Chapter 46

At the moment when the Hunyuan secret realm opened, the world seemed to change drastically. The desert was shrouded in a white night, the sand surged, and the sky was hidden from view.

Yu Si and his companions had been struggling for some time before this. When the snake tide approached, they naturally had to draw their swords and fight.

Among them, although their cultivation levels varied, Yu Si already formed his golden core and had just stepped into the ‘Overseeing the World’ realm (Futianxia), making his abilities somewhat unstable.

The snake demons before him were perfect targets for him to stabilize his realm and hone his skills, especially the larger, more powerful snake demons, which were excellent prey for him.

—But this was only when he needed to focus solely on himself, without the distraction of rescuing fellow disciples with lower cultivation levels who might be caught in the snake horde.

Everyone had faced different demons in the past, but none had ever encountered or dealt with so many at once. The Kunwu Sword Formation required seven people per group, but they couldn’t even form two full groups, so Yu Si had to pay extra attention to the others. Perhaps this divided focus pushed him to continually raise his limits.

Gao Xiude led a four-person team from Xuecan Peak, repeatedly running between Tianjiu Town and the battlefield where Yu Si was engaged.

His gaze often turned toward the distance, filled with complex emotions—anxiety and anticipation. He worried about the safety of Yu Xizhi and her group but also hoped she would trigger the secret realm sooner as planned. However, when the realm opened, it would cause heaven and earth to quake, inevitably affecting everyone nearby. Even if they survived this, they would still face countless dangers within the realm.

Gao Xiude had never entered a secret realm, but he was a descendant of the Gao family of Zhuyun City, which had produced many great cultivators. His family had numerous secret techniques, and many disciples from the five sects and three paths were also from the Gao family. With such a background, he naturally knew more about the secret realm than others.

The secret realm in the world has always been fraught with dangers, densely packed with traps, and with nine out of ten chances of death. Even if Senior Brother Shen Ye is there, and Yu Xizhi… Second Senior Sister… Although she seems to have not broken through, after going to Qianya Peak, it is obvious that her cultivation has become more refined, but even so, they have never entered the secret realm.

As his emotions churned, Gao Xiude silently cursed his own low cultivation level. If only he had trained harder, perhaps he could help more now.

While thinking this, he continued to treat the arm injury of a fellow disciple from Ziyuan Peak. He glanced unintentionally into the depths of the desert and saw a wild sandstorm swirling, the sky darkening as if the entire desert had become a vortex ready to swallow everything.

“Retreat—! Everyone, fall back!”

Yu Si’s voice, infused with spiritual energy, reached everyone’s ears.

The young man at the forefront spread a barrier, desperately holding back the snake demons, which, startled by the sudden desert upheaval, began to surge forward recklessly.

However, human strength has its limits. Maintaining a barrier of such a scale quickly drained Yu Si’s spiritual energy.

Just as they were on the brink of disaster, the nearby snake horde was suddenly sucked into the vortex!

All the clamor abruptly ceased.

The desert became eerily empty, and if not for the bloodstains on the ground, one might think everything that had just happened was nothing but a dream.

“Did Second Senior Sister… succeed?”

Meng Xizhou murmured in a daze.

The boy’s left arm had been carelessly grazed by a snake demon’s fangs, shredding his robe and causing blood to flow freely. A fellow disciple from Xuecan Peak was treating his wound, and Gao Xiude placed a healing pill in his mouth, making his voice somewhat slurred.

The snake demons were swallowed, and the crisis had passed for now, but no one looked relieved.

“It seems… she succeeded,” someone replied, their voice tinged with surprise.

“The power of the realm’s opening is truly immense.”

Yu Si had exhausted his spiritual energy.

He crushed several high-grade spirit stones to quickly replenish it.

Meanwhile, after Gao Xiude had used a communication talisman, help finally arrived.

