Chapter 162

Chapter 162

Everyone headed towards the location where the beast tide had passed through.

The big fur ball followed them as they left.

Many cultivators present were very interested in this big fur ball. Seeing it roll along behind them like a ball, they almost wanted to flip it over and see how it moved.

Fortunately, they still remembered the power of the big fur ball when it turned into a ball of quills. No one dared to provoke it.

When everyone flew on their magic tools, the big fur ball calmly hopped onto Wen Qiao’s flying sword and stuck there, chirping.

Wen Qiao glanced at it. Her flying sword wasn’t long. It was a rather delicate Xuan-grade spirit sword that Ning Yuzhou had refined for her. After one person stood on it, there was barely enough room for the big fur ball. From afar, it looked as if a large ball of fluff was stuck to her butt.

Wen Qiao imagined that scene and couldn’t help but put on a cold expression to look more dignified.

However, to onlookers, the pairing of the graceful, slender female cultivator with the silver-white, large furball was irresistibly alluring to the male cultivators present, compelling them to steal furtive glances.

This combination was truly striking. Both the big fur ball and the beautiful female cultivator with a cold expression had a charm that made it hard to look away. They were very likable.

Ning Yuzhou couldn’t help but notice those men’s gazes. He calmly flew his sword next to her, blocking some of the male cultivators’ views.

Wen Qiao turned to look at him and habitually smiled at him, the dimples on her cheeks faintly visible.

That smile softened the coldness on her face, making her look bright and adorable, attracting even more male cultivators’ attention and making her even more likable.

Ning Yuzhou: "…"

Ning Yuzhou felt he had done something wrong. His little girl was too likable. In the future, he should tell her not to smile casually in front of strangers, especially when she was squeezed together with those balls of fluff.

Not long after they set off, everyone quickly reined in their scattered emotions.

As they flew, everything they saw was mountain forests and plains ravaged by the beast tide. Many innocent demonic beasts had died in the beast tide.

Although the abundant heaven and earth elemental spirit energy in the secret realm allowed the spirit plants destroyed by the beast tide to grow quickly, many places that had been ruined were still left in ruins.

As they followed the trail of the beast tide, other cultivators in the secret realm also came following the beast tide.

"Junior Brother Ning!"

That call of “Junior Brother Ning” was both surprised and delighted. Everyone’s gaze couldn’t help but fall on Ning Yuzhou in the crowd, their expressions indescribable.

This disciple of the Red Sky Sect had quite a few virtuous elder brothers, and each of them was no ordinary person.

The one who came was Qi Jiake of the Qixing Sect.

There were also many cultivators gathered around Qi Jiake. Most of these cultivators were disciples of various sects, many of whom had been seen during the last Demon Sealing Secret Realm trial, such as Fu Rui of the Talisman Cauldron Sect and several sound cultivators of the Purple Sun Sect.

Wen Qiao couldn’t help but look at those sound cultivators. Although they were inner disciples of the Purple Sun Sect, none of them belonged to the sect master’s lineage.

"Junior Brother Ning, are you okay?" Qi Jiake asked with concern, his face full of worry.

Ning Yuzhou replied warmly, "Nothing happened. Why are you here, Brother Qi?"

Qi Jiake said, "We heard about the beast tide in the secret realm and thought its appearance was abnormal, so we came to investigate. What about you? Senior Qin, did you come because of the beast tide?"

Qin Hongdao said, "Yes, we happened to encounter the beast tide a few days ago. Fortunately, we later found a safe place to avoid it."

Qi Jiake and the others looked at them in surprise and hurriedly asked how they had encountered the beast tide.

Qin Hongdao then told them their speculations.

"So that’s how it is." Qi Jiake looked enlightened. "I was wondering why I hadn’t heard of a beast tide appearing in the Thousand Islands Secret Realm before. It turns out it was those damned demonic cultivators."

"The demonic cultivators clearly want to kill us in the secret realm to weaken our righteous spirit cultivators’ strength."

