Wei Yunqing moved cautiously toward the source of the blood smell. She immediately saw a man wearing a black dark-gold mask and a dark-gold patterned robe. Instantly, she recognized him as a cultivator from Kunmo Sect. His dantian had a hole, he was severely injured, and seemed unconscious.
Wei Yunqing's eyes flicked, noticing the black storage ring on his middle finger. Clearly, he had barely survived. Since the storage ring remained, none of his possessions had been stolen by his attackers. This would be her gain.
But Wei Yunqing was not foolish. The man was not dead yet, meaning he likely had backup. She needed to act before he regained consciousness.
After waiting three breaths, she struck unexpectedly, sending a sword light to decapitate him. The injured man barely opened his eyes before his head was severed, dying in unwillingness.
Not yet satisfied, Wei Yunqing tossed a fire talisman onto his chest. As his body ignited, she used her control over objects to retrieve the storage ring.
Gripping the ring, she quickly moved away from the burning corpse, returning to the place where she had been transported moments ago. She released her divine sense to scan the surroundings. Once she confirmed no one else was present, she took out a formation plate, activated it, and entered. She exhaled a long, foul breath.
Previously, she had no time to account for her losses when escaping the illusion. Then she had been busy collecting plants in the garden. Now, she finally had a chance to check her bracelet space and review her gains.
She examined her bracelet space. Though she had glanced at it before, a careful look now made her heart ache.
Most of the spirit stones stored inside had been consumed. The space itself had shrunk. Treasured items she had painstakingly accumulated had vanished. Fortunately, she had hidden some cultivation resources in her storage bag, or her losses would have been far worse.
In the nearly emptied space, she stacked the spiritual plants she had just collected from the secret realm garden.
Wei Yunqing rubbed her brow, cursing her bad luck. She retrieved the black storage ring she had taken and found the divine sense had dissipated. Easily, she probed the ring with her divine sense. A smile tugged at her lips the next moment.
The ring contained piles of demon stones and boxes filled with rare materials. Just seeing them cheered her. The other person's gains clearly exceeded hers.
She moved the demon stones into her crimson hand-chain, planning to exchange them for spirit stones in Baohua City after leaving the secret realm. Then she dealt with the boxes and pill bottles.
Without checking each one, she placed the jade boxes into her hand-chain and the pills into her storage bag for future use.
Once the black storage ring was emptied, she noticed a black ore that had not been placed into a box. It was carelessly left in a corner, seemingly forgotten by its owner.
Wei Yunqing summoned it into her hand. The next moment, a gray light sphere shot from the ore, entering her sea of consciousness.
"Not good!"
As she cried out, her soul hurt. She screamed and fell, her divine sense retreating into her sea of consciousness. The gray light sphere tore through, rampaging inside. Seeing her soul body, it lunged.
"Ha ha ha! Incredible luck! I encounter a girl with dual roots. Heaven does not forsake me! Hmm? So young and already attracting a heart demon. This body is meant for me!"
In the next moment, it bit into Wei Yunqing's white soul sphere. Pain made her tremble uncontrollably, but she fought back. The gray and white spheres twisted violently together inside her sea of consciousness.
Elsewhere, Wei Chenyin and three others, having successfully bypassed the defenses of the cave owner, emerged into a long corridor and finally saw a miniature city built within the mountain.
Two female cultivators from Huaxian Gate arrived at the same time. From another direction, Liu Hao Tian of Baihua Tower, Lu Wangyou of Xianmo Sect, and Zijing of Hehuan Sect formed a team. All three groups arrived at the entrance of the miniature city.
Wei Chenyin's group and Liu Hao Tian's were all cultivators from the Western Domain, so they naturally exchanged names. The two Huaxian Gate female cultivators stayed together and were polite to the seven newcomers.
One late-stage Golden Core female cultivator spoke first: "Everyone, this is a portable city left by ancient cultivators. It surely contains treasures. Once inside, we should explore separately. Whatever you gain depends on yourself."
Wei Chenyin raised an eyebrow but did not object. Zi Jing Zhēnrén smiled gently: "Do not worry, sisters. We will not betray you, but if we both desire the same treasure, it will come down to our own abilities. Agreed?"
She even gave them a playful wink.
The first female cultivator remained expressionless and cupped her hands: "Agreed. Let us rely on our own skills."
With that, she led her junior sister into the miniature city. Once they crossed the city gate, their figures vanished from sight.
Zi Jing frowned, recalling the events at Shuangshan City, and warned: "This place seems similar to Shuangshan City. We should not get separated."
The others nodded and cautiously stepped into the city within the mountain.
Half an hour later, another group of Yunmen Temple Buddhist cultivators arrived and also entered the city without trouble.
At this moment, Yun Xi still did not know that her three old friends and Wei Chenyin had entered the same ancient cave. Shortly after, she and Yun Chen Fózǐ finally waited for Han Lian Zhēnjūn.
"Amitabha! Han Lian Zhēnjūn, have you discovered anything?"
It was clear Yun Chen also realized Zhao Si Nan had issues.
Han Lian Zhēnjūn's ice-like eyes glinted with anger as she said coldly: "Zhao Sinan, in order to break through Nascent Soul, has allied with evil cultivators. He intended to stir chaos in the secret realm's waters, provoking conflicts between the Five Domains.
Before encountering Feng Xiaoyou, he had already killed two Southern Domain demon cultivators. Unexpectedly, he fell to Xiaoyou's hands. Fortunately, you spared his life, or you would have been in danger as well."
The latter sentence was clearly directed at Yun Xi.
Yun Xi immediately cupped her hands: "Does Zhēnjūn have any other discoveries?"
Han Lian raised her hand, tossing an ice cube to Yun Xi and Yun Chen. She said sternly: "See for yourselves."
Yun Xi instinctively caught the ice cube. Cold seeped into her palm. A quick scan with her divine sense revealed an irregular black stone sealed inside.
Yun Chen Fózǐ said: "Amitabha! This is a Soul Nourishing Stone. Such stones come from the Netherworld and allow a soul to temporarily rest. Why did he bring this? Could it be to trap a cultivator's soul and take it out of the secret realm? Using these souls to practice evil arts?"
Yun Xi examined the sealed ice cube, frowning: "Yun Chen Fózǐ, the Soul Nourishing Stone already contains a resting soul. If I am correct, it is the soul of an evil cultivator. They infiltrated the secret realm to seize disciples from the sects!"