Chapter 486

The Secret Realm is not like the outside world; without elders to look after you, you are mortal enemies for the sake of profit, and in the face of immense gain, even fellow disciples or clansmen might become backstabbers and deliver a knife to your back.

The moment he entered the pitch-black passage, a sensation of the world spinning appeared, and in the blink of an eye, the environment before him changed abruptly.

This was a forest with lush foliage, only the vegetation here was almost entirely fire-red, and Li Zhangsheng could still feel a scorching heat; the temperature here likely reached forty or fifty degrees.

Li Zhangsheng did not feel surprised by the evolution of the surrounding environment, because Xu Wenhua had repeatedly warned him about these things.

Furthermore, apart from Li Zhangsheng, there were no traces of anyone else nearby, though a spatial portal stood behind him.

The Fire Flame Secret Realm is quite peculiar; as long as a Monster Tamer steps into the Secret Realm, they will be randomly teleported to various corners.

If lucky, one might appear in a treasure land nurturing Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure; if unlucky, one might appear in the nest of a powerful wild Spirit Beast and become their meal.

Most, however, are like Li Zhangsheng, teleported to seemingly unremarkable places.

Li Zhangsheng did not relax because of this; the Fire Flame Secret Realm is full of crises, and while open spears are easy to dodge, hidden arrows are hard to guard against; even if he was very confident in his own strength, he had to maintain sufficient vigilance.

At the first moment, Li Zhangsheng released his Mental Power, frantically sweeping the surrounding scene.

There was no sign of anyone else within a thousand-meter radius, though the number of wild Spirit Beasts was quite high; from time to time, one could see existences flickering with bright light spots, which were High Quality Fairy.

The Fire Flame Secret Realm has existed for hundreds of years, and coupled with abundant energy, the sheer number of wild Spirit Beasts here is evident, and it is possible that powerful existences have been born.

Unfortunately, the wild Spirit Beasts within range were at most Medium Grade, and due to limited time, Li Zhangsheng had no intention of subduing them.

At this time, Li Zhangsheng took out a large sheet of blank parchment, and under the control of his Mental Power, several quill pens began to move, sketching out scenes upon it.

The seven people from Yuanling Academy entering the Secret Realm also carried the task of drawing maps to prepare for those who would come later.

After drawing the general scene of the thousand-meter radius, Li Zhangsheng casually named this forest 'Ronghuo Forest'.

Ronghuo Forest did not seem large, because a corner of Li Zhangsheng's Mental Power had already exited the range of Ronghuo Forest; it was probably only a few dozen miles in circumference.

In addition to wild Spirit Beasts, Li Zhangsheng also sensed colorful light spots; those were energy fluctuations inadvertently emitted by Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.

These energy fluctuations varied in strength, and among them, a patch of energy light spots of the same color gathered together, emitting intense energy fluctuations.

Li Zhangsheng thought for a moment, summoned Aixi directly, and walked toward the direction where the energy fluctuations were located.

Along the way, Li Zhangsheng remained vigilant, approaching the destination rapidly at lightning speed.

Unexpectedly, he not only did not encounter any Monster Tamer on the way, but he did not even see the shadow of a wild Spirit Beast.

Well, to seek profit and avoid harm is the instinct of living beings, let alone wild Spirit Beasts with a certain level of intelligence; as soon as they sensed the aura faintly emitted by Aixi, they immediately dismissed the thought of attacking.

If I can't afford to provoke you, can't I just hide?

As he approached the destination, the surrounding environment changed subtly, and the surrounding fire-red vegetation began to show signs of malnutrition.

Soon, this scene became more intense, and by the time he reached a certain depth, the vegetation had completely withered, giving a desolate and bleak feeling.

This place was already near the location where the energy fluctuations were emitted; according to common sense, any place nurturing Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure often has powerful wild Spirit Beasts guarding it, commonly known as guardian Spirit Beasts.

But as it turned out, Li Zhangsheng arrived at the location of the energy fluctuations without any surprise or danger.

In this place grew a lush green tree, which was also the first time Li Zhangsheng had seen a green tree in Ronghuo Forest.

The green tree was more than ten meters high, as thick as three people could embrace, with lush foliage, and several tender, purple fruits growing on it.

Li Zhangsheng's Mental Power was always in an extended state, but what puzzled him was that there were no wild Spirit Beasts in the area of the green tree.

"Could it be a Spirit Beast with the Breath Concealment talent? No, even with the Breath Concealment talent, it would still exist in the form of light spots."

