“So even if we don’t want to go, we have to?” Hua Jian scratched her head.
Fenghua smiled. “You don’t have to, but Linglong must go.”
Linglong was the one Training, not Hua Jian, so it was fine for Hua Jian to stay out.
But Linglong? Whether she liked it or not, she had to go.
Linglong’s lips twitched downward in slight displeasure at the unequal treatment.
But logically, Fenghua was right.
She could only look at Hua Jian with a faintly mournful gaze, silently pressuring her to accompany her on this adventure.
After a moment of such staring, Hua Jian had no choice but to raise her hand in surrender.
What could she do? It didn’t cost anything to enter, so she’d accompany Linglong.
Before, she hesitated because she was afraid of dying. Now that was no longer an issue thanks to the Venerable’s talisman.
“Don’t think about slacking off once you’re inside. I’ll be watching you closely,” Fenghua warned at the end.
The message was clear: no passive play. No hiding out until the Secret Realm closes. They had to get something done.
With that, Fenghua disappeared like a ghost, leaving the two staring at each other in silence.
“So… we just go in?” A few moments later, Linglong pointed toward the giant door in the distance.
“Yeah. But be prepared — this time, we’re not just mice hiding anymore.” Hua Jian nodded.
If she died, she’d only get scolded anyway.
But this Secret Realm’s approach might be different from before. Previously, she acted cautiously, avoiding conflict when the stakes weren’t high.
This time was different. She and Linglong couldn’t avoid clashes; they would have to actively fight others inside.
In other words, it was time to launch an all-out assault!
“I’ve prepared a few bullets these days, but probably not enough for many Ling Kings. Your Ling King-class Spirit Tool should be similar, right?”
Their weapons capable of threatening Ling Kings were limited. Hua Jian’s specialty was control, but if teammates couldn’t deal enough damage, holding enemies in place for long was useless.
Though Linglong was a prodigy, her killing power against Ling King-level foes was still insufficient.
“Yes. After use, they need to recharge, at most helping me defeat two Ling Kings.”
“The Chai family has two Ling Kings. We can handle one for sure, but with such a commotion, the enemy probably has more than three Ling Kings.”
The main force hunting the Chai family had at least three Ling Kings. Would their numbers be fewer now? Certainly not!
“So we still have to avoid the main force and pick them off one by one. But we can make more detailed plans once inside. For now, let’s just get in.”
Since they had no idea what the inside was like, Hua Jian could only sketch a rough plan in her mind, taking it step by step once inside.
They rode their Flying Swords toward the golden gate. Along the way, they saw many cultivators attracted by the huge commotion.
Some had already entered the Secret Realm’s boundary, drawn in by the golden light, while more hovered outside, hesitating.
“Lots of troublemakers — that’s good for us.”
Hua Jian hoped for chaos inside. Then the biggest factions wouldn’t bother with two little mice like them.
As they approached the gate, Linglong retracted her Flying Sword and took Hua Jian’s hand, flying together into the Secret Realm.
Most Secret Realms randomly scattered entrants throughout the realm. To avoid immediately losing each other inside, Linglong held Hua Jian’s hand tightly — no harm in that, right?
Whether Hua Jian felt shy was none of Linglong’s concern.
Holding hands — it’s just holding hands. They had done it before, after all.
“I mean, you probably don’t need to hold so tightly,” Hua Jian said, a little embarrassed.
They had held hands before, but not often. Usually, they maintained some distance.
Hua Jian treated Linglong more like a good brother — joking casually, and a little brief contact was fine.
But now that Linglong was gripping her hand so firmly, Hua Jian’s heart started pounding wildly.
Warm and soft — is this what a girl’s hand feels like? It felt too good.
“Better tight,” Linglong shook her head resolutely. “Getting separated in the Secret Realm would be troublesome.”
As she spoke, they entered the entrance area. Golden threads floated from the gate, connecting to their wrists.
Hua Jian had no time to appreciate her Little Dragon Girl’s hand. She hurried to analyze the information transmitted through the golden threads.
This Secret Realm was quite user-friendly. Instead of immediately teleporting entrants inside, it gave cultivators a chance to reconsider.
If they retreated through the exit during this period, they wouldn’t be drawn inside.
“A Secret Realm with special rules? There must be some powerful treasure inside!” Linglong found even more intriguing details than Hua Jian.
Among the Secret Realm’s basic information transmitted through the golden threads was a unique rule unlike any other.
“Transformation? Everyone’s appearance changes based on their heart, and they can use Soulforce to manifest imagined objects for combat?”
Hua Jian was puzzled; she had never experienced such a wondrous effect before.
“Usually only Secret Realms with extremely high-quality treasures have such a rule. The treasure here is likely Saint-grade!” Linglong reminded Hua Jian seriously.
Saint-grade?!
Before Hua Jian could even gasp in surprise, the time to decide was up.
A beam of golden light descended from the sky, and like everyone else, they were sent inside the Secret Realm.
The teleportation experience was unpleasant as always. Hua Jian felt like she had been tossed inside a washing machine, flung about and bounced off all kinds of strange surfaces.
The good news was the walls weren’t hard; the bad news was they were like trampolines, super bouncy.
Still, she could feel one of her hands being held tightly, which gave her some confidence.
As long as the Little Dragon Girl was by her side, she had someone to strategize with.
After this interminable ordeal, Hua Jian finally arrived inside the Secret Realm.
“Oh!”
She rolled twice on the ground to relieve momentum, rubbed her dizzy head, and leaned on a nearby tree, dry-heaving twice.
“Am I just naturally prone to getting dizzy in spatial passages? It’s always like this.”
Suppressing the nausea for the moment, Hua Jian looked over at the Little Dragon Girl.
