Wan Songran slowly walked over to the two Demon Beasts, expertly dissecting them to retrieve their cores.

"This one, I’ll give to you as a welcome gift."

He casually tossed a Demon Beast core to Song Yan, keeping the other for himself.

"Fellow Daoist Wan is full of sincerity..."

Song Yan accepted the Demon Beast core, his tone neutral.

He had actively revealed that "Immortal Flute" to him, and now gifted him this precious Late Stage First-tier Demon Beast core to show his sincerity... It seemed that in the end, it would come down to who could survive and leave this Secret Realm.

The two exchanged smiles, their eyes concealing a shared murderous intent.

"Let’s go."

"Where to?"

"To find Wang Xi a burial place."

Song Yan remained silent, following Wan Songran to a muddy swamp.

"The Profound Origin Sect wants the Spiritual Vein, but doesn’t want to be criticized, so they’re staging a play where ’Disciples from two Sects conspire to kill a Profound Origin Sect Inner Sect Disciple’."

"It’s to make it easier for them to demand resources from our two Sects later."

Beside Song Yan, his Peachwood Gengjin Flying Sword hummed and circled: "How can we be sure he’ll come alone?"

"The Profound Origin Sect wants more than just the Spiritual Vein; this joint mission also includes many other things, such as figuring out the true strength of the two Inner Sect Disciples, and so on..."

Wan Songran’s fingertips brushed the body of his flute, and the ground vines eerily began to writhe.

"This Wang Xi is arrogant and can’t stand being looked down upon. He certainly wouldn’t ask someone else to help him kill ’ants’ like us."

"Perhaps, some of the Sect Disciples who were drawn into this Secret Realm with us have already been killed by him alone..."

"This is also our opportunity."

Song Yan’s expression darkened, but before he could speak, Wan Songran’s expression turned stern.

"...He’s here."

Before he finished speaking, Wan Songran turned to look. From deep within the dense forest behind him, a yellow-robed figure slowly emerged, his robes stained with blood, and a yellowish spiritual light flickering in his palm.

It was indeed Wang Xi, from the Profound Origin Sect’s Inner Sect.

"Oh... you two are both here."

"That saves me the trouble of searching for each of you individually."

Wang Xi had encountered two Spirit Talisman Sect Disciples and one Cave Abyss Sect Disciple separately on his way.

He had killed one of the Spirit Talisman Sect Disciples, planning to pin it on them all later.

The remaining two would be left to confuse the situation.

He glanced at Wan Songran, his gaze lingering on the red and black flute in his hand, then sneered: "A Disciple of the Wan family? Too bad you’ll both fall here today!"

Song Yan’s hand moved, his fingertips gently stroking the blade of the Peachwood Gengjin Sword.

Wang Xi snorted coldly, forming a Spell with his hand. Three Earth Curse Spirits shot out simultaneously.

The battle was about to begin!

Song Yan’s Sword Spell rapidly shifted, and his Flying Sword rotated swiftly. Sparks flew as the Earth Curse Spirits collided with the sword body.

The decaying forest soil beneath Wang Xi’s feet suddenly collapsed and rolled like surging waves. Several rock pythons burst from the ground, coiling and attacking Song Yan and Wan Songran!

Wan Songran sneered, holding the black flute horizontally in front of him. A strange melody began to play.

"Putting on an act!"

Wang Xi’s knuckles glowed sharply, and a yellowish spiritual light rose from his palm.

In an instant, all the surrounding vegetation bowed low. A small, earthy seal grew rapidly against the wind. The Bixi relief sculpted in its center opened its stone eyes, and dense spiritual patterns flowed down the seal’s body, condensing into a phantom mountain in the air.

The power of the seal was just like the Spell that had suppressed the Crucian Carp Dragon Demon Beast in the Hidden Moon Lake Creek Valley before.

Song Yan’s Flying Sword swept away the rock pythons. Before his feet even left the ground, he felt a crushing spiritual force descend upon his head. His protective Spiritual Qi shattered like thin ice, and his knee bones made a grating, teeth-aching sound.

The entire muddy swamp collapsed by two inches under the pressure. Foul-smelling mud, mixed with broken branches, pressed him into the swamp as if invisible giant hands were repeatedly crushing him.

"Wan... Song... ran!"

Bang!

