The Samsara Jade

Chapter 19

BOOM! 

Li Chen leaped upward with incredible, explosive power. He shot out of the deep crevice like an arrow fired from a strong bow. 

He flew through the air and landed perfectly on the rocky floor of the Beast Chasm. 

Thud. 

He stood tall in the middle of the glowing purple fog. 

The chasm was exactly the same as before. It was vast, dark, and filled with the terrifying roars of hidden monsters. 

The deadly miasma floated everywhere, melting any normal living thing that dared to touch it. But for Li Chen, everything had changed. 

This was no longer a death trap. This was no longer a place of execution. 

By turning the deadliest place in the sect into his personal sanctuary, Li Chen had found his true training ground. 

Up on the mountain, he was a hunted rat. Here, in the deepest, most poisonous hole in the world, he was the apex predator in training. 

Li Chen began to walk. He did not hide. He moved confidently through the thick purple fog. The miasma swirled around his metallic skin, feeding him small amounts of energy with every breath he took. 

He looked around his new sanctuary. The chasm floor was strange and alien. Because no humans had been here for thousands of years, the environment was completely untouched. 

As he walked, he saw strange, twisted plants growing out of the rocky dirt. They were glowing with bright, unnatural colors—neon blue, deep red, and sickly yellow. These plants survived by drinking the poison fog. Li Chen knew that in the outside world, these toxic herbs would be considered incredibly rare and valuable alchemy ingredients. 

He also saw massive piles of bones. Some of the bones were the size of small houses. They belonged to ancient, terrifying beasts that had died long ago. 

"Old Kui said I can eat anything," Li Chen thought. "The poison in the air was just the beginning. The spiritual energy hidden inside these old beast bones and these toxic plants... I will devour it all. I will grow so strong that even the Sect Leader will bow to me."

He walked for an hour, exploring the vast, rocky floor of his sanctuary. He made sure to avoid the deep footprints of the giant green-eyed monster that had attacked him. He was strong now, but he was not stupid. He knew he was not ready to fight the true masters of the chasm just yet. 

Eventually, Li Chen saw something strange in the distance. 

Through the thick, swirling purple fog, he saw a faint, silver light. It was not the sickly glow of the miasma. It was a pure, clean, magical light. 

Curious, Li Chen walked carefully toward it. 

The silver light was coming from a large, dark cave set deep into the side of the chasm wall. The entrance of the cave was covered in thick, black vines that looked like dead snakes. 

Li Chen pushed the heavy vines aside with his strong, iron-hard hands. He stepped into the cave. 

The inside of the cave was surprisingly dry. The purple fog did not enter here. It seemed to be pushed away by an invisible magical barrier at the entrance. 

Li Chen walked deeper into the cave. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he finally saw the source of the silver glow. 

Sitting against the back wall of the cave was a human skeleton. 

Li Chen stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening in surprise. 

The skeleton was very old. The bones were completely white and clean. But the clothes on the skeleton were perfectly preserved by magic. 

The skeleton was wearing long, flowing robes made of the finest white silk, decorated with beautiful silver clouds and a pattern of crossed blue swords. 

Li Chen immediately recognized the uniform. He had seen it from afar during the grand ceremonies of the sect. 

"An Inner Sect Elder," Li Chen whispered softly. 

Only the highest, most powerful members of the Azure Sword Sect wore those robes. Cultivators who had reached the legendary Core Formation stage. They were like gods to the outer sect disciples. 

Yet, here was one of those 'gods', dead and forgotten at the bottom of the Beast Chasm. 

Li Chen walked closer. He saw that the skeleton’s ribcage was completely shattered, similar to how Deacon Lin’s chest had looked. Someone, or something, had killed this powerful Elder a long time ago. 

But what caught Li Chen’s full attention was not the dead body. It was what the skeleton was holding. 

In its bony, white hands, resting in its lap, the skeleton held a small, beautifully crafted silver box. The box was covered in complex, glowing magical locks. It was the source of the pure silver light. 

A treasure. 

An Inner Sect Elder had died holding this box. It had to contain something incredibly valuable. A high-level cultivation technique? A magical weapon? A mountain of high-grade spirit stones? 

Li Chen’s heart beat faster. He took a step forward, reaching his metallic hand out toward the glowing silver box. 

"I would not touch that if I were you, little Devourer." 

The voice came from the darkest corner of the cave. 

Li Chen froze instantly. His blood ran cold. 

The voice was not Old Kui. It was not a monster. It was smooth, elegant, and chillingly human. It was the voice of a woman. 

Li Chen quickly pulled his hand back. He spun around, dropping into a defensive stance. He channeled his dark Qi, his metallic skin faintly glowing in the dim light. 

"Who is there?" Li Chen demanded, his eyes scanning the pitch-black shadows of the cave. 

From the absolute darkness, a figure slowly stepped forward into the silver light. 

It was a young woman. She was incredibly beautiful, with long, straight black hair that fell down her back like a waterfall. Her skin was as pale as snow. She wore a simple, elegant black dress that seemed to absorb the light around her. 

But the most striking thing about her was her eyes. 

They were not normal eyes. Her pupils were shaped like vertical slits, exactly like the eyes of a deadly viper. And they were glowing with a bright, piercing crimson red. 

She looked at Li Chen, staring directly at the dark golden dragon-turtle tattoo on his bare chest. A slow, dangerous smile spread across her red lips. 

"Well, well, well," the woman said softly, her voice echoing in the quiet cave. "I have been trapped in this miserable hole for three hundred years. And finally, the heavens send me a boy with the Primordial Chaos Root. What a delicious little snack you will make."