The entrance to the Derong Secret Realm was right above the Endless Valley, disguised as an ordinary white cloud. Over a dozen Nascent Soul stage cultivators flew together above the white cloud, brandishing their lifebound weapons and channeling their spiritual energy into the cloud. After a quarter of an hour, the white cloud began to churn and change colors, space twisted, gradually forming a black hole that could accommodate several people at once.
Many novice cultivators, witnessing this spectacle for the first time, couldn't help but exclaim in amazement. It was no wonder that qualifying to enter the Derong Secret Realm required competition. It was clear that there were valuable treasures inside such a secret realm, which required the combined effort of over a dozen Nascent Soul stage cultivators to open.
Once the secret realm opened, Ye Zhizhou, who was the first to enter, garnered the attention of most people present. However, he remained calm, or rather, he was in a terrible mood right now.
"It's not Yuan Jing," he muttered with a cold glint in his eyes, gripping his hand tightly. "There are only eight flags; the current Yuan Jing is an imposter Yuan Tai. What does he want?"
Dongfang Shu, upon hearing this, scrutinized the "Yuan Jing" standing not far away and frowned. "His injuries suddenly healed."
"And his cultivation skyrocketed to the Golden Core stage," Ye Zhizhou continued, activating his scanning ability with Tongtian to confirm, speaking in a deep voice, "All his weaknesses and ailments have disappeared. He must have obtained the Flesh and Bone Transformation."
Dongfang Shu nodded and slightly exerted his aura, driving away the gazes of those around them. He asked, "Are we still going into the Derong Secret Realm?" Originally, their plan was to enter the Derong Secret Realm first and expose Yuan Jing's deception to avoid accidentally harming him when they confronted the main character. But now, with Yuan Jing becoming Yuan Tai, their plan needed to change.
After some consideration, Ye Zhizhou nodded. "Yes, go ahead. I'll leave the task of dealing with Yuan Jing to you. Yuan Tai heading to the Derong Secret Realm is perfect; it will be easier to eliminate him there."
Dongfang Shu gripped his hand and said, "Be careful."
"Don't worry, even if it's just for you, I'll protect myself well."
Saying goodbye to the worried Su Yin, Ye Zhizhou declined Flowing Sand's offer to introduce him to "Yuan Jing" and to join a team with him in the secret realm. When the Nascent Soul stage cultivators announced that they could enter the secret realm, Ye Zhizhou followed behind other cultivators and flew into the black hole.
The surroundings dimmed, and then suddenly brightened. A gloomy canyon shrouded in thick fog appeared before his eyes. Other cultivators entered one after another and quickly left. Ye Zhizhou swept his surroundings, activated a breathing concealment talisman on himself, and hid near the entrance.
With his scanning ability continuously active, five minutes later, Yuan Tai's figure appeared on Tongtian's scanning panel.
[Scan complete. Healthy body, no hidden ailments. Body and soul compatibility at 100%, nine Soul Flags.]
[Receiving plot information... Reception failed.]
[Checking the Soul Flags' status... Check complete, no anomalies.]
Nine Soul Flags? And no anomalies? His eyebrows furrowed. How could there suddenly be an extra flag? Did Yuan Tai switch back to Yuan Jing just before entering the secret realm? But why would he do that?
Suddenly, a faint spiritual energy fluctuation came from behind him. His eyes sharpened, and he dispersed his body into the air like the wind, then reformed his body above his original location and looked down.
"He got away! Just as Xiao Tai said, this year's first place has ill intentions towards our Linxian Sect," a handsome cultivator in blue robes holding a longsword said with a dark expression, facing the direction of the entrance.
"He got away so quickly?" Another man in white robes flew over from the entrance, furrowing his brow as he examined the area. He spoke with a deep voice, "This first place contestant definitely concealed his true strength during the competition. He's not a Thunder Elemental Root cultivator!"
"Just a Golden Core early-stage cultivator. Are we, the ten of us, afraid we can't kill him?" Another young man in black robes flew over, his tone full of contempt. "What first place? It's just that Senior Brother Yuan is letting him off easy. If it weren't for his fearsome master, he wouldn't have been arrogant for so long."
