There's Still a Stronger One?

Chu Yuan stared coldly at Li Ji, looking ready to strike at any moment,

Truthfully, he didn't have any particular feelings about Li Ji.

If it was convenient, he could kill him. If it wasn't, he could let him live.

And right now, with all these eyes on them, it wasn't exactly convenient...

Li Ji was even more furious. He'd been a prodigy since childhood—when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

He fed the girl in his arms a pill, then gently laid her on the ground.

Then he drew his long saber...

"What the hell are you doing, picking a fight at a time like this?" Just then, the long-haired man and the fat man Chu Yuan had encountered earlier sprang onto the Stone Platform from who knew where.

They both looked just as battered, their clothes stained with blood. They seemed to have been through a fierce battle.

After cursing, they couldn't be bothered to get involved in the dispute between Chu Yuan and Li Ji. They hurriedly jumped toward the Secret Realm passage!

The next moment, they landed back on the ground...

The long-haired man stood dumbfounded.

"Holy crap? What's going on?"

"Xiang Ning, something's wrong with the Secret Realm passage. We've tried a bunch of times, but we can't get out!" someone who knew him called out.

"We can't get out!?" Xiang Ning's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Refusing to believe it, he jumped again, passed through the Vortex, and landed back on the Stone Platform...

"Fatso, what do we do?"

The fat man didn't even mind the dirt. He sat right down on the ground and said dejectedly,

"How should I know... We'll just have to wait to die."

"Xiang Ning, what did you and Mao Rui encounter in there? Is the Secret Realm dangerous?"

"Obviously. Can't you see how beat up we are?"

The fat man shook his head too. "It wasn't much. We just ran into seven or eight Air-Traversing Realm Blood Beasts on the outskirts of the Blood Abyss. And there seems to be some huge beast inside it..."

"Hiss...!"

The fat man's words immediately set off an uproar nearby.

"Mao Rui! Is that really true?

"That can't be. The military clears out Secret Realm No. 7 every year. How could there be so many high-rank Blood Beasts!?"

"Maybe those Blood Beasts can have epiphanies too..."

"They shouldn't come attack us, right?"

"Shouldn't they? Weren't we told the Stone Platform was absolutely safe?"

"Dude, the Secret Realm passage is already acting up! Are you sure the Stone Platform is still safe?"

"Holy crap... What do we do? Should we make a run for it?"

"Run? Where would you go? What if the passage starts working again while you're on the run?"

"..."

The Stone Platform was in an uproar, filled with anxiety and despair.

Chu Yuan saw that some people had quietly left the Stone Platform and were heading off into the distance. He couldn't help feeling helpless.

He'd told Tian Tian not to reveal any information because he'd been worried this would happen.

He hadn't expected that batch of exceptionally talented Internal Breath Realm trial-takers to return so soon. Nor had he expected the fat man called Mao Rui to have such a loose tongue.

They could hide somewhere Blood Beasts wouldn't find them... Then, once the passage was restored, powerful people from the outside would naturally come in, deal with the situation, and rescue them.

If the Secret Realm itself had simply undergone a change, this plan would have been sound.

Unfortunately, an outside force had clearly interfered this time...

Li Ji had no time to deal with Chu Yuan now. He looked up at the Secret Realm passage, his expression grave.

He was in poor shape. He'd already struggled to escape from a four-realm Blood Beast, then run all the way here... Qi Ying had also taken another blow from Chu Yuan, worsening her injuries.

If they couldn't get out, wouldn't they be in serious trouble once those obviously abnormal Blood Beasts attacked?

"He... He knew about this... from the start!

"Didn't he... tell any of you?" The medicine was gradually taking effect, and Qi Ying had recovered a little. She managed to sit up and pointed at Chu Yuan, her face full of scorn.

Sure enough, many people instinctively looked toward Chu Yuan, suspicion in their eyes.

Everyone except Tian Tian.

She wanted to say that Chu Yuan had already made arrangements.

But given the situation, she didn't know how many people would listen to her and go looking for materials... There was no point in saying anything. No one would believe her.

You're just a student with no prominent background. What makes you think you can come up with such a powerful formation?

Who knew if you were lying to us, just to achieve some ulterior motive...

Even Tian Tian herself didn't know why she trusted Chu Yuan.

Maybe because he'd been the first to tell her the truth, giving her a first impression that colored her judgment?

"Um... Chu Yuan, did you really know from the beginning that there were powerful Blood Beasts in the Blood Abyss?" asked another trial-taker from Chenyang City.

"He definitely knew! I saw him try to jump into the passage as soon as he got here!"

"So selfish! Why couldn't you at least warn us?"

Qi Ying continued, her breathing much steadier this time. "And that's not all. He came back after exploring earlier.

"He tricked us, claiming there were treasures in the Blood Abyss, trying to get us to go there and die!

"The Secret Realm has changed. We should be united, and every bit of strength is precious..."

"Enough, enough. Quit making me sick." Xiang Ning impatiently cut off her long speech.

"You're all the same kind of people. Why pretend to be so righteous? Can't you just let me have some peace and quiet?"

Qi Ying's face grew even paler, but she knew Xiang Ning and Mao Rui were both bastards.

She didn't dare provoke them right now...

To Xiang Ning, Qi Ying was utterly stupid. What was the point of stirring up trouble at a time like this?

Even if some fools were swayed by her, what threat could a few Blood-Qi Realm or, at most, Impermeable Realm Warriors pose to Chu Yuan?

All she'd do was annoy everyone...

Chu Yuan watched coldly for a long time. It wasn't that he had nothing to say in his defense; he was thinking about something.

Those family scions like Li Ji... They must know cultivation techniques other than the Essence Tempering Technique, right?

Even if they hadn't cultivated them, they'd surely know of some...

In an emergency, he didn't necessarily have to wait for the Martial God Record!

He could pick up some random technique and cultivate it, then break through like crazy! He could always switch techniques later... That might work, too?

"Xiang Ning, you guys don't have any ideas either?" someone asked.

Xiang Ning looked unconcerned. "I don't have a damn clue..."

"But..."

"But what?"

"This Secret Realm trial was supposed to have no guardians, but based on what I know about those old fogeys,

"there's at least one high-rank Warrior hidden inside the Secret Realm!

"He's strong enough to suppress the most powerful nonhuman creature in the Secret Realm!"

Everyone was overjoyed. "What? That's a thing?"

"Given Xiang Ning's background, what he says must be true!"

"Great... Where is that expert? Why hasn't he shown up?"

"Maybe he's already gone to clear out the Blood Beasts?"

"I knew the authorities wouldn't handle things so sloppily..."