Chapter 1490: Chapter 1490: Bee Nest

At the top of the cave, just about a hundred feet away from Zen's head, was the calm pool of the seven-colored spring water.

Zen took in his surroundings and decided to make a detour. The fastest way up was to climb up. Unfortunately, the impossibly smooth walls of the cave made this an impossibility.

Bam!

There was only a muffled sound as Zen's fist made contact with the cave wall. He wanted to smash a foothold, but his current strength was not enough to break through the silver rock.

“Alas!”

Zen could only sigh. The pool of strength source was only above him, but it seemed to ignore gravity itself. It didn't flow downwards but went wherever it wanted.

The young man frowned in frustration. Was there really no way to get up there? He stood in deep thought for a while before a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes.

He had fallen into the mountain stream just now. The strength source in the mountain stream crevice was also reversed and seemed to change direction as it flowed downwards. The direction of the flow was extremely strange.

Could it be that the strength source in this Sacred Spring Mountain was bound to reverse its flow after a set period of time?

His faze fell on the protruded rock next to him. There was still a drop of strength source left at the bottom of the rock meaning that the strength source here had indeed been reversed.

The strength source should've already been at his feet, but after the reversal, it all rushed to the top of the cave and gathered in a small pool.

'If there is another reversal, then the strength source in the small pond is set to fall down again!' he thought.

Based on his observations, his conclusion should be correct.

Zen carefully examined the ground beneath his feet. The silver rock was riddled with potholes as if it had been eroded by the water for a long time. Most importantly, there was a drop of source strength left behind which was his most solid proof.

It was only one drop, but it quickly captured Zen's attention.

He stretched his hand and touched the drop with his finger.

The droplet immediately began to change into magnificent colors, as if the entire rainbow had been compressed into it. It looked more like a beautiful gemstone than a drop of liquid.

Zen took this droplet in his hand and turned his palm downward. If he turned his hand around, then the strength source would escape upwards.

He wasn't about to let this drop go. Zen immediately flipped his palm and swallowed this drop of strength source in one gulp.

A wave of fiery power spread out from his throat as his physical body immediately absorbed the strength source.

There were no impurities in the drop of strength source, and Zen didn't have to exert any extra effort to absorb it. This was because the strength source was originally a part of this world.

As he absorbed it, the strength source naturally began to fuse with Zen.

A chill quickly spread through his body. Despite consuming only a single drop, Zen felt his every muscle activate all at once.

“This feeling is similar to eating the meat of those beasts! But it's more effective,” he exclaimed.

Almost all of the beasts that the Collapsing Mountain warriors killed grew up around the area. They were all attracted by the strength source.

The beasts were never able to swallow even a single drop of strength source, but it still very much affected them. The ones who truly benefited from the strength source were the Collapsing Mountain warriors. It was the primary reason why they were innately strong.

Zen could feel his strength rapidly increasing.

He had been unable to measure the growth of his strength in the Collapsing Mountain race's place, but he would love to see how much it increased after he left. 𝐫₳ℕO͍₿Êꞩ

'A single drop already has such a massive effect.' Zen then stared up at the pool above his head. 'If I devour it all, what would happen?'

Zen's gaze was fervent as he thought this all through.

He couldn't climb up and he couldn't get the strength source down which were his two biggest problems.

Zen released his perception and began to look for tools that might help him within his space ring. His belongings were in disarray owing to the random items he had accumulated over the years.

Finally, Zen took out a refined iron rope from his space ring. He had taken this iron rope from an Internal Elixir Realm warrior when he was still in the Lower World.

This iron rope had the capacity to swing over a hundred feet long. The only drawback was that it was only a low-grade fairy weapon. Zen didn't have any other choice though since there was nothing else useful in his space ring.

Zen found a small vessel and tied it to the end of the rope. With this, his preparations were now complete.

All he needed to do now was throw this up to the pool and use the vessel to scoop out the strength source.

However, just as he was about to throw it, Zen heard a cracking sound as the steel rope broke in two.

It seemed that it was unable to withstand the gravitation force of this place. The low-grade fairy weapon was as brittle as porcelain here.

“Alas!”

Zen had no other choice but to look through his space ring and try to find another suitable tool. Unfortunately, there was simply nothing.

All he could do now was wait for gravity to reverse and for the pool to fall.

Waiting around doing nothing was extremely frustrating for him. However, he understood that the rules of the Divine Refinement Forbidden Land were simply unreasonable sometimes.

He just really needed patience and luck.

Zen sat there for two hours but the pool showed no signs of falling.

Two hours had been too much and Zen could no longer bear to sit still.

He was running out of time. Chapman let him in early so that he could seize the opportunity and obtain more strength source.

Any more delay might mean the loss of other opportunities.

This Sacred Spring Mountain had many branch paths, each leading to a different kind of opportunity. The amount of strength source varied but any sort of head start would still help him gain the upper hand.

Zen took a long, deep look at the pond above his head. All he could do now was remember the direction of this place. It was only a hunch but he felt as if the reversal of gravity in this cave was not natural and was actually caused by someone controlling it.

After some thought, Zen left and decided to continue exploring the depths of the cave.

The strength source of the Sacred Spring Mountain was widely distributed and could be seen everywhere. He was just unlucky since he had been unable to obtain some despite being so close.

As he walked, the cave sloped downwards.

Zen no longer felt the wind or any chaotic gravitational force. There also didn't seem to be any trace of strength source.

After the downward slope, the terrain then became flat and he continued walking for a few thousand feet more.

The light grew dimmer and Zen was forced to activate his magic vision. In front of him was a huge round ball!

As he got closer, he saw that there were fist-sized objects that were going in and out of the ball. These objects were not too big but there was a powerful hum caused by the vibrations of their wings.

“A nest. This is the nest of barbarian bees,” he mumbled to himself.

Chapman had told him that not only was there strength source in the Sacred Spring Mountain, there was also a considerable amount of beasts.

These creatures were nurtured by the strength source so it was only understandable that their power was terrifying.

Barbarian bees were one of the more common strange beasts in the cave. They were only the size of his fist but they could not be taken lightly.

Zen had eaten barbarian bees' pupae before but he had no plans of provoking them right now.