Several more cultivators arrived one after another, all wielding weapons.
"He actually got away! Do you think the elders' assassination mission against Elder Tianhe will succeed with disciples as slippery as this? If disciples are so cunning, what about their master..."
"Eight against one, Elder Tianhe is doomed! Trying to recreate the tragedy of the past by annihilating our Linxian Sect, he won't even have a chance!"
"This time, thanks to Senior Brother Yuan Tai's sacrifice of his cultivation, he calculated this great disaster for our sect in advance, allowing us to prepare early. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Another sharp sound of breaking the air was heard, and Yuan Jing flew out from behind the dense fog, speaking seriously, "Stay alert, Ye Zhizhou might be lurking nearby. Spread out! I'll act as bait; the rest of you, don't make any rash moves and wait for my signal."
The cultivators quickly fell silent, nodding in respect, and then dispersed.
Yuan Jing took one last look at the surroundings, then glanced curiously at the area where the fog seemed especially dense. He then rode his flying sword and left.
Once the place returned to quiet, Ye Zhizhou revealed his form, and his aura became slightly agitated.
Indeed, they had switched places, and it seemed the malevolent spirits had already set a trap for him and Dongfang, intending to capture them separately. Fortunately, during the competition, he had been using Thunder Elemental energy provided by Dongfang, not his own Wind Elemental energy. Otherwise, he might have fallen into Yuan Jing's ambush.
The dynamic between him and Yuan Tai was like a game of cat and mouse. It was amusing, incredibly amusing.
As the thick fog rolled in, his body once again transformed into the wind, and he pursued Yuan Jing's direction. Since it was Yuan Jing who had entered Derong, he couldn't directly attack him.
It was time for these sheltered little flowers who hadn't ventured outside their sect much to experience the dangers of the world. As for his beloved who was currently under attack, well, he admired the courage of those eight Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
Outside the Derong Secret Realm, Dongfang Shu scanned the eight Nascent Soul stage cultivators closing in on him and sneered, "Eight Soul Flags, each binding one person, all of them Nascent Soul stage... It seems you are the last eight fools bewitched by the Soul Flags."
A devilishly handsome man in red robes chuckled at his words and drew his weapon. "Tianhe, you killed my cousin back then. Today, I'll have you pay with your life!"
"Cousin?" Dongfang Shu looked over, squinting as he scrutinized him. Suddenly, a wicked smile curled on his lips. "Those trash from the Blissful Palace who cultivate by stealing others' techniques, shouldn't they deserve to die? You want to avenge your cousin, and I'll avenge my family. What's wrong with that?"
The man in red robes clenched his weapon, seething with hatred. "But my cousin was deceived into joining the Blissful Palace. She never did anything wrong!"
"That's just what you think," Dongfang Shu replied dismissively, unwilling to waste more words on him. His gaze then swept over the other cultivators, some with resentment, others with indifference. He understood their true motives.
"So, the Soul Flags lured you all in with your grudges... If you want revenge, come and get it. No need for further talk."
His arrogant attitude further infuriated the eight cultivators, and they brandished their weapons, attacking him. The man in red robes continued, "You seem to care a lot about your disciple. Rest assured, we'll take good care of him. And those weaklings from the Qingcheng Sect, we'll look after them too."
Dongfang Shu's nonchalant demeanor suddenly changed, and his aura became increasingly terrifying. Lightning flickered in his hand, gradually forming a giant sword. "Dare to harm my disciple, and I will end all of you!" As for the Qingcheng Sect, he didn't really care about their fate, but knowing Ye Zhizhou's kind-hearted nature, he knew Ye Zhizhou would be devastated if something happened to them.
Unforgivable!
With a swipe of his sword, a gust of spiritual energy formed a hurricane, effortlessly blocking the full-force attacks of the eight cultivators.
The man in the red robe was shaken to the core, his eyes filled with disbelief. This level of spiritual power intensity and control, Tianhe had to be more than just at the Nascent Soul stage! And a realm higher than Nascent Soul... This was not good!
