The tunnel was not very long. After walking for slightly more than ten meters, the exit suddenly opened up to a large area!An underground cavern of unknown proportions appeared before Bei Feng. This was an irregular cavern with a steep drop down a cylindrically shaped hole. The further down one went, the wider the hole became!
Countless tiny radiant objects filled the walls of the huge cavern. Although the amount of light they provided was inferior to even the moon"s, it was enough to outline the cavern"s walls. To someone like Bei Feng with heightened senses, this cavern might as well be an open field under the afternoon sun!
Bei Feng stood upon the high ground and looked downwards for as far as his vision could reach. A layer of grayish fog covered the lower reaches of the hole, causing Bei Feng to be unable to see through it.
From where he stood, there weren"t any viable pathways which led to the bottom of the hole. On a cliff not far away, numerous people were displaying all sorts of techniques, climbing about agilely like monkeys as they made haste to scale down the sides of the hole!
Bei Feng gauged the hole silently for a moment before he put one foot over the edge and directly jumped down!
Twenty meters down, on a protruding rock on the side of the underground cliff wall, Bei Feng remained standing steadily with Extreme Arctic Frost in his hands. The blade of Extreme Arctic Frost constantly emitted a stream of chilly Frost Qi which coiled around Bei Feng noiselessly.
Setting his sights firmly on another protruding rock below, Bei Feng continued leapfrogging down. After about ten jumps, he could finally spot some people who had come before him. These people were all Dark Jing masters. Their main purpose for coming on this trip was to seek an opportunity for a breakthrough to the next stage. The real contenders for the Primordial Heavenly Tree were those Evolved Jing masters!
Bei Feng casually leaped over numerous experts, quickly nearing the first group of people!
The underground cavern was extremely s.p.a.cious. The route to the bottom of the cavern should not be this one only. At the very least, he still hadn"t encountered the people from the Nie family yet.
"Where did this expert come from!?"
Those who had been overtaken by Bei Feng were all quibbling with curiosity. They knew that this mysterious person had only come in after everyone had entered the cave. Otherwise, there was no way they would have missed the presence of such an expert while they were outside!
Just the long spear in Bei Feng"s hands was eye-catching enough. That fancy spear was over three meters long!
Very quickly, Bei Feng caught up to the first group. There was only about ten people in this group, and most of them were gray-haired old men. Only three people seemed to be of middle age.
Everyone looked over at Bei Feng simultaneously with some caution, but no one moved to bother him. Each person was busy thinking of better ways to best the others and seize the initiative in the race!
With a burst of speed, the group quickly pulled away from Bei Feng, disappearing from his sight. If it was flat land, Bei Feng could definitely leave these people eating his dust.
But a race to descend a cliff face was not suitable for Bei Feng. He could not unleash his potential at all! In contrast, the old folks were like a school of fish in water. They moved quickly and lightly; with just a soft tap with the tips of their toes, they would flash downwards by several meters!
"Looks like just having speed is not enough. I still need a short distance movement technique," Bei Feng shook his head grumpily as he observed the group of oldies below him. Their movements were light and noiseless, while his were like a rock thrown vulgarly into the water. It created a lot of splash, and displaced a ton of momentum.
Even with the G.o.dly speed of Bei Feng and the rest, it still took over ten minutes before they could see the bottom of the giant hole. This hole was at least 3,000 meters deep!
Normally, the closer one got to the center of the earth, the higher the temperature should become. But, strangely, the cavern felt rather chilly.
Even Bei Feng with his enhanced const.i.tution could clearly feel the chilly air, so one could easily imagine how low the temperature was! It was at least many degrees below zero!
Surprisingly, an uncountable number of towering trees grew at the bottom of this underground cavern, spreading out densely as far as the eye could see!
But all the trees in that boundless forest were completely bare, without a single leaf! It was like a forest of dead trees!
Despite the deathly appearance, everyone could sense a vast amount of vitality in the trees!
"Crunch, crunch!"
The forest was completely still and there was no sign nor sound of any living creatures—save for the footsteps of Bei Feng and the rest.
Without any prior discussions, the group immediately gathered together as soon as they landed. When faced with the unknown, one can never be too cautious!
