The group fought as they advanced forward step by step.

Seeing this, Xiao Shou suddenly understood.

The canyon Xiao Shou had passed through was not devoid of life after all.

It’s most likely, these highly aggressive stone beasts had already been cleared out by Xiao Ran, Yu Lin, and the others.

That was why he had encountered no attacks while fusing items and traveling here.

It was only when he tried to break through from above that he disturbed those giant moths.

And because he flew higher and could see farther, he was able to notice the flashes of spell light here.

It seemed Xiao Ran and her group had somehow also entered this secret realm and had arrived in this canyon earlier than him.

After reaching this conclusion, Xiao Shou actually felt a bit relieved.

This secret realm was originally one of Xiao Ran’s opportunities.

Yet he had taken it for himself so easily, from removing the entrance to entering the realm.

There was no way the Heavenly Dao would let that go without consequence.

Although there had been some twists and turns after entering, everything had gone too smoothly.

That only made him more uneasy.

He feared the Heavenly Dao might suddenly escalate things, like sending both Jian Li and Zhong Kui again.

If that happened, it would be a real disaster.

But now, with both Xiao Ran and Yu Lin present and without those two terrifying figures appearing, the difficulty of this secret realm felt like it had dropped from five stars to one or two.

After all, at this stage, neither of them possessed overwhelming combat strength.

And after undergoing accelerated cultivation in the flower space, combined with the special nature of his technique and his own advantages, Xiao Shou did not think he would lose.

After rapidly considering all these points, Xiao Shou regained his composure.

At the same time, just as he sensed Xiao Ran’s group, they also detected his presence.

However, upon clearly sensing that the newcomer flying on a sword was Xiao Shou, their reactions differed.

Xiao Ran frowned slightly, while Yu Lin raised her brows with a trace of complicated envy flashing in her eyes.

She then called out sincerely, "Brother Xiao, be careful. These stone beasts have extremely high defense and powerful attacks. The effectiveness of spells is greatly reduced, and ordinary magical artifacts can hardly harm them. Only sword energy with overwhelming sharpness..."

Before she could finish speaking, everyone witnessed something shocking.

After hearing her warning, Xiao Shou paused midair.

The sword beneath his feet instantly shot out like lightning, flashing around the area in an instant before returning beneath him.

At that moment, the massive gray stone beasts all shattered into pieces, collapsing into rubble.

Among the debris, more than a dozen glowing objects flickered with light.

This sudden display caused the surrounding stone beasts to halt their attacks briefly.

Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Shou descended rapidly.

At the same time, he took out a formation disk and quickly set up multiple formations, temporarily blocking the stone beasts outside.

Only then did he turn to face the five people and calmly say, "So it’s Sister Ran and Miss Yu of the Heavenly Void Sect..."

Seeing the armor breaking effect of the Dark Night Spirit Sword just now, which was indeed as sharp as described, and noticing that it had successfully intimidated the group, Xiao Shou felt a bit relieved.

As he spoke, he also sensed their cultivation levels.

Xiao Ran had advanced by one minor realm compared to when they were in the ancient cultivator’s cave.

Yu Lin on the other hand was two minor realms higher than Xiao Ran and had already reached the peak of the Golden Core stage.

It looked like she would soon step into the Nascent Soul stage.

As for the other three, the two brothers were both at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, while the remaining sword cultivator was at the peak of the Golden Core stage.

He was dressed in the robes of the Heavenly Void Sect.

A sword cultivator from the Heavenly Void Sect?

A name flashed through Xiao Shou’s mind.

After a brief thought, he continued, "Fellow Daoist Yu, who are these three?"

"Gou Yumeng!"

"Gou Yutong!"

"Chi Jia!"

The three men spoke in unison, then all looked toward Xiao Ran with concern.

Xiao Ran, however, looked at Xiao Shou with a complicated expression in her eyes. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Her face remained cold as frost as she asked in a chilly tone, "Why are you here? Where have you been all these years? Brother has been very worried about you."

Xiao Shou cupped his hands slightly.

"Greetings to the three fellow Daoists. I entered this place by chance with a few companions, but we got separated. May I ask where this place is?"

So this sword cultivator really was Chi Jia, the supporting male character and cannon fodder.

Seeing Xiao Ran’s expression, Xiao Shou could not tell what she was thinking.

Although he usually overthought things at this moment he chose not to dwell on it.

Considering that others from the secret realm might appear as well, he decided to pretend he knew nothing.

He smiled faintly at Xiao Ran and said, "Before I left, I left a message for you. It should have been quite clear. My nature is too carefree, and my talent is limited. I cannot always rely on Brother Yi and you to take care of me forever. In the end, cultivation depends on oneself."

"Life as an unaffiliated cultivator is too difficult. Why didn’t you wait to enter the Heavenly Void Sect?" Xiao Ran’s dissatisfaction was obvious in her tone.

Gou Yumeng and Gou Yutong both frowned slightly as they looked at Xiao Shou.

"I have my own path to walk in cultivation. Don’t worry. In the years since I left the marketplace, I’ve been doing quite well."

Xiao Shou curved his lips slightly and shook his head, giving a perfunctory reply.

Without waiting for Xiao Ran to respond, he turned to the others and continued asking, "Do you know where this place is? And what is the deal with these stone beasts? Could you share some information?"