Roadblock

Lin Xiao followed his gaze and saw the jade pendant at his waist, engraved with the characters Tianxuan.

He reached out, detached the pendant, and nodded at the man. We will find your sect members as soon as possible. Hang in there.

Sun Yigao took out all of his dry rations, broke them into small pieces, and placed them on a piece of cloth near these people. He then opened his waterskin and propped it up beside the man.

Lin Xiao glanced at Venerable Pantu without saying a word, then turned and left with Sun Yigao.

On the way, Lin Xiao asked Sun Yigao, Do you regret it? Stepping onto this path.

Sun Yigao shook his head. I think I am fortunate to have chosen this path.

Lin Xiao smiled and said nothing more as the two of them exited the valley.

Now that he held the Heart of the Secret Realm, finding anyone within this dimension was as easy as flipping his hand.

After a moment of thought, he directly used the Heart of the Secret Realm to locate Yuan Qing and Xu Juan.

After all, he did not know anyone else, and from what he could tell, those two had relatively reliable characters.

Only after mastering the Heart of the Secret Realm did Lin Xiao realize just how vast this Green Wilderness Secret Realm truly was.

The entire realm was shaped like a rhombus, narrow at the ends and wide in the middle.

The Spirit Heart Valley they had just left was the exact center of the entire secret realm.

Right now, Lin Xiao had no time to carefully observe the realm's layout. He merely cast a brief glance in the direction of Yuan Qing and his companion before hurrying over.

Although he felt that Venerable Pantu probably wouldn't do anything more to those people.

His intuition told him it would be best to return as soon as possible.

Thanks to the Heart of the Secret Realm, the two faced zero obstacles along the way.

All demonic beasts and dangerous hazards made way for them.

Lin Xiao's original intention of using this place as a training ground for himself and Sun Yigao was completely dashed.

However, he forced himself to find some comfort: witnessing the many hardships on the path of cultivation could also be considered a form of experiential learning, couldn't it?

With a clear direction and no obstacles in their way, Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao advanced at breakneck speed.

They had expected to quickly find the people they needed and head back, but to their surprise, they still ran into a roadblock.

By a small river in a patch of woods, Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao were stopped by two men who were resting by the water.

The two men wore dark yellow robes, looked to be in their twenties, and were both at the seventh level of Qi Condensation.

One of them sneered, Yo, you don't even wear your sect uniforms. You must be those fools from the Tianxuan Sect, right?

The other man sized up Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao with an incredibly greedy look in his eyes. He first called out to Sun Yigao:

You there, boy! You look no older than fifteen or sixteen, yet you have the cultivation of the seventh level of Qi Condensation. Could it be that you possess some secret cultivation manual? Or perhaps a magical treasure?

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Lin Xiao, and he let out a sinister laugh.

A mortal? Impossible. Only Qi Condensation cultivators can enter this secret realm. I suppose you must have some magical treasure on you that conceals your cultivation. Haha! The heavens are truly blessing me, allowing me to run into two fat sheep like you right here!

Sun Yigao remained silent.

Why did it seem like all the outside cultivators he had met so far were somewhat abnormal?

Was everyone in the outside cultivation world like this? Instead of focusing on their cultivation, they spent all day doing things completely unrelated to seeking the Dao...

This was a far cry from the image of immortals he had always held in his heart.

Lin Xiao, on the other hand, was rather excited.

The training had finally arrived!

Combat experience would start from farming these EXP packs!

So, he blinked at Sun Yigao:

"Yigao, I will leave the one on the right to you!"

Saying this, he leaped and pounced toward the person on the left.

Spell—Mount Tai Press!

With a loud bang, the person on the left was heavily pinned to the ground, ending up with a mouthful of dried leaves and mud.

Fortunately, this person was already at the seventh level of Qi Condensation. Taking this hit did not knock him out completely. The moment Lin Xiao got up, the man cast a minor Rejuvenation Spell on himself, preparing to stand up and engage in a spell battle with Lin Xiao, only to find that he could not move.

He hastily circulated his spiritual power to break through Lin Xiao's Immobilization Spell. However, in the brief moment he was delayed, Lin Xiao targeted him with another Mount Tai Press!

Bang!

Standing to the side, Sun Yigao watched Lin Xiao, who was having the time of his life, and then glanced at his own opponent on the right.

The opponent stared blankly at Lin Xiao's attack for a second. Immediately after, he turned around to run, only to find his entire body locked tight by a cluster of spiritual power threads!

Learning from Lin Xiao, Sun Yigao did not give the man a single opening. The moment he locked the person down, he cast a Hypnosis Spell on him.

Among all the spells Lin Xiao had created, the Hypnosis Spell was the one he personally thought would have the lowest chance of being used.

Because against someone with highly focused mental energy, this move was virtually useless.

But clearly, the cultivator Sun Yigao was dealing with never expected him to have such a mind-hypnotizing method. The moment he was bound by the spiritual threads, his brain short-circuited. Before he could even react, he fell fast asleep.

Evidently, Sun Yigao was still not used to physically hitting people, so he opted for this gentler approach.

The same could not be said for Lin Xiao's side.

His opponent was directly beaten unconscious by Lin Xiao.

Looking at the two men lying flat on the ground, Sun Yigao was a little worried that they might be carried off by some wild beasts. He moved them under a tree, scattered some realgar powder around them, and even cast an illusionary concealment spell.

Only then did the two of them feel refreshed enough to resume their journey.

While traveling, Lin Xiao pondered the battle that had just occurred.

Well, it was not really a battle; it was a one-sided beating.

Lin Xiao thought to himself, his cultivation base was only slightly higher than his opponent's, so why was beating him as easy as chopping vegetables?

Even if he did not look at his own performance, the same applied to Sun Yigao.

He was clearly at the seventh level of Qi Condensation, exactly the same as his opponent.

Was it because they caught them by surprise? Not necessarily.

Because under normal circumstances, with equal cultivation levels, even if one gained the upper hand through a surprise attack, it should not result in such a completely one-sided crushing defeat.

Moreover, he had also noticed just now that the attack methods of these Qi Condensation cultivators were quite limited.

Lin Xiao wondered, could it be that they were simply stronger than these cultivators of the same realm?

Not just in terms of spells, but perhaps their cultivation methods were superior as well.

If the opportunity arose, he definitely had to find a way to get his hands on the cultivation methods of other sects.

He wanted to see what grade their mainstream cultivation methods were.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiao suddenly remembered that Venerable Pantu had seemingly mentioned wanting to impart his own exclusive cultivation method to Sun Yigao?

It seemed to be some Earth-grade low-tier method or something...

After traveling for a whole night, Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao finally found Yuan Qing and his companion.

They were currently picking purple fruits from a tree.

Seeing the two of them, Yuan Qing was very puzzled:

"May I ask why you two are looking for us?"

Meanwhile, Xu Juan beside him tightened his grip on his sword with some vigilance.

Lin Xiao straightforwardly asked:

"Are you two both from the Tianxuan Sect? I wonder, is it true that every year, one or two people from your sect who enter this mystic realm fail to make it back out?"