Chapter 783

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

Phew—

The carriage stopped in a valley.

This valley wasn't large in area; from the outside nothing seemed amiss, but upon entering one would discover a world apart — several suburban estates came into view.

"These are the houses of several major clans in Lian Tang City," the Lian Tang Secret Realm could be called a private preserve; for the convenience of entering and exiting the secret realm, they built lodging estates outside, with servants left behind to guard them.

Lu Yan had been invited by Tang Qing; the two of them, along with their three contract beasts, moved into the Tang family's estate together.

"It looks no different from the city here," the small courtyard's environment was much the same; at most, this side was closer to Lian Tang Mountain, and the surroundings appeared even more tranquil.

Shen Yao walked a circle around the small courtyard, then reached out and grabbed Lu Yan's hem, "Come on, let's discuss what to do after entering the secret realm."

Lu Yan: ……

What's there to discuss? Lu Yan's eyes widened slightly, completely unable to understand why Shen Yao wanted to scheme at every turn.

Shen Yao: ……

Hmph, how can this person be so dense, truly not clever at all.

"The Tang family and the Wei family are connected by marriage alliance, yet the Tang family doesn't get along with the Liu family.

We were invited by Tang Qing to enter the secret realm this time, so of course we must guarantee our own safety."

Shen Yao clung tightly to Lu Yan's hem, glanced at the other party, and continued analyzing her thoughts; the core point was that the relationship among these three clans might not be as straightforward as it appeared on the surface — she had lived through so many task worlds, and had seen plenty of open actions hiding covert operations.

"What if this time the Tang family and the Liu family are joining forces to scheme against the Wei family?

Compared to the conflict between the Tang and Liu families, the Tang and Wei families clearly have a much larger overlap in business interests."

Of course, it's also not ruled out that the Wei family and the Liu family are colluding to set a trap for the Tang family; there's also the Fan family that hasn't shown its face yet — one must know, the mantis stalks the cicada, while the oriole waits behind.

Lu Yan: ……

Lu Yan looked at Shen Yao with wonder, never expecting her companion's brain to have such a wide scope, that she could actually come up with so many possibilities?

"What you say is not without reason; we are outsiders, and also excellent witnesses," Lu Yan's relationship with these three clans wasn't deep enough to make him willing to commit perjury; perhaps things here aren't simple.

Lu Yan began to lower his head and ponder his daily interactions with Tang Qing; hmm, no issues there — this might not be Tang Qing's problem, but the Tang family behind Tang Qing… Lu Yan backhanded his grip onto Shen Yao's wrist, and under her gaze pulled her into the inner room.

Shen Yao: …… Huh?

The inner room's decor was very simple, winning in cleanliness and tidiness.

Lu Yan pulled Shen Yao to sit on the wooden couch to one side, "This time entering the secret realm, you must stay by my side."

The Lian Tang Secret Realm has no spatial array that lets people separate immediately upon entry, but the Lian Tang Secret Realm has illusion-causing strange beasts; every time the Lian Tang Secret Realm opens, quite a few people die at the hands of their own clansmen after falling for the strange beasts' schemes.

Lu Yan re-examined the situation of the Tang, Wei, and Liu three clans, completely overturning his original plan to act separately after entering the secret realm and only regroup when the secret realm closed.

"Aren't you afraid that we two are the ones being schemed against by these three clans?"

Shen Yao silently dropped a bombshell, her carefree appearance as if she wasn't talking about herself.

"If they really want to scheme against us, they'd have to endure retaliation from the Lu family," Lu Yan lowered his head and laughed; although he was currently in exile, the Lu family's face was still very important — no matter how unliked Lu Yan was, he was still a Lu family member, and he had no few secrets on him.

Even the Fan family of Lian Tang City treated him with courtesy; how much more so the other three clans that had never left Lian Tang City.

Seeing this, Shen Yao merely raised an eyebrow; she couldn't comment on Lu Yan's words, but she believed Lu Yan wouldn't die that easily — however, speaking of this era, does there also exist one or several novel protagonists?

"Host, of course such things exist, but they're currently very far from the Host," not even in the same state.

Shen Yao propped her chin with her hand, her eyes following the window in front of the couch to look outside.

"Chen Zhou?" That place is the center of the Jiuzhou Continent; the Central State is merely a reflection of the old era.

The system didn't answer anything further; obviously, it had run off to eavesdrop on gossip elsewhere to understand the operational background of the entire continent.

Shen Yao grew curious about the center of the Jiuzhou Continent — Chen Zhou? She would definitely go take a look.

As the sun in the sky slowly set, clear moonlight shone on the window side; Shen Yao finished the dinner prepared by the Tang Residence servants, and sat in front of the couch admiring the scenery outside.

The clothes on her body had already been changed into a nightgown; her tied-up hair had been let down, draping softly behind her head.

