The white smoke drifted with the wind toward the cave entrance. The wild boars guarding the entrance began to grow drowsy. Yun Hanshuang seized this opportunity and, concealed within the thick smoke, sneaked into the cave. As soon as he entered the cave, Yun Hanshuang felt a chilling cold qi rushing toward him, and he cautiously headed deeper into the cave.

The cave was very deep, and the further he went, the narrower it became. After walking for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Yun Hanshuang reached a spot where he had to stoop just to continue forward. Moreover, the deeper he went into the cave, the colder the cold qi that blew out became. Even circulating his true qi to protect his body, Yun Hanshuang still felt cold.

‘No wonder that boar didn’t dig any further; with its current strength, it probably couldn’t endure the cold qi here for long either!’

After going deeper for another stretch, feeling the bone-penetrating cold qi, Yun Hanshuang understood why that giant boar hadn’t enlarged the cave. At this point, in a passage that only allowed him to crawl forward, Yun Hanshuang began to think of retreating.

‘I’ll push on for 30 minutes. If I still haven’t reached the end after that, I’ll withdraw.’

Because he could sense that something deep within the passage was calling to him, Yun Hanshuang decided to persist for another half-hour.

15 minutes later, Yun Hanshuang crawled with difficulty through the narrow passage. A thin layer of frost had formed on his hair and brows, and each breath brought a faint sting to his lungs. Yun Hanshuang understood that if he didn’t get out soon, he might very well meet his end here, so he resolved to push on for just half a quarter-hour more. If he still couldn’t reach the end after that, he would retreat.

After crawling forward only about five meters more, Yun Hanshuang’s hand touched a wall of icy rock.

‘The end?’

Yun Hanshuang concentrated his true qi into his eyes, and then he vaguely saw that there was no path ahead. After scanning the rock wall before him and finding nothing, and because it was far too cold, Yun Hanshuang decided to retreat first and make further plans.

Roar~

Just as Yun Hanshuang was about to crawl backward out, an angry beast roar reached his ears, and immediately after, the earth began to shake.

‘This is bad, that giant boar has returned. It must have already detected my presence.’

At the cave entrance, the giant boar had only just stepped into the cave when it picked up Yun Hanshuang’s scent. Knowing that someone had infiltrated the cave, the giant boar flew into a rage and rammed its massive body against the cave. As the giant boar repeatedly rammed, the shaking of the earth grew stronger and stronger, and cracks began to appear in the passage where Yun Hanshuang was.

‘Not good. If I don’t get out quickly, I’ll be buried alive here.’

Because Yun Hanshuang was in a very narrow spot and could not turn around, despite his anxiety, his backward retreat remained very slow.

Roar~ Boom~

Yun Hanshuang only heard a beast roar, and then felt the earth shake with even greater intensity than before. The surrounding rock walls pressed in on him, and after that, he lost consciousness.

* * *

By the time Yun Hanshuang regained consciousness, he found himself lying on a pile of stones. After inspecting his body and seeing that aside from some external injuries, he had suffered no internal damage, he let out a long sigh of relief. Yun Hanshuang propped himself up and stood. Glancing around, he discovered he was in a secret chamber that had a breach.

Why say it was a secret chamber with a breach? Because Yun Hanshuang was now standing right beneath that breach; he had fallen through it. This breach pierced straight through the entire mountain body. At this moment, a ray of sunlight shone through the opening onto Yun Hanshuang, bringing a sliver of light to the chamber as well.

Within the chamber, apart from the spot where Yun Hanshuang stood with its light, on a stone table not far away, there was also a pearl emitting a pale green glow, thanks to which Yun Hanshuang could clearly see the items on the stone table. There were three items on the stone table: the glowing pearl, a black box to the left of the pearl, and a potted plant to the right of the pearl, inside which was a faint silvery-white tree phantom.

‘A Luminous Pearl! And that pot looks like the legendary Myriad Soil Spirit-Gathering Pot.’

