After the surprise, Ye Zhen looked at the colored light gate at the end of the path and calmed down.
The reason Ye Zhen had blurted out "Secret Realm" was mainly because this colored light gate greatly resembled the one in the Universe Stone Forest Secret Realm within the Qiyun Sect.
According to the Qiyun Sect’s texts, such colored light gates are usually created by powerful beings who forcibly gather the Power of Earth Vein to condense them, or they could be formed by skilled Array Masters using formations.
The former was very likely an entrance to a Secret Mansion Remnant Realm, while the latter, in most cases, served as transportation portals.
If it were a transportation portal, Ye Zhen felt the likelihood was very small. Normally, the operation of a formation needed the support of Spirit Crystals, and with Floating Cloud Cave being abandoned for so long, even the energy within High Grade Spirit Crystals must have been depleted.
"Nine out of ten, it is a Secret Realm!"
Convinced of this, Ye Zhen threw a large number of Low Grade Spirit Crystals into the colored light gate. It absorbed the energy from nearly a thousand Low Grade Spirit Crystals, and the light gate brightened, revealing a slowly rotating vortex.
With one step, Ye Zhen’s figure vanished within the vortex of the light gate.
Behind the vortex light gate was a squarely shaped stone chamber. Inside the chamber, other than a statue of a martial artist in the center, there was nothing else.
The statue was very heroic, with its right hand holding a sword hanging low and its left index finger pointing diagonally downward, exuding an imposing aura that looked down upon all surroundings.
However, Ye Zhen’s brows furrowed. Something was off. If it were merely this, then this place hardly qualified as a Secret Realm. But how could there be a vortex light gate if it were just an ordinary place?
After carefully examining the surroundings of the stone chamber and finding nothing unusual, Ye Zhen once again shifted his gaze to the statue of the martial artist.
Having tapped each inch of the statue’s surface without results, Ye Zhen stood opposite the statue and began observing it from a distance.
"The eyes?"
Ye Zhen noticed that from the front, the eyes of the statue were particularly shining. With a focused look, Ye Zhen scrutinized the eyes of the statue closely.
The moment Ye Zhen’s gaze collided with the eyes of the statue, his vision of the world flipped upside down.
His Divine Soul shook, and suddenly, bizarre images appeared in his mind.
Low in the sky, a One-horned Demon with a human face and wings on its back roared angrily. A casual swipe of its wings cleaved a mountain in two instantly, causing ground fires to rage and magma to erupt violently.
Opening its mouth to inhale, the water from a river stretching tens of thousands of miles on the ground was completely sucked dry by the Demon, revealing a parched riverbed. Billions of pounds of water entered its stomach, instantly forming a thick layer of water curtain on the surface of the Demon’s body.
Turning its head to roar, a terrifyingly bright water orb hurled towards the void. Wherever the water orb passed, mountains disintegrated to ash, and the space collapsed, revealing terrifying spatial black holes.
In the void, a jade-like index finger suddenly appeared, pointing like a meteor at the terrifyingly bright water orb.
The water orb was shattered by a single touch, scattering everywhere and immediately turning the ground into a vast sea.
The jade-like finger, undiminished in power, pierced through the thick layer of water curtain as if it were a meteor and pressed directly on the forehead of the One-horned Demon.
The body of the Demon exploded into pieces and vanished.
To Ye Zhen’s shock, the residual power of the finger continued unabated, heading straight for Ye Zhen’s forehead with the speed of a meteor.
Ye Zhen, having no time to dodge or escape, was struck squarely by the jade-colored index finger.
In an instant, Ye Zhen felt as if his brain was about to boil, with a vast amount of information flooding into his mind.
As Ye Zhen concentrated and kept his spirits in check, the overwhelming information merged into a text of explanations, even including a route to cultivate the technique.
"A Finger Technique..."
The information transmitted by the finger was not extensive, but from Ye Zhen’s understanding and deduction, it was merely a finger technique embedded in the statue.
According to the information from the imprint, the power of this Finger Technique was terrifyingly formidable.
The One-horned Demon, which could suck dry a river tens of thousands of miles long with a single breath, was beyond any level Ye Zhen knew of.
The water orb released by the One-horned Demon, which could shatter space itself, was yet shattered by that one finger, demonstrating the terrifying power of this Finger Technique.
At that moment, Ye Zhen suddenly realized that Floating Cloud Master had chosen to reside here and establish the Floating Cloud Cave largely due to discovering this Secret Realm.
Fortunate to acquire such a formidable Finger Technique, Ye Zhen decided, after some consideration, to start cultivating it on the spot.
The route of cultivation for this Finger Technique was precious, but even more valuable was the trajectory of that earth-shattering finger that had killed the One-horned Demon, engraved in the statue.
To put it plainly, the difference was like self-learning versus having a master’s guidance, and this statue, bearing the Finger Technique, was Ye Zhen’s master at that moment.
Ye Zhen sat cross-legged on the ground, beginning to comprehend the intricacies of this finger technique.
Three days later, Ye Zhen lightly tapped with his index finger, causing the air to ripple like water, and left a very faint imprint on the rock wall.
The power was incomparable to that of the finger etched within the statue.
