Chapter 27: The Passage! A Pleasant Surprise for Xu Guang and the Others

After strolling through Shimo City alone, Hun Cang found a decent-looking restaurant to satisfy his hunger.

After a short nap, he headed to the southeast of Shimo City just as the sun began to set.

Xu Guang had moved quickly; he dared not neglect Hun Cang’s instructions. After a brief consultation with Xiao Ding and the others, he had immediately set the plan into motion. Unlike other regions, the desert lacked trees and vegetation, making it exceptionally easy to search for items when there was nothing to obstruct the view.

Given their capabilities, Xu Guang reasoned that the Lord would not have them searching the sky, so the only place left to dig was underground. Thus, the group braved the scorching sun and dug with fervent intensity.

As twilight fell and the desert heat began to dissipate, the group took a short break to enjoy their evening meal. Xiao Ding’s younger brother, Xiao Li, flopped down beside him, staring curiously at the hollowed-out sand pit. "Big brother, what kind of treasure do you think that is?"

Xiao Ding paused, his chopsticks mid-air. He glanced at his brother and said sternly, "Less curiosity, more work. That's all you need to do."

Xiao Li sighed at his brother's caution; he was truly a man of immense steadiness—not even a word of speculation was allowed. He looked left and right, then lowered his voice. "Big brother, have you forgotten the elder brother I acknowledged? If it really is a treasure, we could hold something back if the opportunity arises and gift it to him."

Xiao Ding froze, a look of astonishment crossing his eyes, followed by a flicker of hesitation. He remained silent, his brow furrowed in deep thought.

After a brief rest, the excavation continued. On the dunes, torches and moonstones placed overhead served as their only sources of light. With nearly a thousand people working, a massive pit soon appeared in the sand.

Standing on a dune, Xu Guang compared his map to the site, his brows knitted tightly. Following the flame marker on the map, he had already tripled the excavation area and dug nearly fifty meters deep, yet there was still nothing to show for it. *Could the Lord have made a mistake?* he wondered.

"Ah!"

A shrill scream pierced the night sky. Xu Guang followed the sound, moving swiftly across the sand. Upon arriving, he discovered that a worker had accidentally broken into a tunnel and fallen through the floor.

*A tunnel... wait!* Xu Guang’s eyes widened. How could there be a tunnel fifty meters beneath the desert? He looked up to find similar expressions of shock on the faces of everyone else.

At that moment, a voice drifted down from above: "Not bad, much faster than I expected!"

The crowd looked up to see a figure appearing silently in mid-air.

"My Lord!" Xu Guang sighed with relief, his face brightening as he realized the mission had been completed ahead of schedule.

Hun Cang nodded slightly, taking a cloth bag the size of a human head and a jade bottle from his storage ring. Xu Guang caught them instinctively. Before he could ask, Hun Cang’s voice echoed: "The cloth bag contains medicinal powder. Dissolve it in water and drink it. For anyone below the rank of Great Dou Shi, it will increase your cultivation speed by more than tenfold. The bottle contains a Breakthrough Pill, which will help you advance a small stage directly."

The powder was a system reward he had received when giving some minor items to Xiao Yan. It was useless to him, so it was perfect as a reward. As for the Breakthrough Pill, he had refined it himself during his spare time. Since Xu Guang had completed the task so efficiently, a small reward was appropriate. Hun Cang did not want to be labeled stingy behind his back.

"Thank you, my Lord!" Xu Guang gripped the medicine tightly, his joy unconcealable. Xiao Ding and the others, having overheard, began to express their gratitude as well. With such a large bag of powder, there would be enough for everyone to have a share. A tenfold increase in cultivation speed—even if it only lasted a day, it was a tremendous boon.

"My Lord, are there any other instructions?" Having received the benefits, Xu Guang became incredibly eager.

Hun Cang waved his hand. "No. You may leave. What follows is not something you can get involved in." He had only summoned them to save time; otherwise, even with his status as a Dou Huang, searching this vast desert area would have consumed too much of his time and energy. Hun Cang was rather lazy—if he could get others to do the work, he preferred not to lift a finger.

The crowd departed one after another. Among them, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li kept looking back, their eyes filled with reluctance.

"What a pity. I didn't expect this Lord to keep such a close watch," Xiao Li said with regret.

Xiao Ding draped an arm over his brother's shoulder. "It’s better than finding the treasure and hiding it, only to be discovered by him later." That would have been a death sentence, he thought, though he didn't say it aloud, knowing his brother understood.

After the group left the pit, they did not depart the area but stood on the dunes, watching with curiosity. What kind of treasure could attract such a powerful figure?

Ignoring their gazes, Hun Cang released a surge of black mist from his body. The mist coiled into snake-like shapes and dove into the tunnel. After more than ten minutes, a smile played on Hun Cang's lips. "Found it!"

He turned his gaze toward a specific spot and struck with a blast of energy. The black mist condensed into a cylinder and plunged straight into the dune. A rumbling sound echoed through the empty night as the sand shifted like liquid, revealing a tunnel from which blinding red light and intense, scorching heat erupted.

"There’s magma down there?!" Xu Guang stared, stunned. Magma deep underground was normal, but they had only dug so deep—they were still a world away from the true depths of the earth.

Hun Cang covered his body in a layer of Dou Qi and dove in like a cannonball. The massive impact sent red-hot magma splashing dozens of meters into the air.

"What terrifying power; he can even ignore the intense heat of the magma!" Xiao Ding swallowed hard, watching the magma cascade down. If that had touched him, he would have been melted instantly!

Time passed, yet no one was willing to leave. Their curiosity, ignited by the appearance of the magma, only grew stronger. As the sky in the distance began to break into dawn, sunlight spilled over the desert.

Countless figures sat on the ground, eyes closed, meditating. During the night, Xu Guang and the others had found a large vat of water and tried the medicinal powder provided by Hun Cang. They were astonished to find that a single spoonful was enough to produce effects lasting nearly seven days. Everyone present had received a share, and they had only used a third of the supply.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were stunned: twenty-one days of ten-fold cultivation speed was equivalent to saving two hundred days of training. Many of them had even achieved breakthroughs that night.

Xu Guang let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes, filled with pleasant surprise. He had broken through to a five-star Great Dou Shi. "This is enough to crush Luo Bu. If that bastard dares to provoke me again, I’ll be sure to teach him a lesson," a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Just then, the ground shook violently. Everyone stood up in haste, their hearts racing as rapidly as the sand beneath their feet.