The Undying Immortal System

The discussion amongst those in the pavilion made me question Bao’s interpretation of events. I needed to withhold judgment until I had more information, but before anything else, I needed to find SuYin and ensure her safety.

So, ignoring Young Master Wang and his lackeys for the moment, I walked forward and descended into the abyss.

In front of the pavilion was a path that led downward into the hole. This provided an easy, gentle way forward for anyone looking to brave the depths of the earth. However, since I was in a rush, I opted to take a faster route. Instead of following this path as it gently wrapped its way around the entire circumference of the hole, I leaped from ledges to outcroppings and swiftly descended.

From what Young Master Wang and the others had said, it sounded like this hole was dangerous in some way, and it didn’t take me longer to figure out what that danger was. As I dove deeper beneath the earth, the air and ground around me grew noticeably hotter. If this change in temperature had been caused by excessive fire qi, I could have used my affinities to block it, but instead, it was caused by natural heat, greatly limiting how much my affinity alone could accomplish.

After descending 50 meters, I began noticing veins of metal snaking their way through the walls of this hole. This silvery-colored metal could have been anything from iron to platinum, and all I was able to gather from a quick check was that it was a relatively malleable material. I wasn’t as familiar with metals as I was with stones, so all I could conclude was that it was a generic silvery-white metal. Unfortunately, that didn’t tell me much.

Upon probing the surrounding earth a bit, I found that countless small flecks of this metal were present in the surrounding soil. This was likely part of the reason why the land in the nearby area was so barren. The excessive heat had killed off most plants, and the heavy metals had taken care of the rest.

While this was interesting, it wasn’t my concern at the moment, so after making a mental note about it, I continued deeper into the hole.

Starting at a depth of 100 meters, small alcoves began appearing along the path as it winded its way down the hole. At first, I was a little confused as to their purpose, but not too long after first seeing them, the amount of wood essence in the environment began to reach noticeable levels. This suggested that these alcoves were places to rest while absorbing essence from the environment.

As I went deeper, both the temperature and the amount of wood essence surrounding me continued to increase. However, while this amount of essence was significantly higher than what was present in the outside world, it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the amount one would need for a four- or five-star affinity. Still, for anyone who didn’t know about the Nine Rivers Sect, this place might seem like a holy land.