Tang Yao ran forward anxiously. If only she had added Chu Song's spiritual contact earlier!
How long would it take to find him, searching aimlessly like this?
Before long, she reached a forest of withered trees-
The scorching heat had turned all the surrounding vegetation a dry brown. The occasional cry of a Fire Element Demon Beast rang out, and several disciples were running toward her, panting for breath.
One disciple stopped when he saw Tang Yao!
With one hand on his hip and the other braced against a tree trunk, he panted, "Senior Sister Xiaocao, run! Chi Wang is right behind us!"
"He's completely lost his mind! Apart from Senior Sister Xiaohua's identity token, he crushes every single one he sees!"
Tang Yao frowned, unable to understand what Chi Wang wanted. Just what medicine was he selling in that gourd?
"If you're too tired, take a break. I'm going ahead to stop him!"
With that, she patted his shoulder and kept running without pause.
The disciple was so touched that he nearly wiped away tears on the spot.
Senior Sister Xiaocao really was... heading straight for the mountain despite knowing a tiger lurked there!
Such righteousness!
Before long, Tang Yao reached the "scene of the crime."
A cruel curve tugged at the boy's lips as he lowered his eyes to look down at the disciple slumped on the ground.
The disciple was deathly pale. He scrambled backward on his hands and feet until his back pressed against rough bark. With nowhere left to retreat, his eyes brimmed with terror!
"S-Senior Brother Chi Wang..." the disciple said, his voice trembling.
Chi Wang turned his wrist slightly. A talisman flew from his hand and landed in a ring, blazing fire serpents surging up to surround the disciple in an instant.
The disciple curled up, letting out a muffled groan of pain. Only then did Chi Wang leisurely bend down, hook a fingertip around the identity token swinging at the disciple's waist, and give it a light tug, holding it up to toy with.
He seemed ready to crush it at any moment, leaving others unable to fathom him.
Just then, an abrupt female voice sounded beside his ear-
"Here. If you want one so badly, take mine."
Tang Yao flicked her hand. Her identity token landed at Chi Wang's feet with a clack, stirring up dust.
The disciple on the ground jerked his head up toward the voice, wild joy bursting into his eyes. At that moment, Tang Yao looked to him like a god descending to earth.
Chi Wang froze, the sneer stiffening on his lips. He slowly straightened, his brows drawing together as he looked at Tang Yao, who had appeared nearby at some point.
"What would I want your identity token for? When did you get here?"
Tang Yao met Chi Wang's gaze. To be honest, she was regretting it a little. She had looked cool, but what if this "brother she'd acquired for free" turned on her and refused to acknowledge their relationship?
Still, she showed no fear. She walked over quite naturally and bent to pick up her token, trying to draw information out of him as she did. "Then what do you want their identity tokens for?"
Chi Wang said, "The competition."
Tang Yao said, "..." Chi Wang's answer made her look rather stupid.
Refusing to give up, Tang Yao pressed on. "Then why didn't you crush Chu Xiaohua's?"
At that, the curve of Chi Wang's lips deepened, but his eyes grew colder still. His tone carried a warning. "If you see her later..."
"Stay away from her..."
Chi Wang looked helplessly at his "simple-minded little sister." From what he had observed, Chu Xiaohua was talented and steady in temperament...
If he left her alive, she would become a major threat in the future. That Chu had best perish here today, sparing him the trouble of finding another chance to act.
Chi Wang tossed Chu Xiaohua's identity token in his hand. Now, if she ran into danger, she would not even have anything to crush.
Demon Beasts obeyed the Devil Race to begin with.
Chu Xiaohua, get ready to face every Demon Beast in the secret realm...
"Xiaohua, why did you come back?!" Tang Yao widened her eyes and waved excitedly.
"Oh?" Chi Wang raised a brow and, sure enough, turned around with interest, his expression seeming to mock someone for overestimating herself.
Now!
A sharp gleam flashed in Tang Yao's eyes. She pushed her sword cultivator's movement technique to its limit, darted to Chi Wang's side like lightning, and snatched the identity token he was tossing, clutching it tightly in her palm.
Chi Wang: "?"
He had been tricked!
Chi Wang's already pale face flushed slightly with anger. He stared fixedly at Tang Yao, his gaze chilling to the marrow.
Tang Yao's scalp prickled under his stare, but she forced herself to remain calm.
She coughed softly, her eyes darting toward the disciple who was still gaping in shock.
-Run! I've drawn all his fire!
The disciple caught her signal, gratitude instantly filling his face. He practically scrambled out of the ring of fire on all fours, remembering to scoop up his identity token along the way, then vanished in a flash.
Chi Wang had no attention to spare for that minor figure now. His face darkened, an oppressive presence surrounding him. "After all these years wandering outside, you really are no longer of one heart with the Devil Realm."
"In that case..." Though Chi Wang liked his little sister, the Devil Realm came first in his heart, above his personal feelings.
A chill ran down Tang Yao's spine. She instantly guessed what Chi Wang was about to say and hurriedly spoke. "Brother, rest assured. I understand what you mean. Leave this little matter to me. If we're here in the Profound Heaven Sect, we're the only two Devil Cultivators!"