The sound of a giant object breaking through the mud came from the center of the swamp. A massive, hard-shelled giant crab of the Middle Stage First-tier overturned the mud, swinging its giant pincers, and charged straight at Wang Xi.

"Hmph, unorthodox methods!"

Wang Xi’s spiritual power shifted, transferring the power of the Zhenshan Seal in his hand to the giant crab. Only then did Song Yan get a chance to breathe.

He formed a Spell with his fingertips, and several green vines shot out from the mud, coiling towards Wang Xi.

"Just obediently accept death, why waste time!"

Boom!!!

The phantom mountain on the Zhenshan Seal crashed down, crushing the hard-shelled giant crab in the mud.

By now, the green vines had already wrapped around Wang Xi. Song Yan’s left hand made a distant grasping motion, and the green vines were suddenly covered in raging flames.

"Hiss..."

Wang Xi’s body surged with Spiritual Qi, and a yellowish spiritual pattern glowed brightly, instantly sweeping away the erratically burning green vines.

"Your Divine Sense is indeed abnormal. At Qi Refining Fifth Layer, you can control Spells without dispersion from over twenty zhang away. Once I kill you, I’ll have to take a good look at what secret technique it is!"

"Even if it’s Late Stage Qi Refining... is the difference in Spell effectiveness really that great..."

Wan Songran, on the other hand, cursed Song Yan for being useless. Was he going to have to use his ultimate killing move?

Was the Cave Abyss Sect truly so poor and barren, with all its Disciples being mediocre?

He gritted his teeth and conjured a half-destroyed Talisman in his hand.

"Song Yan! With a formidable enemy of life and death before us, bring out all your trump cards! If you don’t get serious now..."

"You might not get another chance!"

Song Yan’s heart tightened. He conjured three pale Talismans in his hand. The Talismans were ignited by spiritual power, turning into dark light that disappeared into the clouds.

The "Essentials of Swordsmanship" recorded many techniques and methods for wielding Flying Swords.

However, most of them required opening the Zhen Dao Sword Mansion and planting a Dao of Sword seed, to be wielded jointly by one’s innate Sword Qi and spiritual power, only then could their full power be displayed.

Only a small portion could be used without a sword seed, but with many restrictions.

Rumble!

Thunderclouds gathered in the sky, and faint flashes of lightning flickered above.

"What trick are you playing?!"

Wang Xi’s entire body surged with spiritual power, and an unprecedented spiritual power fluctuation rippled through the swamp!

Pure spiritual power emanated from his body, condensing into a yellowish orb. Several streams of spiritual power transformed into rocks, and surrounding clumps of earth and hard stones also gathered towards it.

"This move again!"

That fish Demon Beast in Hidden Moon Lake had died from this very move, the "Collapsing Earth Quaking Mountain Curse."

Wan Songran’s eyes were tightly shut, his spiritual power surging. The half-destroyed Talisman in front of him finally lit up.

A dangerous smile played on his lips: "Wang Xi, you will die today, no matter what!"

Grumble... Beneath the swamp, the Earth Vein suddenly began to tremble violently. In the deep forest, the massive root systems beneath the towering ancient trees actually surged towards this swampy area!

The power of the Earth Spirit here dissipated like a bursting dam.

The inverted mountain phantom suspended in the air also began to collapse at the same moment.

"Yi Wood Spirit Severing Talisman!"

Wang Xi’s eyes were bloodshot. For the first time, a sense of crisis arose in his heart. He was about to turn and try to leave the Talisman’s covered area.

"Boom!"

The hard-shelled giant crab, dragging its broken body, blocked Wang Xi’s path.

"Get out of my way!!"

Rumble!

Just then, Song Yan’s Flying Sword hovered a few zhang above him. A mighty peal of thunder struck directly onto the sword body, but the sword body showed no change.

Song Yan formed a Dao Spell with his hand, and several green vines wrapped around the sword body. Then, flames ignited, burning away the green vines, leaving raging fire covering it.

Rumble!

The second heavenly lightning bolt struck!

Blue and white flames, accompanied by the sound of thunder, encircled the blade of the Peachwood Gengjin Flying Sword. The sword body emitted an unbearable cracking sound.

Song Yan pressed his two fingers together, gently stroking the sword body. His protective Spiritual Qi, upon touching this thunderfire Qi, instantly dissipated.

"Cloud Firmament Falling Thunder Sword Stance!"