"Of course. I've always valued peace above all else."

Chen Qiu did not ask any further. Instead, he looked at Ma Yinxue lying in a pool of blood behind Fat Dragon and sighed. "You two had a past together, after all. You're just killing her like that?"

He had not killed Ma Yinxue earlier. She was Fat Dragon's woman, so it was not his place to make that decision on his own.

"Does a cursed bond still count as a bond?"

Fat Dragon shook his head. "I'm disappointed in women now. At least until I attain the Dao and ascend to immortality, I won't think about such things again. Finding a woman who truly shares your heart and soul, who won't mock you when you've fallen on hard times... feels really difficult."

Just then—

Beside the creek, a white vortex roughly thirty feet tall and thirty feet wide slowly emerged.

Above the vortex floated a panel wrapped in white clouds and mist.

-

"Secret Realm Name": Mock Heaven Minor World.

"Secret Realm Restriction": Only cultivators at Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer and below may enter.

"Secret Realm Type": 'Challenge'.

"Secret Realm Introduction": There are seven stages within. Clear a stage to receive one reward. At most 10,000 cultivators may enter. The entrance will close after a thousand breaths. The secret realm will close once someone clears every stage, or after thirty-six hours.

-

"The secret realm is open!"

"It can hold up to 10,000 cultivators!"

The crowd that had scattered around the area immediately erupted in cries of surprise. Many people instinctively stepped forward two paces, eager to make a move. Why had they traveled all the way to Windward City, this godforsaken backwater?

Was it not for this secret realm? For this opportunity?

On the path of cultivation, opportunities had to be fought for with one's own hands.

But now—

They were somewhat afraid to enter instead. There were too many monsters in this secret realm. First, there was that lucky Foundation Establishment cultivator with dozens of Self-Destruct Traits, each carrying the might of a Golden Core. Then there was this monster who was clearly only at Foundation Establishment First Layer, yet could instantly kill five Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivators in the blink of an eye.

The pressure of competition was a little too great.

"On the road of cultivation, if you don't advance, you die. Let's go!"

As everyone hesitated, a middle-aged man from some Lineage gritted his teeth slightly and led over a dozen younger members of his Lineage into the white vortex, vanishing by the creek.

As he passed Chen Qiu, he even cast a wary glance at him as though facing a formidable enemy.

It left Chen Qiu rather speechless.

They had no grievance or grudge between them. Who would want to fight him? It wasted spiritual energy, all right? That spiritual energy had been bought with Spirit Stones. What was there to stare at him for? If there was no conflict of interest, why would he attack them for no reason?

If there was a conflict of interest—

Then the bigger fist did the talking.

Perhaps that man had set a good example. The people around them, who had still been hesitating, no longer hesitated. Gritting their teeth slightly, they charged into the secret realm despite their fear. It was a challenge-type secret realm, after all. The death rate would not be too high. As long as they did not run into a monster like Chen Qiu, there should not be any problems.

Every person who passed Chen Qiu solemnly nodded to him, as though they were conveying some sort of message.

"..."

Chen Qiu shook his head helplessly. Only then did he tuck the storage ring he had picked up from Ma Yinxue into his robes. The ring had been bound by blood. His divine sense could not break it open, but he could find a weapon refiner to help crack it after they left.

He was quite curious about that thing which caused plum blossoms to bloom beneath her feet with every step. Was it a spell, or some kind of spiritual treasure?

"Fat Dragon, did we forget to ask about the backgrounds of those men just now?"

"Seems like it."

"No one's going to come seeking revenge, right?"

"Hard to say. There are so many witnesses here. Unless we kill everyone after entering the secret realm and leave no one alive, no news will leak out."

The moment those words fell—

A young man not far away, who had been preparing to enter the secret realm, twitched an ear. Without the slightest hesitation, he poured all his spiritual energy into his legs, activated his movement technique, and turned to flee into the distance with the speed of lightning—too quick to cover one's ears while stealing a bell!

Whoever wanted this secret realm could have it. He sure as hell was not going in!

Such swift movement left many people unable to stop themselves from praising him.

"Then forget it."

Chen Qiu shook his head. "There are nearly ten thousand people here. I don't have the ability to silence every last one of them. Even if they stood there and let me kill them, I wouldn't have enough spiritual energy."

And at that moment—

The ground began to tremble faintly. Then they saw Zhao Yishi, who looked every bit like a Sky-Piercing Giant, slowly walking toward them. He stopped several dozen feet away, looked down at them, and waved a hand as though signaling something.

Then, a young man standing by Zhao Yishi's feet came scampering over and handed over a sound-transmission talisman. "Fellow Daoist, Senior Brother Zhao would like to speak with you. Would that be convenient?"

"..."

Chen Qiu looked at the sound-transmission talisman the young man was offering, then raised his head to look up at the Sky-Piercing Giant before him. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Being too tall was not entirely a good thing. He had to use a sound-transmission talisman just to speak to normal people.

Otherwise, with dozens of feet between them, ordinary speech truly could not be heard clearly. If spiritual energy was poured into his throat, everyone would hear him instead.

After taking the sound-transmission talisman—

He soon heard a deep, muffled voice from within.

"Big brother, if there's an opportunity later, I won't compete with you for it. Could you not kill me?"

"..."

A strange expression flashed across Chen Qiu's face. He looked up at the massive saber over a hundred feet long that the Sky-Piercing Giant carried on his shoulder, feeling an overwhelmingly jarring sense of absurdity. Wasn't that thing in your hand? And you were asking me not to kill you?

Were you really that certain you could not beat me?

Did you have that little confidence?

But honestly, he did not particularly want to make an enemy of Zhao Yishi either. He was so huge that even if Zhao Yishi stood still and let Chen Qiu bombard him, it would still waste plenty of spiritual energy. Chen Qiu immediately nodded.

"Of course. I've always valued peace above all else."

"Good, big brother. With those words, I can rest easy."

Then the deep, muffled voice continued from the sound-transmission talisman. "You few don't need to follow me. Just wait outside. You're too conspicuous. You'd make it easy for me to be exposed."

The sect disciple who had handed Chen Qiu the sound-transmission talisman froze in confusion. He looked up at his senior brother standing behind him. Who the hell was the conspicuous one? With you standing there, who within dozens of miles could possibly miss you?

You had just watched someone slaughter Nine Bulls without even paying for a ticket. You watched it from outside the city wall!

But remembering the mission the sect master had assigned him, the disciple still hurriedly said, "Senior Brother Zhao, the sect master told us to protect you. You are the sect's hope and future. If anything happens to you, we won't be able to answer for it when we return."

"Besides, Senior Brother Zhao, compared to you, we really aren't that conspicuous."

"No need to say any more."

"If you don't stay outside, I won't go in."

The sect disciples exchanged glances, then sighed helplessly. "Senior Brother Zhao, we'll listen to you and wait outside. You must be careful inside."

"Preserving your life is what matters most."