Chapter 13: Mysterious Cave

After leaving the main clan hall, Wang Shenyang set off on his flying swords, determined to prove himself worthy of the challenge set before him.

Taking the scroll in one hand, he opened it, and began to read it, and he said, "Man, why do I feel that the patriarch gave me the hardest task?"

"I have to fly all the way to the neighboring sea territory."

"What a pain! This entire trip will take at least two months, which will be a huge hassle, excluding the time it's going to take to find the Cloud Breaking Beast."

Knowing that he had no choice but to try, Wang Shenyang tucked the scroll into his pocket and took off into the night.

***

As Wang Shenyang flew through the night sky, his eyes were fixated on the moonlight. He felt like he was being watched by someone or something.

It made him uncomfortable and uneasy.

As he looked down, he saw an eerie figure below—a man with a head wrapped in a black cloth.

The man seemed to be staring up at him. He could see the outline of the stranger's face. Was it just his imagination? Maybe he was just tired.

Wang Shenyang tried to push the thought away as he turned his focus back onto the road ahead.

He hadn't flown for more than 4 days when he caught sight of some lights in the distance.

There were probably several small mortal villages on some desolate island without spiritual energy. "This is my first time visiting this place," Wang Shenyang remarked to himself. He decided to land in front of one of the houses and ask if they had any news about the Cloud Breaking Beast.

"Excuse me, but I'm looking for a place called the Broken Cloud island."

The man who answered the door seemed confused.

"Broken Cloud… What kind of name is that?" Wang Shenyang explained what the Cloud Breaking Beast was. "That's not true!" The man shouted in disbelief.

"We haven't seen anything like that in our village."

"Oh, well then, thank you very much!" Wang Shenyang took off and continued his journey.

After flying for nearly a weak, he finally arrived at the shores of the Broken Cloud Island.

"Well, it looks like there's nothing here," Wang Shenyang said, disappointed. He took a deep breath and started walking along the shoreline. Suddenly, he heard a voice calling out. It sounded as though it came from somewhere faraway, in the middle of the forest.

Wang Shenyang looked around and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. However, he did notice something strange—the trees were bending over, and their branches were quivering.

"Is it an earthquake?" he wondered.

Then, he heard a low growl. It came from behind him. Wang Shenyang turned around.

The sound seemed to be getting closer. "Who's there?" he asked, frightened.

Suddenly, a giant beast leaped out of the darkness and attacked.

Wang Shenyang instinctively grabbed his swords and jumped forward, trying to defend himself.

But there was no way to fight against such a monster. Wang Shenyang rolled on the ground, desperately fighting to stay alive. His hands were covered in blood, and his clothes were torn apart.

The creature followed him, snarling and snapping its teeth. Wang Shenyang got up and ran as fast as he could. The monster chased after him, jumping on top of the trees and crashing through the branches. Wang Shenyang kept running until he reached a cliff overlooking the ocean.

"What the hell is that thing!?"

" Whatever it is, it isn't the Cloud Breaking Beast!" Wang Shenyang exclaimed.

He sat down on the edge of the cliff and stared down at the ocean.

A few seconds passed, and he looked back up. The creature had disappeared. "It was just my imagination," Wang Shenyang muttered to himself.

"That must've been a wild dog or something." Wang Shenyang walked away from the cliff and noticed a trail of footprints leading towards the waters.

"I guess I'll follow the tracks to see where they lead me."

After following the footprints for a while, Wang Shenyang came across a large cave. He stepped inside, and a gust of wind blew past him.

"Wow!" Wang Shenyang gasped.

"This place is amazing!"

The cave was filled with crystals, each one sparkling in the light. Wang Shenyang took a closer look around and found a staircase carved into the wall. He ascended the stairs, and the walls changed color.

"Wait, what? Why does this place change colors?" Wang Shenyang wondered.

"How can that possibly happen?" he muttered to himself.

At the end of the staircase, Wang Shenyang entered a room. He could hear the waves crashing against the rocks outside. Wang Shenyang knew that this was the source of the sound. The ceiling appeared to be made out of glass, and the waves reflected off it.

There were four pillars placed around the room, supporting a platform that seemed to be floating in the air.

On the other side of the room, there was another stairway leading down.

Wang Shenyang climbed down the steps and approached the platform, which had a bunch of golden orbs hanging on it.

Each orb was made of pure gold, and they all glowed brightly. Wang Shenyang was surprised to see that the orbs weren't spinning or moving in any particular direction.

He decided that he should leave them alone and walk around the room. He felt a strong feeling of déjà vu, and he realized that he'd been here before.

"A long time ago, I remember hearing something about a secret treasure hidden in a cave on a nearby island. I don't know whether this is the same place, but…" Wang Shenyang looked around the room.

"There's definitely no treasure in here."

Wang Shenyang was about to leave when he noticed a strange symbol etched into the floor. He traced it with his finger and discovered that the pattern was a map.

"This is weird. How can there be a map in a place like this?"

Wang Shenyang was so intrigued that he took out his slate and started writing down the symbols as he traced their outlines. Wang Shenyang found the symbols to be similar to the ones on the Cloud Breaking scroll. It almost seemed like these were clues to the location of the Cloud Breaking Beast nesting ground. Wang Shenyang was starting to get excited.

"If I can find the nest, I might be able to defeat the Cloud Breaking Beast!" After reading the symbols carefully, Wang Shenyang suddenly remembered something.

"Wait, I know I've seen these symbols somewhere before! What am I thinking right now? I think I've seen them at the clan library in some book about ancient ruins" Wang Shenyang's heart was racing.

If the Cloud Breaking Beast was hiding in the sea, the nesting ground must be around here.

Wang Shenyang returned the golden orb to the center of the room and headed back to the stairs. As he descended, he noticed that the walls were changing colors again.

"What is this?" Wang Shenyang was perplexed.

When he reached the bottom, he saw a book resting on a desk.

Wang Shenyang picked it up and opened it. "Maybe its some sort of record about the Cloud Breaking Beast."