The Spiritual Power storm in the sky finally began to die down after raging for several long minutes. The smoke and dust dissipated, revealing Chen Yu’s body!

At this moment, smoke rose from Chen Yu’s body. His robes were in tatters, his eyes were shut tight, and he was completely still as he plummeted downward. Seeing this, the black monster flickered and snatched Chen Yu’s body out of the air!

"How does it feel?" the black monster asked, smiling cruelly as it looked at the weakly breathing Chen Yu.

However, Chen Yu showed no reaction to the black monster’s words. With his eyes shut tight, he seemed just like a corpse.

Seeing Chen Yu in this state, the smile on the black monster’s face gradually faded, and its brow furrowed. A moment later, its expression changed as it reached out and pulled out the black Bone Spike that had pierced Chen Yu’s body.

BANG!

The instant the black Bone Spike was removed, a muffled bang sounded. The "Chen Yu" held in the black monster’s grasp suddenly exploded, sending a ripple of Energy surging toward the monster!

"Hmph!" The black monster snorted coldly. It flicked the Bone Spike in its hand upward, slicing the incoming Spiritual Power ripple in two and letting the halves fly past its sides.

"Dammit, I was tricked again!" The black monster watched the Spiritual Power ripple slowly dissipate, a violent rage brewing in its heart. ’To be fooled by the same trick twice... This is a complete insult to my intelligence!’

At this thought, the black monster grew so furious that it crushed the Bone Spike in its hand, which turned to powder and scattered from the sky.

"Hmph, with such heavy injuries, I refuse to believe you could have gotten far! When I find you, I’ll make you wish you were dead!" A grim voice drifted down from the sky as an incomparably cold killing intent erupted from the black monster, seemingly freezing the very air around it.

A moment later, the black monster flickered and vanished. On the ground below, the Demonized Level Seven Primordial Beast also charged off into the distance.

Several long minutes after the black monster left, a figure staggered out from the mountain forest. It was none other than Chen Yu!

Pfft—

Watching the black monster depart, Chen Yu finally let his guard down. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips, and his face turned deathly pale.

’I have to report this to the Sect’s upper echelon as soon as possible so they can prepare countermeasures!’ Chen Yu thought frantically. The appearance of the black monster placed immense pressure on him. If this went wrong, it could bring ruin upon the entire Sect!

Chen Yu took a deep breath, suppressing the surging blood in his veins. He gritted his teeth against the pain from his wounds and raced toward the exit of the Secret Realm...

...

Elsewhere in the Secret Realm, Elder Yan stood outside a cave, his brow deeply furrowed as he stared into the depths of the realm.

"Two Spirit Emperor powerhouses... Could the black monster be fighting someone?" Elder Yan murmured. Just a moment ago, while performing Alchemy inside the cave, he had been startled by a loud noise. Afterward, he sensed two terrifying auras clashing relentlessly. One belonged to the black monster, and the other, he deduced, must be Chen Yu, the Sect Leader of the Five Elements Sect!

’But now, both auras have vanished. The battle must be over,’ he thought. ’However, I clearly sensed Chen Yu’s aura weaken first. He must have been defeated by that black monster.’

"It seems a major event is about to befall the Five Elements Sect," Elder Yan sighed. He then turned his gaze back into the cave. There, Shen Haoran was still enveloped in a golden cocoon of light, his breathing deep and steady, showing no signs of waking.

"Shen the kid, there isn’t much time left. Please, wake up soon," Elder Yan murmured softly, watching the golden cocoon rhythmically pulse with Shen Haoran’s breath. Then, he closed his eyes once more and resumed his meditation.

...

「Five days passed in the blink of an eye.」 At the entrance to the Sect Secret Realm, Elder Qin and Elder Mo were vigilantly watching the spatial gate, not daring to relax for a moment. Ever since Elder Zhong had relayed Chen Yu’s message to them, they had understood the gravity of the situation and had not left their post guarding the Secret Realm’s entrance.

"What’s going on? The Sect Leader has been inside for so long. Why hasn’t he come out yet?" Elder Huo said anxiously, staring at the completely still spatial gate.

"Hmph, all this needless worry," Mu Feng snorted disdainfully. "Throwing the entire Sect into a panic based on the one-sided story of a few disciples. Is it really necessary? If you ask me, it was those few from the Yao Sect, trying to hoard the treasures from the Sect Secret Realm for themselves, who ambushed the disciples from our other halls. That’s why they cooked up this baseless story to deceive us!"

"Are you saying that Long Mo and his group of five ambushed dozens of genius disciples all by themselves?" Elder Huo retorted, pointing at Mu Feng’s nose. "That’s a blatant lie! Anyone with half a brain knows that’s impossible!"

"Elder Mu, I know you’ve never liked Shen Haoran, but this matter concerns the safety of the Sect. Please, choose your words carefully," She Hall Master, who had remained neutral until now, couldn’t help but rebuke Mu Feng. "Long Mo and the others’ injuries don’t look fake. Something clearly happened in the Secret Realm. Otherwise, why would the Sect Leader be gone for so long?"

"Hmph, who knows?" Mu Feng muttered, still unconvinced.

"You..." Seeing Mu Feng stubbornly sticking to his opinion, Elder Huo was seething with anger. Shen Haoran and Chen Yu’s fates were unknown, yet here he was, with the nerve to doubt this and question that. If the situation weren’t so critical, Elder Huo really wanted to beat Mu Feng to a pulp! 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

VMMM...

Just then, the spatial gate suddenly stirred. Ripples began to spread across the surface of the once-calm gate!

Seeing this, everyone snapped their attention to the gate. Their nerves were taut, and they stared without blinking, slowly circulating the Spiritual Power in their bodies, ready to respond to any sudden developments.

WHOOSH!

With a soft whoosh, a human figure shot out of the spatial gate and immediately fell from the sky!

"Sect Leader!"

Everyone cried out in alarm upon recognizing the figure’s face.

That was right—the one falling from mid-air was none other than Chen Yu. At this moment, dozens of black Bone Spikes were embedded in his back. His entire body was stained red with blood, and a faint black gas swirled around the ghastly wounds, turning the spurting blood black!

Elder Mo flickered and caught the falling Chen Yu. He was shocked to his core as he looked at the horrifying wounds. ’A Spirit Emperor Powerhouse like Chen Yu was beaten this badly? Just who could have done this?!’

"Quick, close the Sect Secret Realm!" Chen Yu gasped, gripping Elder Mo’s hand tightly as he was caught.

Hearing this, Elder Mo had no time for questions. He immediately called out to Elder Qin. The two of them formed a Seal Technique, and the spatial gate began to tremble as it slowly closed.

However, just as the spatial gate was about to shut, two black Bone Spikes suddenly shot out and brutally ripped it open again!