The addition of the Soul Control Clan greatly enhanced the overall strength of the Eternal Sect, and also gave the core disciples the courage to challenge Hell-level secret realms.
Of course, there were currently too few secret realms.
So Jun Changxiao was contemplating finding time to thoroughly refresh the shop to see if he could refresh more dungeons.
“Bah.”
The System said, “You’re not looking for time—you’re waiting for your three values to max out.”
“This also shows I’m becoming less dependent on the shop,” Jun Changxiao said.
In the past, whenever he couldn’t overcome obstacles or faced crises, he’d refresh the shop. But since leaving the Upper Realm to roam the universe, this situation had rarely occurred.
Self-reliance and continuous improvement—that was Jun Changxiao’s pursuit.
“Fine.”
The System said, “What about the Star Spirit Realm fleet that pursued you earlier? If you’re so capable, don’t clear your three values then.”
“I just didn’t want to waste time,” Jun Changxiao explained.
When the Xingyun Continent was destroyed, his sole focus was annihilating all enemies, which is why he took the extreme measure of clearing his three values. Under normal circumstances, there would definitely have been multiple ways to resolve the situation.
Jun Changxiao didn’t want to abandon the System’s assistance—he just wanted to rely on himself when possible. If absolutely necessary, he’d still use his cheat abilities. After all, as a protagonist with proper values, he needed to at least show readers that he was “always working hard and never slacking off.”
…
The vast universe.
The Eternal dragged streams of light as it flew at extreme speed.
With the massive resource repository of the Eternal Realm as their foundation, there was no longer any need to visit other planes, so they were expected to reach the Mountain Sea Realm soon.
Because it was on autopilot mode, Jun Changxiao spent most of his time managing internal sect affairs. He often sat in front of Gu Chaoxi’s grave, setting out a bowl of wine and a dish of peanuts, drinking until thoroughly intoxicated.
“Brother.”
“You and I met and roamed the universe together!”
Every time he thought of Gu Chaoxi sacrificing his life for him and the sect, Jun Changxiao’s heart felt like it was being cut by knives. So on this trip to the Mountain Sea Realm, he would find his sworn brother and vow face-to-face never to let him become a suicide bomber again.
“Core disciples Li Qingyang, Su Xiaomo, and eight others have selected—Hell Mode!”
Just then, a resounding voice echoed through the back mountain.
After several days of rest, Li Qingyang and the others began challenging the Life and Death Secret Realm again.
This time, they were very well prepared—not only core disciples, but also the rarely-seen eldest senior sister Lu Qianqian, inner disciple He Wudi, and sword prodigy Zhou Hong.
They had damage dealers for offense.
They had controllers for crowd control.
As long as there were no mistakes in between, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
“Swish!”
After entering the instance, Ye Xingchen grabbed Song Dehen by the collar and roared, “No matter what danger you encounter, you must face it fearlessly! This is the Eternal Sect’s first principle! Understand?!”
Su Xiaomo muttered, “The first principle doesn’t include that…”
“I… I…”
Song Dehen said in terror, “I understand…”
He had been training with Ye Xingchen these past few days, living a life worse than death. As for whether it was effective, that would be seen in actual combat.
“Eldest Senior Sister.”
“Can we start?”
Li Qingyang was forever ranked second among the sect disciples, so naturally he had to ask Eldest Senior Sister first before raiding Hell difficulty.
“Whoosh!”
Just then, Lu Qianqian flew out of the safe zone. Like an untainted fairy, she lightly landed in the monster zone. Ice layers rapidly formed beneath her feet, spreading outward in all directions.
“Roar!”
“Roar!”
The secret realm instantly activated, and dozens of demonic beasts materialized.
“Alright then.”
Li Qingyang was speechless.
Junior Brother Ye was already reckless enough, but Eldest Senior Sister was even more reckless than him. This second raid attempt was looking dangerous!
“Crack, crack, crack!”
“Crack, crack, crack!”
