Boom!
The black figure was violently flung through the air.
After rolling several times on the ground, Youye barely managed to stand up, clutching her chest as she coughed several times.
That damn Linglong was surprisingly strong, and the Ling King Spiritual Artifacts in her hands were so numerous that Youye really seemed no match for her.
If she didn’t have any other means, she might truly have to give up here.
Fortunately, when entering this Secret Realm, an Elder in the sect had given her a Space Jade Talisman.
As long as she crushed this talisman, she could summon the Elder’s Remote Rescue and be directly taken out of the Secret Realm.
But this talisman couldn’t be used casually.
The Elder had told her that it had to be crushed only after obtaining a Dragon Scale; otherwise, the sect might think the risk of rescuing Youye wasn’t worth the value, and thus abandon the rescue altogether.
The Demonic Sect was that cold. If one couldn’t show enough value, they would be ruthlessly discarded.
Luckily, Youye had already obtained a Dragon Scale. This time, victory was ultimately hers.
“I didn’t want to trouble the Elders to come assist, but you’ve left me no choice!”
Youye reached into her storage pouch and instantly pulled out a pitch-black Token.
Before Linglong could react, she crushed the Token into fragments.
The next moment, the space behind Youye exploded, and countless black mists transformed into a massive hand surging out of the spatial rift.
An overwhelming pressure descended upon everyone present, as if it could crush all of them into minced meat.
White lights flared one after another. Many weaker Spirit Masters were driven out of the Secret Realm by the oppressive aura of this huge hand.
Several breaths later, only the true geniuses of the Saint Sect remained standing here.
A cold, harsh voice drifted from the black hole, grating like rough thorns scraping against smooth glaze, stabbing painfully at eardrums.
“Die, all of you…”
“Old Ghost of the Misty Nether, do you think the righteous have no one?”
Before the voice could finish, another voice rang out from the black hole, carrying a righteous sword energy that made the sword sect disciples present brighten their eyes.
“It’s the Sin-Slaying Sword Master!”
Those who had just been filled with despair immediately regained hope. The Demonic Sect had summoned an Elder—didn’t the righteous have one as well?
The Sin-Slaying Sword Master was a peak Spirit Lord who had long been famous within the Sword Sect. Rumor had it his power was comparable to some Spirit Lords.
The Misty Nether Old Ghost was only a Spirit Lord, far inferior in strength to the Sin-Slaying Sword Master!
Sure enough, after a few breaths, the once domineering Misty Nether Old Ghost let out a wail of despair.
The black mist hand couldn’t continue its assault on the remaining geniuses and only managed to carry Youye out of the Secret Realm.
All of this happened so fast—from Youye crushing the Token to the Old Ghost’s arrival and the Sin-Slaying Sword Master’s intervention driving him off—it took less than ten breaths.
During these ten breaths, over a hundred attackers besieging Youye were mostly forced out of the Secret Realm by the Spirit Lord’s oppressive aura.
Only a handful of geniuses remained in formation.
Only Linglong and a few other geniuses successfully endured the Spirit Lord’s pressure.
Several breaths later, a gentle blue light appeared from the black hole, quickly repairing the terrifying spatial rift.
“Just a minor incident, no need to worry, exploration continues.” After repairing the space crack, a soft female voice echoed above the entire Secret Realm.
Linglong’s eyes widened slightly. Wasn’t that her Master’s voice?
Could this be the trap her Master mentioned—using Youye as bait to lure out the Demonic Sect’s Elder, then striking when the opportunity arose?
But using a Dragon Scale as bait—wasn’t that a bit too extravagant?
Linglong didn’t quite understand, and looking around, she saw that most of the comrades who had fought alongside her were down to less than a tenth. Her mood darkened further.
If not for the protection of the Space Jade Talisman, she dared not imagine what kind of hellscape this place would have become.
Most likely, corpses would be strewn everywhere, and the new generation of the righteous would be mostly wiped out here.
“Wow, what was that just now? Was that a battle between immortals?” Linglong was still emotional when a lively voice floated over from afar.
The Saintess was momentarily stunned and instinctively looked toward the source of the voice, seeing Miss Hua Jian hopping over as if nothing had happened.