This time, Linglong had truly transformed into her Little Dragon Girl form.
As the Secret Realm rules stated, everyone’s appearance changed based on their heart, and Linglong naturally reverted to her original form.
Compared to the original Linglong Hua Jian had seen, this form was more human-like.
Linglong’s true form had some non-human features: scales scattered across her face and limbs, horns on her forehead, and a tail behind her — all unmistakably non-human.
Now, while still resembling her original self, Linglong’s non-human traits were significantly reduced.
Most noticeably, the scales had nearly disappeared, and the horns and tail were more aesthetically pleasing to human eyes.
But Hua Jian actually preferred Linglong’s original appearance. She quite liked the idea of a non-human Dragon Girl.
Compared to Hua Jian’s unsurprising reaction, Linglong looked at her with much more panic.
“Hua Jian?”
“What’s wrong? You’re so dizzy in the spatial passage you don’t even recognize me?”
At first, Hua Jian didn’t understand why Linglong asked that — until Linglong produced a mirror from thin air and handed it to her.
If Linglong’s changes were minor tweaks, Hua Jian’s entire style had completely changed.
“This is me?!” Hua Jian gasped, staring at the flamboyant girl in the mirror.
She wore a delicate, translucent colorful dress. Beneath the skirt, her bare feet showed only snow-white skin decorated with floral patterns.
On her forehead and between her brows was a conspicuous, vividly colored floral pattern — nothing like her usual self!
Even her normally simple hairstyle was braided into an elegant, refined style, and halfway down her glossy black hair, it turned multicolored.
Wow, is this even human?
Why did she feel she looked even less human than Linglong now?
“So, Hua Jian, you like this?” Linglong had already taken a mischievous turn of thought.
“No, no, no! This is definitely not me. This isn’t how I feel inside!” Hua Jian shook her head frantically.
This couldn’t possibly represent her inner self.
Even if she had reverted to her past life’s form, she could accept that, but this was a completely alien style she had never imagined.
Though she had accepted her current gender and identity, this was on a whole different level of absurdity.
It was like a little girl imagining herself as a fairy after reading picture books — too ethereal, too unreal.
If she walked out looking like this, Hua Jian was sure she’d immediately be labeled a “kuso” by everyone.
“Really?”
“Really!”
Linglong nodded, outwardly accepting Hua Jian’s protest but secretly convinced Hua Jian was just being stubborn.
She’d memorized this dress. She’d make one just like it for Hua Jian someday — fulfilling her secret wish.
But going shoeless was still a bit improper — that was something the bad girls from Wanhuagu did. Hua Jian definitely couldn’t learn from them.
“Strange, where’s my Storage Pouch?” After the mirror session, Hua Jian rummaged through her dress but found her Storage Pouch missing.
She looked at Linglong’s waist, but no Storage Pouch was visible there either.
How odd — where could they have gone?
Could the Secret Realm have sealed their Storage Pouches?
“Where’s your Storage Pouch?”
“Storage Pouch? Huh, looks like it’s gone too.” Linglong only noticed after Hua Jian’s reminder.
Hua Jian was speechless. Such an important thing, and Linglong just overlooked it? Was her brain malfunctioning inside the Secret Realm?
“Maybe this is a special rule of this Secret Realm. I can summon my Spirit Tools back with my will.”
Linglong raised her hand and clenched the air; her Ling Sword immediately appeared in her palm, identical in detail to the one outside.
But Hua Jian still sensed something was off.
She mimicked Linglong and waved her hand in the air — nothing appeared.
“You have to think about what you want in your mind to successfully summon it,” Linglong explained.
So, anything I imagine, I can summon?
Hua Jian scratched her head and tried again, this time successfully summoning a weapon.
But it was nothing like the spear she usually held close.
“Failed?” Linglong thought Hua Jian had made a mistake at first.
But soon, she saw Hua Jian skillfully pull something on the weapon, which instantly emitted a crisp sound.
“No, it’s successful!” Hua Jian grinned wildly, aiming the weapon at a distant tree.
She gently squeezed the trigger. With a muffled bang, a curved streak of light shot out, instantly splitting the tree in two.
The power was great, but the cost was high. After firing, Hua Jian felt her head spinning again, as if she’d drunk too much wine and could barely stand.
“Your Soulforce consumption is too high.” Linglong quickly steadied Hua Jian.
She could feel the attack wasn’t very powerful, so why was Hua Jian so drained?
Even as a Ling Master, Hua Jian’s Soulforce shouldn’t be this fragile.
“It’s fine. I just need to rest. I didn’t expect the consumption to be so large… try your attack and see if yours is the same.”
“All right.”
Linglong pointed her sword at a few distant trees. White lightning erupted from the tip, blasting the trees into splinters.
After that, Linglong looked perfectly fine — no flushed face, no racing heart, no strain.
Hua Jian thought it was cheating. Why was Linglong like an endless mana bar, while she was left virtually crippled after one shot?
Isn’t she the protagonist? Is this how protagonists are supposed to be?
“The Soulforce consumption is very low. I should have much stronger combat power here than usual.”
Linglong clenched her fist. The environment inside this Secret Realm was very suitable for battle.
Her Soulforce was actually stronger than ordinary Ling Kings. In Soulforce combat, most Ling Kings were no match for her.
Her dragon-blooded talent combined with the Nourishing Heart Secret Art she’d cultivated since childhood gave her Soulforce far exceeding her peers.
This was the foundation of a major sect’s Saintess.
Hua Jian seemed to be her exact opposite. Starting cultivation late, never having practiced the Nourishing Heart Secret Art, she had become a mere one-shot wonder inside this Secret Realm.
The explosive magic she wielded was powerful, but her attacks consumed so much Soulforce that she was left completely drained — practically useless!