Free Web NovelChapter 405: Chapter 392: Underground Cavern
Looking at Cyan Treasure up close today, its Essence, Qi, and Spirit, as well as its overall disposition, were all progressing toward the Three-star level.
This was the critical period to use a serum with High-star Potential to transform the quality of its Blood Qi, allowing it to develop a High-star Snake Pet heart that functioned like an engine, unleashing even greater life potential.
Otherwise, the Little Cyan Snake would find it difficult to break through its species’ evolutionary limit.
He knew that ordinary Little Cyan Snakes were not qualified to evolve to the Three-star level.
Unless it stopped being a Little Cyan Snake, directly injecting it with a large amount of Alien Race blood, replacing all of its own, and undergoing a complete, fundamental transformation.
But the cost of doing so was too high, no less than contracting a new Pet Beast. It was unnecessary.
That was the path a normal person would think of, and the one most had taken.
The answer was that it didn’t work. There were no examples on the market of a Little Cyan Snake evolving to the Three-star level.
Even if there were, it would no longer be a Little Cyan Snake.
But the talented students of Wenquxing University often pursued evolutionary paths that no one had ever walked before.
They were unwilling to simply re-tread the evolutionary paths others had already paved. At least, the geniuses he had met all shared this quality.
"I’ve read a few of your papers, too.
"It’s good to insist on its pure self, so don’t worry. I promise the serum I’m giving you has also been rigorously screened and purified. It won’t affect the Little Cyan Snake’s original bloodline."
Chief Arno said.
"Thank you, Chief," Gu Ming said.
"To be of help, I suggest we go eight hundred meters deeper. Let me see what the aura of the Illusion Realm is like down there."
The eight hundred meters Gu Ming mentioned was the dividing line for the second sublevel.
In his Dream Space, the maximum range of the first sublevel was a cavern eight hundred meters deep.
Chief Arno hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Eight hundred meters underground was, for the time being, still within the archaeological team’s controllable range.
Besides, the fact that he had to invite a Low-star student like Gu Ming to provide technical support clearly showed that the entire team had exhausted all other options.
The High-star Beastmasters were helpless against the deeper Illusion Realms.
He had invited the student over with a ’let’s just see what happens’ attitude. Seeing that the young man wasn’t afraid, he became more inclined to let him give it a try.
After all, none of the geniuses from Wenquxing University could be underestimated.
Perhaps they possessed extraordinary Perception Abilities that ordinary Beastmasters lacked.
For example, being highly sensitive to the Memory Essence of the Illusion Realms was something veteran Beastmasters didn’t have. Gu Ming not only possessed this sensitivity but also knew how to master this Talent. He was exactly who the team needed.
Over the next few hundred meters, Gu Ming and Lu You kept their Divine Senses connected to Mianmian’s body the entire time. They used its magnified senses to perceive the flow and presence of the Memory Essence surging like an undercurrent within the underground cavern.
In Mianmian’s Perception, bands of Memory Essence, like the aurora borealis, drifted everywhere inside the cavern.
Although they usually didn’t move, the group still had to carefully navigate around them, which reduced the team’s descent Speed by ten to twenty percent.
Chief Arno had no complaints about this and deliberately slowed his pace to accommodate the exploration steps of Gu Ming and his partner.
When it came to exploring underground caverns, Gu Ming had already taught Mianmian the Spiritual Fragment Analysis Method and had even used the Dream Space to help it train to the Great Success Realm.
Mianmian was a Spiritual Pet Beast to begin with, so it was naturally sensitive to the aura here. Combined with its daily explorations in terrifying dreamscapes, even if it wasn’t perfectly proficient, it had become very familiar with the aura of Memory Essence. This was the advantage Gu Ming’s group had in this exploration.
However, upon reaching the eight-hundred-meter sublevel, the number of Memory Essence bands in Mianmian’s vision increased, and their distribution appeared much more layered.
In the section below, even with advance warnings, they would still run into an Illusion Realm every two or three steps.
Even if they changed their route, they might just run into the bands of the next section.
