At the same time Xuan Hao, Qing Yi, and the rest of the elders from the Flying Sword Sect who had come along with them to the Iron Sky Kingdom were beginning their journey back towards the Flying Sword Sect, Chu Yang had just made his way out of the pavilion with the help of Zhi Ruo.
"I'm so close… I just need an opportunity and I should be able to breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm!"
Muttering this to himself as he stared at the clouds gently floating by below him, Chu Yang felt that it was time for him to go out again.
Without going out and experiencing the world, he didn't know how long it would take for him to breakthrough the Core Formation Realm by just sitting around. Not to mention, Qing Yi had already managed to go out together with their master!
"Hah…"
Thinking about Qing Yi and the fact that she and her master had gone to some powerful kingdom for an alchemy competition, Chu Yang could not help feeling a little jealous of her…
"If you want to go out, I think you should go visit the Mission Hall. Recently they put up a lot of new missions and most of them are for Foundation Establishment Realm Disciples."
Hearing Zhi Ruo's voice, Chu Yang looked towards the young girl with a curious expression.
"I still haven't reached the Core Formation Realm; can I really leave the sect without master's approval…?
"Yes! From what I heard, most of the missions are related to Elder Song? and him slowly increasing our control over the territory under our sect. From what I heard; the missions are not too dangerous. At this point, most of the other personal disciple below the Core Formation Realm under the Core Elders have taken up one of the missions issued by Elder Song!"
Listening to Zhi Ruo's explanation, Chu Yang could not help growing a little excited. If what she said was really true, he would be able to take on a mission and gain some real-world experience without waiting for his master to come back!
Maybe he could even breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm and surprise his master when he came back!
"I see… Looks like I will have to visit the Mission Hall! Thanks for the information, Zhi Ruo!"
"No problem, you can always come and ask me if you are ever curious about what the current situation in the sect is!"
Thinking about how wonderful it would be if he could reach the Core Formation Realm before his master returned, Chu Yang did not pay too much attention to his surroundings, as he began making his way down the mountain towards the Mission Hall.
"Ah! That's the wron-"
Crack~
"Huh…?"
Before Zhi Ruo even had time to warn him, Chu Yang had already stepped down the wrong side of the mountain, as the ground beneath his feet suddenly cracked apart-
Rumble!
Before the rocky surface Chu Yang was standing on broke apart and he began falling downwards!
All of a sudden Chu Yang had found himself falling freely! Even worse, a small forest of spiky rocks was located directly below him!
Just how unlucky can I get…
Realizing just how dangerous his current situation was, Chu Yang focused on finding a way to get out of his current situation without ending up getting pierced by the spiky rocks below.
"A ledge!"
Whoosh!
Spotting a ledge just below him rapidly approaching, Chu Yang focused all his energy to propel him towards the small ledge.
Bang!
Just barely managing to land on it.
"Are you okay down there!?"
"Yes! I just need a bit of time…"
Hearing the worried voice of Zhi Ruo coming from above, Chu Yang quickly informed her that everything was fine before laying down on what little space was available to him on the small ledge.
He really needed a few seconds to understand what had just happened…
"In the future, I should watch where I walk more carefully…"
Muttering these few words to himself, Chu Yang got back up before slowly climbing down towards the forest of spikey rocks below him.
He had to at least he had to remove those dangerous things before making his way to the Mission Hall…
Just in case someone happened to fall down here in the future…
…
Bang!
"That should be the last of them!" Having finished tearing down all the dangerous looking spiky rocks, Chu Yang smiled happily to himself as he looked at the empty place that the spiky rock forest had been just a few moments ago.
"But I wonder… Where is this…?"
Looking around himself, Chu Yang had long since realized that he was not anywhere at the side of the mountain after beginning to tear down the spikey rock forest. Currently, he was inside the mountain itself!
To be honest, Chu Yang didn't even know that his master's mountain had been hollow in the first place!
"Maybe I should explore this place first before going to the Mission Hall…"
Feeling himself getting more and more excited over the prospect of exploring just what was hidden inside his master's mountain peak.
During his earlier destruction of the spikey rock forest, he had also managed to spot a few demon beasts running around the place, though the strongest of them had only reached the Fifth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. Nothing that would pose a threat to him with his current strength!
The demon beast he encountered, also seemed to understand this, as they had run away immediately upon spotting him…
Having made up his mind, Chu Yang slowly began moving away from the remains of the spiky rock forest and began exploring the space inside his master's mountain. Not forgetting to look out for any demon beast that might try and launch a sneak attack on him.
Even if he was currently inside the Flying Sword Sect and the demon beasts, he had seen so far were only in the Qi Condensation Realm, Chu Yang did not dare to be slightest bit careless. After all, he had no idea what he would end up finding inside the hollow mountain…
…
"What happened to senior brother Chu Yang?"
At the same time Chu Yang had begun exploring the hollowed-out part of the mountain, Bai Ning had just returned from the Blacksmithing Hall, as he asked about his senior brother's whereabouts.
"He fell into the hole at the side of the pavilion, just over there."
"Thanks, big sister Zhi!"
Seeing where Zhi Ruo pointed, Bai Ning quickly made his way over towards a large hole that was located just a few meters away from the outer walls on the side of the pavilion.
The hole was by no means small and had a diameter of at least a few meters.
"How did he even fall into such a big hole to begin with…?"
Making Bai Ning wonder just how his senior brother had ended up falling into such a large hole to begin with…
"Senior brother! Are you there!"
Calling out for his senior brother for a few minutes, Bai Ning got no response.
"Big sister Zhi, can you help me get down to the bottom of the hole? I want to go down and see if senior brother is alright…"
Feeling a bit worried after not hearing from his senior brother that was supposed to be down in the hole, Bai Ning made his way back to Zhi Ruo before asking her for help.
"Sure, we can just use a rope to lower you down, its far easier than trying to climb all the way down."
Not refusing Bai Ning's request, Zhi Ruo instead went to get a strong rope from the pavilion before both of them made their way to the hole that Zhu Yang had fallen into.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes!"
Having the rope bound around his waist, Bai Ning showed no signs of fear, as Zhi Ruo slowly began lowering him down into the large hole in the ground.
It was also at this point in time that Bai Ning realized that he was not going down a large hole in the ground, but instead found himself inside a large open space.
"Big sister Zhi! This is not a hole! It… It looks like the entire mountain is hollow!"
"Really!?"
"Yes!"
Hearing the surprised voice of Zhi Ruo from above after he had informed her about his discovery, Bai Ning responded affirmatively before reaching the ground.
"Maybe your senior brother went to explore the place?"
Having calmed down after discovering that the mountain she had been living on this entire time was hollow, Zhi Ruo suggested where his senior brother might have disappeared to.
"Big Sister Zhi, I will go look for senior brother, you don't need to stay around waiting, as I think it might take some time to find him… This place is quite big…"
"Okay, I will fasten the rope somewhere so you can climb up by yourself after finding your senior brother. Remember to be careful!"
Along with the warning from Zhi Ruo, Bai Ning began exploring the inside of his master's hollow mountain. The only difference from Chu Yang's experience… Was the fact that the demon beasts were not afraid of attacking Bai Ning!