Chapter 40

Since the village had been abandoned and ravaged by giant snakes from underground, it would need to be rebuilt if people were to continue living there. Therefore, Yu Si quickly led people to build a defensive wall at the village entrance.

“Is it just my imagination, or does it seem like there are fewer snakes now compared to when I first saw them?” Meng Xizhou asked, peering out.

“I think Second Senior Sister and the others have diverted some of the snakes,” Gao Xiude said as he returned, his eyes fixed ahead while his hands moved swiftly, distributing antidote pills to everyone. Although he often mocked Yu Xizhi and had even harbored some unsavory thoughts about her, all that vanished when he decided to come to the Kongti Desert.

Seeing Yu Xizhi lead people into the desert without hesitation for a way to survive, Gao Xiude felt a heavy sense of guilt as he watched her retreating figure.

He didn’t show it on his face but continued, “The sect has received my communication talisman, so reinforcements may not be far off.”

“So, what are the other talismans for?” Meng Xizhou asked casually.

“Second Senior Sister has connections with Baiyu Pavilion and Xiya Tower, remember?” Gao Xiude said as he flexed his wrist and tied his sword to his hand with a cloth strip.

“Those are for sending messages to those places. Besides, Junior Brother Yi is also from Baiyu Pavilion, so I guess they will send people to support us too.”

At this point, Gao Xiude and Meng Xizhou exchanged a glance, both recalling a scene from Taiqing Peak.

Usually, they would be confident that the sect would arrive quickly. But today was a rare gathering of the Five Sects and Three Paths, and for the huge sword sect, this demon-extermination mission was just one of hundreds of daily tasks. The snake demon wasn’t that hard to kill; the previous problem arose because their cultivation levels were too low.

Balancing the task of hosting the Five Sects and Three Paths with supporting this mission could affect the sect’s reputation. Could they really not handle a snake tide?

These were things they never considered before, but now, thinking about them, Meng Xizhou felt a heavier heart. He gripped his sword tighter, realizing that such demon tides wouldn’t be the first or last. They couldn’t always rely on Senior Brother Yu to rush across the land to save them.

Instead of pondering the reasons behind the sect’s decisions, it was better to hold their swords firmly, break through their limits early, and become strong enough to handle such situations independently.

The snake tide arrived swiftly, its tails stirring up a storm of sand and a slick, fishy smell. Initially unbearable, the human nose quickly adapted, and soon everyone felt the air was supposed to smell like this.

Yu Si stood alone atop the makeshift fortress, not holding his sword.

Having reached the Golden Core stage, he could control his flying sword. Though still unskilled, he seized the opportunity to practice against the numerous snake demons.

The young man’s purple jade crown held his hair high, and his robe billowed in the wind, adorned with dark floral patterns. As he raised his hand, the flying sword moved.

The sword entered the snake swarm, spraying blood. It deftly weaved through the dense cluster of snakes, slicing through countless bodies with every direction change. Finding the exact weak spot was difficult, so he simply slashed everything in sight.

Standing there alone, he was like a formidable force.

Kunwu Sect disciples, thinking they had seen many swords as part of the number one sword sect, now realized that Yu Si’s sword was the true sword.

A sword untainted by demon blood was not worthy of being called a sword.

A sword cultivator hiding behind a wall was not worthy of the name.

His flying sword cut through the snakes effortlessly, and the young men and women behind the fortress, despite being invigorated by the sword energy, remained calm. Before the snake demons arrived, Yu Si had divided them into two groups: one would fight while the other rested and recovered, switching every half hour.

Thus, the youths fought bravely, entering the snake swarm with their swords.

Before them was endless battle; behind them were the people they needed to protect.

There was no retreat in this fight.

……
In the so-called secret realm, the word “secret” cannot be just for show.

After feeling the tremor, Yi Zui instantly realized something. With a hint of joy, he turned back, about to say something, but suddenly noticed that the hand he used to touch the strange air barrier seemed to become somewhat transparent.

Under the white night, the sunlight was weak, but Yi Zui was sure he hadn’t seen wrong.

“Stop—everyone stop!” Yi Zui shouted as he turned back.

“Don’t come closer! There’s something wrong here!”

The six sword lights immediately halted.

Sun Tian’er, a junior sister from Liuguang Peak who was closest to him, noticed his unusual state: “Senior Brother Yi, what’s wrong with your arm?”

“It seems I’ve hit something! This thing is trapping me!”

Yi Zui tried to retreat but felt a strange force pulling him in. Though he was suspended in mid-air with no obstacles around, it felt like something was sticking to him, immobilizing half his body.

Meanwhile, the horde of snake demons they had drawn in was rapidly approaching. Yi Zui’s position was precarious. While the smaller snake demons couldn’t reach him, there were two massive snake leaders in the horde. If they leaped, they could easily bite off Yi Zui’s legs!

Feeling an intense sense of danger, Yi Zui filled his body with spiritual energy, trying to separate himself from the invisible barrier with it. However, as the energy left his body, it felt like it was sinking into a quagmire, disappearing without a trace.

Seeing the snake horde drawing near, Yi Zui forbade anyone from approaching and had no choice but to save himself. He calmed his mind and slightly closed his eyes.

At the same time, a surge of spiritual energy and sword energy erupted from his arm!