Silent mist enveloped the surroundings as Yuan Jing paced in frustration, muttering, "How can we search the entire secret realm and not find Ye Zhizhou? You're all useless! Not only did you fail to find him, but you also injured yourselves, bringing shame upon us!"
The man in the blue robe swallowed another pill, pressing his injured arm and said with a pale face, "Senior Brother Yuan, don't be angry. Something's not right. It feels like we were here just a moment ago, and there's a bandage I left on the ground."
Hearing this, everyone's faces turned pale, and they hurriedly got up to examine the area. They were all taken aback.
"It's true, there's the pill bottle I left here!"
"But it's just pure mist floating here, not an illusion barrier. Our spiritual energy isn't hindered either."
"Why are we running in circles in the same place?"
"I heard that there's a deathtrap in the Derong Secret Realm. Could this be...?"
"No, Senior Uncle said that the deathtrap is on the west side of the Derong Secret Realm. We were clearly heading east!"
Nervousness and fear began to spread among the group, and Yuan Jing took out an artifact and enlarged it in the air. His expression changed. "It's an illusion array!"
The group was stunned and looked up at the artifact.
"It's Ye Zhizhou..." Yuan Jing became more and more nervous but remained composed. He looked around coldly and drew his longsword, shouting, "Cowards who only know how to play tricks! Come out!"
Ye Zhizhou held a formation disc above them, lips curved into a cold smile. This was considered a trick? It seemed like these sheltered little flowers only knew how to accuse others of double standards while littering.
He waved his hand to manipulate the formation disc, then sat cross-legged on his flying sword, squinting as he watched the show. He wondered how Dongfang was doing outside, and what about Yuan Tai... It was inconvenient that they had to stay in the Derong Secret Realm for five days.
After putting away his spiritual sword, Dongfang Shu looked at the eight incapacitated cultivators on the ground and asked coldly, "Where are the Qingcheng Sect members?" He had just scanned with his divine sense and found that Xuan Zhongzi and the others, who should have returned to their living quarters, had disappeared without a trace.
The man in the red robe was the first to recover his senses, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, and asked with resentment, "Why didn't you kill us? It's better to kill us than humiliate us like this! What's the point of immobilizing us?"
Dongfang Shu looked at him as if he were dead and asked in return, "Why should I bear the unrelated sins of killing?"
The man in the red robe choked, surprisingly finding Dongfang's words somewhat reasonable.
"Back then, the Blissful Palace, the Flowing Cloud Sect, and the Canglang Manor, the three major sects, conspired together and wiped out my entire Dongfang family, all 1,081 of them, for a mythical god-tier cultivation technique and a few pseudo-divine artifacts. Tell me, should I seek vengeance for their entire family?"
The eight cultivators were shocked by the number he mentioned.
"And you all," Dongfang Shu glanced at them and then looked at the other cultivators who were forced to confront them because of their fight, "Deceived by the demonic cultivators, you led these innocent cultivators into the traps of the demonic cultivators, incredibly foolish!"
"What do you mean?" The man in the red robe turned red in the face and retorted, "What deceived by the demonic cultivators? This is clearly an internal grievance among us cultivators. What does it have to do with demonic cultivators?"
"Can't you feel it?" Dongfang Shu raised his hand, interweaving his spiritual power into an infinite net, covering all the cultivators present. Then he looked up at the azure sky. "The aura of demonic cultivators is already close."
As he finished speaking, the azure sky was suddenly torn open by a massive black crack. Black mist billowed out from it and rapidly spread, darkening the daylight, turning it into a night-like darkness. The air grew increasingly heavy with the scent of blood, making people nauseous.
"What's going on?!" The eight cultivators were horrified.
Dongfang Shu didn't answer, and he looked coldly at a certain point in the black mist, forming a giant sword in his hand once again. "I've been waiting for you for a long time, Soul-Devouring Banner."
In the Derong Secret Realm, Ye Zhizhou's heart stirred, and he took out Tongtian. "Dongfang just used a large-scale spell. Show me what's happening outside."
The small mirror shook for a moment, then quickly ascended and enlarged. The mirror's surface flashed, revealing the scene outside.