The Cicada Escapes Its Shell, Diverting Disaster Elsewhere

Those lingering bald donkeys from the Western Teachings! Hearing that voice carrying a hypocritical smile through the spatial barrier, Xuanwei was so furious his immortal-energy body was nearly smoking. He had only just found some benefits and had not even enjoyed tempering his body enough, yet these bastards had swooped in like flies smelling blood! "Sharing the opportunity"? Share my ass! This was plainly robbery!

"Master! Have people from the Western Teachings caught up to you?" Mo Yuan's anxious mental transmission rang out in Xuanwei's consciousness. The divine-sense imprint he had left on his disciple allowed simple communication within a certain range.

"Yes, they found a way to stabilize the entrance." Xuanwei replied swiftly while his mind raced. "How are things on your end?"

"This disciple is unharmed. The Medicine Garden is being rebuilt. Master, you must be careful!" Mo Yuan's tone was full of concern.

Xuanwei had no time to comfort his disciple. He could barely protect himself. The owner of that voice outside possessed an aura at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal level, and there was more than one! Together with the Maitreya who might be lurking in the shadows... fighting head-on would be a dead end!

He had to find a way out immediately!

His gaze swept rapidly over the altar and the pool of precious Abyss of Return Black Water, and intense reluctance surged within him. This stuff was incredibly useful for cultivating the Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist and the Black Tortoise Prison Suppressing Pattern! But he clearly had no time to slowly collect it and take it away.

"Damn it, I can't let those bald donkeys have it!" Xuanwei gritted his teeth and made a decision.

He fully activated the Black Emperor Water Sovereign Fist, pressing his hands through the air over the edge of the altar and drawing upon that pool of Abyss of Return Black Water! But rather than absorb it, he... disturbed it! Using himself as a conduit, he frantically injected the trace of Abyss of Return origin aura he had just refined into the pool, mixing it with an extremely faint yet exceptionally high-grade fluctuation of a "chaos spiritual treasure" simulated by the Chaos Bead!

Rumble—!

The previously calm black-water pool instantly boiled and erupted as though a boulder had been cast into it! Even more violent and unstable Abyss of Return annihilation aura spread madly in every direction like a ferocious beast gone out of control! The entire altar began shaking violently, and the ancient runes on its surface flickered erratically, as though it might collapse at any moment!

"Not enough! I need to leave them a little 'surprise' too!" A ruthless gleam flashed in Xuanwei's eyes as he thought of the two guardian puppets that had only just withdrawn! He abruptly mixed the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor's intent of "summoning" and "battle intent" with the rampaging Abyss of Return aura disturbed here, broadcasting it fiercely toward the shadows on both sides of the gorge like an amplified signal!

"Roar!!!" "Hiss—!"

Almost instantly, the two peak Mysterious Immortal guardian puppets that had just faded away burst from the shadows like cats whose tails had been stepped on, carrying even more violent and furious auras than before! They had clearly blamed the energy disturbance here on foreign invaders—the Western Teachings cultivators about to enter—and their icy pupils instantly locked onto the spatial entrance!

Having done all this, Xuanwei did not dare linger for even a moment! He gave the raging black-water pool and the guardian puppets charging toward the entrance one deep look, his face showing both pained reluctance and vindictive satisfaction.

"Want an opportunity? I'm giving you a grand gift! I hope you can stomach it!"

Without hesitation, he turned and pushed his speed to the limit, fleeing toward the depths of the secret realm opposite the entrance! At the same time, he completely concealed all his aura, driving [Deep Immortal Seclusion] to its limit and drawing upon the Chaos Bead's power to shroud himself, distorting the subtle laws around him and erasing all traces of his existence as thoroughly as possible.

He had only one thought now: run! Get away from this troublesome place! While the guardian puppets and the rampaging Abyss of Return Black Water held back those people from the Western Teachings, he had to find another way out, or... hide!

Not long after Xuanwei's figure vanished behind the jagged black crystal mountains in the depths of the secret realm—

Buzz!

Space at the gorge entrance twisted, and several figures radiating peaceful golden light forcibly broke through. At their head was the Grand Unity Golden Immortal-level Western cultivator, his face gaunt but his eyes as sharp as an eagle's. He was none other than Venerable Sunlight, who had previously followed behind Maitreya.

Yet the moment they stepped inside, what greeted them was not the secret realm's treasures they had expected, but the head-on assault of two peak Mysterious Immortal guardian puppets in a berserk state! Along with a tidal-wave-like surge of rampaging Abyss of Return energy filled with annihilating aura!

"Something is wrong here! Form a defensive formation!" Venerable Sunlight's expression changed drastically as he barked the order!

The Western Teachings disciples behind him hurriedly brought out their magic treasures and formed a glittering Buddhist defensive formation. Yet the raging Abyss of Return Black Water was far more powerful than they had imagined, corroding the Buddha Light like gangrene in the bone, while the two guardian puppets attacked the formation's light barrier with reckless abandon!

Boom! Boom! Bang!

Violent collisions of energy echoed through the gorge without end! Golden and black light intertwined, Buddhist chants mingled with beastly roars! The Western Teachings group was firmly pinned down for the moment, unable to advance even half a step. Under the combined assault of the guardian puppets and Abyss of Return energy, they looked thoroughly disheveled, their formation barrier on the verge of collapse.

"Damn it! That brat must have tampered with something!" Venerable Sunlight's face turned livid. He could sense that this place should originally have held a considerable opportunity—the Abyss of Return Black Water pool—but it had now become a deadly trap! "Strike with everything you have! Suppress these two beasts and this rampaging energy first!"

He had no choice but to focus on the immediate crisis, leaving him temporarily unable to search for Xuanwei's trail.

