Persuasion

He quickly closed his eyes and began to focus on refining it.

Strands of spiritual energy spun out from Lin Xiao's body, attaching themselves one by one to the Heart of the Secret Realm. At first, the Heart of the Secret Realm showed no reaction.

But as time passed and the threads of spiritual energy gradually increased, the Heart of the Secret Realm slowly began to emit a faint fluorescent glow.

Before long, a stream of fluorescent light flowed out from the Heart of the Secret Realm, spreading along the threads of spiritual energy.

Just like that, after an unknown amount of time, Lin Xiao suddenly heard a ding in his mind.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully refining the Heart of the Green Field Secret Realm. The task of exploring the secret realm is complete. The rewards have been issued to the host's private treasury. Please check them.]

Lin Xiao did not rush to check the rewards. Instead, he quickly swam towards the surface of the lake.

His Brother Yigao was still up there waiting for him!

In the Spirit Heart Valley.

By now, the moon was already high in the sky.

Sun Yigao sat meditating in a nearby medicinal field.

Ever since Lin Xiao went down into the lake, he had not moved a single step from this spot.

He had quietly resolved his physiological needs using spells like the Water Control Spell and the Dust Removal Spell.

Meanwhile, Venerable Pantu had long since sneaked back into his thatched hut to rest.

The bright full moon generously poured its moonlight over the tranquil surface of the lake.

The entire valley looked peaceful and beautiful.

Suddenly, a splash of water startled Sun Yigao from his meditation.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Lin Xiao emerging from the lake to take a breath, getting ready to come ashore.

"Brother Xiao!"

Sun Yigao quickly ran over, instinctively reaching out to pull Lin Xiao ashore. However, he saw Lin Xiao dart out of the water, lightly tap his toes on the surface of the lake a few times, and land smoothly on the shore.

Sun Yigao smiled and withdrew his hand.

Having only become a cultivator not long ago, he was still very unaccustomed to using these spells.

It seemed that in the future, apart from the Water Control Spell and Dust Removal Spell, he needed to get more used to using other spells.

Lin Xiao wiggled his eyebrows at him smugly and whispered,

"From now on, this secret realm completely belongs to our sect!"

Hearing this, Sun Yigao was a bit surprised, but then felt extremely happy for the sect.

He knew it! Lin Xiao's sudden dive into the water earlier definitely had a purpose, and he was confident in it.

Over at the thatched hut, Venerable Pantu, hearing the commotion in the lake, also came out of the house.

When he saw Lin Xiao standing perfectly fine on the shore, he felt it was somewhat unbelievable.

After all, he had been throwing people into this lake for decades, and he had never seen anyone come out alive. Of course, he hadn't seen any dead bodies either.

"How were you able to escape from this lake?!"

Venerable Pantu voiced the doubt in his heart.

Lin Xiao turned to look at him and chuckled,

"Senior, I can let you out now. Do you want to leave?"

Lin Xiao did not answer Venerable Pantu's question, but his counter-question successfully made Venerable Pantu forget what he had just asked.

He began to ponder.

Leaving—he had been hoping for this for decades.

But now that the opportunity to leave was truly laid out in front of him, he hesitated.

What use would it be for him to leave as he was now?

Within this secret realm, he was merely a fragment of his soul, possessing only the cultivation strength of the ninth level of Qi Condensation, and the whereabouts of his physical body were unknown.

If that person found out, he would just be captured again, thrown into another place, and continued to be sealed until his soul completely dissipated.

Seeing his hesitation, Lin Xiao's eyes shifted, and he asked,

"Senior, are you worried that you won't have a place to stay after you get out?"

Venerable Pantu shook his head.

"I am currently nothing more than a partial soul. It's not like I can release all my soul fragments from various secret realms, and I have no idea where my physical body is. What can I do even if I leave?"

Lin Xiao's eyes lit up, and he said,

"That's perfect! Come out with me, join our sect, and then I'll help you find your other soul fragments and your physical body. How about that?"

Venerable Pantu clearly did not believe his words.

"Just you? Do you know that I am a grand Nascent Soul cultivator? The person who reduced me to this state is also a Nascent Soul cultivator, and that person is a complete evil cultivator. Slaughtering a little Qi Condensation brat like you would be as easy as flipping a hand!"

Lin Xiao immediately promised,

"Anyway, your soul fragment is trapped here right now, with absolutely no freedom, and you don't know much about the outside world, right? Only by coming out with me will you have a chance to return to your peak. If you miss this opportunity with me now, it will be hard to find another one later.

"Come out with me, join our sect, and stay safe and recover in my sect. Think about it. It's been decades. How could that Nascent Soul cultivator who harmed you keep thinking about you for decades, still searching around to see if your sealed soul fragments have escaped? I don't mean to offend, Senior, but you might be thinking a bit too highly of yourself..."

Seeing that Venerable Pantu's expression was turning a bit sour, Lin Xiao quickly changed his tone and said,

"Then let's set a timeframe! Ten years, how about that? Within ten years, I'll help you find the rest of your soul fragments and your physical body. Wouldn't that be a happy ending for everyone?"

This was the soul fragment of a Nascent Soul bigshot! Although this partial soul was only at the Qi Condensation stage, Lin Xiao believed that if their sect could gain a Qi Condensation soul fragment with the knowledge and experience of a Nascent Soul expert, it would be absolutely fantastic. Knowing a lot while not being overly powerful—if he didn't abduct him back to the sect, he felt it would be a huge loss.

Therefore, Lin Xiao tried his hardest to sweet-talk him.

Venerable Pantu stroked his beard and said slowly,

"And what if you don't find them within ten years?"

In truth, he was already tempted. Leaving aside everything else, just by getting out, he would definitely have more opportunities than staying in this secret realm.

But he also knew that this kid was most likely bluffing, just trying to get him to join their sect.

He wondered which elder's disciple this kid was, to be so dedicated to recruiting people into the sect. If he were the sect master, he would definitely cherish such a disciple.

But then he thought, this kid must be living very well in the sect; otherwise, why would he be so considerate of the sect? His seniors must treat him quite well, so having his seniors fulfill the promise of finding the soul fragments for him should also be doable.

Hearing his question, Lin Xiao rubbed his nose and said,

"If I fail to accomplish it, you can leave then? Or I can put you back into this secret realm?"

Venerable Pantu: ...Gee, thanks a lot.

Sun Yigao almost couldn't hold back his laughter on the side, stifling it by pretending to cough twice.

Fortunately, Venerable Pantu was someone who had seen great storms and waves. In just a moment, he found his voice again and said,

"Alright, hurry up and undo the seal for me."

Lin Xiao nodded.

"Alrighty, get ready—" Saying that, he was about to use the Heart of the Green Field Secret Realm to dispel the seal trapping Venerable Pantu, but he suddenly froze in place as if he had discovered something.

Seeing him suddenly stop moving, Venerable Pantu asked in confusion,

"Little brat, what are you waiting for?"