The newly formed group hurried towards the center of the cavern with as much speed as they could muster. A natural treasure could only exist in untraversed regions, while the birthing place of a natural treasure would always be at the place where multiple Ling veins converge!
Extraordinary terrain formations are usually a result of a Ling vein source! If there was really a natural treasure, the chances of it being at the heart of the area would be the greatest!
"Hm?"
A man suddenly stopped and looked towards his side with a slightly surprised expression.
A knife appeared in his hands as he stooped down beside a withered tree and dug into the earth. With little effort, a thumb-sized plant covered in root hairs was quickly unearthed.
Although a knife was used to dig around it, the densely packed root hairs around the plant were completely unhurt. Such a result really demonstrated the precise control the man had over his strength while digging!
"Hundred year mountain ginseng?!" A middle-aged man gasped aloud. This place was really a land of treasures! Even if one were to search tirelessly for an entire year among the famous mountains and great waters outside, it would be difficult to obtain even a few stalks of one hundred year old ginseng. But right upon setting foot in this place, they"ve already found a whole ginseng!
Hundred year mountain ginsengs were useful even to Evolved Jing masters! It could be used to aid in consolidating the origin and nursing hidden injuries.
The group continued in silence. They did not actively look for any more treasures, since their primary objective lay in locating the Primordial Heavenly Tree!
But even if they did not search for treasures in a conscious manner, everyone still had a great harvest!
More than ten Hundred Year Ginsengs were found, and there were even a few bunches of Blood Spirit Gra.s.s which was eagerly s.n.a.t.c.hed up by the old men. Only Bei Feng had walked away empty-handed.
"Ding! Grade 2 treasure discovered, Thousand Year Frost Ginseng! (A mutated variant evolved from regular ginseng. This is a treasure formed after enduring and absorbing the Ling Qi from a millennium of brutal wind and frost! It is a top-quality medicine for cultivation! Placing a piece of this treasure in a dying man"s mouth could even forcibly delay death for 7 days!) Experience gained: 0!"
Bei Feng"s eyes lit up with shock. The System would never make a mistake. So that means that a Thousand Year Frost Ginseng was definitely nearby! But no matter how he looked, there was nothing nearby to indicate the existence of such a treasure!
"The System did not make any noise just now even when I was in the same area. It only sounded an alert after I touched this tree... could it be that this tree is the clue?"
"Dong, dong!" Bei Feng lightly rapped his fingers against the trunk, causing a strange hollow sound to ring out. Without any further hesitation, he swung Extreme Arctic Frost at the tall tree!
The half meter long spear tip instantly ripped a large hole in the side of the trunk. There was hardly any resistance. After breaking apart the bark of the tree, Bei Feng immediately noticed a strange thing.
"As expected, this tree has a hidden world! It"s actually completely hollow!"
A radiant smile lit up his face as Bei Feng swung Extreme Arctic Frost yet again!
"Crack, boom!" The over two meter tall tree finally fell over with a loud crash by the third swing of the spear!
Everyone looked over with confusion. What sort of madness was this boy possessed by?
Once the dust settled, Bei Feng quickly ran up to the hollow stump and examined it. The tall tree was indeed completely hollow. It was only supported by a 10 cm thick layer of bark!
A single light green plant grew within the hollow stump. Its leaves did not seem any different from normal ginseng.
Bei Feng stabbed Extreme Arctic Frost into the soil and dug roughly. A whole chunk of soil was dug up—along with a small ginseng as big as an infant"s fist! Faint Frost Qi roiled about the little ginseng, together with the refres.h.i.+ng smell of medicine.
Bei Feng looked at the loosened soil and directly grabbed the Thousand Year Frost Ginseng by the leaf. Then, with the exact movements as one would pull up a carrot, he tugged the ginseng abruptly upwards!
"Gently! Gently!"
The group of old folks had been drawn over due to Bei Feng"s actions earlier. Thus, they had also seen him dig up the Thousand Year Frost Ginseng. As soon as it appeared, everyone recognized it immediately. A thousand year ginseng!
Seeing Bei Feng"s rough actions, the bunch of old fellows was completely horrified. Their beards were twitching wildly in fear that Bei Feng would destroy even a single root hair of this precious treasure!