Chapter 3205: Neutralizing Danger

Ye Liuyun and Luo Yu searched while slowly moving forward, leaving a fresh trail of footprints behind them.

"It seems this dynasty was once glorious, I wonder why it fell into decline!"

Ye Liuyun sighed at the rise and fall of the dynasty in his heart and curiously asked Luo Yu: "Why was the Hongtian Dynasty annihilated?"

Luo Yu let out a sigh and told Ye Liuyun: "It's because of that technique! At that time, the surrounding Xing Xi had no Martial Cultivators who could break through to the Taixu realm, so they all came here seeking a way."

But the dynasty refused to share the technique with all Martial Cultivators, so large battles kept breaking out, and later the Martial Cultivators formed a coalition to attack the dynasty.

After several rounds, the dynasty could no longer hold, and in the final great battle it suffered a crushing defeat; before being slaughtered, it sealed the Royal City into a Secret Realm.

Ye Liuyun nodded, thinking the reason was pretty much what he had guessed. With such a technique known to everyone, it would be strange if no one tried to seize it.

After they walked a while, the Golden Light of the Ten Thousand Gods Command in his Sea of Consciousness vanished. Ye Liuyun estimated they had left the area where the illusion was being cast, marking the passage of the first danger.

He released his Divine Sense and found that most of the Martial Cultivators at the entrance who had been affected by the illusion had already been gnawed into piles of white bones by the rats. The other Martial Cultivators who emerged from the illusion zone also began to explore around. So far no looting or fighting has broken out between them. Read on.

Cheng Qifeng and Si Ma Qianhua's two squads both took the widest road straight toward the Royal Palace. They had already encountered trap mechanisms, and half of the recruited Martial Cultivators were dead. However, their own people were all at the rear and were relatively safe.

As they walked, his Divine Sense noticed fresh footprints at the doorway of a shop, clearly indicating someone had just entered.

He immediately activated his Golden Pupil and discovered the shop was actually a guild hall. Behind the walls were several Martial Cultivators, on the second and third floors as well, totaling about ten people—a team that had just entered.

The guild's counters and other areas didn't look like they had just been damaged; likely they had already been searched when the Secret Realm was first opened. These people probably found nothing and, upon noticing their arrival, were just preparing to rob the place.

Ye Liuyun released a snow wolf as a test; indeed the snow wolf was no longer affected by the illusion, so he also released two Magic Flood Dragons, letting them raid the Martial Cultivators hidden inside the guild.

Those Martial Cultivators were of low realms; having never seen strong beings like the snow wolf and Magic Flood Dragons before, they thought they were under the illusion, which is why they dared to scheme against Ye Liuyun.

Now the snow wolf and Magic Flood Dragons exerted a terrifying pressure; the people barely dared to resist, some immediately surrendered, but Ye Liuyun ignored them, having the snow wolf clean them all up so they wouldn't follow later.

Thus no major commotion arose; most were eliminated as the snow wolf devoured their souls.

Luo Yu never sensed the illusion; when she saw Ye Liuyun release a Monster Beast, she knew it was safe, so she released the Demon Wolf as well.

After the Demon Wolf emerged, it didn't join the snow wolf in the raid; instead it stayed by Luo Yu's side, using Divine Sense to scout the surrounding environment.

Soon, the snow wolf and its companions withdrew from the guild and handed over the people's Storage Rings to Ye Liuyun.

"They all surrendered, why did you still kill them? They could have been used to scout the path!" Luo Yu asked Ye Liuyun, puzzled.

"If we don't kill them, they'll keep following us. When we encounter real danger or find treasure, they'll strike!" Read on.

We have a map and can handle danger ourselves. If these people run off, they'd later expose our secret.

Ye Liuyun still gave her an explanation. Whether she understood or not, his actions wouldn't be affected by her.

Fortunately, Luo Yu thought his words reasonable and didn't blame herself. She usually acts cautiously, fearing to reveal her identity, and holds little goodwill toward the Fire Seal Dynasty's Martial Cultivators.

"Alright, as long as you can handle the danger!"

She was only worried the danger here might exceed expectations, that Ye Liuyun's group couldn't cope, and just wanted to capture more scout cannon fodder.

From then on, Ye Liuyun and Luo Yu's pace quickened slightly. Outside the Royal Palace there were no treasures, only traps, so they didn't need to search everywhere—just focus on handling danger.

Not far after stepping out, Ye Liuyun called for Luo Yu to stop and come down, while he stared intently at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Luo Yu asked curiously. They hadn't reached any dangerous area yet.

But as soon as she finished asking, she felt a tremor from below; then the ground bulged into a mound, as if something was trying to burst out. Read on.

Ye Liuyun immediately lifted himself, Luo Yu, and the others into the air, telling them: "Vines underground!"

"Vines? That's not an obstacle on this path!" Luo Yu said, using Divine Sense to probe the adjacent roads; as a result, the Martial Cultivators who had passed that way were already encircled by vines.

The vines resembled withered branches; even wielding a true ninth‑grade weapon, a single slash couldn't cut them—several strikes were needed to sever one—yet vines kept sprouting from below, winding toward the Martial Cultivators.

However, these vines were not like Magic Vine that absorbs energy; they strained desperately to strangle the Martial Cultivators, choking them to death.

At that moment, vines also erupted from beneath their feet, coiling around them.

Ye Liuyun used his aerial Golden Pupil, releasing Golden Crow Holy Fire toward the vines. His Golden Crow Holy Fire's fire spirit was now extremely powerful, enough to incinerate the vines, so there was no need to summon Magic Vine.

Every vine that emerged was instantly turned to ash by the Golden Crow Holy Fire.

"This Golden Crow Holy Fire is more than enough to battle Ninth Layer Early‑Mid Stage Martial Cultivators!" Ye Liuyun assessed its strength, thinking its flames and Thunder and Lightning Power shouldn't be wasted and could be used more.

He didn't need to control the fire spirit; the released Golden Crow simply circled them, protecting them as they moved forward.

Luo Yu, seeing the fire spirit in Ye Liuyun's flames so powerful, felt considerably reassured.

"It seems the legends about his abilities are true! This will make us even safer!"

She had previously been worried that their power wasn't enough to obtain that technique.

Ye Liuyun chatted casually with Luo Yu: "Probably vines from elsewhere have intertwined here. After all these years, it's normal they've spread to this area.

We must also be extra cautious of other dangers; we can't rely solely on the map's markings, as they might be stronger than expected. Otherwise the items would have been taken long ago by your family's ancestors!"

Luo Yu nodded: "I think so too!"

But she suddenly remembered something—a single antidote pill—and asked Ye Liuyun: "The danger ahead is poisonous gas, but I've only prepared one antidote pill…"