The three of them ran for half an hour before they finally shook off the rogue cultivators behind them.

To be safe, they kept running a bit longer before finding a spot that seemed secure and stopped there.

Chu Xinghui had just fought a beast and then run such a long distance with the other two. By now, his spiritual power was nearly depleted, so he found a quiet corner and took two spirit recovery pills.

Since they were out in the wilderness, meditation would be too slow, and being low on spiritual power was dangerous.

Ming Xiao had been sneakily watching him. When he saw that Chu Xinghui had recovered his strength, he hesitantly walked over and handed him the jade box he’d been clutching the whole time.

“Hey, about earlier… anyway, take this. Let’s call it repaying the favor.”

Chu Xinghui gave it a glance, clearly uninterested: “It’s useless to me.”

Cheng Yu, who was sorting through their gains from recent days, looked over: “A two-thousand-year-old Hidden Silver Flower? Give it to me then. I’ll trade you for it.”

He opened his storage pouch to show Ming Xiao his personal stash.

Ming Xiao didn’t even look. He tossed the item to him: “Trade what? You think I’m short on this kind of stuff?”

Cheng Yu caught the jade box that had hit his chest and froze for a moment: “Huh? From the way you acted earlier, I thought this thing was super important.”

Ming Xiao got annoyed at the mention of it: “It’s not super important, and I don’t care about the money. But I did put a lot of thought into it, so I couldn’t swallow my anger.”

That did sound like something he’d do.

Since no one desperately needed the spirit herb, Cheng Yu figured he might as well refine it into a pill and split the profits. He put the jade box away.

*

After the three had rested up, Ming Xiao brought up the next step: “Are you guys heading up the mountain too?”

Then, worried they might misunderstand, he loudly added: “…I’m just asking about your plans. I’m not saying I want to go with you.”

The two were already used to his contradictory way of speaking. Hearing this, Chu Xinghui realized they were already very close to the mountain at the center of the secret realm.

Cheng Yu looked up toward the mountain and asked: “Don’t you think that building looks kinda creepy?”

Ming Xiao jumped: “Creepy? That’s something from our Beiyue Sword Sect!”

Chu Xinghui and Cheng Yu exchanged surprised looks.

Cheng Yu asked: “You mean that wooden building belongs to your sect? Or is it the whole mountain…?”

Ming Xiao shook his head and clarified: “Not the building. Not the mountain. Just the bell on top of the building.”

Chu Xinghui couldn’t help but recall the bell sound he heard in the illusion.

Ming Xiao gave a brief explanation: “That bell used to hang at the top of the Beiyue Sword Sect’s library. It’s a spiritual artifact passed down from our ancestors. It could ring on its own and had a calming, mind-clearing effect. It’s said even the Sword Sovereign had enlightenment moments beneath it.”

He looked up at the mountain peak with a complicated expression: “But the bell disappeared hundreds of years ago… I never expected to see it again in a secret realm.”

Cheng Yu gave a low whistle.

Ming Xiao glared: “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Chu Xinghui paused, then explained for him: “He probably means—it sounds even creepier now.”

Cheng Yu nodded in agreement.

Ming Xiao: “…”

Jokes aside, they still needed real info. Chu Xinghui looked to Ming Xiao and confirmed: “If that bell disappeared centuries ago, are you sure this one is it?”

Ming Xiao answered with confidence: “I joined late, so I never saw the real thing, but I’ve seen it in recordings many times. I’m sure. Even if I somehow got it wrong, do you think all my senior brothers and sisters did too?”

With things getting this strange, Cheng Yu grew curious and asked Chu Xinghui: “How about… we go take a look too? We can drop Ming Xiao off with his people while we’re at it.”

Chu Xinghui thought for a moment. They had explored most of the secret realm already, so heading up the mountain didn’t seem like a bad idea. He nodded.

The three made up their minds and began walking uphill.

*

When they reached the mountain, they realized it was far larger than it looked from afar. The buildings on it were also much more numerous.

However, these buildings varied wildly in style, most of them broken down or in ruins. It didn’t seem like a proper complex—more like a massive pile of ruins.

Even in a secret realm, this was an extremely strange sight.

Many cultivators were going in and out of the ruined structures, searching for useful things.

But more people were gathered at the peak, staring up at a towering wooden building.

