Chapter 122: Sorry, I Choose to Refuse!

Inside the Secret Realm.

An old Cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection suddenly rushed out from a patch of mud, then tumbled wretchedly at the foot of the hillside, letting out a muffled groan.

This old Cultivator was an Elder of a branch family of the Chunyu Family, a family of Immortals.

Nearly one hundred years old this year, he had exhausted some of his vital energy in his youth due to being reckless and ignorant in his pursuit of breakthroughs.

His lifespan was now nearing its end.

Because of this, facing the temptation of this Secret Realm, even knowing that it was fraught with danger inside.

He still followed his heart, cajoling a group of clansmen to enter this Secret Realm together.

His plan was sound: find a life-extending Spirit Herb or Spirit Pill and then retreat, never lingering!

As it turned out, he hadn't expected that upon entering, he would be separated from his clansmen and appear in a muddy swamp area.

Relying on his family's heritage, this Chunyu Elder exhausted every ounce of his strength and sacrificed a precious life-saving Dharma Artifact.

Only then did he manage to escape danger and arrive at this current hilly area.

Looking at the stone stele on the mountaintop.

This Chunyu Elder also discovered those crazed Cultivators.

He hurriedly swallowed a Calming Pill and pulled out a high-grade Evil-Warding Talisman to stick onto his body.

The talisman paper grew slightly hot, and as the writing on it continuously faded, it also blocked the surrounding Evil Qi from invading.

Yet Chunyu Elder knew this was no solution; if he couldn't find a way out, he would eventually end up as a pile of dry bones in this Secret Realm.

Even his soul would be imprisoned here, transformed into an evil spirit.

"I, Chunyu Dao, will never die here; I must still reach Foundation Establishment and return to the main family!"

Chunyu Elder whispered his greatest wish, panting as he tried to bypass this forest of stone steles.

Amidst the waves of crazed whispering.

Chunyu Elder, who was keeping his head down and resolutely refusing to look at the steles, suddenly sensed something unusual.

After a slight jolt, he squinted and looked over.

He was instantly shocked by the scene before his eyes.

He saw a white-haired youth walking and stopping in front of every stone stele as if he were browsing stalls at a Market, seemingly memorizing the Immortal script on those steles.

Furthermore, after a while, he even saw the white-haired youth push aside a crazed Cultivator who had gotten too close to a stele, and only after finishing the memorization of the stele's content did he kindly place the Cultivator back in his original position.

"This guy... how big is his heart!"

"Is he not afraid of death?"

"No, this person must possess an Evil-Warding Secret Treasure! Otherwise, how could he dare to do this!"

Chunyu Elder's heart stirred; he felt as if he had seen the key to the situation.

He felt even more that he had discovered the path to survival for this trip to the Secret Realm!

He took a deep breath and was just about to launch a sneak attack.

When he suddenly noticed that the white-haired youth, who appeared to be at the Qi Refining Late Stage, suddenly raised his chin and glanced at him.

Then, a wave of Divine Sense swept over.

"Damn! It's actually Foundation Establishment Divine Sense!"

"Since he is at Foundation Establishment, why hide such a low cultivation level!"

Chunyu Elder stiffened his body, his expression reverting to that of a gentle and humble old man.

After cupping his hands in a salute and introducing himself, he made a request, hoping to accompany Su Ping.

The Chunyu Family?

Su Ping recalled that the girl from the Ji Family seemed to have been abducted to the Chunyu Family; he wondered if she had been eaten or eaten?

This was a large family of Immortals with deep foundations even within the Chiyuan Immortal Sect!

However, what did this have to do with his current persona as the Exorcist Mage Yunkong?

"I am merely a Loose Cultivator who has developed a sudden interest in this Secret Realm."

"I don't mind traveling together, but you must wait for me to finish recording the Immortal script on the steles."

Su Ping said casually, and not minding an extra piece of cannon fodder, he continued to scan the next stone stele using Yunkong's Memory Illusion.

