8. {Secret Cave Trope}
In the mountains, Su Mo crossed the jungle, guided by the map.
He was highly vigilant the entire time.
He was more than 25 km deep into the Breezewind Mountain, and there were many Class-4 Lv-1 Demonic Beasts nearby. Some even at Class-5.
He might not be able to beat a Class-4 Lv-1 Demonic Beast with his current strength, let alone one at Class-5.
Finally, after another uncertain half-hour journey, Su Mo arrived before an overgrown valley.
The valley had only one entrance, surrounded by cliffs that were hundreds of meters high.
Full of thistles, thorns and bushes, it looked notably desolate.
Su Mo stayed alert of his surroundings and prepared to escape at the first sign of danger.
Although treasures were a priority, nothing was more important than his life.
Su Mo saw that this valley was precisely the place marked on the map.
He carefully scoured the surrounding environment and soon found a large crack on a rock wall.
It was a horizontal crack that was hundreds of meters long and looked like a vast, unfathomable mouth.
It was overgrown with weeds and not easily noticeable.
Su Mo frowned as he peered inside.
The fissure was gloomy, cold and full of unknown danger. The small cave inside was even worse.
After hesitating for a while, Su Mo gritted his teeth and entered.
Since he had already come, he must find something.
Danger?
Su Mo had never been afraid of danger.
As he walked deeper into the cave, his vision became dimmer and dimmer until he was entirely surrounded by darkness.
Su Mo used genuine Qi to improve his eyesight and continued walking.
After a moment, the pathway inside began to gradually slope downward.
He estimated that he was about ten meters underground.
After walking further, Su Mo felt a cold breeze and heard the sound of running water.
Intrigued by this change, he quickened his pace.
Soon, Su Mo met with a bright light. He saw an enormous space over five meters tall, over seven meters wide, and unfathomably long.
It was a secret underground world.
A river flowed towards an unknown destination. Fishes swam in the river, and natural cobblestones on the bank gave off fluorescent light, allowing Su Mo to see the whole underground world clearly.
A demolished stone platform laid on the bank of the river.
Several dried bones were visible over it. A person had obviously died here. Unaffected by the bones Su Mo searched around.
"Has the treasure been taken by others?"
Su Mo walked over slowly and searched around the platform.
With a length and width of more than five meters, the platform seemed to be spacious, though a more significant portion of it had collapsed.
There was nothing around the platform except for some animal skeletons.
Su Mo did not find anything. No secret passages, no rings, no storage pouches, no weapons, no manuals, Nothing. He was unreconciled.
He sat on the platform looking at the fishes frolicking in the river as he pondered what kind of treasure could this cave have.
Su Mo was not able to find any clue of any treasure.
"Looks like the map was a hoax."
Su Mo was disheartened. {Secret Cave trope} was obviously not as successful as it seemed in the novels.
Su Mo was ready to leave when he spotted a small puddle some distance away from the platform.
"Hmm?"
Curious and eager to find something useful in his expedition, Su Mo arrived near it.
The puddle was the size of a bucket. A black-coloured fish of the size of a baby's palm swam leisurely in it. It was surprising as the fishes in the river were silvery-white.
This stark contrast in the colour of fishes arose Su Mo's curiosity. He felt that this could be his clue to the treasure. Su Mo observed the puddle for a while.
Unable to decipher any clue, Su Mo caught a fish from the river and compared it to the puddle's blackfish.
He concluded that the blackfish had evolved from the fish in the river. It may have evolved into a demonic beast or maybe was in the process of developing into one.
"Finally, so this is where my treasure is." Su Mo grinned. He scooped a small amount of water from the puddle. It felt cold in his palm.
Su Mo did not see any aggressive behaviour from the blackfish, so he decided not to kill it. He made a make-shift bucket from a tree trunk and scooped out the fish from the puddle.
The water in the puddle rapidly decreased as soon as the fish was out. It looked like a bowl inlaid with milky-white spirit stones.
A small plant grew at its bottom, giving out an ethereal feel.
