After the giant left the Rebirth Valley, his walking became very slow.

Su Zhuyi recalled how, when they first saw Pan Siji, he was also walking step by step at a leisurely pace. Moreover, the places where he stepped were locations where previous giants had trodden—those lake-like giant footprints. It was precisely for this reason that each time the giant stepped down, there would be no casualties.

The creatures of the ancient secret realm had lived here for so long that avoiding the lakes had become their instinct. Perhaps there might be spirit beasts drinking water by the lakeside, but they would drink quickly and leave immediately afterward. They couldn’t stand in the lakes or frolic in the water.

The footprint-like lakes didn’t even have fish, and water plants were scarce. At the time, she had found it somewhat strange because the lake surface was clear and clean, as if there were no other living creatures besides the lake water itself. Now, she completely understood.

These giants would still pay attention to avoiding other creatures when walking in the outside world, meaning they wouldn’t intentionally kill. It was like when people saw ants on the road—many wouldn’t deliberately step on them, but would avoid them instead. However, when they didn’t notice, they couldn’t be bothered with such considerations.

So, if they encountered cultivators from the Dong Fushang Sect, would Pan Siji help her? Or would he stop her instead?

But if the Dong Fushang Sect cultivators saw her alone, they would take action first. Since that was the case, Su Zhuyi smiled and said, “Siji, why don’t you conceal your form when you go out? What if you frighten other creatures?”

Pan Siji was stunned. “The vast majority of creatures in the outside world can’t see us anyway.”

Seeing Su Zhuyi’s surprised expression, he said, “Only those with strong power can see us. Since we share the same origin, you can see me, but very few outside can see us.” He paused. “When I found you back then, there was also a skeleton frame around you. He seemed to be able to see me.”

Little Skull was a mountain and river spirit that had been nurtured for five thousand years. Even though he didn’t succeed in the end, his actual strength was quite formidable. He had once been able to charge forward and shatter that Gujian Sect elder into pieces. It was just that he didn’t know any attack methods, which made him appear somewhat weak.

“Oh.” The Dong Fushang Sect cultivators were only at the Nascent Soul stage—they couldn’t see Pan Siji.

Thinking of this, Su Zhuyi’s heart grew faintly excited again.

After leaving the Rebirth Valley, she expanded her divine consciousness to its limit and began searching for her enemies.

…

There were many ancient ruins in the ancient secret realm.

Among them was a swampland surrounded by many enormous stone sculptures. The sculptures were all of people—some lying down, some sitting, each with different poses. From a distance, they appeared magnificent and imposing, crafted with divine skill. Even though these stone sculptures looked very ancient, with the human outlines no longer clear, they were still breathtaking.

Elder Yi and Elder Mei of the Gujian Sect, along with disciple Mei Ruhua, were currently beneath one of these stone sculptures.

This sculpture depicted a reclining person with slightly curled hands. To them, the fingers were like stone pillars three zhang high. Yi Lian hid behind one of these stone pillars, with several array formations at his feet that firmly protected the two people behind him.

Yi Lian’s skill at concealing his form was extremely high.

In the past, to capture spirit beasts, he could lie in ambush for over ten years without being discovered, which demonstrated his strong abilities in this area. However, at this moment, Yi Lian’s expression was grave as he peered through the stone pillar, his gaze cold.

The path that Qin Jianglan had pointed them toward was correct. All along the way, the three of them hadn’t encountered major dangers and had gained quite a bit.

It was just that their luck turned bad when they ran into a pregnant water qilin. Spirit beasts with young typically became exceptionally fierce, and many would frantically attack any enemy that appeared before them. Yi Lian was well-versed in spirit beasts and understood they couldn’t fight them. Even when all three were injured by the water qilin, they didn’t fight back but instead fled at high speed. Although they were wounded, it wasn’t too serious.

What they didn’t expect was that they hadn’t run far—just a hundred li—when they heard the water qilin’s shrill, agonized cry.

The pregnant water qilin had been killed by someone else.