Meanwhile, Xuanwei had already fled dozens of miles away. Hidden behind a natural barrier formed from massive beast bones, he cautiously extended his divine sense and felt the violent energy fluctuations coming from the distant gorge. A gloating curve lifted at the corner of his mouth.

"Fight, fight! The livelier it gets, the better!"

He relaxed slightly and began examining his surroundings. The depths of this secret realm were even more desolate and dead. There were more shattered fragments of space, and occasionally he could see twisted spatial cracks that looked as though they had been torn open by tremendous force, radiating a terrifying suction.

"I need to find a way out as quickly as possible. This secret realm is unstable. Since the Western Teachings can enter, there must be another exit, or... a way to return the way I came?" Xuanwei moved cautiously as he pondered.

He tried communicating with the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor again, but aside from a faint connection to the altar's black-water pool, he received no other clear guidance. Apparently, the Dao Pattern Armor's primary function was to guide him in receiving the inheritance—tempering his body—not to lead the way.

"Looks like I'll have to figure it out myself."

He chose a direction where space felt relatively stable and continued onward. Along the way, he became even more cautious, avoiding several obvious spatial traps and turbulent energy currents. At the same time, he discovered scattered crystals containing pure water-and-earth elemental power, as well as strange patterns lingering on unknown beast bones that contained peculiar Dao Rhyme. He carefully collected them all. Even a mosquito leg was still meat; he could not come here for nothing.

Just as he passed through a "stone forest" made up of countless enormous black crystal clusters, the Black Tortoise Dao Pattern Armor in his robes unexpectedly emitted another faint resonance, different from before!

This time, the resonance did not point toward any fixed energy source, but toward... the pure and ancient Chaos Qi that pervaded the air everywhere!

It seemed that deep within this crystal forest, the concentration and quality of Chaos Qi had reached an even higher level!

Xuanwei's heart stirred. Chaos Qi was a universal tonic to him. It could cultivate the Chaos Heaven-Opening Art, nourish the Light Cocoon and the Black Tortoise Egg, and activate the Chaos Bead. If he could find a place where Chaos Qi was especially dense, it might help both his recovery and concealment.

Following the Dao Pattern Armor's guidance, he carefully threaded his way through the maze-like black crystal forest. The deeper he went, the denser the Chaos Qi around him became. It even began forming a faint gray mist. The Abyss of Return Death Qi in the air also seemed repelled by the pure Chaos Qi, growing much thinner.

At last, after passing through a narrow crack between crystals, the view before him suddenly opened up!

This was a small, relatively concealed valley enclosed by enormous crystal clusters. At the center of the valley was not an altar, but a natural Chaos Qi spring no more than a few yards wide! Exceptionally pure gray Chaos Qi seeped out from the ground in threads like spring water, gathering here and forming a small vortex of chaos spiritual energy!

"What a place!" Xuanwei was overjoyed! The quality of Chaos Qi here was far greater than what he had converted before! It was almost on par with the space inside the Chaos Bead! Cultivating here would absolutely yield twice the results with half the effort!

He immediately decided to hide and recover here for the time being. First, he swiftly set up several simple concealment and warning restrictions around the Chaos Qi spring. Then he eagerly sat cross-legged beside it, fully activating the Chaos Heaven-Opening Art and the Azure Emperor Longevity Art as he frantically absorbed the pure Chaos Qi!

Like parched land receiving sweet rain, the immortal energy he had expended and the Chaos Bead's reserves began recovering rapidly. Even the Chaos Bead within his sea of consciousness conveyed a joyful intent, actively absorbing the external Chaos Qi. Its 5.1% restoration level began rising at an extremely slow yet steady pace!

[Absorbing high-quality Chaos Qi. Chaos Heaven-Opening Art proficiency increased! Chaos Bead restoration level: 5.11%... 5.12%...]

[Remnant Seed of Jianmu vitality increased, feeding back life force to accelerate the host's recovery.]

[Hint: This Chaos Qi spring appears to have a source. Host may attempt to investigate deeper.]

There was a source? Xuanwei's heart stirred. Could the depths of this secret realm be hiding an even greater chaos treasure?

But he suppressed the urge to investigate immediately. His top priority was restoring his strength and concealing himself. The Western Teachings pursuers were still outside; biting off more than he could chew would only bring trouble.

However, just as he immersed himself in cultivation, feeling his condition improve more and more until he nearly touched the bottleneck of the early Heavenly Immortal realm—

Buzz!

One of the outermost warning restrictions he had set up was triggered!

It was not the Buddhist aura of the Western Teachings, but a far stranger, colder, and more sinister aura, carrying dense bloodlust and resentment!

Xuanwei abruptly opened his "eyes," his divine sense instantly sweeping toward the direction from which the warning had come.

Within the shadows at the edge of the Chaos Qi spring, several blurry and bizarre figures had silently appeared at some unknown time, like blood-colored shadows! They had no fixed forms and flowed like liquid blood, radiating a nauseating stench of blood and towering resentment. Pairs of hollow scarlet eyes stared fixedly at Xuanwei as he cultivated!

"These are... Blood Sea Asura?!" Xuanwei sucked in a cold breath, his scalp going numb!

The race created by Ancestor Minghe? Why would they appear in this secret realm connected to the Abyss of Return and the Black Tortoise?!

Every one of these Asura possessed an aura no weaker than a True Immortal, while the leader had even reached the Mysterious Immortal realm! They seemed to have been drawn here by the pure Chaos Qi, but clearly, they were even more interested in the aura of living creatures!

Seeing those blood-colored figures slowly approaching, radiating greedy and murderous intent, Xuanwei's nerves, which had only just relaxed, tightened again.

He had barely escaped the wolf's den only to enter the tiger's lair! Just how many monsters and demons were hidden in this damned place?!