At midnight on the second day, the Xiaochongshan Secret Realm opened as scheduled.

The disciples participating in the training were randomly sent to various locations within the secret realm, while the elders accompanying them from the sect sat around several mysterious mirrors, keeping a close eye on the images inside.

At this moment, the central mirror projected two opposing figures.

One person held a sword in her left hand, wearing a light yellow long skirt, with the cold wind lifting her three thousand strands of black hair, adding a hint of determined coldness to their demeanor.

The other person stood on a giant rock, his blue and white robe billowing lightly, and they were playing with a thunder symbol in their hand.

“Fellow cultivator Su.”

The young symbol cultivator forced a bitter smile. “You and I have no grudges or grievances. Why should we kill each other in the secret realm? I still need to go deep into Xiaochongshan to find that Moonwhite Stone. How about we postpone our battle to another day?”

Su Qinghan remained calm, her tone equally mild. “This is the twelfth time you’ve told me we should postpone our battle, Bai Ye.”

With that, in an instant, a sword light cut through the oncoming wind like a dragon’s roar, and a surging white sword aura rushed towards the symbol cultivator’s location.

The latter’s smile carried a deeper sense of helplessness. He silently chanted an incantation to activate the Thunder Magic Array, and instantly, thunder rumbled like a thousand-pound hammer.

The swift sword shadows and thunderous lights clashed, and someone outside the mysterious mirrors laughed heartily. “Su Qinghan truly lives up to her reputation as a disciple of the Wanjian Sword Sect, just like her battle-crazy master.”

“Bai Ye’s skills are not too shabby either.”

A red-dressed female cultivator chuckled, covering her lips. “He has mastered the Five Elements spells thoroughly. It’s just that today he encountered Qinghan, who can finally be considered a worthy opponent. I wonder how long they’ll fight.”

“They’re still fighting, while Mingkong has already gone straight to the deepest part of Xiaochongshan.”

An elder from Liuming Mountain seemed pensive. “He must be aiming to get the Moonwhite Stone, but the monsters guarding it there…won’t be easy to deal with.”

“The Moonwhite Stone is a once-in-a-century treasure. With  Xiaochongshan appearing in the mortal realm this time, every sect naturally wants to vie for it.”

Tian Xianzi leaned against an ancient tree and casually picked up a small pastry. “Not only the Fanyin Temple, but also the Liuming Mountain, the Snowdrift Pavilion, the Beast-Taming Sect… which sect doesn’t want to give it a try?”

He paused and seemed to be in high spirits. “How about we make a bet to see which sect’s disciples can obtain the Moonwhite Stone, shall we?”

“What’s this? Elder Tian Xianzi is out of money again?”

The woman in the red dress cast a mocking smile at him and said, “10,000 Spirit Stones, betting against our Wanjian Sword Sect.”

He Xiaochen took a sip of tea and replied, “I’ll also wager 10,000, betting against the Liuming Mountain. Elder Tian Xianzi, since I’m supporting your business so much, how about a sword duel with me later?”

Tian Xianzi, the cheap laborer, grinned and said, “Alright!”

—

Outside the secret realm, the elders were engrossed in their discussions, while inside the secret realm, Ning Ning was deep in thought.

The Xiaochongshan Secret Realm opened every few years and left very few traces of human activity. It was filled with exotic creatures and precious spiritual plants, making it an extremely valuable resource repository.

However, the abundance of resources had put her in a dilemma.

Liuming Mountain had provided everyone with a secret realm map that roughly marked the locations of common spiritual plants and minerals. In addition, it listed many treasures that could be found in Xiaochongshan but were not easy to come by.

Ning Ning had read the original work and knew the locations of some opportunities and treasures, but taking advantage of the script to seize opportunities that should have belonged to others felt like a form of unconventional theft that she couldn’t bring herself to do.

After much contemplation, she eventually chose a target not mentioned in the original work—a rumored plant called the Sky Heart Herb, which was said to have medicinal properties to cure various ailments.

The Sky Heart Herb was a rare and precious item with no marked location on the map. But the most pressing matter at the moment wasn’t how to find it; instead—

Ning Ning looked up at the rugged boulders and the seemingly bottomless cave beside her and let out a sigh.

She was lost in this cave.

The cave was incredibly eerie, with dampness seeping into the stone walls, breeding patches of moss. Numerous branching passages seemed to grow like rampant vines, and each one appeared endless.

Stalactites hung from the ceiling, inexplicably emitting a faint greenish light. While this dim light provided some visibility, it had an eerie and unsettling horror movie filter-like effect that was truly frightening.