Xuanyuan Heng, the senior brother of Baiyu Pavillion, and Tan Mingtang, the senior sister of Xiya Tower, arrived with several Foundation Establishment disciples.

Xuanyuan Heng, usually calm, looked unusually serious.

“I had to gather a few people from the sect before coming… Where’s Zhizhi?”

Tan Mingtang, though silent, clearly shared the same concern.

Yu Si found it difficult to speak, but he explained the situation: “In short, the secret realm should have opened, but there are many secret realms in the Kongti Desert. It’s hard to say which one she entered. Even if we search, it will be extremely difficult.”

Tan Mingtang, a skilled alchemist, noticed Yu Si’s pale face and handed him a pill.

“This is a Nourishing and Stabilizing Pill refined using Second Junior Sister’s formula. Usually, one is enough, but given your condition, taking an extra one won’t hurt.”

Yu Si was about to refuse but paused when he heard it was Yu Xizhi’s formula. After a moment of silence, he accepted.

Alchemists value a calm mind while refining, often spending days or longer to complete a single batch.

Tan Mingtang, who was usually very patient during alchemy, seemed to have used up all her patience, making her temperament unusually quick in other matters.

Now that she saw Yu Si not refusing and taking the pill directly, Tan Mingtang felt much more at ease.

Although she was the authoritative senior sister in Xiya Tower, she often heard fellow disciples privately comparing her to Yu Si.

One was an alchemist, the other a sword cultivator—there was really no basis for comparison.

At first, Tan Mingtang didn’t care, but hearing it repeatedly began to annoy her, and she couldn’t help but develop a bit of dislike for Yu Si.

At this moment, seeing Yu Si not being fussy, she found him more agreeable, and her tone softened, “Since Second Junior Sister is in the secret realm, there’s no use in us being anxious. The secret realm is full of strange phenomena, and sometimes the flow of time inside differs from that of the outside world, making it impossible to estimate when they might return. I think we’re all exhausted. We should return to Tianjiu Town to rest and reorganize before making any further plans.”

Xuanyuan Heng gazed at the desert for a moment, “You all go back to Tianjiu Town first. I’ll check if there are any signs of talisman in the desert. The gathering of so many snake demons here seems too deliberate.”

No one objected to this; Xuanyuan Heng was more knowledgeable about talismans than anyone else there. With the snake demons gone, as long as they didn’t venture too deep into the desert, there shouldn’t be any danger.

Yu Si didn’t give any further instructions. Xuanyuan Heng was the senior brother of Baiyu Pavillion, and saying more might come across as advising a junior, which could make both sides uncomfortable.

So, Xuanyuan Heng flew off with two disciples from Baiyu Pavillion, while the members of Xiya Tower assisted Gao Xiude and the others from Xuecan Peak in checking everyone’s injuries and condition. The weary group then made their way back to Tianjiu Town.

…

The Kongti Desert, with its endless yellow sands, had returned to its usual calm after the collapse that occurred when the secret realm opened. However, the desert was still buffeted by swirling winds, and despite the calm, strong gusts disturbed the air.

Xuanyuan Heng, who had a bit of a cleanliness obsession, naturally showed some discomfort at the sight of the fierce sandstorm.

“Junior Brother He, your family, is best at controlling snakes, and it’s said that one of your ancestors died here… I’m wondering if this snake tide has anything to do with your ancestor.”

Despite being wrapped in layers of spiritual energy to shield himself from the sand, Xuanyuan Heng still felt uncomfortable and pinched his nose.

“But why would he choose this place when the climate of Nantianfu is so different from here?”

The junior brother with the surname He was named He Gu.

The young man flew steadily beside Xuanyuan Heng and replied, “There is a rumor regarding that.”

“What rumor?”

“This ancestor from a side branch… had peculiar tastes,” He Gu carefully chose his words, trying to make his description sound as normal as possible.

