Before leaving, she even lectured the golden-toothed armored wolf: "You are truly too weak! Cultivate diligently from now on, and do not waste your precious time!"
The golden-toothed armored wolf: "......"
Next, Feng Xi found a few more monster beasts... as sparring partners, each one higher in rank than the last. Jun Wen was already numb to it.
His Junior Sister's Dantian was damaged, and she looked at best like she was in the Qi Condensation stage, specifically the early stage.
Yet she was now able to beat late-stage Qi Condensation monster beasts to the point of shrieking in terror.
It was simply absurd!
Beyond absurd!
Her injuries were not even fully healed yet. Once fully healed, wouldn't she be able to utterly thrash even Foundation Establishment stage cultivators?
Jun Wen suddenly felt a sense of crisis. If he did not cultivate properly in the future, wouldn't he end up just like these monster beasts, reduced to being his Junior Sister's sparring partner?
Thinking of the miserable state of those sparring monster beasts, Jun Wen gave an involuntary shudder.
He must cultivate diligently once they returned; even tying his hair to a beam and piercing his thigh with an awl would be better than being thrashed by his Junior Sister.
He had assumed Feng Xi would keep looking for monster beasts to spar with. As for gathering spiritual plants, he had already given up on that.
Even if he tried his absolute best, the Xuantian Sect would still end up in last place. It was better to accompany his Junior Sister and focus on improving her cultivation instead.
To his surprise, after wearing out a flesh-winged striped tiger to the point of utter exhaustion, Feng Xi said to him:
"Fifth Senior Brother, the Tianlv Secret Realm will close in two days. Shouldn't we start gathering spiritual plants now?
Otherwise, it'll be too late to take first place!"
At first, Jun Wen thought Feng Xi was joking, but seeing her deadpan expression, he grew somewhat uncertain.
"Junior Sister, y-you're joking, right?"
Feng Xi glanced at him:
"This concerns the honor of our sect! How can you treat it as a child's game?! Let's go, we're setting off right now!"
Jun Wen was completely bewildered!
He simply couldn't fathom where Feng Xi got her confidence from.
Just look at that swaggering, unyielding stride of hers—anyone who didn't know better would think she was a Divinity Transformation expert!
As they walked along, Jun Wen noticed something amiss.
"Junior Sister, y-you don't want to go to the Mirage Garden, do you?"
Feng Xi nodded. "Mm."
Jun Wen: "......"
The Mirage Garden was a special existence within the Tianlv Secret Realm. It contained countless spiritual plants, and there were no guardian monster beasts.
However, true to its name—the Mirage Garden, evoking the nature of a mirage—it was ethereal and elusive, its truth and falsehood impossible to fathom.
Although many people had seen the Mirage Garden, no one had ever managed to enter it.
As time passed, no one bothered wasting time on the Mirage Garden anymore.
Jun Wen held back, but finally couldn't help saying: "Junior Sister, the Mirage Garden is just an illusory, empty display. Instead of wasting time on it, you'd be better off finding a few more monster beasts to spar with."
Feng Xi blinked her eyes:
"Fifth Senior Brother, if we want to turn defeat into victory right now, the Mirage Garden is our only chance. How regrettable it would be if we don't even try!
Since we have nothing better to do, let's go take a look!"
With no other choice, Jun Wen could only agree.
The Mirage Garden was easy to find because a floating projection hung in mid-air.
Half an hour later, the two of them arrived outside the Mirage Garden.
Inside, it was lush and verdant, filled with all kinds of spiritual plants. Because no one had ever harvested them, their age was exceptionally mature.
Feng Xi's eyes shone with greed. If she could get her hands on these spiritual plants, winning first place in the trial would be a minor matter—the key was that they were worth a fortune!
Seeing her money-grubbing look, Jun Wen couldn't help pouring cold water on her enthusiasm: "Junior Sister, these are all flowers in a mirror and the moon reflected in water; you can only feast your eyes on them.
