Identity Exposed?

High-level cultivators couldn't be insulted.

"Brother, those look like Mystic Profound Grass, don't they?" The tall one pointed toward the vast field ahead.

The short one took a closer look.

They really were!

He'd been so focused on the Red Moon overhead that he hadn't noticed the entire grassland before them was growing nothing but Mystic Profound Grass.

Far in the distance, Sword Peak stood tall, the chains coiled around it lending the place an even more murderous air.

"Could this be the Sword Nurturing Ground of some mighty sword cultivator?"

"When we were pulled in just now, we didn't see an exit either. This must be a subsidiary Secret Realm."

"Judging by the style of this Secret Realm, it was probably created by some demonic giant."

The short one calmly assessed their situation. Demonic giants were usually ruthless, and the Secret Realms they set up were exceptionally dangerous. They wouldn't show mercy just because the two of them were demonic cultivators too.

"Right, where's our Secret Realm Age-Detection Spirit Energy Device? Take it out and test this place."

"Uh... Brother, didn't you say not to bother with unimportant things that were inconvenient to carry, and to leave as soon as possible? That thing was so big, so I left it there."

"..."

Damn!

What a spendthrift!

That Secret Realm Age-Detection Spirit Energy Device had cost over three million Spirit Coins. They'd scraped and saved for decades to afford it. How could that be an unimportant item?!

The short one felt like crying. He wanted to crack open his idiot younger brother's skull and see what was inside.

Seeing his elder brother's expression, the tall one felt a little uneasy.

The short one felt a lump in his chest, but he didn't say anything more. This wasn't the time for an argument.

"Forget it. I'll test the spatial stability here first and see if we can open a way out." The short one took out a talisman. "Be careful. Don't break any of these Mystic Profound Grass plants."

After warning him, he fed a thread of magical power into the talisman between his fingers.

By now, cultivators had developed a complete process for exploring Secret Realms.

First, they used an age-detection device to determine how old the Secret Realm was. Generally, the more ancient it was, the more dangerous it would be. Next, they used a Space-Breaking Talisman to test the spatial stability and make sure they had a way out, so they could leave immediately if anything went wrong.

They had to confirm these two things before proceeding with any further exploration.

As the short one infused the Space-Breaking Talisman between his fingers with magical power, faint streaks of bright yellow flame rose from it. The space where the flames licked at it rippled slightly, as if it might shatter at any moment.

As time passed, the bright yellow flames gradually turned blue. The rippling space seemed to have finally reached its limit.

Crack!

After a sharp snap, the distorted space broke open, revealing a glimpse of the world outside.

But before long, hazy gray mist covered it.

"It worked!" The short one flicked his right hand, and the flames on the Space-Breaking Talisman went out. "Grade C spatial stability. Not too strong."

He was in the late stage of Spirit Transformation, and his younger brother was in the middle stage. They could leave at any time.

"Be careful. Don't get greedy. Even if we only harvest a few hundred Mystic Profound Grass plants this time, we'll still make a fortune."

To be safe, the short one wasn't planning to approach the mountain that looked like a sword. Now that they knew the coordinates, they could always come back later.

Once they sold the Mystic Profound Grass they gathered this time, they could wait for things to die down and trade for a better magical treasure. Then they'd make the Zhang Siblings pay!

"Don't worry, Brother. I'll be careful." The tall one nodded and reached for a Mystic Profound Grass plant by his feet.

The leaves of sword-aspected Mystic Profound Grass were sharp. They could cut the skin if you weren't careful, but they couldn't hurt a Spirit Transformation cultivator.

He grabbed the plant, crushing its leaves together in his fist.

"Don't be so rough. It'll lose its medicinal properties... Get out of the way!" The short one suddenly bellowed.

The tall one had no idea what had happened. He reflexively obeyed his brother, but he was already too late.

Pfft!

