Lingbo waited outside Kong Hou’s room for a moment. When she discovered there wasn’t the slightest sound of movement from inside Kong Hou’s room, her expression changed slightly. She reached out to knock on the door: “Kong Hou, are you awake? If you can hear me, answer me.”

She focused her senses to listen carefully—there didn’t seem to be even the slightest trace of a living being’s aura inside. Lingbo’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that…

“Lingbo Xianzi?” The door to the adjacent room opened, and Kong Hou poked her head out from inside. “I’m here.”

Lingbo’s knocking motion abruptly stopped. She turned her head to look at the neighboring room—wasn’t that the room where Huan Zong Zhenren was sleeping? In that instant, many thoughts flashed through her mind, but when she saw Lin Hu also appearing behind Kong Hou, all those thoughts died in the womb.

“The chest in your room was opened too?” Kong Hou beckoned Lingbo to come inside. “I wonder if the chest in Jin Ling’s room also had spirit stones and other items appear.”

Lingbo glanced at the empty chest in the corner and bowed to Huan Zong. Huan Zong returned the gesture with an expressionless half-bow. Lingbo was a woman who loved beauty—she not only liked being beautiful herself but also enjoyed looking at handsome men. However, this little hobby of hers completely failed when it came to Huan Zong.

As fellow sword cultivators, when Lingbo learned that Huan Zong, who appeared like an ordinary person, actually possessed profound cultivation, she felt an indescribable sense of awe toward him. Cultivators who primarily practiced the sword path mostly released their sword energy externally, allowing people to see at a glance how they differed from ordinary cultivators. A sword cultivator who could achieve a return to simplicity, with no sword in hand but a sword in heart, was worthy of being called a great master among sword cultivators.

She had never heard of Liuguang Sect’s Huan Zong Zhenren’s reputation, but sometimes, reputation didn’t seem that important. Truly powerful cultivators, even if completely unknown in the cultivation world, would inspire awe in others the moment they saw them, and no one would dare to offend them.

And she could not achieve this.

Although she was often unwilling to admit it, Lingbo actually understood very clearly in her heart that the respect many people in the cultivation world showed her did not stem from herself, but because they feared Zhaohan Sect behind her.

Precisely because she understood this so clearly, Lingbo harbored a kind of unclear, indescribable jealousy toward Huan Zong.

She felt she was a female cultivator with a very fair mindset, because she was not only jealous of female cultivators but also jealous of male cultivators together—even the most handsome male cultivators were the same.

Jealousy could make people crazy, but the desire to stay alive made people rational. In front of Huan Zong, Lingbo demonstrated bullying the weak and fearing the strong to perfection.

Nodding slightly toward Lingbo, Huan Zong then placed his gaze on Kong Hou: “This secret realm may already have developed its own spiritual intelligence, so even though there are no arrays or incense in the room that could make people hallucinate, it can still make us fall into dreamscapes.”

“In other words, as long as we’re still in the secret realm, the secret realm can perceive our movements at any time?” Kong Hou scratched at the table.

“What are you doing?” Lingbo didn’t understand.

“Tickling it,” Kong Hou joked. “Maybe if I tickle the secret realm until it’s itching all over, the rain outside will stop.”

Lingbo: “…”

Why did Lingyou Realm now have to rank her alongside this yellow-haired young girl? This was an insult to her.

Kong Hou casually scratched again, and suddenly heard a thunderclap. The drizzling rain outside instantly transformed into a torrential downpour. The window was blown by the wind, swaying left and right, the sound of it slamming against the wall like someone being slapped across the face.

Looking at the wooden window banging loudly, Kong Hou awkwardly withdrew her hand: “This… might be a coincidence.”

“If it’s not a coincidence, with all your troublemaking, you’ll be struck by lightning as soon as you step outside…”

“Daoist Lingbo.” Huan Zong’s dark pupils stared at her. “Go check if Miss Jin Ling has woken up.”

“Alright.” Lingbo nodded and walked outside without hesitation. Only after leaving the door did she dare to purse her lips. A lone individual seeking protection from others—what a difficult life. At this very moment, she truly and genuinely felt just how wonderful her senior brothers, senior sisters, junior brothers, and junior sisters were.

“Huan Zong.” Kong Hou put her hands behind her back and stammered, “If my joke made the secret realm unhappy, will it give me a hard time?”

“The secret realm is just a secret realm. It has constraints left by its master, so even if it has developed spiritual intelligence, it’s not truly human.” Huan Zong walked to her side and stood a bit closer to her. “It even gave you the Heavenly Earth Sword, so it should be quite fond of you. You don’t need to be afraid.”

“Really?” Kong Hou looked suspiciously at the window outside and pressed her palms together, whispering, “Just a joke, just a joke, please don’t take offense, please don’t take offense.”

She didn’t know if it was psychological, but she actually felt like the wind and rain outside had lessened somewhat. In any case, the window had already been blown to the ground and couldn’t make striking sounds anymore, which relieved her pressure considerably.