"If we die accidentally in the beast tide, wouldn’t we just fulfill those demonic cultivators’ wishes?"

…

Everyone was indignant and deeply hated the demonic cultivators.

After cursing the demonic cultivators, Qi Jiake and the others expressed that they wanted to join Qin Hongdao and the others in searching for the demonic cultivators and contribute a little bit of their strength.

Nie Shenxuan asked, "There are still ten days until the secret realm closes. Aren’t you going to search for treasures?"

"What treasures can we find? Anyway, there are only ten days left. We might as well gather together and deal with those demonic cultivators who snuck in," an irascible cultivator couldn’t help shouting.

"That’s right. We need to act quickly so that more fellow disciples don’t die in the demonic cultivators’ schemes."

Qin Hongdao laughed. "Since that’s the case, let’s go together."

She was the highest-cultivated cultivator among them. Hearing her speak, no one naturally opposed it.

With Qi Jiake and the others joining, the number of people in the group instantly exceeded two hundred, significantly increasing their safety.

However, compared to the number of cultivators who entered the secret realm, these two hundred people were far too few. They felt they could find more people to join. One reason was that more people meant greater safety, and the other was that it could deter those cultivators with ulterior motives.

Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao followed the Red Sky Sect’s disciples and didn’t attract much attention.

Wen Qiao looked around and sent Ning Yuzhou a voice transmission. "Husband, I wonder how those Tangyuan are doing. We haven’t seen them."

Ning Yuzhou said, "With their luck, they should be fine."

When the Tangyuan separated, one side would have bad luck, but if they were together, their luck was good. Even if they encountered danger, they carried strange water and wouldn’t have any problems escaping safely.

Wen Qiao hummed in agreement, recalling Shuilinyin and Duan Haoyan. She wondered how they were doing.

