Raise a sword!

Ahead, the path leading deep into the cave was blocked.

What appeared before Jiang Peng was a huge rock fracture, and in the middle of that fracture, two huge stone gates were covered with cracks.

Among them, there was a broken indentation on the stone gate. Just by looking at the shape of the indentation, Jiang Peng knew that the indentation corresponded to the broken third-order array plate that Qian Laosi had shown him before.

Just as Qian Laosi said before.

This cave dwelling was clearly built on a subterranean foundation, but due to the earthquake, the subterranean foundation collapsed, and the original layout of the cave dwelling was also destroyed.

"This is it. Although these two stone doors are broken, I don't know what material they are made of, so I can't break them open." Qian Laosi led Jiang Peng forward.

Then, he took out a palm-sized chisel from his storage bag and started tapping on the stone door for a long time.

Apart from some debris, the stone gate remained completely unmoved.

Jiang Peng, standing nearby, looked on with curiosity.

"What kind of magical artifact is that?"

Qian Laosi laughed and said, "Brother Jiang, don't underestimate this little chisel. This thing is a family heirloom. It has the power to break magic... To be honest, I've done grave digging before. With this little chisel in hand, there's no tomb that I, Qian Laosi, can't chisel open or coffin that I can't pry open."

"Fine, you're being unethical." Jiang Peng shook her head with a smile, then stepped forward.

Qian Laosi also made way for her, looking at Jiang Peng with expectant eyes.

Jiang Peng did not rush to make a move, but first examined the stone gate in front of her.

He raised his hand and gently touched it, and sure enough, golden characters flashed before his eyes.

Thick soil and rock: connected to the earth's veins, hard and solid.

Jiang Peng sensed that things were getting a bit tricky.

If the Purple Gold Cauldron is described as hard, then it truly is hard.

So Jiang Peng waved his hand, and the Linglong Sword flew out of his sleeve, shrinking to its normal size and landing in his hand.

A glint of fire flashed in Jiang Peng's eyes, and a raging fire suddenly ignited on the blade of his sword.

Then, he raised his hand and swung his sword.

clang--

The stone gate in front of them was completely undamaged, while Jiang Peng's right hand was throbbing from the shock.

"I knew it wasn't that simple." Qian Laosi said helplessly, "This stone door is clearly cracked, yet it's still so sturdy... If even you, Brother Jiang, can't do it, let's go back and find someone else to help us."

Jiang Peng silently swung his sword a few more times, but still couldn't budge the stone gate an inch.

His brows furrowed even more as he pondered to himself.

Besides being solid, this thick soil and rock is only associated with the concept of being connected to the earth's veins.

"Connected to the earth's veins?" Jiang Peng's brows relaxed slightly as an idea began to form in his mind.

It is likely that the cave dwelling in front of us was not built on the ground, but rather on the earth's veins. The builders of the cave dwelling used unimaginable means to transform a part of the earth's veins into the stone gate in front of us.

To break through the stone gate, one might try severing the connection between the stone gate and the earth's veins.

"Let's dig," Jiang Peng said.

"What?" Qian Laosi was still a little confused.

Jiang Peng then demonstrated by continuously destroying the rock walls around the stone gate with his magic sword.

These rock walls were quite hard, but at least not as indestructible as the stone gate. In just a few breaths, Jiang Peng had already dug a large hole in the rock wall.

"This stone gate might be connected to the earth's veins. Let's try to sever the connection between it and the earth's veins as much as possible. Even if we can't completely sever it, we should at least make it less indestructible."

Qian Laosi looked at Jiang Peng in surprise. Seeing that Jiang Peng didn't seem to be joking, he also picked up a small chisel and started digging a hole next to Jiang Peng.

About half an hour later, the area around the stone gate had been completely hollowed out.

Before Qian Laosi and Jiang Peng, only the massive stone gate stood alone, its surroundings disconnected from the cave walls except for the underground area and the area behind it.

"The rock wall behind the stone gate cannot be broken through; that should be where the cave is located... I never imagined that this incredibly hard stone gate would actually be the only entrance."

Jiang Peng conducted a brief investigation and discovered that the stone gate, as well as the cave entrance behind it, were all blocked by thick layers of earth and stone. The only way to enter the cave was to break through the stone gate, which was already riddled with cracks.

Click!

Suddenly, a cracking sound rang out.

Jiang Peng looked in the direction from which the sound came and saw Qian Laosi standing next to the stone gate with a happy expression on his face.

Before him, a fist-sized groove appeared on the stone door, and a piece of gravel rolled down to Qian Laosi's feet.

"This stone gate can really be broken open! Brother Jiang's method is indeed effective!" Old Qian was overjoyed.

Jiang Peng walked up to Qian Laosi and casually swung his sword, shattering a large section of stone on the stone gate.

"Sure enough, the stone gate was already badly damaged by the earthquake. Its sturdiness was entirely due to its connection with the earth's veins. Now that the connection between the stone gate and the earth's veins has been broken as much as possible, it is no longer sturdy," Jiang Peng thought to himself.

As they spoke, Jiang Peng and Qian Laosi continued to damage the stone gate.

Less than fifteen minutes later, with a loud crack, the stone gate in front of us collapsed.

The next moment, a dense aura of Yin energy rushed towards us from behind the stone door.

A burst of heat rose from Qian Laosi's body; the talisman he had activated earlier was beginning to take effect.

However, the heat only lasted for a few breaths in the yin energy behind the stone gate before dissipating with the wind.

Qian Laosi's face turned deathly pale at a visible speed. He quickly took out several new talismans, but before he could activate them, he could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground.

His face was full of resentment, but he could only struggle and keep retreating.

"This Yin Sha place is too terrifying. If I stay any longer, I'm afraid I'll lose my life... I'll go out and keep watch for Brother Jiang."

Jiang Peng also felt a little uncomfortable at this time, but after he used the Purple Gold Cauldron to purify the Yin Sha Qi, the discomfort immediately subsided and was replaced by a feeling of comfort coming from his body.

The innate strength and resilience honed by Yin Sha allowed Jiang Peng to thrive in this environment.

"I can still manage to hold on, so I'll go in and take a look for you," Jiang Peng said. "If there really is any treasure, what's mine will be yours too. I swear on my inner demons."

Upon hearing this, Qian Laosi's unpleasant expression eased slightly.

At this critical moment, even though he hadn't made any demands, Jiang Peng was still willing to take the initiative to swear an oath.

Sure enough, Qian Laosi did have some discernment in judging people.

"Thank you, Brother Jiang. It seems that inviting you was indeed the right decision."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Laosi did not hesitate for a moment and walked quickly outside, clearly unable to withstand the torment of the Yin energy.

It seems that compared to his resentment at being a stepping stone for others, he was more concerned about his own life.

Jiang Peng watched Qian Laosi retreat outside the cave, then took a deep breath and turned to enter the cave behind the stone gate.