“Miss Hua Jian, could you send some of the ink out first? I need to take it over and test it!”
Hua Jian naturally wouldn’t refuse this request. Soon, she sent out some of the finished ink.
Calling it ink was a bit of a misnomer; it wasn’t black at all. Instead, it was bright and colorful, very similar to the color of the Flower God Condensate itself.
This was normal; ink made from other spiritual items would also carry their respective characteristics.
Otherwise, why would Hua Jian worry about the ink harming others?
The array cultivator also knew how powerful the Flower Fragrance was. Before taking the ink, he sealed off his sense of smell to avoid being affected.
After receiving the ink, he immediately began adding clear water to dilute it, quickly bringing it to a level he felt was appropriate.
“I’ll take this back to test. Miss Hua Jian, wait for my good news!”
The ink Hua Jian had made was essentially a super-concentrated version. Even after this small amount was diluted, the cultivator had to use Spiritual Power and still struggled a bit to carry it.
After taking it back and letting everyone use it, the array cultivator got a result that satisfied him greatly: his dilution process hadn’t run into any major issues.
With just a few more minor adjustments, it could be perfectly integrated into the original array system.
Now that the dilution method was known, he quickly calculated the total amount of ink needed and reported back to Hua Jian.
“I’ll have more than half left over? This condensate is actually this powerful?” Subtracting the required amount from the total condensate, Hua Jian found she didn’t need to refine all of it.
Having just a small portion of the condensate turned into ink was enough to fill the gap in the array.
“It was a very powerful item to begin with, after all. Since it doesn’t have much use for Miss Hua Jian anyway, it’s not a waste to use it here,” Xia Hui said with a smile as she helped Hua Jian separate the Flower God Condensate.
Before long, Hua Jian had prepared all the necessary ink and sent it out. As for the fragrance concentrated within the array, she found a way to collect it into a bottle she had prepared.
This scent was extraordinary; it could cause cultivators over such a large area to become dazed.
Letting it go would definitely be a bad idea. No matter how she looked at it, Hua Jian could only temporarily bottle it up.
As for how to use it later… at worst, she could use it as a one-time smoke bomb.
With the raw material problem solved, the array’s formation speed accelerated further, finally reaching completion by dusk of the second day.
Once the Array was finished, it no longer required the cultivators to provide Spiritual Power; it would use the Spiritual Power radiating from the Stone Pillar as fuel to sustain its operation.
A fiery red pillar of light shot straight into the sky. Accompanied by a strange ripple, Hua Jian felt as though something had passed through her body.
A Meng sent a message from the Godsoul Space, telling Hua Jian that she felt her strength being suppressed.
Although A Meng was in the Godsoul Space and the impact wasn’t huge, she felt a barrier appear between the Godsoul Space and reality that hindered her traversal.
This barrier was like a giant fishing net; small fish wouldn’t be affected, but a big fish like her would be blocked.
Only by restricting her own strength could she continue to travel between the two spaces.
‘A single array can only affect the nearby area, and the farther one is from the Forbidden Land, the weaker the effect. To make the strength-locking effect of the array cover the entire center of the Secret Realm, all five arrays must be activated simultaneously to achieve a multi-fold effect through resonance.’
Hua Jian looked toward the other directions of the Secret Realm. She hadn’t expected her area to be the first to finish.
“Miss Hua Jian, we probably need to evacuate from here quickly.”
While Hua Jian was still feeling proud of herself, the cultivator who had just finished repairing the array ran over in a rush to tell her some bad news.
The array was finished, but they could no longer stay there.
“Why?”
“It might be because of the materials. After the array started, that Flower Fragrance began to spread throughout the Forbidden Land along with the array’s effects.” The cultivator pointed to his nose as he explained.
It certainly couldn’t compare to the concentrated fragrance from earlier, but the scent was indeed present. If they stayed here too long, they might get poisoned again.
Hua Jian gave a hard sniff. Should she say that she didn’t seem to smell anything? But since the other party said so, she would take his word for it.
“Alright. You decide where to evacuate to, but be careful not to go too far. Watch out for Demonic Path attacks.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Hua Jian. We plan to head toward the center of the Secret Realm. There’s still a large area there where we can rest and regroup.”