Blood sprayed in an arc through the air as an arm, shoulder still attached, separated from the tall one's body. The cut was smooth and clean.

Sword Qi!

But why?

The tall one looked stunned, apparently still unable to understand what had happened—until the pain hit him.

"AAAH!!!!"

Surging magical power burst outward, and the resulting gale swept through the area, bending every Mystic Profound Grass plant for miles around.

His Divine Sense expanded wildly. The tall one's eyes turned bloodshot, and only one thought remained in his mind: find the bastard who'd attacked him from the shadows and torture him to death!

The fury in his heart abruptly died. Dozens more invisible strands of Sword Qi crisscrossed through him. The magical power he'd barely managed to summon was like paper, easily pierced and sliced apart.

Fine red lines appeared all over his face. The tall one opened his mouth, and chunks of flesh fell away.

The short one's eyes nearly split with rage. Forgetting all caution, he charged forward and reached out, but all he caught were two lumps of flesh.

Under the Sword Qi's onslaught, not only was the vitality of the body destroyed, but even the soul's spiritual essence was wiped out.

Aside from the initial blast of Sword Qi, the burst of magical power had also snapped some of the Mystic Profound Grass. No matter how tough its stems and leaves were, they were nothing compared to the pressure of a Spirit Transformation cultivator's aura.

If that hadn't happened, there would have been far fewer strands of Sword Qi. His younger brother might have had a sliver of a chance to survive.

Chunks of flesh lay scattered on the ground. Blood ran over the Mystic Profound Grass beside them, and the short one was overcome with grief.

"No, we have to get out of here!" He made the most rational decision he could.

He quickly searched the remains for the storage ring and put it away, then stood up to open a way out. But the sight before him plunged him into utter despair.

The Sword Qi hadn't disappeared. It had only adjusted its strength, which was why there'd been a brief delay.

Hundreds? Thousands?

He'd lost count.

In a chain reaction, Sword Qi as powerful as a late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator swept toward him in a mighty tide, like a storm surge, killing everything in its path.

"Fuck you!"

Halfway up the mountain, a flash of red light appeared, and a jade box covered in blood dropped out of thin air.

Before long, a white ape came nearby.

Curiosity got the better of it. It dropped the fruit in its hand, picked up the jade box, fiddled with it for a while, then took a few bites. When it realized it wasn't food, it quickly lost interest, dropped the box, and ran toward the summit.

At the same time, Xu Xing had returned to Mystic Sword City.

Inside the villa, spiritual light flickered on the wall, and a gentle breeze drifted through.

Xu Xing leaned back in a woven-rattan recliner, a green jade token in his hand.

Not long after he returned, the contribution points for his mission had been credited to his account—or, more precisely, to the account under the alias "Xu Sandao."

The amount was substantial, but that wasn't what concerned Xu Xing. Along with the contribution points had come a message.

[I sent my disciple to find you.]

That message meant someone within the Sword Sect knew he was the one who'd come out of seclusion in Mystic Sword City. Yet only one or two people knew about this alias of his.

That didn't make sense.

Earlier, when he'd sent word asking the Sword Sect to explain the situation and calm the unrest, he'd used a high-level alias that no one knew about.

How had his identity suddenly been exposed?

"Could it have been then?" He thought of one possibility.

Earlier, at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, he'd infused a thread of magical power into the device to confirm his identity. Thinking it over, that was the only moment when he might have given himself away.

To be able to see through his disguise... The terminal for that magical-power identification device really was something.

"I was careless."

Xu Xing smiled helplessly and turned on the TV.

A traffic-safety program was playing. There had been a lot of programs like that lately, and they were promoting traffic safety on the streets too.

Too many people had returned to Mystic Sword City over the past two days, and several major accidents had occurred, including collisions between cultivators flying on swords.

The unluckiest had been the sword cultivators Lin and Feng. As some of the first to be arrested—and members of the Sword Sect—they'd been held up as examples again and again.

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