"A Loose Cultivator who came to the Secret Realm because of a sudden interest?"

"If I could believe that, I might as well believe that I am actually an Undying Divine Demon Body that only awakens after death!"

Chunyu Elder's mouth twitched, but he dared not refute; he could only keep his head down, avoiding the steles while following behind Su Ping.

At the same time, he was also hoping in his heart: since this Foundation Establishment expert was willing to spend time recording the Immortal script, he must have a way to get out, right?

Otherwise, wouldn't this be recording for nothing?

There didn't seem to be many steles, and in the end, they only covered the area of a small hillside.

Su Ping didn't need to understand them; he only needed to use his powerful Foundation Establishment Divine Sense to forcibly memorize them.

Thus, he quickly reached the top of the hillside and saw a rectangular Giant Stone Stele at least seven or eight meters tall standing there.

Wrapped around this Giant Stone Stele were several translucent Golden Chains.

These chains faintly emitted a kind of ancient and sacred aura.

From time to time, they would even emit a slight, crisp sound.

It seemed they were struggling to trap something hidden inside the stone stele.

Su Ping looked at the Immortal script on the stele and discovered it was a complete cultivation technique.

"Big Dipper Pojun Power Body Refining Foundation Establishment Chapter?"

"It is a technique for how a Cultivator at Body Tempering Perfection can successfully reach Foundation Establishment and then obtain the Pojun Power!"

"Pojun is the first star of the Big Dipper, also known as Yaoguang, meaning the vanguard."

"According to this opening explanation, a Cultivator who reaches Foundation Establishment via the Army Breaker chapter can have their physique greatly amplified, thereby ensuring that subsequent use of various supporting secret techniques will not deplete their origin..."

"Alright, it seems the Big Dipper Inscribing Death Scripture originally also had a Body Tempering method for the Army Breaker Qi Refining chapter, thus ensuring disciples could perform ultimate techniques like the Beidou Tanlang Fist while still in the Body Tempering Stage."

Su Ping first memorized all the Immortal text of this Foundation Establishment chapter.

As for decrypting the stone stele chains or anything of the sort, he naturally would not do that.

Afterward, Su Ping scanned his surroundings.

He discovered that, aside from the Black Withered Forest they had come from.

One location was a Black Swamp, and another was a mausoleum built from massive black stones.

The mausoleum gate was already wide open, and it looked like one could go deep underground from there.

"Chunyu Elder, what do you think about where we should go next?"

Upon hearing the question, Chunyu Elder was startled for a moment before hurriedly replying that he himself had come from the direction of the swamp.

He also mentioned the dangers of the swamp.

That entire swamp seemed to be alive, and it would suddenly surge up to envelop a Cultivator's entire body.

If it weren't for the fact that this Chunyu Elder had some good items, he would have long since been dragged into the swamp and devoured until not even dregs remained.

As for that black mausoleum.

It seemed the Secret Realm origin, the Spirit Vein that generated Spirit Qi, and certain alluring objects should be located underground at the mausoleum.

Only, the danger of such an Earth Palace went without saying.

Observing the expression of that Qi Refining Perfection Cultivator, Su Ping could see he was clearly unwilling to go either.

However, Exorcist Mage Yunkong, who had already finished reading the stone stele, seemed to have nothing else to do as a Memory Illusion.

Besides, who is to say that inside the mausoleum one might not see other chapters regarding the Army Breaker, Greedy Wolf, and Seven Killings?

Su Ping did not think he could be lucky enough to collect the complete version of the Big Dipper Inscribing Death Scripture.

After all, this was merely a branch remnant; he estimated that even they themselves were missing many cultivation techniques.

But having a little more was better than having less.

"Since that is the case, then we can only go to that mausoleum to take a look."

"Let's go."

"If we don't go, we won't find the passage back either."

In the eyes of Chunyu Elder, this white-haired youth gave a free-spirited smile and then leaped up, falling toward the bottom of the hillside.

During the descent, clusters of Evil Qi emerged, but they were repelled before they could even get close.