The male qilin that had gone out foraging heard the female qilin’s scream and came out seeking revenge. The three of them, who carried the female qilin’s scent, were targeted. This was truly an undeserved disaster. In just one encounter, all three were severely wounded and seemed likely to die. At the critical moment, the male qilin seemed to sense something and abandoned them to leave. Yi Lian then led Elder Mei and his disciple to hide behind the stone pillar, relying on the pillar’s natural array formation to set up a concealment array, hoping to temporarily hide here and heal their wounds.

They were all severely injured and couldn’t run far. They would leave a scent trail all the way, so hiding was more likely to keep them alive. After all, as long as the male qilin went to look, it would understand that the real killer was someone else.

However, Yi Lian and the others had only been there for less than an hour when they saw people approaching in the distance.

The newcomers were cultivators from the Dong Fushang Sect. The Dong Fushang Sect and Gujian Sect had completely torn their faces apart. Now that all three Gujian Sect members were severely wounded, if the other party discovered them, they definitely wouldn’t let them go easily. Originally, Yi Lian had some confidence in his concealment array, but when he saw the azure-green transparent bead that the Dong Fushang Sect’s Elder Xunshan was casually tossing and playing with, Yi Lian understood that they probably couldn’t hide anymore.

That azure-green bead was a water qilin’s eye. Qilins were considered auspicious beasts, and qilin eyes were said to enhance luck, see through illusions, and the qilin eye, one could also detect array formations and barriers, helping cultivators break arrays. In other words, the Dong Fushang Sect cultivators might not have been able to discover them originally, but with the qilin eye in hand, they were very likely to detect his concealment array. Then things would be terrible.

The Dong Fushang Sect had lost quite a few people in the secret realm, but they had initially brought over two hundred people and still had more than sixty remaining. Among them, there were five at the Nascent Soul stage and above, including Sect Master Dong Lin, while the rest were all at the middle Gold Core stage and above. The seventy-plus people weren’t moving fast, and their formation was very orderly—Nascent Soul stage cultivators at the front and rear, those with higher cultivation on the perimeter, those with lower cultivation, and the wounded in the center, advancing in formation. At the center of the array was a female cultivator at the middle Gold Core stage. This woman had a slender, tall figure and delicate features, wearing a green dress and holding a small qilin in her arms.

“Junior Sister Li Shan, you’re so lucky. This little qilin wants you to hold it.”

She lowered her head and responded softly, not chatting with the senior brother beside her. Sensing his slight displeasure, she said quietly, “It just fell asleep. We can’t wake it.”

“Oh.”

The senior brother beside her nodded and stopped speaking.

Li Shan walked slowly. She kept her head down, looking at the small qilin with moist, watery eyes that seemed as if she had just been crying.

The small qilin was surrounded by a layer of water mist. It was about the size of an ordinary kitten with its eyes still closed. Its front paws rested on the female cultivator’s clothes, its soft claws hooking into her garment and pulling out a strand of thread. The female cultivator’s dress was a magical treasure, though not a spirit treasure; it was still a high-grade magical artifact of good quality. Yet it was torn by the claws of the newborn qilin. When this qilin grew up, how strong would it be?

Thinking of the male qilin from before, her face turned somewhat pale. If not for having the small qilin in their hands, all the Dong Fushang Sect cultivators combined would be no match for that qilin. It was just a pity that they held their child, making it afraid to act rashly, and in the end…

In the end, it still perished. She unconsciously raised her head and saw the azure-green bead in Elder Xunshan’s hand at the front of the group. That brilliant light was beautiful, yet it made her feel somewhat nauseous and uncomfortable.

Dong Fu…

She vaguely remembered many years ago, the senior sister who had brought her into the immortal sect. She said that although the Dong Fushang Sect wasn’t the most outstanding among the four major cultivation sects, its foundation was still deep. If she joined the Dong Fushang Sect, cultivation resources would not be lacking, and her prospects would be limitless.