There was no sound around and no signs of animal activity. The empty corridors echoed with the faint sound of footsteps, and even breathing was clearly audible, as if a chilling hand were brushing against eardrums.

Suddenly, Ning Ning heard the sound of rapid, approaching footsteps.

Before she could turn around to see what was happening, her body was violently bumped into by someone.

“Ah!”

The young female cultivator who had appeared out of nowhere looked terrified. She clutched Ning Ning’s sleeve and, with a trembling voice, said, “Run, there are monsters in the cave!”

Monsters?

These two words landed heavily in her ears, and Ning Ning composed herself, whispering to comfort the girl, “Don’t be afraid. What does that monster look like, and what’s its strength?”

“That… it’s an especially large poisonous scorpion with a woman’s face.”

The girl shivered and continued, “I encountered it as soon as I arrived here. It’s probably at the level of the Second Stage of the Golden Core realm. Instead of killing me immediately, it proposed playing hide and seek with me. Once it finds me, my life will be—”

She was a medical cultivator from a small sect with a low population, and she had come here without going through the sect’s selection process. She had initially come to the secret realm to collect rare spiritual plants but was unexpectedly thrown into this place and encountered the monster hiding in the shadows.

Just as the girl finished speaking, a harsh and raspy female voice echoed from deep within the cave.

The voice was eerie and sent shivers down the spine, reminiscent of the unpleasant sound of nails scratching a chalkboard.

The hoarse yet sharp voice floated through the dark green space like a snake oozing venom, with a touch of mad laughter. “Where are you? Where are you? Hehe, I’m coming to find you!”

The medical cultivator’s face grew even paler, and she trembled as she spoke, “It’s this voice! It has been following me, getting closer and closer… It will kill us!”

In the gap between her words, the eerie, raspy female voice sounded again, slightly louder than before, indicating that it was approaching them slowly.

“Where are you? Where are you? You must hide well; I’m coming to find you.”

This was indeed getting too scary, especially since the source of this horrifying voice was hidden in the darkness, making it impossible to discern its true appearance.

However, she wanted to know the location of the Sky heart herb, and the owner of the voice could communicate with humans. Moreover, it had been living in the Xiaochongshan Secret Realm for a long time and likely knew the area well.

Ning Ning’s eyes suddenly brightened.

There were no lost causes here; the one who had been playing hide and seek with them wasn’t a monster, but her personal navigation system!

With the monster continuously giving away its position by making sounds—

Wasn’t it blatantly telling her, “I’m nearby; come quickly!”

There are such good things in the world!

“You go ahead.”

Thinking of this, Ning Ning smiled at the girl next to her and said, “I’m a sword cultivator; I’ll be fine here.”

The girl only now noticed the sword hanging from Ning Ning’s waist, and the cloud patterns on her white dress concealed the image of a crane, unmistakably the attire of the Xuanxu Sword Sect.

Hearing that most of the sects’ disciples entering Xiaochongshan were usually from the core and inner circles, she realized that this seemingly approachable and beautiful girl was, in fact, an elite disciple of the Xuanxu Sect.

Having an idea of her strength, the girl thanked her and hurriedly left. Ning Ning touched the ice-cold scabbard of the Xinghen and once again heard the cold, distorted voice saying, “Where are you? Where are you?”

A faint smile played on her lips.

She was grateful that the human-faced scorpion was so dedicated to continuously broadcasting its position. Judging by the sound, it shouldn’t be far now.

It was practically serving itself up to her. She couldn’t blame it.

—

The human-faced scorpion was extremely poisonous and as hard as a rock. Due to its cunning and malicious nature, when it encountered prey, it didn’t immediately capture them. Instead, it enjoyed the thrill of pursuit and escape, giving its victims a glimmer of hope before crushing them into despair.

This particular one in the cave was no exception.

It hadn’t seen a human in a long time and had a particular fondness for this once-in-a-lifetime delicacy.

Today, in a particularly good mood, it pretended to let the female cultivator escape but had secretly marked her, allowing it to effortlessly track her scent and devour her.

However, as the human-faced scorpion continued on its way, halfway around a corner in the cave, it unexpectedly saw another figure—

Another young female cultivator, who appeared even younger and more delicious than the previous one, stood motionless in the center of the cave, gazing at it without flinching.

Her composed demeanor seemed as if she was deliberately waiting for it.

It couldn’t be.

She appeared weak and should have been running away like the previous one. So why was she just standing there, seemingly unfazed by its presence?

Perhaps she was in shock?

