Persuasion

He quickly closed his eyes and began to focus on refining the essence.

Strands of Spiritual Power were drawn from Lin Xiao's body and attached to the Heart of the Secret Realm. At first, the Heart of the Secret Realm remained unresponsive.

However, as time passed and the Spiritual Power threads gradually increased, the Heart of the Secret Realm gradually began to glow.

Soon after, a fluorescent light flowed from the Heart of the Secret Realm, spreading out along the threads of Spiritual Power.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Xiao suddenly heard a ringing sound in his mind.

[Ding--Congratulations, host, you have successfully refined the Heart of the Green Wilds Secret Realm. The exploration mission is complete. The reward has been sent to your private treasury. Please check your account.]

Lin Xiao didn't rush to check the reward; instead, he quickly swam towards the lake.

His brother Yigao is still waiting for him up there!

In the Spirit Heart Valley.

The moon was already high in the sky.

Sun Yigao sat in meditation in a medicinal herb field not far away.

Since Lin Xiao went into the lake, he hasn't moved an inch here.

Physiological problems were also quietly resolved using Law Technique such as Water Control Technique and Dust Removal Technique.

Meanwhile, the Venerable Pantu had already retreated to his thatched hut to rest.

The bright full moon generously poured its moonlight onto the tranquil lake surface.

The entire valley looked peaceful and beautiful.

Suddenly, a splashing sound startled Sun Yigao, who was meditating.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Lin Xiao surfacing to breathe, preparing to go ashore.

"Brother Xiao!"

Sun Yigao rushed over and instinctively reached out to pull Lin Xiao ashore, only to see Lin Xiao leap out of the water in an instant, then lightly touch the lake water with his toes a few times before reaching the shore.

Sun Yigao smiled and withdrew his hand.

Having only recently become a cultivator, he was still quite unaccustomed to using these Law Technique.

It seems that in the future, besides Water Control Technique and Dust Removal Technique, he will need to get used to using other Law Technique more often.

Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow at him smugly and whispered:

"This secret realm will now belong entirely to our sect!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Yigao was somewhat surprised, but then he was very happy for his sect.

He knew that Lin Xiao's sudden decision to go into the water must have been for a reason and he was confident in his ability to succeed.

Meanwhile, at the thatched hut, Venerable Pantu in the lake, also came out of the hut.

When he saw Lin Xiao standing safely on the shore, he was somewhat incredulous.

After all, he's been throwing people into this lake for decades and has never seen anyone come out alive, though of course, no one has died either.

How did you manage to escape from that lake?!

Venerable Pantu asked the question that had been lingering in his mind.

Lin Xiao turned to look at him and chuckled:

"Senior, I can let you out now. Do you want to leave?"

Lin Xiao did not answer Venerable Pantu's question, but his question successfully made Venerable Pantu forget his original question.

He began to ponder.

He had been longing to leave for decades.

But now that the opportunity to go out is actually in front of him, he hesitates.

What use would he be if he went out now?

In this secret realm, he was merely a part of a soul, possessing only the cultivation level of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement Refining; his physical body was nowhere to be found.

If that person finds out, they'll just capture him again, throw him somewhere else, and seal him away again until his soul completely perishes.

Seeing his hesitation, Lin Xiao's eyes darted around, and he asked him:

"Senior, are you worried about not having a place to stay after you leave?"

The Venerable Pantu shook his head:

"I am now only a part of my soul, and I cannot release all of my soul from the various secret realms. Moreover, I do not know where my physical body is. What good would it do if I went out?"

Lin Xiao's eyes lit up and he said:

"That's perfect! Come with me, join our sect, and I'll find you other soul and body forms, how about that?"

The Venerable Pantu clearly didn't quite believe his words:

"You? Do you know that I am a dignified Nascent Soul Cultivator? The person who harmed me to this extent is also a Nascent Soul Cultivator, and a thoroughly Evil Cultivator at that. Killing a Qi Refining child like you would be as easy as turning one's hand!"

Lin Xiao immediately promised:

"Anyway, your soul is trapped here now, with no freedom and little understanding of the outside world, right? Come with me, and you'll have a chance to return to your peak. If you miss this opportunity now, you might never get another chance."

"Come with me, join our sect, and stay here to recuperate. Think about it, it's been decades. How could that Nascent Soul Cultivator who harmed you have been thinking about you for so long, searching everywhere to see if you, whom he sealed with his divided soul, have escaped? I'm not saying this to be mean, senior, but you think too highly of yourself..."

Seeing that Venerable Pantu's expression was a bit off, Lin Xiao quickly changed the subject:

"Then let's set a time! Ten years, how about it? Within ten years, I'll help you find the rest of your soul and body, wouldn't that make everyone happy?"

This is the soul of a Nascent Soul expert! Although this part of the soul is only at the Qi Refining Stage, Lin Xiao believes that it would be great if their sect could have another Qi Refining soul with Nascent Soul knowledge. He knows a lot and is not very capable. If they don't bring him back to the sect, he feels like they're losing out big time.

So Lin Xiao tried his best to deceive them.

The Venerable Pantu stroked his beard and slowly said:

"What if you haven't found it within ten years?"

He was already tempted. Putting everything else aside, just the fact that he would definitely have a better chance of getting out of this secret realm than staying here would be enough.

But he also knew that this kid was probably trying to fool him and get him to join their sect.

I wonder which elder in their sect this kid is a disciple of. He's so keen on recruiting people into the sect. If he were the sect leader, he would definitely cherish a disciple like this.

But then he thought, this kid must be doing very well in the sect, otherwise why would he be so concerned about the sect? His seniors must have treated him well, so it seems reasonable to have his seniors fulfill their promise to find him a soul body.

Upon hearing his question, Lin Xiao touched his nose and said:

"If I fail to complete the task, will you leave? Or should I put you back into this secret realm?"

Venerable Pantu:... Thank you.

Sun Yigao, standing nearby, almost couldn't help but laugh, and forced himself to cough twice.

Fortunately, Venerable Pantu had seen his share of storms and quickly regained his voice, saying:

"Alright, hurry up and break the seal for me."

Lin Xiao nodded:

"Alright, wait a moment--" he said, about to use the Heart of the Green Wilds Secret Realm to remove the seal that trapped Venerable Pantu, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks as if he had noticed something.

Seeing that he had suddenly stopped moving, Venerable Pantu asked in confusion:

"Little one, what are you waiting for?"