Li Shan’s village was very far from Dong Fu. She knew there were people in this world who cultivated immortality, but she had never seen any. However, the village chief’s house—he had been to town and seen the world—had a painting of a female cultivator hanging in it. He said it was Luo Ying of the Gujian Sect, who had once eliminated evildoers in town. Many households in town had Luo Ying’s portrait hanging.

She had secretly looked at it and felt the woman in the painting was like an immortal. Just seeing it from afar made her want to kneel and worship.

She had never thought she had cultivation aptitude and felt that immortal cultivation was far beyond her reach. However, one day an immortal passed by, said she had aptitude—very good aptitude at that—and asked if she was willing to cultivate immortality.

Being chosen by the Dong Fushang Sect was naturally a source of great honor. Li Shan hadn’t agreed yet, but her parents had already kowtowed in acceptance.

She had originally planned to bring her parents to live in an immortal town near Dong Fu when her cultivation was higher and she went down the mountain for training. But unexpectedly, when she returned to her hometown ten years later, she found the village had been destroyed by demonic cultivators.

Li Shan fell seriously ill, and afterward, her cultivation speed slowed. She was now not young, with middle Gold Core cultivation, which was considered above average. Since her personality was introverted and she wasn’t good at socializing, and her master had perished some years ago, she had even less say in the sect. She belonged to the type who was obscure and only knew how to bury herself in cultivation, basically only coming out to collect sect resources each month and having little interaction with other cultivators.

If the Dong Fushang Sect hadn’t lost quite a few disciples recently, she wouldn’t have been able to come on this ancient secret realm expedition.

And this trip had been quite shocking for her.

That ghostly creature from before had a very pure aura, but…

But they had besieged that little skull, wanting to seize his immortal sword.

This she could still convince herself about. After all, it was a ghostly creature. But now, thinking of that weeping mother qilin, thinking of that qilin who had no choice but to give up resistance for the sake of its child, her heart was trembling.

Was this immortal cultivation? Was this the immortal she had worshipped in her youth?

Was this her sect, the Dong Fushang Sect? Why had it become like this? Or were they just spirit beasts, so their life and death didn’t matter? Li Shan had also killed spirit beasts during training—after all, hunting spirit beasts was a method to strengthen oneself. But why did she feel so terrible now?

Qilins were very kind, auspicious spirit beasts.

Just then, she noticed the elder in front suddenly raise his hand in a gesture, and the formation immediately changed into an attack formation. That green bead shone with an eerie light in the sunlight, making Li Shan’s eyes red and causing a tear to fall. The teardrop fell near the small qilin’s mouth, and it smacked its lips and nuzzled twice in her arms.

What had they discovered again?

Li Shan’s heart felt somewhat panicked.

“I didn’t expect to encounter you here.” Elder Xunshan infused spiritual energy into the bead in his hand, and a beam of green light shot toward the stone pillar cluster ahead.

“Aren’t you sword cultivators supposed to be unyielding? How are you now hiding here like a cowardly turtle?” He laughed heartily twice. “Injured by the qilin?”

“What trash.”

The grudge between the Gujian Sect and Dong Fushang Sect was too deep. At this moment, they had no intention of letting the Gujian Sect cultivators go.

Dong Lin stepped forward and said, “The Gujian Sect, as a righteous sect, actually condones its disciples in raising ghostly creatures. Today, we shall act on behalf of heaven!” The ghostly skeleton they had encountered before had used the Tianxuan Nine Swords. Of course, this was just an excuse. Regardless of whether the Gujian Sect raised ghostly creatures or not, today, with such a great opportunity, they would not let it pass.

The Gujian Sect now had few strong experts remaining. Luo Ying and Qinghe were gone, Duan Linshu was dead, and Hu Yu was dead. Once Yi Lian and the one surnamed Mei also died here, the Gujian Sect’s great momentum would be spent and pose no threat at all.

“We’ve been discovered.” Yi Lian had originally held onto hope, but now that they were discovered by the other party, he could only smile bitterly.

