Chapter 25: A Hidden Opportunity

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: A Hidden Opportunity

Some time had passed.

When Li Jian woke up, the first thing he felt was pain.

"Uhh..."

His whole body ached, especially his back and right arm.

The smell of damp earth and moss filled his nose.

Somewhere nearby, water was dripping at a steady pace.

He slowly opened his eyes and look around.

"Where am I...?"

They were no longer in the forest above.

A dim cave surrounded them.

Faint light leaked in from a crack high above, just enough to show uneven stone walls and a shallow underground stream running along one side.

Broken vines hung from the opening they had fallen through.

Li Jian pushed himself up with a hiss.

"Senior Brother Han? Senior Sister Su?"

And then, a low groan answered him from the left.

Han Jin was sitting against the cave wall, one hand pressed to his shoulder.

His robes were torn, and there was a shallow claw mark across his arm, but his eyes were already open and alert.

"You’re finally awake."

A little farther away, Su Qin was also stirring.

She sat up slowly, one hand supporting herself against the stone floor.

Her hair was messy, and there was a scrape along her cheek, but she did not look seriously injured.

"...Where is this?" she asked hoarsely.

Han Jin looked up at the crack they had fallen through.

Distant wolf roars could still be heard from far above, but they were muffled and no longer closing in.

"A hidden cave under the cliff," he said. "The pack didn’t follow us down."

Li Jian let out a quiet breath and checked his body.

Besides bruises and a strained arm, he was still intact.

His 3rd Stage cultivation had not been enough to land safely, but Han Jin’s pull and the vines above had clearly saved him from a worse fall.

He glanced at the two of them, then at the dark cave stretching deeper inside.

’We escaped the pack. But we also dropped into an unknown place.’

Su Qin wiped the dirt from her face and frowned.

"Those wolves were not part of the mission. A peak 9th Stage alpha leading a pack near a mortal village...? That kind of thing should have been reported already."

Han Jin’s expression stayed cold.

"Someone either hid the information... or we were unlucky enough to step into their territory after killing one of them."

Li Jian sat there in silence for a moment, eyes lowering slightly.

Zhao Ming arranged the mission.

But a whole pack like that... even he might not have expected it.

Or maybe he did.

The dripping water continued in the cave.

Outside and above, the wolf pack still lingered somewhere in the forest.

Below, the three of them were trapped in a dark, unfamiliar hole with no clear way back up.

Li Jian slowly stood and looked toward the deeper part of the cave.

"Since we can’t climb back immediately... we should check what’s inside first."

Han Jin did not object.

After confirming that the wolves above were not coming down, he stood up, circulated his qi to suppress the pain in his shoulder, and took the lead with his sword drawn.

Su Qin followed close behind, while Li Jian stayed at the rear.

The cave sloped downward.

The air grew colder and damper the deeper they went.

Faint moss glowed weakly along the walls, giving off just enough light to see a few steps ahead.

The underground stream beside them continued to flow, occasionally widening into small pools before narrowing again.

For a while, there was nothing unusual.

Then Su Qin suddenly stopped.

"Wait."

She crouched near the side of the stream and picked up a small plant growing between the wet stones.

Its leaves were dark green, and a faint medicinal scent rose from its stem.

Han Jin glanced over.

"That’s... Nightshade Grass?"

Su Qin nodded, a rare trace of surprise appearing on her face.

"It is. This kind of herb usually grows in places with mixed water and earth spiritual energy. It’s useful for treating meridian injuries."

Li Jian’s eyes flickered.

’Meridian injuries...?’

That was exactly the kind of thing he had suffered more than once because of Zheng Qingyao’s experimental pills.

They continued forward more carefully after that.

The Nightshade Grass was only the beginning.

Further in, the spiritual energy in the air became noticeably denser.

A few more herbs appeared along the stream... nothing heaven-defying, but all of them were rare enough that outer disciples would fight over even one stalk.

Han Jin’s expression gradually turned serious.

"This cave is not ordinary."

The passage soon opened into a wider underground chamber.

In the center of the chamber was a small pool.

Unlike the muddy stream behind them, the water here was unusually clear, and a thin layer of pale mist floated above its surface.

The spiritual energy around the pool was much richer than anywhere they had passed so far.

Su Qin walked closer, her eyes brightening.

"This is a spirit pool."

It was not a true spiritual spring of high grade, but for cultivators at the Qi Refinement realm, it was already a considerable opportunity.

Sitting beside it to cultivate would clearly give better results than absorbing ordinary spirit stones.

Li Jian also noticed something else.

At the far side of the pool, half-buried in stone and moss, was an old stone platform.

A cracked jade slip and two dusty bottles sat on top of it, as if someone had left them here long ago and never returned.

Han Jin walked over first and picked up the jade slip.

After sending in a trace of spiritual sense, his eyes narrowed.

"A low-grade Qi Refining technique... and a pair of recovery pills."

Su Qin leaned in to look as well.

"The technique isn’t special, but the pills still have some medicinal power left. In a place like this, that’s already a gain."

Li Jian stood behind them, quietly looking at the spirit pool, the herbs along the way, and the leftover items on the stone platform.

’We almost died to a wolf pack. And then we fell straight into a hidden cave with a spirit pool and leftover resources.’

He slowly smiled.

"I didn’t think a disaster would really turn into an opportunity."

For someone at the 3rd Stage of Qi Refinement, this was exactly the kind of opportunity he needed.

Not some shocking inheritance that would bring disaster, but something he could actually absorb and use.

Han Jin put the jade slip down and looked around the chamber.

"We’ll rest here for now. Recover first. After that, we can decide whether to keep going deeper or find another way out."

Everyone nodded.

Li Jian walked to the edge of the clear water, crouched down, and dipped his fingers in.

A cool, pure spiritual energy immediately seeped into his skin.

His eyes glint slightly.

’Since we fell down here anyway... I won’t leave empty-handed.’

Han Jin and Su Qin sat down near the spirit pool first.

After the chase and the fall, both of them needed to recover.

Li Jian did not compete with them for the best spot.

He simply sat a little to the side, took one of the Nightshade Grass stalks, and began slowly refining the medicinal energy while keeping watch.

To him, this arrangement was natural.

Han Jin had blocked the wolf pack.

Su Qin had protected him more than once during the escape.

Letting the two of them recover first cost him nothing.

But just as that thought settled, the system suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Detected: Han Jin has received a clear opportunity and benefit through the Host.]

[Favor Debt from Han Jin: 1,395 → 1,545]

[Ding!]

[Detected: Su Qin has received a clear opportunity and benefit through the Host.]

[Favor Debt from Su Qin: 1,050 → 1,200]

"Oh?"