The Little Red Dot

The next day, after taking the complete orders and deposits from the three great sects and the royal family, Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe did not delay. They left the capital the following day and returned to Hufang Province.

After entering Hufang Province, the two went their separate ways.

Qin Jianghe went to Songyang County, while Liu Yunan returned to Xiushui Village.

Because the North-South Trading Company in the capital needed to arrange personnel as soon as possible, Qin Jianghe had to return to the Lingxiao Escort Agency to bring Gu Yuxiao and his eldest cousin Fang Mancang over.

Meanwhile, his second cousin Fang Manliang stayed behind to manage the Lingxiao Escort Agency.

From now on, the goods sold by the North-South Trading Company would be transported by the Lingxiao Escort Agency.

It was already dusk more than ten days later when Liu Yunan returned to the sect.

Upon returning, he didn't even step into the Affairs Hall where he usually spent most of his time. Instead, he walked straight to the small garden at the center of the sect, which housed the entrance to the secret realm.

Seeing Sun Yigao sitting comfortably by the cold pool, leisurely flipping through a book, he hurried over and asked softly,

"Yigao, how are they doing?"

Seeing him return, Sun Yigao gave a gentle smile and replied,

"At the moment, they are all still exploring the secret realm. Nothing unusual has happened."

Currently, in the entire sect, aside from Da Tao, who was only at the second level of Spirit Awakening, and a few family members whose cultivation progress was slow and had just reached the first or second level of Qi Condensation, everyone else at the third or fourth level and above, along with Little Luan and Fang Tuantuan, had entered the recently opened Green Wilderness Secret Realm.

Since the Green Wilderness Secret Realm was now completely under Lin Xiao's control, and cultivators from the cultivation world could no longer enter, there were no other threats inside apart from small demonic beasts and some treacherous terrain.

Therefore, for the people of the Lingxian Sect, this secret realm was an extremely low-risk place where they could broaden their horizons and collect materials and resources.

Naturally, the Lingxian Sect would not pass up such an opportunity. So, every single person with a cultivation base at or above the third level of Qi Condensation was arranged to go in.

Of course, if one's cultivation was below the third level of Qi Condensation but they still wanted to enter, it was fine too.

After all, once inside, everyone would have a red string on their wrist serving as a key to exit the secret realm. If they encountered danger, they just needed to snap the red string to come out immediately.

Even if they truly faced danger and couldn't react in time, the red string itself had a defensive function. If they encountered a situation beyond its defensive capabilities and the defense was shattered, it would still automatically teleport the person out.

Thus, the safety of the Lingxian Sect members in the Green Wilderness Secret Realm was not an issue.

However, there were always a few veteran farmers who couldn't stop worrying about the fields in the village and the sect, so they chose to stay behind and tend to them.

As for Da Tao, it simply didn't want to go.

When Liu Yunan asked it earlier, Da Tao, who could now basically express and understand meanings, immediately shook its head like a rattle drum.

When asked for a reason, it wouldn't say. It just refused to go.

Little Luan was quite disgusted by how timid its disciple was. Seeing Da Tao's desperate reluctance to go, Little Luan immediately slapped it across the face with a large chicken claw and turned to enter the secret realm.

Little did it know that upon seeing it enter, Da Tao, who had been sent flying by the chicken claw, felt an overwhelming burst of joy in its heart.

It could finally temporarily escape the demonic chicken claws of its devilish master!

After everyone entered the secret realm, Da Tao lived very comfortably these past few days. In its still very immature heart, it only hoped that its master would stay in that whatever secret realm forever and never come out.

Liu Yunan walked over to the large stone at the entrance of the Green Wilderness Secret Realm and lightly tapped a small, moss-covered groove.

Immediately, a complete map of the Green Wilderness Secret Realm appeared before him.

The map could be resized at his will.

Blinking little red dots were constantly moving on it.

Obviously, these little red dots were the people who had gone inside.

Liu Yunan enlarged the map and carefully observed the color intensity of each little red dot.

These little red dots actually corresponded to the red strings on their wrists that served as defenses and exit keys. If the defensive energy of a red string was consumed, the brightness of the corresponding little red dot on the map would weaken accordingly.

Therefore, people on the outside could understand the general situation of those inside based on the brightness of each little red dot on this map.

When he saw that every little red dot inside was still blinking energetically and moving around, he breathed a sigh of relief.

During his time far away in the capital, this matter had been weighing on his mind.

He was afraid that something might have happened to the people in the secret realm by the time he returned.

Now that the heavy burden in his heart was completely lifted, he walked over to Sun Yigao and sat down, feeling entirely relaxed.

The Lingxian Sect members had long ago brought stone materials to the edge of this cold pool, cutting them into tables and stools. Now, this small garden at the secret realm entrance was one of the favorite places for the sect members to stroll and sit idly.

Sun Yigao timely poured him a cup of tea and asked,

"Did the discussions in the capital go smoothly this time?"

Liu Yunan gulped it down like a cow drinking water, feeling that the tea from his own sect was indeed the best. He nodded excitedly and replied,

"Smooth, very smooth. Qin Jianghe and I put on quite a performance. Let me tell you, Yigao..."

The two men, who had broken through their cultivation levels so quickly that they would probably never be able to enter the Green Wilderness Secret Realm in their lifetimes, sat guarding the entrance and chatted idly.

By the time they finished chatting, dinner time had already passed.

Sun Yigao looked up at the sky, closed the book in his hand, and said to Liu Yunan,

"It's about time. I'm going down the mountain to check on Tong Jialiang."

Because he had to teach classes during the day, he usually went to treat Tong Jialiang at night.

Hearing this, Liu Yunan thought of Tong Jialiang and Han Weishu, who were staying at Lin Xiao's house, and stood up along with him, saying,

"I'll go with you to take a look."

Today's Xiushui Village was vastly different from before.

In the past, once night fell in Xiushui Village, apart from the occasional household that had urgent matters and needed to work through the night by lighting a long-saved candle—providing a tiny bit of light to the small village—the entire village relied on moonlight to see in the dark.

But now, almost every household in the village, if not brightly lit, was no longer fumbling blindly in the dark like before.

And on the village roads, stone lanterns had been erected, and someone would regularly replace the candles inside every day.

This was the joint effort of several wealthy families who had moved to Xiushui Village.

The villagers cherished these stone lanterns very much and spontaneously took turns sweeping and cleaning them.

These stone lanterns brought light to Xiushui Village, which had lived in darkness for generations. They seemed to be declaring something to the night with their radiant glow.

The two men strolled along the illuminated path toward Lin Xiao's house.

On the way, Liu Yunan asked,

"How is Tong Jialiang's condition right now?"

Sun Yigao pondered for a moment and replied,

"I have given him some conservative treatments according to the records in ancient texts. There is an effect, but it is not very obvious. Moreover, the efficacy of the conservative treatment is gradually weakening. If he just maintains his current state, he might be... ruined for the rest of his life."