The Programmer Cultivator

Some Sword Shadows popped and shattered halfway, while others managed to last for most of the journey before breaking apart.

In any case, not a single Sword Shadow had yet been seen drifting out of the cliff’s mouth.

The airflow had become purer, which strengthened the protective effect of the Sword Spirits outside the Shield. So even though the airflow had intensified, the two of them actually felt a bit more relaxed. Even the headache that had been plaguing them eased considerably.

Gazing at the huge cave in the cliff face and feeling the sharp airflow constantly rushing out, Li Shifan looked up again toward the top of the cliff path.

He noticed that some rock was also missing from the top, leaving a deformed, triangular gap in the otherwise smooth and flat rock ceiling of the path. Through the gap, he could see the sky directly above.

Li Shifan said hesitantly, "You don’t think this cave was blasted open, do you?"

Zhang Deming glanced at the irregular cave entrance, then at the triangular gap in the ceiling rock directly above it. He nodded and said, "It does look like it was. It seems whatever did it also shattered a corner of the ceiling rock in the process."

He paused, then added, "Remember those few Sword Shadows down at the foot of the mountain range?"

Li Shifan nodded. His expression shifted as he looked up again at the gap in the ceiling. "Senior Brother, are you saying... it erupted?"

Zhang Deming nodded. "Exactly. All along this path, the Sword Shadows have been clearly muddled and seem completely newborn, not like they’ve been gestating for a long time.

Besides, the farthest any of them get is less than halfway down the path before shattering. Forget drifting out; none have even made it close to the cliff mouth.

Given the circumstances, the origin of those few Sword Shadows below was already suspicious.

Furthermore, with the level of Spiritual Wisdom these Sword Shadows possess, if they had truly drifted out from the cliff’s mouth, it’s impossible that not a single one would be left near the entrance while all of them ended up in the chaotic forest below.

So, considering all this, along with the situation right in front of us, it’s highly likely that those few Sword Shadows below were the ones that had accumulated at the sealed entrance over countless years.

Then, in the instant the airflow blasted the entrance open, they were swept up by the current and erupted out of this cliff path. That’s why the Sword Shadows below aren’t completely muddled and are in much better shape than the ones floating around here.

Their Spiritual Wisdom must have developed slowly while they were accumulating. Then, when they were blasted out, they scattered in all directions.

But the newly generated Sword Shadows that came after were severely damaged by the chaotic, swirling airflow in the surrounding cliff path, so none of them managed to drift out again.

This situation is what led your ancestor to speculate that his Lifebound Painting was overflowing and causing Sword Shadows to manifest in the surroundings."

As Zhang Deming was speaking, another Sword Shadow drifted out of the cave. Li Shifan watched it and asked, "If that’s the case, why don’t they just jump down from here?"

The path Zhang Deming and he had been following was C-shaped, carved into the cliff face, not a tunnel. The cliff wall was on their left, and a sheer drop was on their right.

Zhang Deming spread his hands. "You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? I’m just making wild guesses based on the environment.

However, look at the faint, natural barrier outside the cliff path; the airflow is channeled inside the path and doesn’t escape. Add to that how muddled the new Sword Shadows are... I suppose those are the reasons none of them jump off the cliff.

After all, if the Sword Shadows have no Spiritual Wisdom, it’s only natural for them to behave just like the airflow."

Li Shifan pondered for a long time, looking at the extremely irregular cave mouth on the cliff wall. "So... are we going in?" he asked.

Zhang Deming said, "We’ve come all this way. If we turn back now, all that hardship we just went through would be for nothing. Let’s go!"

With that, Zhang Deming stepped over the scattered rubble and walked into the cave. Li Shifan, who was beside him, immediately followed, and they entered the cave together.

They passed the rubble and went deeper into the cave. A few meters past the entrance, the passage suddenly widened by several times.

Moreover, the cave was no longer extremely irregular like the entrance. Instead, it was quite uniform. Although there were no obvious signs of artificial work, a uniform cave often implies it was carved by someone.

Looking out from the inside, they could clearly see that the entrance was only partially broken open. It looked as if it had been blasted open from within, perhaps with some help from the Sword Shadows.

"Is this what they call a Grotto Heaven?" Li Shifan said, seeing how the cave suddenly became large and uniform past the entrance.

Zhang Deming smiled. "I don’t know if it’s a Grotto Heaven, but I have a feeling we might really be in for an unexpected reward this time."

Because the cave had widened, the airflow rushing outward actually eased up quite a bit.

Combined with the fact that it was now pure, sharp Sword Qi, and the auras of the three Sword Spirits were extremely similar to it, the protective field they formed was very effective.

Both of them felt a sense of relief as the stabbing pain in their minds weakened again, to the point where it barely affected them.

Feeling the Spiritual Power in his body recovering quickly, Zhang Deming clutched several Spirit Stones in his palm and said to Li Shifan, "Let’s go. Let’s see what’s really going on inside."

Li Shifan also felt much more at ease. Hearing this, he replied, "My thoughts exactly."

With that said, the two of them headed deeper into the cave.

...

The two had only taken a few steps when another Sword Shadow drifted toward them. Zhang Deming’s expression flickered, and he once again extended a jade-green Vine. The Vine shimmered with a dreamlike light, became incredibly sharp, and stabbed at the approaching Sword Shadow.

The muddled Sword Shadow lacked the agility of the ones below. Even though the airflow around it had no effect on it, it showed no reaction.

Struck directly by the Jade Spike, the Sword Shadow wavered for a moment before exploding into a cloud of Spiritual Light, which was then swept out of the cave by the airflow. A somewhat illusory orb appeared in its place. However, because the airflow inside the cave had become pure, the orb wasn’t crushed and dispersed by the current like the ones outside.

Seeing this, Li Shifan was slightly stunned.