Rebirth of the Prime Dragon Master
Chapter 154 The Astonishing Exploration Plan

In order to replace the nest of the Dark Heaven Insect, one needed to first understand its living habitsand what kind of environment was suitable for it, then speculated the possible area of its activityand then deduced a geographical location as per the learned aspects.

To understand its living conditions, there was no easier way than to directly explore its nestthoroughly. Whether there would be any danger in the exploration process or not was a completelydifferent matter. It was how the saying went, "How can one obtain tiger cubs without entering thetiger's lair?" The deeper one wanted to reach, the more risk they had to take. Rocky had a similarthought in his mind. He was determined, and had come to the village to replace the nest.

As the spirit manipulators of his squad were digging the pit diligently, a wicked smile curled up onthe corners of his mouth. Obviously, he had lured them successfully. Relaxed, he sat cross-leggedand closed his eyes.

An hour later, the collapsed entrance of the Dark Heaven Insect's cave was dug up completely,revealing a deep black hole, which was a few meters wide. They were all curious about what kind oftreasures were hidden inside the cave.

"Didn't the captain tell us some treasures are hidden here? Where do you think are the treasures?After we have been digging the pit for so long, all we have found is a hole!"

"Yes, he did tell us. I'm so tired. I can't see any treasure here."

"You're so stupid! Do you think treasures can be found that easily? They must be hidden somewheredeeper..."

The spirit manipulators who'd been digging were exhausted now. Their foreheads were sweaty, theirbreath fast. They had now started to complain about the amount of energy they were spending forthe treasures their captain thought existed somewhere in its depths.

When Rocky saw the hole leading to the Dark Heaven Insect's nest was dug out, he got up,crouched and peered into its pitch-black, seemingly bottomless depth. He then picked up a stoneand dropped it into it, listening carefully.

It took a while before he heard multiple faint sounds, as though the stone had met with manyobstacles before hitting the bottom. Rocky could tell that the terrain was tapering and deep.

"I estimate the depth of the hole is over 30 meters.” Rocky frowned and spoke to Thor, "Give me arope and a hook."

Thor did as asked.

Rocky fastened the rope to the hook, fixed it to the trunk of a withered, ancient banyan tree thatstood a little away from the hole, and pulled it hard a few times. Once assured that it was fixed ontoit well, he circled the rope around his waist and tied a dead knot.

"It may be dangerous down there, so I'll go down first and look for the treasures. You all wait uphere..." Rocky told the spirit manipulators.

"Captain, you sacrifice your safety for the benefits of everyone. We respect you so much,” one of thespirit manipulators blurted out. Other spirit manipulators too looked at Rocky with admiration. Intheir eyes, Rocky was a good captain who shared both their hardships and happiness. No onedoubted Rocky's purpose.

"Captain, please be careful,” added Thor and Joss, concerned about his safety.

Rocky didn't reply, simply nodded his head and jumped into the hole. His body disappeared into itsdepth in no time. After a while, Rocky found himself sliding rapidly at nothing less than a 45-degreeangle.

He tried to slow down by rubbing his feet against the slope. Soon, he lost track of time. The holewas much deeper than he had anticipated—it was also much steeper and rugged. Rocks bulged outof it every now and then. Someone with poor cultivation could not have passed through themeasily.

Suddenly, Rocky felt the grip tighten around his waist. His body jerked a few times before it haltedcompletely. The rope wasn't long enough to help him reach the bottom. There he was, stuck in themiddle, staring into the darkness that stretched both ahead, and behind him.

'I need to take a chance, since there are no other options, * Rocky thought to himself. He pulled theFrozen Wind Dagger from his pants and cut the rope off at once.

He then continued to fall at a shocking speed. Fortunately, the rest of the way wasn't very steep. Helanded on the bottom of a dark cave safely. The cave was at least a hundred meters wide, with littleair in it. Within seconds, Rocky was short of breath.

No source of light reached the cave, and hence it was completely dark. Rocky gathered a cloud ofnebulae light in his palm, and managed to illuminate the space within a few meters. He lookedaround the cave keenly, and observed it was made up of ancient rocks. It wasn't dry. He could bothtouch and see the wetness on the walls. He saw the water dripping from the top of the rock. Hisguess was there was an aquifer at the top.

"It seems the Dark Heaven Insect likes to live close to the aquifer.” Rocky analyzed thecharacteristics of the environment the Insect lived in.

After walking a few steps, he felt his feet sink in something muddy and sticky. He heaved one of hisfeet up, and found it covered in a sticky, dark and smelly matter. It looked like the feces of the DarkHeaven Insect.

Judging by the viscosity of the droppings, the food that the Insect has taken seems to contain a lotof water. But it lives deep underground all year round. What kind of food containing water can itobtain here?’ Rocky wondered as he analyzed the droppings.

After walking for a while, he had almost reached the center of the cave. He now found soil mixedwith rotting plants, some of which seemed hundreds of years old. They were completely decayed.“Does the Dark Heaven Insect eat soil in the strata?’ Rocky speculated. “Soil does have very highnutritional value and also contains a certain amount of spiritual energy, especially the deep soil thathas accumulated over the years."

Walking further, he found some stains of thick marsh liquid on the ground. If the soil was theInsect's food, the thick marsh could be its soup. It seemed to have a really peculiar and strong taste.After wandering and observing the cave for about half an hour, Rocky had a pretty strongunderstanding of the environments and habits of the Dark Heaven Insect.

"But how will I get out of here?" Rocky murmured under his breath. He looked up toward the exit ofthe cave, which was at least ten meters above him.

"Captain... Are you all right? How did the rope tear?” someone yelled into the cave from the top.Rocky could only hear a faint cry from above, unable to make out the words exactly. He knew Thorand other members of the squad had found that he wasn't tied to the rope anymore. They werecrying, thinking something bad had happened to him.

He knew he could not rely on his squad members to get out of the cave, so he turned around andstarted to look for another way. A spirit-manipulated beast like the Dark Heaven Insect woulddefinitely need to take walks from time to time. Rocky was sure there was another way out of thecave.

As he had guessed, he soon found the way. The path was almost vertical, with a very smoothsurface. It was very difficult for him to climb it. Somehow, he managed to replace a solution. As heclimbed up, he started scooping the wall with his sharp Frozen Wind Dagger which could easilypierce through the stone. In this way, he planted his feet in the scoops and easily climbed up. Aftersome time, he got out of the cave.

Once up, he shook the soil off his body. Meanwhile, he saw the village that had been attackedearlier wasn't very far from where he was. No one could have thought the nest of the Dark HeavenInsect was right under the village.