Ten miles away, within the mist.
"That was close! The woman in white nearly spotted us. Good thing Brother Liu Yuhe knows how to conceal his presence. That was the only reason we fooled her!"
"That woman's eyes were so cold and terrifying. She only glanced at me, and I still can't stop shaking!"
Voices rose through the mist. The speakers had yet to recover from their fright.
"What's so frightening? The bead in her hand can neutralize the purple grass's poison. Like that young man in green's Thunder Shimmer Gauntlets, it must be a Spirit Weapon!"
Liu Yuhe turned a disdainful look on the speakers and gave a low command. "Move. Catch up to them, kill them, and take their Spirit Weapons!"
"Right!"
The eighteen people behind Liu Yuhe nodded firmly. They flew out of the mist after him, pursuing the direction in which Zhang Xingfeng and the other two had disappeared.
"Brother Liu Yuhe, the sword on that young man in gold's back was black as ink. It must be a Spirit Weapon too!"
"Then we'll take it as well, along with those purple spirit herbs!"
"Brother Liu Yuhe is mighty! Hahaha! Those three would never imagine that the purple spirit herbs they worked so hard to get would end up as a wedding dress for us!"
"Brother Liu Yuhe, should we go down and take the Pill Forging Sect members' Storage Bags?"
"Who cares about Storage Bags? Catching those three comes first!"
"Yes, Brother Liu Yuhe!"
Qigu Secret Realm.
A dense forest.
"No one has reached this forest yet, and the mist is thick. It's the perfect place for my breakthrough!"
Hua Shijie surveyed the forest, then turned into a streak of light and entered it.
He took out a Supreme Source Stone, dissolved it into liquid, and absorbed it. He stopped only after using ten stones.
"To think that I, Hua Shijie, pride myself on being a prodigy, yet I couldn't even save any Source Stones while breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer."
Hua Shijie sighed and gave a self-mocking chuckle.
"But I've taken in enough power from the Source Stones. I must break through at once!"
"Once I do, who in this secret realm can stand against me?"
Hua Shijie cleared his mind, closed his eyes, and focused. Circulating his sect's Cultivation Method, he began fusing the power of the Source Stones.
Boom!
Three quarters of an hour later, a Pill Cauldron shot skyward from the forest. The golden light of the manifestation blazed for miles, piercing the air for a hundred miles around.
"What's that? A Source Aspect taking form? Someone's breaking through inside the secret realm?"
"A Pill Cauldron Source Aspect. Could it be Hua Shijie?"
"It must be! He was at the Foundation Establishment Realm Eighth Layer. He might have reached its peak long ago!"
"How shameless! He thought of breaking through again inside the secret realm!"
"Now that he's reached the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer, his Cultivation Art won't merely carry force—it'll exert pressure! That's a difference in kind. No one in the secret realm can match Hua Shijie!"
"And worse, cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer possess Divine Sense. Nothing escapes his notice. If you encounter Hua Shijie, stay well away from him!"
Everyone in the secret realm stared at the manifestation above the forest, stunned and horrified.
Within the forest.
Whoosh!
Hua Shijie rode the wind into the air beneath the Pill Cauldron manifestation. With a casual sweep of his hand, he dispersed every trace of mist within a hundred miles!
"It really is Hua Shijie. He can turn the clouds and rain with a wave of his hand. He's truly unmatched!"
Everyone in the secret realm who saw it marveled.
Beneath the manifestation, Hua Shijie's lips curved upward. "So this is the power of the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer? Who can stand against me? Who?"
His expression hardened, and he sent his voice ringing out. "From this moment on, every treasure in the secret realm belongs to me. Anyone who objects dies!"
The cultivators within a hundred miles trembled at his words. None dared make another move.
"Hahaha..."
Seeing that, Hua Shijie grew smug and laughed without restraint.
Boom!
Just then, boundless pressure erupted above the secret realm and came crashing down upon Hua Shijie.
It was so powerful that even a wisp spilling beyond the forest brought everyone in the secret realm unbearable pain!
"It's pressure from the Laws! Channel your Source Power and resist it!"
The cultivators' pupils contracted in shock. They frantically channeled Source Power, hastily forming barriers around themselves.
"Hm?!"
Hua Shijie felt the terrifying pressure. His laughter stopped dead, and horror drained the color from his face.
"Ah!"
Before he could even channel his Source Power, he was reduced to ash!
"What terrifying pressure! Thank goodness it wasn't aimed at us!"
