Inside the Cave

When he opened the folder, there were only three nondescript files. He quickly found one labeled 'Cultivation Manual' and tapped it.

Bzzzzzt!

A thin needle slipped out of the smartwatch and a string of words appeared on the screen.

'Please provide a drop of blood for analysis and identification.'

Alexander didn't hesitate and stuck the needle onto the inside of his thumb. Seconds later, a red line appeared on the screen along with another string of characters.

DNA sequence matching...

Genetic profile confirmed, Alexander Hart...

Energy density analysis completed, 2nd Pillar of Body Tempering Realm...

Energy density is insufficient, aborting the procedure...

"What? Insufficient? What does it even mean?" Alexander exclaimed with exasperation.

Right away a smug expression of his father appeared in his mind.

"Old shameless bastard! You ran away and even things you lef-" He began to curse when suddenly, a familiar synthesized female voice resounded.

"Overriding software locks."

New strings of text appeared on the screen rapidly replacing each other. A few moments later, the screen flickered on and off and finally presented something else. It was text, however, it was all jumbled up. Even the file name was a string of random characters.

Sigh...

"I guess I can't access it for now. Wait a minute!" Alexander suddenly remembered something. He opened the system log and quickly scrolled up.

There it said: "2nd Pillar of Body Tempering Realm"

"When did I reach it?" He muttered under his breath as he was trying to remember it.

He quickly concentrated and tried to focus on his blood qi and indeed, its movement path was different! If before, he could mostly concentrate his blood qi in the front part of his torso, now it could also move through the back of his torso, creating a complete circuit!

Moreover, when he circulated it, he felt a multitude of things, but the most important one was his blood qi getting ever so slightly stronger with each cycle.

A satisfied expression appeared on his face for a moment, only to almost instantly be replaced with one of distress. Cultivating blood qi made him extra hungry! He already was hungry, but now it felt like he had a black hole instead of a stomach!

"Ugh..." Alexander groaned. "I need to find something to eat, the faster, the better."

He got up and looked around. Unfortunately, there were only rocks, rocks, and more rocks. His gaze fell onto the cavern he spotted earlier. The feeling of attraction was still there. Could there be an obelisk in the cave?

'Well, only one way to find out.' He thought and began walking towards the entrance.

It wasn't long until he reached it. At first glance, everything seemed normal; dark stone walls, a narrow opening leading deeper into the ground and several stalactites hanging above his head. However, just as he stepped closer and peered into the darkness within, he heard faint voices coming from somewhere.

'Well, if this isn't creepy, then I don't know what is.' Alexander thought to himself.

Nevertheless, he continued onward. For some reason, he felt that even though this place is dangerous, it also was an opportunity.

As expected, no sooner than he entered the tunnel, he realized that it led far beneath the earth's surface. In fact, the air itself grew noticeably colder, despite the heat of the sun outside. The sound of water dripping echoed faintly from somewhere nearby.

Suddenly, the floor began tilting downwards. Alexander instinctively grabbed onto a rock wall as gravity pulled him downward. Without warning, he found himself standing right below a large pool of crystal clear water.

Above his head, there was a small light source that illuminated the entire room. Looking closely, he saw that the ceiling was covered entirely by thick columns of stalagmites and stalactites.

"What the hell is going on?" He spoke aloud to himself.

The entire view was bizarre. On one hand, he noticed many cracks running across the walls, which suggested that whatever happened here caused immense amounts of pressure and stress on the surrounding structure.

On the other hand, there was a perfectly clear stream of fresh flowing water entering the room from somewhere upstream. But what was the most baffling part, is that the water was on the ceiling!

Water droplets falling from above landed on top of each other forming a perfect dome over the center of the room.

When one would step close to the edge, they'd notice that it was almost impossible to walk forward because of the sheer amount of weight pressing down on their body. That alone explained the cracks.

But what bothered him most, was the presence of human-like figures floating near the edges. Their bodies were completely transparent. From what Alexander could tell, these beings floated in mid-air without any support.

"Wait..."

His eyes widened as he realized something very important. These creatures weren't dead or unconscious. Rather, they were sleeping. Floating motionlessly on the edges of the dome, suspended by some unknown force.

Each one had a single eye located at the bottom of the forehead. While the rest of the creature's skin was translucent white, the eyeballs themselves were bright yellow and shone brightly.

Something stirred inside Alexander's chest. He felt a sudden compulsion to join these creatures inside the water dome. Something about the scene tugged at his soul. Before he could stop himself, Alexander took a step toward the dome.

Instantly, the water column rose up and blocked his vision. It formed a barrier between him and the mysterious creatures. As soon as Alexander passed through it, he felt a powerful sense of oppression fill his lungs.

"What the hell is happening?!" He yelled out loud while clenching both fists, as some sort of power stirred deep inside his soul. That mysterious power had shaken him awake!

No sooner had he spoken than he felt a sharp pain run throughout his entire body. It started somewhere deep and slowly worked its way outwards. Like someone had placed a hot iron rod straight into his core and twisted it repeatedly. With every twist, his muscles tensed, sending waves of agony coursing through his veins.

At last, the intense pain ended and he collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. The pressure seemed to be gone as well. But rather than relief, he felt empty, devoid of any feelings whatsoever. This was new to him, and it certainly was unpleasant.

He stood up and approached the water dome. Slowly, he raised his hand to touch the glassy surface of the water. Just before touching it, however, he stopped.

The creatures that seemed to be asleep before were now staring at him intently!