"Spiritual Herb! judging by its aura, it must be at Medium Lv 1."
Su Mo marvelled at the herb. A Medium Lv 1 herb was beneficial to people below Lv 4 Qi Cultivation Realm.
"Hahaha! Perfect. Now my Martial Soul can reach Rank 3 Human class." Su Mo was pleased.
Su Mo sat cross-legged and released his Black Hole Martial Soul.
His Martial Soul swallowed the Spirit Herb. The Black Hole shook as it released three yellow halos. It had ranked up to Rank 3 Human Class. Its suction strength doubled, showcasing Su Mo that how vital was the rank of Martial Soul.
Martial Soul was known to be innate and could not rank up. Hence, Its rank decided how much further one could cultivate usually.
Su Mo broke through to Lv 4 of Qi Cultivation Realm, taking advantage of the overflowing Spiritual Qi from the herb. He could feel the abundance of genuine Qi in his elixir field.
Su Mo could not judge day and night in the cave. Though he did not receive any superb cultivation manuals or anything precious, his Martial Soul's progress and cultivation were even more valuable at present.
"Hah! Time sure flies by. I have stayed here long enough. Let's dig out these spirit stones now and leave."
Su Mo tried to pull out the spirit stone from the bowl like structure when the blackfish in the bucket started splashing out water and behaving erratically.
"Does it have some connection with the bowl? I should dig it out and see." Su Mo thought.
Su Mo dug out the bowl and placed it next to the bucket. While the hole left out was soon filled with water.
The fish jumped from the bucket into the bowl. As it landed in the bowl, a ferocious aura swept out from it. A feeling of extreme danger swelled inside Su Mo.
Su Mo backed off while his Martial Soul was released out from his body against his will.
The bowl began rotating at extreme speed while the fish swam in the opposite direction. It looked like a Yin-Yang Symbol. Su Mo felt powerless as he awaited a confrontation between his Martial Soul and Yin-Yang Symbol.
The Symbol pulled the Black Hole Martial Soul towards it. When the Black Hole Martial Soul touched the symbol, the Yin-Yang Symbol collapsed into the Black Hole. The three yellow halos around his Martial Soul also began to collapse.
Su Mo was scared witless. He knew that since he came to the world of a novel and replaced the MC, he would have multiple fortuitous encounters. Still, he had been cautious and practised arduously.
He did not believe that the protag's luck would shine on him if he chose to sit still. Warrior's Promise and Su Mo were his reality now.
Su Mo was not willing to lose or let alone degrade his Martial Soul. He ran out of the cave and began to hunt every demonic beast in sight. It was the only way he could think of to save his Martial Soul. It was the quickest way to gain the Soul Essense, required to level up his Martial Soul, in this forest. The Martial Soul followed behind him while swallowing the dead beasts whole, not even leaving a bone behind.
This went on for five or six days. Su Mo was dead-tired. He had hunted down hundreds of Lv 1 demonic beasts, ranging from Class 1 to Class 4. He even killed a Class 5 Bloodclaw Bear through some quick thinking and luck. Still, he could not stop the changes occurring in his Martial Soul.
Meanwhile, Su Mo achieved major proficiency in both [Last Sword] and [Frenzy Fight] as he battled more and more beasts.
His Martial soul had already lost two yellow halos as a Yin-Yang symbol grew inside it. Suddenly his Martial Soul shuddered as the Yin-Yang symbol excluded three yellow halos. At the same time, the Black Hole Martial Soul gave out only one halo.
Su Mo sat down under a tree and felt the changes stop. He was able to recall his Martial Soul. He was pretty sure that his Martial Soul's strength had doubled from the time it was at Rank 3. Counting the total number of halos around both the Black Hole and the Yin-Yang Symbol, one could even classify it as a Rank 4 Human Class Martial Soul.
"Whatever may have happened, I think it's safe to stop now. These secret adventures really do carry a lot of dangers. How the hell do these protags enjoy living in such situations? Nuts."