At night, Jiang Kai led Hu Yan and the other two to secretly sneak out of the safety belt.
If it's just for leveling up, then the Water-Absorbing Ghost Cow in Zhulu Ridge is a better choice. Plus, the fortuitous encounter that Shen Yi mentioned is also in Zhulu Ridge, so the Fire God Squad headed straight for Zhulu Ridge.
According to Shen Yi's memory, the light orb will appear at night.
The next morning, in front of the waterfall where Shen Yi originally trained, the Fire God Squad stopped.
"Right behind that curtain of water, we need to climb to the midsection of the cliff from here, then move along the edge of the cliff behind the curtain of water," Shen Yi pointed at the waterfall, explaining the route into the cave.
Looking at the rushing waterfall and the steep cliff, the three of Jiang Kai looked at Shen Yi in astonishment.
"Shen Yi, how did you find that cave back then… I mean, what made you even run into the waterfall?", Hu Yan shook his head.
Shen Yi scratched his head embarrassedly, "The harsher the environment an ascetic monk trains in, the faster the improvement. I didn't know there was a cave inside. I just saw that place was hard to reach, so I decided to train there."
"So ascetic monks are all lunatics," Ruan Yu sighed.
After some banter, everyone followed Shen Yi and began climbing from the base of the mountain nearby.
At first it went smoothly, but as they approached the edge of the waterfall, the stone wall, long eroded by mist, was extremely slippery, and the four's movements slowed significantly.
Fortunately, Shen Yi probably had fallen many times before, and now was experienced. He led the team smoothly to the cave behind the curtain of water.
Standing at the entrance, Jiang Kai turned around and only saw the waterfall pouring down, completely covering the entrance.
"This is the legendary Water Curtain Cave, right?", Ruan Yu looked around curiously.
The cave gave people a sense of hidden wonder, larger than expected. Aside from the entrance, the interior was fairly dry, the stone walls smooth, and the lighting good.
Inside the cave was a narrow passage, pitch black, with no visible end.
Near the entrance, there was an area that had obviously been arranged by someone, with a wooden bed, some dried fish, a kettle, and a basin next to it.
"I used to live here," Shen Yi explained, "Nothing's been moved, so probably no one's come."
Hu Yan snorted, "Besides you ascetic monks, who else would think of coming here?"
The cave always had moisture, and Shen Yi's camp wasn't far from the entrance, making it especially cold.
"Shen Yi, sleeping here at the entrance, aren't you afraid of the cold?", Ruan Yu asked, "You can't even make a fire here."
Shen Yi shook his head, "President Ruan, we ascetic monks are meant to suffer. Cold isn't a problem."
Jiang Kai walked around the cave. He found that the hard, smooth stone walls had many dents and knocks, at a glance, there were at least several hundred.
Among the moss and plants on the ground were scattered pieces of rock, of various sizes, some even very sharp.
"Shen Yi, is this from when the light orb crashed?", Jiang Kai asked.
"Yes," Shen Yi walked over, "Originally, I just came to see if it was suitable for training. I thought it was alright, so I trained here for a few days. Then I encountered that light orb, and the flying debris knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I was training in the waterfall to recover."
"After that, I didn't dare provoke the light orb again and just trained at the cave entrance. It took two months before I fully recovered."
Jiang Kai nodded, picked up a fist-sized piece of rock from the ground. It was hard and had sharp edges.
One could imagine, that light orb had slammed around the stone walls, sending flying debris everywhere. Essentially launching a frenzied attack on Shen Yi.
"Where does this path lead?", Jiang Kai pointed deeper into the cave.
"No idea, I've never gone down... but the light orb escapes from there. I only know it's deep inside."
Hu Yan breathed a sigh of relief on the side, "Good thing you still know what danger is."
"Escapes from here...", Jiang Kai frowned, thought for a moment, then said, "You all wait here, I'll go down and check first."
"Leader, be careful!"
Jiang Kai nodded, took out a [Nine Tribulations], held it in his hand, and ignited it. The [Nine Tribulations] glowed faintly, like a flame.
After preparing, Jiang Kai walked into the deep cave.
———
About ten minutes later, Jiang Kai came out.
"Captain Kai, anything?"
"No," Jiang Kai shook his head, "Just darker and narrower, about thirty to forty meters deep, then it ends. Nothing special."
"Looks like we'll still have to wait till night."
The team rested at the camp, all conserving energy, waiting to capture the light orb at night.
