breath

Although all the disciples of the Qingyun Sect were injured, they all held the storage rings they had snatched back in their hands.

One of the disciples sighed as he looked in the direction the evil cultivators had left, "What a pity, we were unable to kill them all this time."

The man in purple robes also gazed in the direction the evil cultivator had left, lost in thought.

Then he turned around and said to the disciples of Qingyun Sect, "Alright, now that we have retrieved the items, we must be more vigilant next time and not let evil cultivators take advantage of any loopholes."

After saying that, he was about to turn around and head in another direction when suddenly someone appeared in front of him, blocking his way.

"Fellow Daoists of Qingyun Sect, where are you headed? Our previously agreed cooperation... You have found your treasure, but we have not yet found ours."

A hint of impatience flashed in the purple-robed man's eyes, but he quickly concealed it. He wondered where this rogue cultivator came from, who was so impolite.

He tilted his head slightly, and a disciple immediately jumped out and spoke up: "Fellow Daoist, what you just said is not right. We did cooperate, that's true, but hasn't the cooperation ended? The cooperation we agreed on was to go out together to find the lost items, but we've already found everything we lost, and there's nothing we can do if your item isn't among them..."

"Sigh, we would like to help you search, but we have a mission in this secret realm. If we continue to help you search, we don't know how long it will take."

Nan Yi glanced at the other party a few times with a half-smile, seemingly unwilling to back down.

The man in purple suddenly rebuked the disciple who had spoken, saying, "Don't be rude!"

However, he didn't mention the cooperation between the two parties at all, and only frowned and said, "How about this, we'll lend you the Shadow-Seeking Mirror once, and then you can find it yourselves by following the direction. This way, we can also help you out."

After saying that, he took out the mirror and handed it to the young man blocking his way.

Then he saw the young man and the woman exchange a few glances, their eyes filled with resentment, yet they seemed afraid to resist. Finally, after glancing at the Qingyun Sect group, they accepted the Shadow-Seeking Mirror.

He scoffed inwardly. He had no time to play this game of finding things with these random cultivators from who-knows-where. If it weren't for maintaining the sect's image, he wouldn't have wasted his breath here, or even lent out the Shadow Mirror.

The mirror in Chu Li's hand quickly pointed out a direction.

The Qingyun Sect members left quickly. Chu Li watched their figures gradually disappear before she could finally let go of her earlier reluctance.

At this moment, Nan Yi finally managed a genuine smile.

This was actually a strategy they had discussed during the battle.

They envisioned two possible approaches from the Qingyun Sect: one was to go all the way and accompany them on their search for the Time Amber, but that would be troublesome, as they might have to shake them off halfway through.

The second scenario is the current situation. The Qingyun Sect is preparing to leave first, but before that, they must use the Seeking Mirror to pinpoint the exact location of the Time Amber.

Fortunately, the group from Qingyun Sect didn't have much patience and prepared to leave immediately.

Then Chu Li and Nan Yi would have to make a good impression on the Qingyun Sect disciples so that they wouldn't suspect their purpose.

Otherwise, if we directly use the mirror to find out what's going on, they might notice something.

After walking in this direction for a while, Chu Li was surprised to realize that this direction led to the center of the secret realm.

Their previous landing locations were scattered around the edge of the secret realm, so apart from cultivators with a clear destination, most cultivators should still be wandering around the edge of the secret realm in such a short time.

Then she thought of the secret realm stone that the evil cultivator had mentioned before, which was the primary goal of all evil cultivators who entered the secret realm—could the secret realm stone also be in this direction?

Just then, Nan Yi, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped. He waved to Chu Li behind him and whispered, "Senior Sister, look!"

Chu Li looked in the direction Nan Yi pointed and found a vast, open plain in front of her, a completely different style from where they were now.

They were in a dense thicket of trees, but the area in front of them looked more like a desert.

But aside from the unusual terrain, what was even more striking was the group of people standing in the center of the flat ground. They were dressed in similar attire and should be the same group of cultivators.

Among the group of cultivators stood a particularly conspicuous figure—a woman dressed in a snow-white dress, who stood out among the young men.

What's even more interesting is that while the young men around them were all at the Nascent Soul stage, the woman they were protecting in the middle was at the Foundation Establishment stage.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator being protected by a group of Nascent Soul cultivators?

