"So, this is the Deep Caves!"
On the side of the Valiant Academy's cultivation mountain, the place was covered with greenery. Deep in the shade was a huge cave, like the entrance of an underground train. It was dark and bottomless.
Outside the cave, eight guards were guarding the entrance. Seven of them were standing straight and the last one was sitting on a coarse boulder by the entrance with a blade of grass in his mouth. The guard was relaxed and would take a sip of wine from time to time.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two people descended from the sky and landed in front of the cave, stirring up the dust around them. It was Yun Wanli and Su Ping.
"Sir?"
"Sir!"
The guards outside the cave were surprised to see Yun Wanli. The middle-aged man sitting on the boulder was startled as well. The middle-aged man jumped down from the boulder, hid the bottle behind his back, spat out the blade of grass in his mouth, and went to Yun Wanli. "Sir, what brings you here?"
"Feng Xiu, you've been guarding this place. Did you see any students enter this place a week ago?"
Yun Wanli stared at the middle-aged man with a serious and cold look.
The middle-aged man named Feng Xiu was taken aback. His expression changed slightly as he forced a smile and said, "Sir Dean, you must be joking. This is a forbidden area. How could I let those brats enter? Even if they came close, I would chase them away."
"Shut up!"
Yun Wanli suddenly shouted and said angrily, "Did someone enter this place a week ago?"
Feng Xiu was shocked by this angry shout. He panicked a little when he saw Yun Wanli's angry eyes. He quickly knelt down and said, "Sir, please forgive me. It's my fault for failing to guard this place. I happened to have something to do a week ago, so I left for a while. When I returned, I heard that someone trespassed and charged into this place. I didn't dare to chase after them …"
Yun Wanli's expression was ugly. "Was it a female student?"
"Yes." Feng Xiu lowered his head even more.
"Then why didn't you report it?"
Yun Wanli said angrily, "Do you know what kind of place this is? If a student trespassed, wouldn't that be courting death?"
"I, I was afraid that you would blame me …" Feng Xiu said weakly. His head was on the ground.
The other seven guards knelt down in a hurry. They lowered their heads, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Even Feng Xiu, a titled battle pet warrior, was afraid. The other seven guards were even more afraid.
Everyone at the Valiant Academy knew that the Principal was a legendary battle pet warrior who had surpassed the titled rank. He was one of the best in the world and had unpredictable powers.
"You were afraid that I would blame you …" Yun Wanli was so angry that his lungs were about to explode.
Apart from anger, he also felt powerless.
If he could have reported it in time, he would have been able to find out sooner and he would have been able to go in and search immediately. That way, the chances of Su Ping's sister's survival would have been much higher. However, a week had passed. He was willing to go in with Su Ping to find the ransom money but deep down, he knew that Su Ping's sister had most likely turned into a pile of bones.
Not even her bones would be left.
Su Ping darted a look at Feng Xiu who was still kneeling on the ground. The killing intent in Su Ping's eyes surged up but he quickly calmed down. He looked at the cave and asked Yun Wanli, "Is this the Deep Caves?"
Yun Wanli turned around at once and nodded. "Yes, this is one of the entrances to the Deep Caves. The academy has been guarding this place for generations. Of course, we are only guarding the entrances. The ones guarding the entrances are the legendary battle pet warriors from the Tower who are willing to sacrifice themselves."
Su Ping nodded and stepped inside.
Feng Xiu was surprised to hear the conversation between the two. Who would be able to talk to the Principal like that?
Could he be a legendary battle pet warrior from the Tower?
He didn't dare to raise his head. Only when he felt someone pass by him did his heart slowly return to his chest. He looked back and saw the dean and a young man walking side by side into the abyss. He hurriedly said, "Dean, are you going in?"
Yun Wanli didn't even look back. "Stay here. I'll deal with you when I come back."
Feng Xiu didn't dare to say another word.
The seven guards at the entrance lowered their heads. Their foreheads were drenched in cold sweat.
Su Ping looked at the seven guards. They seemed to be too nervous. But he didn't think too much about it. His priority was to find Su Lingyue.
He wanted to see her, dead or alive.
At this thought, the killing intent in Su Ping's eyes grew more violent.
"Fate Challenger Su, be careful. Most of the beasts in the Deep Caves are ferocious."