“Yi Lian, in a moment, I’ll hold them off while you take my disciple away.” Elder Mei immediately restrained Mei Ruhua the instant Dong Lin spoke. “I can hold out for the time it takes an incense stick to burn.”

After a pause, he said, “I’ll try.”

Even if it meant self-destructing his primordial spirit, he had to buy them a chance to escape with their lives.

Yi Lian said, “Where can we run?” After speaking, he produced a vial of green liquid and directly splashed it on Mei Ruhua, then used his sword to dig a pit and buried her alive in it. Afterward, he blew on it, and some vines even grew over the pit.

“Little Mei was just unconscious. They shouldn’t have sensed her aura. I only hope she can survive this calamity.” After speaking, Yi Lian called out loudly, “When the beam is crooked, the whole house leans. I see your Dong Fushang Sect is rotten to the core. Not only did you kill the auspicious qilin, but now you want to attack fellow righteous cultivators!”

“No wonder your elders capture women as cultivation cauldrons to practice evil arts and suffer qi deviation, and other elders collude with the demonic path. To be called fellow righteous cultivators alongside a sect like yours is utterly shameful.”

“Still talking tough when death is at hand.” Elder Xunshan tossed the green bead in his hand into the air, and another beam of green light shot toward a spot in the stone pillars. Immediately after, a cultivator beside him who was skilled in arrays bent his bow, nocked an arrow, and shot toward the array eye of the concealment formation.

With the qilin eye present, finding the array eye wasn’t difficult.

Once the array eye was broken, the concealment formation immediately disappeared, exposing the severely wounded Yi Lian and Elder Mei to everyone. Dong Lin coldly asked, “Where is Su Zhuyi?”

“Where did you hide her?”

There was only one person he most wanted to kill.

Su Zhuyi of the Gujian Sect.

To avenge Dong Richen!

“Su Zhuyi is behind you!” the Golden Sparrow on Yi Lian’s shoulder cried shrilly.

Cultivators all had divine consciousness and wouldn’t turn their heads to look. Trying to use such a method to buy time to escape? Simply naive—it could only fool some people without much combat experience.

Yi Lian glanced sideways at the Golden Sparrow on his shoulder. He had two lives, or perhaps he could try having his physical body self-destruct and later squeeze in with the Golden Sparrow?

“Enough nonsense, let’s fight!” Elder Mei gripped his long sword and shouted sternly. With one sword strike, he charged directly into the Dong Fushang Sect’s formation.

This old Mei…

Yi Lian also raised his sword to strike, but as he swung his sword, a black shadow flew from beside him—it was his spirit beast, the white tiger. The white tiger was also injured, but at this moment, it still fought alongside him.

…

When Su Zhuyi arrived riding her small boat, she happened to see Yi Lian and Elder Mei being besieged.

Both were severely wounded, but they never let go of the swords in their hands.

How to fight?

The other side had dozens of people, including several at the Nascent Soul stage! If it came to fighting, she had no advantage whatsoever. Unless… unless Pan Siji was willing to make a move? She glanced sideways at Pan Siji, but he wasn’t even paying attention to the battle on the ground.

There was no time to consider.

Su Zhuyi pushed her spiritual energy to the extreme, shook the spirit boat’s leaf stem, changed direction, and charged directly toward the Dong Fushang Sect’s formation.

This spirit boat, made from leaves, was an immortal artifact. Its speed was too fast, and since it was essentially a phantom of leaf petals, it flew over silently without being detected in advance. The first to see her was the Golden Sparrow on Elder Yi’s shoulder, its feathers wet with blood.

It shouted, “Su Zhuyi, crash, crash, crash, crashed…”

Su Zhuyi frowned.

Stupid bird, what are you squawking about?

However, she then discovered that despite the bird’s cries, no one was paying attention to her. So her spirit boat crashed down with a thunderous sound.

At the moment of impact, Su Zhuyi executed the Great Grappling Technique, pulling both Yi Lian and Elder Mei onto her spirit boat!