by Pegaz
Chapter 42
Pressure Cave
John kissed Sarah awake. As her eyes fluttered open, he spoke in a low voice.
“Let’s get to the pressure cave before its open,” he said. “It should open at midnight.”
Sarah smiled sleepily before giving him a light peck on the cheek. After a few more minutes of laying in bed, she got up and began getting ready for the day. She changed her clothes to the Daoist robes of the Sword Sect, complete with the silver skull mask. John was already prepared and waiting downstairs when she was ready to go.
Walking out of the house, John and Sarah were both amazed by how quiet and dark it was out. It was a clear night and they could see the stars. The wind was cool and gentle on their skin. Holding hands while walking, they both had their heads up looking at the stars.
They spent the journey pointing at some stars, comparing them to constellations back on Earth. Some stars even formed a shape of a sword, making John wonder if they were the namesake of this sect.
Arriving at the admin building, the two entered through the doors and saw there were only three people working. Waving and smiling at the workers, John and Sarah approached the teleport room and travelled to where the cave entrance was.
It was 11:48 p.m. and it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to arrive at the entrance, so they walked a little slower. There were no other contestants at the entrance which made John smile. By the time they arrived at the cave entrance, there was only a minute and a half to go.
John noticed a grand elder was approaching them. He assumed the man was the guard the sect hired for the three months the pressure cave was open for.
The cave entrance was a rusted metal hatch with a handle in the middle. When the grand elder arrived, he opened the hatch which revealed a stairwell leading underground. Looking at John and Sarah, the grand elder spoke.
“About fifty feet in, there’s a giant boulder with a rune inside,” he explained. “When it’s midnight, which is less than a minute from now, the rune will cause the boulder to change colour. When it’s a copper colour, you can walk through it to the other side.”
John and Sarah did a martial art salute and thanked the man before continuing through the hatch and down the stairs.
The boulder was turning a copper colour as they reached it. Waiting a few more seconds until it completely turned, then they walked up to the boulder and John touched it with his finger. He felt nothing. His finger went through the boulder like it was an illusion. Sarah took note and put her own arm through, too.
Looking at each other, they smiled and then walked through together.
On the other side of the boulder, the stairs underneath them were the same as those above the boulder; however, the cave walls were only four feet wide and seven feet tall. The walls were in a circular shape as if a drill had dug them out. It was all in a dark blue colour.
John went first and Sarah followed as they went further down. After about one hundred feet, there was an opening. On the side of the entrance, it read: “Simple Cultivation Caves.” John was looking inside the caves when he heard Sarah’s voice, who was standing to his right.
“This must be for those people who got lucky in the tournament but won’t be able to get very far in this cave.”
An hour later, they had gone past the ten-mile mark. Sarah noticed the dark blue colour of the walls and stairs were getting lighter. John didn’t notice the colour change. Sarah scolded him, calling him a typical male which made the both of them laugh.
They continued down the cave at a much faster rate. An hour later at the hundred-mile mark, John had noticed the colour change on the way down. The walls were a sky blue colour now. Their speed increased and soon they were flying down the tunnel at the speed of sound. With the Scan skill, they had time to stop if something blocked their path. The cave had no curves and was a straight line so far.
At the three-hundred-mile mark, the colour was a pale blue. Stopping for a minute, they noticed there was a cave here with a sign, written on it was “Basic Cultivation Cave.” At five-hundred-mile mark, the walls had turned a pale orange colour. At eight hundred miles down, it was the same colour as the orange fruit. At one thousand miles was another cave; the sign had “Decent Cultivation Cave” written on it. At one thousand three hundred miles down, it was a very dark orange. At two thousand miles down, it turned to a dark red colour. Another cave was dug out here called “Advanced Cultivation Cave.”
At three thousand miles, they stopped flying because they encountered yet another cave. On a nearby sign, it said “Supreme Cultivation Cave.” The walls and stairs in this section were covered in absolute darkness; the only lighting was the dim, green glow of a few Life Stones. On the walls were names scratched into the stone, thin white lines all around them.
“There are a few elders’ names here.” Sarah inspected the text. “This must be like a talent guide. If you make it here without any problems, then you can make it to at least elder rank.”
“If it’s like a talent guide, how can they know if people make it here without records?” John replied sceptically. “Fred said there was no way to record how deep people go. Do you think this is more of a confidence-booster sort of thing?
“The people who don’t make it this far think they don’t have what it takes to become an elder. Those who make it this far will brag about it all the time which affects the people who can’t make it, too? These things are like a psychological attack which affects the person’s confidence?”
The two pondered over the possibility. The other theory was that Fred lied about being unable to record that sort of data; however, Fred had proved himself honourable thus far. It seemed unlikely that he would lie.
“Let’s carry on further down.” A smile cracked John’s lips as he spoke. “I’m curious to see what’s at the bottom. How about you?”
“Oh, yeah.” Sarah grinned. “I’m curious, too. Let’s go!”
