Chapter 494

Scarlet clouds filled the sky, occasional low rumbles came from chaotic spatial fluctuations, and the vast Vermilion Bird Secret Realm was filled with a mysterious silence.

Accompanied by the rumbling of waves of spatial ripples, a figure appeared and disappeared in the forest, sometimes flashing several miles away.

"The Void Power is indeed marvelous, but as we draw ever closer to the heart of the secret realm, it's best not to expose ourselves." Yunhe enjoyed the brief afterglow left by the Void Power, a simple breath adjustment, and planned to leave this place.

"Boom"

Suddenly, a violent explosion erupted on the other side of this forest, its might not inferior to that of a Yuan Ying Stage cultivator.

Yunhe looked toward the direction of the explosion, and a strange glint appeared in his eyes.

——————

Two figures faced off one after another in the forest.

"How bold."

A red‑haired, red‑bearded giant clutched his chest wound, enduring the heart‑piercing pain of sword qi, and with a wave of his hand he unleashed a treasure; suddenly three small red shields appeared around him, encircling him.

"Clang"

"Chixiao, I have endured a hundred years of humiliation just for this day!"

Opposite him, an old man wearing a ferocious iron mask had his white hair flying wildly; as his hands exchanged gestures, he constantly changed sword formulas, accompanied by the clashing sounds of flying swords striking the small shields.

"Ha, mere sword slave, have you forgotten that if you don't take the Scarlet Spirit Pill for three years, your Golden Core will burst and kill you? You'd better think clearly!" Chixiao blood trickled from the corner of his mouth; he quickly pointed his sword finger repeatedly, forcibly suppressing the sword qi at his wound, and put on a calm facade.

Upon hearing those words, the iron‑masked old man's face sank like still water; his hands, forming seals, trembled uncontrollably, veins bulging at the corners of his eyes, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"You will die!"

The iron‑masked old man slammed his palms together before his chest, his eyes emitting a green light; five small green swords gathered to his left and right, fluttering like fish, extraordinarily agile.

Seeing him step back with his right leg, knees slightly bent, his whole body resembled a full‑moon bow, exhaling waves of steaming vapor; the next moment he stepped forward, his steps agile as a deer, feet crossing, bringing a gust of wind, a whip kick like a collapsing mountain rolled forward, sending Chixiao and his small shields flying several zhang away. The five spirit‑wandering small swords followed closely, left and right attacking each other as if guided by a spiritual hand.

"The remnants of the Azure Spirit Sect truly have extraordinary physique, but with your abilities, wanting to kill me is sheer fantasy."

Having steadied his stance, Chixiao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, pulled a feral grin, and with a wave of his hand took a handful of spirit pills from his storage bag and shoved them into his mouth.

In terms of combat methods, backed by his father, a Yuan Ying Stage expert, he had no fear of any fellow Golden Core cultivator.

"Come!" Feeling the sword qi in his chest no longer turbulent, his wounds gradually healing, Chixiao laughed out loud. He donned a pair of gauntlets emanating fire‑element power on his hands and rushed forward to clash with the iron‑masked old man.

Fists and feet clashed, the powerful winds they generated tore gullies into the ground; wherever they passed, plants turned to ash and dust.

"I wonder, after you die, your little junior sister in the sect... hahaha, I happen to want to take another concubine."

Chixiao spoke mockingly, his eyes filled with endless ridicule and madness.

The iron‑masked old man said nothing, but the trembling on his face—whether from the vibrations of fist and foot collisions or from the fury he could no longer suppress in his heart—was unclear.

After taking a heavy punch from Chixiao, the iron‑masked old man seized the opening; his palms, infused with spiritual power, struck like a flood dragon crossing the sea, slamming heavily into Chixiao's chest, only stopping after breaking several spiritual trees.

Having steadied himself, Chixiao had no time to catch his breath, ignoring the large patch of crimson seeping from his chest, he hastily flung out a seal; a seal engraved with "Qilin trampling blazing fire, scorching all demons" slowly floated before him.

Seeing this, the iron‑masked old man, who had intended to press the attack, halted immediately, his face showing deep reluctance and shock.

"Even a wild dog that has eaten household food will wag its tail; it's my Scarlet Spirit Sect that's blind, raising a rebellious wolf like you!"

As his words fell, Chixiao's seal formula was complete; the seal emitted a "humming" sound, and crimson flame power rose in waves of heat, distorting the surrounding air.

"Qilin Holy Fire, burn!"

On the seal appeared the phantom of a Qilin auspicious beast; in an instant, a surge of Qilin fire rose like a tidal wave, completely engulfing the area before Chixiao.

