How had Hua Jian’s aura changed so much with a different weapon?
No—it was real.
Hua Jian’s fighting spirit had grown!
Linglong stared dumbfounded as Hua Jian’s aura rose from weak to slightly above an average Ling Shi-level cultivator.
Still weaker than Linglong, but compared to before, it was a world of difference.
Her method worked too well!
Anyway, Hua Jian had regained combat power—that was definitely good.
“You’ve been unconscious for about a day, but there’s no day-night cycle here, so I can’t be sure exactly how long.”
After resolving the combat issue, Linglong began sharing other important information about the Secret Realm’s environment.
Overall, this Secret Realm was similar to others, but the lack of day-night changes made it easy to lose track of time.
On top of that, the disappearance of their Storage Pouches made it impossible for cultivators to sense time precisely.
Now, their only way to calculate time was by counting heartbeats and breaths—the most primitive method.
Such a method was prone to errors.
“Time doesn’t really matter. There’s no time limit here, right?” Hua Jian said casually but felt a bit uneasy.
Linglong shook her head seriously. “Everything is unknown.”
Everyone was entering this Secret Realm for the first time; there was no way to know the rules.
So they couldn’t just avoid fights. There were places they had to go and see.
“The strange phenomenon we saw earlier is becoming more obvious. If this continues, it will soon reach its peak.”
That meant the treasure the phenomenon signified was about to appear.
“I think that’s the key to solving all the mysteries here!”
This time, Hua Jian didn’t doubt Linglong’s judgment. In most quests, the spot with the most obvious phenomenon was where the treasure was.
To complete the task, they had to go there.
“I agree. Let’s hurry. Can you summon your flying sword?”
“No problem.”
After flying in the sky for a short while, the two quickly descended.
This Secret Realm had a unique punishment mechanism for cultivators flying too high.
As soon as they took to the sky, a swarm of Poisonous Bees appeared from nowhere, attacking them.
Linglong struggled to deal with them and had to land obediently.
Once on the ground, the Poisonous Bees stopped attacking, hovering briefly before dispersing.
It was clear their goal was to prevent cultivators from traveling by flight.
No, more precisely, from flying too high.
Linglong tested it: as long as they stayed under about ten meters and didn’t fly for long, the bees wouldn’t appear.
This height and duration seemed like a loophole left for fighting.
When battling, fly as high as you want, but if you try to skip travel by flying high? Forget it.
“So strange—what’s the point of this Secret Realm’s rules?” Hua Jian couldn’t figure it out. The only explanation was some kind of cruel joke.
But since they couldn’t beat the bees, they had to follow the rules.
They were now in a dense forest with thick vegetation; stepping anywhere risked encountering something strange.
This made Hua Jian, barefoot, very uncomfortable.
She now understood why barefoot characters were always tough—only someone strong enough could handle this.
“The more I think about it, the less real this place feels. If it were real, my feet would be all torn up by now.” After walking for a while, Hua Jian looked down at her feet and said with a subtle tone.
This evidence was hard to evaluate. If someone asked her how she figured out the true nature of this Secret Realm, would she say, “Because my feet are completely clean here”?
Although it was evidence, it was weird!
Barefoot on twigs and leaves felt real, even slightly prickly, but lifting her feet revealed no trace at all.
That didn’t follow reality and was beyond Hua Jian’s abilities.
She wasn’t a deity who could avoid all earthly stains.
Linglong glanced at Hua Jian’s feet discreetly, agreeing they looked far too clean for someone walking through a dense forest.
“If they got damaged, it’d be troublesome…” she muttered.
Just then, her ears twitched—she heard faint cries for help in the distance.
“Someone’s calling for help?”
“Is there?” Hua Jian listened carefully but heard nothing. Her hearing wasn’t as sharp as Little Dragon Girl’s.
“Yes, it should be this way. Follow me.” Linglong nodded earnestly and led Hua Jian toward the sound.
As they got closer, Hua Jian could hear the cries clearly. It wasn’t Linglong’s imagination.
“Be careful—it might be a trap.”
“Mm.”
Linglong cut through the bushes blocking their view with her sword and moved forward cautiously.
After a short while, they finally saw the source of the cries.
It was a little girl stuck in a massive Spider Web, wearing a colorful skirt, sprawled out in a star shape.
Seeing this, Hua Jian felt a strange déjà vu—as if she’d seen this in some weird mini-game where the heroine falls into a trap.
Given how twisted some games were, the girl was probably going to face some questionable fate soon.
“Finally, someone heard me! Please help! That monster is coming!” The girl’s face lit up with joy seeing the two young women.
But just as Linglong was about to help, Hua Jian stopped her with a hand.
“I think something’s fishy.”
Too convenient. It had taken them a long time to get here, so the girl must have been trapped longer.
How could the monster suddenly be arriving just as they arrived?
That made no sense.
It was definitely a trap!
“You monster, you think you can fool my sharp eyes? Show your true form now!”
Hua Jian stepped forward, pointing her gun at the trapped girl, shouting.
The girl was stunned by Hua Jian’s reaction—was this how things were supposed to go?