The human-faced scorpion stretched a wicked smile across its face, its eerie, pale female visage sending shivers down the spine. With this grin, its skin rippled like swaying sea kelp, and it emitted a demonic, raspy whisper, “Found… you.”

It had never expected the female cultivator on the opposite side to remain unfazed.

Instead, she nodded, concurring with a hint of understanding, “Yes. I’ve finally found you, following your voice. It’s been quite a challenge.”

Human-faced scorpion:???

Wait, what did she say? Found it following the voice?

This thought had just crossed its mind when it felt an icy and bone-chilling sword intent.

A burst of white light, a profusion of sword qi. Ning Ning’s movements were so fast that they were almost imperceptible. The Xinghen danced like a serpentine dragon, cutting through the layers of silent air with a resonant hum.

The pearls adorning the sword’s blade formed a string of cold remnants, coalescing into a tempest of sword energy, piercing directly at the human-faced scorpion.

She hadn’t unleashed a killing move, and the force behind her attack wasn’t overwhelming. Nevertheless, the cascading waves of sword energy struck the human-faced scorpion, sending it flying a considerable distance and eliciting a piercing howl of pain.

She was a Golden Core stage sword cultivator!

Among all cultivators, sword cultivators were the most offensive-oriented.

With one strike, they could defeat myriad opponents. Even if they were of the same cultivation level, the human-faced scorpion had very few chances of prevailing. Furthermore, judging by the previous sword qi, Ning Ning appeared to be several small realms higher than it.

—It had been relentlessly chasing the medical cultivator, completely unaware of the trap lying in wait.

All those threatening words meant to scare people had turned into clues for her to determine its location, and all she had to do was wait for it to walk into the snare.

The human-faced scorpion seethed with anger.

But it was powerless against her. Even though it wished it could tear her limb from limb, it had to suppress its boiling rage. It bit down on its anger and immediately turned to escape.

It knew this cave inside out, and its agility and swift movement allowed it to leave Ning Ning behind in no time.

The sword cultivator didn’t seem in a hurry to pursue, and soon, her spiritual energy was too distant to detect. The human-faced scorpion heaved a sigh of relief, but its heart, still pounding, wasn’t quite at ease.

Suddenly, in the empty and narrow cave, a female voice echoed.

Her voice contained a laugh and resonated slowly and methodically, as if thunderously shattering, shaking the core of its being.

The human-faced scorpion heard her voice; it was like a ghost hovering on the stone wall, nearly sending it on a one-way journey.

“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”

Human-faced scorpion: I’m screwed.

Damn you, why!!

Are you crazy?! These aren’t your lines! Is this fun for you? Huh? Is this fun for you, you filthy sword cultivator!

The ghostly female voice grew closer, as if a needle was stabbing viciously at the eardrums. Amplified by the cave’s echoes, it became even more eerie and terrifying—extremely horrifying.

The human-faced scorpion was on the verge of madness.

What kind of sin had it committed for fate to treat it so ruthlessly in this helpless and pitiable state?

Recklessly running around might draw the attention of the sword cultivator, so the human-faced scorpion decided to hide behind a boulder, listening quietly to the increasingly ecstatic “Where are you? Where are you?” in its heart, choking back tears.

That sword cultivator had no heart.

Now she was speaking without pauses, and she even altered her tone like she was singing.

But with this momentary lapse of concentration, the uninterrupted sound suddenly ceased.

In the silent and eerie space, everything seemed exceptionally sinister, causing it to shudder involuntarily.

In the supposed stillness of the cave, a sudden gust of cold wind swept through.

Unprepared, a faint warmth brushed against its earlobes.

Then, almost whispering in its ear, it heard the same phrase, like a demon’s whisper, a call from Cthulhu: “Found… you.”

It had the exact same tone as before, as if they were twins.

Could there be anything more terrifying than this?

The human-faced scorpion turned its head expressionlessly, meeting a smiling face.

That smile almost caused it to faint.

“Apologies for the sudden intrusion; I hope you can forgive me.”

Ning Ning, who was right next to it, spoke gently and cheerfully, her voice warm and soothing. “I won’t kill you; I just want to know the location of the  Sky Heart Herb.”

Tch.

This cunning and ruthless sword cultivator .Even if it died or jumped off a cliff, it would never reveal any information to her!

The human-faced scorpion was about to refuse, but then she continued, “Could you tell me, please? Pretty big sister.”

Human-faced scorpion: …

Darn it!

For the sake of your mouth being so sweet…!

(T/N:The creature is described as “a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.” It is said to be so terrible to behold that it destroys the sanity of those who see it.)