However, Jiang Chen was bold precisely because of his exceptional skill, and he couldn't afford to worry about every little thing.
Sure enough, after advancing roughly another one or two hundred li, the depth and breadth of the Endless Cavern grew noticeably wider. The various subterranean creatures within also became far more active.
On the third and fourth days that followed, Jiang Chen's harvest grew rich once more.
On the third day, he collected eleven Azure Spirit Pearls.
On the fourth day, he collected eight Azure Spirit Pearls.
All told, over the four days, his total haul came to a whopping thirty-four.
"Four days, thirty-four pearls. At this pace, I can finish the task ahead of schedule," Jiang Chen calculated his income, noting he still needed sixty-six more.
But then, on the fifth day, something strange happened again.
The Green-Winged Sword Birds in the surrounding one or two hundred li of cavern had once more vanished in alarming numbers.
"Do Green-Winged Sword Birds really possess that kind of intelligence?" Jiang Chen frowned in puzzlement. The official materials provided by the Hidden Dragon Tournament contained no mention of such behavior.
Moreover, according to the experience passed down by previous generations, killing Green-Winged Sword Birds in the first and second layers of the spatial zones had always yielded plenty of targets.
Only those tasked with First-Rank Feudal Lord missions occasionally needed to venture into the third layer.
But from Jiang Chen's current estimation, he should have already entered the second layer. And yet, in this second layer, the Green-Winged Sword Birds had clearly been driven to extinction.
"Damn it, is this some kind of scam? When did Green-Winged Sword Birds become so hard to find? Those reference materials must be full of lies! They all say the most plentiful subterranean creatures in the Endless Cavern are Green-Winged Sword Birds! But for the past few days, I haven't even seen a single feather!"
"That's right—I'm only challenged with a Seventh-Rank Feudal Lord mission. I just need ten Azure Spirit Pearls. Does the heavens really won't let me complete even such a simple task?"
Similar complaints, Jiang Chen heard once again.
He found it odd as well. Logically, if Green-Winged Sword Birds were this difficult to locate, the task quota wouldn't have been set so high.
Could it be that the Green-Winged Sword Birds had been deliberately driven away?
At that thought, Jiang Chen's brow furrowed slightly. It wasn't impossible—given the overbearing nature of Long Yinye and Long Juxue, the two siblings were certainly capable of such a thing.
"If they had some special method to drive out the Green-Winged Sword Birds along their path, releasing a signal that frightened the birds, it would be entirely possible to herd them deeper into the cavern."
Once his mind reached this point, Jiang Chen cursed under his breath. He felt that this guess of his was right nine times out of ten.
"If that's really what's happening, the Long siblings are far too vicious. They're cutting off the path for those lower-ranked feudal lords' heirs!"
Lower-ranked feudal lord heirs had average strength and lacked the power to brave the third layer of the Endless Cavern. They could only roam and hunt within the first and second layers.
If the Green-Winged Sword Birds in the first and second layers had all been driven away, it would be nothing short of a catastrophe for those people.
"But what benefit would they gain from doing this?" Jiang Chen pondered carefully.
To make their own hunting easier? While possible, that couldn't be the main reason. With the strength of the Long siblings, slaying Green-Winged Sword Birds wouldn't require such elaborate measures.
To suppress the other feudal lords? That possibility existed too. After all, Marquis Long Teng was ambitiously scheming—crushing feudal lords who stood against him while rewarding those who pledged loyalty, all to control the ownership of the Feudal Lord Tokens. That was entirely plausible!
"Hmm! If the Long siblings killed enough Green-Winged Sword Birds, the feudal lord heirs who pledged loyalty to them could obtain Azure Spirit Pearls from their hands, while the heirs of the lords the Long family looked down on would return empty-handed, having gained nothing. They'd lose their Feudal Lord Tokens!"
Vicious—truly a ruthless, no-escape scheme!
"The Long family truly has no bottom line. But how could I, Jiang Chen, let you lead me around by the nose?" Jiang Chen was genuinely provoked by the Long family's methods.
Jiang Chen decided to stop advancing. After four or five days of hunting, he had gained tremendous training, and signs of a breakthrough past the Eight-Meridian True Qi threshold had appeared repeatedly.
Jiang Chen found a secluded corner and simply began cultivating in earnest.
If Jiang Chen truly wished to hide himself, the Endless Cavern was the last place anyone would find him. But just because no one could locate him didn't mean he was absolutely safe.
The most dangerous things in the cavern were the subterranean creatures.
Jiang Chen set up several simple arrangements around him—various poisons cleverly placed to form a defensive trap.
Whether it was a person or a subterranean creature, anyone who stepped into this circle would be poisoned.
Two days passed.
Jiang Chen opened his eyes. The violent True Qi surging within his body was suppressed by him, wave after wave. His Nine-Meridian True Qi roared like nine great rivers in flood—magnificent in momentum, running wild through his meridians.
"A hundred feet from the pole, he climbs another foot." A satisfied smile crossed Jiang Chen's face. "Nine-Meridian True Qi represents the peak of the high-level True Qi Realm. One more step, and I'll become a True Qi Master. But with my current cultivation, even a Ten-Meridian True Qi Master—what would I have to fear from them?"
This wasn't base confidence. Jiang Chen genuinely had the credentials to back up his pride.
After entering Nine-Meridian True Qi and combining it with his formidable martial techniques, his combat power was bound to increase exponentially.
In particular, his Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil—after surviving six or seven days in the cavern, Jiang Chen could clearly feel that it had advanced yet another level, reaching the sixth stage.
"It seems my Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil is the most outstanding among my four Divine Abilities. This cavern is pitch-black, yet it turned out to be immensely beneficial for cultivating the Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil."
The sixth-stage Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil was noticeably more powerful than before. To Jiang Chen's eyes, this pitch-black cavern now looked no different from an overcast day.