When you are away from home, you must protect yourself.

When Lu Ze and his group arrived at the entrance of the secret realm, disciples from the other three sects had already been waiting there for some time.

"So you're Lu Ze? The one who entered the Dao through the realm of illusions?"

A delicate and fair-skinned young girl eyed Lu Ze with keen interest.

"Chen Yiyun, an inner disciple of the Cloud Immortal Sect… Be careful, she might be another troublemaker."

Zhong Yi transmitted his voice directly into Lu Ze's ear, warning him in a hushed tone.

"Senior Brother Lu, your reputation precedes you. Senior Brother Shen asked me to pass along his regards."

A more refined-looking young disciple clasped his hands politely toward Lu Ze.

"That’s Wang Tianjing from the Heavenly Profound Sect… a junior under Senior Brother Shen."

Zhong Yi continued feeding Lu Ze information.

"Hmph! Going out on a mission with senior brothers babysitting you—what kind of true disciple does that make?! Don’t expect me to hold back when we compete in the secret realm!"

Another burly young man shot Lu Ze a sidelong glance, not bothering to hide the disdain in his tone.

"That’s Xu Hao from the Limitless Sword Sect… a bit brash, but not a bad guy. Probably thinks your cultivation is too low and assumes you got here through connections."

Zhong Yi chimed in again.

"Brother Xu, you’ve misunderstood. Junior Brother Mu and I had other tasks to attend to and simply accompanied Junior Brother Lu here on the way."

Zhong Yi flashed a diplomatic smile, explaining on Lu Ze’s behalf.

"Junior Brother Lu’s talent is among the finest even among our sect’s true disciples."

Seeing Zhong Yi step in, Xu Hao didn’t press further.

After some final preparations, the four of them entered the secret realm together.

"Senior Brother Zhong, are we just going to stand around here doing nothing?"

Mu Yawen scratched his head.

"How about we queue up for a round of Bed Wars?"

Zhong Yi suggested.

Bed Wars had recently introduced a ranked mode and was still riding high in popularity.

"Sure! Let’s go!"

Mu Yawen grinned.

The two pulled out their Illusion Towers and happily began their match.

……

……

Inside the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm.

A desolate landscape stretched as far as the eye could see, everything in ruins.

"This place… looks like it’s been deliberately destroyed."

Chen Yiyun frowned in alarm.

"The Heavenly Dao Secret Realm holds endless mysteries… Perhaps this is just how it naturally appears."

Wang Tianjing mused before his gaze settled on a conspicuous, man-made signpost not far away.

A signpost standing in the middle of a wasteland was far too out of place.

Lu Ze’s lips twitched slightly.

These so-called "allies" were unbelievably dense.

Even if he tried to carry them, they’d probably drag him down instead.

"Could someone have already been here?"

Wang Tianjing grew cautious.

"What’s there to fear?! We’re all at the Golden Core stage—who dares cause trouble here? I’ll deal with them myself! Honestly, I don’t know how you people even became cultivators with nerves like that."

Xu Hao yanked the signpost out of the ground and strode confidently in the direction it pointed.

Lu Ze followed silently behind the group, expanding his spiritual sense.

"Pfft! How far can a mid-Golden Core’s spiritual sense even reach? Save your energy. If there’s any danger, I’ll sense it long before—"

Xu Hao’s words abruptly cut off as he froze in place.

In just a few breaths, Lu Ze’s spiritual sense had already surpassed his own range.

"Hmph, not bad."

Xu Hao’s earlier arrogance faded slightly as he continued forward more carefully.

……

……

Outside the secret realm.

From the shadows, two demonic cultivators emerged.

"Heh, looks like those four fat sheep have already entered the realm."

The taller one smirked darkly.

"We just need to guard the exit and cut off their retreat… Hehehe, easy pickings!"

The pudgy cultivator rubbed his hands together, eyes gleaming greedily.

Both were at the early Nascent Soul stage.