Lu Yan had already gone to the neighboring room to rest; at this moment, besides Shen Yao, there was no one else here.

Oh

Not quite right either; Shen Yao was holding the already-shrunk Flaming Lion in her arms — Xiao Huo's lazy appearance made for a very good natural hand warmer.

"Host, Host, this is fatal! This time trouble might really happen……"

The system screamed doom in her mind, making Shen Yao's brows furrow tightly, causing Xiao Huo, who had been lying comfortably in her arms, to have to get up and change position.

"Expected long ago; after all, this place isn't safe either," although the cultivation path has forked, the logic behind the whole world still exists — survival of the fittest, natural selection.

"Host"

The system couldn't help but remind the Host to be careful; they hadn't been in this world long, and the mission progress wasn't known from where to look yet.

Shen Yao: ……

"Rest assured, I've already warned Lu Yan," believing Lu Yan wouldn't fail to make relevant preparations.

Moreover, this kind of thing seems more like petty schemes cooked up by the Tang, Wei, and Liu three clans; the Fan family shouldn't be so unwise — offending the Lu family brings the Fan family no benefit.

Calmly reaching out to stroke the furry thing in her arms, Shen Yao simply flipped the Flaming Lion over and hugged it into her embrace; the warm touch made Shen Yao involuntarily narrow her eyes, "If nothing else, go rest; tomorrow early morning, we'll enter the secret realm."

By then the main drama will all play out inside the secret realm; with the system's such gossipy nature, Shen Yao didn't believe it would miss out.

…………

After a night's rest, Shen Yao's condition was somewhat subtle; she didn't know if it was an illusion, but there was something strange here.

"What's wrong?"

Lu Yan noticed Shen Yao's emotional unease, walked over, and asked softly.

Shen Yao blurted out her situation from last night, "It could also be that I was mistaken."

Perhaps she was being oversensitive, because even the System hadn't detected anything.

Lu Yan didn't speak, merely raising a hand to stroke Shen Yao's hair bun, then putting an arm around her shoulders, silently following behind the Tang Family people.

The valley wasn't far from the Lian Tang Secret Realm — on foot it was merely two quarter-hours.

Because this Secret Realm opening hadn't been announced throughout, by the time they arrived at the Secret Realm entrance, only a few sporadic cultivators existed in the surroundings.

Most of these cultivators were grassroots who had taken root in Lian Tang Mountain year-round, relying on Lian Tang Mountain's output to maintain their cultivation; if they happened to catch a Secret Realm opening, they would also crowd in to get a share of the pie.

This was already a tacitly accepted matter; seeing other cultivators at the Secret Realm entrance, the Tang, Wei, and Liu three families didn't clear the field, but tacitly walked to the very front.

Shen Yao, instructed by Lu Yan, stayed by Lu Yan's side the whole time, still holding the warm Blazing Flame Lion in her arms; Xiao Huo, the size of a small cat, looked very inconspicuous, especially since Shen Yao's sleeves were wide — a light cover could conceal it.

When the sun in the sky rose to a specific position, the originally empty space suddenly saw a vortex appear.

The center of the vortex was continuously rotating cloud patterns, slowly expanding until one person tall; everyone felt the absolute suction force emanating from within.

Lu Yan grasped Shen Yao's wrist, the two stepped inside — not wanting heaven and earth to spin; by the time Shen Yao came to her senses again, where was Lu Yan beside her?

Hm?

"Roar"

The Xiao Huo in her arms suddenly jumped out from Shen Yao's embrace, its shrunken body instantly returning to its true form, streams of flame emerging from its fur, like a walking bonfire.

Shen Yao hid behind the Blazing Flame Lion, her gaze fixed tightly on her rear.

In just a moment, a female figure running stumblingly appeared before Shen Yao's eyes.

Shen Yao recognized the other party, because this person was Tang Qing's paternal cousin Tang He.

Tang He was injured, her chest a patch of deep red, bloodstains still remaining at the corner of her mouth.

Seeing Shen Yao and the Blazing Flame Lion on her, Tang He's pupils obviously contracted once, then she went down on her knees with a thud, weakly telling Shen Yao to hurry and run — the ones chasing from behind were Liu Family people, the other party wanted to kill to silence witnesses.

Shen Yao naturally couldn't abandon Tang He and run together; she walked over to Tang He's side in small quick steps, taking out injury-healing alchemy pills from her bosom and handing them over.

"Thank, thank you"

Tang He hung her head, voice so low it seemed inaudible.

Shen Yao didn't mind, raising a hand to support Tang He — only to see the other's body sway, unable to rise after several attempts.

Tang He smiled bitterly, thanking Shen Yao for the help, "Miss Shen had better go first; I, accompanying Miss will only be a burden."

Shen Yao acted somewhat at a loss, "But, if you stay behind"

"It's fine, I've already contacted home; someone will come to rendezvous with me."

"Then, then alright."