Li Zhangsheng thought this to himself, while outwardly he did not relax his vigilance; who knew if someone had killed the guardian Spirit Beast here and was waiting in ambush in the dark.

When he got closer, Li Zhangsheng could see that every purple fruit had a pattern that looked like an eyeball.

"Purple Pupil Glazed Fruit!"

With such obvious characteristics, Li Zhangsheng recognized it at a glance.

Purple Pupil Glazed Fruit: Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object, containing Special Energy; wiping the eyes with the juice of the Purple Pupil Glazed Fruit for a long time can obtain the Purple Pupil Spirit Eye, which can See Through Falsehood and is not affected by illusions. Note: Before obtaining the Spirit Eye, once you stop wiping with the Purple Pupil Glazed Fruit juice, all previous efforts will be wasted; additionally, it is ineffective on Demon Pet.

The efficacy of the Purple Pupil Glazed Fruit is astonishing; it can allow a Monster Tamer to obtain Spirit Eye-type divine abilities, which can See Through Falsehood and remain unaffected by illusions, making it very cost-effective.

Besides this, the Purple Pupil Glazed Fruit is also a material for certain obscure pill formulas or potion recipes.

"A total of seven Purple Pupil Glazed Fruits, and they are all fully mature!"

Looking at the fruits on the green tree, Li Zhangsheng's heart was filled with joy.

Li Zhangsheng stopped not far from the green tree.

Pada~ Pada~

The next moment, the Purple Pupil Glazed Fruits on the green tree shook and fell down in unison, as if the treasure were choosing its master, actively falling into Li Zhangsheng's arms.

This was naturally not the treasure choosing its master, but the object-manipulation effect of his Mental Power.

"Ah!"

Just at this moment, a scream came from afar.

Li Zhangsheng's heart tightened; he placed the seven Purple Pupil Glazed Fruits into a Jade Box for safekeeping, then rode Aixi and ran toward the direction where the scream originated.

After Li Zhangsheng disappeared, a doll-like little girl silently emerged from the ground; she had two buns on her head and looked at most three or four years old.

However, unlike an ordinary doll, complex special patterns were carved on her forehead.

"Good thing I wasn't discovered!"

The little girl patted her chest in lingering fear; to her, Aixi's aura was too terrifying.

Whoosh whoosh~

In an instant, Li Zhangsheng's figure appeared abruptly and grabbed at the little girl.

It turned out that even when Li Zhangsheng left, his Mental Power remained in an extended state, and he focused heavily on this place, so when the little girl emerged from the ground, he sensed her existence and returned.

Seeing that he was about to grab the little girl, the corners of Li Zhangsheng's mouth turned up; he could even see the panic in the little girl's eyes.

From the feedback of his Mental Power, the little girl emitted very strong energy fluctuations, almost reaching the level of a Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure grade treasure.

"Ah!"

The little girl screamed in fright, her expression extremely panicked, but before she could be caught by Li Zhangsheng, she suddenly disappeared with a 'whoosh', silently drilling into the ground and vanishing.

Soil and stones posed no obstacle to the little girl, just like an earth-escaping technique, which directly caused Li Zhangsheng to grab at empty air.

The smile Li Zhangsheng had raised stiffened; he subconsciously looked at the spot where the young girl had vanished, only to see the ground there just as it had been before—this was even more silent and traceless than an Earth-Escaping Technique.

"Grass and Wood Essence; this is likely a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that has gained sentience."

After the girl vanished, Li Zhangsheng could still smell a refreshing medicinal fragrance, but as for exactly what kind of Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure had gained sentience, that was not something Li Zhangsheng could know.

It was also at this moment that Aixi rushed over; due to the Soul Grafting, Aixi could 'see' the scene that had just occurred.

Without hesitation, Aixi immediately arrived at the spot where the girl had vanished, her black nose twitching as she carefully sniffed for the scent.

After a long while, Aixi shook her head, unable to help.

Li Zhangsheng frowned, having no way to deal with this; unless the girl came out on her own, he had no way at all.

However, this girl radiated an energy aura comparable to a Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure, and Li Zhangsheng did not want to give up easily.

Treasures of this level were not common!

But what could he do if he didn't want to give up? The girl's earth-escaping ability was too bizarre, and ordinary methods were completely ineffective.

Unless... she didn't stand on the ground, but that was easier said than done.

Li Zhangsheng searched again, unwilling to give up, but the girl seemed to have vanished, never revealing a trace again.

