267: Down the cemetery, into the cave

After three bottles of Xiao Lan Yao (Little Blue Pill), the depleted Qi and blood weren't replenished much.

The Xiao Lan Yao (Little Blue Pill), which used to give him a significant boost, now only served to sate his hunger.

'My strength has increased, but so has the consumption.'

Muttering to himself, Yang Dian took out another bottle of a small red pill.

The Xiao Lan Yao (Little Blue Pill) is made from Mutated Cockroach meat mixed with various traditional Chinese herbs.

Its medicinal properties are relatively mild, suitable even for ordinary people.

The small red pill's main ingredient is the Lizardman God's flesh and blood essence, supplemented by the flesh and blood essence of Alien Planet giant beasts.

Its medicinal properties are violent, making it suitable only for Martial Artists at the Qi Blood Smoke Realm and above.

So, the Lizardman God ultimately became a massive source of flesh and blood.

It was currently in a perfect cycle of being cut for meat, given nutrient injections to recover from injuries, and then cut for meat again.

After swallowing a small red pill, the flesh and blood essence quickly transformed into energy under the erosion of stomach acid, absorbed by the body, and converted into a Martial Artist's extraordinary power—Qi and blood.

Half an hour later.

After consuming 10 small red pills, Yang Dian patted his stomach and stood up.

The Lizardman God is still formidable.

Half of his Qi and blood, when converted, was roughly equivalent to the total Qi and blood of two Old Masters.

Despite this consumption, it was fully replenished by 10 small red pills.

"In the future, I'll still need to catch more monsters like the Lizardman God, otherwise, I won't have enough medicine to take."

Muttering to himself, Yang Dian lightly leaped, drawing a perfect parabola in the sky before landing beside Lei Ming.

Lei Ming truly loved to eat.

Even before the 'poison' on his body was resolved, he was already impatiently slicing off dinosaur meat and grilling it over the fire, the fat sizzling.

"Uncle Lei, aren't you going to deal with the problem on your body first?"

Lei Ming waved his hand, gesturing to the skewer of Dragon meat he held:

"What do you know? This is called fighting poison with poison."

"As the saying goes, for every poison in the world, there must be an antidote within a hundred zhang."

"I think the 'poison' on my body must be remedied by this dinosaur meat."

After speaking, he bit into the crispy outside and tender inside dinosaur meat, then frowned:

"Although it's a bit tough, it's acceptable."

After chewing a few times, his frown gradually relaxed, and he even gave a thumbs-up:

"Chewy and fragrant!"

Seeing him eat with such relish, Yang Dian's own appetite was piqued.

However, he was much more cautious than Lei Ming.

After condensing star matter into a cleaver, he sliced the dinosaur meat as thin as a cicada's wing, and only after confirming there were no parasites within did he blanch the transparent, clearly textured dinosaur meat in a hotpot.

When the meat changed color, Yang Dian, who had put it in his mouth and chewed, frowned:

"It's missing a bit of Soul."

As his voice fell, a dining table appeared beside him.

Then came various dipping sauces, seasonings... As a grand Dragon meat feast was offered to his internal organs.

The colorful 'paint' on Lei Ming and the others' bodies also faded.

However, Yang Dian always felt that the 'poison' on their bodies was metabolized by their bodies, not detoxified by eating dinosaur meat.

After eating, he packed up the pot.

Looking up at the dimming sky, Yang Dian, who had just put away the table and dipping sauces, let out a long breath:

"Do we go down now, or rest for a night?"

Clearly, Yang Dian was showing consideration for Lei Ming and his group of Awakened.

Awakened are not Martial Artists.

Once a Martial Artist's strength improves, it means their essence, Qi, and spirit all improve simultaneously.

At the Qi Blood Dragon Transformation stage, as long as their Qi and blood don't run dry, fighting for dozens of days is a minor matter.

The strength of Awakened, to put it plainly, is gained through 'mutation.'

Except for certain specific talents, the essence, Qi, and spirit of most Awakened are actually similar to ordinary people's, at most with a bit more vigor.

In terms of endurance, they aren't even fit to carry a Martial Artist's shoes.

Lei Ming didn't force himself either.

Knowing that there was danger in the underground world and still forcing oneself to enter it wasn't being strong, but foolish.

So he suggested resting for a night to recuperate their energy.

Yang Dian naturally agreed.

He was even happy about it.

He had many half-understood parts of the Dao scripture, and he could take this Opportunity to ask Old Daoist Qingfeng for guidance... The night passed without incident.

The next morning, as dawn was just breaking.

Old Daoist Qingfeng, who had been questioned by Yang Dian all night, patted his backside and stood up:

"It's about time, we should notify Lei Ming and the others to go underground."

Yang Dian looked up at the morning star still high in the eastern sky and couldn't help but smile:

"Old Daoist Qingfeng, you call the shots."

Another half an hour later, the fully armed group gathered at the edge of the sinkhole.

Actually, there wasn't much to arm themselves with.

Modern technology couldn't be used underground, and without mechs, the Awakened could only wear form-fitting combat suits, covering themselves tightly.

Martial Artists were much better off.

With Qi gathered on their body surface, they could travel lightly, without any weakness... Descending along the sinkhole into the cave, although they had seen it from the edge of the sinkhole before and their Divine Sense had explored its conditions.

But after descending, Yang Dian was still amazed by the wonders of nature.

The cave was very large, extremely large.

The cave chamber was about three hundred meters high and about 700 meters wide, deep and unfathomable both front and back.

After descending, the few of them were a bit undecided whether to go forward or backward.

Finally, Old Daoist Qingfeng looked at Yang Dian:

"Young Yang, say something, where do we go?"

Yang Dian wanted to say it didn't matter which way they went, as both sides would have to be explored sooner or later.

But seeing Lei Ming's expectant gaze, he still entered the Unity of Man and Nature state, sensing for Opportunity.

Then he pointed to the seemingly indistinguishable passage and said:

"This way."

"There's Opportunity on both sides, but the Opportunity here is greater."

Once Yang Dian spoke, the matter was settled.

The few of them exchanged glances and then walked towards the passage Yang Dian indicated.

Old Daoist Qingfeng walked in front, leading the way.

Old Master Tang walked at the back, covering the rear.

Yang Dian walked in the middle, providing support.

Lei Ming and the other five Awakened walked between the three.

Awakened are very fragile, belonging to the ranged damage dealers, and needed to be protected.

'It seems we're missing a rogue for scouting and pulling aggro, and a healer for injuries.'

'If that big sister Su Qinglian had City-Level combat power, she could come to scout.'

'No, her talent is special, it seems she can come now...'

As thoughts churned, the group gradually delved deeper into the cave.

Then they discovered that the environment inside the cave was far more complex than on the surface.

Complex and varied tunnels.

If it weren't for Yang Dian's ability to sense Opportunity through the Earth's favor, everyone would have long been lost.

Besides that, there were also all sorts of dangers.

For example, parasites that would burst upon being stepped on, scattering tiny insect eggs that could parasitize living organisms through the skin.

Blade-sickle insects, venomous spiders, and centipedes hidden in rock crevices, ready to launch a fatal attack on passersby at any moment.

Or poisonous spores and hallucinogenic mist lurking around corners of passages.

And sudden fatal attacks from puddles.

'No wonder the Director and Deputy Director fell in the underground cave back then.'

'In a place like this, unless a Martial Arts Grandmaster with keen senses leads the way, even with a City-Level Awakened in the team, it might not be possible to protect everyone.'

'What's more, the Director didn't even have City-Level combat power back then, only Block-Level combat power...'