Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 353 - 353 0267 Performed at a Normal Level_2

Chapter 353: Chapter 0267: Performed at a Normal Level_2 Chapter 353: Chapter 0267: Performed at a Normal Level_2 The ground here was extraordinarily hard. Even when Qi Tian punched it, he didn’t raise any dust. However, air waves still surged up into the sky. Riding these turbulent waves, Qi Tian managed to reduce his speed gradually. By the time he fell to the ground, he only had a couple of broken bones and none of them were fractured.

Such an outcome was already very satisfactory. Qi Tian took out a healing elixir and swallowed it. Soon, the pain in his broken bones eased, his injuries were completely healed.

Qi Tian breathed a sigh of relief. Falling from such a height and living to tell the story was indeed a big escape. He sincerely hoped that his good fortune could continue.

After calming his mind, Qi Tian began to explore this cave he had accidentally stumbled into. Very soon, he had a clear understanding of the situation within the cave.

The cave covered an area of more than a hundred square meters, and unlike other caves, it had no exit or entrance to connect it with the world outside. If he wanted to leave, he would have to climb back up from where he fell.

Since it was too dark above, Qi Tian couldn’t estimate the distance from the bottom of the cave to the entrance, but based on the time he took to fall, he reckoned it to be at least three or four hundred meters long.

A large number of runes were engraved on the walls of the cave. Many of them glowed, illuminating the interior of the cave.

However, what attracted Qi Tian the most was not these runes, but an altar of about ten square meters in the middle of the cave. Floating in the middle of the altar was a seal ribbon the size of an egg, greenish in color. It didn’t look very delicate, but the power it emanated was immense. Countless runes flew out from the seal ribbon, forming chains of runes, and pierced into the cave wall.

Qi Tian distinctly sensed the Heavenly Dao Engine’s excitement facing this seal ribbon. It continuously transmitted an urge to devour the ribbon. At this time, he was almost certain that the treasure, caught Heavenly Dao Engine’s interest at the entrance of the underground maze, must be this seal ribbon.

Without any hesitation, Qi Tian reached for the seal ribbon, but before his hand could touch it, a rune chain sprung from it and lashed out at his palm, sweeping him clean off his feet.

Qi Tian felt as if all his bones were going to break. If the chain had been any harder, he would have lost his life.

Gazing at the seal ribbon with lingering fear, Qi Tian decided to try a different approach since he couldn’t touch it. He opened his hand towards the seal ribbon and released the Transporting Whirlwind, directing it at the ribbon.

However, to his surprise, the seal ribbon remained rooted to its spot as if it were a plant rooted in the ground. No matter how hard the Transporting Whirlwind tried, the seal ribbon wouldn’t budge. Not only the seal ribbon but also the rune chains emanating from it were unaffected by the whirlwind.

Qi Tian widened his eyes. In the entrance of the underground maze, he had encountered a similar situation where the Transporting Whirlwind had failed. The situation was almost identical this time. Looking at the rune chains dipping into the cave wall, Qi Tian wondered if the runes at the entrance and these rune chains were one and the same?

Not willing to give up, Qi Tian used the Transporting Whirlwind again to touch the rune chains. The result was the same; the chains didn’t budge in the slightest. Still persistent, Qi Tian tried rolling up the runes on the cave wall, but to no avail.

Qi Tian found himself stricken with despair at his inability to gain control of the seal ribbon despite its apparent value. With the seal out of reach, he saw no reason to stay in his present location. He tried to use the Soaring Cloud Talisman, wondering if it would work in this place. However, he was overthinking. The No-fly Array remained operational here. Not to mention the Soaring Cloud Talisman or the flying sword, even the copper crane statue didn’t work despite being powered by a top-grade Spirit Stone. The statue remained unresponsive.

If he couldn’t fly up, he’d climb.

Qi Tian walked up to the cave wall, intending to climb his way out. But he found the wall as smooth as glass, devoid of any crannies that would provide a grip. Unless he could stick to these brilliantly polished walls like a gecko, climbing out was impossible.

Qi Tian was out of options. He walked a few laps around the altar but couldn’t come up with a plan. Thus, he could only temporarily let go of his thoughts of leaving. There were many cultivators wandering into these underground labyrinths. Perhaps, someone might stumble upon this place and he could ask them to rescue him.

Unsure when someone might pass by, Qi Tian let Hu Niu out. He fed her some food before instructing her to keep an eye on the entrance above. If anyone passed by, Hu Niu had to meow loudly to draw their attention.

With Hu Niu watching the entrance, Qi Tian was assured he wouldn’t miss any passersby. He didn’t stay idle but started cultivating. He keenly realized the importance of enhancing power and skills to avoid manipulation by others. Thus, cultivation was his choice.

Qi Tian brought out a large amount of Spirit Stones and began to cultivate on the altar.

He was already at the peak of the second level of Foundation Establishment. Trapped in such a dead-end, with nothing else to do, what else could he do but cultivate? Moreover, if he increased his cultivation level, he could become more powerful and potentially find a way out.

Qi Tian’s focus on cultivation lasted for several days. Here, undisturbed, he could openly absorb Spirit Stones under the support of the Heavenly Dao Engine. His cultivation could be described as rapid, and in a flash, he stepped into the third level of Foundation Establishment. He didn’t stop cultivating and, soon after, reached the peak of the third level. Then, he broke through to the fourth level and reached the peak again. As he was about to step into the fifth level, he found that his cultivation speed began to slow down significantly.

Qi Tian knew this was because he had exhausted his accumulation. To continue advancing without side effects, he needed to slow down, wait and accumulate more experience and knowledge before further attempting to break through to the next level.

The breakthrough to the fourth level significantly enhanced Qi Tian’s power. His Qi Sea area increased by over double compared to when he was at the second level.

After he finished cultivating, Qi Tian fed the somewhat bored Hu Niu before letting her return to the Spirit Beast Bracelet. His attention then turned to the runes on the cave walls. Since he couldn’t decipher them with the Heavenly Dao Engine right away, he figured he would try a more aggressive, brute force approach.

Having just reached the peak of the fourth level of Foundation Establishment, Qi Tian was sure he could hold his own even against someone at Foundation Establishment Peak level. With his power on par with the Peak level, he might just be able to destroy the runes on the cave walls. He wasn’t sure if this would result in good or bad consequences, and while it might end up damaging the cave structure, he was confident that even a cave collapse wouldn’t harm him.

Qi Tian walked up to the wall and took a deep breath. He targeted the nearest rune and struck it with an Eight Desolate Demon Tiger Fist.

With a loud thud, Qi Tian felt satisfied with his strike’s power. He wondered if the rune could withstand the blow.