Previous trial-takers have tried every possible method to no avail—it's simply impossible to enter.
Some even speculate that this Mirage Garden is just an advanced illusion array. Because it's too advanced, we have no way to pierce through it."
Feng Xi asked, "What methods have they tried?"
"All kinds of explosive talismans, spiritual power attacks, earth-escape arts, various array-breaking magical treasures, and so on. Almost every method that could possibly be used has been tried."
After hearing this, Feng Xi nodded.
Then, she knocked twice gently on the "wall" of the Mirage Garden: "Hello? Is anyone home? Open the door!"
Jun Wen: ...... It looks like your brain got flooded with water.
Sure enough, the Mirage Garden didn't react in the least.
Feng Xi looked at Jun Wen: "Seems they aren't very hospitable."
Jun Wen: "...... Junior Sister, are you running a fever?"
Feng Xi rolled her eyes, took out her waterskin, took a couple of sips, and then shouted at the Mirage Garden:
"Hey! You dragged me in here, so you must want something from me. Stop hiding and beating around the bush—hurry up and let me in!"
Still not the slightest movement.
Feng Xi's pretty face instantly darkened:
"Don't be so ungrateful! I didn't want to come in, yet you insisted on dragging me in—did you really think you could make me leave empty-handed?!
There's no such cheap deal in this world!
If you don't let me in, once I get out of here, I'll sow discord and make the Four Great Sects close down the Tianlv Secret Realm for good so that no one will ever enter again!
Without anyone coming in to help you harvest the monster beasts and spiritual plants, the spiritual Qi here probably won't be able to sustain itself for much longer, right?
Tsk, tsk. Tell me, will this place become the very first secret realm to collapse due to exhausted spiritual Qi..."
Jun Wen was completely bewildered. What kind of gibberish was his Junior Sister spouting?
Secret realms were connected to heaven and earth; how could their spiritual Qi possibly be exhausted?
Feng Xi was simply talking nonsense!
She was a transmigrator, and the original body was young with limited experience, so her knowledge regarding the cultivation world was extremely scarce.
Yet that didn't stop her from putting on a fierce front, speaking as if it were all absolute truth!
Anyway, they were just trying their luck—maybe a blind cat would hit a dead mouse.
Just as Jun Wen was starting to think his Junior Sister had lost her mind, a black gate appeared on the "wall" of the Mirage Garden and slowly swung open.
Jun Wen: ? ? ? ! ! !
.
Chapter 32: Not Cowardly, Just Prudent
Feng Xi hadn't expected to hit a "dead mouse" so quickly either. She cleared her throat and said:
"Fifth Senior Brother, are you going to wait for me outside, or come inside with me?"
Though still in a semi-dazed state, Jun Wen immediately replied:
"I'll go in with you!"
He had to protect his Junior Sister at all times.
Ahem, and gain some experience along the way, of course.
Terrified that there might be danger, Jun Wen walked in front with a guarded expression, gesturing for Feng Xi to stay behind him.
Though Feng Xi felt that once you were already in someone else's territory, being on guard was useless, Jun Wen's intentions were good, so she didn't say anything.
Barely ten breaths after the two of them stepped inside, the scenery before their eyes underwent a drastic and earth-shattering transformation.
The lush and verdant spiritual plants had completely changed their appearance.
The vast majority had turned pitch black, while a small number turned grey.
A faint aura of death permeated the air.
Jun Wen's expression instantly changed!
"Demonic plants! Junior Sister, these are all demonic plants!"
Demonic plants were plants that grew in the Demonic Domain; under normal circumstances, they could not survive in the Immortal Cultivation World.
As he spoke, Jun Wen summoned his flying sword, shielding Feng Xi behind him.
Turning around to look, he saw that the black gate had already vanished.
We're done for!
We've fallen into a trap!
Feng Xi, however, remained entirely calm: "Fifth Senior Brother, keep calm and don't be impatient.
I've never seen a demonic plant before. Do you recognize them? Introduce them to me one by one!"
