Not dead?

"Pfft," the sharp sword pierced Lian Ai's defenses, directly embedding itself in her body.

Lian Ai's eyes, visible through her veil, showed an expression of disbelief.

She had been pierced by an ordinary person!

Even in her Soul Merging state, this shouldn't have been possible.

Lian Ai opened her mouth, as if some Gu worms were about to crawl out. Chen Luo realized this and quickly pulled out his long sword, stabbing it fiercely through the veil and out the back of Lian Ai's head. Blood dripped from the sword tip.

Gazing at Lian Ai's eyes, which were gradually losing their luster, Chen Luo pulled out his sword again and plunged it into Lian Ai's heart.

Lian Ai glared at Chen Luo hatefully, coughed up a mouthful of blood from her throat, and finally slowly closed her eyes, filled with hatred, before falling backward onto the ground.

Chen Luo collapsed onto the ground, looking at Lian Ai's corpse, and let out a long sigh.

Finally, it was over.

Just then, a large swarm of insects suddenly flew out of Lian Ai's corpse. The insects formed a human shape and, in an instant, truly transformed into a person.

The newcomer was tall, only slightly shorter than Chen Luo. She wore an elegant palace dress embroidered with a phoenix motif, and her long hair was styled into a soaring bun, radiating a divine glow. Unlike Lian Ai, she didn't cover her face, revealing a peerlessly beautiful countenance. Her features were sharp, her eyebrows like swords, exuding a fierce aura that highlighted her heroic spirit. Her air of innate superiority was inexplicably captivating, far surpassing Lian Ai's arrogance.

The newcomer seemed not to notice Chen Luo, who was lying on the ground, and instead looked down at Lian Ai's corpse.

After a moment, the newcomer reached out and pointed at Lian Ai's corpse. The ghostly butterfly that Lian Ai had summoned earlier reappeared and rushed violently into Lian Ai's body.

Lian Ai's corpse suddenly twitched, and then a strange light emanated from her entire body.

"What are you doing?" Chen Luo, holding his sword, lunged forward.

However, as the long sword passed through the newcomer, it felt like stabbing through an illusion.

The newcomer slightly turned her head and glanced at Chen Luo. A single look sent a chill down Chen Luo's spine. But she quickly averted her gaze.

Her figure transformed back into countless tiny insects. These insects flew rapidly in a spiral pattern, gradually distorting space and forming a new wormhole for teleportation.

At this moment, Lian Ai's corpse slowly floated up and drifted towards the wormhole.

"You're not getting away!" Chen Luo's heart stirred, and he reached out to grab Lian Ai's leg. Suddenly, he felt all his strength being drained away. His Demonic Power retracted into his body, and a wave of weakness washed over him.

The meteor patterns covering his body rapidly faded. As the last pattern disappeared, there was a "bang" on his left shoulder, and Little Frog reappeared, perched on Chen Luo's shoulder, looking exhausted.

"Can't hold on anymore..."

At that moment, Lian Ai's corpse floated into the wormhole.

Chen Luo gritted his teeth and rushed forward, swinging his sword at the wormhole, but it vanished.

Chen Luo stared at the spot where the spatial vortex had disappeared, trying to find any further clues. Suddenly, intense pain erupted from all over his body, accompanied by a sense of emptiness and weakness. Chen Luo's vision darkened, and he fainted.

Little Frog wasn't faring any better. Its eyelids grew heavy, and finally, it flipped onto its belly, falling from Chen Luo's shoulder, completely unconscious.

The man and the frog lay there amidst the ruins...

In the Dream Flower Forest, Chen Luo also lay on the ground, unconscious.

A familiar voice entered Chen Luo's mind.

"Master..."

Chen Luo's eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Master..."

Chen Luo heard the call clearly, as if struck by lightning, and instantly woke up. He recognized the voice.

It was the black cat, Dai Zong!

Chen Luo quickly got up and looked around. "Dai Zong! Where are you? Dai Zong!"

"Master..."

The voice sounded again. Chen Luo followed the sound and looked towards the forest in the Red Dust Realm.

Chen Luo rushed over quickly, running along the grand road of the Red Dust Realm, flanked by rows of towering trees.

Chen Luo ran frantically, searching for the source of the voice.

"Master..."

Finally, Chen Luo discovered a tree in the book forest.

A withered tree.

Chen Luo walked up and placed his hand on the tree. Instantly, he understood that this tree was The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.

"Dai Zong, how are you? Are you okay?"

"Master..."

"Say something! How are you now? What's going on?"

"Master..."

No matter how Chen Luo asked, the voice seemed only capable of repeating this one sentence. Chen Luo grew increasingly anxious.

"Spirit of the Secret Realm! Come out! What is going on! Come out!" Chen Luo suddenly remembered that the black cat and Zhong Kui had both mentioned the existence of a Spirit of the Secret Realm in this book forest. Perhaps only it could answer his questions.

A gust of wind suddenly rose from nowhere, stirring the fallen leaves on the ground. The leaves eventually gathered to form a human shape.

"I am the Spirit of the Secret Realm. Greetings, Master!" the leaf-human bowed slightly. "It is inconvenient for me to reveal myself, otherwise, it would attract the attention of the powerful beings in this world. Does Master have any questions? Please ask quickly."

"What exactly happened to Dai Zong? And how is Zhong Kui?" Chen Luo asked urgently.

The Spirit of the Secret Realm replied, "The spiritual essence has dissipated, so it cannot be revealed to the outside for now."

Chen Luo's heart leaped with joy, "He's not dead?"

"The Book Spirit is the manifestation of the power within the book. As long as the book exists, the Book Spirit will naturally not perish."

"Then how can they recover?"

"Have more people recite the books, and their spiritual essence will naturally condense again, reappearing in the outside world!"

"So, it requires more readers." Chen Luo finally breathed a sigh of relief. While the Spirit of the Secret Realm was still there, he continued to ask, "If I want to obtain new books, what do I need to do?"

"The Heavenly Dao of this world does not permit these books to appear. Only by exchanging them with Destiny/Fortune can they manifest in the world. Master only needs to gather enough Destiny/Fortune to exchange for books."

"Then the Martial Dao..." Chen Luo was about to ask further when the Spirit of the Secret Realm suddenly said, "Someone has noticed me. I must take my leave. Regarding the matters of the secret realm, Master will learn of them in the future."

As soon as the voice fell, the leaf-human figure collapsed, turning back into a pile of ordinary fallen leaves.

Chen Luo looked up at the sky, then withdrew his gaze after a moment.

What world powers? That had nothing to do with him now.

Chen Luo reached out and patted the withered The Smiling, Proud Wanderer tree, murmuring, "Dai Zong, and Zhong Kui, please wait a moment. We will meet again very soon..."

Outside, on Floating Cloud Mountain, the night was as cool as water.

Chen Luo and Little Frog had been lying on the ground for several hours. A figure gradually approached, walking slowly from a distance, drawing closer to them.

The moon leaped out from behind the clouds, its moonlight spilling onto the earth and illuminating the approaching figure...

The cool moon hangs like a willow's curve, Observing the world's affairs within books with care.

To all my fellow book lovers, if you have recommendations, please give a recommendation. If you have monthly votes, cast a monthly vote. If you have spare cash, invest a little...

Although it might not be of much use to me at this stage, It's a matter of pride~~~