Chapter 18: The most dangerous person in the secret realm is Xiao Bumian.

Song Heyu closed his eyes and made a hand seal, his spiritual energy surging like a tide. The long sword in his hand was drawn with a clang, its blade gleaming with a chilling light, drawing a sword shadow in mid-air.

"Return to One Style, Slash!"

With a low shout from Song Heyu, the thick fog dissipated, and the true face of the cold pool was finally revealed.

The Cold Pool is located in an extremely secluded valley, with towering mountains on both sides. The water surface is covered with frost, and the trees on the pool grow exceptionally well. Their trunks are rough, and their twisted branches stretch wildly in all directions. The dense canopy is layered and interwoven into a huge, impenetrable net that completely blocks out the sunlight.

However, everything here seemed to be frozen in time.

The water surface was perfectly still without a ripple, the trees were charred black, and the whole space resembled a lifeless ink painting that had been abandoned for a thousand years.

There is no wind.

There was no sound.

Even the temperature seemed to be nonexistent.

Everyone's breathing became slightly labored.

The silence that had lasted for hundreds of years only began to stop when Xiao Bumian's boot tip touched the ground of the icy pool.

The whole world suddenly came alive.

The frost on the cold pool cracked from the edge, and the spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly towards the center. The broken ice collided with each other, making a crisp sound. What seeped out of the ice cracks was not pool water, but a dark blue mist, which condensed in the air into the phantom of a mermaid, and then disappeared in an instant.

The ancient trees on the shore have shed their dusty appearance, and their leaves are gradually tinged with a deep blue, with pale blue fluorescence flowing between the veins.

A breeze stirred, startling countless fireflies from among the withered leaves, tracing delicate streaks of light in the air. The deep blue of the distant pool and the warm yellow glow of the nearby fireflies blended together in the mist, like a dreamlike illusion.

"Mingjian." Xiao Bumian turned his head and frowned slightly when he saw that he hadn't followed.

"Wait a minute." Mingjian snapped out of his daze and jogged over after him.

Song Heyu was still a little worried. He felt that everything in this place was strange. "Junior Brother!"

Unfortunately, before he could stop him, Mingjian had already stepped forward.

Gu Zhi, looking on with exasperation, followed after them, cursing, "Are you kidding me? Song Heyu and I, two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, haven't even made a move yet, and you two Qi Refining stage trash are rushing up to your deaths?"

Mingjian silently cursed in his heart, thinking that if Gu Zhi knew Xiao Bumian's true identity, he would be scared to death. Let alone just a cold pool, the most dangerous thing in this secret realm is not the secret realm itself, but Xiao Bumian.

As long as Xiao Bumian doesn't do anything reckless or go inexplicably crazy, none of them will die.

Furthermore, as the system has stated, Xiao Bumian has not yet fallen into demonic possession, and his worldview remains one of compassion for all living beings. He would not easily allow his sect's disciples to die in front of him.

But Mingjian didn't say anything, only smiled and said, "Don't worry, everything's fine."

Gu Zhi, who caught up, glared at him and said irritably, "If anything had really happened, you and Xie Hanwei would be dead by now."

Xiao Bumian smiled, his eyes deep and somber. "You two seem to have a very good relationship."

Gu Zhi didn't catch his sarcastic tone and said disdainfully, "Who's on good terms with him? We're just worried that you two might attract something that would implicate us."

Mingjian remained silent.

He thought Xiao Bumian was hopeless; he could get jealous over something like this. But it was normal, since he was a yandere.

Unfortunately, Mingjian was only using him. Mingjian sighed and looked at Xiao Bumian with a sympathetic gaze.

Xiao Bumian chuckled softly, then smiled and said nothing more.

Seeing that Xiao Bumian was no longer causing trouble, Ming Jiancai continued his discussion with Gu Zhi and the others.

"I don't know if I misheard, but before the thick fog dissipated, I thought I heard a faint sound of water."

Song Heyu nodded, "I must have heard correctly. I heard it too. I saw someone say in the Spirit Mirror that the Ice Lotus in the Cloud Lai Immortal Mansion has a companion beast. Although this place has now become a merfolk ruin, I imagine that a high-grade spiritual herb like the Ice Lotus must be guarded by a high-level magical beast."

Gu Zhi comes from the ancient family of Beihai, an ancient family that has lived alongside the merfolk for generations. In his childhood, he often went diving into the deep sea with his elders, and his understanding of the merfolk was far greater than that of Ming Jian.

Holding his sword, he said, "Looking at the illusory figures of the merfolk along the way, this secret realm is at most only a thousand years old. But to be able to open up such a large-scale water palace, it must have been at least a royal family that once dominated a sea among the merfolk."

"However, I thought about it for a long time, but I couldn't think of a mermaid clan that matched. It seems that someone has erased the traces."

Upon hearing this, Song Heyu frowned and asked, "What level of cultivation would be needed to erase these traces?"

"At least at the level of Immortal Venerable Hanwei," Gu Zhi shrugged.

Ming paused, then subconsciously glanced in Xiao Bumian's direction.

Xiao Bumian remained unmoved, as if nothing that happened had anything to do with him.

He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that ever since Xiao Bumian stepped into the cold pool, he seemed listless and dispirited.

But Mingjian only glanced at it before quickly looking away.

Gu Zhi took in Ming Jian's little actions and sneered, "Looking at him won't help. I'm talking about Immortal Venerable Hanwei. Not everyone named Hanwei is Immortal Venerable Hanwei, okay?"

Mingjian: "..."

So pitiful.

He looked at Gu Zhi with an expression as if he were looking at an idiot, thinking to himself, "You were right, he really is a genuine, lowly immortal."