Jun Wen: ...... How can you be so thick-skinned?!
Yet his heart was beating frantically right now, and he desperately wanted something to do to distract himself, so he said:
"Junior Sister, do you see that demonic plant covered in thorns?
That's a blood-thirsty thorn, which loves to feed on fresh blood. Once it punctures someone's skin, it sucks them dry into a mummified corpse.
Whether it's humans, demons, monster beasts, or demonic beasts, all fall within its hunting range.
The one next to the blood-thirsty thorn is poison-pod grass. When the poison pods burst, they release toxic gas that causes people to lose consciousness instantly..."
Feng Xi interrupted, "Is there anything edible in here?"
Jun Wen: "......"
Eat my foot!
These are demonic plants!!!
Do you want to become a member of the Demon race?!
Feng Xi suddenly said with a hint of excitement:
"Fifth Senior Brother, demonic plants are rarely seen in the Immortal Cultivation World. As the saying goes, rarity makes things valuable—we can dig up a bunch of them and take them out to sell for money!
With so many demonic plants here, they'll definitely fetch a huge fortune!
We've struck it rich this time!"
Jun Wen: ...... Why does your train of thought work differently from a normal person's?
Demonic plants have appeared here so bizarrely, shouldn't your first thought be how to get out safely?
"Fifth Senior Brother, which one should we dig up first?
I think that blood-thirsty thorn looks pretty good. Even if we can't sell it, we can use it to help make air-dried chicken or duck. Whatever we make with it definitely won't have any gamey smell..."
Jun Wen: "......"
Just as he was standing there dumbfounded, he caught Feng Xi blinking at him.
He had to admit that after collaborating—ahem, plotting together several times—Jun Wen's acting skills had improved.
He immediately chimed in: "Junior Sister, you're so smart!
Bringing these demonic plants out will definitely sell them for a good price! Once we're rich, we can buy plenty of good things to equip ourselves and experience what it's like to live the extravagant life of a core disciple..."
Jun Wen had initially only been playing along to match Feng Xi, but the more he spoke, the more excited he became. He even began to feel like Feng Xi's suggestion might actually be feasible!
Just as the two of them were discussing it heatedly, a gloomy voice sounded:
"Ignorant brats! You want to dig up my demonic plants—did you ask for my permission as their master?"
Jun Wen hurriedly pulled Feng Xi behind him, looking completely on guard.
However, the voice came from all directions, and he had no way of pinning down the speaker's exact location.
Feng Xi curled her lips:
"You dragged me into your secret realm—did you ask for my permission?
You're not a courteous host at all, so why are you putting on such a grand act?!
If you have something to say, spit it out. Stop trying to be so mysterious!
Hurry up and get out here!"
Jun Wen almost felt like crying!
Junior Sister, aren't you deliberately provoking him?!
You might not want to live, but I still do!
Of course Feng Xi wasn't courting death. Since this so-called master had allowed her and Jun Wen to enter the Mirage Garden, it meant he wanted something from them; he wouldn't kill her and Jun Wen so easily.
Sure enough, after a furious, thundering roar, that voice merely conjured up some low-lethality black wind blades to punish Jun Wen and Feng Xi.
Jun Wen easily deflected those black wind blades, yet he still didn't dare to relax in the slightest.
This only made Feng Xi even more certain of her guess, rendering her even more fearless.
"Alright, cut out these tricks—it's just a waste of time.
There's less than two days left before the secret realm closes. If you don't speak up now, it'll be too late."
As she finished speaking, Feng Xi took two spiritual fruits out of her storage ring, handed one to Jun Wen, and began crunching away.
These two spiritual fruits were the ones she had looted from Lu Xiuhan—they were really sweet!
Aside from marveling at how thick-skinned his Junior Sister was, Jun Wen didn't know what else to say.
Right at that moment, a ball of intertwined black and white mist suddenly appeared in front of them.
"I am the Spirit of Chaos. Being able to see me is your supreme fortune.
