On the seventh day after entering the secret realm, Luo Cheng deeply understood just how wise the saying "A man without long-term plans will have immediate worries" truly was!
The day before he entered the secret realm, he had eaten a stomach-filling pill with 90% effectiveness and held a compressed water pouch containing ten liters of water in his mouth. But after being sucked into the secret realm, perhaps because it was the first time it had opened, or perhaps due to some special characteristic of this realm, he was bound in midair by an invisible force. All around him was an unclear flow of light and air, and he remained completely unable to move for a full seven days!
During these seven days, if not for the stomach-filling pill sustaining him, and the fact that, despite being unable to move, he could still barely increase the pressure in his mouth to squeeze out a tiny bit of water each day to moisten his throat, he would have surely died.
Otherwise, as someone who had only undergone body tempering, being starved and dehydrated for an entire week would have absolutely cost him his life.
However, being stuck in the same position for seven days straight—unable to move even in sleep, only dozing off in a haze when his mental exhaustion became unbearable—was truly unbearable.
But at this moment, Luo Cheng had no thoughts of regret. That was simply his nature. Either he wouldn’t make a choice at all, or once he did, he wouldn’t regret it, no matter how bad the consequences turned out to be.
Fortunately, after being trapped here for a full seven days, the binding wind and the unseen currents around him finally came to a stop. At the same time as gravity returned, he fell straight down.
Just as he panicked, worrying whether he would plummet from a great height in free fall, he immediately felt his feet touch solid ground. However, after being stiff for seven whole days, his body had no time to react, and he fell straight onto his backside.
The moment he landed on his back, Luo Cheng saw the green grass around him, as well as what seemed to be green plants growing nearby. When he lay on the ground, dizzy and lightheaded, he could clearly see the slightly bright sky above. Yet there was no blue sky or white clouds, only a layer of bright white. The scenery around him was also surrounded by greenery. This was the kind of "sky" that most cave dwellings had.
Living in an era of information explosion about cultivation, even though Luo Cheng had never actively pursued cultivation himself, he could easily see all sorts of cultivation-related information online.
He had seen many videos about cave dwellings and secret realms on the internet before.
Leaving other things aside, cave dwellings were places where ancient cultivators practiced. For safety reasons, they were often built inside caves, underground, or in small yet stable dimensional spaces. Such places typically had poor natural lighting, so ancient cultivators used various methods to simulate sunlight inside their cave dwellings.
If special materials were available, they would be used to create an artificial sun in the sky. The portable houses produced by Yunhua even came with matching artificial suns. However, the price of those suns was so overwhelming that even if Luo Cheng gained something from this cave dwelling, he would likely still not be able to afford one.
If special materials were not available, then certain formations would be combined to create a light screen sky instead.
The characteristic of this kind of light screen sky was that it could not be made too large. As a result, large-scale farming inside was impossible. At most, one could set up a small herb garden or grow some ornamental plants.
So, the moment Luo Cheng saw this sky, he could already determine in his heart that the overall scale of this cave dwelling would definitely not be too big. It also should not be too dangerous.
Speaking of danger, cave dwellings ranked at the lowest level of danger among these kinds of special spaces. This was because such places were often where ancient cultivators practiced in seclusion. Even if there were some mechanisms and traps, their numbers would never compare to those in a secret realm. There would also almost never be any powerful demonic beasts guarding the place. If there had been, they would have already found a way to escape years ago.
So, after falling to the ground, Luo Cheng did not rush to get up. He first turned his head to look around, then slowly sat up, using the ground for support.
The place where he was now standing was the courtyard directly in front of the cave dwelling. After he sat up, he was facing a thatched hut of modest size. Behind him and on both sides, clusters of green bamboo were planted. To the left front of the thatched hut, there was indeed a small herb garden, with only twenty or thirty scattered medicinal plants growing sparsely inside.
As for what those medicinal plants were, Luo Cheng could not tell at the moment, nor did he dare to recklessly touch them. When his gaze shifted to the herb garden and the area behind the thatched hut, his eyes slightly narrowed.
The space behind the thatched hut was clearly not large, with a width similar to where Luo Cheng was currently standing, but it seemed to extend very deep. He took slow steps toward the side of the house. After walking a few steps, his field of vision revealed the scene behind it. The sight before him made him freeze in place.
It was incredibly deep... no, while the depth was indeed considerable, what truly surprised and puzzled Luo Cheng was not how deep it was, but rather that the layout of the space behind far exceeded his expectations.
The space stretched into a deep, conical recess, as if someone had taken an enormous drill and bored straight into the ground behind the house. At the far end, something seemed to be there, but Luo Cheng couldn’t make it out. His eyesight was decent for an ordinary person, but it was nowhere near as sharp as those beast-like cultivators. From this distance, it was only natural that he couldn’t see clearly.