Shen Yao turned to leave following the Blazing Flame Lion; when the bright yellow flames disappeared in Tang He's eyes, her face's expression changed again and again, "Prepare to move against Lu Yan first, confirm the Blazing Flame Lion is with Shen Yao."

Three contracted beasts missing one main attacker, Lu Yan this time cannot escape calamity.

"Yo he, changing faces quite fast, truly wasting the pills we gave away."

The System complained about Tang He's superb face-changing; this little girl young in years, but strikes quite ruthlessly.

"Where's Lu Yan?" Wasn't it said the Secret Realm has no space arrays so people wouldn't be separated — result: the two of them aren't together.

Shen Yao didn't feel any tug at her wrist at all, showing the force that separated them was imperceptible; could it be this Secret Realm has an even more formidable mantis stalking the cicada?

"A distance away from you; he's the key target of attention," the System spoke with a smug air, like a little mouse that stole fragrant oil.

"Let's go find him," Shen Yao waved at the Blazing Flame Lion, then with a flip mounted the Blazing Flame Lion's back; the originally emerging flames were like a layer of phantom, having no effect whatsoever on Shen Yao's body.

Like a fire snake, the Blazing Flame Lion charged forward, vanishing from the original spot in a flash.

Speeding along the confirmed direction, dense fog suddenly drifted up before their eyes.

The Blazing Flame Lion halted its journey steps, restlessly pawing the ground with its claws.

Shen Yao soothingly stroked the Blazing Flame Lion's head, letting it shrink and jump into her bosom; she surveyed the surrounding environment in a circle, picked a tall sturdy tree and flew up.

The System saying the Host can fight — that's literally can fight.

Because Shen Yao appeared as Lu Yan's companion creature, companion creatures' abilities are myriad, some strong some weak; because of uncertainty, to the extent that all cultivators who can awaken companion creatures are extremely resistant.

But the vast majority of companion creatures' potential would be stronger than contracted beasts; Shen Yao is a rather special one — truly moving to act, she's even more formidable than Lu Yan.

Before, the System just arrived and shrieked precisely because of this reason; the Host on this Continent can be counted as among the top in power.

"Previous Task Worlds exhausted me to death; this time I want to go enjoy myself," unless Lu Yan faces a life-and-death crisis, she absolutely won't act.

The tree Shen Yao chose was tall, its center having a large foothold area.

Simply employing a technique, even having the Xiao Huo in her bosom help clean up sundries, Shen Yao took out items from a ring with space attribute and made simple arrangements.

System:...

"We just wait here?"

"Mm"

"Lu Yan"

"Won't have any mishap; these three families tied together, none are his match."

Thanks to Soul Binding letting Shen Yao understand Lu Yan thoroughly, to the extent she can make correct judgments anytime.

Patting the Blazing Flame Lion to have it enlarge partially, Shen Yao simply lay sideways on the Blazing Flame Lion, closed her eyes and directly fell asleep.

Mm

Didn't rest well last night; Shen Yao planned to take advantage of having time now to properly supplement, otherwise once the Secret Realm chaos starts, she also won't have such leisurely time.

Opening eyes again, the fog outside had already mostly dispersed, but dense fog still lingered around the trees.

The fog seemed to contain unknown gas; the already-awake Blazing Flame Lion was somewhat irritable, vexedly shaking its head.

Shen Yao stroked the Blazing Flame Lion's head, communicated with it a while before learning the dense fog restricts its capability unleashing, making Xiao Huo unable to exert strength.

"Water element comparatively more?" The Blazing Flame Lion is pure fire system; its whole body is inseparable from fire.

She raised her hand and formed a technique, letting the mist before her gather and dissipate in her palm.

Shen Yao noticed that the liquefied mist contained a strand of ice-blue energy, somewhat Water Attribute, but mostly leaning toward yin-cold.

She should have brought Little Feather along; the Toxic Attribute Black Feather Snake might have gained some fortuitous opportunity and undergone mutation.

The condensed ice-blue Energy Ball was casually tossed out by Shen Yao, provoking the Flaming Lion at One Side to roar again and again.

"Rest assured, I have confidence."

"Roar"

"Don't Need to Worry, Rested Well?"

"Roar"

"Then Continue Resting, wait for the Mist to disperse, then we'll leave."

"Roar"

"..."

The Flaming Lion lay down obediently, curling up its thick limbs.

Shen Yao leaned against the Flaming Lion, casually summoning the system to ask about the situation Outside.

"It's all kinds of fighting, Lu Yan is Besieged, just Ran Out now, looks rather bedraggled, but Other People are even more miserable than Lu Yan."

"Know the Source of the Mist?" Shen Yao had no interest in Lu Yan, but was interested in this ice-blue energy.

"The Source is All the Way ahead, a Water Pool," the Mist overflows from the Center of the Water Pool, quickly Sweeping most of the Secret Realm.