Qing Xuanzi stroked his beard and smiled, "This mirage pearl has been cultivating for several hundred years. Although its power is not strong, it is quite wonderful if used in conjunction with an array."

Rong Jiaojiao handed it to Qing Xuanzi: "Master, isn't your Twelve Yuan Chen Formation missing a core? Wouldn't this be perfect?"

Qing Xuanzi thought about it and agreed. He took it and said, "Alright, Master, you can have it."

Rong Jiaojiao nodded: "The stronger Master is, the safer we will be."

As they were talking, Zi Ling suddenly pricked up her ears and looked warily at the distant sea.

They saw that the seawater in the distance had turned an eerie dark green and was spreading toward them at a visible speed, as if it were the prelude to a disaster.

"Not good!" Qing Xuanzi's expression changed drastically. "The blood of the Mirage Demon has attracted something even more terrifying! Let's go!"

The three of them dared not delay and immediately ascended into the sky on their swords.

Just as they left, a huge black shadow swept across the seabed, creating a giant wave a hundred meters high, as if it would tear the entire sea surface apart!

Rong Jiaojiao turned around and vaguely saw a huge creature that looked like a dragon but wasn't, swimming in the sea. She couldn't help but gasp: "Master, what is that?"

“A deep-sea dragon, at least a peak Earth Master level demon beast,” Qing Xuanzi said in a deep voice. “Fortunately, we ran fast, otherwise we might not have been its match.”

Zi Ling shrank her neck and obediently lay on Rong Jiaojiao's shoulder, no longer daring to move, as if she was also intimidated by this powerful aura.

The three continued their journey, this time not daring to be careless, constantly watching the sea for any signs of movement, fearing they might encounter similar dangers again.

After that, they traveled at a leisurely pace, visiting islands whenever they came across them, and sometimes resting at night.

Sometimes they would find some spiritual herbs, some they recognized and some they didn't, but the spiritual herbs always carried a faint spiritual energy, so they naturally wouldn't let them go.

I don't recognize it; I'll take it back and study it further.

I haven't encountered any major opportunities. Logically, there should be water veins in the sea, but the small secret realms have never given me any hints. I don't know if the sea is too deep or if I just haven't encountered them yet.

One month later, at dusk, they saw the largest island they had encountered on their trip.

The island has sparse vegetation, consisting mostly of bare rocks and a few shrubs.

They didn't have much hope for the island, but Rong Jiaojiao still slowly landed on the rocks of the island on her sword.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy smell, rushed towards me.

She looked around and found the island even more desolate than she had imagined—bare rocks were exposed, with only a few low shrubs growing tenaciously, casting long, thin shadows in the setting sun.

"The spiritual energy here is thin, so there probably isn't anything good here," Zi Ling said telepathically after scanning the surroundings.

Qing Xuanzi smiled and said, "It's getting late. Whether we have anything or not, we should still rest here."

Rong Jiaojiao, however, felt that the little secret realm was reminding her that there were good things here.

However, this feeling wasn't very strong. Rong Jiaojiao guessed that the items might not be very good, so the little secret realm wasn't very enthusiastic.

Rong Jiaojiao said, "Master, I sensed something good, but it shouldn't be anything too precious."

Qing Xuanzi laughed and said, "Something is better than nothing. Let's go see what we want to eat."

Rong Jiaojiao once again flew on her sword, carrying Qing Xuanzi and Zi Ling towards the direction she sensed in the small secret realm.

They eventually stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea.

Looking at the stone wall that seemed no different from its surroundings, Qing Xuanzi's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "Something's strange!"

He made a hand seal and chanted an incantation, and a beam of green light struck the rock wall.

Ripples spread across the surface of the rock, revealing a hidden restriction.

"This is... an ancient concealment seal?" Qing Xuanzi's expression was solemn as he gently traced the seal's patterns with his fingers. "Judging from the technique, it was set up at least a thousand years ago."

With such a strong restriction, there must be some extraordinary rare and precious materials inside.

Rong Jiaojiao thought that the small secret realm's lackluster response might be due to the obstruction of this restriction.

Qing Xuanzi took out the jade hairpin that could break the restriction and tried to break the restriction, but it had no effect at all.

He frowned: "The restrictions here are too profound; this jade hairpin cannot be broken."

Rong Jiaojiao asked, "Then what should we do? Use force to break it?"

Qing Xuanzi shook his head: "No, let alone whether we can break this restriction, even if we do, the treasure's aura might leak out. Then, instead of getting any opportunities, we might even encounter a powerful demon."

Rong Jiaojiao nodded: "That's true, the treasures here might be very valuable, otherwise there wouldn't be such a strong restriction. What do we do now? We can't just give up, can we?"

Qing Xuanzi tried many methods, but none of them worked. He even tried using an array to break the restriction, but he still failed.

It was already dark, so they could only go up to the top of the cliff to rest and think of another way to deal with it later that night.

The next day, Qing Xuanzi tried a different formation, but it still didn't work. Rong Jiaojiao asked Ziling, "Ziling, can your Eye of Truth find the core of the formation? We don't need to break the formation, we just need to get in."

Upon hearing this, Zi Ling's eyes flashed with a faint purple light as she carefully examined the restriction patterns on the stone wall.

After a moment, it shook its head: "This restriction is too profound. My Eye of Insight can only see the trajectory of the restriction's movement, but I cannot find the location of the array's core."

Rong Jiaojiao was somewhat disappointed. She tried to communicate with the secret realm to find out if it had the ability to break the restrictions.

Originally, she was just trying it out, but the little secret realm flickered in her sea of ​​consciousness and then flew out from between Rong Jiaojiao's eyebrows, shooting out a beam of light that shone on the restriction.

Instantly, the mirror revealed an opening large enough for a person to enter and exit, but the little secret realm abandoned them and eagerly flew inside.

Rong Jiaojiao, Qing Xuanzi, and Zi Ling immediately followed, and the restriction healed within two breaths of them entering.

Upon entering, they found themselves in what seemed like a hidden paradise.

Rong Jiaojiao quickly instructed the little secret realm: "Don't absorb anything good you find yet."

She repeated it several times, but it's unclear whether the little secret realm actually listened.

In stark contrast to the desolation outside, the cave is filled with such rich spiritual energy that it almost condenses into mist. Glowing spiritual stones are embedded in the surrounding stone walls, making the entire space appear dreamlike.

Qing Xuanzi and Rong Jiaojiao were overjoyed: "This is a spirit stone mine, and the quality is not low. With such rich spiritual energy, it must be at least a mid-grade spirit stone mine."

After careful observation, Qing Xuanzi said, "There must have been a battle here before," pointing to the marks on the cave walls, which looked like they had been the site of magical attacks.

Rong Jiaojiao said, "Master, could it be that some predecessors discovered the vein and used magic to open a hole to mine the spirit stones?"

Qing Xuanzi said, "That's possible, but none of that matters. What's important is the spirit stone mine here. Jiaojiao, do you sense any danger?"

After carefully sensing the surroundings, Rong Jiaojiao said, "No, Master, I don't sense any danger."

Qing Xuanzi nodded: "That's good. Let's go find your treasure first, and then make other plans."