"We have to care for and look after each other! Remember, we mustn't casually attack and 'accidentally injure' each other!"
Tang Yao earnestly brainwashed Chi Wang. Sure enough, after hearing her words, much of the oppressive air around him dissipated.
The boy looked at Tang Yao with some surprise. "Oh?"
"You knew before I even said it?" He chuckled softly. "Not bad. You catch on quickly."
Tang Yao nodded and planted both hands on her hips, looking brimming with enthusiasm. "Haha, well, I'll be off, then!"
"I need to earn more points so we can better infiltrate the sect!"
Before she had even finished speaking, she turned and took to her heels, giving Chi Wang no chance to speak again as she fled faster than a rabbit!
Watching her depart with her "fighting spirit soaring," Chi Wang could not help nodding in satisfaction.
Tang Yao tightened her grip on Chu Song's identity token, marveling inwardly at how easy he was to fool!
She absolutely could not beat the grass and startle the snake. If the Devil Realm sent someone clever instead, she would be worse off than with this Chi Wang.
Some time had passed since Tang Yao shook Chi Wang off. Now that she had entered the heart of the withered forest, she sensed something strange.
Based on her experience with cultivation novels, shouldn't the deeper one went into a forest, the more high-ranked Demon Beasts there would be?
Yet there was not a single one here...
When things strayed from the norm, something sinister had to be at work!
Considering that there were members of the Devil Race in this secret realm, perhaps Devil Qi could control the Demon Beasts' behavior?
But an incense stick's worth of time passed, and no matter how Tang Yao amplified her Devil Qi during that time, she still did not see so much as half a Demon Beast.
Rumble-!
Dull thunder rolled from the distant mountain range.
Tang Yao jerked her head up. At the edge of the horizon, beneath the secret realm's crimson sky, a mass of tribulation clouds as thick as ink was gathering furiously.
It was a Lightning Tribulation!
A Golden Core Realm Lightning Tribulation? Was someone among them really that strong?
After pondering for a long while, a name surfaced in Tang Yao's mind-
Chu Song?!
You little rascal, you still had this many cards up your sleeve!
Did you suppress your cultivation during the test? Otherwise, going from Foundation Establishment Early Stage to Golden Core in just a few days would be far too fast.
Tang Yao could not worry about all that now. She immediately sprinted toward the Lightning Tribulation. Thank goodness she was a sword cultivator and had the stamina to keep up.
But that still could not compare to a talisman cultivator's teleportation talisman. Even a low-grade teleportation talisman could at least reach the other side of the mountain range in a single breath.
Tang Yao gritted her teeth as she ran. She absolutely had to learn to draw talismans properly!
Half an hour later, she finally reached the foot of the mountains blanketed in thunderclouds.
Tang Yao said, "Fuck..."
She saw hundreds upon thousands of Demon Beasts massed here, surging forward like a beast tide!
The Demon Beasts' eyes were scarlet as they charged forward without any order, their attacks even more powerful in their berserk state.
At the very center, a protective barrier was encircled so tightly by the rolling beast tide that not a drop could get through. Several cracks had already appeared in it.
Boom-!
A bolt of heavenly lightning struck, adding another crack to the barrier. Chu Song sat meditating beneath it, fine beads of sweat covering his forehead.
He really was on the verge of a breakdown. He had already shown signs of a breakthrough during the first trial's body tempering, and when he reached the third trial, every Demon Beast had inexplicably come to attack him?!
After fighting several hundred of them, he truly could no longer suppress his cultivation and had no choice but to break through on the spot. Fortunately, the Lightning Tribulation attacked indiscriminately, striking not only him but also the Demon Beasts, giving him some room to breathe.
Damn it, was there something wrong with these Demon Beasts?!
And Chi Wang! He wouldn't let Chi Wang off!
That little bastard had actually dared to ambush him and steal his identity token?!
"Chi Wang, I'm not done with you..." Chu Song's stifled growl came from inside the barrier of light.
The boy took another protective talisman from his Storage Bag.
This was the last one...
Just then!
Hiss-!
Vast waves of icy flames surged in from the surroundings and blanketed the ground. The Fire Element Demon Beasts immediately slowed. Ice and fire countered each other, and the Demon Beasts instinctively avoided the icy cold, actually opening up a tiny path.
Five icy flame talismans erupted simultaneously, forcibly tearing a narrow passage through the beast tide.
Seeing that a path had opened, Tang Yao charged in without another word.
The most urgent task was to get the identity token into Chu Song's hands.
It did not matter if she recklessly entered the center of the beast tide. She had an identity token too!
At worst, the two of them could simply crush their tokens and leave the secret realm.
But these Demon Beasts seemed not to see her at all, completely ignoring her, even though she had not released any Devil Qi...
At that thought, Tang Yao let out some Devil Qi as she ran.
The Demon Beasts had originally been ignoring Tang Yao, but once they sensed her Devil Qi, they actually moved aside of their own accord, a trace of reverence in their eyes.
It seemed they had only one target.
And that was Chu Song...