"Shen Yi, stop calling me 'President' from now on, it sounds weird," Hu Yan said, "Just call President Kai 'Captain Kai,' call me Brother Hu, and him Brother Ruan."
"Okay, Big Brother Hu," Shen Yi nodded.
"What's your talent exactly?", Ruan Yu asked curiously.
Shen Yi thought for a moment. This time he didn't hide it, "Actually... Brother Hu, Brother Ruan, I lied to you before. My talent isn't a rare one. My initial talent is Ascetic Monk, a god-level talent. The second-tier talent is a rare one."
All three of Jiang Kai were shocked upon hearing this.
"God-level talent?"
Shen Yi shook his head self-mockingly, "If it were a combat profession's god-level talent, that would be worth celebrating. But... sigh, I don't even know if I should be happy or sad."
"What exactly is your talent?", Jiang Kai asked.
Shen Yi raised his wrist and projected a few lines of text.
[Boundless Sea of Suffering (Level 2): Training in harsh environments can autonomously increase experience, complete job changes, recover injuries, learn skills, and raise attributes. While training in a training zone, environmental damage to the body is reduced by 30%.]
[Can unlock Level 9 training zones.]
"Damn!", Hu Yan almost shouted, "This is 'Boundless Sea of Suffering'? Sounds like a cheat!"
Shen Yi quickly explained, "The boost is small. Training here under the waterfall for ten hours only gives me 200 experience."
"The reason I reached Tier 2, Level 16 is mostly from selling an intel last time and using the money to hire the guild to help me level. Actual training improvement is extremely slow."
"As for attribute increases, I stayed here for a month and only gained 1 point."
"From Tier 1 to Tier 2, I trained in a Level 1 training zone for three months."
Ruan Yu frowned, "That's indeed not very fast, but at least it's free growth. Better than many classes."
Jiang Kai interrupted, "This is a god-level talent, alright?"
Shen Yi nodded, "Yes, even this kind of god-level talent only grows at this speed. Others wouldn't even be as fast as me."
"But Brother Ruan is right. This might be why Ascetic Monks are rated higher than many classes. As long as you can endure loneliness and spend time, Ascetic Monks can grow stronger through training."
Jiang Kai asked again, "What is a Level 9 training zone?"
"Training zones have levels. The harsher the environment, the higher the level, and naturally, the higher the gains. This waterfall is a Level 2 training zone. Oh, but only if you're under the waterfall, enduring its force."
"Usually, Ascetic Monks have a max training limit. Training in zones above your limit doesn't grant the environmental damage reduction. You all know, if not for that, I couldn't possibly withstand the waterfall for ten hours. My max is Level 9 zones."
Hu Yan widened his eyes and glanced outside at the curtain of water.
A ten-meter-high waterfall, its force terrifying, Jiang Kai, despite his high stats, wouldn't last long.
This place was only a Level 2 training zone?
Then Level 8 or 9 zones must be blades, fire, abyss, and hell.
Only now did they understand why this talent is called "Boundless Sea of Suffering"...
Then Shen Yi revealed his second talent.
[Indestructible Vajra (Level 2): After intense physical training, endurance greatly increases. Can actively activate Vajra Indestructible Body state. While active, the body is immobile, stamina is locked for 3 seconds, immune to mental control.]
"Stamina lock...", Ruan Yu repeated those words, staring at Shen Yi in shock.
Shen Yi nodded, "Yes, in those three seconds, I won't die."
"Damn, that's fierce," Jiang Kai exclaimed sincerely.
But Shen Yi shook his head, "It's nothing. I have no attack skills, my level-up speed isn't advantageous either. This so-called Vajra Indestructibility is, at best, just surviving three more seconds."
"Against soldiers or martial apprentices, I'm just a live target."
In the Huaxia profession system, Ascetic Monks rank upper-middle, but Shen Yi was right. At least for now, even with a god-level and a rare talent, he was still no match for combat professions.
Jiang Kai smiled slightly, "Who says you're just a target? Seeing your talents, I think you've got potential."
Shen Yi looked at Jiang Kai in surprise. Even he had lost hope in himself, yet the president was still encouraging him.
If it were anyone else, maybe it'd just be comfort. But Brother Hu and Brother Ruan were the strongest proof!
In that moment, a sliver of hope rose in Shen Yi's heart.
———
Night fell, pitch-black outside. In the cave, only the sound of rushing water could be heard.
At that moment, a flash of light suddenly illuminated the whole cave.
"It's here!" Jiang Kai was the first to react, "Catch that light orb!"
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