The moon above seemed to be bleeding.
With immensely powerful auras, fierce ghostly creatures surged forth like a tidal wave—dense, countless, tens of thousands strong. Those gleaming white bones appeared even more sinister and terrifying under the blood-red moonlight. Here, the Danhe Sect combined with the Gujian Sect totaled just over a hundred people. When struck by that wave of white bones, they were like a lone boat floating in the sea, ready to be devoured and swallowed in the blink of an eye.
This was the ominous star Jumen Star. Now, everyone finally understood why the soul lamps of the seniors who entered this region were extinguished, and they knew exactly what those predecessors had experienced. Perhaps they were now among these endless ghostly creatures, merged as one with them, surging violently toward these living people.
Closer, they could see them getting nearer and nearer…
Little Skull had originally been trembling while hugging Su Zhuyi’s thigh, but now he suddenly raised his head. The Zhuying Sword in his hand traced a sword flower, and his body leaped forward, charging out a zhang distance, slicing the foremost ghostly creature in half with one sword strike…
Little Skull himself was concealed in form, and his Zhuying Sword was merely a faint thin trace, mostly invisible and formless. Therefore, under this moonlight, everyone could see none of his movements, nor notice his sword.
The crowd only saw a ghostly creature in front that inexplicably split into two halves. The separated halves were still moving, but were then trampled into the mud and sand by the subsequent ghostly creatures.
Su Zhuyi saw Qin Jianglan move. He gripped the Qingsong Sword and stood facing the wind. The next moment would be the posture for drawing his sword.
Su Zhuyi immediately raised her hand, and the Broken Sword in her palm shot forth a streak of azure light.
That sword strike cleaved mountains and rivers, split peaks and severed seas. The densely packed skeletal and ghostly creatures before them parted to both sides with rushing sounds, directly carving out a path.
Qin Jianglan reached back with one hand, perfectly grasping Su Zhuyi’s extended hand, pulling her directly into the divided path. His speed was very fast, his hand very cold. The instant Su Zhuyi was grasped by him, she transformed her posture, appearing as if she were soaring through the air on her own. She turned her head slightly, her brow furrowed sternly, and lightly chided the stunned cultivators: “Why aren’t you following?”
Her long hair flew like ink, her figure like a moon goddess. In that moment, under the blood-colored moonlight, among the slowly accumulating white bones, that figure soaring between the bone walls was utterly shocking, yet commanded deep admiration from the heart.
How could she possess such strength!
Why were the cultivators from Gujian Sect’s Luoxue Peak each more monstrous than the last?
The shock Su Zhuyi gave everyone was too great, momentarily stunning the Danhe Sect cultivators. However, everyone reacted quickly—this was not the time to be dazed. They swiftly followed her forward to escape those ghostly creatures.
Here, Su Zhuyi saw that she had shown off enough. The corner of her mouth curved upward, and she smiled as she turned to follow Qin Jianglan forward. Before long, they saw a stone tablet, but Qin Jianglan didn’t cross over it. Instead, he continued rushing south in the direction of the stone tablet. The cultivators following behind no longer questioned this—even the Danhe Sect Master remained silent, only tightly gripping the map in his hands, his nerves taut. The map showed that beyond the stone tablet was a fortunate star. Originally, he had planned to go to the fortunate star, but now…
Follow her!
Over a hundred people followed Su Zhuyi running forward. After running for two hours, they saw another stone tablet. Then they watched Su Zhuyi cross the stone tablet, and everyone followed without much consideration, one after another. After the Danhe Sect Master crossed over, he swept the map with his divine consciousness, then was directly stunned—they had run to the Purple Star like this?
“Let’s rest and reorganize for a while,” Su Zhuyi announced loudly after stopping.
This was what Qin Jianglan had said, so she simply conveyed it once.
After speaking, Su Zhuyi turned around to discover that the Danhe Sect disciples were drenched in sweat from running, their bodies seemingly able to wring out water. Only now that the rest was announced did they relax. Some male cultivators even loosened their collar openings, while some female cultivators fanned themselves with their hands.
