Chapter 116: Total Annihilation

Ruan Xing has never had more than ten thousand Spirit Stones in her pocket to this day; several tens of thousands of Spirit Stones is indeed a large sum for her, and she was indeed a bit disappointed that she did not find the Spirit Stones Elder Xu had taken after killing him.

But as Elder Xu is a Golden Core True Person and Hall Master Xu is a Nascent Soul True Monarch, could they even care for such petty gains?

It is just that she has no further clues in her hands, and she truly cannot deduce it.

Listening to Ruan Xing's relentless questioning, Xu Sirui's expression turned ugly. "What does it have to do with you? I advise you best not to meddle in other people's business. If you provoke me, at most you won't be able to get by in the Sect, but if you provoke my Xu Family, I guarantee you won't even be able to get by in the world of the living."

"Coincidentally, I was thinking the same thing." Ruan Xing smiled: "Then let's try it and see who exactly can survive until the end."

As for asking about the details of the mission assigned by the Sect Master next, Xu Sirui would not say either. Ruan Xing estimated that it was because she herself did not know. Although Xu Sirui is Hall Master Xu's own daughter, her cultivation level dictates that she has no say in the Xu Family, and she would not participate in too many of the Xu Family's internal affairs.

Ending the Real-scene Simulation, Ruan Xing felt the urgency of time even more. She hurriedly activated the Text Simulation several times, quickly raising her artifact refining skill to the second tier.

Afterwards, she hurriedly went down the mountain, spent sixty or seventy Mid-grade Spirit Stones, and bought two Storage Bags with a space of over ten square meters, taking all the artifact refining materials she had scouted and marked in the simulation into her possession.

With these materials in hand, whenever she wants to raise the tier of her artifact refining skill in the future, she can rely on them to continuously simulate and gain proficiency.

After finishing these matters, she returned to Yaoguang Peak and waited at the entrance of Qintai He's home, wanting to grasp the first-hand news Qintai He had just obtained.

Qintai He had not yet returned; more than an hour had passed since he left. She waited patiently for another quarter of an hour before finally seeing Qintai He's dejected figure.

She hurriedly went up to meet him, "Senior Brother Qintai..."

Boom—

A thunderous roar in the distance gave Ruan Xing a fright. The two looked in the direction the sound came from; in the gloomy sky, a layer upon layer of grey-black tribulation clouds swirled in the distance.

"How terrifying. Even from so far away, the momentum of Senior Sister Meng Hui's tribulation clouds still looks massive," Ruan Xing sighed.

Qintai He did not respond. He withdrew his gaze and walked toward his own dwelling on his own.

A look of deep worry overflowed from Yin Feng's golden pupils. It stretched out its soft tongue to lick Qintai He's hand, as if to comfort him.

"Senior Brother Qintai?" Ruan Xing followed him in confusion and grabbed his sleeve, "What exactly happened?"

Qintai He's eyes were unfocused, his face blank, and he said faintly: "I might be going to die."

One hour ago.

The owners of the two streaks of light that Ruan Xing had once glanced at were standing upright in front of the hall, holding their swords and bowing in salute.

The current Sect Master of the Xuanbing Sect stood right in front of them, his face solemn. "Du Ruo, Mu Shi, is what you two said true?" "Every word is true," Mu Shi replied with his head lowered.

The Sect Master lowered his head and pondered for a moment.

When he received the news from Nanzhou, he had sent the two to meet the remaining dozen or so people returning, but they did not meet them at the expected time. After the two reported to him, they searched along the way and finally found traces at the junction of the Jinxia Sect and the Hanhai Sect. It was a pity, however, that a space rift had appeared there for no reason, sweeping everyone who was nearby at the time into it. The two did not dare to approach or go deep, and hurriedly sent a message to the Sect Master to inform him of this matter.

Upon hearing this, the Sect Master was both happy and worried. What he was happy about was that the appearance of a space-time rift likely signaled the emergence of a new Secret Realm there. Now that other sects did not yet know this news, as long as his Xuanbing Sect took control of the new Secret Realm first, he could immediately compensate for the losses of the two consecutive Secret Realms in Nanzhou.

