Chapter 59: The Power to Burn the Sky

After all, being in such a perilous place and facing such a gloomy cave, with no idea what lay inside, Rod had to be cautious! There were only two possibilities for the existence of these caves in such a place: either someone had come here before and created them artificially, or some magical beasts had dug them out as shelters. In either case, after all these years, the cave might still be full of magical beasts—possibly even more dangerous than the forests outside. Since he knew nothing about what was inside, not to mention the large number of magical beasts, even just one powerful beast lurking there would be enough to put him in serious trouble.

As for the cave being naturally formed, Rod immediately ruled that out, as there were clear signs indicating it was man-made.

A soft humming sound came from Fen Tian beside him. It seemed to sense Rod’s mood and confusion at that moment, and it too began to hum softly.

“Do you also feel that something’s wrong here?” Rod turned to look at Fen Tian and said with a wry smile.

Indeed, standing at the cave entrance, Rod felt an inexplicable sense of unease. This cave was definitely unusual, and there seemed to be some kind of pull drawing his attention inward, as if something was waiting for him inside. Deep down, it seemed his heart was calling him to enter.

After hesitating for a long time, Rod gave a helpless smile. After searching around the cave entrance, he found a relatively safe spot—a large tree with a diameter of over a meter. With the Dark Dragon’s help, a hole was created in the tree trunk, just big enough to fit a person.

Satisfied, Rod nodded, retracted the Dark Dragon, and crouched down to enter the hole, leaving Fen Tian outside to guard him.

Inside the hole, surrounded by the faint scent of trees, Rod decided to practice here. Yes, he needed to restore his strength to its peak first. As for everything else, it could wait. He felt even more uneasy about that cave. Once his strength was restored, he would definitely go in to find out what was causing such a strong pull, one that even Fen Tian could sense.

Sitting in lotus position, combat energy rapidly gathered from all directions toward Rod’s location, becoming increasingly dense as it centered around him. Rod opened all his pores and began absorbing it without hesitation. The noise was somewhat loud, but he couldn’t afford to care; he had to restore his combat energy to its optimal state in the shortest time possible.

Gradually, a small whirlwind formed in the forest around Rod, lifting up the dry leaves on the ground and spinning faster and faster. Fen Tian also felt uneasy about this situation and let out low growls while hovering in mid-air.

At this moment, Rod was completely immersed in his cultivation, unable to pay attention to what was happening outside. If he could have seen the outside, he would surely have been shocked. Right now, he was floating slightly inside a narrow tree hole, whose entrance was completely blocked by leaves, blocking all light and leaving the inside in complete darkness.

Suddenly, a blinding red glow erupted from Rod’s entire body—this was the color of combat energy. Meanwhile, the fire elements drawn in around him reached an alarming level of concentration! Like liquid, they floated in mid-air around Rod like threads of silk. The unique red glow of the fire elements illuminated the dark cave.

As the situation escalated, the elements became more active. Rod absorbed the surrounding fire elements without restraint, like a dried sponge—like an endless ocean with no bottom in sight. This absorption made the whirlwinds around him even more intense. Gradually, faint dots could be seen among the elements swirling around Rod. Floating in mid-air, they were blue-white in color, pure and flawless, unlike the red of the fire elements. Although there were only two or three of them, Rod could sense immense energy within them! Whenever he tried to approach them, they disappeared as if they had never existed. After trying several times and feeling puzzled, Rod had no choice but to give up and return to his cultivation. He would have to study these phenomena further another day.

Once cultivated, the essence reappeared and had a tremendous impact, causing intense activity among the surrounding elements. Over time, this situation attracted the attention of many magical beasts. The nearest one clearly arrived at Rod’s location in just a moment. Looking at the trees covered with leaves, a hint of confusion appeared in the beast’s eyes! Yet soon, as if sensing something, it suddenly became excited and stepped closer to the large tree.

“A roar…” A loud cry suddenly sounded, causing the advancing beast to halt. Seeing the creature that appeared out of nowhere, its eyes showed confusion, followed by hesitation.

Indeed, the one standing before this beast was Fen Tian, who had been guarding Rod all along.

An entire afternoon had passed, and the sky was now darkening. Fen Tian could sense that its master inside the large tree was getting stronger, and its vigilance remained unrelenting. It sensed several forces approaching. Their target was undoubtedly the master.

The beast before it was the first one to appear! As a descendant of dragons, especially one with the soul of the divine dragon race, and having undergone a dragon blood baptism and various changes without Rod’s knowledge, it was still in its growth phase, its strength only reaching the imperial level. Compared to this quasi-sacred-level beast, it was nothing. But it had its own presence and dignity, refusing to allow any beast to act arrogantly in front of it, let alone harm its master.

Looking at the beast, Fen Tian roared angrily, unleashing all its aura, which instantly intimidated the opposing beast. Now, its expression toward Fen Tian had completely changed!

Previously, it had shown a covetous and disdainful look, but now it appeared serious and hesitant.

Just moments ago, it had felt the powerful aura emanating from the other side—the dignity of a king, the presence of a strong warrior, and an irresistible force—all of which made it tremble with fear.

It had only felt such an aura from terrifying dragons, beings of divine rank. Yet this beast was clearly only at the imperial level, far inferior to dragons. Why was this?

The minds of those monsters are still quite simple. Although they have a decent level of intelligence at this stage, their way of thinking remains rather narrow. After some hesitation, he growled softly and just stood around in front of Fen Tian, failing to attack after all.

As for those monsters in the distance who had originally planned to approach, they gave up the idea after sensing the aura emitted by Fen Tian, believing they could not withstand such formidable power.

Neither Fen Tian nor Rod could have imagined that just an aura would help them overcome an unprecedented danger. Since the monsters on the other side didn’t choose to attack immediately, they weren’t fools either. Faced with opponents stronger than themselves, they would rather flee than recklessly launch an attack.

So, the two monsters ended up locking eyes in that open area!

As for Rod inside the tree, his movements grew quieter over time. By the depths of the night, his combat energy had recovered to around the eighth or ninth level. By then, all noise around him had almost disappeared, with only some elements slowly gathering to aid in his final recovery.

Outside, Fen Tian fought against that monster for most of the night. One had to admire the monster’s patience—it was truly impressive.

After what seemed like another while, Rod felt his combat energy had fully recovered. He had long noticed what was happening outside and held Fen Tian in high regard. Once his strength was restored, he slowly ended his cultivation.

Opening his eyes, he could clearly sense a flash of light in the darkness. Then he slowly exhaled a puff of murky air. This cultivation session was different from previous ones, something Rod sensed clearly, though he couldn’t immediately pinpoint exactly what the difference was. All he knew was that this change was definitely a good thing for him, not a bad one!

After recovering from the cultivation, the elements around him immediately spread out again and vanished without a trace. The situation outside made Rod break into a cold sweat. If not for Fen Tian restraining that guy and preventing it from attacking, Mafa might have been destroyed today. Once that guy started attacking, Fen Tian would surely find it difficult to resist, and with the other predatory magical beasts lurking around, his own situation would be extremely precarious. Fortunately, Fen Tian held his ground. As he breathed a sigh of relief, Rod quickly got up, drew out Dark Dragon, and with a single push, swept away all the leaves blocking the entrance of the cave, appearing on the open ground before slowly walking toward Fen Tian.