When Yun Hanshuang saw the earthen pot of that potted plant, his breathing quickened. The Myriad Soil Spirit-Gathering Pot was a type of spatial spirit artifact without a fixed grade. It could be said to be a portable spirit field. Besides its portability, it also had a heaven-defying function: as long as there was sufficient energy supply, it could rapidly cultivate spirit herbs to maturity without affecting their medicinal efficacy.

Yun Hanshuang jumped down from the stone pile and walked toward the stone table. Upon reaching the stone table, he did not first examine the potted plant, but instead intended to open the box first. Instinct told Yun Hanshuang that the box held what he wanted. The moment Yun Hanshuang’s hand touched the box, it emitted a blue glow, and a middle-aged man clad in a white mage robe appeared before him.

“Finally, I’ve waited for you, my inheritor.”

The moment the middle-aged man appeared, he uttered this line to Yun Hanshuang. Yun Hanshuang froze at the man’s words, then guessed that this was likely pre-set; no matter who touched the box, the middle-aged man would say the same. Though he knew the middle-aged man likely no longer existed, Yun Hanshuang still gave him a bow.

“Senior, due to my physique, I am unable to draw qi into my body. This inheritance should be left for the next person.”

Though Yun Hanshuang was deeply tempted, he knew his own problem, so he chose to refuse this inheritance. He just didn’t know if the middle-aged man could still comprehend his refusal; if not, that would be troublesome.

“Hahaha, child. This inheritance existed precisely for you from the very beginning. As for your physique problem, I have already prepared a spirit fruit for you that can allow you to break the shackles of your physique. You must want to ask who I am, why I know you so well, and why I left this inheritance for you, right?”

The middle-aged man seemed able to see right through Yun Hanshuang, voicing all the questions in his heart.

“I come from another world. In this world, I am called the Old Monster Profound Yin. Once you reach a certain height in the future, just ask any old monster about my deeds and you’ll hear of them. After achieving mastery in cultivation, I sensed the aura of my homeland and thus resolved to return home. While traversing the river of history, I accidentally leaked a wisp of my aura. Although I rapidly contained it, it still affected you.

Yes, the fact that you awakened the Profound Yin Physique was entirely due to me, so I leave behind this inheritance to compensate you. The fruit on that spirit tree within the Myriad Soil Spirit-Gathering Pot is called the Revolving Yin Infinite Fruit. After you consume it, on every full moon night you can transform into a woman. Once you become a woman, you can cultivate.”

Hearing the middle-aged man’s words and learning that he could cultivate, Yun Hanshuang did not feel as happy as he had imagined.

“Child, although you must become a woman to cultivate, after turning back into a man you will still be able to use spiritual power, and there will be no energy fluctuations during its use. Moreover, it will not affect the recovery of your spiritual power.”

Seeing that Yun Hanshuang did not seem particularly delighted, the middle-aged man consoled him.

“Senior, although I have a Heavenly Spiritual Root and my spiritual root purity is one hundred percent, having only three nights of cultivation time each month… isn’t that a bit short?”

In the world where Yun Hanshuang lived, every month had three full-moon nights, so he wanted to know if the other party had a solution.

“I’ve also taken this into consideration for you. Inside the box is a jade pendant that can accelerate your cultivation speed by tenfold, which happens to compensate for the issue of cultivation time. Furthermore, in Moonview Province, there is a sect called the Moon Worship Sect. Within that sect is a secret realm where every month has fifteen full-moon nights. The divine sense I left behind is about to dissipate, so I won’t say much more. This is the cultivation method I practiced, the Profound Yin Formula. I now pass it on to you. Though I’m giving you the method, whether to cultivate it or not is up to you.”

Having said this, the middle-aged man pointed at the center of Yun Hanshuang’s brow, then transformed into motes of light and scattered into the world. Yun Hanshuang felt a stabbing pain in his brow, and then an extra text appeared in his mind. After sorting through those words, he found that he could only remember the front part, while the rest was a blur.