What he was worried about was that the location where the space-time rift appeared did not border the Nanzhou Xuanbing Sect. He only hoped that this Secret Realm would not open in a fixed location; otherwise, the Jinxia Sect and the Hanhai Sect would certainly want a share of the spoils and make a scene.

He immediately sent a Spirit Severing Lord of the Dao, the Peak Master of Xiaochi Peak, Li Mengfan, to confirm whether it was truly a Secret Realm space-time rift, and to send a message to the Nanzhou Xuanbing Sect, telling them to make amends for their crimes and protect the news of the space-time rift from leaking.

Unfortunately, when Peak Master Li went to investigate, the commotion caused by resisting the space-time rift was too great. Not only was she injured and returned, but she also alerted the two nearby sects.

Du Ruo asked boldly: "Sect Master, although the Nanzhou Sect Leader and Elders had arrived when we left, I fear the two of them are not enough to stop other sects from coveting the Secret Realm. Should we make preparations early and send more manpower over?"

The Sect Master frowned, "Du Ruo, what else did your master say before she fell into a coma?"

Du Ruo answered carefully: "Master said, it is not like an ordinary Secret Realm... it was unobstructed when approaching, but walking was difficult when leaving, and the Qi within is strange; it does not look like a place rich in Spirit Qi."

One of the primary elements of becoming a Secret Realm is being rich in Spirit Qi.

The words left by Peak Master Li before she fell into a coma were also one of the important reasons for the Sect Master's hesitation. Peak Master Li is already over a thousand years old, and she has explored many Secret Realms in her life. That she could say such things is enough to prove that this space-time rift is not a place one can trespass into. She was even injured to the point of a coma before she had even entered. If one truly needed to go in and find the core to control the Secret Realm, at least several Spirit Severing Daojuns would be needed.

The greater possibility is that there is no return. It is fine to treat low-level disciples as consumables, but Spirit Severing Daojuns are one less for every one used; the Xuanbing Sect does not have such great capital to do so.

Moreover, this rift has already been discovered by the Jinxia Sect and the Hanhai Sect. Even if the Xuanbing Sect spent effort, energy, and manpower to take it, they would still have to share a portion of the benefits with them, which is truly not worth the loss.

"Did the Jinxia Sect and the Hanhai Sect put forward any demands?" the Sect Master asked.

Du Ruo said hesitantly: "The Jinxia Sect said they want to split it equally... the Hanhai Sect said that each should send an equal number of disciples to compete, and whoever can obtain the core, the Secret Realm belongs to them, and the other two sects can jointly share ten percent."

"Heh, what a thick face," the Sect Master sneered, "Peak Master Cheng, what do you think?"

The Xuanbing Sect currently has over a dozen Spirit Severing Daojuns, but not many participate in Sect affairs; most are devoted to closed-door cultivation or focusing on training their disciples.

The several Daojuns had just arrived and sat to the side, silently listening to the whole thing. Cheng Lu stroked the beard on his chin, "The Jinxia Sect and the Hanhai Sect seem not to know that even a Spirit Severing Daojun cannot retreat unscathed from this space-time rift. Since that is the case, I believe in Peak Master Li's judgment; this space-time rift is not necessarily a Secret Realm, and we can give it up."

"Even if we give it up, the Jinxia Sect and the Hanhai Sect are so arrogant and do not put my Xuanbing Sect in their eyes. It would be better to take advantage of the current information gap and let them learn a lesson," Qingyuan Daojun was no longer silent, speaking with a cold and arrogant expression.

Thanks to _Panda-jun_ for the tip~ Thanks to high school student Zhou Yingting for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Book Friend 20220918175316618 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Book Friend 20181105224043458 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Book Friend 20230601118_Ab for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Forest Green Wanderer Tea for the monthly ticket~ (End of chapter)