Over a dozen Golden Core demonic cultivators had already set up traps inside.

Their role was to stay outside as a failsafe, ensuring no one escaped.

With this pincer strategy, capturing these prey was practically guaranteed.

Just as they were reveling in their flawless plan, voices suddenly echoed from the secret realm’s entrance:

"Ah, Junior Brother Mu, we lost again!"

"Senior Brother Zhong, if you’d just talked less during the match, I’m sure we would’ve won…"

The two demonic cultivators stiffened, exchanging stunned glances.

Someone was still guarding the entrance?

Who could it be?

Could it be an elder or deacon assigned to protect the disciples?

Panic set in immediately.

If it really was an elder or deacon, the two of them stood no chance!

But they didn’t dare probe with demonic energy either.

If the other party truly was a high-ranking sect member, detecting demonic energy would mean instant death for them!

Then, the conversation continued:

"Junior Brother Mu, I finally reached Foundation Establishment. How about you?"

"Hehe, late Foundation Establishment. Almost at Golden Core."

Hearing this, the two demonic cultivators locked eyes again, sinister grins spreading across their faces.

Just two little Foundation Establishment lambs!

Not as nourishing as Golden Core prey, but still a decent meal.

One drew a broadsword, the other hefted a spiked mace.

With each step, they let out a low, eerie chuckle as they crept up behind Zhong Yi and Mu Yawen.

Zhong Yi and Mu Yawen had already noticed their approach and turned to look curiously.

"Didn’t your masters teach you… that weaklings like you should be more careful when wandering outside? Hehehe…"

The tall demonic cultivator tapped his mace against his palm.

"Two little… lambs~"

The pudgy one licked his dry lips.

Then—

Two overwhelming auras, unmistakably at the Soul Transformation stage, erupted and pinned the two demonic cultivators in place.

Zhong Yi and Mu Yawen stared coldly at them.

"Tch, Senior Brother Zhong, we’re actually being looked down on by demonic cultivators!"

"Hehe, demonic cultivators should also be careful when they’re outside, you know…"

……

……

Lu Ze quickly located the demonic cultivators’ position with his spiritual sense.

Oddly enough, it matched exactly where the signpost had pointed—likely the treasure site within the realm.

The area was shielded by some kind of barrier. Even his spiritual sense could only faintly detect traces of activity, which explained why they’d been so brazen about hiding there.

‘What a bunch of idiots…’

Lu Ze sighed inwardly.

He’d already pieced together their plan.

Lure the righteous sect disciples into the treasure site with an ambush waiting.

But burning the surroundings to wasteland and even putting up a signpost?

That was just screaming "Nothing suspicious here!"

"Brother Xu, be careful! There might be people inside!"

Wang Tianjing warned.

"Tch! We’re all Golden Core cultivators—below Nascent Soul, I have no equals! Who dares make trouble here?"

Xu Hao scoffed and marched forward without hesitation.

The others exchanged glances before following.

The moment they stepped inside, a strange suppression field weighed down on them.

"Heh, spiritual sense range reduced, movement techniques disabled? Interesting."

Xu Hao smirked and drew his sword.

"This isn’t the work of Golden Core cultivators… Probably a restriction from the treasure site itself!"

Wang Tianjing analyzed.

"Who cares?! Let’s see what tricks they’ve got!"

With that, Xu Hao kicked open the iron gate ahead.

Lu Ze followed with mild amusement.

He was genuinely curious—what gave these demonic cultivators the confidence to ambush righteous sect disciples?

And Golden Core ones at that.

What exactly were they relying on?

At that moment, everyone froze.

Floating and shifting stone steps, bloodied spikes protruding from the ground, all sorts of eerie pits and holes...

The other three instinctively turned their gaze toward Lu Ze, their eyes filled with a hint of resentment.

"......"

Lu Ze's lips twitched involuntarily.

"Why are you looking at me? There's no way this was my doing..."