Long Xiao, with nothing else to do, chatted with the Long family’s hidden guards and learned a lot about their past.
The vastness of the Long family far exceeded Long Xiao’s imagination. In Huaxia, the Long family had dozens of branches, and overseas, their branches were even more numerous. According to the information, the Long family had one hundred and eight major branches.
Beneath these one hundred and eight branches were several hundred smaller ones.
The Long family in the capital was called the ancestral branch of the Long family, also known as Long Zu. The head of Long Zu was called the Long Zun.
After recounting many stories about the Long family, the Long family hidden guard said, "Long Xiao, tell us about yourself."
Long Xiao told the hidden guard that he was an orphan, raised by his adoptive father, and now ran a medical clinic as an ordinary Chinese medicine doctor.
He didn't reveal much about his own affairs, not even his adoptive father's name.
The two continued to chat, and after an unknown amount of time, Long Xiao heard something flying towards them.
With a thud, the object that flew over fell to the ground.
"They've brought us food. You have to find it. If you can't, you'll starve to death," said the Long family hidden guard.
Long Xiao followed the sound of where the object landed and felt a very long loaf of bread.
He broke off half of the bread and gave it to the hidden guard. The bread was hard, tasteless, and difficult to eat.
After forcing down a little, Long Xiao placed the rest beside him.
"Eat it. We don't know when the next one will arrive. If you don't want to starve, eat it," the hidden guard urged.
Long Xiao reached out and felt the remaining half of the bread on the ground. He took a few bites, but found it too difficult to swallow, and put it down again.
"I really can't eat anymore. Our hands and feet aren't bound, can't we think of a way to get out?" Long Xiao asked.
The Long family hidden guard sighed and said, "How can we get out with our strength completely gone? Even if we could, we'd be beaten to death."
Long Xiao smiled and asked, "Did they give you some kind of medicine that prevents you from using your strength?"
"Yes. They put medicine in the bread. We either starve to death or eat the medicine. There's no other choice," the hidden guard replied.
"If we don't eat the medicine, we won't starve to death. Will our strength be restored then?" Long Xiao asked again.
"Of course. But even if my strength is restored, I still can't get out."
The Long family hidden guard told Long Xiao that the place they were imprisoned in was actually a massive volcanic crater. It was currently night, but during the day, light shone down from above, allowing them to see their surroundings.
The distance from the ground to the exit was about one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty meters. Even a master at the peak of the Earth realm couldn't climb that high with bare hands.
Since not eating would allow him to recover his strength, Long Xiao decided to starve himself for a few days. As long as his strength recovered, he could use his vital energy and wouldn't die from a few more days of starvation.
Not long after, Long Xiao saw the sky above turn a dim gray. Just as the hidden guard had said, the exit was indeed one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty meters from the ground.
The interior of the crater was very large, and the exit above was only five to six meters in diameter, resembling a gourd.
Without the ability to fly, escaping from such a place was almost impossible.
As dawn gradually broke, there was some light inside. Long Xiao looked around. The diameter of the gourd's bottom was about two hundred meters, and the ground was like glazed stone, very flat.
The Long family hidden guard was also wearing a dirty hemp robe, his hair and beard long and grimy, obscuring his face.
Days and nights passed, and it took half a month before a loaf of bread was thrown down from above.
With a thud, the bread fell to the ground, and someone shouted loudly, "Long Xiao, you must be hungry. Hand over the Long family's secret treasure, and we'll let you go immediately."
Long Xiao lay on the ground, motionless, unwilling to pay any attention to the people above.
The Long family hidden guard suddenly sat up. He didn't go for the bread, but looked in Long Xiao's direction and asked, "Long Xiao, you are a member of the Long family."
Long Xiao sighed and said, "My father's surname is Long, so of course I'm a Long family member. They're possessed by some evil spirit, insisting I'm from the capital's Long family and demanding the Long family's secret treasure."
Speaking of the Long family's secret treasure, the hidden guard said, "The Long family does have a secret treasure, but no one has the right to view it except the Long family head."
Long Xiao asked curiously, "What is the Long family's secret treasure? Does it really exist?"
"Of course," the hidden guard replied. "The eldest young master once told me that the Long family possesses a set of secret treasures. Once he becomes the Long family head, he will have the right to view it."
"They imprisoned you here because of the Long family's secret treasure?" Long Xiao asked.
The hidden guard nodded. "Yes, they want to know about the Long family's secret treasure. I haven't revealed this secret for over twenty years. If I told them, I would surely die."
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Walls have ears. Once it's spoken, it's no longer a secret," Long Xiao said.
The hidden guard found the bread and ate it. Long Xiao took the half he was given and placed it beside him without eating.
Lying on the flat stone ground, Long Xiao closed his eyes and stopped talking to the hidden guard, beginning to study the "Long Zang" (Dragon Archive).
Long Xiao found a cultivation method for Bigu (abstinence from food) in the "Long Zang" and after carefully practicing it, the sensation of hunger quickly vanished without a trace.
With no hunger, Long Xiao lay on the ground and began to ponder other cultivation methods in the "Long Zang." His dantian's vital energy couldn't be mobilized, so some methods could be cultivated, while others couldn't.
After cultivating various strange methods for a while, Long Xiao also found some knowledge-based content to integrate into his memory.
Every day, he read the "Long Zang," and Long Xiao's knowledge base expanded again. Although his strength hadn't recovered, his various abilities had increased significantly.
Another half month passed before someone threw down bread again. This time, Long Xiao got up, found the bread, gave half to the hidden guard, and placed his own half beside him again.
He lay down to cultivate again, and as soon as dawn broke, Long Xiao felt that his vital energy could be emitted.
As his strength gradually recovered, Long Xiao emitted his vital energy to observe the surrounding situation and found that he could observe an area of fifty meters around him.
An increased observation range indicated that his strength had improved again.
Long Xiao was somewhat excited. He stood up, walked to the hidden guard, grabbed his hand, and said, "Get up."
A surge of vital energy entered the hidden guard's body, and he felt his strength gradually recovering.
"How is this possible..."
Long Xiao interrupted the hidden guard and said, "Don't say it."
The hidden guard nodded. After a few minutes, as his strength fully recovered, he grabbed Long Xiao's hand and began writing on his palm.
The hidden guard told Long Xiao that leaving this place was not impossible. As long as he mastered the Dragon Claw Technique, he could insert his hands into the stone wall and climb up along it.
Long Xiao couldn't find the Dragon Claw Technique in the "Long Zang." The "Long Zang" contained too much content, and he didn't recognize the characters on most of the book covers.
Every time he read the "Long Zang," it was a matter of luck. Perhaps the content of a particular tome would be useful, or perhaps after studying it, the content would be completely useless.
The hidden guard's Dragon Claw Technique was taught to him by Long Xuequn, and it was said to originate from the Long family's secret treasure. He was testing Long Xiao, and he suspected Long Xiao had also seen the Long family's secret treasure.
"I haven't heard of the Dragon Claw Technique. Is it very powerful?"
"Of course it's powerful. The Dragon Soars Through the Nine Heavens, shattering all defenses. In a fight between individuals of equal strength, the one who knows the Dragon Claw Technique will surely win."