Yun Wanli walked into the pitch-dark cave with Su Ping. Yun Wanli lifted his hand and a glowing crystal appeared in his palm, lighting up the cave.
The cave extended to the depths of the cave. The walls were full of bumps and hollows. Every now and then, Su Ping would see claw marks that were seven to eight meters long. Judging from the length of the claw marks, it wasn't hard to imagine how large the beasts must have been.
The air was damp and turbid, but there were no other odors.
"The beasts in the Deep Caves are all imprisoned in the tunnels. There aren't many beasts around. Occasionally, some will slip through the cracks, but only a small number. Let's go to the border of the tunnels and ask the seniors there if they've seen your sister," Yun Wanli said to Su Ping as he led the way.
Su Ping asked, "How many entrances and exits are there?"
Su Ping asked, "How many entrances and exits are there?"
"About a dozen, scattered all over the world. Some entrances and exits are deep in the ocean. The ones in those places have been filled up by legendary battle pet warriors. After all, we can't send people to guard the ocean all year round. There are more beasts in the ocean than on land. Not even legendary battle pet warriors can protect the ocean."
Yun Wanli explained, "There are five entrances and exits to the Deep Caves in the Subcontinent District. The Valiant Academy is one of them. The distance between the entrance and the Deep Caves is more than one hundred miles."
Su Ping frowned as he stared at the downward tunnel. More than a hundred miles?
"How did the Deep Caves come into being?" Su Ping asked.
Yun Wanli shook his head. "That's a story from a long time ago. I heard that the Deep Caves have been around since the early days of astral pets. Some say that battle pet warriors who awakened their powers in the early days drove all the powerful beasts from the surface into the Deep Caves. Others say that the Deep Caves have existed for a long time and that all the beasts were born in the Deep Caves. No one can tell which beasts were born in the Deep Caves.
Su Ping frowned and fell silent.
Only the echoes of their footsteps could be heard in the spacious cave.
The light from the crystal in Yun Wanli's hand kept moving forward. The two of them were going deeper into the cave along the steep slope.
After walking for dozens of miles, Su Ping's nose twitched. He smelled blood.
Su Ping pulled a long face and said, "There is blood."
Yun Wanli was startled. All of a sudden, a swirl appeared behind him and a figure that was seven or eight meters tall flew out. It was a beast king pet of the demon family.
Seven to eight meters tall might seem huge, but it was definitely a petite pet among the beast kings.
Su Ping was familiar with pets of the undead and the demon family. He could tell right away that this was a Ghost Eye with a Void State bloodline. The one in front of him hadn't reached its prime yet. It was only at the Ocean State.
At its prime, the Ghost Eye would be ten meters tall and would be good at close-range combat.
For a beast king to reach its prime, it couldn't just rely on eating and sleeping. It would have to eat some expensive pet food. Otherwise, when the prime was over and the beast king hadn't reached its prime, the beast king would enter a declining phase and its combat strength would decline day by day.
"Go."
Yun Wanli whispered.
Phew!
Following his command, the Ghost Fog Entangling Eye Beast's body suddenly floated and turned into a dark smoke, dissipating in the cave. It flew towards the depths of the cave and merged with the surrounding pitch-black environment.
Su Ping knew that Yun Wanli had sent the Ghost Eye to explore the way.
"Let's go."
Yun Wanli said to Su Ping.
Su Ping nodded and moved on.
Dozens of miles later, Su Ping and Yun Wanli saw the corpses of several huge beasts. The bones had turned white; they had died many years ago. Even the flesh and blood had decayed.
They moved on. The closer they got, the stronger the smell of blood was.
All of a sudden, Yun Wanli stopped. He turned around and said to Su Ping, "My Big Eye is sending me a signal. There's danger up ahead!"
Su Ping frowned. "Didn't you say that this is just an entrance? Up ahead is the entrance to the Deep Caves, guarded by legendary battle pet warriors. How can there be danger?"
Yun Wanli was surprised as well. That was indeed the case. They would reach the pass guarded by a legendary battle pet warrior in another thirty to forty miles. Could it be that his pet had encountered a legendary battle pet warrior that was stationed there?
No, a legendary battle pet warrior wouldn't have sent such a signal.
After all, his Ghost Eye was a beast king with high intelligence. It could tell the difference between humans and beasts.