“Don’t be afraid.” Huan Zong grasped Kong Hou’s wrist and stared expressionlessly outside. “I’ll stay with you.”

“Hm?” Before Kong Hou could react, she turned her head to see Huan Zong suddenly fly into the air with his sword. The dragon’s cry sounded, and he actually forcefully deflected the lightning striking down back upward. The dark clouds in the sky roiled like water droplets falling into a pot of oil, turning black and gray in various changes. Finally, the thunder stopped, the rain ceased, the clouds dispersed, and the sun emerged—the sky was completely clear and peaceful.

“My heavens!” Jin Ling, who had just stepped out of her room, cupped her face and looked at the man in the air who had made even the sky change color with a wave of his sword. She murmured, “If he weren’t a man who doesn’t know how to manage a household, I’d really want to marry him.”

Lingbo, who was walking in front, snapped out of her shock and turned to glance at her. After a long moment, she said with a fake smile, “You’re overthinking.”

“That’s true too.” Jin Ling nodded. “This kind of man, I couldn’t possibly consider.”

“Heh.” Lingbo sneered. As if just because you’re willing to marry means he’d be willing to take you. What’s wrong with all of them—not a single normal one. She turned to look at Huan Zong flying in the air, her feelings extremely complex.

To have such great power with one sword stroke required cultivation of at least the Spirit Severing Stage or above. Just how many deeply hidden experts did Liuguang Sect have?

Descending from the air, Huan Zong sheathed his sword and walked into the room, saying to Kong Hou, “The rain has stopped. Let’s go.”

“Ah…” Kong Hou nodded blankly, but her feet didn’t move. She just stared in a daze at Huan Zong in his white robes whiter than snow.

“Come.” Huan Zong extended his hand. “I’ll hold your hand. Don’t be afraid.”

“Okay.” Kong Hou placed her hand in Huan Zong’s and let him pull her along. It wasn’t until they had walked out of the garden that she vaguely came back to her senses. “Huan Zong, when you swung your sword just now, I thought you were going to tear the sky apart.”

Huan Zong coughed lightly a few times and said with a straight face, “Violence cannot solve problems.”

Jin Ling and Lingbo, who were following behind them, said nothing and just walked forward silently. Now, even if Huan Zong said the sky was red, they would definitely nod without the slightest hesitation.

In front of an absolutely powerful person, such principles were not necessities.

When they reached the intersection they had to pass through again, this time there was no barrier blocking the way. Kong Hou, Huan Zong, and their group crossed over very easily. Behind the barrier was a stretch of uneven mountain ranges. The distant mountains were shrouded in mist, with an ethereal immortal air that made people forget worldly concerns upon seeing it.

“Other people have passed through here.” Lin Hu discovered bloodstains on the grass.

Seeing the bloodstains, everyone’s expressions turned poor. Someone bleeding meant something bad had happened to someone—they just didn’t know how serious the injury was or if their life was in danger.

“The blood color is relatively bright—they shouldn’t have left long ago.” Lingbo glanced at the blood on the grass blades, somewhat worried about her junior brothers and sisters. She turned and cupped her fists toward Huan Zong: “Fellow Daoists, I’m going ahead to take a look. I’ll take my leave first.”

“Hey, wait.” Kong Hou grabbed her sleeve.

“Does Xianzi Kong Hou have other matters?” This dress—it’s the first time she’s wearing it today. Pull more gently.

“We don’t know what else is in the secret realm. Don’t act alone—we’ll go with you.” Kong Hou turned her head to look at Huan Zong, and Huan Zong nodded at her. Kong Hou felt even more confident. “Let’s go.”

Lingbo fell silent. After a long moment, she turned her head and walked forward.

“Thank you.”

This word of thanks was very soft, but extremely sincere.

“Kong Hou gripped the Shuishuang Sword in her hand and said with a smile, “No need to be polite. After all, I’m now someone who has support.”

Lingbo turned back to glance at Kong Hou’s smiling, crescent-shaped eyes, and at the “support” holding her hand. The gratitude in her heart instantly decreased by half: “Oh.”

She hated people who liked to show off the most—herself excluded.

In the gorge, two independent cultivators and a personal disciple of Zhaohan Sect supported each other as they fled forward. Seeing the succubi about to catch up from behind, the Zhaohan Sect disciple covered his chest and said to the two independent cultivators, “You go first. I’m wearing robes refined by a sect elder—it can hold them off for a while.”

“No.” The middle-aged male cultivator, who appeared to be in his thirties or forties, looked at the still-childish face of the Zhaohan Sect disciple. “You go first. I’ll hold them off.”

“What will you use to hold them off? You have neither magical tools nor talismans.” The Zhaohan Sect disciple said coldly, “Don’t waste my time. Hurry and leave. After you find others, tell them this secret realm has problems—don’t linger inside anymore. Immediately find the exit and leave.”

“Then I’ll lend you a hand.” If this had been any ordinary day and he’d been mocked like this by a sect disciple, the middle-aged male cultivator would probably have been furious already. But this time was different—not only did he not get angry, but he was somewhat moved. He grabbed the young independent cultivator beside him with one hand and pushed him into the distance. “Go quickly and relay the message.”

