As I moved through the obscure path that I could guess that no one else has used in a long time, I had to make sure to avoid all sorts of traps, both those visible in my altered energetic vision and those that could only be derived from my other senses.

Yet with how every step that I made turned making another one way harder than the last one, I could at least confirm that the direction that I was going in was correct.

Only when the pressure reached nearly double the strength of what I initially felt did I finally found myself on a normal, safe path once again. Just a single look at either of its end was enough to confirm that in order to get there from the main road that I initially wanted to use, would require me to actually enter the keep and find a way to exit it with another set of doors.

If that's how the owner of this place attempted to make this path and what it ultimately leads to a bit more secure, then I couldn't help but sneer at such a dumb idea. Literally, anyone who would follow my steps, later on, would recognise this pressure, as there wasn't anything else in the area that could make it harder to discern where it was coming from.

Unless in a normal state for this place, when the energy was following freely instead of being interrupted by my attack at the doors, even the normal road would exert pressure on those who dared to climb it, then there was no reason why anyone would bother to ignore this clue and keep going through the main path!

Step by step, I could feel the pressure on my shoulders increasing, as if the air in the area turned from gas to some kind of jelly. Even with my current level of strength that was easily capable of overwhelming every single cultivator in the Vivaci nation, I had to consciously pump more and more energy into my muscles in order to move even the tiniest bit forward.

Only for all the hardship to vanish the moment I saw a small, stone entrance to some kind of underground tunnel.

Hoping that the mystery of this place would be finally unravelled, I confirmed that all my shields were in fully charged and in place, before smashing the stone that barred me entry to this cave-like place apart.

"Wha.."

The moment the path opened up for me, I could hear a faint voice from the inside, prompting me to suddenly jump forward at a breakneck speed. If there was some kind of enemy inside this place, then the quicker I reached him, the easier it would be to neutralise him!

In just a single moment, I dived deep inside the tunnel, quickly moving past the area where the walls were clearly made out of the carved rock and reaching the part where everything around me was constructed with some kind of brick-like material.

Right in front of my eyes, I could see a pair of two, young men and a single woman, holding some kind of trays filled to the brim with food. Just a single look at them revealed that it was the man in the middle that made the mistake of uttering his own voice in surprise that alerted me in the first place.

"BREAK!"

Shouting a random word that came to my mind as something that cultivators might associate with some kind of technique, I smashed my fist forward, instantly sending the stumbling man to crash against the wall.

Ending my long jump by kind-off crashlanding in the same place where this man used to trip on his own legs just a few moments ago, I appeared exactly between the other man and woman that dared to remain standing in my presence.

Gathering the energy in my chest, I pulled both of my hands back, only to suddenly shoot them in the direction of the two potential opponents of mine. Without caring about the potential injuries that they would sustain, I instantly smashed them against the reinforced walls of this strange cave.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Just a single look around allowed me to realise that just this small outburst of mine was enough to deprive all three of them off their consciousness, leaving me all alone with the possible source of the pressure that made it hard to reach this spot in the first place.

Turning my head forward, towards the depths of the cave, I could see a set of insanely thick, metal rods, blocking anything that was even deeper inside the tunnel from escaping towards the freedom.

"Just what the hell did they hid there…"

Unable to hold back my own curiosity, I moved a few steps forward in order to get a better view of what was contained inside this enclosure.

"HONK!"

As if the entire mountain crashed against my body and a soul, I suddenly found myself flying towards the entrance of the cave at the speed roughly the same as when I jumped inside. Only thanks to the quick wits of mine did I manage to shift my body midair and avoid smashing against the hard rocks of the path outside headfirst, crushing them under my feet instead.

"What the heck?!"

While I initially reached this place out of curiosity, the fact that I found something so powerful to actually completely break my balance and send me flying hurt my pride quite a lot. I didn't pride myself of being strong by ignoring the clashes with such potent opponents, but by using all the means necessary to overcome the challenge that they presented!

As the anger at my pride being shattered just like that started coursing through my mind, I could feel the energy contained within my body violently coursing through my veins and acupoints, only making it harder to remain calm in the situation.

My own damned body was giving me the signals for the first time ever since I met with that damned overpowered cultivator that dared to hurt Eve, that whatever it was in the depths of the cave, forced me to decide between fighting or running as if I was some simple animal relying only on my instinct to survive!

Recognising this state of my body as something that scientists or doctors back in earth would call an adrenaline rush, I couldn't help but grin stupidly while coating my entire body with a thick layer of entropy and abandoning all the ideas of keeping my other defences up.

If the entity that managed to kick me out so far with just its voice alone was capable of doing so from beyond those thick, iron bars, then banking on the normal shield would only pose an even greater risk to me, as it would prevent me from taking a hard stance on the ground!

Taking a few, deep breaths to calm myself down to the point where I could fully focus on fighting despite the anger still coursing through my mind, I tensed the muscles on my thighs, lowered the centre of my own mass and looked forward.

ONLY TO JUMP BACK INSIDE THE CAVE!