Chapter 14: Hidden Chamber

The book read, "On the second month of spring, I found a map that indicated that there was a lost ancient cultivator's mansion near Broken Cloud Island, which is known for having a large number of breaking cloud beasts. The owner was an extremely powerful cultivator from the Northern Sea who left behind many precious treasures. Unfortunately, he also had some unusual habits. He would disappear at night and come back covered in blood. When he wasn't attacking people, he spent his time collecting wealth and meditating in the mountains."

Wang Shenyang kept reading.

"One day, he went missing, never to be seen again. I always suspected that he had died, but I couldn't bear to accept that. So, I decided to investigate further. One day, I found a passage in his study that led to a secret room. Inside, there was a small blue crystal. I smashed it on purpose to make sure it didn't work anymore, but it wouldn't break. I ended up using my strongest technique to shatter it. However, when I removed the fragments, I found that there were still parts of the crystal left inside. I decided to keep them instead of throwing them away. That was when I first sensed the presence of the Breaking Cloud Beast. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but once I remembered what the cultivator wrote on his map, I knew I had to go to the island and investigate further. I brought some of the fragments back with me and placed them in this room to protect them from the elements. Since then, I've only ever managed to destroy one fragment."

Wang Shenyang continued reading, and he noticed that the last portion of the book was missing.

"Who knows how much information has been lost due to the damage caused by the passage of time? If I can kill the beast, I'll return for the rest of the books later."

Wang Shenyang closed the book and put it aside.

He noticed another note lying on the desk—it was written in a different handwriting, and it read:

"Master, if you find this note, then that means I have completely demonized myself and wasn't able to find the ancient cultivator's mansion that my grandfather spoke of."

"This note seems to have been written a couple of years ago." Wang Shenyang sighed heavily and wondered what happened to the young man who had written it.

He remembered his grandfather's words: "One needs to be careful when taking shortcuts in cultivation; if you're too eager, your inner heart demons will trick you and make sure you don't find your way back."

Wang Shenyang now had an understanding of what that meant.

Wang Shenyang had an understandable look as he picked up the book he had just read for future reference, but as he picked it up, he couldn't help but notice a piece of paper slide out from between the pages.

Curiously, Wang Shenyang looked at the paper and could see that it was a map of some sort, "This must be the map created from the patterns that leads to the ancient cultivator's mansion."

Excitedly, Wang Shenyang put the book down and picked up the map in hand. The map was full of strange symbols, and Wang Shenyang knew that these must be the clues that he needed to locate the mansion.

"When I complete that mission at hand, I'll go ask my grandfather to help me locate this ancient cultivator's mansion." With that thought in mind, Wang Shenyang put the map carefully away and opened the book again to continue his search for the clues necessary to locate the mansion Wang Shenyang continued to search the book for any hints and read it with great interest until he decided to stop as the sun had set and the darkness of night was closing in.

After spending the night in the cave, Wang Shenyang felt refreshed and ready to go on. He put the book back in its place and opened the door.

The sky was clear, and the moon was shining bright. Wang Shenyang took a deep breath of the fresh air and headed for the island's beach.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of waves crashing against the rocks. Wang Shenyang stopped and listened closely to the sound that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

He noticed a group of strange creatures swimming toward him. They looked like fish, except their eyes were red. Their scales were silver, and they had long tails.

Wang Shenyang quickly hid behind a rock and waited for them to pass by.

Once he was certain that they were gone, Wang Shenyang cautiously approached the water and peered underneath. Sure enough, there was a large opening in the rocky area below.

"Hmm… This looks promising. Maybe there are even more secrets under this island." Wang Shenyang walked over to the entrance and peeked inside.

Immediately, Wang Shenyang saw a massive chamber that stretched far beyond his sight.

In the middle of the cavern stood a huge golden statue, surrounded by smaller statues.

The entire room was illuminated by the light coming from above, making everything glow brilliantly. He knew that this was the lair of some sort of tribal-based demonic creatures.