In the center of the Secret Realm, surrounded by the five Forbidden Lands, there was an area roughly the same size as each Forbidden Land.
Few people had explored that place, and it remained shrouded in mystery.
Hua Jian had heard Linglong mention that it was a “bonus question” left for the cultivators after all five Forbidden Lands were conquered.
Now, it seemed there wouldn’t be much of a chance to do that bonus question.
However, this also meant that the center was a fairly safe area. It would be impossible for the Demonic Path to bypass the five outer Forbidden Lands to attack it.
From there, they could also provide support to the other Forbidden Lands more quickly, killing two birds with one stone.
“It seems I was overthinking. Just do as you planned,” Hua Jian nodded, giving the cultivator who had single-handedly overseen the array’s construction full authority.
She could feel the difference between this cultivator and Sword Hero.
This young man didn’t have such deep, hidden motives; everything he did matched his usual behavior.
He was simply a cultivator who was somewhat proficient in arrays and had a bit of leadership ability.
His strength also looked decent. Hua Jian felt that if this cultivator could make it out alive, he would surely be scouted by the Saint Sect.
In another ten or twenty years, he might even enter the Inner Sect and soar to the heavens.
“Many thanks, Miss Hua Jian.” The cultivator bowed to Hua Jian in gratitude and then quickly ran back, gathering the cultivators who were willing to follow him to lead them away from this Forbidden Land that was no longer suitable for them.
Watching the cultivators leave, Hua Jian rubbed her nose and tilted her head toward Xia Hui. “So, is there really a scent now that the array has started?”
Xia Hui looked a bit uneasy. After Hua Jian asked her question, she was dazed for a long time before reacting.
She stepped back several paces from Hua Jian, then walked back, saying that there was indeed a faint fragrance outside.
The reason Hua Jian and she couldn’t smell it just now was that the faint scent was completely overwhelmed by the fragrance on Hua Jian’s own body.
Next to Hua Jian, the array’s fragrance was no match for her own body scent and was utterly defeated.
Naturally, Hua Jian couldn’t smell it.
“So that’s the reason?” Hua Jian pressed her forehead and sighed.
Linglong had mentioned similar things before, but Hua Jian had never really taken it to heart.
After all, the impact of this matter was far too small and indeed hard to notice.
Besides, she had already adjusted her body scent to its minimum.
If she still encountered scents that would be masked by her own in this situation, what else could she do?
That was just her physique; take it up with God!
As the two were talking, Shiqi came running over with Caidie, holding her nose.
Shiqi was mostly fine, but Caidie looked like she was drunk, leaning against Shiqi with a flushed face.
As soon as she reached Hua Jian’s side, Caidie suddenly seemed to regain her energy.
She opened her eyes and lunged at Hua Jian, rubbing her small head vigorously against Hua Jian’s chest.
“Hua Jian, what happened to Caidie? She was perfectly normal just a moment ago.”
“She was probably affected by the Flower Fragrance here. Take her and leave with the others quickly.” Hua Jian easily guessed why Caidie was acting strange.
This girl was naturally very sensitive to things like flower scents. Back then, it was Caidie who had smelled the scent on her, which had led to her connection with the Wanling Sect.
‘Is this kid a butterfly spirit or something? Why is her perception of flower scents so sharp?’ Hua Jian couldn’t help but mutter in her mind.
‘A Meng, look and see if she’s one of your kin.’
A Meng stated that while Dream Butterflies looked like butterflies, they were actually a separate species and had absolutely nothing to do with other spirit butterflies.
Therefore, she didn’t know if Hua Jian’s guess was correct.
But Caidie’s human form was so perfect; if she really were a Spirit Beast, she would have to be an incredibly powerful one.
How could a Spirit Beast of that level be taken in as a disciple by the Peak Lord of Five Poisons?
So, Caidie was definitely human; it was just that her physique might have some relation to butterflies.
“Xia Hui, how do you feel? Do you want to leave with them?” Hua Jian cast an inquiring look at Xia Hui.
“I’m fine!” Xia Hui shook her head and pointed to her chest. “It might be because of that; I don’t seem to be afraid of this fragrance.”
‘The Heart-Eating Vine has that effect too?’ Hua Jian was temporarily in the dark, but since Xia Hui had just spent so much time with her in such a dense fragrance, she likely wouldn’t be affected by it.