The building was so tall, they couldn’t even tell how many floors it had. It looked rotten and ready to collapse at any moment, yet it remained standing.

The doors were rotted away and no protective barriers were in place, yet none of the cultivators gathered dared to enter.

After watching for a while, Cheng Yu found this odd and asked a friendly-looking stranger: “Fellow Cultivator, why is everyone just standing around and not going in?”

The cultivator replied: “Someone did go in.”

Cheng Yu was confused: “Huh?”

The cultivator pointed to a corner: “Those people lying down are the ones.”

Even in its ruined state, the wooden tower had such power. It only made people more certain there was treasure inside.

Cheng Yu was horrified and started considering whether they should leave right away.

Chu Xinghui said quietly: “…They’re alive, just passed out from soul damage.”

Cheng Yu let out a breath of relief and was about to say more when he suddenly staggered.

At first, he thought he just lost his footing, but in the next moment, the entire secret realm began to shake.

Countless weathered stones rolled down from above. Half-collapsed buildings gave way entirely.

The epicenter of the quake was the wooden tower—something beneath it seemed to be trying to break through the ground.

Panic broke out among the crowd.

Chu Xinghui pulled Cheng Yu and Ming Xiao aside into a safe corner.

The three waited there grimly for a while.

Fortunately, the tremor didn’t last long. A powerful force seemed to suppress it, and everything soon calmed down.

The strange quake came and went quickly. Though no obvious damage had occurred, some cautious cultivators turned to leave the secret realm immediately, dragging half-conscious companions with them.

Chu Xinghui didn’t pay attention to them. His eyes were fixed on the wooden tower, his heart pounding.

For a moment just now, he had sensed a familiar aura from inside the building.

Without hesitation, he walked straight toward it.

Ming Xiao quickly grabbed him: “Wait! Something’s wrong in there!”

Chu Xinghui looked at him and shook his head: “Sorry. Something very important is in there. I must check it out.”

His look startled Ming Xiao, who reluctantly let go.

Chu Xinghui stepped into the wooden tower without hesitation.

Cheng Yu watched his figure disappear through the door, then looked at the unconscious cultivators: “Wait… why didn’t you stop him?”

Ming Xiao gritted his teeth and followed.

But the moment he crossed the threshold, he collapsed.

Cheng Yu: …

He had no choice but to drag Ming Xiao over and lay him down next to the others.

*

Outside the secret realm.

A few array experts studied the formation carefully for days and finally understood its function: “Fellow Cultivator Chu guessed right. This formation does lead into the secret realm, and those strange energy fluctuations around it… also came from here.”

One recorded the Jinshen Sect’s emblem carved on a stone and muttered, confused: “But there are normal entrances and exits to the secret realm. Why did the Jinshen Sect do all this extra stuff?”

Xie Liufeng sneered: “Either they want to send someone in—or let something out.”

His eyes suddenly narrowed: “Watch out!”

The others reacted fast and retreated.

The formation and surrounding energy fields suddenly exploded, and even the secret realm’s entrance began to shake.

The array’s creator had noticed them. They were trying to destroy the formation—and the secret realm with it.

Most cultivators inside hadn’t left yet, many of them highly valued juniors of major sects…

Just the thought made everyone’s blood run cold.

The next moment, a powerful spiritual force appeared and forcibly stopped the realm’s collapse.

Xie Liufeng turned and headed for the entrance: “Three days. Find a way to contact the people inside. Tell them to get out as fast as they can.”

“Oh right, didn’t the Jinshen Sect send an elder here this time?” His eyes turned icy: “Bring him. Tell him… the Sect Master wants to invite him for tea.”

Shang Ling’s subordinates looked at him for instructions.

Shang Ling’s expression turned cold too: “Go. And call the others from the other sects. The Jinshen Sect’s efforts deserve… a proper cup of tea.”

A cultivator finally realized something and asked: “Fellow Cultivator Shang, that Chu fellow… who is he really?”

Shang Ling thought about it and replied the way Xie Liufeng had told him: “Uh… just a passing ordinary cultivator.”

*

Xie Liufeng walked alone to the entrance, his expression grim.

When the secret realm’s energy surged earlier, he had sensed something familiar.

If he was right, that thing should have been sealed—it shouldn’t be here.

He wasn’t afraid for himself.

He was only worried… that Chu Xinghui might sense it too—

And do something foolish.

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