Chu Li suddenly remembered that when they were at the entrance of the secret realm, he had heard someone mention a woman in the Foundation Establishment stage. Could this be her?

Just then, Chu Li suddenly felt a gaze directed at her. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, amazed at how perceptive she was. In that case, she tugged at Nan Yi's elbow, "Come on, let's go see what she's doing."

When the two approached the woman, she didn't seem surprised. A slight smile appeared on her beautiful face as she nodded slightly to Chu Li. "Are you the senior sister of the Myriad Manifestations Sect?"

The woman actually recognized her. She rarely showed her face in public. Judging from the fact that no one recognized her along the way, not even the evil cultivators, it was clear that most cultivators would have difficulty matching her face with her identity.

Chu Li's expression turned serious, and he began to examine her carefully. However, upon closer inspection, he discovered that the items she wore were all extraordinary.

Putting everything else aside, just take the hairpin she was wearing. It was plain and unadorned, without any pearls or gemstones, but it was engraved with countless flowing patterns, each of which contained spiritual energy. This hairpin alone could withstand three full-force attacks from a Nascent Soul cultivator.

It seems that the Nascent Soul stage cultivators around her are not her most powerful trump card. Her most powerful trump card is the ornaments she wears. Each one of them is enough to ensure her safety in this secret realm.

That hairpin—Chu Li's gaze suddenly fixed on it, it was…

Before she could even catch that fleeting sense of familiarity, she caught a glimpse of dark clouds rolling in from the distance, accompanied by rumbling sounds—she heard the woman beside her sneer, “They’ve finally arrived.”

Having said that, she ignored the other people around her and went straight to meet them.

In just a moment, Chu Li and Nan Yi were completely alone.

At this moment, Chu Li finally remembered that sense of familiarity and couldn't help but sigh softly, "So she is from the Liu family."

The vine-entwined symbol she had just seen was the Liu family crest.

Although the woman was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, she fearlessly faced the "dark cloud"—a thick, gloomy cloud composed of dozens of evil cultivators.

Moreover, all of these heretical cultivators were at the Nascent Soul stage.

"Get out of our way! I'm here for the Secret Realm Stone. If you want to stay alive, I advise you not to block our way," a heretical cultivator said bluntly.

But the woman made no move to leave. She just chuckled softly at the end, "I've finally waited for this day."

Upon hearing this, the leading evil cultivator finally turned his gaze to the Foundation Establishment stage woman in front of him, a hint of surprise in his eyes. In the cultivation world, seeking advantage and avoiding harm is the most important instinct for cultivators.

He didn't know how much courage this woman had to spout such nonsense in front of them, a group of evil cultivators.

But he had come to obtain the Secret Realm Stone and didn't want to waste too much time on other people, much less on the somewhat familiar decorations he saw. He then waved his hand, addressing the evil cultivator behind him:

"Half of you stay behind, and the other half come with me to search for the Secret Realm Stone. According to our information, the Secret Realm Stone is nearby!"

At this moment, the woman leaned over and laughed exaggeratedly, as if she had heard a funny joke. "Aren't you evil cultivators supposed to be smart by yourself? But why can't you even tell if a piece of news is true or false?"

The leading evil cultivator was stunned for a moment, but after understanding what the woman meant, he flew into a rage.

He was indeed a clever man; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to stand out among so many Nascent Soul stage evil cultivators and become the leader of this mission.

"Did you release this information?" Although it was a question, in his mind, it was almost certainly true.

"That's right, I did indeed spread this news to lure you here. How about it? Now, will you change your mind and fight us?"

The woman was not afraid of the cold gaze cast at her by the evil cultivator. Instead, she smiled contemptuously and said, "You evil cultivators are nothing special."

A deep hatred flashed in those somewhat dark eyes.

Chu Li and Nan Yi, who were practically "forced" to watch the whole show, are quite interested in the current situation.

"Senior sister, do you know any secrets about the Liu family?"

Nan Yi was somewhat curious. Judging from her senior sister's previous situation, she must have known something about the Liu family. Moreover, the Liu family must have some stories behind them, which was why her senior sister sighed like that.

This exclamation, coupled with the scene at the moment, aroused his curiosity.

The Liu family... Chu Li recalled for a moment. Actually, this so-called secret was something she had heard from others.

The woman before me must be Liu Yubai, the sixth young lady of the Liu family.

Not long ago, it was rumored that the fiancé of the sixth young lady of the Liu family was hunted down and killed by a group of evil cultivators.