Under these circumstances, Li Zhangsheng could only give up for the time being; right now, the inheritance of the Flame King Di Zhiyi was the most important thing.

As he left, Li Zhangsheng wiped his face with his hand; under the effect of the Hundred-Change Thousand-Illusion Mask, his appearance changed instantly, becoming that of an unremarkable youth.

There were no Pseudo-Kings here; almost no one could see through Li Zhangsheng's Camouflage.

Soon, Li Zhangsheng rode Aixi to the place where the screaming had occurred.

What met his eyes was a mutilated human corpse, giving one the feeling that it had been torn apart alive by some creature.

Judging by the corpse's attire and the lingering aura, this person was a Third Rank disciple of the Tiantai Sect, and the Space Ring and Monster Pet Bag on his hands had already vanished.

Not far away, there were also several Demon Pet corpses; they were not intact, and some precious materials had not even been removed yet.

Among them was a precious white dragon corpse; only a portion of the Dragon Scale had been peeled off, while the Dragon Skin and Dragon Horn remained intact.

How could an ordinary person abandon a precious white dragon corpse? At the very least, Li Zhangsheng asked himself, he could not.

If his guess was correct, the other party had likely not left; it was more probable that they were hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Li Zhangsheng remained calm on the surface, but his heart was on high alert; he was an extremely cautious person and would not easily be careless.

It was just that due to the other party's Breath Concealment, Li Zhangsheng's Mental Power did not discover the other party's figure for a moment.

Swish, swish, swish~

Suddenly, a harsh sound of breaking air rang out, and three Flying Demon Pets flew rapidly toward Li Zhangsheng in a triangular formation.

At the same time, the other party cast the Dimensional Anchor Secret Technique, not giving Li Zhangsheng the chance to use Instant Movement.

These three Flying Demon Pets were a Three-Colored Peacock, a Red Li Bird, and a Scarlet Flame Flying Dragon.

Among them, the Three-Colored Peacock had reached the Leader level, while the other two were Elite level Demon Pets.

【Spirit Beast Name】: Three-Colored Peacock (Mature Stage)

【Spirit Beast Realm】: Leader 3rd Rank

【Spirit Beast Race】: Medium Monarch

【Spirit Beast Quality】: Superior Quality

【Spirit Beast Bloodline】: Five-Colored Peacock (Thick)

【Spirit Beast Attribute】: Gold, Wood, Water

【Spirit Beast Status】: Healthy

【Spirit Beast Weakness】: Earth

The Five-Colored Peacock is a rather peculiar type of avian Divine Beast, possessing five elemental attributes; its innate skill, Five-Colored Divine Light, is even more invincible, not only being the nemesis of five-elemental energy but also possessing the peculiar function of capturing people and objects.

"Well come!"

Li Zhangsheng was not alarmed but delighted; he was only afraid that the other party would not take the initiative to attack, and it was precisely for this reason that he had changed his appearance.

A person's name is like the shadow of a tree; Li Zhangsheng was no nobody. Among the 40 people who entered the Fire Flame Secret Realm this time, his strength and influence were definitely in the top three. He was absolutely the hardest character to chew, and most people did not want to encounter Li Zhangsheng.

Li Zhangsheng shook his Monster Pet Bag, and the Light Blessing Bird, Venom Flying Dragon, and Red Dragon flew out, instantly engaging the opponent's three Flying Demon Pets in combat.

The Light Blessing Bird did not have five-elemental attributes, so it was tasked with facing the Three-Colored Peacock; even if the Three-Colored Peacock had comprehended the Five-Colored Divine Light, its power would be greatly reduced.

The Red Dragon and Venom Flying Dragon were of a higher realm and were completely suppressing the opponent.

Roar~

At the same time, Aixi ignored the battle in the air and lunged rapidly toward the location where the opponent was.

Even though the opponent was hidden very deeply, the moment they attacked, their hiding spot was detected by Li Zhangsheng and Aixi.

In the grass not far away, Dou Hua expressed that he was very panicked. He had just killed a Third Rank disciple of the Tiantai Sect, but who knew that while he was looting the spoils, he had sensed movement. Because he was reluctant to part with the remaining loot, he had hidden in the dark, waiting for an opportunity.

At first, Dou Hua thought Li Zhangsheng was just an ordinary Fourth-rank Demon Tamer, which is why he thought of ambushing him, hoping to obtain a large sum of resources.