This region was originally the hottest, and they had been running frantically for so long. To maintain their spiritual energy barriers, they had consumed quite a lot of their internal spiritual energy. Now they were reluctant to use spiritual energy to cool themselves, but fortunately, everyone had prepared pills and spiritual springs, which could alleviate some of the scorching heat.
“Those several sects are still waiting at the fortunate star for the stellar orbit to shift, wanting to wait for the safest route to move here.”
The so-called stellar orbit movement meant waiting for a route that would allow the fortunate star to intersect with the secret realm entrance, enabling them to safely reach the secret realm. But now it seemed those several sects still hadn’t waited for it, while their group had arrived first—not only arrived, but without much damage. Only at the very beginning had one cultivator’s arm been severed by a fierce spiritual beast in the desert. Because the severed arm was taken away by that spiritual beast, that disciple’s arm hadn’t grown back, but after returning and recovering with spiritual pills and miraculous medicines for some time, bone reconstruction would be possible.
Unexpectedly, this journey would be so smooth.
Danhe Sect Master Dan Qingshan was somewhat hesitant. He planned to go express his thanks, but thinking of how he had previously scolded them, he felt a bit embarrassed. Just as he was about to go over, Dan Qingshan noticed that Dan Ruyun had already sat down beside Su Zhuyi, chattering incessantly by her side. He thought about it and temporarily didn’t go over, letting the juniors communicate well first.
It was too hot here. He instructed the cultivators who had been arranged earlier to guard the perimeter, then formed an array with other elders in the outer circle, trying to minimize the spiritual energy consumption of the sect disciples and preserve their strength. Seeing that everyone had chosen good resting spots, Dan Qingshan took out the ice lotus he had prepared long ago and set up an array formation with the elders, causing the temperature in this area to drop slightly.
While setting up the array, they were also cultivating and recuperating, replenishing their spiritual energy. Because there were dedicated cultivators keeping watch, Dan Qingshan didn’t extend his divine consciousness to monitor the surroundings. When he completed one cycle of his cultivation method and his spiritual energy recovered slightly, Dan Qingshan opened his eyes and then smiled helplessly.
These few elders had formed a circle, but unexpectedly, these disciples hadn’t scattered within the circle. Instead, they had all crowded together in one place.
Centered around the Gujian Sect disciples, the Danhe Sect cultivators sat around them in an orderly fashion, surrounding them in three inner and outer layers, as if sitting there listening to them preach. He thought about it and also moved closer inward, discovering that it was indeed cooler here. After discussing with the other elders, everyone moved inside…
Su Zhuyi: “…”
She was leaning against Qin Jianglan because his body was cool and refreshing. She couldn’t help but touch him a few times. Being watched by so many righteous cultivators like this, she inexplicably felt a bit…
Exciting?
This was the scene the Yunxiao Sect disciples saw when they entered.
Although they could see from the map that the Danhe Sect and Gujian Sect had already reached the agreed-upon secret realm entrance, they believed that these people had passed through the ominous star to get here and must have suffered heavy losses. If a few survived, that would already be quite good. However, unexpectedly, they looked to be in excellent condition, as if no one had been injured.
In contrast, their force of over two hundred had lost more than half, with only eighty-nine cultivators now reaching the secret realm entrance, including two who were severely wounded.
Most Yunxiao Sect disciples appeared disheveled. Upon seeing the Danhe Sect cultivators, they quickly approached. Dan Qingshan rose to greet them and exchanged a few pleasantries with the Yunxiao Sect Master, speaking vaguely and evasively, glossing over how they had arrived in just one sentence.
The Yunxiao Sect had many casualties among its cultivators, and the disciples’ morale was low. They didn’t get too close to the Danhe Sect disciples, instead sitting in meditation ten zhang away from them. However, the Purple Star was unbearably hot, and many of them were injured. Before long, they were sweating profusely, while the Danhe Sect disciples showed no reaction. Finally, someone couldn’t help but ask: “Could it be that the Danhe Sect fellow Daoists have some wonderful method to resist this region’s scorching heat?”
What wonderful method could there be? They just felt that staying close to the Gujian Sect would be cooler.
Dan Qingshan pointed to the slowly melting ice lotus around them without saying much more.
