decided on a cautious approach. As a series of clanging sounds echoed through the cave, a doorway five feet high and three feet wide gradually appeared in the stone wall. After a day’s work, the entrance had reached about ten zhang deep and was covered with a magic circle designed to contain any escaping energy.
Inside the doorway, Mo Wen observed small cracks appearing on the stone wall through which familiar pure spiritual energy seeped out. Seeing this made him quicken his pace; as he dug deeper into the entrance, the cracks became more pronounced, with wisps of spiritual energy forming faint breezes that were hard to detect. He couldn't believe his luck; although he had chosen this excavation site based on barrier strength, he never expected to find cracks here. Given the current situation, he felt he was close to uncovering the truth—perhaps there was as much spiritual energy as before or something entirely unexpected waiting on the other side of the wall.
With a crash, loose stones fell away revealing a hole about the size of a fist; wind gusted from within strong enough to ruffle his hair that hadn’t been washed in over a year. Setting down his tools, he clenched his fists and struck several times to break through the remaining stone wall. After seven days of exploration, he finally broke through.
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