At four thousand miles, the colour of the walls and stairs transitioned from black to dark red. At five thousand miles, it became dark orange. John found Fred’s name written at this point. At six thousand miles, it turned bright orange. They found Frank’s name written here, surprising John and Sarah.
John and Sarah stopped half a mile away from the ten-thousand-mile mark. The cave walls and stairs had become a bright yellow. Without the Vision skill, it would have been too bright to open their eyes.
After a short walk, they soon arrived at the ten-thousand-mile mark. It had taken them eighteen hours to arrive at this point. There were no more stairs leading down; instead, it was a flat floor. However, it only went a few feet before leading to a cave opening. Next to the cave was a giant metal sign with writing on it. As John got closer to the sign, he read what was written aloud for Sarah.
Congratulations for making it this far. This is the centre of the planet. The cultivation cave here has over three hundred times more Life Power per square inch compared to the surface. With a good cultivation method, a month cultivating here is the same as a year’s worth of cultivating time on the surface.
Living for countless millenniums, I have forgotten my real name. People who know me call me “Singlestrike.” When I first arrived on this planet, I created the Sword Sect and put down teleport runes for those still stuck at the ninth rank and below.
If you are at the ninth rank or below and have reached here, you have potential. Maybe we will meet each other in the future, but I like to wander and find new things to do.
As immortals, we call the greatest enemies we will face “boredom and loneliness.” Overcome these and there will be nothing in the known universe that can stop you from reaching your goals in life. I believe everyone needs to do hard work to become strong and that there are no shortcuts. Therefore, I will not help you. I will leave you no techniques of any kind.
If we meet in the future, tell me the sentence ‘Four caves in the middle with no prize for the effort’ and maybe I’ll reward you then.
> -Singlestrike
After John finished reading, Sarah continued into the cultivation cave. There were four doors total—two on each side. With the Scan skill, she saw there were was an empty room behind each of the doors.
“What now?” Sarah asked while turning to watch John enter the cave.
“If we stay here to cultivate, we can save our Life Stones.” John shrugged as he approached. “But we will have to leave within three months or they might think we’ve died from the pressure.”
A smirk then crept across his face.
“We could also do a few dual cultivation techniques we’ve read about down here,” he said with a hint of playfulness in his voice. “Since it’s the most private place on this planet, it should be safe. We can use it to defeat our greatest enemies down here—boredom and loneliness.”
Chapter 43
New Friend
After almost three months inside the cave killing their two enemies, adding the time it would take to reach the surface, it was time to head back within the next hour.
During the stay here, they noticed the cultivation technique John’s Sinners System had created was giving them the same amount of Life Power per minute as when they were on the surface cultivating from the Life Stones inside the Storage Space.
The only difference was they could close the Storage Space, freeing up another part of their minds.
John walked out of the cultivation cave and checked the system for the first time in months.
Welcome to the Idle System 3.9
Name: John
Title: A Selfish Punisher.
Age: 38
Idlers: 0/227
Skill Points: 0
Life Pool: 2
Toxin Pool: 26.6B
Sin: 60,731
Immortality List:
Shrink Neurons - Idlers 227/227, Shrink - 8/9, Time - 5y 2mo 6d
With the new cultivation technique, I gained just over 6.7 billion in the Toxin Pool in almost four months. That’s over 35 billion Life Power! And it’s without using all seven parts of the mind to cultivate too! I wonder how much the dual cultivation techniques helped by?
Looking at the system, John found the Time Pool he had ignored since meeting Sarah. It still had a little over a month left inside. He intended to leave it for emergencies, but now that the skills took years, it wasn’t enough to do any real help so he used it all on his Shrink Neurons skill.
Shrink Neurons - Idlers 227/227, Shrink - 8/9, Time - 5y 26d 21h 40m 6s
Standing outside the four cave doors in the middle of the corridor, Sarah was deep in thought. John noticed she was tapping on her chin with her right index finger. It was a habit of hers when she was trying to solve something. Looking at the wall where Sarah was staring, John could see nothing but the bright yellow wall.
“I want to leave our names down here,” Sarah spoke somewhat abruptly. “Like everybody did near the supreme caves. The only problem is… Well, since we’re married, should I use your last name or mine? We’ve never talked about it before. Plus, even if I use it, nobody knows your last name anyway.”
The question stunned John. He had never thought about their names before. His brain was more obsessed with thoughts of survival and trouble prevention. After some consideration, he shrugged.
“I don’t want to become famous. Do you?” he casually answered. “Even if we write our names here, we wouldn’t be able to tell anybody about it. It would just be another little secret between us.”
“Do you want children in the future?” Sarah’s question hit John like a truck. “Think about the legacy we want to leave behind.”
John had his mouth open, stunned. His wide eyes drifted down to his wife’s stomach, which she noticed.
“I’m not pregnant!” she cried out in a flustered voice. “The dual cultivation stops all chances of that happening, remember? If we want kids, we’ll have to do it without using a dual cultivation technique.”
