The sun was high overhead.
All the Array Stones in the valley lit up at once.
A rift opened in the air above their center and quickly widened into a gate of light.
The space beyond the gate was a blur. Nothing could be seen from the outside.
“It opened! Hurry, get in!”
The people at the front rushed toward the gate, while those behind shoved their way forward.
Lin Xiao and Xiao Luoyi were swept along by the crowd and had no choice but to move with it.
The two of them were pushed through the gate at the same time.
Lin Xiao felt the world spin around him, and his insides churned.
He instinctively tightened his grip on her hand, but suddenly found himself holding nothing.
At some point, Xiao Luoyi had let go.
The dizzying sensation lasted for who knew how long.
By the time he could see sunlight again, he had slammed hard into the ground.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Lin Xiao lay on the ground, coughing for a long while before he finally recovered.
He pushed himself up and looked around the area.
Though the Secret Realm was its own world, the scenery looked no different from the outside world.
Lin Xiao stood and brushed the dirt off himself.
“Luoyi?” There was no answer when he called out.
He called again, but still heard nothing.
“Well, Random Teleportation.”
He remembered how it worked in the game.
The Secret Realm really did teleport people at random, scattering players across the map.
They said it was to prevent players from memorizing the map, and to make them explore near their starting points.
That way, every trip into the Secret Realm would feel fresh.
He had thought it was a good design back then.
Now that he was experiencing it firsthand, he just wanted to say, ‘Good design, my ass.’
Lin Xiao took out the Positioning Magical Tool Shen Tiexin had made with great care.
It could detect spiritual energy markers and point in their direction.
The Sword Intent Marks their master, Ling Qingxue, had left on them were the same kind of spiritual energy markers.
Lin Xiao poured spiritual energy into the tool.
Its pointer spun a few times, then pointed in one direction.
“Junior Sister’s… more than a hundred miles away?” Lin Xiao looked at the scale, the corner of his mouth twitching.
“This Secret Realm is huge.”
He put the tool away and took a moment to think.
The good news was that Xiao Luoyi was still alive.
The Sword Intent Mark was responding, so she was safe.
The bad news was that she was at least a hundred miles away.
This Secret Realm was absurdly large, and finding her would take a lot of work.
Lin Xiao took out the simple map he had drawn himself and marked a few key locations from his memories of the game.
He remembered the Secret Realm’s map roughly.
The northeast corner was rich in rare treasures, while the southwest corner was a forest full of demonic beasts and a good place to farm monster parts.
The Secret Realm’s core was in the center, where the final boss lived.
But none of those places were his goal.
He was looking for two things.
One was in the northwest: Earth Marrow Spirit Liquid.
It could purify spiritual roots and was the perfect medicine to change the fate of a born loser like him, with his Dual Spiritual Roots of gold and earth.
The other was in the southeast: the Heavenly Dao Source Fruit.
It was necessary for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, and he wanted it for Xiao Luoyi.
Lin Xiao looked at the Positioning Magical Tool, then at the two directions.
Northwest and southeast.
They were in opposite directions.
“I’ll look for the Earth Marrow Spirit Liquid first.” Lin Xiao put everything away and muttered to himself.
“The Secret Realm will be open for seven days.”
“There’ll still be time to find the Source Fruit after I find Luoyi.”
With that, Lin Xiao plunged into the depths of the forest.
After walking for about half an hour, he suddenly heard people talking up ahead.
Lin Xiao slowed down and quietly crept closer.
At the end of the forest was an open clearing.
Three people were there, two women and a man.
Judging by their clothes, they were disciples from a small or medium-sized sect.
Two female cultivators were crouched at the edge of the clearing, searching for something.
One wore green, the other white.
The man in blue stood farther away, holding a magical tool and keeping watch.
Lin Xiao had planned to go around them.
But the moment he moved, he stepped on a dead branch.
“Crack.”
All three of them turned to look at him.
“Who is it?!” The man reacted first and pointed his magical tool at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao stepped out from behind the tree and raised both hands to show he meant no harm.
“Don’t worry. I’m a Lingxiao Sect disciple, just passing through.”
The three of them looked him over.
The woman in green’s eyes lit up.
“It’s Lin Xiao! The one who beat Chen Tianhao at the Lingxiao Sect’s Sword Discussion Ceremony!”
Lin Xiao was rendered entirely speechless.
Wait, how did people from other sects even know about the Lingxiao Sect’s Sword Discussion Ceremony?
But it wasn’t hard to understand.
Nearly every Lingxiao Sect disciple had attended the ceremony.
Who didn’t have a friend from another sect they could brag to?
“Senior Brother Lin!”
The woman in white came over too, her eyes sparkling.
“It really is you!”
“Why are you alone?”
“Where’s Junior Sister Xiao?”
“We got separated.”
The three exchanged glances, their expressions a little strange.
The man put away his magical tool and stepped forward with a fist salute.
“Senior Brother Lin, I’m Zhou Yuan of the Qingxuan Sect.”
“This is my dao companion, Su Qing, and this is my junior sister, Liu Yun.”
Su Qing, the one in green, nodded to Lin Xiao.
Liu Yun, the one in white, was much more enthusiastic.
She came right up to him.
“Senior Brother Lin, why don’t you come with us?”
“The Secret Realm is dangerous.”
“We’ll be safer with one more person!”
Lin Xiao had planned to refuse.
He was more flexible on his own, and he already knew where he was going.
But when he looked at the three of them and considered how large the Secret Realm was, he suddenly thought a team might not be a bad idea.
The Qingxuan Sect was a minor sect in the game, known for alchemy.
All three were at the early Foundation Establishment stage and had some combat ability.
Most importantly, he could save some spiritual energy by sticking with them.
“Then I’ll be in your care.” Lin Xiao returned the fist salute.
Zhou Yuan clearly hadn’t expected him to agree.
He froze for a moment before replying, “You’re too kind, Senior Brother Lin! With you here, our team will be much safer!”
Su Qing and Liu Yun also looked delighted.
Liu Yun even squeezed in beside Lin Xiao and enthusiastically pointed out the spiritual herbs around them.
“Senior Brother Lin, look!”
“This is Seven Star Grass, a second-grade spiritual herb used in alchemy!”
“And this is Purple Ganoderma, a third-grade one!”
“It can sell for a lot of spirit stones!”
“And this one…”
Lin Xiao listened to her chatter with a polite smile, thinking that in the game these were just blue- and green-grade herbs.
They weren’t even purple-grade.
But he didn’t say so.
After all, everyone had their own opportunities.
What he didn’t value could be a treasure to someone else.
“Senior Brother Lin, aren’t you interested in these?”
“Would you like to gather some too?”
Liu Yun suddenly asked.
Lin Xiao came back to himself and shook his head.
“No.”
“You found these herbs first, so you can gather them.”
“I won’t take any.”
Liu Yun looked at him, admiration shining in her eyes.
“Senior Brother Lin really is a true gentleman.”
Lin Xiao felt a quiet twitch at the corner of his eye.
After that, Lin Xiao traveled with the three of them.
He had to admit, traveling in a group really was convenient.
The three of them gathered spiritual herbs and fought demonic beasts with great teamwork, and Lin Xiao didn’t have to do a thing.
“There’s a medicinal garden up ahead.” Zhou Yuan pointed forward.
“One of my sect’s elders came here before and said it was full of spiritual herbs, but a demonic beast at the late Foundation Establishment stage guards it.”
“Late Foundation Establishment?” Su Qing frowned.
“Can the four of us beat it?”
Zhou Yuan looked at Lin Xiao.