“Breeding snakes and venomous creatures is very meticulous and mentally taxing, but it’s said the ancestor didn’t mind. He liked to drug different kinds of snakes and then throw them together during their mating season in hopes of producing hybrid offspring.”

“At first, he only used ordinary snakes, but after becoming a cultivator… he started using snake demons. Demonic beasts are different, and the success rate was much higher than with ordinary snakes. The ancestor was overjoyed and became even more extreme.”

He Gu tried to speak as tactfully as possible, but Xuanyuan Heng understood perfectly. His expression turned complicated as he vividly imagined the scene He Gu described, which was almost too much to bear.

If this rumor were true, it could explain the presence of the snake demons here. Unfortunately, they had arrived too late to see the snakes themselves; otherwise, it would have been clear whether they were connected to He Gu’s ancestor.

The desert was vast and empty, and flying on a sword covered tens of miles in an instant. Xuanyuan Heng didn’t sense any traces of talisman and paused before continuing deeper, knowing he might encounter another secret realm. After scanning the area with his spiritual consciousness and finding nothing, he prepared to leave.

But just as he was about to withdraw his spiritual consciousness, he hesitated slightly.

“Hmm?” Xuanyuan Heng paused, “It seems… there’s a faint trace of talisman in that direction?”

As soon as he spoke, a surge of talisman thunder descended from the sky. Visible waves rippled through the air, and what had been an empty desert suddenly seemed to reveal a small world, which the massive thunderbolt split open!

He Gu was stunned, “Is thunder talisman really that powerful..huh? My god, I need to draw more thunder talismans when I go out in the future!”

Xuanyuan Heng was also a bit taken aback, but he quickly remembered the sleepless nights when his Second Junior Sister, through the water mirror, had pulled him into all-night sessions to improve the thunder talisman, striving to make it thicker, stronger, and more powerful.

She had eagerly urged him to test the results, and he was blinded by lard and actually followed her words and was struck by thunder again and again.

The memory was vivid and filled him with a mix of anger and embarrassment, so he retorted in frustration, “Throwing out fifty or sixty thunder talismans at once is bound to have that kind of effect.”

He Gu gasped, “Who could afford such extravagance? Fifty or sixty thunder talismans would take half a month just to write!”

After all, when inscribing talismans, one must infuse spiritual energy into the brush and remain fully focused, which is incredibly draining.

Moreover, given the success rate, most talisman cultivators would be exhausted after successfully creating three talismans in a day.

Even for someone like Xuanyuan Heng, the daily limit was only seven or eight talismans.

At this, Xuanyuan Heng’s mind conjured the image of Yu Xizhi drawing ten talismans a day and still energetically practicing swordsmanship and alchemy.

All he wanted was for He Gu to stop talking.

“You can ask her yourself later.”

He Gu blinked in confusion, “Ask who?”

Just as he asked, the small world ahead began to collapse, almost visibly, and from within the swirling sands, a young girl burst forth, riding her sword at breakneck speed.

The girl was strikingly beautiful, her robes fluttering in the wind, exuding confidence and spirit. Her eyes held a sharp sword energy and a killing intent, yet her smiling eyes softened that energy, giving it a gentle twist.

But there she was, inexplicably holding a black pot in her hands, with a small tree twig and a brush stuck in her hair.

Behind her, six people followed in a straight line. Some lifted their robes and put a lot of huge demon cores, while others carried spiritual treasures in their arms and shoulders.

The group emerged with an imposing, formidable presence.

He Gu stared in stunned silence for a long moment, and he guessed that the person leading the charge must be the second senior sister.

He had heard about her leading a group into the secret realm, seeking a chance at survival.

At that time, he had great respect for the second senior sister whom he had not met yet. He felt that a cultivator should be like this, with a spirit and heart that should accommodate the world.

Unfortunately, at this moment, in this situation, the young man stammered for a moment and felt something strangely collapsing in his heart.

Finally, he couldn’t help but ask, “Did they just… return from a robbery?”