"Now all I need to do is figure out how to get in." Wang Shenyang walked along the tunnel and came upon another room.

Within the room lay three objects.

One was a jade pendant shaped like a serpent's head, another was a golden sword that shone brightly, and the third object was a black stone with an intricate design engraved into it.

"These must be the pieces required to open the door. Which one should I take?" Wang Shenyang pondered this question as he looked around the room.

"Perhaps the pendant will allow me entry after being inserted into the keyhole?"

Wang Shenyang grabbed the pendant and stuck it into the hole.

Instantly, a blinding light enveloped him and sent chills running down his spine. Wang Shenyang instinctively held onto his chest. His heart raced wildly in fear.

"It worked! Now, I'm going to try the sword next!"

Wang Shenyang drew the blade and stabbed it into the keyhole.

The same blinding light engulfed Wang Shenyang as he gripped his chest tightly, afraid that the light would burn his skin off.

Just as Wang Shenyang began to feel dizzy, he heard a loud screech, followed by a thunderous roar.

Wang Shenyang looked up to see hundreds of bats flying toward him.

He panicked and tried desperately to run, but he tripped on the uneven ground.

He fell face-first onto the ground and rolled around trying to avoid the swarm of angry bats. Wang Shenyang frantically crawled away and eventually got back up on his feet. He turned to see thousands of bats swarming around him, each of them carrying a dagger in its mouth.

He quickly ran his qi and released countless blue water bubbles at the thousands of bats. He then shot dozens of lightning bolts at them, sending them flying in every direction.

Wang Shenyang used his qi to create a wall of ice, which shielded him from the horde of enraged bats. He breathed deeply and slowly regained control over himself. He looked around and realized that the cave was filled with dead bodies.

Wang Shenyang was horrified to see that most of the corpses belonged to human mortals others were of aqutic creatures.

Some of them had been mutilated while others were torn apart limb from limb. There was no doubt that these creatures had killed everyone in the cave.

Wang Shenyang was disgusted at seeing such atrocities committed against humans, especially those who did not deserve death. But Wang Shenyang's rage soon gave way to curiosity as he wondered why these monsters attacked innocent people.

Was it because of the Breaking Cloud Beast? Wang Shenyang thought to himself. He knew that the Breaking Cloud Beasts were vicious predators, but he hadn't expected these creatures to be so barbaric.

He had always assumed that these beings would be intelligent enough to understand the value of life.

He decided that there might be something valuable here worth investigating further.

After examining the scene for several minutes, Wang Shenyang finally made his decision. "I am going to enter this cave and retrieve whatever treasure lies within before killing the beast."

Wang Shenyang proceeded deeper into the cave until he found a stairwell leading upward.

It was dark and gloomy inside, but Wang Shenyang was able to navigate through the maze without incident. Soon enough, he found a room that contained a giant throne carved out from a single block of red marble.

A pedestal rested in front of the chair, and atop it sat a beautiful woman dressed in a crimson robe. She appeared to be in her early twenties, with smooth white skin and almond-shaped eyes. Her hair was crimson red and flowed past her waist. On top of the pedestal, she wore a crown made of gold.

As Wang Shenyang watched, the queen rose gracefully from the throne and started walking toward him. The Queen stared straight into Wang Shenyang's eyes and smiled gently. "My name is Queen Guling, and I welcome you to our humble abode, human," said the woman in a voice as sweet and gentle as silk.

As Wang Shenyang gazed upon this mysterious beauty, he couldn't help noticing that the aura surrounding her radiated with power.

"What makes you think I have business with you?" Wang Shenyang asked coldly.

The Queen chuckled softly and replied, "You are correct, my young friend. You do not belong among us. However, we cannot simply let you leave either. We don't want to lose a powerful ally now, can we?"

The Queen raised both hands and cast her spell upon Wang Shenyang.

Immediately, Wang Shenyang's body began to tremble uncontrollably. His limbs grew weak, and his vision blurred.