“Ah… right.” Rubbing the back of his head, John let out a slight chuckle. “The question really knocked me off my feet. I forgot about that. And, well, to be honest, I’ve never seriously thought about having kids. All I know is that it’s too soon for us now. We’re too weak to protect little ones against enemies like the Rogue Sect and the Anti-Assassin Sect. My biggest fear is my enemies using my loved ones against me.”
There was a pause, during which the mood grew solemn.
“I think,” John finally said quietly, “we shouldn’t have kids until our enemies are dealt with. What about you?”
“In my past life, I didn’t want kids.” Sarah nodded. “But after becoming an immortal, it’s like a new perspective. Being alive for so long… I think having children would help me stay sane. When we’re ready, of course.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.” John smiled. “As for taking my last name, it is up to you. I never married in my past life, and I do not care for that tradition on Earth. We have our rings to show the universe we’re married.”
Sarah walked up to the cave wall at the end of the corridor and took out her nano short sword. After she etched down what she wanted, John and Sarah started their journey back up to the surface.
“I’m surprised you etched that down,” John commented as they travelled.
Sarah only smiled.
On the wall, Sarah had etched the words ‘John & Sarah Allen’ in big, English letters. The carving had turned black, which made it very noticeable with the bright wall. Around the names was a heart.
John looked at Sarah with Immortal Eye while travelling.
Sarah Allen
Rank: 3
Level: 9
Sin: 0
“If anybody asks,” John said as an idea struck him, “we’ll say that we stopped a few miles after Supreme Cultivation Cave then turned around and spent the remaining time there. Though this only works if none of the other people managed to reach it.”
“I’m not carving our names down a second time,” Sarah protested. “Especially for a lie.”
“You becoming sentimental?” John laughed. He received a punch to the jaw as his answer.
Near the two-thousand-mile mark, John and Sarah noticed another person inside the advanced cultivation cave. As they neared, the form could be made out as the woman who wielded the great sword. Within the Scan, they could see she was sitting down in the cave, pushing Life Power to resist the pressure around her. She was drenched in sweat and didn’t appear to be doing so well.
“I think she’s near her limit,” Sarah said in a hushed tone.
“You want to go warn her it’s time to leave?” John raised an eyebrow. “If she doesn’t come out soon, then, from what Fred told us, she will die.”
Sarah entered the cave and knocked on the door, alerting the woman. It was the woman’s luck that the cave was not airtight, allowing the Scan to see inside. If it had been airtight, then she might have stayed too long and died.
The woman thanked them for the reminder, claiming she lost track of time. She changed into some dry clothes inside the cave.
John turned off his Scan the moment he realised the woman was getting changed.
“We’ve got almost sixteen hours left to get out,” Sarah called to the woman from behind the door. “Do you know where the other two contestants are?”
“Oh, crap!” The woman’s muffled voice was genuinely shaken by the news. “I took over fifty hours to get here! What am I going to do? Man, I really lost track of time...”
John looked at Sarah and whispered.
“You want to carry her to the entrance?”
Sarah nodded, turned around, and shouted at the cave door.
“I’ll take you to the entrance in time,” she called. “Don’t worry.”
“Thank you!” was the muffled response. “Thank you, thank you! I’ll forever be grateful! Ah, I think the other two both stayed inside the decent cultivation cave at the one-thousand-mile mark. By the way, we’ve never introduced ourselves!”
; The door suddenly pushed forward, revealing the short woman. She stepped out of the cave, a wide smile spreading across her face.
“I’m Lexis Arnold!”
Lexis stuck her hand out, but when Sarah went to shake it, the shorter woman reeled her in for a hug instead.
“I’m Sarah,” Sarah replied with a friendly glow about her. “And this is my husband, John.”
“Hello.” John waved.
The two women ended their embrace and Lexis was lifted onto Sarah’s back. The shorter woman wrapped her legs around Sarah’s waist, holding on as tightly as she could manage in her worn out state. When they were ready to take off, Sarah flew up the stairs. She was sure to touch down on the surface of the stairs occasionally, to break the illusion that she was actually flying.
With Lexis with them, Sarah and John slowed down their travelling speed. However, they were still going much faster than any regular disciple would be capable of. Soon enough, the group reached the one-thousand-mile mark. John entered the cave and shouted at the remaining two contestants.
“Fourteen hours until you die! Get to the surface now!”
John, Sarah, and Lexis stood at the cave entrance, waiting for the two men to come out. A few moments later, two doors opened. The spear user and the bowman came out. They thanked John for the warning, explaining that they were able to make it to the entrance within ten hours. Since their bodies weren’t exhausted, they didn’t need any help getting to the exit as Lexis did.
John, Sarah and Lexis travelled back to the surface within an hour’s time. They went through the boulder and then the hatch, greeting the grand elder on his final day of duty. From that point, they started walking toward the administration building to teleport back to their homes.
Along the way, Sarah and Lexis got to talking about everything. The two women were really warming up to one another, and John was happy that Sarah seemed to have made a good friend. By the time they arrived at the teleports, Sarah and Lexis had made plans to go shopping together the next day.
“Okay, John?” Sarah’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at her husband, leaving him a bit confused.
