Chapter 110 - The Secret Realm (2)

Counting the white fierce birds they ate tonight and the bloodfang boar they ate the day before yesterday, that already made three fairly powerful demonic beasts. As for the other fierce beasts entrenched throughout the mountain forest, there were bound to be countless more. The Goddess Mountains were practically turning into a nest of monsters.

Gathering his thoughts, Xu Yuan looked around. He did not find any entrance behind the dried-up waterfall, so he glanced sideways and asked,

“Is the entrance at the bottom of the lake?”

“Mhm.”

“How do we get in?” Xu Yuan asked.

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly saw from the corner of his eye that Ran Qingmo had taken out her black sword. Then she swung it downward toward the frozen lake.

Sword light flashed, drawing a streak of blue across the snowy mountain night. Then the wind pressure swept out, sending the snow that had settled overnight flying in every direction, turning the scene into something almost like an immortal realm.

One sword stroke split the water. The entire lake was neatly cut open, and before the lake water on both sides could rush back toward the center, the bone-chilling sword intent spread downward and froze its surface solid.

A small icy gorge formed from the lake water appeared before Xu Yuan’s eyes.

Ran Qingmo looked back and said softly, calm as ever, “Let’s go. The entrance is at the bottom of the lake.”

Xu Yuan pulled his amazed gaze back and walked to the edge of the lake to glance down. His brow furrowed slightly. The little lake was only 200 feet wide, but its depth was almost pitch-black, like a hole into nowhere.

“Do you need me to carry you?” Ran Qingmo asked as she walked to his side.

Xu Yuan shook his head. “No need.”

That height had to be at least 100 meters. But who would be stupid enough to jump straight down?

With a flutter of wind-tossed robes, Ran Qingmo jumped straight down.

Xu Yuan smacked his lips, then looked back at Tian Yan.

“Tian Yan, if you’re not going to kill me, then I’m heading into the secret realm.”

Tian Yan stared at him. Light flowed through her golden eyes, but she still said nothing.

Xu Yuan sighed, circulated his cultivation art, and leapt down. He moved back and forth between the layers of ice on both sides, using them to slow his fall, and finally landed safely at the bottom of the lake.

As soon as he arrived, his attention was drawn to a dark purple gate of light.

The gate lay embedded among the sand and stone at the lakebed. Light flowed across its surface, giving off faint ripples of source qi.

“This is it?” Xu Yuan asked, walking up to Ran Qingmo.

“Mhm.” Ran Qingmo nodded. “The Sword Sect secret realm Master took me to had an entrance just like this.”

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment. “Is there anything we need to watch out for when going in?”

Although he had entered countless secret realms in Azure Point, this was his first time doing it in reality.

Ran Qingmo shook her head. “No. Just walk in.”

Xu Yuan thought for a moment and began searching his memory again for information about this secret realm.

About half a minute later, he prepared to reach out and take Ran Qingmo’s hand. If they did not go in together, this secret realm’s entrance would randomly teleport people to different places inside. But just as Xu Yuan took a step forward, he felt someone grab his hand.

It was not Ran Qingmo. This hand was very small. He glanced sideways and saw that Tian Yan had somehow jumped down as well. She had appeared silently at his side and was now holding his hand.

Xu Yuan tried to pull his hand free. He could not. He used a bit more strength, and Tian Yan’s tiny body was immediately swung into the air at the bottom of the lake, making a full little circle before drifting lightly back down to the ground.

She still stared at him with the exact same expression as before.

Xu Yuan looked at Tian Yan as if he were looking at a lunatic, but his heart sank slightly. He had originally wanted to use the teleportation mechanism to shake her off, but the other side seemed to know exactly how strange this secret realm entrance was.

Just as he was thinking this, a cold flash cut through the dark lakebed without warning.

Ran Qingmo had drawn her sword.

At a speed Xu Yuan could not even see clearly, she slashed toward Tian Yan’s slender arm.

“Stop.” A young, childish murmur rang out in the silent lakebed.

In an instant, it was as if time had frozen.

The black sword stopped dead one foot away from Tian Yan and could not advance another inch.

Ran Qingmo held the sword, her delicate brows slightly furrowed. Then strands of icy blue light rose along the sword’s edge. The black sword frozen in midair began to tremble.

Tian Yan’s gaze remained calm. Her little mouth opened slightly. “Seal.”

The blue cold light on the blade vanished in an instant.

Seeing Tian Yan’s bizarre method, Xu Yuan did not even think before immediately calling out, “Ran Qingmo!”

Ran Qingmo did not turn back. She kept staring at Tian Yan. From that brief probe just now, she had noticed something.

Xu Yuan let out a breath and said softly, “Ran Qingmo, if she wants to hold my hand, just let her. If there were any real danger, Old Luo would have already made a move. He should know a thing or two about the Heaven Deriving Art.”

That old grandpa was most likely peeping right now anyway.

As long as the mental seal had not been undone, he still counted as half an ally.

Ran Qingmo hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she put away her sword.

Tian Yan lowered her eyes as well.

Xu Yuan smiled faintly. Holding Tian Yan’s hand, he reached out toward Ran Qingmo. “Let’s go.”

Ran Qingmo stared at the hand Xu Yuan extended to her and hesitated slightly, but she still placed her own hand in his. Perhaps because of her cultivation art, her hand was very cold. Even so, her snow-white skin was smooth, delicate, and faintly translucent.

“Ordinary secret realms usually have teleportation platforms inside. This secret realm’s platform has already been destroyed, so the landing point is uncertain. If we don’t hold on to each other when we enter, we’ll be sent to different places.”

After a slight pause, Xu Yuan still gave an explanation.

With that, he pulled Ran Qingmo and Tian Yan with him and jumped into the dark purple gate of light leading into the secret realm.

Inside the secret realm, the sky was a clear stretch of blue. There was none of the bitter cold from the snow-covered mountains outside.

Birds sang, flowers bloomed, and the forest was lush and green. A gentle breeze swept over the grass, rolling it into layer after layer of rippling waves.

Xu Yuan slowly woke up. The next instant, he sprang up in alert and looked around. This was an endless grassy plain. At the far end of the plain stood a great mountain, and faintly, one could see jade towers and grand pavilions hidden among the clouds at its peak.

Xu Yuan frowned and looked around, but all he saw was an unfamiliar young woman in a pale red palace dress sitting quietly beside him with her knees hugged to her chest.

Her face was bare of makeup, pure and lovely. Her golden eyes were deep and clear, like a bright mirror hidden in a quiet lake. Her chest was flat, and beneath her palace dress, a pair of snowy, crystal-white jade feet could be seen, every toe fair and delicate.

No, wait. She was not unfamiliar. This was Tian Yan.

Xu Yuan’s expression shifted. He took half a step back. “You’re Tian Yan?”

“Hehe...” Seeing that this was Xu Yuan’s first reaction after waking up, the unfamiliar young woman laughed, her voice crisp as silver bells. Her golden eyes curved into two crescent moons. She slowly rose, patted the bits of grass stuck to her palace dress, and leaned closer to Xu Yuan.

“Why don’t you guess? If you guess right, I’ll tell you. Ah, no, wait. You already guessed right. I am Tian Yan.”

Xu Yuan stared at her. “Where’s Ran Qingmo?”

The young woman Tian Yan raised one slender, jade-like finger and lightly tapped her chin. Then she tilted her head. “She was probably teleported somewhere else.”

Xu Yuan frowned.

Tian Yan giggled again, like a little spirit. Her golden eyes shimmered beneath the sunlight with a strange, bewitching glow. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m serious. For now, I don’t need to kill you, and I don’t need to kill Ran Qingmo either.”