It was said that the reason for this joint mission was mostly due to strange Demon Beast phenomena and Cultivator advancements.

When the Secret Realm’s appearance was mentioned, everyone shook their heads, saying, "Absolutely impossible."

Even Chai Yanghui himself thought so.

But the truth was right in front of them; even if it was a one-in-ten-thousand chance, if it appeared, for the Disciple carrying out this mission, it was one hundred percent.

Inside the Hidden Moon Lake Creek Valley, the Cultivators were in a state of chaos.

Tang Lin was originally meditating and adjusting his breath, but the sudden anomaly interrupted the flow of his Spiritual Qi. Now, his Spiritual Qi was flowing in reverse, and his Meridians burned with pain.

Gu Qingqing’s small face was pale, her hair disheveled. She bit her lip and desperately clung to an old pine tree in a rock crevice, her skirt fluttering in the strong wind.

At this moment, Chai Yanghui no longer cared about mission arrangements or the identities of the three Sect’s Disciples. As the Disciple with the highest cultivation here, he felt he needed to take on the responsibility of a commander.

He shouted loudly, and the green jade shimmering Talisman from before was once again activated, enveloping all the Disciples in the valley, leaving a passage towards Jiran Valley.

"Cave Abyss Sect Disciples, leave Hidden Moon Lake and return to Jiran Valley!"

Lu Ziye had also seen the world. Although the situation was urgent, he led these Outer Sect Disciples in an orderly fashion.

He grabbed Gu Qingqing, who had the weakest cultivation and combat power, and then shouted several times at Shao Sichao, Song Yan, and the others.

Unfortunately... although Chai Yanghui was fully activating the green jade spiritual screen Talisman, it still couldn’t withstand the fluctuations of the Secret Realm’s appearance. The green jade light on the Talisman soon dimmed.

The Cultivators in the valley suddenly felt a powerful suction force approaching.

Lu Ziye’s Daoist robe billowed, and seven copper coins flew out of his sleeve, landing to form a Big Dipper formation, protecting the Dongyuan Disciples. Chai Yanghui, on the other hand, released more Spiritual Qi, drawing three spiritual Talismans in the Void Realm.

But whether it was the copper coin spiritual formation or these three spiritual Talismans, they all melted away like snow meeting boiling water.

Everything happened too fast.

Song Yan was originally meditating to restore the Spiritual Qi in his body. Under the anomaly of his Divine Sense, he looked up at the sky.

In that brief moment, the green jade spiritual screen Talisman had already dissipated.

In the chaos, the suction force of the spatial fluctuations swept several Cultivators in the valley, carrying some rocks, grass, and trees, into it. Then, the crack disappeared as if wiped away, and there was no sound.

Above Hidden Moon Lake, peace gradually returned.

"Zhang Quan! Count the number of Disciples!"

"Tang Xu! Immediately notify the Sect!"

The incident had already occurred, but Chai Yanghui and Lu Ziye did not panic and immediately took action.

"Fellow Daoist Wang!"

"Where is Wang Xi?"

The two prepared to meet with Wang Xi to discuss this sudden change, but there was no response for a long time.

"Senior Brother Wang... he..."

One of the Profound Origin Sect Disciples said somewhat timidly, "He was sucked in..."

"What?!"

Chai Yanghui and Lu Ziye exchanged glances.

They both read a hint of suspicion in each other’s eyes.

Just now, the Spiritual Qi fluctuations and the Secret Realm’s gravitational pull were not strong for a Qi Refining Late Stage Disciple. They could easily endure it by circulating Spiritual Qi and resisting a little.

Therefore, Chai and Lu could even spare a bit of their attention and Spiritual Qi to protect the weakest Disciples under their command while ensuring their own safety.

Why couldn’t Wang Xi?

He was sucked in to protect the Disciples under his command?

Would he be that kind-hearted?... Cloud Forest Secret Realm.

In a lush forest, the scent of plants filled Song Yan’s nostrils. The dry branches he stepped on made a crisp sound, particularly jarring in the surrounding silence.

Liquid dripped from fern plants several feet tall, whether it was dew or something else, he didn’t know.

Song Yan pushed aside the enormous shrub leaves and extricated himself from the muddy swamp’s edge behind him.

His body was covered in dew from the leaves.

"Crack—"

The sound of a branch breaking came from above. Song Yan quickly rolled to the side.

He saw half a beast bone fall onto where he had been standing. A rusty short sword was embedded in the skull, its hilt wrapped with a faded red and white Talisman.

