“Ah, that guy can really run…”
After Hua Jian sent off her two companions one after another, the sword cultivator Liu Feng, sensing danger, chose to retreat immediately.
His battles with the Sword Cultivator Girl had always been evenly matched, but now that he wanted to leave, even she couldn’t stop him.
As for Hua Jian… Hua Jian was fine fighting defensive battles, but asking her to chase after someone was practically a death sentence.
“Forget it, you won’t catch up anyway. Do you want this?” Hua Jian pointed at the spoils she had obtained.
Though the Sword Cultivator Girl didn’t get a single head, she had at least held off that sword cultivator’s attacks.
Without her, Hua Jian wouldn’t have been able to handle two opponents at once.
So Hua Jian didn’t mind sharing these two loot packages with the Sword Cultivator Girl.
“I’ll take these two,” the Sword Cultivator Girl said without hesitation, taking the weapons of the two cultivators. As for the pills and supplies, she left them all for Hua Jian.
Hua Jian was too lazy to take those two weapons that didn’t look very usable anyway, so the Sword Cultivator Girl leaving the pills to her was just what she wanted.
Quickly dividing the loot, Hua Jian nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly remembered she hadn’t asked the girl’s name yet. “I’m Hua Jian. What’s your name?”
“Qiuye.”
“You’re so strong, why don’t you go to the Core Region?”
“I originally planned to, but I ran into this guy halfway. Its horn can be forged into a spirit sword,” Qiuye explained, pointing to the spirit beast whose head Hua Jian had just taken.
Ah, so a big shot attracted by a rare treasure that can run away — Hua Jian nodded knowingly.
She had thought all the great talents these days had become scavengers, but it turned out to be an accident.
“Then I won’t snatch it from you. You can take this spirit beast,” Hua Jian generously waved her hand, satisfied with her gains.
The pills left outside the storage pouch by those two unlucky cultivators were worth over a hundred spirit stones. There was no need for her to haggle with this talented girl over a spirit beast that wasn’t much use to her.
Everyone parted on good terms. You go to your Core Region, I’ll tend to my territory, and we’ll all have bright futures.
Qiuye didn’t hesitate at all. She walked over to the spirit beast and with a single slash, cut off its head and horn. Then she placed the severed head into her storage pouch.
“Farewell.”
Taking what she wanted, Qiuye left without looking back, not wanting to stay another moment.
It was just that… Hua Jian felt like Qiuye was heading in the wrong direction. That wasn’t the way to the Core Region, was it?
……
“This is the Ruins of Dragon City? Doesn’t look like there’s anything good here. Was the intel really accurate…”
“Who’s there?!”
Liu Feng, just escaped from danger, stared at the mysterious figure suddenly appearing before him, cloaked in black.
His alarm bells rang loudly.
This Secret Realm should only have disciples from the Saint Sect, and this mysterious man’s appearance didn’t look like a good person at all.
“Tsk, I got spotted. When I get back, I’ll settle the score with those bastards,” the black-robed man snorted coldly, a streak of black light swirling in his palm.
Liu Feng’s pupils constricted. No, this was the aura of a demonic cultivator.
This guy was a demonic cultivator…
Bang!
Before the thought even fully formed, the demonic cultivator had already charged forward and slammed a palm into Liu Feng’s chest.
“Sealed Heart Palm!”
Liu Feng had no time to dodge. His chest was hit solidly, black energy seeping into his heart meridians, instantly robbing him of consciousness.
In the last moment before losing awareness, he had only one thought: this demonic cultivator was at least a Spirit King-level powerhouse!
……
“So many mechanical puppets guarding the treasure, and it’s just this torn piece of cloth? The people here are strange.”
“Maybe it’s a hidden artifact?”
“Senior Sister Linglong, what do you think this is?”
The Yaochi girls chattered excitedly while holding a torn cloth fragment, casting looks of awe and curiosity at the white-haired girl standing amidst the wreckage of the mechanical puppets.
They had all joined Yaochi in the past few months and had heard of Senior Sister Linglong, the Saintess who had entered long before them, but had rarely had a chance to interact.
This was their first time moving together with Linglong.
And Linglong’s display of strength had completely won over these young girls.
The Thunder Saintess who crushed challengers mercilessly under the dark clouds, the reliable senior sister who faced waves of puppets alone and wiped them out entirely— each had deeply moved these girls.
Although Senior Sister Linglong was cold and taciturn, she was truly impressive!
“It should be something valuable,” Linglong said as she reached out to take the cloth from the junior sisters, examining it carefully before concluding it was basically nothing.
She was skilled in fighting, but decoding mysteries wasn’t her strength.
“Senior Sister, should we try to enter the palace like the Jian Sect did?”
“No rush. The palace is guarded by several Spirit King Specters; charging in headfirst isn’t wise…” Linglong shook her head. As Saintess, she led the Yaochi girls but wasn’t good at coming up with plans.
“Let’s search around here for a few days. I need to go somewhere to bring someone over.”
Saying this, Linglong took a compass from her storage pouch and infused a trace of spiritual energy into it.
The compass needle spun rapidly before finally pointing directly at Linglong herself.
Linglong tilted her head. She was supposed to be tracking the dragon scale she left for Hua Jian. Why was it pointing at her instead?
Could it be that Hua Jian hadn’t brought the dragon scale into the Secret Realm?
Thinking this possibility stirred a trace of unhappiness in Linglong’s heart. After switching several tracking targets in succession without success, the Saintess’ face finally darkened.
She had left so many things for Hua Jian. Did Hua Jian not bring a single one into the Secret Realm?
To be blunt, could Hua Jian have sold everything Linglong left her in exchange for spirit stones?
At the thought, Linglong felt her cheeks flush.
Not from embarrassment, but anger — a genuine flush of a young girl’s pride stronger than any words.
Even when provoked by that baffling person, Linglong hadn’t felt this upset. She didn’t know why she was unhappy.
After all, she had gifted those items to Hua Jian, and Hua Jian could do whatever she wanted with them.
But she was still unhappy. She wanted to see Hua Jian wearing the spirit robes and wielding the spirit weapons she gave her in the Secret Realm, not see her exchanging them for spirit stones.
“Senior Sister Linglong?”
“Nothing. Just the tracking compass broke,” Linglong concealed the disappointment in her eyes.
She was Yaochi’s Saintess and the senior sister to these girls. She couldn’t let personal feelings affect their exploration of the Secret Realm.
“The plan remains the same. For now, we won’t touch the palace. Let’s clear this area first.”