"So this is the might of the Laws? Break them and you die!"
Everyone in the secret realm watched with their hearts pounding.
"Good thing Hua Shijie broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Ninth Layer first. Otherwise, I'd be the one dead!"
A few people secretly rejoiced.
Like Hua Shijie, they had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm Eighth Layer and had wanted to break through inside the secret realm to seize more treasures.
"Good riddance! That'll teach him to covet every treasure in the secret realm!"
"Exactly!"
"Ah... Why did you suddenly attack me?"
"Because you took something you shouldn't have!"
"Damn you! I'll fight you to the death!"
Mist once again covered the hundred miles Hua Shijie had cleared, and fighting broke out on every side.
Qigu Secret Realm.
A desolate woodland.
"Junior Brother, Junior Sister, we've been searching for treasures all this way, and we're tired. Let's rest here for a while."
Seated on a boulder, Zhang Xingfeng made the suggestion.
"All right."
Dongfang Muxue and Chen Guyu leaned against the boulder as well.
"Tired?" A scornful laugh rang out. "Then die!"
Whoosh!
Before the words had faded, Liu Yuhe descended with eighteen Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. They stared at Zhang Xingfeng and the other two with cold, greedy eyes.
"Who are you?"
Zhang Xingfeng and his companions sprang to their feet and faced Liu Yuhe's group, displeasure in their voices.
"The ones sending you to your graves!" Liu Yuhe answered coldly, then ordered, "Go! Surround them and kill them!"
"Yes, Brother Liu Yuhe!"
Liu Yuhe and his companions channeled Source Power furiously, unleashing Cultivation Arts in rapid succession as they closed in on Zhang Xingfeng's group.
Boom!
In an instant, streaks of light flashed through the woodland, and manifestations filled the air!
Dead trees crumbled to dust, while loose stones shattered to powder!
"You think you can kill us? What a joke!"
Zhang Xingfeng and his companions remained unruffled. They exchanged a glance, then flashed forward like lightning, each charging their chosen targets.
Rumble!
A bolt of Divine Thunder flashed toward nine of the cultivators.
Boom!
A sweep of sword light slashed toward the other nine.
"The Foundation Establishment Realm Seventh Layer—is that where your confidence comes from?"
Dongfang Muxue gave a cool, proud laugh. Ice Soul released ten-thousand-year-old frost, freezing its way toward Liu Yuhe.
"You know I'm at the Foundation Establishment Realm Seventh Layer, yet you still dare look down on me? You're courting death!"
Feeling insulted, Liu Yuhe flew into a rage and channeled even more Source Power.
He could not fathom why Dongfang Muxue was so confident that she dared attack him alone.
Even if Liu Yuhe wielded only a Mortal Weapon while Dongfang Muxue had a Spirit Weapon, no weapon could make up for the gap between their cultivation levels!
A Spirit Weapon was roughly three times as powerful as a Mortal Weapon, but the gap between the sixth and seventh layers of the Foundation Establishment Realm was fourfold!
That remaining difference left Dongfang Muxue only one fate: death!
Clearly, the other eighteen Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators thought the same.
Zhang Xingfeng and his companions were nothing but fish on the chopping block!
"You're the ones who are a joke!"
"Arrogant!" "Die!" "Come and die!"
Liu Yuhe and his companions grew more excited and reckless. Their killing intent surged as they unleashed one Cultivation Art after another.
But they were wrong—utterly wrong!
They had not anticipated that the Spirit Weapons in Zhang Xingfeng's group's hands were stronger than ordinary Spirit Weapons, much less that all three cultivated Heaven-Tier Upper Grade Cultivation Arts!
Bang!
In the blink of an eye, the force of Liu Yuhe's group's attacks was extinguished!
Boom!
But the attacks from Zhang Xingfeng and his companions still raged onward, crashing toward Liu Yuhe's group.
"How?"
"No! Impossible!"
Liu Yuhe and his companions stared wide-eyed, unable to believe it.
"No!"
Sword light swept past. Nine people were severed at the waist, their bodies split in two!
"Ah!"
Lightning flashed. Nine people were instantly charred black!
"How could this happen?"
Liu Yuhe fared even worse. Ice encased his entire body, and he died as it shattered him into pieces!
"They're all dead already? I barely did anything!"
"Neither did I!"
"It sounds like someone's coming. Let's leave first!"
"All right!"
Zhang Xingfeng and his companions put away their weapons, turned into streaks of light, and departed.
Before you continue