Leaving the Secret Realm!

Inside the treasury, the air seemed to freeze solid, only to be set ablaze by a sudden flare of shame and fury.

Leng Weiyue struck first. Her voice was cold enough to pierce bone, yet it trembled despite her efforts to suppress it. Demonic energy churned faintly around her, betraying the turmoil within. "If a single word of what happened today gets out... no matter where you flee across the nine heavens and ten lands, I, Leng Weiyue, swear on my name as the Heavenly Demon Sect's Saintess that I will grind your bones to dust!"

Her words still carried a threat, but compared to her earlier decisiveness, they held less conviction and more shame-fueled anger than she could put into words.

Ye Lingshuang followed suit, her beautiful face frosted over. The Autumn Water Sword remained pointed at Li Qingshan, though its tip trembled almost imperceptibly.

She drew a deep breath and struggled to maintain her usual cool composure, but the flush at her ears gave her away. "This... was caused by the demonic energy. It was an accident! You... you had better forget it at once! If I hear so much as a whisper about it outside, don't blame me for showing no mercy with my sword!"

Her voice sounded calmer than Leng Weiyue's, but beneath that calm lay a volcano on the verge of erupting.

Li Qingshan's scalp prickled. He hurriedly cupped his fists, lowered himself as much as he could, and spoke with earnest, utterly innocent sincerity. "Fairies, please believe me! It was entirely an accident. I had no control over it either, and I never meant the slightest disrespect! Everything that happened today will stay buried in my stomach once I walk out that door. I will never mention it to a third person for as long as I live! If I break this oath, may lightning strike me down and my Dao Path be destroyed!"

He stole a glance at their expressions and thought to himself, I got benefits beyond my wildest dreams and even broke through. Playing the meek fool is the only sensible choice right now.

Ye Lingshuang fixed her beautiful eyes on him, as if searching his face for a flaw. "Who exactly are you? Give me your name!"

She kept feeling that he looked familiar, but her thoughts were too tangled for her to think it through.

Li Qingshan's mind raced. He absolutely could not give his real name.

He bowed at once. "Fairy Ye, I am... the Rogue Cultivator Zhou Yun." Once again, he chose Zhou Yun as his alias.

"Zhou Yun..."

Ye Lingshuang repeated the name under her breath, only half convinced. But she had no heart to press the matter now. With a cold snort, she withdrew her sword and turned away, refusing to look at him. Only the slight rise and fall of her shoulders revealed how unsettled she remained.

Leng Weiyue also gave Li Qingshan a long look, as though committing his face to memory. Then she turned away and straightened her slightly disheveled collar. The awkwardness in the air was almost thick enough to drip.

Just then, the world-destroying roars and demonic howls outside gradually subsided. The demonic energy that had seeped in had nearly vanished as well.

The three exchanged glances and saw the same wariness and lingering fear in one another's eyes.

Ye Lingshuang headed for the treasury exit first. "The demonic energy seems to have weakened. Let's go see, but stay on guard."

Leng Weiyue said nothing, but followed her.

Li Qingshan naturally did not dare lag behind. He followed cautiously at the rear.

The three concealed their auras and slipped silently out of the ruins. The sight before them made them draw a sharp breath.

The Mysterious Sky Secret Realm had already looked like a wasteland. Now it was even more devastated. The earth had split, mountains had collapsed, and residual waves from the clash of demonic energy and spiritual energy still lingered in the air.

But the most shocking sight was high in the sky!

The shadow of an immense, indescribable Demonic Beast was slowly fading. Even so, the pressure it left behind was enough to make their hearts quake.

It had clearly just fought a battle that shook the heavens.

Far off in the sky, several figures flickered in and out of sight, their unfathomable auras stirring the power of heaven and earth. They were the Nascent Soul ancestors of the various sects!

The spiritual light around them had dimmed somewhat. Clearly, driving back—or even gravely wounding—that Demonic Beast had cost them dearly.

"Nascent Soul old monsters?!"

Li Qingshan's gaze sharpened. He sensed those incomparably powerful figures in the sky, and shock filled his heart.

