After everyone had been staring at the colossal cave for a while, Tristan said:

"We’d better rest here for a bit."

He decided to try and obtain some information about it from his divine artifact.

Feiyan, who was still exhausted from climbing the hill, quickly agreed.

"I think that’s a good idea!"

Everyone else agreed as well, and Tristan lay down in a corner, turning his back to the others. If anyone saw him, they would think he was sleeping.

Tristan's mind entered the divine fragment.

Now in the strange yet familiar place, he said:

"A mountain that reaches the heavens, between the central and eastern regions, with a hole that looks like it was made by a sword."

Seeing the massive amount of tales that remained, Tristan could infer that knowledge about this place wasn’t rare. Sighing, he began reading the stories, trying to learn more about this region. Among the dozens of tales he read, two caught his attention:

"Born from the womb of Mother Gaia, the King of Giants was the tallest creature outside the divine realms. He grew so much that he became the highest point of his mother, and his head could not be seen from the ground.

Considered invincible and indestructible, no one was ever able to wound him, until one day he decided to challenge another being also known for being invincible, the Sword Saint.

Between the central and eastern regions, their battle was supposed to take place. But what was witnessed that day could not be called a battle; with just one strike, the Sword Saint pierced a hole through the King of Giants.

Since that day, his corpse has served as a demonstration to all of the power of the Supremes."

"In the Silver Era, some faithful followers of the God of War were being pursued by the terrible followers of the God of the Abyss. They had to flee to the east, crossing the treacherous mountain regions in their path.

But as they fled, they encountered an insurmountable obstacle: a great mountain that reached the heavens. To save her people, the War Priestess made a sacrifice to her god; the gods wouldn’t accept a simple offering, so she took a flaming sword and stabbed it into her own heart.

Seeing her devotion, the God of War sent the Spiritual King of Swords to carve a path through the great mountain, creating a safe passage to the east. After his mission in this world was complete, the Spiritual King of Swords himself took the Priestess’s soul to the Realm of Eternal Sleep."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Tristan pondered deeply over this complex matter.

"Strange, it seems the existence of the peculiar cave is related to one of the Supremes, just as I suspected. The first tale clearly has its origins in the western region, as the Supremes there are called Saints. And in the eastern region, the Supremes are known as Spiritual Kings, which means the second tale is based on the beliefs of the eastern people."

"Moreover, the Sword Saint seems to have a strong connection with what happened here!" Tristan murmured to himself.

As for the other information, Tristan had no way to confirm its accuracy. The two stories depicted completely different situations and involved entities that were beyond his understanding.

But there was another important question for him to consider.

"Interesting! Most of the tales I’ve read mention that this giant cave could serve as a passage to the east."

He began to contemplate an idea he didn’t find very pleasant.

"Hmm... should we go through the cave?"

Tristan didn’t feel very comfortable with this; the cave seemed a bit oppressive to him. Unfortunately, his young mind was impatient, and soon the boredom of continuing to travel as they were doing outweighed his fear. He didn’t want to miss the opportunity to continue their journey on a straight path.

He exited the divine fragment, continued resting for a few more minutes, and then rejoined the others.

"I think we should try entering the cave," he said.

"Why?" Zhou Lan asked.

"This cave has a very strange shape; it might not be natural. It could have been made by someone, and there might be an exit closer to the eastern region."

"Of course, it could be dangerous, monsters like dark places, so I’ll investigate the place first."

"You want to go in there alone? Isn’t that too dangerous?" For a moment, Lan looked at Tristan as if he were just a child instead of probably the strongest person in the group.

Tristan stared at Lan. He didn’t feel the need to explain what he would or wouldn’t do, but he decided to respond to Lan out of courtesy.

"I’m a Darkness cultivator, which makes me very suitable for this kind of task," he answered with a shrug.

"He’s right," Yi Jian said. "And since I’m also a Darkness cultivator, I should accompany him."

The others nodded in agreement; they seemed to think this was a good decision. However, Tristan thought about it. Indeed, if he had Jian’s company, his exploration would have been safer, which would have been best for him.

"Wouldn’t it be better for you to stay here? If a wild animal appears, or worse, a magical beast, they could all die."

Tristan didn’t want to convince Jian to stay; he would leave the decision up to him.

Hearing his words, Jian became thoughtful. He looked at the others, his gaze lingering on Feiyan for a few seconds longer, then he said:

"I think you’re right."

Tristan started to leave.

Yue said to him with a worried frown, "Hum... good luck! And come back alive!"

Tristan nodded at her.

He said goodbye to the others and set off on his journey to the giant mountain. The journey wasn’t quick; the hill was kilometers away.

But eventually, he made it.

Tristan searched for signs of other living beings passing through this place, but if they had ever existed, time had erased them

The sight of the mountain reaching the clouds and the diamond-shaped hole left him fascinated. Tristan ran his hand along the cave’s walls, noticing that the surrounding rocks were perfectly cut, without any imperfections, they were as smooth as possible.

Tristan looked into the depths of the cave, filled with darkness, but he could see a little more easily thanks to his cultivation.

Activating [Shadow Aura], he slowly entered the cave, and his body disappeared into the darkness.