CHAPTER 48: RUINS FROM THE PAST —ARE THEY REAL?

Ruo Fei gasped, then glanced sideways, staring intently at Li Shen’s face. This incident happened suddenly, with information about Nature Baby Fruit coming at the same time as the Huang Valley Trials.

"Li Shen?" Ruo Fei asked softly.

Li Shen turned his head and gripped Ruo Fei’s hand tightly. He smiled broadly as he looked into Ruo Fei’s eyes, both of them gazing at each other with the same affection.

"Ye Fa, you go and attend the Huang Valley Trials. Don’t respond to any news about my death," Li Shen replied. Ye Fa clasped his hands together and nodded obediently.

The man in front of Ye Fa gently tapped his magic pouch, bringing out a blue token and handing it to Ye Fa. The woman took it and asked about its use.

"Every tournament will always have conflicts. The Qing Palace may not intervene in your conflicts. If that happens, break this token and my pet beast will appear to help you," replied Li Shen. Ye Fa nodded in understanding.

"Okay. I understand."

After listening to Li Shen’s advice, Ye Fa left with Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai. The three flew steadily from Azure Hill and arrived at Gu City. Li Shen watched them leave until their spiritual energy traces disappeared. Now, it was Li Shen’s turn to leave with Li Xun to obtain the Nature Baby Fruit.

"Alright, we must go," explained Li Shen, looking toward Ruo Fei and Gu Mei.

Ruo Fei stepped forward, assisted by her loyal servant. Both of Ruo Fei’s hands held Li Shen and Li Xun’s hands, gazing intently at the small family she loved so dearly.

"Be careful, both of you," requested Ruo Fei.

Li Shen nodded slowly, Li Xun stretched out both hands and hugged her mother tightly. Ruo Fei did the same, Gu Mei and Ruo Fei’s loyal servant could only remain silent as they watched the warmth of Li Shen’s small family.

After saying their goodbyes, Li Shen and Li Xun left Azure Hill and headed for the location where the Nature Baby Fruit was said to be found.

"One of the members of the Li Family came from Bai City. He obtained a secret map of the underground, which is said to hold many legendary treasures from the past, including the Nature Baby Fruit," said Li Xun.

Li Xun patted his magic pouch and took out the scroll. He handed it to Li Shen, who immediately opened the scroll and spread it out.

The title on the map read Bai Zhen Mine Cave. According to the short history written on the map, Bai Zhen Mine Cave was famous throughout the continent for its valuable treasuresburied there for thousands of years.

"There’s a possibility that the Nature Baby Fruit is there," explained Li Xun.

"Have you sent anyone there to investigate directly?" asked Li Shen. Li Xun shook his head.

"Even though the minimum cultivation level required to enter is Core Formation, they were attacked by monsters inhabiting the mine cave," explained Li Xun.

"Monsters?"

"I suspect that the monsters came from a cultivation technique that has been active for thousands of years," said Li Xun.

Li Shen continued to listen. For the past month, it seemed that Li Xun had been working hard, using her power and connections to find the Nature Baby Fruit. In the end, all of Li Xun’s efforts paid off when they found the location where the item was thought to be stored.

From afar, Li Xun and Li Shen could see the location of Bai City. Though the main streets were crowded with people, Bai City, controlled by the Bai Family, had not yet become one of the major cities in Qing Yan.

The two landed at the city gate, their presence attracting the attention of the cultivators and merchants there. One by one, the merchants approached, asking them about their reason for coming.

"Welcome to Bai City. Are you looking for something, Fellow Daoist?" asked one of the cultivators, who also worked as a city tour guide.

Li Shen nodded and showed the scroll map to the cultivator in front of him. "I want to go to Bai Zhen Mine Cave. Can you take me there?"

The cultivator nodded in agreement. They said they could take Li Shen and his friend to Bai Zhen Mine Cave. However, there was still a fee they had to pay for the service.

Li Shen didn’t mind. He gave one high-level spirit stone to the city tour guide cultivator. The man was shocked to see a high-level spirit stone in front of his eyes for the first time.

"Sure. I’ll be happy to take you there," replied the cultivator.

Li Shen nodded. He and Li Xun left the place, following the man who was escorting them.

The three walked along the main road of the city until they were completely outside the city gates.

The cultivator said clearly that the location of Bai Zhen’s Mine Cave was east of the city, secluded in a forest filled with dense and wet trees like a tropical forest.

"Is this the right way to the cave?" asked Li Shen.

"Of course. You are newcomers here, you don’t know anything about this place," said the cultivator.

Li Xun glanced to the side, looking intently at Li Shen. Li Shen nodded, telling Xun’er to trust the man completely. If he seemed suspicious, Li Shen would easily kill him.

The two stepped into the forest, passed a small river, and stood in a large circular area. In front of them was a closed stone gate, which intrigued Li Shen.

"This is it, the gate to Bai Zhen’s Cave," explained the cultivator, making Li Shen gasp.

"But why is the door—"

"Closed? That’s because none of us can transmit enough spiritual energy to be detected by the gate," interrupted the practitioner.

Li Xun summoned a ball of spiritual energy in her palm, intending to open the gate by projecting her power to be detected by it. However, there was no sign that the stone gate would open.

"Damn," Li Xun cursed.

"It’s useless. The last time this door opened was when the Three Great Cultivator Families came and worked together," the man revealed.

"Relying on two Middle Nascent Soul realm practitioners isn’t wise. You’re just wasting your time here," the man explained again.

Li Shen didn’t listen to him. He stretched out his hand in front of him, releasing his spiritual energy directly onto the glass stone embedded in the stone gate wall.

Previously, the glass stone had not responded when Li Xun had unleashed her power. However, now it changed drastically. The glass stone glowed bright white when Li Shen released his spiritual energy, surprising the city tour guide cultivator.

"You can open it by yourself?" asked the practitioner.

"I spent a lot of spiritual energy to open this stone gate. Hopefully, it will be worth it," explained Li Shen.

The ground shook and birds flew away, the stone gate opened sideways, revealing a blue portal leading to the Bai Zhen Mine.

"The Bai Zhen Mine Cave is open?" asked the practitioner.

"Let’s go, Xun’er."

"Okay."

Li Shen and Li Xun flew into the portal. The portal instantly disappeared and the stone gate closed again.

The practitioner could only stare in disbelief. He had actually witnessed the gate being opened by the power of a single cultivator.

"He... he has power that is even more terrifying than the Three Great Cultivator Families," the man explained.

"I must report this to Master Shen Bai."