Chapter 216: The Abnormal Qingyun Secret Realm

After these minor interludes, it was Su Chen's turn; Shi Zhengxiong and his five Elders gathered together to jointly exert their Spiritual Power.

Instantly, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and smoke-blue Spiritual Power converged between the semicircular stone arches. A vortex slowly emerged from within, and a gale rose instantly around the stone arches, as if it were a man-eating beast, ruthlessly tearing apart and devouring every weak creature.

Following Shi Zhengxiong's order, the Second Elder took the lead with his group, and the crowd entered the Secret Realm in an orderly fashion.

Su Chen and Liu Ruyan walked at the very back, feeling the world spin around them. What met their eyes was a sky devoid of color, and the surrounding trees were so dense they blocked out the sun, leaving almost no daylight. The trees grew abnormally lush, yet their trunks were almost pure black, revealing an ominous aura everywhere.

"What is going on?"

Liu Ruyan could not help but mutter to herself, "This scenery is so strange."

"Has Sister Ruyan been here before? Is there any difference from before?"

Upon hearing this, Lv Luo curiously leaned over.

After these few days of getting along, Lv Luo discovered that Liu Ruyan was a person who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Furthermore, since there was truly no one else to talk to, and Lv Luo had a restless personality, they had become close with Liu Ruyan after some back and forth.

"Silly Lv Luo, the Qingyun Secret Realm was last opened a thousand years ago, and your Sister Ruyan isn't even a thousand years old yet."

Su Chen could not help but say with a smile.

Although Lv Luo was not young, they were terrifyingly slow in some aspects and very simple-minded.

Lv Luo touched their head in embarrassment, stuck out their tongue, and said, "Then where does Sister Ruyan think it is different?"

"As the private Secret Realm of the Qingyun Alliance, as the Saintess, I naturally have to understand it. According to records in books, the Qingyun Secret Realm is filled with Spiritual Power and is a peaceful land. Yet, we have been inside for so long, and not only have we not seen a single living creature, but everywhere also reveals an ominous aura."

Hearing this, Liu Ruyan slowly explained.

"Could it be that Shi Zhengxiong sent you all here this time because he also wanted to investigate the strangeness of the Qingyun Secret Realm?"

Su Chen asked tentatively.

"That wouldn't be it; that would be too risky."

Liu Ruyan said, "Almost everyone who entered this time is an elite disciple of the Qingyun Alliance, the future pillars of the sect. If it were purely to investigate the strangeness, the sacrifice would be too great."

Whether a sect is prosperous or not lies in the cultivation of its disciples; even if the Secret Realm is important, they would not stake so much on it.

Then there was only one possibility—Shi Zhengxiong also did not know that the Qingyun Secret Realm had changed.

"Since we have already entered, let's take it one step at a time. It will take at least another fifteen days for the Secret Realm to open again; we cannot just sit here and wait for death."

Su Chen's gaze was fixed on the distance, and he felt that he had come to the right place on this trip.

He had a vague premonition in his heart that the mutation in the Qingyun Secret Realm was likely related to the things he wanted to know.

"The three of us had better stick together; do not split up unless necessary."

Liu Ruyan nodded and urged them, feeling somewhat uneasy.

The three nodded, and only then did they continue walking.

Although this environment revealed an aura of death everywhere, along the way, there were still many rare treasures, and countless spirit herbs were plucked, all of which Su Chen generously gave to Liu Ruyan.

After all, she was his woman, and he was not lacking in such things.

Strangely, there was not much difference in time between them and the team led by the Second Elder, yet they had walked for several hours and, apart from occasionally seeing some demonic beasts, they had not seen the shadow of a single living person.

"Something is wrong."

Su Chen suddenly stopped while walking.

Liu Ruyan looked at him with suspicious eyes. Along the way, except for the ominous aura she felt at the beginning, everything had been smooth afterward; she had not discovered anything abnormal.

As a Tree Spirit, Lv Luo was even more sensitive to the aura of living things.

They also sensed that something was wrong.

"Ruyan, take out the Heavenly Dao Fruit you searched for earlier," Su Chen said.

Although Liu Ruyan did not know what he meant, she obediently took it out.

Su Chen took the fruit, and with a thought, the fruit instantly burned fiercely, turning into a pile of ashes in the blink of an eye.

"This is..."

Seeing this scene, Liu Ruyan was too shocked to speak.

The Heavenly Dao Fruit contained the power of the laws of the Heavenly Dao, and it could not be destroyed by ordinary Spirit Fire. Moreover, during the entire burning process, not a single bit of ash or Spiritual Power had dissipated.

"These treasures have no life force."

Lv Luo said first, "And it's very strange; some plants cannot grow in this environment as they are very delicate, yet it was very easy to pick them along our way, and we didn't even encounter any half-life beasts."

"Don't you guys feel that everything we've seen is very familiar?" Su Chen asked this to Lv Luo.

Upon hearing this, Lv Luo thought carefully for a moment and suddenly realized: "Aren't the spirit plants we just picked the ones the Master has? They are all treasures we are very familiar with."

"Right." Su Chen nodded.

Liu Ruyan had, after all, had little contact with Su Chen. Along the way, she had witnessed countless things that were hard to find outside, but looking at Lv Luo and Su Chen, they seemed accustomed to these things.

Su Chen... was truly too terrifying.

This cultivation mindset alone was definitely not something an ordinary person could compare to.

"Ruyan, do you remember what you said when you first came in?"

Su Chen's eyes were fixed on Liu Ruyan.

When discussing serious matters, Su Chen would restrain his usual devil-may-care temperament, and his words would inexplicably carry a sense of conviction, making people want to listen to him patiently and involuntarily.

"Is it how I described the Qingyun Secret Realm?"

Liu Ruyan suppressed the strange feeling in her heart and began to guess seriously.

"That's right."

Su Chen nodded and then looked into the distance, "This is completely different from the actual Qingyun Secret Realm."

"But it hasn't been entered for a thousand years, so it's normal for some changes to occur," Liu Ruyan could not help but say.

"But this change is a bit too big, and what we have seen and heard along the way is indeed somewhat abnormal."

Lv Luo was just a bit slow, but after reacting, they immediately began to speculate about the surroundings based on experience.

"Along this way, I have rarely been able to sense the aura of living creatures, and even those demonic beasts are very strange; they do not meet the standards of the realms we usually encounter and were defeated with ease."

Lv Luo recalled for a moment, her tone somewhat agitated, as if she had discovered something extraordinary.

"So where are we considered to be right now?"

The more Liu Ruyan heard, the more alarmed she became; she felt that this journey was becoming increasingly terrifying, as if a shroud of unknown mist hung ahead, preventing them from seeing the direction forward.

(End of this chapter)