"Hmph, ants," Chixiao panted heavily. This strike seemed to have consumed a considerable amount of his mana.

Yet within the fire waves, a pale blue pearl orbited the iron‑masked old man; this heaven‑blazing flame could not harm him in the slightest.

Seeing this, Chixiao shouted angrily, "The Five Elements Nurturing Spirit Pearl is indeed in your hand!" Then he suddenly burst into loud laughter: "Hahaha, I don't know how you previously hid the pearl's trace, but since you're seeking death today, it saves me a lot of trouble."

As his words fell, Chixiao's visage turned ferocious; his reddish beard and hair suddenly turned into real flames, a tremendous fire‑element power surged from within his body, and he slowly rose into the air, his eyes shooting out red pillars of light.

Seeing this, the iron‑masked old man's gaze grew solemn; he had never seen Chixiao use such a method before, but instinctively a strong sense of dread welled up. He summoned five bluish‑green small swords, forming a sword formation, intending to fight to the death, when suddenly a humming sound came from his ear, making his hairs stand on end.

"Scarlet Spirit Physique, Fire Element Fire Command, Holy Fire Seal—swiftly exterminate the enemy, annihilate!"

Accompanied by the final command, the seal suddenly ignited in raging flames, turning into a red light that shot straight at the iron‑masked old man, reaching him in an instant.

"Bang"

The tremendous roar like a beast's bellow, the rampant smoke and dust spread like a blanket over the land in all directions.

"Humming"

In his Scarlet Spirit Physique state, Chixiao's gaze locked onto the smoke; he also heard the humming sound, though it was strange where this weird humming came from—not like something the iron‑masked old man would emit. To be safe, Chixiao circulated his spiritual power throughout his body and, relying on sensation, frantically unleashed spells into the dust.

When the smoke and dust slowly cleared, the iron‑masked old man was nowhere to be seen; only a pale white spatial rift hovered above the freshly blasted crater.

"This is a spatial rift!"

Chixiao frowned slightly; he could clearly feel that the Void Power emanating from this spatial rift was extremely dangerous, yet he could not determine whether what lay beyond the rift was opportunity or peril, nor whether the iron‑masked old man had already been buried in the spatial turbulence.

Having gained nothing, Chixiao warily glanced around, confirming no other cultivators were nearby, took out an ancient‑looking round jade pendant and held it in his hand, solemnly glanced at the spatial rift, tightened his grip on the pendant, and directly rushed into the spatial rift.

The spatial rift underwent a brief fluctuation, accompanied by a faint hum; when the humming faded, a figure shot here at great speed. Looking at the surrounding battle traces and the opened spatial rift, Yunhe frowned slightly.

"I thought it was just two Golden Core cultivators fighting; I never expected to trigger this place's spatial rift."

The Vermilion Bird Secret Realm has many restrictions; the space is in a growth stage, and the growth of space inevitably involves collisions and devouring between spaces, thus producing spatial rifts like this whose destination no one knows.

Perhaps inside lies a great opportunity, a rare heavenly treasure from the outside world; perhaps it is the demonic chaos once imprisoned here, which would in an instant devour any cultivator who strayed in; but the greatest threat remains the spatial turbulence—even a Yuan Ying Stage cultivator would find it hard to protect themselves.

However, others cannot judge whether what lies beyond the spatial rift is safe; Yunhe is different, possessing the Jade Slip and compass given by Senior Brother Yuan; the needle on the compass kept trembling, pointing at the spatial rift, as if saying, "What are you waiting for? Hurry in! I'm dying of anxiety! Could I possibly harm you?"

Yunhe had no suspicions; the spatial rift again emitted a brief humming sound.

In the forest, the wind rustled the leaves, making a soft shushing sound.

"Hum~"

After a long cry, the spatial rift vanished, as if no one had ever been here.

After a flash of white light, Yunhe slowly opened his eyes to see a vast, boundless ocean and a huge island.

The island's east side is a vast forest stretching to the shore; its west side is endless yellow sand, with countless unknown plants leaving traces on the dunes, the withered tree trunks mostly buried beneath the sand, devoid of any vitality.

"Huh?"

Yunhe frowned slightly, this place's information did not match that on the Jade Slip; after entering the space rift, this place should not have such a huge island.

Originally this place should have been an underwater secret realm, which once attracted cultivators from all sides, but later it suddenly vanished; it seems to have been devoured by the growing Vermilion Bird Secret Realm.