Mingjian was afraid that if he continued like this, Xiao Bumian would quietly kill him one day, so he abruptly changed the subject, "How do you know so much about the Merfolk?"

Gu Zhi said, "Because I've seen merfolk."

Mingjian: "Oh, oh."

After a long pause, he suddenly froze, “...Huh?”

Seeing his reaction, Song Heyu chuckled and said, "Gu Zhi's ancestral home is in Beihai."

Mingjian: "Do you know the writing system of the Merfolk?"

Gu Zhi remained silent, "Natural understanding."

Mingjian: "..."

You should have said so earlier!

Then he wouldn't need to beg Xiao Bumian!

The system promptly reminded: "[Host, some interaction is still necessary during the strategy missions; you don't need to feel like you're at a disadvantage.]"

Besides, Xiao Bumian likes you so much. Look, he clearly didn't need to enter the secret realm. If he wasn't worried about your safety, why would he have come in with you? He did it all to protect you.

Mingjian got goosebumps from listening to this, and secretly glanced at Xiao Bumian, subconsciously retorting, "Who said that? Maybe there's something he wants in this secret realm."

The system was extremely unwilling to openly speculate about Xiao Bumian, and its static crackled with anger. [You're talking nonsense! In the plot, this is clearly the moment you first met Xie Linzhao. At that time, Xiao Bumian was still in seclusion. How could she have entered for this reason?]

"You know he was in seclusion at this point in the original storyline, so the thing next to me now is a ghost!"

system:【……】

It was stuck for a long time, unable to find anything to refute Mingjian's opinion.

Seeing his smugness, Ming said, "You can't argue with me now, can you?"

Having won the argument with the system, Ming finally saw the strange feeling that had given him goosebumps fade away.

The system was furious, and finally dropped its trump card: "[Congratulations, host, your current redemption value is eight percent. Please keep up the good work!]"

Mingjian: "..."

System: [See? See? The redemption points have increased again. This time, the host can't say that interaction is useless, can he?]

He was clearly feigning death.

The system cried out in Mingjian's consciousness for a while, but seeing that Mingjian was still unmoved, it finally shut up unwillingly.

Mingjian didn't hear the system's voice for quite a while before he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, when the system mentioned Xie Linzhao, although he didn't really want to get in touch with Xie Linzhao—after all, compared to Xiao Bumian, who had ill intentions towards him, Xie Linzhao, who was likely to stab him to death with a sword in the future, seemed more like a treacherous ghost—he had no choice but to go through this plot point.

So where is Xie Linzhao now? He can't even be found, so what kind of mission is he doing?

...

"Senior brother, are we going to die here?"

A thick fog blanketed the area, making the geography of the Merfolk Ruins unpredictable. Since the day before yesterday, dense fog had inexplicably descended upon this secret realm. At first, many cultivators thought it was normal, but they never expected it to continue for several days in a row, engulfing the entire secret realm and forcing them to abandon their missions.

The group eventually discovered the strange phenomenon. Many cultivators seemed to be trapped in a maze, getting stuck in the same place by the mist every time they tried to change locations to continue their training, unless they moved towards areas with less mist. Over time, they realized that this secret realm was deliberately guiding them to a certain place.

Even Lou Jing, whose cultivation had reached the Golden Core stage, was helpless against this mist.

The group of eighteen, each possessing at least two spiritual roots, were all direct disciples of elders from the eighteen peaks of Jianming Immortal Mountain. Although never explicitly stated, the disciples of the immortal sects tacitly understood that these eighteen were candidates to take charge of Jianming Immortal Mountain in the future.

Because of the prophecy about the supreme treasure of the Yanling Sect, the elders of each peak sent them together to seize the treasure. Unexpectedly, they were trapped by this fog. Along the way, they also took in many timid fellow disciples, so the number of cultivators following behind them increased.

Shi Lian comforted the disciple who had spoken, saying, "Junior brother, don't be afraid. With Senior Brother Lou here, we'll be fine."

It's no wonder Shi Lian was so confident. Before entering the country, his father, Shi Yan, had said that only cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage could enter the Yunlai Immortal Mansion, and that the high-level magical beasts inside rarely attacked cultivators.

Lou Jing is the only cultivator in the past hundred years of Jianming Immortal Mountain to enter the Golden Core stage at the age of twenty-seven. Master Yan values ​​him highly and personally takes him under his wing to teach him.

In Shi Lian's view, as long as Lou Jing was there, they would be fine.

The disciple's body was trembling slightly, and he cried until his voice was hoarse, "Will everything really be alright?"

Shi Lian nodded, "Of course, even if the sky falls, we'll hold it up, don't be afraid."

Upon hearing this, the disciple looked up and met Shi Lian's gaze. Their eyes met, and the disciple was taken aback. He calmed down a bit, wiped away his tears, and said, "If Senior Brother Shi Lian is not afraid, then I am not afraid either."

Shi Lian is the son of the sect leader. Compared to these cannon fodder, Shi Lian's status is much more noble. If he is not afraid, why should they be?

Many people listened and took these words to heart.

They didn't speak, but they were definitely calmer than before, despite their previous agitation.

They walked for another half day, still shrouded in white mist. Finally, one of the disciples couldn't take it anymore, crying as he crushed the jade talisman at his waist. "I can't take it anymore! I have to leave! This secret realm is too evil!"

Before his disciples could stop him, an unexpected event occurred. The moment the jade talisman shattered, the crying disciple froze, and after a long while, turned around, looking at everyone with despair in his eyes, "...What should we do, Senior Brother Shi Lian, Senior Brother Lou, why can't we get out even after I've shattered the jade talisman?"