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Two months later, the spiritual ship smoothly arrived in front of the secret realm of Red Sun Villa.

The secret realm of Red Sun Villa was located in a barren mountain range, appearing extremely desolate with thin spiritual energy, a place even poor, unaffiliated cultivators would disdain to visit. However, after the secret realm of Red Sun Villa was discovered, it finally gained the attention of cultivators from the Primordial Continent. Each time the realm opened, numerous cultivators gathered here from all directions.

This time marked the tenth opening of the Red Sun Villa secret realm. Since most of the valuable items inside had been looted in the previous nine openings, fewer cultivators came this time, and most of them were low-level cultivators.

Wen Qiao and her group disembarked the flying ship with the disciples of Seven Soul Sect and stood before a stretch of barren mountains.

This time, only a small number of Seven Soul Sect disciples entered the secret realm, seventy-three in total. There were three at the Yuanzong stage, while the rest were disciples below the Yuanling stage, with none at the Yuanchuang stage.

Li Fan, who was at the Yuanchuang stage, had no intention of entering. He was only here to escort the sect's disciples, planning to wait outside and take them back once they emerged from the secret realm.

Looking around, most of the surrounding cultivators were also of the Yuanling stage or lower, though there were some at the Yuanzong and Yuanchuang stages as well.

The arrival of the Seven Soul Sect disciples caught the attention of many. It was mainly due to the king-grade spiritual ship, which was incredibly eye-catching.

As a Yuanchuang stage cultivator with quite a reputation on the Primordial Continent, Li Fan had just settled when two Yuanchuang stage cultivators approached him to exchange greetings.

"Fellow Daoist Li, are you also entering Red Sun Villa this time?" asked a handsome Yuanchuang stage male cultivator, dressed exquisitely.

Li Fan replied, "I am merely here on my sect's orders to escort our disciples."

His words implied that he had no intention of entering the secret realm.

The two Yuanchuang stage cultivators were quite surprised. Seeing Li Fan here, they had assumed he would enter the secret realm. Who would have thought he was only here to escort others? The journey from Seven Soul Sect to the secret realm of Red Sun Villa was long, but not particularly dangerous. Cultivators could make the trip on their own, so why would a Yuanchuang stage cultivator need to escort them?

The actions of Seven Soul Sect were becoming increasingly puzzling.

Though surprised, the two Yuanchuang cultivators didn’t show it on their faces. They smiled and exchanged pleasantries with Li Fan, subtly observing the Seven Soul Sect disciples. They didn’t find any particularly special disciples among them.

After they left, Li Fan said to Shi Wuming, "Junior Brother, the one dressed extravagantly is Left Yizhai from Bi Nu Pavilion; the other, with a face that looks like someone owes him spirit stones, is the young master of the Ten Directions Commerce — Wei Qianli."

Wen Qiao and her group happened to be standing nearby and overheard this. Their expressions turned somewhat strange.

They hadn’t expected that the Yuanchuang stage cultivator, who was even more meticulously dressed than female cultivators, would be a disciple of Bi Nu Pavilion.

Although Bi Nu Pavilion officially only accepted female disciples, there were male disciples as well. However, because the sect’s cultivation techniques were only suitable for women, male disciples found it hard to excel. That Left Yizhai could cultivate to the Yuanchuang stage as a male disciple in Bi Nu Pavilion, either due to extraordinary talent that allowed him to ignore the sect’s techniques or some other fortuitous opportunity, made him a person not to be underestimated.

His exquisite attire and the women surrounding him certainly matched the style of Bi Nu Pavilion.

As for the young master of Ten Directions Commerce, Wei Qianli — Li Fan’s description was spot on. Looking at his face, it really did seem like many people owed him spirit stones.

Shi Wuming looked at the two and said jokingly, "I didn’t expect you, Senior Brother Li, to joke like that. This Young Master Wei looks like he’s perpetually down on his luck. I’m sure many people owe him spirit stones and can’t get them back! Should I take the opportunity to borrow some spirit stones from him and make his face even more 'unlucky'?"

Li Fan: "...Junior Brother, be careful not to get beaten to death."

With such a sharp mouth and still alive, it was evident that their master, Shi Yuzun, had taken great pains to keep him restrained, preventing him from causing trouble.

Li Fan specifically pointed out the identities of the two Yuanchuang cultivators to Shi Wuming to warn him to be cautious. With two Yuanchuang cultivators entering the secret realm, if they encountered them, how could he, as a senior brother, let his junior brother be bullied?

Shi Wuming, however, laughed heartily and said, "Senior Brother, don’t worry! With my brother Ning and the others here, we’ll be fine!"

Li Fan’s gaze fell on Ning Yuzhou and his group of four, instantly seeing through their cultivation levels. Except for Pei Qiyu, who was at the Yuanzong stage, the rest were at the Yuanling stage, no match for a Yuanchuang stage cultivator.

He couldn’t be as optimistic as Shi Wuming. If something happened to his junior brother inside Red Sun Villa, how could he explain it to the master of Soul Hall?

But in front of Ning Yuzhou and the others, Li Fan couldn’t say it directly. He could only remind Shi Wuming to be careful.

Ning Yuzhou and his group stood by, overhearing the conversation between the senior and junior brothers. Looking at Left Yizhai from Bi Nu Pavilion and Wei Qianli from Ten Directions Commerce, it was clear to them that Li Fan had specifically come to escort Shi Wuming this time.

The two cultivators were still puzzled, thinking Shi Wuming was just an ordinary Yuanzong stage disciple of Seven Soul Sect, unaware of the truth they had missed.

Their arrival was neither too early nor too late. After waiting for a short while, it was time for the secret realm to open.

It was exactly noon, with the sun high in the sky.

The sunlight that had been scattered over the barren mountains seemed to suddenly converge, forming a beam of light that struck the mountain hollow, which began to change. A door appeared out of nowhere, and green vegetation spread out from within it. A breath of spiritual energy mixed with the scent of grass and wood rushed toward them.

Wen Qiao felt a surge of excitement, her eyes fixed intently on the door.

The scent of grass and wood was truly to her liking.

Seeing the door appear, the cultivators present immediately rushed toward it without a word, as if afraid that if they were late, the valuable items inside would be taken by others.

However, many cultivators remained unhurried, seemingly disdainful of the others’ eagerness.

Only when most people had gone in did these unhurried cultivators enter.

The disciples of Seven Soul Sect didn’t rush in immediately either. Maintaining the demeanor of disciples from a great sect, they entered only when the time was right.

Li Fan said to them, "Fellow junior brothers and sisters, be careful. I will wait here for your return."