The sixth young lady was indeed a devoted person. Even after her fiancé died, she did not break off their engagement and continued to consider herself his fiancée.

It now seems that the rumor was indeed true.

This is probably why this young lady from the Liu family hates evil cultivators so much, even going so far as to fabricate rumors and set a trap specifically for them, luring them into a snare, all for the sake of revenge...

As their thoughts raced, the two sides began to fight. Chu Li instinctively wanted to pull Nan Yi to a more distant place to avoid being caught in the crossfire. After all, they had come to search for something and didn't want to be dragged into a troublesome situation for no reason.

But at that moment, Chu Li suddenly had a thought. She subconsciously looked up at the battlefield in the distance and quickly locked onto a malevolent cultivator who was quietly retreating.

They might not be able to see it while on the battlefield, but as bystanders, they could clearly see that a heretical cultivator was attacking a Nascent Soul stage cultivator on the side, fighting and retreating as if he intended to escape.

However, the cultivator was completely unaware of this, believing only that his own magic was superior, causing the opponent to retreat continuously.

It was from that evil cultivator that Chu Li sensed a faint aura of Time Amber.

She quickly exchanged a glance with Nan Yi, then immediately concealed themselves and chased after the evil cultivator.

As expected, the evil cultivator was trying to escape. Just as he was fighting and retreating, at a certain point, he suddenly swayed and disappeared from the cultivator's sight in an instant.

The cultivator was taken aback at first, then filled with regret. He had actually let a heretical cultivator escape... even though Miss Ming had ordered them to leave behind all the heretical cultivators who had entered the secret realm...

Chu Li had been keeping a close eye on the evil cultivator's movements. When she saw him twitch his fingers, she already knew what he would do next and almost immediately followed the remaining traces of his aura.

She had no intention of telling the frustrated cultivator any further, and instead took Nan Yi and chased after them again.

The aura of the Time Amber was elusive and very faint. Chu Li suspected that this evil cultivator had only handled the Time Amber, and was not its owner.

But there's no better way right now, so they can only keep following them and see if there are any other clues.

The evil cultivator swept across the flat ground in the blink of an eye and headed deeper into the dense forest.

Fortunately, after realizing that he had shaken off the cultivator, he stopped pushing forward at full speed and began to float slowly forward using magic, making the pursuit easier for the two.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the evil cultivator stood under a huge banyan tree. He reached out and tapped the thick trunk of the banyan tree, and soon two or three evil cultivators emerged from the other side.

"Boss, what's the situation up ahead? Is there really a Secret Realm Stone?"

The heretical practitioner who said this got a tap on the head from the person next to him.

"Does the boss look like he's seen the Secret Stone?"

The evil cultivator, who was called the leader, looked solemn and said to the group opposite him, "There is no secret realm stone here at all. We have all been deceived. This is just a trap set for us. Fortunately, we targeted the target as soon as we came in and stole quite a few treasures, so it wasn't a wasted trip. Now we will find a place to hide and wait until the secret realm opens before we go out."

"Boss, is this really necessary? We're all at the Nascent Soul stage. Who in this secret realm could be stronger than us? Besides, we've brought in a lot of people this time..."

The leader glanced at him and said in a cool tone, "Why don't you go and fight those cultivators? They're in the middle of a fierce battle right now."

The talkative heretical cultivator keenly sensed the subtle danger lurking beneath his leader's words and immediately shook his head; stability was their primary concern.

In a way, these people think differently from other evil cultivators. Although they have gone astray, they hope to live a peaceful life and do not like too much fighting and killing—especially not fighting against people of equal or greater strength.

In other words, they were just cowards. Now that they had finally reached the Nascent Soul stage, they didn't want to lose their lives under these circumstances.

The voices in front could be faintly heard by the wind and reached the ears of the two people hiding behind.

Chu Li sensed that the aura of the Time Amber seemed to have become stronger, but she did not act rashly. Although there were only three or four evil cultivators in front of her, each of them was at the Nascent Soul stage, which was higher than her and Nan Yi's cultivation.

Moreover, judging from their conversation, these evil cultivators seemed to value their lives very much.

Given that, they might have some life-saving items on them, and based on that alone, they need to be even more cautious.

Just then, one of the evil cultivators who had been silent suddenly spoke up: "Boss, should we double-check the treasure you gave us before?"