The first batch of people to explore the Secret Realm were all geniuses cultivated with the full effort of major forces; most of them carried significant resources, not to mention a Fourth-rank Demon Tamer.

It was not until Li Zhangsheng attacked that he realized he had kicked an iron plate.

Even though the other party had changed his appearance, he guessed the other party's true identity at once. A man as outstanding as Li Zhangsheng, no matter how he disguised himself, was like a firefly in the dark night—bright, clear, and dazzling.

Possessing so many outstanding Temporary Spirit Pets, Dou Hua could not think of anyone else it could be besides Li Zhangsheng.

Even the Seventh Prince, Dou Yuanbiao, did not have so many outstanding Temporary Spirit Pets.

"Run!"

After recognizing Li Zhangsheng's identity, Dou Hua began to lose his nerve and even felt the shadow of death; he knew very well that he was no match for Li Zhangsheng.

When the two were still more than ten meters apart, Dou Hua mounted his Silver-Winged Pegasus, intent on fleeing in a panic, hoping to find strong reinforcements along the way, such as Dou Yuanbiao or his other three Fourth-rank companions.

At this moment, Dou Hua could no longer care about those three Flying Demon Pets and merely issued the order for them to flee.

"There is no one else nearby!"

Li Zhangsheng's gaze was like a torch; he scanned the surroundings with his Mental Power, and after confirming that there was no one around, Li Zhangsheng rode Aixi in pursuit.

If you strike a snake and fail to kill it, you will suffer from its retaliation; Li Zhangsheng understood this principle very well, not to mention that Dou Hua had been the one to strike first, so how could he let Dou Hua escape again?

Most importantly, the Imperial Family's lineup was too strong; how could he not weaken them? Only then would he have a greater chance of obtaining the inheritance of Flame King Di Zhiyi.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Imperial Family members had not yet gathered, he had to weaken the Imperial Family's strength as much as possible, let alone Dou Hua, who was a Fourth Rank member of the Imperial Family.

Before entering the Secret Realm, Li Zhangsheng had inquired about the basic information of the Imperial Family members; except for Seventh Prince Dou Yuanbiao, the other nine were basically royal relatives, but they were somewhat distant from the current Emperor, so killing them would not cause too great of a consequence.

Especially since this was the Fire Flame Secret Realm, as long as there were no eyewitnesses, it would basically not be leaked; after all, those Sixth-Rank Experts and even Pseudo-Kings could not enter the Fire Flame Secret Realm.

Dou Hua's flying horse was very fast and had reached the Leader level, but no matter how fast it was, how could it be faster than Aixi?

Dou Hua kept paying attention to the movement behind him; Aixi's swift speed made Dou Hua feel extremely terrified, and his face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Wind Blade Frenzy!

During the pursuit, Aixi opened its blood-red maw, and countless cyan light spots gathered, splitting into dozens of foot-long Wind Blades, which slashed toward Dou Hua.

Dou Hua's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly commanded the flying horse to activate a defensive skill.

In an instant, the flying horse was covered by a milky-white barrier, and a large number of Wind Blades landed on it, causing layers of violent ripples, which made Dou Hua tremble with fear.

"Not good!"

When a large number of cracks appeared on the barrier, Dou Hua thought to himself that it was bad while hurriedly jumping off the flying horse.

Clatter~

The barrier shattered, and the remaining Wind Blades cut into the flying horse, carving out a large number of bloodstains of varying depths amidst the flying horse's miserable shrieks.

Just the aftermath alone was enough to nearly deal a heavy blow to the flying horse, causing it to fall directly from the air.

On the other side, a pair of orange-yellow wings extended from Dou Hua's back, slowing down his falling momentum.

At this moment, the Three-Colored Peacock flew over, and not far behind it was the Light Blessing bird.

Suddenly, Dou Hua's expression changed drastically as a wave of dizziness washed over him; his Consciousness Sea fell into a tremor, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

As it turned out, the Red Dragon had scored the first success by forcefully killing the Red Li Bird, which caused the backlash on Dou Hua.

"Stop him!"

Seeing Li Zhangsheng rushing over again, Dou Hua hurriedly commanded the Three-Colored Peacock to intercept, while he himself flapped his orange-yellow wings and fled regardless of everything.

Whether a Demon Pet was more important or his life was more important, Dou Hua naturally leaned toward the latter; he possessed a special treasure that could temporarily suppress the backlash as long as his Life-Bound Demon Pet did not die.