The Yunxiao Sect had made preparations too, but several elders had perished, making their setup much slower at this time. By the time they had their array formation ready, everyone fell silent again, continuing to conserve energy and wait for other sects to arrive.
Above their heads, the stars slowly moved.
When the seven stars aligned, that would be when the secret realm opened. At that time, regardless of whether other sects had arrived, they would enter the ancient secret realm.
…
Although Su Zhuyi was surrounded by many cultivators in the middle, everyone didn’t sit tightly against her—they were about five feet away from her. Dan Ruyun and the others had originally been close, but after staying close for a while, they felt an eerie chill, as if cold air was seeping up from underground. So everyone unconsciously moved slightly outward. In other words, Su Zhuyi now had some distance from all of them, and her sitting posture was a bit strange—there was a sword inserted behind her, with the blade transformed into a pine tree, and she was leaning against that pine tree.
Those who recognized it knew this was the immortal sword Songfeng Sword she had taken from the Sword Tomb.
The arrival of the Yunxiao Sect disciples didn’t attract Su Zhuyi’s attention—she didn’t even glance in that direction. At this moment, Su Zhuyi was looking up at the sky. Her neck was slender and elegant, gleaming white as jade, its radiance undimmed even by the darkness of night. She appeared to be leaning against the sword, but was leaning against Qin Jianglan’s back. With her neck tilted back, her head rested on his shoulder.
His body was cool and refreshing. Su Zhuyi didn’t even need a spiritual energy barrier to maintain coolness around her body.
“Qin Jianglan.” She moved slightly, her back gently brushing against him. “The stars in the sky are so bright.”
She had also sat at the edge of the tree house on the Wangtian Tree to watch the starry sky. The stars then were about the same as now—equally bright and close, as if she could reach out and pluck them down.
She had once called for Qin Jianglan to watch the stars together, but he had never paid her any attention. Yet now, she was leaning against his back, watching the starry sky here.
“Mm.” Without turning his head, Qin Jianglan could see her slender, graceful neck and feel her body temperature and hair strands—every aspect stirred his heartstrings.
Qin Jianglan’s body was ice-cold, but at this moment, he inexplicably felt a bit hot.
Not his body, but his heart—like the scorching heat of the Purple Star hadn’t affected his physical form, but instead burned like a fire in his heart.
He reached down to the ground and suddenly grabbed a handful of sand.
The sand leaked through his fingers, causing his brow to furrow. When they came last time, they hadn’t been this quick. They had waited less than a quarter-hour at the secret realm entrance before the seven stars above aligned, and then they entered the secret realm.
But now, they had been waiting at the secret realm entrance for a very long time.
Could there be something strange about the surroundings? As if it could draw out the desires deep within people’s hearts and magnify them infinitely?
He thought about it and softly began reciting a heart-calming mantra.
Sweeping his divine consciousness toward the Yunxiao Sect disciples, he discovered that some disciples there were already showing emotional fluctuations, while those on the Danhe Sect side currently showed no abnormalities…
Why hadn’t there been such abnormal reactions last time? Was it because they had stayed for a short time then, or was it that at that time, he had no great obsessions or desires in his heart?
Glancing at Su Zhuyi, who was leaning against him with smug satisfaction, Qin Jianglan suddenly wanted to know whether she had been affected.
What was the desire in her heart now? To dominate the world?
Just then, the seven stars above gradually moved into position, about to align, while the cultivators from Xundao Sect and Dong Fushang Sect still hadn’t arrived. Seeing spiritual energy fluctuations appear at the secret realm entrance, Qin Jianglan directly grabbed Su Zhuyi and stepped across that spiritual energy barrier.
Seeing Su Zhuyi disappear, the Gujian Sect cultivators were startled and also rushed in. Dan Qingshan couldn’t stop them in time, but fortunately, he reacted quickly and finally managed to restrain the disciples who wanted to follow.
“The stellar orbit hasn’t stabilized yet. Going in now will cause trouble. Previously, some seniors tried to get ahead and were directly killed!”
As his words fell, they saw the outermost of the seven stars above shift another section to the left, followed immediately by a thunderous roar from the secret realm entrance.