The fluctuations in the air became more pronounced. Even from a distance, Yu Xizhi could sense the disturbance. The snake horde charging towards them seemed to perceive something and abruptly halted, raising their bodies upright.

The outer barrier of the secret realm was merely a deterrent. If Yi Zui had stayed still, he could have returned to normal within an incense stick’s time and left. But the more he struggled, the more intense the disturbance in the realm became!

Seeing the densely packed upright snake heads made Yi Zui’s scalp tingle. Resolute, he swung his sword downward in the air before him!

A booming sound seemed to come from deep underground.

The old grandfather’s residual soul gasped, “Do kids these days have no common sense?! He hit the outer barrier of the secret realm; the more he struggles, the more he’ll be pulled in! And the realm will retaliate against the outside!”

Before he finished speaking, the transparency was already spreading through Yi Zui’s body!

“Yi Zui!” Yu Xizhi exclaimed.

The ground shook, and Yi Zui suddenly vanished from everyone’s sight. Before the remaining six could advance, the previously calm sand dunes before them collapsed abruptly. The collapse seemed endless, turning the once-standing dune into a bottomless whirlpool, with the surrounding sand spinning along with it!

The whirlpool grew larger, sucking in the nearby snake demons. Those on the outer edges tried to flee, but the ground collapsed so quickly that within moments, all the snake demons in the area were swallowed by the whirlpool!

The whirlpool kicked up a storm of sand, blinding everyone. Only their spiritual consciousness could detect the life force around them. Shen Ye shouted Yu Xizhi’s name, but his voice was carried away by the sandstorm as soon as he spoke.

Yu Xizhi managed to keep her balance. Gritting her teeth, she tried to draw her sword to cut through the sandstorm, but a leisurely voice from her shoulder said, “You bet correctly; the snake demons are gone, but so is Yi Zui.”

“…” Yu Xizhi remained silent for a moment.

“I have to find him. He followed me out here; I can’t leave him behind.”

“That’s not up to you,” the wind tousled the girl’s hair, some strands falling along her temples and landing on Xiao Zhizhi’s face. He caught a lock and played with it, his voice calm and clear amidst the chaos, with a hint of teasing, “You’re all about to be sucked in.”

Before he finished speaking, the sandstorm and whirlpool expanded again. Yu Xizhi’s vision went black as she and the others were pulled in!

The world spun.

Yu Xizhi was riding her sword, and at the last moment, she instinctively grabbed the hilt of Yanxiao’s sword, finding some semblance of safety.

The darkness didn’t last long.

Yu Xizhi felt as though she had passed through something. The dryness and sand in the air seemed to thin out, replaced by a muddy dampness and the heavy scent of soil and leaves.

Suddenly, light appeared before her.

In the midst of the Hunyuan secret realm, there were pavilions, towers, Jiangnan-style waterside dwelling, small bridges, flowing streams, and stretches of lotus leaves.

Kneeling on one knee on a wooden bridge, Yu Xizhi looked around in astonishment, seeing a private residence so vast that its edges were out of sight. White walls and black tiles, with towering trees outside the walls that blocked out the sky, completely encircled this place.

It was like a strange house had appeared in the middle of a rainforest.

If someone from the Nantianfu He family were present, they would be very surprised. This house was identical to every brick and tile of the He family’s old residence. However, outside the He family’s old residence, there was no dense rainforest like this.

If one recalled carefully, they might remember that a certain master of the He family became obsessed with cultivating immortality in his twenties, left the family in a state of madness, and never returned.

The sudden shift from extreme noise to extreme silence left Yu Xizhi dazed for a moment.

But this extreme silence was soon broken by more sounds.

Familiar noises came from all directions as the rainforest trees swayed and leaves trembled. Snake heads suddenly emerged from above the black tiles!

Startled, Yu Xizhi gripped her sword, but the snake heads only probed forward. There seemed to be some sort of barrier on the white walls and black tiles, as the snake heads hit something extremely solid and couldn’t advance.

However, before Yu Xizhi could relax, more snake heads appeared from the walls, high and low, all striking the invisible barrier in the air!

The white walls and black tiles were incredibly sturdy, not even shaking under the repeated impacts. Yu Xizhi gripped her sword tightly, slowly realizing that, for now at least, the snakes couldn’t break through the barrier.

“These snakes must be iron-headed snakes, right?” Yu Xizhi observed for a while, standing up in amazement. Suddenly, she remembered something and looked at her shoulder, lifting a finger to rub Xiao Zhizhi’s head.

“Xiao Zhizhi, are you still alive?”

The paper talisman man raised its hands expressionlessly, stopping her finger from touching its head.

“Yu Xizhi, talk if you want, but don’t touch.”

Yu Xizhi found Xiao Zhizhi’s seriousness amusing and pretended to agree, only to ignore it and flick his face with her finger.

Then she turned serious.

“This must be inside the secret realm. Although this house seems tasteful, something feels off.”

Xiao Zhizhi: …

Are you even listening to me?!

Yu Xizhi stepped off the wooden bridge, trying to fly with her sword to see if the others were in different parts of the house. However, as soon as she lifted herself, she realized that the area was under a prohibition spell against flying.

Just as Xiao Zhizhi was about to suggest she use her spiritual consciousness to search, the girl took a deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted, “Is anyone there—!”