So many geniuses had been driven out by the oppressive pressure, yet Hua Jian—the weakest of them all—had somehow survived. Linglong didn’t know how to feel about that.
The surviving geniuses of the Saint Sect also looked at Hua Jian with complicated expressions. They wanted to say something but found they really couldn’t.
This time, Hua Jian played a crucial support role. It was she who controlled Youye with a labyrinth formation, giving everyone the chance to surround her. And after finishing her support duties, she had prudently hidden at a distance—something not entirely incomprehensible.
This choice also allowed Hua Jian to avoid the pressure attack range when the Misty Nether Old Ghost arrived, the same as those disciples from Other Sects who hadn’t participated in the siege.
“It should be a trap set by our Master to lure out the Demonic Sect’s Elder,” Linglong shared her thoughts with Hua Jian and sighed softly, “but they still managed to succeed…”
Knocking out so many geniuses from the Secret Realm, the Demonic Sect’s Elder certainly hadn’t done nothing.
But this remark sounded quite different to Hua Jian.
The Demonic Sect’s Elder knocked a large number of geniuses out of the Secret Realm → fewer people left inside, so they can comfortably loot the core area.
Wow, this Demonic Sect Elder is actually a good guy!
“So does that mean we can gather all the good stuff in the imperial city now?”
“Uh…” Linglong was momentarily stunned by Hua Jian’s question. Theoretically speaking, it did seem to be the case.
There were probably no more than twenty disciples left in the Secret Realm from the entire Saint Sect.
Compared to the vast ruins of the imperial city, these twenty or so cultivators could hardly consume all the treasures available.
“If you want to make up for those senior sisters, then you should search more aggressively. Bring the good items out of the Secret Realm for them. That way, they won’t have come here for nothing,” Hua Jian continued.
This sentence directly ignited Linglong’s fighting spirit. Of course! Since the juniors couldn’t gather the treasures themselves, she would help snatch the treasures for them.
Then she would bring the loot out and share it with the juniors. Everyone would have a bright future!
The other sect disciples nearby overheard the conversation between Hua Jian and Linglong, and it gave them new ideas as well.
It seemed this was indeed a good way to win hearts and improve one’s reputation in the sect.
Moreover, it provided a perfect justification for fighting over treasures: “I’m taking this treasure back to the juniors who sacrificed themselves,” which instantly put you on a moral high ground.
……
“Despicable villain…”
“Don’t blame others for your carelessness. Just learn your lesson properly!”
Smack!
A disciple of Tiandao Sect died unwillingly on the spot, with the two notorious bandits infamous within the Secret Realm standing by his side.
There was a legend spreading within the Secret Realm: if you fought tooth and nail to snatch the treasures you wanted from your opponents, that was only the beginning.
The hardest part was to get out of the Secret Realm safely with those treasures.
Two shameless rascals hid in the dark corners of the imperial city ruins, launching shameless ambushes on the isolated disciples of the Saint Sect.
Once caught off guard by them, all your belongings would be stripped clean, and if you wanted them back, you had to redeem your treasures with spirit stones at Yaochi.
The redemption price wasn’t high—only fifty spirit stones to retrieve a full set of equipment—but it still infuriated those robbed cultivators enough to unite and complain to the Saintess of Yaochi.
Everyone was honestly searching and fighting for treasures; why did the Yaochi people behave so unscrupulously, targeting others specifically?
Even if they had to attack, at least fight face-to-face like the battle-crazed Sword Sect disciples. What kind of skill was constant ambushing?
Linglong said nothing in response, maintaining the Saintess’s usual aloofness and not commenting on the matter.
After being turned away by Yaochi, the aggrieved group turned to Wanling Sect: “Your Caidie did it; you have to give us an explanation!”
Wanling Sect was helpless. Caidie was a direct disciple, currently holding the highest status of any Wanling Sect member in the Secret Realm.
Moreover, Caidie had been running around with Hua Jian for quite some time—they couldn’t even find her now.
Besides, this mischievous duo of Hua Jian and Caidie didn’t discriminate; any of the five great Saint Sects’ members caught in their traps would get the same treatment.
Neither Yaochi nor Wanling Sect could escape.