A smaller Pet Beast would be able to plan a route through.
But if the human Beastmasters didn’t follow along, it was tantamount to abandoning their brains and letting the Pet Beasts walk to their own doom.
Pet Beasts lacked the rich judgment and experience of their human Beastmasters; the humans were their brains.
Separating the "brain" from the "body" was a major taboo for Beastmasters.
Gu Ming immediately realized the problem and reported it to Chief Arno.
Upon hearing this, Chief Arno said:
"This section does indeed have interference from the Illusion Realm, but for Six or Seven-stars Levels Beastmasters like us, it’s merely a mild Spiritual Attack.
"You only have the foundation of Three-star Spiritual Power, so you can’t withstand this kind of attack... but it’s alright, I have a way."
He released a Ghost Soul holding a Jellyfish Shield and muttered an incantation at Gu Ming, applying a transparent Spiritual Blessing.
Gu Ming felt a layer of heavy armor envelop his body. It wasn’t metal armor, but armor that armed him down to the soul, giving his very soul weight.
"This is the Soul Heavy Armor Technique our side prepared. It allows you to advance through a storm of Illusion Techniques and can, at the very least, negate half the attack power of a Six-star Illusion Technique."
Hearing this, Gu Ming immediately shook his head.
"No, that’s just a stopgap measure. It treats the symptoms, not the root cause. When the storm below grows more and more terrifying and I can no longer move, we’ll be trapped inside, unable to get out.
"I imagine the professors trapped inside are in the same situation. They pushed forward as long as they could, but when they couldn’t move anymore, the path behind them was cut off, leaving them unable to retreat."
Gu Ming’s words left Chief Arno and the others speechless, but no one refuted him.
It seemed Gu Ming was right.
This was the reason why all the High-star Beastmasters were stuck inside.
The ever-intensifying Illusion Realm was like boiling a frog in lukewarm water.
People could get in, but they couldn’t get out.
The environment they faced going in was not the same difficulty as the one they faced coming out.
"Then what do you have in mind?"
"I plan to improve the Cultivating Technique route of the Spiritual Fragment Analysis Method."
Gu Ming planned to borrow the concept of Relay Cultivation, having five Pet Beasts cultivate together to enhance Mianmian’s Spiritual Detection ability.
’No, if I were bolder, I could have even higher-Star Level Beastmasters participate in the relay cycle to expand the detection range. Perhaps we could map out a safe route.’
However, Relay Cultivation emphasized bonds. Unfamiliar Pet Beasts needed time to familiarize themselves with each other’s bodies using their Divine Sense. Otherwise, their Cultivation would be clumsy and inefficient.
Gu Ming cautiously took a step forward onto the next level of the floor. He instantly sensed that the aura and pressure of the entire cavern had deepened, and the burden on his shoulders grew heavier.
He breathed heavily until the system displayed a prompt—"Sublevel Two geographical information has been recorded"—and only then did he pull back, saying:
"I have an inspiration for modifying a Cultivation Technique. Why don’t you all hear me out?
"If you can coordinate with my Mianmian for Relay Cultivation, it might be possible to continue exploring safely."
Hearing this, the researchers looked at each other in dismay.
"Alright. We’ll trust you," Chief Arno said, stepping forward.
Gu Ming was a little surprised, but it also felt reasonable.
He had already demonstrated his strength on the way here, not once encountering an Illusion Realm, which had left the archaeological team utterly astonished.
They had to understand that when they advanced through this place, it was practically one Illusion Realm per step.
Even after they had walked the path many times and knew it well, allowing newcomers to bypass certain sections, once they reached the areas five hundred meters down and deeper, they would still hit an Illusion Realm every ten steps, with no way to avoid it.
But under Gu Ming’s leadership, on his very first time, it was one thing that their pace was slow and the route was bizarre; what was most astonishing was that they had never been attacked by an Illusion Realm.
This was the basis for their trust in him. Without this ability, there was no way they would have humbled themselves to assist an Insect Baby that hadn’t even completed its Two-star Evolution.
