Blood Demon Secret Realm!

The next day, you arrived in the capital city of the Qin Kingdom and quickly found the location of Tianqi Academy.

Upon entering Tianqi Academy, you discovered it was a bit different from what you had imagined.

The academy before you was very small; rather than calling it an academy, it was more like a large courtyard house.

As soon as you and Gu Xinyue stepped into the small courtyard, Fang Jingchun walked out, smiling at the two of you.

"You're here?"

Just as you were about to speak, Gu Xinyue stepped forward and spoke first.

"Sixth Brother! You don't seem worried at all that we might die in the secret realm?"

"With Senior Sister's abilities, how could she be trapped by a mere Immortal Falling Secret Realm!"

Fang Jingchun said this as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

At this moment, you looked at Fang Jingchun and asked about the whereabouts of Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi.

"Little Junior Brother, you mean them? They're cultivating in the backyard!"

Upon learning that Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi were currently at the academy, you exchanged a few pleasantries with Fang Jingchun and headed to the backyard.

Arriving at the backyard, you immediately saw the two of them sitting at a stone table, drinking tea.

Seeing someone arrive, Ye Chuxue turned to look in your direction.

"Su Ming? You're finally back!"

You walked solemnly in front of Ye Chuxue. Without much greeting, you got straight to the point and asked.

"After I left last time, and before the Immortal Falling Secret Realm incident three years ago, did you enter the Immortal Falling Secret Realm during that period?"

Ye Chuxue rarely saw you looking so serious, and she put away her smile, recalling.

"Hmm... we went in once about half a year before the incident in the Immortal Falling Secret Realm three years ago."

Upon hearing this answer, your heart sank. This was the outcome you least wanted to face.

Before you came here, you had been hoping they hadn't gone to the Immortal Falling Secret Realm, so the problem wouldn't be close to you.

Now, you had to re-examine the identities of Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi.

You knew Ye Chuxue best, having interacted with her the most in your simulations.

Therefore, Lin Qi became your primary suspect. Of course, you couldn't completely rule out Ye Chuxue either.

Seeing your expression grow increasingly grim, Ye Chuxue couldn't understand what this had to do with them going to the Immortal Falling Secret Realm.

"What exactly happened, Su Ming?"

You looked at both of them staring at you with confusion. For a moment, you felt a sense of daze, subconsciously wondering if you had made a mistake.

After composing yourself, you told them it was nothing, just that you were worried about them after discovering the secret realm was polluted upon your return.

Hearing you say this, Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi clearly didn't believe your explanation, but they didn't press further.

After leaving the backyard, you directly found Fang Jingchun and Gu Xinyue.

"Senior Brother Fang, Senior Sister Gu! I wanted to ask if there are any other ruins similar to the Immortal Falling Secret Realm in Youzhou?"

Upon hearing your words, Fang Jingchun and Gu Xinyue exchanged a look.

"Little Junior Brother, why are you asking this?"

"Yes, Little Junior Brother! You're still far from breaking through to Spirit Transmutation!"

Seeing that the two of them didn't explicitly say no, your face immediately lit up.

"So there really is a secret realm in Youzhou?"

Seeing your persistent questioning, Gu Xinyue finally, albeit helplessly, told you.

"There is indeed another secret realm in Youzhou, but we wouldn't go there to cultivate unless absolutely necessary."

You asked why they couldn't cultivate there, wondering if the Spiritual Energy there was already severely depleted.

Gu Xinyue nodded, then shook her head.

"The depletion in that secret realm is about the same as in the Immortal Falling Secret Realm, but the situation there is rather special..."

"Special situation? Senior Sister Gu, what exactly is going on with that secret realm?"

Seeing your persistent questioning, Fang Jingchun spoke up to explain.

"Little Junior Brother! That secret realm has a blood monument, and beneath it is an ancient, powerful Cunning Insect!"

"Five thousand years ago, the previous Sword Pavilion Master accidentally discovered it. He used his immense power to drive away all humans and sent people to guard it, preventing outsiders from entering."

At this point, Gu Xinyue suddenly chuckled.

"Little Junior Brother! The one guarding it now is our Third Senior Sister!"

After hearing this, you were surprised that the reality was so complicated. You were also very puzzled why the Cunning Insect was being suppressed alone.

You voiced your confusion to Fang Jingchun.

"Senior Brother Fang, don't Cunning Insects die when their host dies? Why would they..."

"Cunning Insects below the Spirit Transmutation Realm will die if their parasite is killed. At that point, their main consciousness hasn't fully awakened, so they're easy to kill."

"What about those above the Spirit Transmutation Stage?" you asked Fang Jingchun curiously, unable to wait.

"Above Spirit Transmutation, they can escape the body and seek a new host even if the host is killed."

Gu Xinyue chimed in from the side at this moment.

"That's right, Junior Brother! You have to know that Cunning Insects are incredibly resilient, so we must attack their dantian; that's their weak spot."

"Exactly. Cunning Insects are strongest in Soul Power. If you don't kill their dantian within the same realm, they'll basically only have the option of being taken over if they escape."

Su Ming felt a headache coming on as he read this.

"Where did these Cunning Insects even come from? Why are they so monstrous!"

Fortunately, he had learned about this from the simulation. Otherwise, once his cultivation was high enough and he went to kill those Spirit Transmutation powerhouses, he'd be in trouble if he was ambushed by this move.

Su Ming then saw in the simulation that Fang Jingchun was explaining the secret realm to him.

"The Blood Tablet is constantly absorbing the Spiritual Energy in the secret realm to suppress the Cunning Insects' main bodies, and the Spiritual Energy in the secret realm will eventually be depleted."

"All we can do now is minimize our use of Spiritual Energy and buy as much time as possible for humanity."

After hearing all the explanations, you fell into thought.

For a moment, you didn't know whether to bring Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi along.

If those two were indeed the problem, then going now might prematurely release the Cunning Insects suppressed beneath the Blood Tablet.

However, if you didn't go, the consequences of them continuing to contaminate the secret realm were also very serious.

You were now faced with two choices: either kill them both directly, or bring them to the secret realm.

Ultimately, you decided to bring them to the secret realm first. The last time the Immortal Falling Secret Realm had problems, you weren't by their side and couldn't confirm if anyone else had entered.

After much deliberation, you finally learned from Fang Jingchun that the place was called the Blood Demon Secret Realm, named after the Blood Tablet.