Luo Qingchen activated the Breath-Concealing Technique and sprinted through the dense forest.
Once she was certain that no one was pursuing her, she slowed her pace and came to a halt in front of a cliff covered in thick vines.
Pushing aside the withered vines, she revealed a hidden, natural stone crevice.
Luo Qingchen squeezed inside.
The space was small, barely large enough for one person to sit in meditation.
She pulled several Array Flags from her storage bag.
Drawing on her memory of deconstructing various ancient formations, she set up a concealment array at the entrance of the crevice to mask her presence.
With everything prepared, Luo Qingchen sat down cross-legged.
‘It’s time to get to work.’
She closed her eyes, and her consciousness sank into her body.
Within her Dantian, the Deception Jade Slip was emitting a soft, radiant glow.
Most of the crystal giant’s massive body had been stuffed into the jade slip’s exclusive space.
Now, the jade slip was vigorously feeding that energy back to her.
Streams of extremely pure spiritual power surged through her meridians, flowing into every part of her body.
This spiritual power was not violent at all; it was incredibly gentle.
Luo Qingchen guided this energy, using it to charge against the barrier of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
There was no bottleneck.
There was no pain.
The flood of spiritual power swept through the barrier like dead wood before a storm.
As the energy continuously circulated through her body, her sense of time regarding the outside world blurred.
A soft sound echoed within her.
Foundation Establishment Middle Stage — she had succeeded.
Luo Qingchen opened her eyes and clenched her fists.
Her strength was more than double what it had been before.
She flicked her wrist, and the Five Elements Blade appeared, spinning rapidly at her fingertips.
The control that had felt slightly clumsy before now felt as natural as moving her own limbs.
The Azure Light Bracelet on her wrist also glowed faintly.
Luo Qingchen could sense that if she were to draw the Sky-Shattering Bow now, she wouldn’t be instantly drained of spiritual power like before.
She could fire at least one full arrow.
That was a life-saving trump card.
She patted her wrist with satisfaction and sent her consciousness into the jade slip’s space.
It was piled high with Spirit Stones of all sizes, pills, and high-quality spirit herbs.
‘I’m rich.’
If she sold these in any black market, she wouldn’t have to worry about Spirit Stones for the rest of her life.
Luo Qingchen let out a little laugh.
Calculating the time, she had been in seclusion here for a full fifteen days.
She wondered how that Iceberg Senior Sister and that damn dog were doing.
The “Earth Prison” array she had left behind grew stronger as the opponent did.
A stubborn person like Ling Xiyue, who only knew how to hack things with a sword, had probably spent the last fifteen days in a state of impotent rage.
‘She is at the peak of the Golden Core Middle Stage, so she won’t be trapped forever. After enough hacking, she should eventually find the little “Easter egg” I left behind.’
Luo Qingchen rubbed her chin with a look of schadenfreude.
‘Wait, probably not. Even though that woman is a bit dull, she has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.’
‘She’s so naive. It’s good for her to suffer a little; maybe she’ll learn to be more cautious in the future.’
‘She shouldn’t always act so cold and distant.
The cultivation world is a treacherous place.
It’s not just about fighting and killing; one needs to understand the ways of the world.’
Luo Qingchen packed up her Array Flags and crawled out of the stone crevice.
The light outside was still dim.
She stretched her limbs, preparing to find a way out of the Secret Realm.
Suddenly, she froze.
The scent in the air was wrong.
It was too quiet.
Before, the Secret Realm had been filled with the roars of low-level demonic beasts, but now, there wasn’t even the chirp of an insect.
More importantly, several waves of incredibly powerful pressure lingered in the air.
This was definitely not the kind of disturbance a Foundation Establishment cultivator could create.
Golden Core stage?
Or even higher?
Luo Qingchen’s scalp tingled.
High-level cultivators from the outside world had entered!
She immediately activated her Breath-Concealing Technique, turning into a gray shadow as she silently darted up a nearby towering tree.
Hiding within the dense canopy, she held her breath and began gathering information from her surroundings.
Not long after she had hidden herself, a series of cursing voices drifted from the distance.
Several cultivators wearing the robes of different sects walked along the forest path.
Leading them was a burly, bare-chested man carrying a broad-backed saber.
He was from the Blade Sect.
Walking beside him were two female cultivators carrying pippas, their attire identifying them as members of the Heavenly Sound Sect.
The burly man kicked a withered tree by the side of the path, snapping it.
“This is freaking cursed!”
“Was this Secret Realm licked clean by a dog?”