"As expected, there is a treasure for warding off evil!"

"What a pity that he is only at Foundation Establishment!"

Seeing this scene, Chunyu Elder felt his heart filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

He suspected that the other party was so confident precisely because such a treasure for warding off evil existed, making the other party confident that they would not be harmed by the Evil Spirits in this Secret Realm.

"Senior, wait for me!"

Chunyu Elder produced a Feather Fan Dharma Artifact, and after it grew in size, he stepped onto the fan and drifted down, following Su Ping's pace.

When they neared the mausoleum gate.

Su Ping, whose Divine Sense sensing range had been compressed, noticed a masked female Cultivator sitting cross-legged at the entrance.

This female Cultivator... Su Ping had met her once before.

She was the Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had agreed with Mu Zhenren at the exchange meeting to come and investigate together.

Mu Zhenren was already gone.

This one... her state also seemed wrong?

Su Ping noticed that the masked female Cultivator's eyes were blood-red, and two extra pairs of fair, tender arms had grown out from her back.

Upon seeing them, those two arms wanted to stretch out and grab them, but were stopped halfway.

"Daoists, excuse me, but because Evil Qi has entered my body, my divine abilities are somewhat out of control."

The masked Foundation Establishment female Cultivator said in a low voice:

"To be able to come to this place, you Daoists must possess items for warding off evil... I beg you to lend them to me temporarily; once I suppress the influence of the Evil Qi, I will certainly be able to lead you out of this place!"

"Items for warding off evil?"

Upon hearing this, Su Ping checked his Memory Illusion.

Because it was his first time, the Memory Illusion, aside from the blessings of the Shrine Maiden and the Cheng'e Pixie Stone Lion, only brought a Storage Bag containing some weapons and equipment.

Other than that, he had brought nothing else inside.

Consequently, Chunyu Elder saw that white-haired youth actually shake his head and lie to the face of that Foundation Establishment female Cultivator.

This made Chunyu Elder somewhat anxious.

He recognized the masked female Cultivator before him.

She was an Elder of a certain Immortal cultivation family who had already broken through to the Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage ten years ago!

She had even slaughtered a Foundation Establishment Demon Beast on the battlefield of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Most importantly, her master was an Elder within the Immortal Sect Main Peak!

"Senior... can you really lead us out?"

Chunyu Elder hesitated for a moment, unable to stop himself from asking.

"Of course!"

The Foundation Establishment female Cultivator nodded quickly as she spoke, and spat out a gray precious orb from her mouth.

The aura emitted by this orb far exceeded that of any Dharma Artifact.

It was already a Spirit Tool of no low grade!

"This is the World-Breaking Bead; as long as I suppress the Evil Qi, this bead can take us away."

"Good!"

Chunyu Elder looked at the precious bead, his expression gradually changing; hearing these words, his heart grew hot, and his desire to survive made him make his choice.

However, just as Chunyu Elder took out his last Evil-Warding Talisman and respectfully handed it to the female Cultivator, his expression suddenly changed, and he turned his head to glare at the white-haired youth, snarling:

"Daoist, don't you also have an Evil-Warding Secret Treasure? Why don't you take it out?"

"Why don't you take it out!"

"Hurry up and hand over the Secret Treasure!"

Accompanied by Chunyu Elder's questioning, a great wind began to blow all around.

Within the sound of the wind, the distorted, roaring voice of the Foundation Establishment female Cultivator rang out.

"Sigh!"

The white-haired youth let out a soft sigh; watching the Evil Qi that had been rushing in at an accelerated speed being blocked, he spread his hands and looked at the masked female Cultivator, saying:

"I really don't have any Evil-Warding Secret Treasure; it's all thanks to an Evil-Warding Blessing."

"By the way, this blessing seems to have also blocked the mind-bewitching power of your bead."

"This isn't a World-Breaking Bead at all, is it?"

Su Ping exposed the truth in a single sentence.

The questioning shouts from the masked female Cultivator suddenly vanished.

