Chapter 62: The Shocking Changes in the Cave

During his cultivation, Rod could feel his mental energy recovering rapidly. It seemed that within this mysterious cave, his mental energy recovered at a much faster pace than outside. Once his mental energy reached a certain level, Rod began to work on restoring his combat energy. Previously, due to the environment and the structure of the elements here, he hadn’t dared to attempt restoring his combat energy until his mental energy reached its peak. In such a strange and unfamiliar place, it was highly likely that his cultivation would suffer problems. Without sufficient mental energy to resist, the only outcome would be death!

It was for this reason that Rod waited until his mental energy had recovered before starting to restore his combat energy and continue his cultivation.

As he cultivated, Rod noticed something strange—these elements were extremely difficult to condense, as if some invisible force was pulling at them, preventing them from gathering together. Even the elements he had painstakingly gathered took flight the moment his focus wavered, vanishing without a trace. All his efforts went to waste, leaving Rod feeling both frustrated and helpless.

With a sigh, he finally understood how terrifying this cave really was. Such a place was utterly unsuitable for human survival. Not to mention the dangers, even the speed of cultivation here… anyone who came here was doomed to die. For the first time, Rod began to doubt his decision to enter this cave. For the first time, he questioned his own plans. For the first time, he considered retreating. Faced with countless unknowns, dangers, and difficulties, Rod started to think of giving up. After all, for a warrior, combat energy was their life. If they couldn’t even condense combat energy—only releasing it without absorbing it—they would eventually become ordinary humans, and ordinary humans here were certain to die!

His own speed in absorbing and condensing combat energy was several times that of ordinary people. Coupled with his high compatibility with elements, his speed in condensing them was dozens of times faster than normal. Yet, even so, condensing the elements here remained extremely difficult, which meant others had no chance of success here at all.

Even his earlier belief that this place was a sacred ground for water element cultivators was completely dismissed. He realized that even though the water element was abundant, condensing it wasn’t easy at all, as that invisible force kept interfering.

Frowning, Rod’s mind was in chaos, with two opposing thoughts clashing violently.

Saying give up—since he had already come this far, at this depth he still couldn’t bear to leave. Especially as that calling sensation grew stronger and more intense, driving him to explore further. It seemed as though something was waiting for him inside, as if he had left something behind.

A struggle flashed in his eyes. After what felt like an eternity, resolve flashed through Rod’s mind. He took a deep breath, suddenly opening his previously closed eyes. A glint of light flashed brightly in the darkness, standing out vividly, followed by a determined gaze and unshakable will.

“My fate isn’t determined by heaven. What if I even go to the underworld?” Suddenly, in the dark and silent surroundings, Rod spoke up, murmuring to himself. His voice was soft, but in such silence, it could be heard clearly throughout the cave, even with faint echoes.

Then, his expression softened, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. The confusion and worry on his face vanished instantly, and he felt relieved. As his mind relaxed, something seemed to expand rapidly. A sense of clarity flashed through his mind, making the world around him seem infinitely larger. Even in the dark cave, every detail was now clearly visible in Rod’s mind. Seeing with focus was far clearer than seeing with the eyes alone.

Suddenly, Rod felt the fire elements around him as if drawn toward him under these circumstances. Although there were few fire elements in this space, their range was extremely wide. With such a vast area providing support, the number of fire elements gathering slowly increased.

Feeling this, Rod was delighted and quickly dismissed distractions to focus on cultivation. He wasn’t willing to waste these hard-earned elements—how could he let such a rare opportunity slip away?

His mindset returned to calmness instantly, free from distractions, with only cultivation in mind. He slowly drew the gathered combat energy into his body and transformed it into his own combat energy. In an instant, a look of shock appeared on Rod’s face once again.

Not many elements entered the body, but a considerable amount of combat energy was transformed. It could be felt that this combat energy was extremely pure—virtually free of any impurities—even surpassing his own in purity. This made it much simpler and faster compared to the long process of refining and storing combat energy gathered through cultivation outside.

More importantly, Rod sensed the passion and boldness unique to the fire element within this combat energy—it was incredibly powerful. While the number of fire elements outside was vast, like countless hairs everywhere, constantly emerging and competing for dominance, the number here was pitifully small. Yet, compared to those external elements, the fire element he absorbed here was like the difference between stones and jade—completely incomparable, with a huge gap between them. It could even be said bluntly that a single fire element in this cave was equivalent to hundreds or even thousands of fire elements in the outside world! Such a ratio was astonishing.

Under such circumstances, in less than a moment, Rod felt his combat energy fully restored. In just under half an hour, his combat energy had recovered by more than one layer. This speed left Rod in awe; previously, it would have taken at least an hour. The time required had been drastically reduced!

What was even more exciting for Rod was that after this cultivation, he could sense his combat energy had become purer without him even realizing it. Its purity had now far surpassed that of his current mid-kingly level.

Suddenly, Rod’s mind stirred, and the clarity in his spiritual realm spread rapidly in an instant. His entire body and mind felt a warm glow, and his mental strength began to increase little by little. The entire dark space became visible to him as his mental power expanded, with every stone and drop of water appearing in his mind. It was awonderful feeling.

As his mental strength grew, those elements that hadn’t fully dispersed before were drawn back again. Instead of dissipating, they gathered around Rod once more, rushing inward centered on him in the blink of an eye.

He felt a massive influx of fire elements entering his body, equivalent to the amount that had entered him during his practice outside before. But now, inside the cave, although the amount of these elements was the same, there was a qualitative difference—its intensity was actually thousands of times greater than before.

With gusts of wind and howling winds, in this dark space, Rod emitted a strange red glow all over his body, the color growing deeper and deeper. In an instant, these glows illuminated the surroundings around Rod, resembling fireflies in the darkness, inspiring awe in those who saw them.

Inside this cave, a bizarre scene began to unfold! The previously gusting winds were suddenly drawn together and transformed into swirling tornadoes that started sweeping through the dark space. As for Rod, he was completely enveloped in red light and slowly suspended in mid-air. Fire elements rushed wildly toward him and quickly entered his body. He remained in that position in the air, spinning continuously.

At this moment, Rod appeared extremely eerie, like an envoy from hell, quietly suspended in mid-air under the red light, spinning rapidly. As the spinning continued, the color of the red light on his body changed rapidly, becoming deeper and deeper—from bright red to dark red, and now blood red—a vivid, breathtaking red.

His mental power growth finally stopped at this point. Rod felt that his mental power had increased by at least half in just this instant, meaning it had skyrocketed by half—truly terrifying! As for those elements, the pain of his meridians tearing apart when they first entered his body was now gone. On the contrary, aside from a slight sense of swelling pain, he felt quite comfortable. Rod wasn’t in a hurry; he let his body instinctively control these elements, allowing them to enter his body and quickly transform into combat energy, which then flowed into his dantian. A strange feeling arose in him—he knew that things would be fine if he continued like this. Once everything was over, he would surely experience another improvement, one that would at least elevate him to the upper stage of the imperial rank.

Feeling relaxed, Rod allowed his mental energy to drift outward as he observed the events unfolding coldly. In an instant, another glimmer of insight flashed through his mind—fleeting and brief—allowing him to catch only a faint hint of information. This time, however, he failed to comprehend it. Rod regretted it inwardly; the previous realization had led to his current success. If he could grasp it again, the benefits would be unimaginable. He could only blame his own lack of fortune.