Because he was aware of the legend surrounding the Bewitching Grotto, Rocky stayed extremely
vigilant while he searched for the missing soldiers. There were a few hundred caves that were all
different sizes in the Bewitching Grotto, and hundreds of soldiers and spirit warriors were missing. It
was going to take him a long time to search all of them and recover his fellow men.
Fortunately, Rocky had Kohen, who was great at searching. He released Kohen and asked it to find the
scent of the missing soldiers and spirit warriors.
Not long after, Kohen seemed to have found something. It pointed to an unremarkable cave among
numerous others.
Rocky's eyes narrowed slightly. To be on the safe side, he asked the other spirit warriors to stay where
they were and he approached the cave alone.
As he approached it, he discovered that the cave was not sealed. There was a crack just large enough
for a human to slip through.
Right away, he could feel an inexplicable magical power crawling out from the crack, as if something
was pulling him forward.
If he were not strong enough, he would have lost his mind long ago.
"Is there something behind this crack that can bewitch people?" Rocky asked himself, becoming even
more alert. Based on his experience, this possibility was very high.
In order to find out the truth, Rocky chose to take a risk. He slowly squeezed through the gap, which
was much longer than he had imagined. He squinted his eyes but he couldn't see the end.
Half an hour later, he felt the gap widening. However, a strong, evil spirit followed.
When Rocky finally exited the gap, his vision returned. He looked around and saw that he was in a half-
sealed cave that was hundreds of square meters long. There seemed to be no other entrance or exit.
The only light came from some small holes above his head.
He looked down and gasped. The light was shining on a pile of white bones that included humans' and
spiritual beasts'.
Through his shock, Rocky could hear a noise coming from deep in the cave. He looked around and
saw a crowd of figures standing near something.
He approached them and discovered that they were the missing soldiers and spirit warriors. Kye was
among them. Their eyes were all empty as if they had been bewitched. And the thing that they had
surrounded was a blood red egg shrouded in a strange demonic light.
"Is this a demonic beast's egg?" It had never occurred to Rocky that a very rare demonic beast's egg
could be hidden in this cave.
Throughout the Supreme Ether Land, the strongest beasts were usually the demonic beasts, not the
spiritual beasts. However, only the members of the Shura Race could tame the demonic beasts and
they only existed in their territory. Therefore, it was nearly impossible for a member of the human race
or the spiritual race to see a demonic beast's egg.
This demonic beast's egg was considered a rare treasure in the Ethereal Region.
"Maybe someone put it here on purpose. I think that this demonic beast's egg is using its devil spirit
power to attract any nearby humans and beasts into this cave. Then, it must absorb their essence
energy to nourish itself," Rocky murmured to himself.
Then, it hit him. The demonic beast's egg was absorbing all the essence energy from Kye and the
other soldiers and spirit warriors. If he didn't stop it, it would be too late.
So Rocky took a deep breath and approached the red egg, intending to transfer it into the Magic
Spiritual Space. However, the moment he got close, the red egg shone brightly, like it had sensed the
oncoming danger. After that, violent, demonic spiritual power spilled out and began to fill the
surroundings. The whole cave began to shake. Sand and stones began to dance in the air. Rocky was
surrounded.
"Whoa! It has strong demonic spiritual power!" Some of the confidence shed from Rocky's face as he
felt the demonic spiritual power surging from the red egg.
Just as the cave was about to collapse under the power of the egg, the Scarlet Heaven Jade in Rocky's
arms flew out and tried to attach itself to the egg. Then, a strange stream of light emitted from the
Scarlet Heaven Jade and shrouded the whole demonic beast's egg, as if a mother's hand had reached
out to comfort it.
Before long, the uncontrollable power of the demonic beast's egg had gradually subsided.
"What? How is the Scarlet Heaven Jade restraining the power of the egg? Does this demonic beast's
egg have a special origin?" Rocky asked, raising his eyebrow.
Once the egg had calmed down, Rocky tried to approach it again. This time, it didn't try and repel him,
so he was able to transfer the egg into the Magic Spiritual Space with ease.
A couple seconds after the egg was gone, Kye, the soldiers, and the spiritual warriors snapped out of
their trances. Looks of surprise covered their faces. They looked around, unable to determine where
they were or how they had gotten there.
"Where are we?" Kye asked Rocky as his eyes landed on him.
"You were attracted here by a demonic beast and nearly became its next meal. Fortunately, I arrived in
time and expelled it." Rocky lied as little as he could. If he were to tell them that it was a demonic
beast's egg, they would want it for themselves. After all, it was an important treasure and the way he
saw it, it belonged to him now.
"Really? You saved us?" Kye looked at Rocky. There was a moment of hesitation.
"It's up to you whether you believe me or not. Either way, it's time to go back. Deputy Commander Lin
has been waiting for you for a long time." They nodded. Rocky began to exit the cave with his hands
behind his back.
The other soldiers and the spirit warriors exchanged glances and then hurried to follow him.
Although Kye was still suspicious, he joined them as he didn't want to be punished by the deputy
commander.
Soon, Rocky was able to return every single missing soldier and spirit warrior to Deputy Commander
Lin. He relayed him the same lie about what had happened.
"It's good thing you were there, Spiritual King Basil. Otherwise, they would all have been in big trouble!"
Deputy Commander Lin praised. He didn't want to lose his soldiers like Deputy Commander Ma had.
Once they were all settled, Deputy Commander Lin led his patrol team back to the camp.
That night, the patrol team stationed themselves by the edge of a stream at the foot of the Panta
Mountain.
After the bonfire rose, many soldiers and spirit warriors gathered around, eating dinner and chatting
happily.
Rocky sat alone on a big stone by the stream and looked up at the starry sky. Even though he was
surrounded by people, he felt completely alone.
'I wonder how Isis and the baby are now?' Rocky thought, sighing slightly. He cared the most about his
wife and his child, but he also cared about his girlfriends and friends.
"Captain Basil, you seem to have something on your mind!" a voice said.
Rocky turned and saw Kye standing behind him. He was surprised.
"Yes. It's inevitable to have something on your mind when you are away from home," Rocky replied
with a faint smile.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda