Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

"finally……"

Before Zhang Li could finish speaking, Lu Ran's face turned deathly pale, and she swayed as if about to fall.

"Senior Sister Lu!"

He was startled and immediately stepped forward to support her.

"Senior sister, are you alright?"

Lu Ran felt weak all over and could barely stand by leaning on his arm. Her forehead was covered with fine cold sweat. Although she had not fainted, her mind and magic power were exhausted to the extreme. Even speaking was extremely difficult. She could only shake her head slightly to indicate that she was not seriously injured for the time being.

Zhang Li had no choice but to take out a Qi-restoring pill and feed it to her, then circulated his internal energy to help her refine the medicinal power within.

After a short while, Lu Ran's pale complexion finally warmed up slightly.

"Thank you, junior brother... I'm fine now."

Zhang Li withdrew his magic power, helped Lu Ran to sit down to the side, and said:

"Senior sister, please rest well. Although the outer formation has been broken, the situation inside is unknown. We will go in and explore after you have fully recovered."

Lu Ran nodded and began to circulate her cultivation technique and regulate her breathing.

Seeing this, Zhang Li placed several spirit talismans at the entrance as a warning, then took a pill and began to regulate his breathing to recover his depleted mana.

……

A day passes in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Li finished his practice and opened his eyes. All the fatigue in his eyes had faded away, his magic power had been fully restored, and he was back to his peak condition.

He looked up at the dark and deep cave passage. The cave entrance was quiet and secluded, with a rich and pure spiritual energy wafting towards him. Compared to the outside world, the concentration of spiritual energy inside the cave was twice as high. No wonder Master Mo Yi chose to open his cave here.

Zhang Li turned to look at Lu Ran beside her and saw her eyelashes flutter slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.

At this moment, Lu Ran's face had lost its paleness and regained some color. Her aura had also stabilized. Although she was still not at her peak, she had shed her previous weak and shaky appearance and could now move and protect herself without any hindrance.

"How is Senior Sister recovering?" Zhang Li asked softly, his tone steady.

"That's enough, let's not waste any more time and set off," Lu Ran said, standing up.

"Alright, it's best to be careful." Zhang Li nodded.

After saying that, the two of them headed into the cave together.

Upon entering, the view suddenly opened up, and Zhang Li noticed that several spirit lamps hung on both sides of the passage. However, the spiritual energy in the spirit stones embedded inside had long been exhausted, so they were all extinguished.

Seeing this, he took down two lamps, replaced them with spirit stones, and handed one to Lu Ran.

The lamp relit, its gentle light instantly dispelling the surrounding darkness and illuminating the road ahead.

Looking through the lamplight, the interior of the cave was much more spacious than imagined. The floor was paved with smooth bluestone slabs, and the stone walls on both sides were engraved with indistinct patterns. Although they had been eroded by the years, they still faintly exuded a faint spiritual energy fluctuation, which was obviously not an ordinary decoration.

After walking several dozen steps, a spacious hall suddenly appeared at the end of the passage.

The hall is about fifty feet in diameter. On the left is a small pool with a small pagoda in the middle. The pagoda has water channels carved inside, which constantly draw water from the pool to form a fountain. On the right is a set of wooden tables and chairs, which should be made of high-quality spiritual wood. Even after thousands of years, they are still not completely damaged.

Several landscape paintings and calligraphic works are hung on the surrounding walls. They are well-preserved and appear to be the works of masters.

The two searched the spacious hall carefully but found nothing of value.

"I found a passageway on the left side of the hall, with several rooms on each side. I imagine the valuable items are in these rooms."

Zhang left and said.

"Let's not delay, let's go."

After saying that, the two walked into the passage on the right.

There are two stone chambers on each side of the passage, and five stone chambers in total, including the one at the end of the passage. All the doors are tightly closed. The two first went to the outermost stone chamber.

After confirming that there were no hidden formations on the stone door, Zhang Li easily pushed it open.

The stone chamber wasn't large, and it was cluttered with various items. After a quick glance, Lu Ran said:

"Let's go, it's all junk here, let's move on to the next room."

The two then opened two more stone chambers, finding only a few volumes of travelogues and accounts written by the layman Mo Yi; nothing else of value.

When they opened the second stone chamber on the left side of the passage, their eyes lit up. Compared to the previous stone chambers, this one was much larger.

It was because there was a medicinal herb garden inside, about five zhang in diameter.

Despite not having been tended by cultivators for over a thousand years, there are still seven or eight surviving medicinal herbs in the herb garden.

"The Mysterious Ginseng is nearly 500 years old; it's a good thing."

Lu Ran bent down and gazed at the palm-sized ginseng in the center of the herb garden, its roots and stems covered with fine, light-colored patterns, her eyes filled with joy.

"Not only Xuanwen ginseng, but also Xilu grass, Zixin leaf... these medicinal herbs are all around four hundred years old, such an age is rare."

Zhang Li glanced at the remaining medicinal herbs and identified them one by one, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes.

These medicinal herbs are all of superior quality, with plump stems and leaves, and abundant spiritual energy. They are of such high quality that they are worthy of being auctioned.

The two then quickly gathered all the medicinal herbs from the herb garden and headed together toward the last stone chamber.

The two knew in their hearts that this last stone chamber must be the core of the entire cave.

The stone door opened, and what came into view was a broken alchemy furnace.

The alchemy furnace was dark red all over, with ancient cloud patterns and herbal designs cast on its body. However, only half of it remained, while the other half was broken into fragments of varying sizes scattered all over the ground.

Zhang Li squatted down, picked up a fragment, examined it carefully, and said, "It was forged from Crimson Cloud Rock. It was at least a mid-grade spiritual artifact alchemy furnace in the past, but unfortunately, it was destroyed too severely due to an explosion and can no longer be used."

Lu Ran didn't pay much attention to the broken alchemy furnace. Instead, her gaze shifted and landed directly on the bluestone table behind it.

There were two yellowed jade slips, a silver second-tier storage bag, a rolled-up animal hide, and a yellowed letter placed beneath the three items.

Apart from that, there was nothing else in the entire stone chamber.

Lu Ran reached out and took the yellowed letter at the bottom. She read it quietly for a moment and then softly read its contents: "The letter said that Master Mo Yi knew that his chances of breaking through to the Golden Core realm were slim, but he still spent all his wealth to gather the spiritual herbs needed to refine the Dust-Clearing Pill, preparing to make a desperate attempt. Unfortunately, the pill refining failed."

"But he was unwilling to give up and was determined to seek opportunities in a secret place to try his luck at the Golden Core stage again. However, he also said in his letter that this journey would be extremely dangerous and he would have no chance of returning. Mo Yi Jushi was unwilling to let his life's work on the Dao of Alchemy perish with him, so he left clues about his cave in the outside world and organized all his inheritances to preserve them here, waiting for future generations of cultivators with the right destiny."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Li's heart stirred slightly, and a hint of admiration arose in his eyes: "Knowing that the road ahead is uncertain, yet still refusing to give up, this dedication to the Dao is truly moving."

"Yes! There are countless cultivators in the world, but very few have this kind of determination."

Lu Ran gazed at the empty stone chamber and sighed softly.