Chapter 1041

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Protagonist:

Xu Zhangqing

Xu Zhangqing placed Qingdi's Decree into his sleeve, and the other two items, together with that Wordless Book, transformed into light spots and reintegrated into the light cluster atop the stone pillar.

He turned toward the slowly opening golden vortex, and without hesitation, stepped inside with a single stride.

Light flowed before his eyes; after a brief sensation of weightlessness, the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet returned.

Xu Zhangqing opened his eyes, and the Northern Domain's dry, hot wind rushed at his face carrying yellow sand; the dark red vortex above his head was still rotating, but its edges had begun to blur — from this it could be seen that the secret realm would begin to gradually contract after someone left.

The temporary camp was still exactly as it had been when they left.

Li Chuan stood guard beside the entrance, and nearby the three hundred members and disciples were as usual.

As for those few elders of the submitted tribes, they were still kneeling on the ground, muttering to themselves.

Seeing Xu Zhangqing emerge first, their whole bodies trembled even more violently, and it was impossible to tell whether it was from fear or from worry over something, leaving one baffled.

"My Lord."

Li Chuan stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over Xu Zhangqing; after confirming he was uninjured, he finally let out a breath of relief.

Xu Zhangqing asked, "How much time has passed?"

Li Chuan answered truthfully, "Less than one hour."

Xu Zhangqing was thoughtful: "Oh?"

He had originally thought he would be delayed inside for a while; he hadn't expected to come out this quickly.

One hour.

He himself had experienced his Dao Heart shattering and being reforged, his cultivation falling and then climbing again, fighting a mirror image to the death, and selecting a karmic object on the stone platform — all of this in the outside world was merely one hour, truly inconceivable.

The Night Crying Secret Realm's situation was indeed not falsely reputed.

Next, Xu Zhangqing, like Li Chuan and the others, began to wait patiently.

As time passed, over the next two hours, the three hundred members and disciples who had entered the secret realm began to fly out from the vortex one after another.

The first to emerge were the sword cultivators of Tiexue Peak.

Although each face was pale and their bodies bore much damage, their eyes shone with a bright light.

A young sword cultivator spread open his palm, and in his palm lay a sword-shaped crystal about an inch long; sealed within the crystal was a complete sword intent, and the sharp aura it emitted caused the air within several zhang to begin twisting.

Compared to others, this sword cultivator had experienced three hundred and sixty duels in the secret realm, and every opponent was a past opponent or enemy of his.

The final opponent was even himself.

After successfully defeating him, this sword intent crystal appeared before him.

Next, more and more people left the Night Crying Secret Realm.

Someone obtained a section of an ancient body cultivator's golden finger bone; after refining it, his right arm's strength surged rapidly.

Someone obtained a fragment of an ancient method; though damaged, it pointed directly to the Great Dao.

Still others gained a dark green ghost fire lamp in hand; a remnant soul from some unknown era was trapped in the lamp wick, and was transmitting a long-lost Netherworld technique to her in a hoarse voice.

Another disciple's shadow had become several zhang longer than before, and the shadow's edge kept wriggling continuously, like a living thing.

Of course, there were also those who remained inside forever.

A few faces never stepped out of the vortex.

The first batch of entrants had more or less all come out.

Only Mo Sha had not the slightest movement; it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.

Seeing this, Xu Zhangqing had Li Chuan take the remaining three hundred members and disciples into the secret realm.

"Finally it's our turn!"

"Watching others get encounters, I've been drooling with envy!"

"Still be careful, absolutely don't stay in there forever!"

Everyone was eager to try.

And in the third hour after Xu Zhangqing came out, Qin Baili finally appeared.

When he flew out of the vortex, sword qi still swirled around him, and the ground was carved with dozens of crisscrossing sword marks by invisible sword intent.

The face beneath the mask still revealed no expression, but in those half-narrowed eyes, the originally sharp-as-a-sword-edge gaze had become even more restrained.

His whole person seemed to have been polished by something; the edge remained, yet it did not show outwardly.

Xu Zhangqing asked curiously, "How was it?"

Qin Baili said in a flat tone, "A bit of gain."

As for what the gain was, the other party didn't say, and Xu Zhangqing didn't press further.

Everyone has secrets and hidden cards; no matter how good the relationship, one shouldn't pry.

After another hour or so, the three hundred people Li Chuan had taken in also began to emerge one after another.

Their gains were similar to the first batch's; each had his own encounter, each his own fortune.

Only Mo Sha still hadn't come out.

Xu Zhangqing sat cross-legged, absorbing spiritual energy on one side and comprehending laws on the other.

Qin Baili leaned against a giant stone, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the vortex.

Time passed another hour, two hours, even three hours.

The blurring speed at the secret realm's edge was accelerating; the entrance was gradually closing.

Qin Baili could bear it no longer and suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a trace of uncommon depth: "Changqing, Mo Sha still hasn't come out."

Xu Zhangqing remained seated cross-legged, not lifting his eyelids at all: "I know."

"He's Nascent Soul Stage; he shouldn't take this long."

Qin Baili straightened his body, his hand unconsciously resting on his sword hilt: "If something really happens, Qingmu Sect will lose a Nascent Soul-level combat strength."

And it's not just any combat strength.

Only then did Xu Zhangqing fix his gaze on that dark red vortex that was contracting.

The edge of the vortex had already blurred by half, and the world shrouded in twilight at its center was no longer clear, as if separated by a water curtain that kept thickening.

He fell silent for a moment, then said: "Mo Sha chose to go in himself; he knows better than anyone what he's doing."

"Since he made the choice, he must pay the due price."

Hearing this, Qin Baili tightened his grip on his sword, but in the end said nothing more.

He leaned back against the giant stone again, only his gaze never left that vortex.

Xu Zhangqing knew what the other was worried about; Mo Sha was no ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator, he was one of the few combat strengths of Xuanming Peak who could stand alone on the battlefield, and more critically, the other was currently the only one who could build a bridge between the Northern Domain's Foreign Race and Qingmu Sect.

The matters of the Northern Domain were not over; those small tribes that had surrendered needed someone to integrate them, those tribes still watching needed someone to persuade them, and these things only Mo Sha could do.

If he really died inside, this line of the Northern Domain would at least be cut in half.

But worry is meaningless; everyone knows the rules of the Night Crying Secret Realm.

Everyone must face their own trial; no one can bear it for another.

The sky gradually darkened; just as the sun sank below the horizon, cold surrounded them from all directions, forming a stark contrast with the daytime heat.

Inside the temporary camp, members and disciples meditated by the bonfire to recover, each savoring the gains they had obtained in the secret realm.

The bonfire burned for several more rounds, and it looked like the secret realm was about to close.

Just at this time, within that dark red vortex, there was suddenly a fluctuation; immediately after, a figure fled out from inside in a sorry state!