The Monster Mountain Range is a standard feature of Western fantasy martial arts worlds, also known as a popular spot for online influencers. It covers a vast area and is home to countless types of magical beasts, as well as a huge amount of spiritual herbs.
In the silent forest, towering trees stood everywhere, the woods were eerie, and occasionally a distant howl of a beast could be heard, sending chills down one's spine.
At night, the Monster Mountain Range is a paradise for monsters.
They emerged from their roosts to hunt, the sounds of fierce fighting and the crunching of bones rising and falling.
Xiao Ning moved swiftly through the forest like a ghost, his breath-concealing technique attached to the Nine Yang Divine Skill operating at its maximum, so that he did not emit the slightest aura.
Even if he walked right in front of two fighting monsters, they wouldn't be able to spot him; they would only feel a gentle breeze.
After a while, Xiao Ning suddenly felt his dim vision brighten. Looking up by the moonlight, he realized that he had passed through a dense forest and was now facing a steep cliff with lush green forests below.
"This should be the place, right?"
Standing atop the cliff, surveying his surroundings, Xiao Ning murmured to himself.
He took a step forward, and the steep cliff came into view.
Between the steep cliffs, the walls are covered with rubble, strange trees growing haphazardly, and some bone-like objects.
Xiao Ning's gaze slowly swept across the steep cliff, and after a moment, it suddenly stopped at a spot on the cliff face that was hidden by a horizontal log.
Although the strange trees on the mountain cliffs were arranged in an extremely clever way, Xiao Ning still noticed something amiss.
With his eyes half-closed and in the dim moonlight, Xiao Ning seemed to be able to see the dark void in the cliff through the gaps in the trees.
"It really is here!"
Overjoyed, Xiao Ning no longer hesitated. He lightly touched the cliff face with his toes and instantly leaped off the cliff.
In mid-air, with a casual flick of his finger, Xiao Ning killed a small snake that was trying to ambush him, and then gently landed at the cave entrance.
The cave entrance, surrounded by strange rocks and trees, effectively blocked people's view, which is why the cave remained undiscovered for so long.
With a wave of his sleeve, Xiao Ning unleashed a tremendous force from his palm, sweeping away the tangled rocks and trees into the dark ravine like a whirlwind sweeping away fallen leaves.
Xiao Ning flicked his sleeves and turned his gaze to the cave that had been cleared of its cover. Without the trees and rubble obscuring it, and with the faint moonlight, he finally saw the cave left behind by his predecessors up close.
The entrance to the cave was not wide, only allowing two or three people to pass through. The cave was dark inside, but it faintly emitted a light, giving it a mysterious and secluded feel.
Around the cave entrance, there were many knife-like marks, but perhaps due to the passage of time, these marks had become extremely blurry. If Xiao Ning hadn't had sharp eyesight, he might not have noticed them at all.
"Don't disappoint me with the secret technique of transforming battle qi into wings!"
He muttered something to himself and stepped into the cave.
Walking through the quiet and dark cave, a faint chill lingered around him. In the quiet passage, only Xiao Ning's soft footsteps could be heard.
The atmosphere was terribly cold.
After walking for a while, a stone gate emitting a faint yellow light appeared in front of them, blocking their way.
"Is it a mechanism? Or a formation?"
Xiao Ning approached the stone gate and examined it carefully. There were some faint carvings on the stone wall. Although the carvings were now blurred, some figures could still be seen on them.
"Huh?"
A protrusion caught Xiao Ning's eye and drew her attention.
"Is this where the headquarters is located?"
Looking at the protrusion below the stone gate, Xiao Ning was delighted. After hesitating for a moment, he decisively reached out and placed his hand on the protrusion, pressing it down slightly.
A creaking sound slowly echoed through the silent cave.
Seeing the stone door slowly moving upwards, Xiao Ning's face lit up with joy. Finding the mechanism was the best thing that could happen, much less effort than forcibly breaking down the door.
As the stone door moved upwards, a faint glow emanated from its interior, dispelling all the darkness in the vicinity.
As Xiao Ning stepped through the stone gate, his view suddenly widened.
Inside the stone gate was a huge stone chamber.
The stone chamber looked somewhat simple and empty, with starlight embedded in the walls. Upon closer inspection, these were moonstones, unique to the Dou Qi Continent, used for lighting.
In the center of the stone chamber, there is a stone chair.
A skeleton sat on the chair, its sunken skull resting on its pale thigh bone.
The quiet atmosphere had a rather eerie feel to it.
In front of the seat is a blue stone platform, on which three locked stone boxes are neatly arranged.
In addition, in the three corners of the stone chamber, there were piles of glittering gold coins and other precious treasures. The amount of gold coins was probably no less than several hundred thousand.
Xiao Ning didn't care much for treasures and money, and the original owners of these treasures had also placed them casually, indicating that they didn't value these valuable items too much.
Xiao Ning shifted his gaze from the glittering gold to the last corner of the stone chamber.
In that corner, a small flower bed had been built with soil, and various kinds of flowers and plants were planted in it, with a strange fragrance lingering in the stone chamber.
Although these herbs were precious, they were no different from roadside weeds to Xiao Ning. Therefore, he only glanced at them before turning his gaze away.
"Is this the location of the secret technique of transforming battle qi into wings from the original work?"
Turning his gaze to the three locked stone boxes on the bluestone platform, Xiao Ning walked over to the table and touched the metal lock, which was slightly warm to the touch.