Afterwards, the female Cultivator gathered all of Chunyu Elder's talismans and put them into her own Storage Bag.

The extra hands on her back gently wrapped around Chunyu Elder's neck.

The next second!

A look of pain suddenly flashed across Chunyu Elder's eyes.

Streams of black energy actually entered Chunyu Elder's body along those hands, causing his entire body to tremble, and within a few seconds, it deformed into a pile of black sludge heaped upon the black soil...

Su Ping looked at the black sludge and suddenly realized that within a range of several dozen meters behind and to the sides of the masked female Cultivator,

there seemed to be traces of such sludge everywhere.

Clearly, Chunyu Elder was not the first victim.

Plus, the World-Breaking Bead was fake.

Su Ping made a bold guess:

"Did you encounter something in the tomb with that Mu Zhenren? It made it so that it isn't just a simple case of Evil Qi entering your body."

"Was that just now a way to transfer some kind of curse or Evil Spirit power within you?"

"Are you relying on this Secret Technique to hold on until now?"

"And you likely can't find a way out either, so you can only wait here like a rabbit waiting for a tree, lingering on in a desperate state?"

The masked female Cultivator narrowed her eyes slightly; it seemed that the recent Chunyu Elder had made her condition slightly better.

"I truly cannot get out, but as long as I am alive, I will definitely be able to return!"

"My master is an Immortal Sect Elder; once she can leave the Zhu Feng, she will definitely rescue me at the first opportunity!"

"And you... entering this Secret Realm means you are dead for sure."

"Being able to provide help for me to stay alive is your good fortune!"

"At least I will remember you; once I leave, I will certainly repay your families."

The masked female Cultivator spoke with a very natural tone, as if this logic was completely normal to her.

However, Su Ping did not want to entertain these arguments.

After confirming that there was something wrong with this masked female Cultivator, the moment the other party finished speaking and hostility appeared,

he began to retreat rapidly and immediately released the Ice Giant Sword.

Bang!

The Ice Giant Sword was shattered by a single touch from a slender, fair hand.

At the same time, more than ten fair arms emerged from the ground, grabbing the entire body of Exorcist Mage Yunkong with lightning speed.

Hum!

The Mark on Yunkong's forehead glowed!

A bolt of Heavenly Thunder suddenly descended, striking Yunkong while simultaneously shaking off the surrounding arms.

This allowed Yunkong to pull away and increase the distance.

Clearly, this thunder from Fox-Faced Shrine Maiden Sakura was just useful; it could suppress all Heavenly Demon power!

After moving a kilometer away from the other party,

Su Ping discovered that the other party did not stand up to pursue.

This immediately reinforced his guess that she was already unable to move.

This reminded Su Ping of the Evil Spirit he saw on Xuangui Island.

It seemed highly probable that this masked female Cultivator was also turning into an Evil Spirit?

It was just that she relied on certain Secret Techniques to retain her consciousness, using others as a price to transfer the corrosive power of the Evil Spirit to survive.

"Your power is very interesting; find more Cultivators for me, and I promise to take you with me when I have the chance to leave!"

"And after we return, I can satisfy three wishes of yours that are within my power!"

The voice of the masked female Cultivator reached Yunkong's ears.

Seeing that she could do nothing to Yunkong, the other party's expression was not particularly anxious.

She was certain that with the other party's limited ability, it was impossible for them to leave the Secret Realm.

And as long as they still wanted to leave this godforsaken place.

Without a doubt, only by believing her words could there be a glimmer of survival!

As for the depths of the tomb... Heh, she used her final strength to choose to guard this place, wasn't it so that every visitor in the end could not bypass her?

She believed that she would be able to live until the end.

Even if those who came together in the end were at the Foundation Establishment realm.

She was also confident that the other party would not dare to kill her, and would instead take the initiative to help out of respect for her master.

After all, who told her that she truly had a good master, one who was an Immortal Sect Elder?

But!

Su Ping did not care about any of this!

"Sorry, I choose to refuse!"