Whatever, it didn’t matter now.
“It’s really coming! Ah, watch out!”
As she shouted, a massive shadow appeared behind Hua Jian and Linglong.
Cold sweat dripped from Hua Jian’s forehead. Without even turning, just seeing the shadow on the ground told her they were facing something huge.
Linglong’s reflexes were faster. As Hua Jian sweated, Linglong spun around and slashed with her sword.
Boom!
A thunderbolt as thick as a water bucket struck the massive beast’s head, tilting it sideways.
Only then did Hua Jian roll away to put distance between herself and the monster.
She looked back and saw it clearly.
It was a giant spider—smaller than the Rock Giant they’d met before but far more terrifying in appearance.
The spider took a deep breath and then spat a stream of white sticky liquid forward.
“Damn, spiders have moves like this?!” Hua Jian muttered as she transformed into petals to dodge the attack.
The sticky white goo corroded the ground where it landed, steaming ominously.
If it hit a person, the consequences would be terrible.
Linglong flew up, taking her favorite high ground and began hammering the spider with lightning—one strike after another—like wielding a giant hammer on iron.
Usually, enemies Linglong met would retreat temporarily under such an assault.
But here, her combat style ran into problems twice in a row.
The Rock Giant could be blamed on elemental mismatch, but the spider’s resistance had no such excuse.
Though flesh and blood, it could withstand Linglong’s thunder, leaving her momentarily baffled.
This was her strongest attack. If it couldn’t penetrate the enemy’s defense, she’d have to consider using her Ling King Spiritual Artifact outside.
But here, her Ling King Spiritual Artifact was gone. She had only her own strength to rely on.
No doubt, this would be a tough fight.
Linglong showed no fear or hesitation. Even facing an opponent seemingly strong against her, she kept searching for weaknesses and attacking, though with limited success.
All this was observed by the girl trapped in the spider web, whose mouth slowly curled into a mischievous smile.
From the spider’s arrival, her panic had vanished, replaced by a look full of wicked amusement.
“Let me see what makes you different… If you don’t satisfy me, you’ll stay here forever…”
Before she could finish muttering, a rapid tapping sound echoed through the forest.
One of the spider’s legs sparked with colorful flashes, and in just two breaths, the thick leg was severed in two.
“What?!”
Hua Jian, who had fled using Feihua Dun, suddenly dashed back, finding the right moment to wildly strike the spider’s leg, breaking it.
Dark green gas hissed from the severed limb.
The spider angrily turned to find the attacker, but Hua Jian vanished again with a petal burst, leaving it unable to locate her.
During the delay, Linglong completed a skill charge, sending bolts of lightning from her sword that shook the spider, causing it to stagger.
Hua Jian then reappeared, ruthlessly attacking another leg and breaking it too.
Honestly, Hua Jian felt it was pure coincidence. She had just picked up the Heel Shot Gun, and her first enemy was a giant eight-legged spider. What were the odds?
A person’s foot is one thing, but a spider’s legs aren’t the same.
Her gun could heal humans, but it could also “heal” spirit beasts!
Bat Spider, prepare for a beating!
The two girls exchanged a glance that spoke volumes—no words needed—as they began flawless teamwork.
Linglong distracted, Hua Jian sneaked attacks. After several rounds, most of the spider’s legs were broken, turning it into a helpless sprawled beast.
“Low-level Heel Shot Gun definitely uses less energy than high-level bullets,” Hua Jian whispered as she watched the spider struggle but only manage slow movements.
She didn’t understand the reason but felt her energy consumption was far lower—less than half of what a single sniper shot would use.
Broken down per attack, it was almost negligible.
“What now?” Linglong landed beside the spider, puzzled.
Though the monster was immobilized, neither of them could deal a finishing blow.
The legs were broken, but its health bar was still full.
Linglong circled to the spider’s back and stabbed heavily with her sword.
Clang! Not a scratch.
Hua Jian tried shooting the spider’s body twice, with the same result.
Heel Shot Gun couldn’t damage a fully armored body.
“I don’t know. Should we ask that girl over there?” Hua Jian said, pointing at the girl still trapped in the web.
“Yeah, you ask.”
“Alright! I’m sure I’ll get some answers.” Hua Jian rolled up her sleeves, eager.
Linglong hesitated at Hua Jian’s antics but gave up—ice queen with a silly core was kind of cute.
While Linglong reasoned, Hua Jian approached under the web and asked the girl, “You monster, tell me your real name now!”
“You’re the monster. Your whole family are monsters!”
“Hey! How dare you talk back? Want me to feed you to that big spider for a headless meal?”
The girl gasped. What kind of dark heart came up with such a vicious threat?
How could someone with such a heart look like this? She should be even more monstrous than those creatures!
How could she become such a beauty?
Was the problem with her, or the world?
“Even if you feed me to it, I don’t know how to deal with it. If I did, I wouldn’t be trapped here!” the girl shouted back.
Asking a nearly eaten innocent how to handle a giant spider? She definitely thought Hua Jian was nuts.
“Then you’re useless. I might as well feed you to it—maybe you’ll poison it to death…”
“I’m not poison!”