After leaving the pear blossom grove, Dian Dian sent a voice message to Yun Xi:
"Master, that male cultivator Zhao Sinan—is he really trustworthy?"
Yun Xi replied while moving forward: "He definitely has issues, but that is Jihan Sect's business. It is not for me, an outsider, to know."
"Master, how can you be certain? Dian Dian did not detect the presence of an evil cultivator on him."
"Did you notice that when Yun Chen Fózǐ left, Han Lian Zhēnjūn did not stop him?"
Dian Dian turned over in her master's embrace and asked: "How does whether Zhao Sinan has problems relate to Han Lian Zhēnjūn not stopping Yun Chen Fózǐ?"
Yun Xi smiled faintly and explained: "If that male cultivator were innocent, Han Lian Zhēnjūn could have easily waved him off. If she were protective, she might even have troubled me a little. But she did not. After I requested to take my leave, she let me go without hesitation.
From the events just now, when Yun Chen Fózǐ led us to seek a former friend of Jihan Sect, it was clear that Han Lian Zhēnjūn was interested in Yun Chen. Her own brother, however, was the friend in question.
She even exchanged a bead token with her brother, showing her determination to team up with Yun Chen Fózǐ in exploring the secret realm. Yet when Yun Chen Fózǐ departed, she did not intervene. That proves the next matters are ones even Yun Chen cannot be present for.
By my estimation, nothing draws Han Lian Zhēnjūn's attention more than the presence of an evil cultivator infiltrating Jihan Sect. She would not broadcast her sect's internal matters, so Zhao Sinan must have issues."
After listening to the long explanation, Dian Dian finally nodded: "I understand. Then Master, what kind of problem would Zhao Sinan have?"
Yun Xi did not slow her pace, moving faster while answering: "If Zhao Sinan is truly an Jihan Sect disciple, there are only two possibilities. One, he has allied with evil cultivators, entering the secret realm to ignite conflicts between the Five Domains.
Two, he has been body-taken over. Most likely, an evil cultivator now controls him. Evil cultivators commit too many atrocities to withstand ascension tribulations, so they seek a new body for future ascension.
Unfortunately, this changes nothing fundamentally. It only allows them to hide within a sect more easily." Yun Xi stopped suddenly mid-step as a thought flashed through her mind so quickly she almost missed it.
"Amitabha!"
Yun Chen Fózǐ recited a chant, bringing Yun Xi's attention back.
Yun Xi held the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella and turned to him: "Yun Chen Fózǐ, is there anything else you wish to instruct me?"
Yun Chen shook his head: "Nothing. Han Lian Zhēnjūn just sent word for us to wait a moment."
Yun Xi raised an eyebrow. It seemed Han Lian Zhēnjūn had discovered something, sending a message to Yun Chen to keep someone behind. Either she herself was incidental, or it was not relevant at all. Yun Chen may simply have wanted someone present when facing Han Lian.
Yun Xi smiled and spoke: "Yun Chen Fózǐ, Xi Yun's cultivation is limited. If I forcibly accompany two Zhēnjūn, I might slow your exploration of the secret realm. You see—"
Her phrasing was subtle but clear, and she trusted Yun Chen would understand.
Sure enough, his hand on the prayer beads paused briefly, then he said: "Feng Daoyou, have you not noticed that ever since being transported here, you have only met Nascent Soul cultivators?"
Yun Xi replied uncertainly: "After being unexpectedly sent here, I only encountered Yun Chen Fózǐ and Han Lian Zhēnjūn. Could it be that only Yuányīng Zhēnjūn can reach this place?"
Yun Chen nodded: "Yes. After I broke through the illusion cocoon and emerged from the mist, I was transported here. Before fighting Li Chang, I also met two other Nascent Soul Daoyou, but we did not team up, as we were strangers."
His tone was gentle, intended to encourage Yun Xi to stay with him.
Yun Xi frowned, realizing that after capturing the Jihan Sect cultivator, the environment's spiritual energy had increased the difficulty of her experience. Instinctively, she reached into her sleeve and pinched a leaf of Xianling Grass. Clearly, it had a reason for this.
The Xianling Grass continued to behave obediently, accepting its master's attention. In such a moment, remaining silent was best.
Her intuition proved largely correct. Upon being transported here, the strange forest had already begun collapsing due to the loss of most spiritual veins. Cultivators fighting giant beasts could no longer focus on prey and ran desperately toward the teleportation array.
The beasts, sensing imminent death, attacked frantically, mixing roars and shrieks with the cultivators' screams. Those who relied on the forest's spiritual energy became uncontrollable and increasingly violent, even the Buddhist monks from Yunmen Temple could not suppress them.
"Amitabha! Fellow junior brothers, time is short. We must abandon these cultivators."
A youthful junior brother suggested: "Senior Brother, should we knock them unconscious and carry them?"
Yun Si shook his head: "Not appropriate. They are beyond control. Bringing them would slow us down, and if they destroy the teleportation array in frenzy, what then?"
Hearing this, the Yunmen Temple Fózǐs fell silent. They could not let their decision endanger their peers. Ultimately, they abandoned the frenzied cultivators and ran toward the teleportation light pillar.
After the time of a single incense stick, the forest seemed to reset. Rampaging beasts and out-of-control cultivators were obliterated, becoming nutrients for the space itself.
At the same time, sect masters outside the secret realm received reports: some disciples' soul lamps had extinguished, confirming their deaths in the secret realm.
Elsewhere, Wei Yunqing finally had a stroke of luck. She entered a part of the secret realm that happened to be a spiritual plant field. If Yun Xi were here, she would notice the plants had been cultivated by Wei Yunxi herself, including the arrangement of gathering formations.
Wei Yunqing breathed a sigh, a mix of surprise and regret on seeing the field. Plants of ranks one to three grew here. Some were absent from her spatial stash, though their age was insufficient.
Other cultivators must have previously taken the older plants. Had she spent less time in the illusion, she could have arrived first. Still, she quickly transplanted the plants she favored into her space, including a Shouyuan fruit tree.
While digging with zeal, a ring of light appeared beneath her feet. In the next moment, she gripped her spiritual hoe and disappeared along with a spiritual grass she held.
Her vision blurred, and she found herself in a dim cave, the scent of blood wafting under her nose. Alert, she swapped her hoe for a spiritual sword and placed the grass into her hand-chain space, slowly advancing toward the source of the blood.