The opportunities in the Vermilion Bird Secret Realm actually did not offer much help to Yunhe at mid Nascent Soul stage; if not for the compass's intense reaction, Yunhe might have turned and left, not coming here to adventure.

Yunhe did not go directly onto the island, but flew slowly above it; just now two Golden Core cultivators had entered earlier, yet now there is no trace of them, and Yunhe feels something is fishy.

After circling above the island for a while, Yunhe detected nothing unusual, nor did he see any entrance formed by the underwater secret realm.

Yunhe paused slightly, hovered in the air, his divine sense stirred, and he summoned the compass in midair.

"Zizi. zizi"

But the compass's needle suddenly flashed with two red bolts of lightning; after a violent spin, it became abnormally slow, slowly pointing northwest, then drifting slowly toward northeast, back and forth, showing no sign of stopping.

Yunhe's eye twitched slightly, "Good fellow, if you hadn't reacted so strongly just now, I could have entered; now you're wavering with me here?"

After a brief ponder, Yunhe chose the northeast direction, for he sensed that within the dense forest, something seemed to be calling him, and his inner five-element spiritual energy surged like a thirsty man hearing the call.

After hurrying through the forest for a while, Yunhe felt the sound growing nearer and clearer, yet he constantly felt a pair of eyes watching him from behind in the dark.

From the moment he entered this forest, Yunhe had early on released his divine sense; yet strangely, aside from a faint intuition in his heart, he detected no living beings.

Yunhe secretly pondered, since he had not taken the initiative to attack, the unknown presence in this forest must be wary; Yunhe unfurled his Ice Phoenix Wings, and in an instant, only bare tree trunks remained, with leaves continually falling from the air.

"Plop plop."

Yunhe's heartbeat quickened as he passed through ever taller vegetation, tearing through a large patch of twisting vines; ahead suddenly opened up, a jade-green spring bubbled forth, encircling an ancient, broad tree, forming a lake‑center islet.

Yunhe swept his divine sense over it, and in the dim mental world a speck of green light appeared in the heart of that ancient tree, shining especially bright.

Yunhe glanced sideways with his peripheral vision, spatial power flowed, the space around him twisted slightly, and turning his head he stood before the great tree; raising his hand, magical energy flowed as he prepared to seize the treasure directly.

"Don't."

A clear, oriole‑like voice rang out as a girl chased from the vines Yunhe had torn open, heedless of the tangled vines underfoot; after uttering two words she tumbled like a rolling ball, bumping and striking, with a "plop" she fell into the stream.

Yunhe lightly curled his finger, and the struggling girl in the water seemed wrapped by a large hand, whooshing onto the lake‑center islet,

"Cough cough. Vomit"

The girl spat out a mouthful of stream water, patted her small chest for slight relief, then wiped her mouth, lifted her head, and saw the fierce Yunhe.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"Why are you here?"

"Why did you come here?"

Yunhe and the girl were both startled, especially Yunhe, who had never seen such a reckless "person" before.

Seeing the girl still wanting to speak, Yunhe waved his hand; she felt a hand cover her mouth, and her whole body lifted uncontrollably off the ground.

"Mmm uh uh uh. Uh uh"

"I ask, you answer, understood?"

Yunhe spoke with a soft smile, yet the girl struggled ever more, clearly rejecting his proposal, even making him feel like a strange old man abducting a little girl.

Yunhe's smiling mouth twitched slightly, he instantly withdrew his smile, pondered briefly, then summoned the Five Qi Peacock Fan, which immediately took the form of a five‑colored peacock.

Since its cultivation, the Five Qi Peacock Fan has been nurtured at the Nascent Soul stage; as a sentient treasure, it has long yearned for the outside world, and upon appearing it flapped its wings a few times, spread its iridescent tail feathers, and let out an extraordinarily loud cry with its neck raised to the sky.

"Cry!"

The girl, who had just been thrashing about, instantly widened her eyes, tears pooling as she stared at the great peacock, daring not to move, fearing she would be devoured in the next instant by this suddenly appearing giant peacock.

"Can you now answer my question properly?" Yunhe said, forcing out a hint of gentleness.

The girl fought back tears, looking at the fierce Yunhe and behind him the huge peacock with eyes glowing red, its stature like a small hill, nodding like garlic being crushed; she did not know how the peacock had appeared, but she was certain it was linked to this "bad person".

Yunhe gave a gentle smile, released the girl's restraint, yet this smile appeared utterly evil in her eyes.

"You"

"Wah ah. Grandpa"

Yunhe felt a headache, "Eh, you little brat."

(End of chapter)