"Hoo..."

He looked up, and after confirming it was safe, he slowly circulated his Spiritual Qi to dissipate the moisture on his body.

"Hiss..."

Suddenly, a sharp pain struck. His right arm extended backward, and there were signs of a fracture in his shoulder blade... He chose a relatively flat spot to meditate and took out a few low-grade Qi and Blood Pills and Bone Nourishing Pills from his qiankun bag.

These two types of Medicinal Pills were common injury remedies, similar in efficacy to the trauma medicines in the Martial Forest, so they weren’t worth much. One Spirit Stone could buy quite a few.

"Fortunately, I bought some things at the market before setting off..."

The Bone Nourishing Pill turned into a bitter paste in his throat, and he forced himself to swallow it. Veins on his forehead throbbed with the surging of his Qi and blood.

After a brief recovery, Song Yan stood up and looked around.

This mountain forest had many ancient trees, and the mountains were shrouded in mist. He wondered if there were any Demon Beasts... Song Yan smiled bitterly, "Is my luck really that bad?"

Even a Cultivator like Song Yan, who didn’t know much about Secret Realms, was incredibly surprised by this earth-shattering anomaly.

Secret Realm Caverns could actually be subdivided into many types.

One type could be completely controlled through certain mediums. These Caverns were more like Magic Treasures of powerful Cultivators.

For example, Song Yan knew that the Cave Abyss Sect had a Secret Realm Cavern controlled by a scroll-like Magic Treasure.

The Spiritual Qi within it was rich, and treasures were abundant. It was only used by the Cave Abyss Sect Leader, Li Jun Daoist, to reward outstanding Disciples or to conduct Sect selections and other activities.

The second type was ownerless Secret Realms.

Legend has it that Secret Realm Caverns were formed from the mountains and seas within some True Immortals and Loose Immortals of ancient times when they perished. Therefore, they existed independently of this world, appearing in the world only through serendipitous Opportunities.

Some Caverns were relatively stable; once they appeared, they would not disappear.

Some Secret Realms, though appearing and disappearing, followed certain patterns in their appearance, making them largely predictable.

And then there were some Secret Realms that did not follow any pattern at all; their time and location of appearance were completely unknown.

Song Yan mused that, clearly, the one before him should be the third type.

He was just too unlucky; his first official mission outside the Sect encountered such a situation.

"The most urgent task is to see if there’s an exit."

As for the dangers within this Secret Realm, Demon Beasts and Spirit Beasts were still manageable. At most, one would proceed cautiously. If he encountered a third or fourth-tier Demon Beast and died by its claws, it was his bad luck... Disputes and killings among unfamiliar Cultivators, robbing others of their treasures, were also definite dangers.

But what if this Secret Realm didn’t open again for hundreds or thousands of years? Wouldn’t he be trapped here to die?

A sense of unknown fear surged... For humans, the unknown is always the most terrifying.

Song Yan suppressed his emotions, made a few leaps, and jumped to the top of a giant tree to survey his surroundings.

Buzz—

Hm?

A sound came from nearby. Song Yan flew backward, using the surrounding giant ancient trees for leverage, landing on the ground. He joined his sword-fingers, and the Peachwood Gengjin Flying Sword hovered by his side.

The sound suddenly approached. A dry leaf at his feet flew up, turning into a burning paper butterfly that lunged at his face!

Just as he was about to use his sword to block, he looked closely and realized it was an unfamiliar sound-transmitting Talisman.

Sound-transmitting Talisman?

Song Yan was a bit bewildered.

If it were an acquaintance, the sound-transmitting Talisman would have an imprint. But if it were an unfamiliar Cultivator, how could there be a thousand-mile sound transmission?

There was only one possibility: just now, this person was nearby and had already seen him.

"It seems that climbing the giant tree rashly was indeed a bit dangerous."

Song Yan secretly noted it down.

After a moment of thought, he still opened the sound-transmitting Talisman.

There were only three sentences in the Talisman.

"This Secret Realm will only exist for half an hour, and there are low-level Demon Beasts within."

"This Secret Realm is being manipulated by someone."

"You and I are both targets being hunted. If either of us meets that person alone, death is certain."

Song Yan froze, then felt a chill run down his spine.

Who was the sender?

What he said... was it true?

He subconsciously manipulated the Peachwood Gengjin Flying Sword to hover by his side, then suddenly realized his palm was soaked, whether with dew or cold sweat.

Most importantly, who wants to kill me?