Chapter 85: Digging Deep

Chapter 85: Digging Deep (55)

As a high-ranking member of the immortal market, Wei Fan had access to information channels far beyond He Song's reach. If He Song wanted to obtain more information, he had no choice but to place his hopes on Wei Fan.

However, even as he made this request, He Song had already made a decision in his heart.

Despite the fact that the immortal market was guarded by a Foundation Establishment True Person, making it infinitely safer than the outside world, He Song still decided to prepare an escape route for himself. After all, the intentions of the major power behind the rogue cultivators remained unknown.

Whether Wei Fan could provide useful information or whether True Person Bear Mountain would fight to protect the immortal market in a crisis, He Song's top priority was to ensure his own safety.

As for others, He Song only had two close friends left in Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market: Wei Fan and Zhao Lin.

The rest, such as his neighbor Lin Cong and the old man Meng Guan, had already settled in Green Wall Immortal City, as they had mentioned in their messages to him.

Since they were settled in the immortal city, He Song didn't need to worry about them.

He Song was willing to help his friends if it didn't affect his own safety, just as Wei Fan had once shielded him when he was unable to protect himself.

However, if helping others would jeopardize his own safety, He Song would have to prioritize himself.

If he couldn't help his friends without risking his own life, he would have no choice but to let them fend for themselves. After all, as long as he had enough time, He Song's strength would only grow.

If the worst came to pass, he could always avenge his friends in the future.

That said, such a scenario was unlikely. Both Wei Fan and Zhao Lin were stronger than He Song at this point. If they were in danger and needed help, He Song probably wouldn't be able to assist them anyway.

"Alright, since you've said so, I'll keep an eye out for any news. If there's any sign of trouble, I'll let you know immediately," Wei Fan replied after noticing the sudden seriousness on He Song's face.

He knew that his friend tended to be overly cautious, but since He Song had asked, and it wasn't a big deal to keep an ear out for news, Wei Fan was happy to help.

At the same time, Wei Fan, familiar with He Song's personality, sensed something unusual in his expression and began to feel a hint of wariness toward the rogue cultivators himself.

From that day on, He Song added a new task to his daily routine, aside from studying the introductory chapter of talisman crafting and cultivating: digging a hole.

Given the existence of earth escape techniques and earth-shaking techniques in this world—spells specifically designed to target underground movement—He Song couldn't be sure whether he would be able to use the earth escape technique to flee if his suspicions about the rogue cultivators turned out to be true and a Foundation Establishment True Person attacked the immortal market.

He Song wasn't willing to gamble on it.

If Foundation Establishment True Persons could use their spiritual sense to scan underground, He Song might be detected and killed instantly while trying to escape. To ensure his safety, He Song decided it would be wiser to dig a deep hole beneath his room as an escape route.

It wasn't that He Song didn't want to leave the immortal market altogether to avoid a potential Foundation Establishment attack. However, since his suspicions were still unconfirmed, he couldn't be sure whether his fears would materialize.

If the worst did happen and he hadn't had time to flee, having a hole already prepared would provide an additional layer of safety.

Given the limited information available to him, He Song couldn't be certain whether his guess was correct or whether he would have time to escape.

But if there were clear signs of impending danger, He Song would leave immediately rather than relying on the hole to save him.

The hole was simply a precaution, a backup plan. While He Song put effort into digging it, he didn't expect it to necessarily be useful.

The hole He Song dug was somewhat special. It wasn't a straight vertical shaft. From above, the floor of his quiet room appeared completely intact, with several meters of solid earth beneath it.

With his current cultivation at the fifth level of Qi Refining, He Song's earth escape technique allowed him to descend about five meters underground and move quickly through the earth. He estimated that a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator could descend up to ten meters.

When digging the hole, He Song first used the earth escape technique to descend five meters underground. Once he reached his limit, he used his storage bag to remove the soil around him.

He had emptied the storage bag specifically for this purpose, filling it with soil to create a small hollow space about five meters underground, just large enough for him to crouch in.

He then continued digging downward, filling in the soil above him as he went to ensure the ground above remained solid.

He dug dozens of meters down, eventually creating a room-sized space. There, he stored some food and other supplies, completing the hideout.

With this hole prepared, if He Song were ever trapped in the immortal market, he could use the earth escape technique to descend five meters underground and then continue digging downward while filling in the soil above him.

Once he reached the room-sized space, he could set up a formation. Even if a Foundation Establishment True Person used their spiritual sense to scan the area, they likely wouldn't detect anything dozens of meters underground, as the soil above would appear completely normal.

As for Qi Refining cultivators searching for him, they would have no chance of finding He Song. Who would expect that he had dug a hole dozens of meters deep to hide? Even rogue cultivators would leave empty-handed.

The only downside was that He Song's storage bag was too small. It couldn't hold much soil, so he had to make multiple trips to remove the dirt. Fortunately, with the earth escape technique, this wasn't too much of a hassle.

The digging process took about ten days. Once the hole was complete, He Song stopped paying attention to it.

The hole was merely a precaution, a backup plan born out of caution. If things took a turn for the worse, He Song would flee without hesitation.

(End of Chapter)