“I’ve been wandering for three days and haven’t seen so much as a weed!”
“Forget spirit herbs and treasures, there isn’t even a single scrap of a broken array plate left!”
Up in the tree, Luo Qingchen almost failed to stifle a laugh.
‘Of course. Wherever I, your Grandpa Luo, go, not a single blade of grass remains.’
The female cultivator from the Heavenly Sound Sect let out a cold snort.
“Who else could it be?”
“It must have been done by that Ling Xiyue from Hidden Sword Mountain!”
Luo Qingchen was stunned.
‘What does this have to do with her?’
The burly man stopped and looked back at the woman.
“Are you sure it was her?”
“Of course!” The woman plucked a string on her instrument.
“Half a month ago, when the Secret Realm opened, every sect’s disciples registered at the entrance. Did anyone see her?”
“She definitely used some shady method to sneak in early.”
“Relying on her Golden Core cultivation, she must have pillaged everything good in this Secret Realm!”
“That woman usually acts so pure and noble, but she’s got such sticky fingers behind everyone’s backs!”
The burly man rubbed his hairless chin.
“That makes sense.”
“No wonder the Golden Core Elders of our sect were so angry they almost smashed the stone tablet at the entrance when they came in.”
Luo Qingchen listened from the tree, dumbfounded.
The way they shifted the blame was absolutely seamless! Ling Xiyue really hadn’t entered through the main gate; she had been sucked in.
And she was indeed a Golden Core cultivator.
Most importantly, everything in this Secret Realm had indeed been stripped bare by Luo Qingchen herself.
Now, all the blame was being pinned squarely on the Iceberg Senior Sister.
Luo Qingchen actually felt a tiny bit of guilt.
Although, it was only a tiny bit.
The burly man shouldered his saber.
“Move faster!”
“I heard someone found her in an abandoned cave dwelling deep in the Canyon!”
“People from every sect are rushing there now.”
“Even our sect’s Elders have headed that way.”
The female cultivator hurried to keep up.
“Is she trapped inside?”
“More than just trapped,” the man sneered.
“I heard the array outside that cave dwelling is extremely peculiar. Those outside can’t break in, and the person inside can’t get out.”
“Everyone is just waiting to surround the place until not even a drop of water can get through.”
“They’re going to force her to hand over the supreme treasures of the Secret Realm.”
“If she refuses, once the array breaks, dozens of cultivators will spit on her until she drowns.”
Their voices gradually faded into the distance.
Luo Qingchen froze completely.
The smile on her face vanished without a trace.
Deep in the Canyon? Abandoned cave dwelling? Peculiar array?
‘They’re freaking talking about the “Earth Prison” I set up fifteen days ago!’
It had been fifteen days!
That stupid woman was actually still in there, stubbornly hacking away.
Couldn’t she use her brain? Luo Qingchen had left a back door—every attack would make one specific spot weaker.
As long as she kept attacking the array and noticed the weak point when it appeared, she could have broken it in one hit!
‘Did she never stop to rest and use that little head of hers?’
The array had been absorbing the sword qi of a Golden Core cultivator for fifteen days.
By now, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would probably find it a headache to deal with.
Luo Qingchen slapped her own forehead.
Originally, she had just wanted to annoy that violent woman so she could run off on her own.
Who could have predicted that the powerhouses from the outside would enter early?
Who could have predicted that her own actions of stripping the realm bare would be blamed on Ling Xiyue?
Now, that abandoned cave dwelling had become the eye of the storm for the entire Secret Realm.
If hundreds of people were going to besiege it, led by Elders…
Luo Qingchen clenched her fists.
Her nails dug into her palms.
Should she go back?
Going back was suicide.
She was only at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
Facing that pack of high-level cultivators who were like ravenous wolves, she wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.
Moreover, those people were convinced that Ling Xiyue possessed supreme treasures.
If she showed up, she would definitely be chopped into minced meat along with her.
But what if she didn’t go back?
Ling Xiyue’s face, cold as eternal ice, flashed through Luo Qingchen’s mind.
She remembered how, at the bottom of the Heavenly Pit, Ling Xiyue had given her the only treasure without a moment’s hesitation.
In the cultivation world, where people killed each other for treasures every day, how could someone be this stupid?
She also thought of that idiot dog, who was dumb enough to die for her but still knew to bring back a rabbit to give her an extra meal.
She could almost see it rubbing its paws and saying, ‘Hurry up and roast it, Lord Dog wants meat.’
Luo Qingchen gritted her teeth.
A war was raging in her heart.