Qing Shui held onto Luan Luan’s hands and walked closer to the high entrance. Only passing Flying Beasts and attentive passerbys would notice it; no one would recognise one jutting point amidst the endless cliffs and mountains.
The cave was dimly lit, but there was a top quality Light Stone on the ceiling, shining like a legendary luminous pearl. Turn a bend and the interior would appear to be as if it were a great hall.
To be precise, the cave dwelling was not very big compared to the Thousand Buddha Cave – this cave did not even amount to half of it. The cave was supported by four ten-meter-high pillars that were like Sky Pillars.
There would sometimes be birds flying through the spacious hall. Qing Shui had even seen a small pangolin passing by. Bird droppings dotted the ground. It seemed that fowls and pangolin-like wild beasts inhabited this cave.
“Daddy, it’s fun to play here. We can find lots of bird eggs.” Luan Luan remarked as her large, bright eyes glanced at the clefts on the stone walls and possible places of birds’ nests.
Qing Shui was tickled, the fun Luan Luan was referring to was picking birds’ eggs.
What was this? How could there be a gigantic hall here, on an inconspicuous cliff – could it be a tomb? Qing Shui scanned his surroundings.
He did not notice anything special, nor discover the statues that Luan Luan had mentioned, even after scouring the cave a second time.
“Luan Luan, where’s the burly man you talked about? I don’t see him”, Qing Shui watched the little lass busy herself. She was throwing stones at a plausible spot for a bird’s nest, and did appear to get bored.
“Oh that, it’s there.” The little lass pointed at a stone wall.
Seeing how puzzled Qing Shui appeared, Luan Luan skipped over happily and pressed a small, smooth stone pillar that was jutting out. With a chirring sound, a door appeared ajar before Qing Shui.
The space within was much smaller than the hall. It was only the size of 3 rooms, although the height was the same as the hall’s. The huge statue Luan Luan had mentioned came into sight.
Its size was comparable to some of the buddha statues in the Thousand Buddha Cave. It had a benevolent visage, donning a Taoist robe with which Qing Shui was familiar. An enormous, majestic tiger laid at its feet. This should have been the big, sleeping guy Luan Luan was talking about. What made Qing Shui so astonished was the overbearing presence exuded by the gigantic, Taoist-like statue.
Qing Shui was puzzled. What was that? A Divine Being?
Qing Shui saw that Luan Luan was not uncomfortable, and guessed that the presence would only be felt when a person’s skills increased. A small child like Luan Luan would not be able to feel it.
Qing Shui went 3 steps forward and felt the overbearing presence enveloping him. Even his bones felt like they were constricted tightly, making Qing Shui even more suspicious of the statue.
Only Divine Beings could emanate such an overwhelming presence. There was no deity in the nine continents; a so-called deity was a warrior who had cultivated to a certain level of modesty and divinity.
For only a hundred metres, Qing Shui had walked merely 10 steps and already felt unusually exhausted. Even the cracking of his bones could be heard. This was even after he had attained the Fourth Wave of the Ancient Strengthening Technique; if not, he would have already been crushed to pieces.
The Ancient Strengthening Technique that had been automatically flowing up was circulating faster now; the peanut-sized golden dew in his diaphragm started revolving rapidly.
Qing Shui was now relying on the Ancient Strengthening Technique and the matchless, brutal physique transformed by the image of Yin-Yang of his consciousness to withstand against the mountainous pressure from the statue.
He was already perspiring like a river. The speed of the Ancient Strengthening Technique flowing had reached its peak after days and days of circulation.
Bam!