Accidentally Triggering a Hidden Level

In merely an instant, the purple-gold longspear pierced through the colorful-winged spiritual bird's body. The bird let out a shrill, miserable shriek and plummeted straight toward the ground.

Jun Anshi raised her right hand toward the falling spear. The power of time circulated around her body once more as she attempted to summon the spear back.

Just as the spear retreated halfway, Jun Anshi suddenly felt a powerful resistance.

It was not an attack from someone, nor was it a lack of spiritual energy; rather, the power of time she had applied to the spear had encountered some sort of interference.

With the power of time obstructed, the spear lost control and plummeted straight toward the ground.

Oh no! The spear Master gave me!

Jun Anshi cried out inwardly that things were bad. Her expression changed instantly, and she immediately led the disciples behind her to sprint rapidly toward the direction where the spear was falling.

The spear fell vertically, its tip piercing deeply into the earth. The shaft stood perfectly straight, gleaming with a golden light under the sun.

The moment the spear struck the ground, the entire earth suddenly lit up with a faint glow, and a hidden formation was instantly activated.

At the four corners of the formation, four transparent, deer-shaped phantoms slowly condensed into form.

The bodies of the four Dao Spirits were transparent, revealing the light flowing within them—that was the pure power of the Great Dao, so dense it was almost tangible.

The formation quickly took shape, and the four Dao Spirits were awakened from their slumber by its power.

They opened their eyes, looked around, and then fled in all directions.

The Wood Spirit went north, the Time Spirit went east, the Space Spirit went south, and the Reversion Spirit went west.

Four streaks of flowing light pierced through the forest sea and disappeared into the horizon.

Right at the moment the four Dao Spirits fled, that Space Spirit voice echoed above the forest.

After hearing the contents of the voice, Jun Anshi instantly made a decision in her heart.

With a wave of her right hand, a surge of time power pulled the purple-gold spear from the ground from a distance, and the spear flew back into her hand.

The shaft was stained with some dirt, but it was undamaged. She breathed a sigh of relief and gripped the spear tightly.

Then, she turned to look at the disciples behind her.

"I am faster. Just now, one of the Dao Spirits headed east. I felt the aura of time on it; that is the Time Spirit, so I will chase it.

You all go chase the Dao Spirit that fled north; the distance is closer that way.

You also have communication artifacts on you. If you encounter danger or clash with cultivators from other factions, tell me immediately. I will rush back at any time."

It was not just the leaders of the seven teams who had communication artifacts; the disciples within each team also had their own exclusive communication artifacts.

However, this kind of communication was limited to the disciples of the same team, facilitating internal communication and message passing.

After Jun Anshi finished speaking, she delayed no further. Her figure flashed, and pushing the time power around her to its limits, she rapidly chased toward the east where the Time Spirit had fled.

The remaining disciples did not hesitate at all. Following Jun Anshi's instructions, they immediately formed a squad and chased toward the north where the Wood Spirit had fled.

The Great Dao auras on the four Dao Spirits were extremely intense. Even though they had fled far away, their auras remained clearly distinguishable.

The teams from other factions throughout the vast forest sea, despite having never seen the appearance of the Dao Spirits, somehow clearly knew their locations. One after another, they abandoned their current explorations and chased after the Dao Spirit closest to them.

For a time, the entire vast forest sea plunged into a fierce battle over the Dao Spirits.

...

Gu Changyuan stood at the top of a towering ancient tree, his divine sense's field of vision having long since shifted to Jun Anshi.

Since both he and Jun Anshi happened to be in the vast forest sea, he wanted to see how the girl was doing.

As a result, just as he locked his vision onto her, he happened to see the scene of the four Dao Spirits fleeing from the formation.

The emerald-green Wood Spirit, the silver-white Space Spirit, the purple-gold Space Spirit, and the dark-blue Reversion Spirit—four streaks of flowing light pierced the forest sea, speeding off in four different directions.

Gu Changyuan raised an eyebrow slightly. To think that it was actually this girl who accidentally triggered the secret realm's special stage.

Seeing Jun Anshi tell the other disciples to chase the Wood Spirit while she went after the Time Spirit alone, Gu Changyuan nodded slightly.

His figure flashed, vanishing from the treetop. He shuttled rapidly through the trees, heading in Jun Anshi's direction.

While on the move, he split off three clones.

The first clone changed direction, sweeping toward the north where the Wood Spirit had fled, to check on the situation of the remaining disciples and ensure they would not encounter danger beyond their capabilities while hunting the Wood Spirit.

The second and third clones headed toward the directions of the Space Spirit and the Reversion Spirit, respectively, to investigate the situation of the other two Dao Spirits.

Dao Spirits containing the seeds of the Great Dao Origin—the rarity of these things was comparable to Supreme Bones, and in some aspects, even surpassed them.

With such good things, Gu Changyuan's goal was naturally to take them all down.

He shuttled quickly through the trees, his figure like a phantom. Every step landed precisely on the crevices of space, without making a single sound.

In merely a moment, he arrived near Jun Anshi, landing on the branch of a large tree. He concealed his aura and quietly watched the chase below.

At this moment, Jun Anshi was tracking all the way along the residual time aura left by the Time Spirit.

The Time Spirit Deer leaped through the forest. Every time it landed, it would leave behind remnants of the laws of time where it stepped.

Sometimes it was a time-slow zone, where the movement of grass blades became sluggish like slow motion; sometimes it was a time-haste zone, where falling leaves suddenly accelerated, touching the ground in the blink of an eye.

These traps were extremely troublesome for ordinary cultivators, who would fall victim with the slightest carelessness. However, for Jun Anshi, who possessed the Time Sequence Dao Body, the fluctuations of the time laws were as clear as day in her perception.

She easily captured the location of every spot of time power, nimbly avoiding them without her speed decreasing in the slightest.

The chase lasted for about half a cup of tea's time. Although the Time Spirit Deer was extremely fast, the distance between it and Jun Anshi was constantly closing.

At the same time, cultivators from other factions also moved upon hearing the news, closing in from all directions.

They might not know exactly what the Time Spirit Deer was, but that aura of time laws, so dense it almost condensed into substance, was enough to drive any cultivator mad.

Soon, the Time Spirit Deer was forced by a crowd of cultivators into a relatively open clearing in the forest.

It stood in the center of the clearing, lightly tapping its four hooves. Its purple-gold body gleamed with a faint, cold light under the sun, and the radiance on its body flickered like a beating heart.

The surrounding cultivators closed in from all sides. Some held magical treasures, some formed hand seals and chanted incantations, and some were already secretly setting up trapping formations.

They guarded against one another, yet tacitly surrounded the Time Spirit Deer in the middle.

The Time Spirit Deer looked around. There was no panic in its eyes, only a faint indifference. It raised its right front hoof and gently tapped the ground.

An invisible ripple spread out from beneath its hoof, instantly enveloping the entire clearing.

Time-slow zone—a powerful time-slowing force shrouded all the cultivators present.

The figures that had just been closing in suddenly had their movements become incredibly slow.

Someone was taking a step, their foot suspended in mid-air and delaying to fall; someone was opening their mouth to say something, their voice drawn out into a deep, bizarre hum.

Only Jun Anshi had the power of time circulating around his body, counteracting the forces of the time-slowing zone.