The second possibility was essentially impossible. Yang Kai was currently at the second stage of the Emperor Realm — unless a Great Emperor personally intervened, there was no way someone could hide from his senses entirely. Could his theory be wrong? Was there really no one in this cave?
But if no one was here, then what had those words Fu Zhun said before leaving been about?
Things were starting to get strange. Yang Kai didn't let his guard down, constantly probing his surroundings as he crept forward. Before long, he arrived at the mouth of the cave.
The interior was pitch-black. A narrow tunnel stretched straight into the depths, extending who knew how far, with not a trace of light within.
Yang Kai stepped inside without a sound, inching deeper bit by bit.
The tunnel twisted and turned this way and that, but the general trajectory was consistently downward.
He had no idea how long he'd been walking — he estimated he'd gone at least several hundred zhang underground — when he suddenly noticed a faint glow ahead. His spirits lifted, and he became even more careful about concealing his presence.
Whether Fu Zhun had been keeping some lover out here, he was about to find out.
Before long, Yang Kai reached the source of the light: an underground limestone cavern. It didn't appear to be man-made — it was a natural formation, enormous in size, easily covering an acre or two.
Standing at the cavern's entrance, Yang Kai quickly ducked his head inside for a quick look. He didn't see any sign of a person. What he did see were numerous luminous pearls embedded in the surrounding cave walls, each one the size of a fist, emitting a soft glow that lit up every detail of the cavern with crystal clarity.
This cavern marked the end of the tunnel — there was no path beyond.
Standing at the entrance, Yang Kai blinked and called out loudly: "Anyone in here?"
His voice echoed through the chamber, making his eardrums hum, but there was not a single response.
"If nobody's here, then I'm coming in!" Yang Kai announced as he stepped into the cavern. He glanced left and right, and his expression immediately turned peculiar. He rubbed his chin and muttered to himself: "Nobody? What the hell?"
The cavern was laid out in a single glance. Apart from the luminous pearls on the walls casting their gentle light, there was nothing else of note — not a living soul, not even a corpse.
But if no one was here, then who had Fu Zhun been talking to before? Was the old crone losing her mind? The possibility was slim, but it couldn't be ruled out — after all, he didn't know Fu Zhun that well. All he knew was that this wretched woman possessed extraordinary cultivation, far beyond what he could handle under normal circumstances, unless he could leverage the Dragon Vein's suppression and the power of the Dragon Temple.
Since the cave was empty, there was no need for Yang Kai to skulk about. He clasped his hands behind his back and strolled in with an air of casual confidence.
A faint fragrance lingered in the cavern — Fu Zhun's natural scent, proof that she had indeed been here. She must have stayed for three full days before leaving; otherwise, the fragrance wouldn't have persisted until now.
As he wandered, Yang Kai's gaze suddenly fell to one side. Scattered on the ground were several small, translucent objects that looked like solidified droplets.
Dragon Tear Pearls! These were formed when a great dragon wept, and they could be used to refine a special kind of spirit pill. Recalling how Fu Zhun's eyes had been red and swollen before she left, Yang Kai immediately understood — these Dragon Tear Pearls must have been left behind by her.
She had clearly cried for a long time and shed a great many tears. She had probably collected most of the Dragon Tear Pearls herself, but a few must have slipped through the cracks.
Not many were left — only a dozen or so — scattered around a dark, obsidian-like stone.
Rubbing his chin, a scene immediately formed in his mind: Fu Zhun must have been standing right beside this dark stone, heartbroken, quietly weeping and perhaps even sobbing uncontrollably…
Crying at a rock? Yang Kai scoffed, about to dismiss the whole thing, when something caught his attention and he studied the stone more carefully.
He hadn't paid it much mind before — once he confirmed there was no living person in the cave, he'd only given it a cursory glance. Now, looking more closely, he realized the stone was peculiar. About a man's height, oval-shaped — no matter how he looked at it, the stone resembled an… egg.
A stone that looked like an egg.
Could this be a damn dragon egg?
The thought sprang unbidden into his mind, and Yang Kai was so startled he widened his eyes and stared at the strange stone.
Come to think of it, he didn't actually know how dragons were born. Were they delivered directly by female dragons, or did they hatch from dragon eggs? No one had ever told him, but he had certainly heard the term "dragon egg" before.
Could this really be a dragon egg? Thinking about it more carefully, it actually seemed plausible — serpents were oviparous, so dragons probably were too…
Fu Zhun had come here and stayed for three days, then had a good cry in front of something that looked suspiciously like a dragon egg. This, this, this… Could it be a dragon egg between Fu Zhun and the Grand Elder?
"Good lord…" Yang Kai was dumbstruck, stunned by his own line of reasoning. If this were truly the case, then he had stumbled upon something extraordinary.
This was a dragon egg of two tenth-rank dragons! Inheriting the bloodlines of two tenth-rank dragons, it was destined to become a pillar and beacon of hope for Dragon Island's future!
But if this really was their egg, why was it stashed here? Why not placed on Green Wood Island or Ice Snow Island? Ice Snow Island was one thing — its extreme cold and pervasive ice-attribute laws might make it unsuitable for incubating a dragon egg. But Green Wood Island would have been perfectly fine.
So why hide it here instead of on Green Wood Island?