Of course, Ye Zhen understood that even if he completely mastered this finger technique, he could not possibly have the power to kill a One-horned Demon with a single finger like the imprint from the statue could.
After all, no matter how powerful the martial skill, it required cultivation to support it; without sufficient cultivation, one could not unleash the full power of the martial skill.
Feeling that something was missing in his cultivation, Ye Zhen’s gaze once again fell on the eyes of the martial artist statue, and the process of that finger killing the demon reappeared in his mind.
A day later, Ye Zhen pointed out with his finger again.
The air emitted a muffled piercing sound, but when his fingertip touched the rock wall, it only penetrated three inches deep. Even without using a technique, Ye Zhen could have left an imprint several inches deep with a simple slap powered by his spiritual power.
Shaking his head, Ye Zhen once again looked at the eyes of the martial artist statue and started to comprehend again.
This bout of comprehension lasted for a month.
Every other day, Ye Zhen would open his eyes and point his finger, and after feeling unsatisfied, he would draw on the imprint of the finger technique in the statue to delve deeply into it once more.
It was the thirty-third day of Ye Zhen’s entry into the statue’s secret realm.
The moment Ye Zhen’s index finger moved with his eyes closed, a terrifying aura suddenly burst from him, its horror causing the Blood-sucking Vines outside the Floating Cloud Cave to dance around in a frightened and erratic manner.
It was then that Ye Zhen’s eyes abruptly opened, and he thrust forward with his index finger violently.
In an instant, Ye Zhen’s index finger struck like a meteor on the rock wall some ten meters opposite!
An explosive noise and intense vibrations echoed at the same time, causing the entire Floating Cloud Cave to shake violently as if the earth and mountains were quaking, with continual rolling of rocks and dust.
On the opposite rock wall, a deep hole as thick as a child’s arm appeared as if it was cleaved and carved by a knife.
"It’s more than thirty-five meters deep!"
Even Ye Zhen himself was astonished when he probed with his True Essence Sword Finger.
The limit of Ye Zhen’s True Essence Sword Finger was slightly over eleven meters, and it still hadn’t reached the bottom of the deep hole created by that finger.
A single finger penetrating more than thirty-five meters into the mountain belly was a power Ye Zhen suspected his Vital Vein Forging Divine Ability’s Origin Sword Vein couldn’t achieve.
However, Ye Zhen didn’t have much energy to conduct more tests.
Executing this finger technique consumed a lot, and with one flick, Ye Zhen felt as if half his essence, Qi, and spirit were drained, as though that one finger had gathered all his strength and blasted it out.
"What should I name this finger technique?"
Originally, Ye Zhen wanted to name this technique Sky-Shaking Finger or Shattering Jade Finger, but since he comprehended it within the Floating Cloud Cave and achieved a state where a single finger made everything feel ethereal, he decided to simply name the technique Floating Cloud Finger, as a tribute to Floating Cloud Master as well.
After resting for several hours, Ye Zhen left the statue’s secret realm and returned to the third floor of the silent chamber where Floating Cloud Master had passed away.
Having gained so many benefits from Floating Cloud Master, Ye Zhen was not ungrateful. He erected a large tomb in the vicinity of the Floating Cloud Cave and buried Floating Cloud Master there, also placing a stele.
After organizing everything, Ye Zhen prepared to leave the Floating Cloud Cave.
Estimating the time, there was less than a month left before the Fragrant Pill King of the Phantom Divine Empire started his alchemy. Ye Zhen needed to head to the Phantom Divine Empire early to prepare.
Floating Cloud Master took nearly forty years to break through to the Spirit Realm, a step slow in every aspect, eventually dying of exhaustion. Ye Zhen, of course, would not follow in Floating Cloud Master’s footsteps.
Advancing to Spirit Realm even a day earlier would give him more ample time in the future, allowing him to go further on the path of martial arts.
This time, Ye Zhen was determined to obtain the Spirit Storage Pill that Fragrant Pill King was going to concoct.
When Ye Zhen entered, he had to pass through five challenges to access the Floating Cloud Cave, and naturally, he would face five challenges on his way out.
Ye Zhen was surprised when he reached the entrance of the Floating Cloud Cave, prepared to repeat his previous tactic by throwing an Ice Spirit Crystal to get through the Blood-sucking Vine Forest. However, the Blood-sucking Vine Forest at the entrance suddenly parted like water waves, all prostrating on the ground, willingly clearing a path for Ye Zhen, evidently frightened by him.
"Seems like this guy is pretty smart, huh?"
Despite the path being cleared, Ye Zhen still hurried through the air above the Blood-sucking Vines with utmost caution.
After Ye Zhen left, the vast expanse of Blood-sucking Vine Forest stood up once again, tightly concealing the Floating Cloud Cave.
With the Blood-sucking Vines out of the way, the subsequent Snake and Ant Formation, Poison Bee Formation, and Cannibal Flower Formation posed no trouble for Ye Zhen, who easily breezed through them. The worst he had to do was keep a violet-coloured little flower in his mouth to counteract the colorful miasma poison.
Fifteen minutes later, Ye Zhen left the Poisonous Miasma Valley, and in a flash, he soared into the sky! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome you to vote and give monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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