Just then, wherever the ice layer passed, the newly appeared demonic beasts were all frozen solid, transformed into lifelike ice sculptures. Even the eerie atmosphere around them seemed to be frozen.
“So cold!”
Su Xiaomo hugged her shoulders, shivering from the chill.
“Clang—”
Zhou Hong beside her drew his sword. Both his body and the scabbard flew forward simultaneously. His sword tip touched the ground, and using that leverage, he soared into the air again, hovering above the frozen demonic beasts. “Startling Swan, Return!”
“Whoosh!”
Sharp sword qi swept downward from above, its gleaming radiance illuminating the dark environment.
“Swish!”
Zhou Hong landed behind Lu Qianqian. His three-foot-long sword inserted into the flying scabbard with perfect precision, standing upright at his feet.
From unsheathing to sheathing—it was worthy of being called a Celestial Sword Strike.
“Crack!”
“Crack!”
At that moment, the ice layers shattered.
“Splurt!”
“Splurt!”
The heads of dozens of demonic beasts simultaneously severed. Their massive bodies crashed to the ground, then transformed into flowing light and disappeared.
Li Qingyang was stunned. “They’re already eliminated?”
“Roar!”
At the same time, another roar came from the distance. A giant wearing battle armor appeared, wielding a broken mountain-cleaving axe.
Regardless of difficulty, the Life and Death Secret Realm had three checkpoints total. In Hell Mode, each checkpoint had one boss, so to enter the second checkpoint, they had to eliminate this one.
“Junior Brother Ye!”
Li Qingyang shouted loudly, “Go!”
Xiao Zuiji strode forward with large steps. As he advanced, he fully armed himself, and the Flowing Light Shield was already held horizontally in front of him.
Su Xiaomo and the others weren’t idle either. While the tank pulled the boss’s aggro, they circled to other positions, ready to unleash damage at any moment.
Because Song Dehen was enhancing him, although Ye Xingchen charged forward, he was afraid of being abandoned, so he acted extremely cautious—even somewhat timid.
“Boom!”
Xiao Zuiji took the lead, swinging the Flowing Light Shield and striking the giant’s head heavily. He then followed with shield blocks and shield dances—a full combo of damage that absolutely locked down the aggro.
Li Qingyang, Su Xiaomo, and the others seized the opportunity, frequently deploying various sect martial techniques. Damage numbers filled the entire phone screen.
Ye Xingchen also joined in.
But he was slacking off the whole time.
As a main damage dealer who could normally deal 200% damage, he was now only dealing 50%.
Unfortunately, there was no aggro meter or damage meter, otherwise Ye Xingchen would definitely rank second to last in both categories.
Who was dead last?
No need to ask—definitely He Wudi.
As the person most skilled at laying low, he naturally saved energy when possible and slacked off when he could. He appeared very serious anyway—who could tell if he was actually dealing damage?
The first checkpoint boss wasn’t very difficult. As long as Xiao Zuiji held the aggro steady and several core disciples continuously dealt damage from the sides, they could wear it down through attrition.
“Roar!”
Half an hour later, accompanied by an unwilling roar, the armored giant painfully knelt on the ground, gradually transforming into countless specks of glowing light.
Thus, the first checkpoint boss of Hell Mode’s first kill was claimed by the Eternal Sect’s core disciples.
“Whoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
At the same time, the scattered glowing light merged into each participant’s body, bringing them extremely rich Heavenly Dao enlightenment—commonly known as experience points.
“So satisfying!”
Su Xiaomo closed her eyes, quietly comprehending what she had gained.
These experience points couldn’t help her glimpse the peak Truth Seeking Realm, but they gave her deeper understanding of the martial way. When the time came to break through, she would definitely be able to better assault the bottleneck.
“Buzz!”
After a moment, everyone was transported into the second checkpoint.
Hell Mode definitely got harder as it progressed, so even Lu Qianqian became more cautious and didn’t rashly charge out of the safe zone again.
—