Seeing that he was determined to stay, the Zhaohan Sect disciple took out two magical tools and tossed them to him: “Hold on a bit longer. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll encounter someone who can rescue us.”

The middle-aged male cultivator smiled bitterly. Who would come to rescue them? From the beginning, this secret realm had scattered everyone to different places. If it were truly so easy for them to encounter help, why would it have separated everyone in the first place?

Succubi were a strange type of creature—they took qi as their form and fed on emotions. For them, humans with complex emotions were the most delicious meal. To make humans emit more emotions, they could even bewitch human consciousness, enter human hearts, and transform into the people or things humans most desired to obtain, gnawing away at their inner selves.

The habits of succubi had similarities with illusory demons, but they had greater destructive capabilities and were even more bizarre.

Using his sword to repel wave after wave of succubi, with the spiritual energy in his body almost completely depleted, the Zhaohan Sect disciple panted for breath, standing back-to-back with the middle-aged independent cultivator. Both were more bedraggled than the other.

“I never expected that I, this famous playboy of the Independent Cultivators Alliance, would end up in such a miserable situation with a male cultivator. My integrity in old age is completely ruined.” The middle-aged male cultivator pulled out a wine gourd and took a sip, glancing at the magical tools whose light was growing increasingly weak. Once these two magical tools exhausted their spiritual energy, they would become food on the succubi’s plate.

The middle-aged independent cultivator had a stubbled beard and wasn’t handsome either—it was really hard for the Zhaohan Sect disciple to believe he could be any kind of playboy. With this face, even if he wanted to be a playboy, he’d have to see if women would give him that opportunity.

As a personal disciple of a major sect, he hadn’t said anything about ending up in such a miserable situation with a smelly, dirty independent cultivator, yet this independent cultivator still had the audacity to complain.

Crack.

One magical tool’s light extinguished and fell to the ground. The barrier around the two gradually loosened.

The Zhaohan Sect disciple looked at the magical tool lying on the ground, his complexion paling. He only hated that they couldn’t send message talismans here—he was going to die without a sound.

Crack—the second magical tool also fell to the ground, and the barrier completely disappeared.

The succubi surrounding them on all sides coiled together, seeming to want to pounce, but for some reason, they didn’t actually approach them, as if invisibly, something was preventing this from happening.

“Junior Brother.” Seeing her junior brother, who had joined the sect less than ten years ago, surrounded by dense swarms of succubi, Lingbo charged forward without thinking.

“Huan Zong…” Kong Hou blinked at Huan Zong.

“Go ahead.” Huan Zong released her hand. “I’ll be watching from the side. Don’t be afraid.”

“Mm.” Kong Hou raised the Shuishuang Sword and flew forward.

“Young Master.” Lin Hu said quietly, “This mentality of yours—both worried yet wanting the child to be able to stand on their own—is no different from being a father.”

Huan Zong ignored him, his gaze locked on Kong Hou without leaving.

Hearing the words “being a father,” Jin Ling silently lowered her head. Huan Zong Zhenren and Kong Hou Xianzi—weren’t they mutually enamored? How did this get connected to being a father?

As expected of people from the Ten Great Sects—their speech was so profound.

Although Kong Hou didn’t primarily cultivate the sword path, her swordsmanship had already become much more refined than when she first came down the mountain. Even Lin Hu, a sword cultivator, could pick out one or two decent sword moves from her techniques.

“You’re wrong.” Huan Zong’s gaze toward Kong Hou was extremely gentle. “I will do even better than a father.”

“You two grown men, while we women are fighting enemies, can you squat to the side and lean on each other?” After confirming her junior brother was fine, Lingbo’s worry completely vanished. “Don’t get in the way here.”

Kong Hou silently picked up the two male cultivators who had exhausted their spiritual energy and tossed them at Lin Hu’s feet.

With succubi before them, when they could take action, it was best to speak as little as possible.

The Zhaohan Sect disciple and the middle-aged male cultivator were thrown dizzy and disoriented. After quite a while, they climbed up from the ground and looked up to meet Lin Hu’s expressionless face.

Lin Hu: “…”

Middle-aged male cultivator: “…”

Zhaohan Sect disciple: “…”

The atmosphere became extremely awkward. Although their lives were saved, their dignity as men had completely vanished.

“How can there be so many succubi in this secret realm?” Kong Hou had slain batch after batch of succubi and was really too annoyed with all the cutting. She pulled out the phoenix-headed hairpin from her hair, and the phoenix head transformed in her hand into her natal magical tool, its light blazing brilliantly.

“You had this thing and didn’t take it out earlier?” Lingbo stayed by Kong Hou’s side, repelling all succubi that attempted to approach. She did want to see just how formidable this Kong Hou, who claimed to be a music cultivator, really was.

**Author’s Note:**

Lingbo: I am a person who believes in equality between men and women.

Question: For example?

Lingbo: As long as cultivators have higher talent than me and greater fame than me, I detest them all, regardless of gender.