In the following days, they encountered many cultivators. Most of these cultivators had just happened to pass by, while some, like Qi Jiake and his group, had specifically come over after hearing about the abnormal beast tide. Others, like Yi Xuan and Qin Hongdao, had come in search of someone. In short, once they learned about the demonic cultivators and the beast tide, they all chose to join this team. The number of people in the team had already exceeded one thousand. Although there were many people, Wen Qiao still hadn't seen that group of Tangtuan and Shuilinyin, Duan Haoyan, and others. Perhaps because they had escaped together in the secret realm, Wen Qiao hoped that they could leave the secret realm safely without any incidents. As they continued their pursuit, the traces of the beast tide finally vanished near a body of water. Staring at the vast expanse of water ahead, they didn't know whether the beast tide had dispersed here or had crazily plunged into the water. "Senior Qin, what do you think?" Everyone looked at Qin Hongdao. Out of respect for Real Person Yuanzong, they would always ask her opinion when something happened. After some thought, Qin Hongdao said, "Let's go look around other places. However, the secret realm is too large. How about we split up, with each group consisting of a hundred people, and take care of each other? What do you think?" Hearing her arrangement, although some felt that it was safer for everyone to stay together, most had no objections. Actually, Qin Hongdao suggested splitting up because she felt that their group was too large of a target. If those demonic cultivators saw them, how would they dare to show themselves? This would make it difficult for them to find anyone. With around a thousand people, they divided into ten teams. Each team consisted of people who knew each other, either fellow sect members or those from closely related sects or families. This made things more convenient and also meant they didn't have to guard against those they didn't know. After dividing into teams, Qin Hongdao led over a hundred people away. There were now quite a few Red Sky Sect disciples gathered here, over sixty of them, while the rest were disciples from small families. These disciples from small families knew the combat strength of the Red Sky Sect disciples and felt that it was safer to follow Real Person Yuanzong Qin Hongdao, so they all chose to join her group. Not long after Qin Hongdao and her group left, they encountered several cultivators. Seeing this group of over a hundred people, the expressions of those few cultivators changed slightly as they watched them warily. Qin Hongdao stopped and greeted them, "May I ask which sect or school you friends belong to?" They exchanged glances, and one tall and thin cultivator replied indifferently, "We are all wandering cultivators. May I ask what Senior Qin needs?" Qin Hongdao's characteristics were very easy to identify: red robes, long sword, and cultivation at the Yuanzong realm. Anyone who had heard of her could guess her identity even if they didn't personally know her. Qin Hongdao asked, "Do you friends know about the recent beast tide in the secret realm?" They all wore blank expressions and said, "We don't know." "I've heard that the beast tide was caused by demonic cultivators. Have you encountered any demonic cultivators?" Qin Hongdao continued. They were greatly alarmed. "There are actually demonic cultivators in the secret realm?" Sheng Yunsen, who was standing beside Qin Hongdao, interjected, "What's so strange about that? As long as the demonic cultivators don't make a move, who knows if they're demons or humans? Isn't it common for them to disguise themselves as ordinary cultivators and enter the secret realm?" The leading tall and thin cultivator said, "This friend is right. We were too suspicious." Then he put on a worried expression, as if he was very afraid of encountering demonic cultivators. "We're going to look for those demonic cultivators. Do you want to come with us?" Qin Hongdao asked. The tall and thin cultivator hesitated for a moment before declining, "Sorry, we have other matters to attend to and can't travel with Senior Qin and your group." Qin Hongdao wasn't the type to force others, so when she was refused, she didn't insist. She simply warned them, "If you encounter demonic cultivators, be careful." "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Qin. We'll be cautious," they said gratefully. Qin Hongdao hummed in acknowledgment and led her group past them. Those few people stared at them, stepping back a distance until they had left. But at that moment, Qin Hongdao suddenly drew her long sword. The sword gleamed like snow, emitting a chilling aura as she slashed towards the leading tall and thin cultivator. "Be careful!" The tall and thin cultivator's expression drastically changed. His pupils reflected the incoming sword, and he finally couldn't control his body's instinctive reaction. He rapidly retreated while a surge of black demonic energy emerged from his body, forming a shield to block the incoming sword aura. "It's a demonic cultivator!" Seeing this scene, the other cultivators quickly flew over, brandishing various weapons to capture these demonic cultivators. Facing over a hundred people, these few demonic cultivators were no match. The cultivators quickly captured them, sealed their spirit orifices, and began interrogating them. The interrogation results left them furious at the demonic cultivators. It turned out that the beast tide was indeed created by demonic cultivators! It was said that Mozong had recently developed a new kind of poison that could control demonic beasts. Without a doubt, Mozong developed this poison to use against righteous spirit cultivators. During this opening of the Thousand Islands Secret Realm, Mozong dispatched many demonic cultivators disguised as righteous cultivators. They brought the poison into the Thousand Islands Secret Realm and created the beast tide during the last month, hoping to kill as many righteous cultivators inside as possible and weaken the strength of the righteous spirit cultivators to prepare for future attacks by Mozong. This poison was a new toxin developed by Mozong. Choosing to create the beast tide in the secret realm was also a test by the demonic cultivators to assess the effectiveness of the poison. If the results were good, after leaving the secret realm, Mozong planned to release the poison in the territories of the righteous cultivators and create a beast tide to attack them. Upon hearing this news, the expressions of everyone present turned grim. According to these demonic cultivators, there were quite a few demonic cultivators who had disguised themselves and infiltrated the secret realm. They had already created several beast tides, resulting in the deaths of many cultivators. Thinking that some of their loved ones might have died in the beast tide, how could they be happy? Filled with anger, the cultivators directly killed these few demonic cultivators.

After killing those demonic cultivators, Qin Hongdao led them away while also sending messages to other cultivators in the Secret Realm to inform them of what had happened.

Upon receiving her message, some of the nearby cultivators were similarly enraged.