What made this place feel "drilled out" was the contrast with the rest of the cave dwelling. In other areas, while the boundaries weren’t clearly visible, they were marked by a soft glow, much like the artificial sky above. Although dimmer, it was still bright enough to mimic daylight.
On either side of this passage, spiraling corridors twisted through the rock, resembling tunnels carved by hand. Unlike the other walls, which were made of light screens, the walls here were solid, rough-hewn granite, bearing clear marks of excavation.
Luo Cheng glanced at the depths of the passage, then turned back to the bamboo grove, herb garden, and humble thatched hut. The more he looked, the more this place seemed less like a simple cave dwelling and more like the secluded retreat of some powerful cultivator.
He had already taken a quick look around, deliberately avoiding the eerie depths of the passage. Now, standing at the entrance of the hut, he hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand, pushed open the door, and stepped inside.
The room was not large, and its furnishings were simple and unadorned.
On the left side of the room stood an ornate wooden shelf, displaying various items: some were root carvings in flower pots, some were oddly shaped decorative stones, and others were unknown plants, either completely withered or wildly overgrown. Beside the shelf was a large cylindrical container, filled with scrolls of varying lengths, which Luo Cheng guessed contained paintings or writings.
Directly opposite the door was a square table with two taishi-style chairs 太师椅 (tàishī yǐ) refers to a Grand Tutor’s Chair or Taishi Chair, a traditional Chinese wooden armchair with a high backrest and sturdy structure. It was often used by high-ranking officials and scholars, symbolizing status and authority. The design typically includes intricate carvings and a solid, dignified appearance. on either side. On the far right side of the room was a single wooden bed covered with a green quilt, with a meditation cushion and a low table placed in front of it.
Atop the low table lay what were likely the most valuable items in the room—a letter, a Qiankun bag, and a jade slip.
Luo Cheng took a deep breath and scanned the room once more. Seeing that it was empty aside from a few candleholders on the walls, he turned his attention to the low table. He bent down and first picked up the letter. Whether it was the jade slip or the Qiankun bag, if they lacked any special configurations, they would likely be beyond the ability of an ordinary person like him to use.
There were no markings on the envelope. Luo Cheng opened it and, as expected, found a sheet of paper densely filled with brush-written characters. He took another moment to steady his emotions before carefully reading it, word by word.
Once again, he felt grateful for the efforts of the Alliance and the official administrators of the Huaxia region in maintaining world stability. It was said that ever since the beginning of the spiritual energy revival, in preparation for potential special circumstances, the Huaxia region had significantly expanded its classical literature curriculum.
Because of this, even a younger student standing here today would still be able to roughly understand the contents of this letter.
After Luo Cheng finished reading everything, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes in surprise. For a long moment, he remained still before exhaling a deep breath. His gaze involuntarily shifted to the Qiankun bag—the one designed like a wallet—where he had placed the phone left behind by his parents.
Perhaps… this was some kind of inexplicable fate?
When he learned that a secret realm or immortal cave was about to emerge, Luo Cheng had held onto a sliver of hope. But even so, he never truly believed that this trip would allow him to step smoothly onto the path of cultivation.
Or, even if he did come across some kind of opportunity, it might only be spirit herbs or fruits—things he wouldn’t even know if he could consume. Or perhaps he would find a cultivation technique that, even if acquired, might not suit his preferences.
What he had thought more about was—if he could really obtain some magical artifacts, treasures, or spirit stones, he would take the opportunities gained here back to the city, have the officials appraise them, and exchange them for a cultivation technique he liked.
Or, he could simply trade them for spirit stones, then use one of the three techniques he had an interest in, buy some herbs and elixirs, and start cultivating.
Yet he never expected that on his very first adventure, he would actually obtain what seemed to be a truly extraordinary complete inheritance!
Rather than calling this place an immortal cave, it would be more accurate to call it an inheritance ground. Though it looked far too simple for such a place, perhaps the owner had some special reason—or perhaps they had deliberately chosen to return to simplicity, creating such a small yet unique inheritance ground.
And honestly, if the owner of the cave was merely looking for a successor to pass down their cultivation legacy, then the size or grandeur of the cave didn’t really matter.
To enter this cave, one had to meet the following conditions—age, bone age, and soul age must all be under thirty, must never have practiced any inherited techniques, must possess a firm will, and must have a strong physical constitution.
Luo Cheng undoubtedly met the requirements for age, bone age, and soul age.
And as it turned out, his past reckless stubbornness—refusing to waste his family’s resources to forcibly cultivate—had unexpectedly allowed him to fulfill the last condition as well.
In other words, if not for his reckless youth back then, even with his golden finger—the ability to foresee news—he would have ended up like the vast majority of people near this mountain range, who had been enveloped by the cave’s influence but had not even qualified to be drawn into this space!
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