“That’s good. Strange, then how come Sword Hero and his lot are also perfectly fine?”
Hua Jian looked at Sword Hero not far away. The loyalists gathered around him were behaving completely differently from the peripheral cultivators.
Those peripheral members of Sword Hero’s faction were currently preparing to evacuate, but the loyalists looked energized. What was the principle behind that?
Forcing the clinging Caidie off her body and handing her back to Shiqi, Hua Jian signaled for the two to leave quickly.
Then she continued to observe Sword Hero’s side, watching as he dispersed all the “unimportant” people, leaving only those few energized loyalists behind.
“Miss Hua Jian, it’s just us left now.” Sword Hero walked over with a smile, casting a subtle glance at Xia Hui by Hua Jian’s side.
There was no one else here. If Xia Hui planned to strike now, they were one hundred percent certain they could take down Hua Jian.
But Xia Hui didn’t react at all to his subtle gaze. Instead, she took half a step forward to block Hua Jian. “You are not allowed to approach Miss Hua Jian.”
She looked like a fiercely loyal little puppy.
Hua Jian also heard the hidden malice in Sword Hero’s words. She could even sense the surging killing intent in the hearts of the people behind him.
But she didn’t know where this feeling came from. Without a shred of evidence, she couldn’t just flip out and kill everyone, right?
After all, they all had smiles plastered on their faces.
“No need for that. Sword Hero isn’t a bad person. But everyone else is evacuating; aren’t you leaving, Sword Hero?” Hua Jian pressed Xia Hui’s shoulder, telling her there was no need to be so guarded.
“Haha. Someone has to stay behind to defend this place. The Demonic Path knows how powerful this array is and will surely come to destroy it. We can’t just leave it empty, can we?”
The reason Sword Hero gave was quite reasonable. The array indeed needed manpower to guard it.
And with the two strongest people staying here, it was undoubtedly the safest choice.
“Then, thank you.”
“No need for thanks. We’re all on the same path, right?”
The “smiling tigers” left. Looking at their departing backs, Hua Jian couldn’t help but frown. She still couldn’t figure out why these people were unaffected by the Flower Fragrance.
Until an offhand reminder came from Xia Hui: “Miss Hua Jian, is it possible that it has something to do with Wanhuagu?”
Hua Jian and Xia Hui were unaffected by the fragrance because they both had connections—to varying degrees—to Wanhuagu.
If that were the case, then what were Sword Hero and his men, who were also unaffected?
The answer to that question suddenly became very obvious, didn’t it?
“But that doesn’t make sense. If they are from the Demonic Path, why would they stay here now? Wouldn’t it have been better to just sabotage everything while I was setting up the array?”
Hua Jian’s head was spinning. Sword Hero was definitely a bad person, but if he were from the Demonic Path, many things became impossible to explain. Now she was truly stumped.
“Perhaps these few from the Demonic Path have different goals than the others, so they aren’t working together,” Xia Hui continued.
“Then what could their goal be? And they had such a good opportunity just now, yet they didn’t act… Tsk, I can’t understand them.”
The behavior of Sword Hero’s group was too abnormal, alternating between good and bad.
Hua Jian wasn’t a fortune-teller; she was completely at a loss. She couldn’t wrap her head around it. What on earth was their purpose?
……
“The signal is here!”
At the boundary of the Secret Realm, now completely shrouded in black mist, the girls who had been waiting here for a long time finally received the long-awaited signal to act.
A seed placed within the black mist began to sprout slowly. This was the signal agreed upon with Sister Xinhu.
“Quick! Place those things in the marked locations and evacuate immediately!”
The girls in black Long Robes poured a jet-black liquid taken from their Storage Pouches onto the ground.
Then, they buried the sprouted seeds into the earth soaked by the black liquid.
Once they finished, they fled the area as if running for their lives.
This scene wasn’t limited to just one spot. Throughout the entire Secret Realm, similar scenes played out continuously.
In a mere 15 minutes, seeds were planted in eight different locations across the Secret Realm.
Then, ripples in space began to emanate from within the Secret Realm, leaving the Saint Sect cultivators monitoring the situation utterly confused.
Because this wasn’t the Demonic Path invading from the outside; it was something inside the Secret Realm trying to break out.
Was the Demonic Path… running away?
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