Rest in a Demon's Embrace [BL]

Jiang Yao was on high alert. The many resources within this cave had been there for thousands of years, and this showed that no one had entered it in that period of time.

To be able to hide its presence was quite hard. This was the Beast Ridge, a place where experts were as numerous as clouds in the sky. Many would come to train, others would hunt for resources, and some would just want to examine the weird creatures living in the surroundings.

However, even though people had their own purpose for coming to the Beast Ridge, nothing changed the fact that there was an extremely high number of experts walking through this area every single year.

The fact that this cave had been able to stay unnoticed and untainted for so long was enough to prove that someone, or something, had shielded it, and protected it from the many coveting glances of other experts.

He remembered the mechanism that Luo Xiao had to use to open the cave, but it had not seemed overly intricate. Were they really just lucky to stumble across this ancient world, or was there some sort of power underneath the surface that tempted them into this cave, and that was pulling further towards the middle of the cave?

While he did feel worried and somewhat apprehensive, Jiang Yao was not going to turn his tail and run away.

The two advanced in silence as they picked treasure after treasure. The poor Luo Xiao was getting richer and richer, but he was a scrooge and could not bear to part with these treasures.

Most of them were so valuable that selling them would be a bad idea, as he would be unable to gain them again later, and thus he was eager to keep them.

Alchemy was a continually evolving profession. Many of the formulas that the alchemists used originated from the ancient times, but the efficiency of the pills had fallen since then.

These pill formulas all required herbs that were extinct. The alchemists had no other options than to replace the extinct herbs with the herbs that currently existed, and had somewhat the same properties, but much of the efficiency had gotten lost due to the changes.

Luo Xiao understood this. The original ancient formulas had been spread everywhere, and everyone, who had an interest, would use them to study. Luo Xiao was no different, and he had seen that many of the herbs present were used in these ancient formulas.

If he could refine these ancient pills, he would benefit greatly, not only because of the pills being worth much more, but also because his alchemy would improve.

Jiang Yao was no alchemist, but he did know about the ancient formulas which had been changed to suit the current herbs. Even so, he was not as familiar with the many herbs surrounding them. He only paid attention to those who had a beneficial effect on his cultivation base.

When he saw that Luo Xiao was also curious about these herbs, he allowed him to take the majority of them, but even so, they still left many of the herbs behind so that they could flourish again after a few years.

Even though they did not believe that they would return to this cave later, they still respected the place they had entered, and were not so greedy as to harvest every treasure they came across.

They had walked for a long time, and picked up many treasures, before they finally reached the center of the cave. They had been walking in a forest of Purple Maple Trees, but as they reached the center, the trees stopped, and a lush meadow of spirit grass stretched out in front of them. There was no wind, but the grass blades were swaying in the air.

Luo Xiao and Jiang Yao were extremely cautious as they slowly left the shade of the trees and hesitatingly stepped into the meadow in front of them.

Many more herbs and grass types were spread out in front of them, and Luo Xiao once again began harvesting these treasures. Their advance was slow, and they eventually spent a full two weeks before they reached the center of the cave.

Every day was spent harvesting herbs and other resources, but they were not in a hurry to leave. They were both intrigued as to why this cave had such dense energy, and they knew that some secret was behind their appearance here.

The two glanced at one another. Luo Xiao reached out his hand and grasped Jiang Yao\'s palm in his own. He took a deep breath, and with a determined expression, he ignored the rest of the herbs and walked towards the very center of the cave.

Jiang Yao was following by the side. He was stretching his senses to their limits, but everything seemed calm and peaceful. Like the calm before the storm.

The lush, green spirit grass was everywhere around them, the dense heaven and earth essence shrouded them, but it did not make them relax their taut muscles and strained nerves.

In front of them was a crater. This crater was not too deep, but the slope that led down into it was somewhat steep.

In the middle of the crater was a big, round ball of golden light. The light was like a sphere swirling around itself, and inside were energies which had different colors, ranging from white to golden, and from golden to white.

It was blinding, and the energy pulsating from this sphere was so overwhelming that Luo Xiao felt his throat go dry. He felt reverence towards this ball of energy, but he was not sure what it was.

Even Jiang Yao was looking at it in shock and disbelief.