They were the pinnacle of strength in the great sects, the pillars that held the sea steady.

Even a Demonic Beast from ancient times could not stand against the Nascent Soul old monsters of the great sects. It had been driven back.

"The Nascent Soul ancestors intervened in person..." Ye Lingshuang murmured, her eyes full of awe.

"That Demonic Beast... seems to have been gravely wounded and fled," Leng Weiyue said grimly. As a demonic cultivator, she sensed its terror more keenly.

Gravely wounded and fled?

Li Qingshan grew wary.

After all, he was the one who had taken the Purple Gold Gourd and let that Demonic Beast loose.

Was there some connection between the Demonic Beast and the Purple Gold Gourd?

He would have to be careful from now on.

Just then, violent spatial fluctuations erupted near the secret realm's entrance. A huge gate of light was forcibly stabilized and held open.

Several powerful divine senses swept through every corner of the secret realm like searchlights.

"The entrance has been forced open! The sect elders have come in to retrieve us and investigate!" Li Qingshan said quietly, his heart tightening.

Sure enough, several streaks of light soon flew in, led by a few Golden Core cultivators. One divine sense in particular burned with heat and fury. It belonged to Zhang Yuzhen of the Spring Autumn Sect!

Li Qingshan immediately pushed the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Secret Art to its limit. He perfectly concealed his aura, the fluctuations of his cultivation, and even the faint, unusual trace left by the earlier "accident." Then he blended in among the surviving Rogue Cultivators, head lowered and manner obedient, his heart pounding with unease.

Zhang Yuzhen's divine sense combed through the survivors again and again, lingering especially long on the men. She was clearly searching for Zhang Hongxiu's killer, along with anyone else suspicious.

Her gaze was sharp as a blade, her killing intent undisguised.

When her divine sense passed over Li Qingshan, it paused for a moment.

Li Qingshan's heart leaped into his throat. But the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Secret Art was extraordinary, and now that he had reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, its concealment was even stronger.

Zhang Yuzhen noticed nothing amiss. She merely found this Foundation Establishment Early Stage Rogue Cultivator's aura unusually still, but gave it no further thought. Her divine sense soon moved on.

At the same time, Ye Lingshuang and Leng Weiyue sensed Zhang Yuzhen's search.

Almost unconsciously, both women shifted ever so slightly, just enough to stand partly between Zhang Yuzhen and Li Qingshan. They might not even have realized what they had done, but the subtle movement undoubtedly interfered with Zhang Yuzhen's perception to some degree.

A close call!

Cold sweat broke out across Li Qingshan's back. He quietly let out a breath.

Under the direction of the sect elders, the surviving cultivators began to evacuate the Mysterious Sky Secret Realm in an orderly fashion.

Li Qingshan kept his head down and moved with the crowd. At last, he stepped through the gate of light and returned to the Ancient Battlefield Ruins.

He breathed in the familiar air outside, yet Li Qingshan felt as though he had lived through another lifetime.

This journey into the secret realm had been full of treacherous twists and turns.

Not only had he unexpectedly broken through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and obtained the Spirit Liquid Immortal Spring, but he had also lived through that unspeakable "accident"...

Now that he was out of danger, a practical question confronted him: should he return to the Spring Autumn Sect?

If he went back, he would have the sect's protection, a relatively stable place to cultivate, and resources. He might even have a chance to study more profound techniques.

But the risks were just as great. Zhang Yuzhen was like a sharp sword hanging over his head. He had fooled her this time, but as the days stretched on, who could say he would never slip up?

And how was he supposed to face Ye Lingshuang?

They had agreed to forget what had happened, and Ye Lingshuang did not know he was Li Qingshan, but meeting her again would inevitably be awkward.

If he did not return, the sky was high and the seas were wide. With the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd and his cultivation, he might live well enough as a carefree Rogue Cultivator.

But a Rogue Cultivator's road was hard. Resources were difficult to obtain, and it was all too easy to be killed for one's treasures...

Li Qingshan looked toward the distant Spring Autumn Sect. His eyes flickered as he sank deep into thought.