Why haven't you knelt and kowtowed yet?"
Feng Xi burst out laughing.
"Kneel? I might as well lie flat!
No wonder you call yourself some Spirit of Chaos—you haven't grown an ounce of brain cells!
Do you really think that by this point, I haven't figured out that you need something from me?
If you're asking for a favor, you need to have the right attitude. Kneel down for me, and I might consider it."
The mist trembled with rage!
Even the white portion of the mist turned pitch black!
"Audacious! You are utterly audacious! Do you believe I'll kill you right now?"
"I don't."
The mist: "......"
Watching her Junior Sister court death in all sorts of creative ways, Jun Wen felt his heart leap into his throat, terrified that the mass of mist would suddenly launch an attack.
Yet, to his surprise, the tone of the mist softened:
"I was merely testing you just now, to see your courage.
As expected of the ones I chose, your courage is commendable.
I won't beat around the bush anymore; I'll state it directly!
When Chaos first opened, there was no spiritual Qi or demonic Qi—only the Qi of Chaos.
Later, the Qi of Chaos split into spiritual Qi and demonic Qi, and as the Spirit of Chaos, I must absorb both spiritual Qi and demonic Qi in order to cultivate.
I have cultivated here for tens of thousands of years, and my spiritual Qi is already saturated; I am now in urgent need of absorbing demonic Qi.
Therefore, I want you to take me to the Demon Realm to absorb demonic Qi.
Rest assured, I won't make use of you for nothing—I will grant you immense benefits!
Whether it's cultivation resources or fortuitous encounters, I can satisfy whatever you desire.
Well? Do you agree?"
Feng Xi rolled her eyes: "It's as simple as taking you to the Demon Realm? No strings attached?"
"There is one condition, which is that you must allow demonic Qi to enter your bodies. But rest assured, I have methods to help you conceal it, and outsiders won't be able to tell."
Feng Xi sneered coldly: "We will never agree to letting demonic Qi enter our bodies!
Tell you what, I think you look rather pitiful, trapped here like this..."
The mist interrupted her: "I'm not trapped; I simply don't want to leave."
Feng Xi turned around and started walking away.
The mist: "Uhm, continue speaking. Just pretend I didn't say anything just now."
This Sovereign isn't cowardly, just... being prudent.
.
Chapter 33: She Only Shows Ruthlessness to Others
Feng Xi rolled her eyes and continued: "I can take you to the Demon Realm, but your so-called demonic Qi entering our bodies is out of the question!
You don't need to negotiate terms with me either, because whether in the past or the future, I am the only one who can bring in a demonic realm artifact that can conceal your form!
The only reason you dragged me in here is because I happened to be carrying a Blood Demon tribe token, isn't that right?"
Feng Xi had already suspected as much when she saw those demonic plants, and after hearing the mist's words, she became even more certain.
The mist grew somewhat flustered: "Y-you, how did you know?"
Feng Xi ignored it.
The mist suddenly ballooned, enveloping Feng Xi and Jun Wen within it.
The speed was so fast that Jun Wen didn't even have time to react.
A moment later, the mist transformed into a small black sphere with a pair of tiny horns on its head.
It sneered: "Fighting with me? Once I see through your inner demons, I have ways to make you submit."
With that, it "looked" into Jun Wen's inner demon.
A sect robe stained with a bit of mud, a flying sword smeared with a tiny speck of blood, a bedsheet with a fleck of dust on it...
The Little Black Ball: "......"
What kind of ghost inner demon is this?!
Never mind, this guy was just tagging along anyway, completely useless—a total good-for-nothing!
Better check that stinky girl's!
Thus, it went to "look" into Feng Xi's inner demon.
It saw Feng Xi holding a cup-like object with a straw stuck into it, casually sipping from it.
Seemingly sensing something, she raised her head:
"Hey, is this an illusion realm you wove for me? It's actually quite fun. Hang in there a bit longer and let me finish drinking this cup of milk tea first, okay?"