Five-Colored Divine Light!

Seeing Aixi rushing over at high speed, the Three-Colored Peacock directly activated its trump card, wanting to temporarily trap Aixi.

On the tail of the Three-Colored Peacock, Five-Colored Light Swords flickered on the three-colored feathers; if one looked closely, the Gold, Wood, and Water attributes were clearly more prominent, while the Fire and Earth were relatively dim, which was mainly due to its own attributes.

It was also because of this that the Three-Colored Peacock could not exert the full power of the Five-Colored Divine Light.

Swish~

The Five-Colored Divine Light instantly enveloped Aixi and Li Zhangsheng, and their figures were shrouded by a colorful ball of light; the Three-Colored Peacock tried its best to drag the colorful ball of light into its three-colored feathers.

Crushing Claw!

Aixi raised its right claw, a sharp cold glint flashed, and it slammed fiercely onto the colorful ball of light.

Bang~ Clatter~

In the end, the gap was still too large; the colorful ball of light could not withstand it and shattered with a boom.

Countless five-colored fragments scattered, and the Three-Colored Peacock was clearly affected, trying to fly back in a fluster.

In an instant, Aixi suddenly appeared in front of the Three-Colored Peacock.

The Three-Colored Peacock subconsciously swung its right wing, but it was bitten by Aixi.

Rip~

Aixi shook its head, and the Three-Colored Peacock's right wing was torn off directly; blood gushed out instantly, spraying down from the air.

Steel Tail!

Not giving the Three-Colored Peacock a chance, Aixi quickly rotated its body; its tail flickered with a metallic luster, like a vertical steel whip, and it accurately lashed onto the Three-Colored Peacock's neck.

Snap~ Crack!

Before the Three-Colored Peacock could even scream, its slender neck was snapped directly, and its head was twisted to an exaggerated angle.

After finishing off the Three-Colored Peacock, Aixi continued to pursue Dou Hua.

Before the Three-Colored Peacock could fall to the ground, the subsequently arrived Light Blessing bird grabbed the corpse of the Three-Colored Peacock to prevent it from falling into a mess.

Dou Hua could be considered to have been sabotaged by himself; that Dimensional Anchor made him temporarily unable to perform Instant Movement.

However, as long as he escaped the range of the Dimensional Anchor, he could successfully perform Instant Movement.

Unfortunately, Li Zhangsheng had never forgotten this detail, so how could he give Dou Hua a chance to escape?

Thus, before Dou Hua could escape the range of the Dimensional Anchor, Li Zhangsheng actively activated the Dimensional Anchor Secret Technique, causing the nearby space to be affected.

Dou Hua was so angry he wanted to vomit blood, yet he was helpless.

With Dou Hua's speed, how could he compare to Aixi? In the span of a few breaths, the distance between Aixi and Dou Hua was only a dozen meters.

Dou Hua could only bite the bullet and summon his Demon Pets, wanting to delay for time.

However, Aixi did not give him this chance at all and directly activated Instant Flash; the massive tiger body disappeared instantly.

When it reappeared, Aixi appeared above Dou Hua's head and bit toward his head.

"No, I am the son of Yan King Dou Zhangbiao..."

With death imminent, Dou Hua had not yet given up the idea of escaping, wanting to use his identity to make Li Zhangsheng hesitate.

Seeing that Aixi did not stop, Dou Hua's eyes were filled with fear and regret; if he hadn't been too greedy, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

Crack!

Dou Hua only felt his vision go black and his neck ache, and he fell directly into eternal Darkness.

Li Zhangsheng did not regret killing Dou Hua; yes, Dou Hua was indeed the son of Yan King Dou Zhangbiao, but he was an illegitimate son, and besides, the Yan King was known for having many children, a full twenty or so, not to mention there were no eyewitnesses.

After Dou Hua died, all his Demon Pets suffered a backlash; Li Zhangsheng had no intention of showing mercy and let them all "follow" Dou Hua.

The most important thing for a family is to be together in one piece!

Li Zhangsheng followed his usual practice of cleaning the battlefield, scavenging for valuable items, and even burning Dou Hua's corpse to ashes, while also doing his best to erase any traces of the battle.

From this battle, Li Zhangsheng obtained two Space Rings; one belonged to Dou Hua, and the other to a Third Rank disciple of the Tiantai Sect.

Apart from that, there was a pile of Demon Pet corpses, among which the three-colored peacock and the white dragon were the most valuable.

(End of this chapter)