"Heya Heya Heya..."

"Come on, my juniors! Start running from the poison! Strive for my power!"

The enormous Dragon Soul drifting through the sky dispersed, and its tremendous pressure vanished in an instant, while Jiang Lin and the others were still completely dumbfounded.

"Shrinking Circle? Running from the Poison? Could this ancient Dragon Soul have transmigrated here too? Damn, what an old-timer..." Jiang Lin's heart jolted, and he felt as though a fellow villager had met a fellow villager.

"The first Shrinking Circle will begin in one hour. All cultivators, please prepare yourselves. Flying is prohibited during the Secret Realm trial. In addition, for the sake of fairness, all cultivators in the Secret Realm will shortly appear at random on the very outskirts of the Secret Realm, at the edge of the Poison Circle."

Without giving anyone time to process this, a tremendous voice rang throughout the entire Bewildering Secret Realm.

In an instant, with a bang, Jiang Lin and the others felt their bodies grow heavy and plummeted straight toward the ground.

"Ah..."

"Ouch..."

"Fuck."

Jiang Lin hit the ground first. Then Lin Qingwan and Cai Xie landed sitting on top of him in turn. By a hair's breadth, Jiang Lin felt as though his waist had been crushed.

"Young Master Jiang, what should we do now?"

"Jiang Lin, follow me. As long as I'm here, no one will dare lay a finger on you!"

"Don't talk yet... Could you two get up first..."

Just as the three of them had climbed to their feet, numerous footsteps rapidly approached from not far away. The three immediately focused their spirits and stood back-to-back.

In this Secret Realm, regardless of your cultivation, all living beings were equal for the moment. Everyone was at the Early Cave Mansion Realm. Even if Jiang Lin's trio were stronger than the others at the same realm, facing an encirclement was still extremely unpleasant.

Just as Jiang Lin and Lin Qingwan gripped their Natal Flying Swords and prepared to meet the enemy, the world suddenly spun. Jiang Lin's vision blurred.

When he closed and opened his eyes, Jiang Lin realized that he was no longer where he had been. Instead, he had arrived in an unfamiliar forest.

"Cai Xie? Senior Sister Lin?"

He looked around. Apart from a Small Wooden House, there was no one else. It seemed he had just been teleported.

Sitting on the steps of the Small Wooden House, Jiang Lin held his sword horizontally before him and wondered whether he should simply use Disassembly by Force and hurry out of this troublesome place. After all, barring accidents, Senior Sister Lin would definitely take first place this time. She was the protagonist, after all, blessed with the protagonist's halo.

Moreover, Senior Sister Lin seemed to have already untied the knot in her heart, so she probably would not cause him trouble anymore. Compared to that, if the system started meddling, that would be the real headache.

But on second thought, even if he could not take first place, lying low and scavenging supplies would not be bad either. If his luck was good, perhaps he could even complete the performance target for Twin Pearl Peak two years from now.

And what if Senior Sister actually still hated him?

If he fought his way into the final circle and helped Senior Sister Lin defeat everyone else...

Although, according to the protagonist's halo, Senior Sister could obtain the Dragon Soul even without his help, this was still an opportunity to win her favor no matter what! That way, Senior Sister would never come looking for him at Twin Pearl Peak again, right?!

"Hehehe..."

Thinking of his mighty appearance while protecting Senior Sister in the finals, Jiang Lin wiped away his drool.

Say it, do it!

Jiang Lin had made up his mind! Other than Senior Sister, everyone was his enemy! Anyone who dared hinder his Senior Sister was as good as killing his parents!

He stood up, brimming with confidence. His top priority was to sneak into the final circle, then reunite with Senior Sister Lin!

To win the chicken dinner, you first had to lie low!

Looking at the hut behind him, Jiang Lin felt it was quite decent. He would lie low here for now and wait until the circle shrank before making a move.

Having settled on a rough plan, Jiang Lin was just about to enter the hut and rest when, suddenly, an enormous bear came flying through the air...

"Bang..."

The enormous black bear crashed into the Small Wooden House, smashing the entire hut into smithereens. Flying splinters landed amid Jiang Lin's hair.

"Roar!!!"

The Big Black Bear climbed to its feet and let out a thunderous roar at Jiang Lin!

Just as Jiang Lin turned around to face the Big Black Bear, a figure shot out from the bushes.

A gust of wind swept past Jiang Lin's ear. Before he could recover, that figure had already charged in front of the Big Black Bear.

"Ula ula ula..."

"Heya heya heya..."

The slender figure before him fought the bear bare-handed, growing fiercer with every exchange, as though she had become wholly immersed in the martial way!

"Boom..."

At last, the black bear's eyes rolled white, and it collapsed straight onto the ground...

"Little Lin... where are you? Little Linlin... Little Linlin..."

On top of a cliff, Jiang Yuni, using the alias Cai Xie, shouted at the top of her lungs, but unfortunately, no one heard her.

Half an hour later, the girl was completely worn out from shouting. She sat atop the cliff, hugging her knees as the cool breeze brushed past, her little mouth unconsciously puckering.

"No! I have to find Little Linlin!"

What Dragon Soul? What Opportunity? I don't want any of that! Little Linlin would soon turn eighteen and come of age. All she wanted was to appear before Little Linlin in her most beautiful form on the night of his birthday, give him a surprise, and practice Sun Moon Dual Cultivation with him!

Looking at the Sun Moon Sect secret formula in her hand—Spring Breeze Leaves No Trace—the girl stood up and walked down the mountain, resolute as ever!

"Xueli, are you all right?"

"I'm fine... Elder Sister Sword Spirit..."

The girl walked along the stream, hurrying toward her destination, yet her mind kept wandering.

The Sword Spirit inside her could not help letting out a soft sigh.

After that person had risked his life to save her that night, the little girl had gradually developed feelings for him.

Especially after he kissed her. Though Xueli had been furious in her heart, it had been the furious embarrassment of a shy girl.

Perhaps Xueli herself had not realized that she had been cultivating more diligently recently because, deep in her subconscious, she felt that after avenging the sect, she would go find that man.

But who would have thought that after that person tore off his disguise before the entrance to the Bewildering Secret Realm, he would turn out to be Jiang Lin—the Flower-Picking Thief Jiang Lin!

And that Jiang Lin had even confessed his feelings to Lin Qingwan of the Dragon Gate Sect as he lay dying.

In the end, Lin Qingwan and another girl had even rescued him from the crowd and entered the Secret Realm together with him.

Since ancient times, the word "love" had wounded people most deeply.

One could only say that this little girl had fortunately not fallen too deeply. Even so, it would probably still take her some time to restore her state of mind.

"Xueli, actually, that Jiang Lin..."

"Elder Sister Sword Spirit, don't bring him up again! He saved my life, but he also acted frivolously toward me. We're even now. From this point on, I have nothing to do with him, except..."

"Except what?"

"Except that I want to see him one more time! I want to ask what state of mind he was in when he saved me that night—and what state of mind he was in when he acted frivolously toward me!"

Clutching the Sword Sheath tightly in her hand, the girl in the veiled hat raised her head and gazed deeply into the distance...