The Little Black Ball passed out from sheer anger on the spot.
Feng Xi and Jun Wen also "woke up."
Looking quite regretful, Feng Xi muttered that there was still half a cup of milk tea left unfinished!
Seeing the passed-out black ball, Feng Xi gave it a kick, sending it flying straight to hang on the thorns of a blood-thirsty thorn plant.
Jun Wen could actually hear the sounds of air leaking out—*pfft, pfft, pfft*.
How miserable!
At this moment, the Little Black Ball also woke up, furiously spewing a long string of words that neither Feng Xi nor Jun Wen understood.
However, both of them knew it was definitely cursing quite filthily.
Growing impatient, Feng Xi said irritably:
"I don't have time to haggle with you. If you want to get out and want me to take you to the Demon Realm, you'll sign a master-pet contract with me and work for me from now on!
If you don't agree, you can just rot and die here by yourself!"
The voice of the Little Black Ball spiked sharply: "You want me to sign a contract with you as your pet?! Does your family not own a mirror? How can you be so shameless?!"
Feng Xi sneered: "Last time asking—do you agree or not? If not, I'll destroy this Blood Demon tribe token right now and completely cut off your hope!"
As she spoke, Feng Xi took out the Blood Demon tribe token.
"I'll count to three. One, two..."
The Little Black Ball panicked!
"I'll sign! I'll sign, alright?!"
Feng Xi curled her lips: "Would it have killed you to agree sooner? How do we sign? Do I have to snap your little horns off?"
The black ball: "......"
Listen to yourself! Is that human speech?!
You don't want to sign a contract with me at all; you just want to hack me into pieces!
Gritting its teeth, the black ball said: "Once I form the contract seal, you just need to drop your blood onto it."
With that, tiny black lightning bolts appeared between its two little horns, gradually forming a pattern covered in intricate designs.
Feng Xi found this pattern somewhat familiar; it seemed to be the exact same pattern as the jade token used to open the Tianlv Secret Realm.
As she thought about this, Feng Xi closed her eyes and sliced her finger open.
Why close her eyes? Because opening them made it impossible to bring herself to do it!
This was her own flesh, after all!
She was the kind of person who only showed ruthlessness to others; toward herself, she was always... soft-hearted.
Seeing a droplet of blood well up on her finger, she walked over to the black ball. Instead of dripping the blood, she blurted out unceremoniously:
"Is this thing really the kind of master-pet contract I mentioned? I as the master, you as the pet? You aren't tricking me, are you?"
The Little Black Ball's tiny eyes flickered for a fraction of a second. Seeing this, Feng Xi kicked it flying once again!
Tricking me?
I am the ancestor of tricksters!
Furious and exasperated, the Little Black Ball snapped: "I was born at the dawn of heaven and earth; you aren't qualified to sign a master-pet contract with me in the first place. Even if I were willing, Heaven's Path wouldn't allow our contract to form.
That's why I'm having you sign an equal contract instead. Is there something wrong with that?
Besides, a master-pet contract and an equal contract aren't all that different. The only difference is that if you die, I won't die with you, though my divine sense will still suffer severe trauma.
Therefore, you don't have to worry about me betraying you because of this.
Sign it if you want, or forget it if you don't—at worst, I just won't go to the Demon Realm!"
Feng Xi stared at it: "Since there's nothing shameful about it, why didn't you say so just now? You still had an ulterior motive!"
The Little Black Ball fell silent.
It had simply wanted to gloat and trick Feng Xi a little after the contract succeeded.
As it turned out, it didn't succeed.
Feng Xi asked Jun Wen: "Fifth Senior Brother, is an equal contract really like what it said?"
Looking somewhat dazed, Jun Wen replied: "It's like that."
In his heart, he thought that if it were him, he probably would have just signed it immediately without being as vigilant as his Junior Sister.
It seemed he really needed to learn a thing or two from his Junior Sister in the future.
Having received a definitive answer, Feng Xi finally signed the equal contract with the Little Black Ball.