Arriving at a mountain range, Qin Hongdao suddenly stopped and said to Wen Qiao and the others, "Junior Sister, Junior Brother Yi, your injuries haven't healed yet. Find a place to recuperate; leave the rest to us."

Hearing Qin Hongdao's words, Wen Qiao and the others understood her plan.

She wanted to personally find and deal with all the demonic cultivators in the Secret Realm herself.

However, traveling with a large group would make their target too big. If the demonic cultivators saw them, they would surely hide in advance. It would be more convenient for her to take just a few people. Additionally, because things had exceeded her expectations and Wen Qiao and the others' injuries hadn't healed, Qin Hongdao didn't want them to follow her around injured. Instead, she wanted them to find a place to heal until the Secret Realm closed.

Yi Xuan thought it over and agreed. "Senior Sister, be careful."

"I will. You all be careful too."

Qin Hongdao selected a few Red Sky Sect disciples to accompany her, while the rest continued on together.

Yi Xuan, Sheng Yunsen, Wen Qiao, Ning Yuzhou, and ten other Red Sky Sect disciples split off from the group and entered the nearby forest, quickly disappearing within.

***

Yi Xuan and the others found a valley filled with illusions and set up an isolation array around it, planning to spend the remaining time there.

At this point, there were only eight days left before the Secret Realm closed.

"I wonder how Senior Sister is doing," mused Sheng Yunsen, who had nothing to do and began to worry. "I hope Senior Sister can quickly deal with those despicable demonic cultivators and not let them escape."

"So do I, but the Secret Realm is so vast, they'll probably be hard to find."

"True. Demonic cultivators are cunning and deceitful, full of tricks. They'll definitely hide in advance."

"Who would have thought that in the last month, we'd not only have to guard against being killed and robbed but also watch out for demonic cultivators and beast tides. It's quite thrilling."

The Red Sky Sect disciples discussed this for a while, then fell silent when they noticed Wen Qiao and Yi Xuan meditating nearby.

Ning Yuzhou was refining pills.

Sheng Yunsen sidled over and asked quietly, "Junior Brother Ning, when will Junior Sister and Second Senior Brother's injuries heal?"

"They should be fully recovered by the time the Secret Realm closes," Ning Yuzhou replied.

Hearing this, the surrounding Red Sky Sect disciples all showed signs of relief.

When Wen Qiao and Yi Xuan opened their eyes after finishing their meditation, Ning Yuzhou gave them the spirit pills he had previously refined and had them take them.

The big fluff ball snuggled up to Wen Qiao and handed her a piece of honey fat.

Wen Qiao took it and reached out to stroke its fur. The big fluff ball chirped happily and rubbed against her hand of its own accord.

Seeing this affectionate scene, the Red Sky Sect disciples couldn't help but envy them and asked, "Junior Sister, what does this big fluff ball eat? Has it already transcended the need for food?"

Very few demonic beasts transcend the need for food. Most demonic beasts, regardless of their cultivation level, choose to eat because eating is also a form of cultivation. It helps them maintain their physical strength and primordial spirit power, which is different from cultivators.

However, the origins of this fluff ball were unknown, so they asked.

Wen Qiao said, "I don't know if it has transcended the need for food, but this honey fat is what it eats."

Thinking about this, Wen Qiao became somewhat worried.

Xianling honey was the fluff balls' food, but these fluff balls only liked to eat freshly harvested Xianling honey. Although they would eat honey fat, the fluff balls wouldn't settle for less. This big fluff ball would be following them in the future, and she wouldn't be able to get fresh Xianling honey for it.

Should she cultivate a batch of Xianling flowers and let it harvest its own Xianling honey?

Wen Qiao felt this was a viable solution and decided that once they left the Secret Realm, she would cultivate some Xianling flowers in her space and let the big fluff ball take care of its own food.

However, this meant that her spirit fields in the space wouldn't be enough.

With this in mind, Wen Qiao looked at her husband and began to worry.