"Your esteemed sect can casually beat and kill a direct disciple who is a cultivation genius, so why bother caring about an outer disciple of such low character? My... the person on my side didn't kill him, so he should have crawled over on his knees to thank us."
Everyone present knew perfectly well who Li Lixin was referring to as the genius core disciple.
Some felt a sense of injustice for Li Li, but the majority just watched the fire from across the river; after all, the fall of a genius from another sect could only benefit their own.
Dan Bai, who managed the third peak specializing in artifact refining, possessed a natural Fire Spiritual Root that made her more hot-tempered and irritable than ordinary people, but her fire suddenly died out when she heard Li Lixin mention Li Li.
She stiffly turned her head away from the direction of the Hehuan Sect and instructed Liu Qing, "Go feed that outer disciple a few pills to keep him alive. Once he wakes up, expel him from the sect."
Liu Qing's eyes flashed slightly, and she lowered her head in assent.
The matter settled, the people from the Sect Administration Academy arrived fashionably late, bringing Lou Fengyin with them.
The Sect Administration Academy was a neutral organization that kept the various sects in check. The people within it were masters of clever strategy, wielding human relations and worldly sophistication with absolute precision.
This time, the one who came was Qiucheng He, one of the vice-directors.
He was short in stature, with a round, protruding belly.
He was truly one of a kind in the Qintian Realm. While other cultivators' appearances grew more refined as their cultivation progressed, Qiucheng He seemed to regress the more he cultivated, single-handedly breaking the fixed mechanism where all cultivators were beauties.
"Alright, alright, everyone give me some face and quiet down." He raised a chubby hand and pressed down, his inherently comical bean-like eyes sweeping left and right. When no one was speaking anymore, he smiled with satisfaction and spoke again:
"I believe everyone is already very familiar with the rules of the Lingnan Secret Realm, but I still want nag a bit. The Lingnan Secret Realm is an ancient ruin; even the ancestors in the academy cannot fully explore it. Currently, only the maps for the eastern and southern directions are open to you. Do not easily venture into other domains, as no one will be responsible for your lives."
"Finally, I wish everyone the opportunity they desire in the secret realm, and an early epiphany and ascension."
As his voice fell, he took a box out of his spatial ring. The box was entwined with patterns and brimming with spiritual energy, and several array formations were actually inscribed upon its tiny surface.
Qiucheng He flicked a stream of spiritual energy into it, and the array formations snapped open along the patterns.
As if a seal had been undone, the key locking away the spatial fragments drifted out. In an instant, the world changed color, and a dazzling pillar of light descended from ten thousand zhang above the clouds. The entire sky over Chenxing City distorted, and a colossal gate manifested.
That gate was as majestic as a mountain. Ancient, blurred Kui dragon patterns coiled around the bronze door leaves, and the passage of time had etched cyan-green veins into the metal. Twelve rows of gilded door studs cast a dull glow in the setting sun. The entire Chenxing City grew quiet, and all cultivators stopped what they were doing and looked up at the heavy portals carrying the aura of antiquity.
While everyone else was still immersed in the ruins, Li Lixin shoved something into Li Li's hand.
"Take it. The things inside are very important to you."
Li Li's pretty lips pressed into a straight line. The Shark clan's young lord had his back to her and did not turn around; from her perspective, only his lean back was visible.
She owed Li Lixin too much.
"When did you find out it was me?" Li Li put away the item Li Lixin gave her, using spiritual transmission to ask him just the same.
"The first glance. I haven't reached the point where I wouldn't even recognize you. I know you've always been strong-willed, but your cultivation isn't what it used to be. Be careful with everything after entering the secret realm; I will guard you from the outside."
The secret realm opened, and disciples from various sects vied with one another to fly inside.
Yu Zhaozhao's cold little face was full of anxiety. "What are you daydreaming for? Hurry up and go in."
Following her momentum, Li Li moved forward in the stream of people. She looked back at Li Lixin's profile, but ultimately did not speak her reply.
Before transmigrating into the book, she managed all of her family's enterprises and was a qualified and successful businesswoman. As long as it served her interests, she would utilize everything she could, including men.
She was well aware of Li Lixin's feelings for her, but she could not reciprocate. Once everything settled, she would return what she owed him.
Li Li turned her head away completely and stopped looking back.
The cultivators entering the secret realm were like carp crossing a river. Yu Zhaozhao grabbed Li Li's sleeve for dear life, but they were still separated by the crowd upon entering the portals.
That massive gate was merely a path for spatial traversal.
Li Li only felt a flash before her eyes; the scene that met her gaze was dim, gloomy, and terrifyingly eerie.
She had been transported into a dense forest.
The branches of ten million ancient trees strangled each other in midair, tearing the daylight into shreds. Decayed leaves piled up beneath her feet, and every step felt as if she were sinking into an abyss. Vines hung down from the tree crowns, twisting around tree trunks like snakes before plunging into the soil, weaving a bloodthirsty net in the darkness.
There was no aura of living people around; the forest was eerily silent, and the only sound in the entire world was Li Li's light footsteps treading on fallen leaves.
Before coming in, she had carefully studied the map provided by the academy: the east was mainly valleys and deep forests, the south was a marshland, and the northern and western directions were restricted areas that must not be entered.
Her current location was the ancient forest in the east of the secret realm.
If nothing went wrong, the divine sword demanded by the System should be in those two unopened areas.
Li Li pressed a hand against a tree trunk and leaped upward with a burst of strength, landing on the treetops. Her red and white Hehuan Sect disciple robes fluttered violently in the high-altitude wind.
This forest covered an extremely vast area, and as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but lush branches and leaves with no end in sight.
"Strange, ancient fierce beasts love to hole up in places like this. How is there not even the aura of a single fierce beast..." Li Li furrowed her brows in deep thought, her face full of puzzlement.
This was utterly abnormal, unless a major event was about to happen here.
At this thought, her brow suddenly twitched.
The talisman papers given by Lü Ning in the Card Drawing Space were already running low. Li Li took out all her transmission talismans and sped northward.
The further north she went, the more cultivators she encountered. They were all people from minor sects and bottom-tier aristocratic families. Having finally met fellow travelers, they were excitedly introducing themselves to one another. Only a few people with more seasoned experience were fleeing the place without looking back, just like Li Li.
If nothing went wrong, something was about to go wrong here.
There was only one circumstance that could leave not a single bird flying through the mountains: the secret realm had reached its rainy season, and a beast tide was about to erupt among the fierce beasts.
Li Li did not have the leisure to persuade others to flee with her; right now, she could barely save her own skin.
As her fingers pinched the very last talisman paper and she was about to activate it, she suddenly sensed two alarmingly familiar auras.
Two figures appeared under a tree, and an anxious voice came from below: "Fellow cultivators, my junior brother and I are direct disciples of the Dichen Sect. A beast tide is about to break out here—quickly come with us and leave this place!"
Liu Qing was dressed in a white gown, her gentle face filled with worry.
Li Li's gaze flashed; suddenly, she didn't want to run away by herself anymore.
She couldn't kill Lou Fengyin, but she could certainly kill Liu Qing, this two-faced "good senior sister."
Yu Linglang's bland face broke into a bloodthirsty smile in the gaps between the tree shadows.