The clouds and mist around Star Spirit Main Peak fluttered like gauze curtains in the morning light. Han Li stood at the summit, the Water-Magnetic Sword hanging at his waist. The Blood Magnetic Star Pattern on its blade resonated with the mountain's Spiritual Power, giving off a soft silver glow.
Three days earlier, he had followed the Magnetic Essence Griffin's guidance to the Main Peak and activated the Spatial Anchor Point with star magnetic jade marrow powder. To his surprise, he had discovered a complete star chart of the Star Spirit Tribe in a stone chamber at the summit-the mark labeled "Eye of Returning Ruins" showed the location of the exit from the secret realm.
But Han Li had no heart to study the star chart. He tightly gripped Zi Ling's damaged Star-Illusion Flag. The star patterns on its fabric trembled faintly in the wind, yet never gave off the familiar fluctuations of her Spiritual Power.
Over the past three months, he had scoured all nine Green Jade Peaks, searching every corner. He had scanned every inch of ground with Spatial Awareness and even used Blood-Magnetic Detection to seek any trace Zi Ling might have left behind, but found nothing.
[System notification: Secret realm search complete. No residual Spiritual Power or related traces of Zi Ling detected.]
"Zi Ling, where in the world are you..." Han Li murmured. His voice echoed among the empty peaks, answered only by the chirping of spirit birds.
The secret realm's resources were far more astonishing than Han Li had imagined. Each of the nine Green Jade Peaks had its own wonders: spiritual herbs flourished on the central peak, their leaves bearing pale golden star patterns that could accelerate Spiritual Power recovery; the Star Spirit Pool lay hidden beneath the western peak's waterfall,