After failing to get help from their superiors, the furious Saint Sect disciples banded together to use their numbers to enforce justice and restore order to the Secret Realm.
But they were instead toyed with by Hua Jian and Caidie, not only failing to capture Hua Jian but also falling into gaps in their coordination, allowing Hua Jian to pick off several of them, resulting in a humiliating loss ratio.
……
“Another two hundred spirit stones earned today. Sigh, they’re really such good people, knowing I’m short on money and eagerly sending it over,” Hua Jian moaned contentedly, leaning over the table while tallying her earnings.
There were only about twenty cultivators left in the Secret Realm, excluding a few inconspicuous or cautious ones difficult to ambush, almost all the others had been ambushed, knocked unconscious, and stripped clean by Hua Jian.
Some were quite pitiful, having been stripped a full four times, becoming Hua Jian’s favorite “Number One Brother.”
“A few days ago, you said this was too risky and would easily provoke outrage. Why are you doing it again now?” Linglong looked at the smug Hua Jian, puzzled.
Even if she couldn’t trust Hua Jian’s words at all, this sudden change of mind was strange.
“Because before there were too many people. Now there are few. With so few people left, even if they all come to hunt me, I won’t be afraid,” Hua Jian shrugged.
Her reason for the change wasn’t strange at all—just the simplest change in circumstances.
Previously, she hadn’t done it because if she provoked the crowd’s anger, she might not escape.
Now she did it because even if she provoked the crowd’s anger, it was just extra food for her.
“Caidie and I cooperate perfectly. Those guys who come after us are just playing into our hands,” Hua Jian placed her hands on her hips, beaming with pride.
After these days, her illusion of the Saint Sect geniuses had pretty much vanished.
Admittedly, she couldn’t fight them head-on, but in her specialty fields, those geniuses were completely no match for her.
At this moment, her Feihua Escape technique was truly useful—not only fast but also obvious, leaving a trail of multicolored petals no one could miss.
And whenever those pursuing her gave chase, they’d fall into Hua Jian’s traps—suddenly pricked by Ling Peak controlled by Caidie hidden in the shadows or disoriented after stepping into Hua Jian’s labyrinth formation.
“Besides, this is also training for them. They lose once and just pay fifty spirit stones for a chance to come again. This is obviously a profitable business!” Hua Jian reasoned.
She didn’t even snatch the treasures they’d won, just openly charged fifty spirit stones for redemption—practically charity!
Consider this: the treasures in their storage bags—the Spiritual Garments and Ling Swords on their bodies—were worth far more than fifty spirit stones.
It was also because of this subtle redemption price that victims didn’t go all-out against Hua Jian and Caidie.
After all, the loss was only fifty spirit stones. As inner disciples of the Saint Sect, they weren’t short on such things.
Moreover, Hua Jian accepted exchanging spirit items for spirit stones.
In the Secret Realm, while there wasn’t much else, low-grade spirit items were abundant—dig a bit on the ground, and you could easily find spirit items worth fifty spirit stones.
“In three days, the Secret Realm will close. Have you thought about where you want to go next?” Linglong fell silent for a moment before changing the topic.
This imperial city Secret Realm had been open for only half a month and was nearing its end. Linglong felt it was time to ask Hua Jian about her plans.
“Next? Same as always—find a Secret Realm to earn spirit stones, then cultivate…” Hua Jian counted off her goals on her fingers.
She didn’t have grand ambitions to become the strongest in the world. She just wanted to live well in this world, a comfortable little rich lady.
“Then why not stay in Yaochi for a while?”
Saintess, isn’t the Yanguo map you gave me a bit too small? Hua Jian glanced helplessly at Linglong.
Although she knew Linglong would definitely propose this invitation, the speed at which she did so left Hua Jian speechless.
Can’t you give me some lead-up first?
“But I’m not a disciple of Yaochi…”
“Our sect directly governs certain cities. You can live there.”
Linglong effortlessly cut off Hua Jian’s objection.
It was indeed difficult to enter the sect without being a disciple, but Yaochi wasn’t limited to the sect proper alone.
Besides the sect itself, there was a large city governed by Yaochi.
Hua Jian living there was absolutely no problem at all!