Martial Arts: Starting with Creating a Genius Persona

Chapter 49 Escaping the Cave

Ding!

Another notification sound.

[Qilin Bloodline (Green→Blue)]: Your bloodline makes the beast with the bloodline of an ancient divine beast feel close to you, and it regards you as one of its own.

New effect: All offensive martial arts skills now have a burning effect.

Lu Yuan looked down at his palm.

The lingering heat of the previous heat still lingered in my palms, and my fingertips were slightly red.

He suddenly understood.

So all of these changes were brought about by the upgrade of the entry.

Looking back again.

Lele had already run out from behind the stone ridge.

"You have ancient blood?"

"Ancient mythical beast?... "

Lu Yuan recalled his previous fantasy about the Qilin.

"You're not a Qilin, are you?"

He crouched down and looked at it.

My gaze swept back and forth between its round body, drooping ears, and those few tufts of red mane.

"Are you really a Qilin?"

He turned Lele over to look at her belly, then turned her back over to look at her paws.

It doesn't look like it at all.

What does the legendary Qilin look like?

It has a dragon's head and deer's antlers, lion's eyes and tiger's back, soaring through the clouds and mist, and its whole body is engulfed in flames.

Moreover, the Qilin in the illusion just now was also incredibly majestic and imposing.

However, this little thing in front of me couldn't even run fast, let alone fly.

He then pried open the skin around Lele's mouth to check its teeth.

"It just means it hurts a bit when it bites!"

Lele cooperated by sticking out her tongue and licking between his fingers.

"Come on, little Qilin, bare your teeth and be fierce."

He put Lele down, took two steps back, and made a provocative gesture.

Lele yawned.

He was yawning halfway through when it suddenly jumped up and yawned on his left hand again.

This time the skin wasn't broken, only two rows of shallow teeth marks were left.

After it let go, it tilted its head and winked at Lu Yuan.

It's as if it's saying, "I've finished being fierce, what else are you dissatisfied with?"

Lu Yuan looked at the two rows of light marks on his left hand, and then at its smug expression.

He suddenly chuckled.

"Okay. You probably really aren't a Qilin."

It might just be some kind of dog from ancient times.

But listen to me—if you bite me again, I'll stew you.

Lele pricked up one ear and twitched it, indicating that she had heard.

He smiled again and waved at it.

I patted his head.

He crouched down, picked up the puppy, and tucked it into his arms. Then he stood up and started looking for a way out.

The man and the dog started causing a ruckus inside the cave.

Lele poked her head out of her arms and jumped down.

Upon discovering that Lu Yuan was tapping along the stone wall piece by piece in search of a loose spot, it also began to use its front paws to pry at the stone wall.

A man and a dog, exploring together.

We went around to the back of the iron tree.

We discovered a side cave, but the stone walls at the entrance were completely dark, with no luminous crystals.

The floor inside the cave was slippery, with traces of water washing over it.

Lu Yuan stopped and looked down into the cave.

Bottomless.

He crouched down and touched the ground. The stone surface was steeply sloping, like a slide, extending into the darkness beyond his sight.

Just as he turned around to retreat,

The stone beneath my feet suddenly cracked, and I slid down the steep slope without any warning.

Lele poked half her body out from the edge of the cave entrance, her two ears perked up, watching Lu Yuan slide into the depths of darkness.

After hesitating for a moment, he pushed off with his hind legs and leaped into the darkness.

...

at the same time.

Inside the main hall of the Iron Bone Sect.

Tie Qianshan stood with his hands behind his back, his expression solemn.

Tie Heng stood in front of him, like a child who had done something wrong, not daring to say a word.

"Tell me, what's the progress? Have you found the person?"

Tie Qianshan was the first to speak.

"Not yet. We've already sent disciples to search the back mountain! Two days have passed now, if..."

Tie Heng hadn't finished speaking yet.

This was met with a rebuttal from Tie Qianshan.

"What if? What if what?"

"I just wanted you to check out his talent and, while you're at it, refine his meridians... Did I expect you to lose him?"

"Tie Heng... Tie Heng, what can I say about you? How did you arrange things?! So many inner disciples couldn't keep an eye on one newcomer? You just watched him walk into the deep waters?"

Faced with the sect leader's almost roaring rebuke.

Tie Heng didn't dare to utter a single word in rebuttal.

From his words, Tie Heng vaguely sensed that ever since Lu Yuan won the competition, the sect leader had become particularly concerned about him.

This kind of concern.

This was something the sect leader had never done to any of his other disciples before.

However, Tie Heng never dared to ask any more questions.

"Yes, Sect Master. I'll have someone expand the search area further."

"If it was swept away by the undercurrent in the pool, it should be found in other places on the back mountain."

Tie Qianshan remained silent, only nodding slightly in tacit agreement with Tie Heng's suggestion.

After obtaining Tie Qianshan's permission, Tie Heng left silently.

The empty hall was left with only Tie Qianshan.

He paced nervously in the hall.

"Lu Yuan... before we confirm your bloodline, you absolutely must not get into any trouble."

......

a few days later.

Inside the cave.

How much time had passed in the darkness was unknown.

Lu Yuan only remembered sliding down that steep stone path, his back scraping against the wet, slippery stone surface.

All I could hear were the sounds of rubble rolling down and Lele's voice coming from not far behind me.

When he finally stopped, the surroundings were so dark it was as if they were filled with ink, and there was no difference between having his eyes open or closed.

The air was filled with the smell of damp earth and minerals.

Occasionally, water droplets would fall from above, their sound echoing in the empty cave.

There was no light, no road signs, and nothing to determine direction.

He tucked Lele into his arms, one hand gripping the stone wall, and groped his way forward in the darkness.

The stone wall was cold, and in some places there were uneven edges.

With each step, he would first stretch out his foot to probe in front of him, making sure it wasn't a deep pit before taking another step.

The speed is outrageously slow.

For a long time, there was no sunlight or sound, and it was impossible to distinguish between day and night. The only way to estimate the passage of time was by the degree of hunger in one's stomach.

When we got sleepy, we would curl up together with Lele and take a nap. When we woke up, we would continue to feel our way forward along the stone wall.

The only comfort in the darkness was the soft, furry touch in my arms.

It would occasionally nudge his chin with its head, and occasionally pat the back of his hand gently with its paw.

Lu Yuan felt that if it weren't for this little thing keeping him company, it would only be a matter of time before he went crazy after being alone in pure darkness for so long.

I don't know how long it took.

Finally, a faint glimmer of light appeared ahead.

Lu Yuan quickened his pace. The light ahead grew larger and larger, from a pinhead to a fist, and finally to a complete hole.

He walked up to the light, and in front of him was a stone wall weathered and cracked.

Rock-Smashing Palm!

With a single palm strike, the stone wall shattered, sending fragments flying, and sunlight flooded into the depths of the cave like a burst dam.

He squinted and slowly walked out of the shattered hole.

Outside was a vast plain.

The lush green grass stretched to the horizon, and in the distance, a dense, continuous forest could be seen, with several low hills faintly visible further away.

He stood in this vast expanse of land and sky and took a deep breath.

"They're finally out!"

Just then, a childish voice came from not far away, the voice was incredibly clear and crisp.

"Big brother! What are you doing here!"

Lu Yuan saw a little girl carrying a basket filled with freshly picked mushrooms.

Lu Yuan knew that girl.

It was the little girl he had rescued on Suzaku Street earlier.

"Daddy, come quick! Ya Ya has found her big brother!"