Wei Liang shifted slightly, getting up from the bed. Immediately, Doulong shuddered, desperately trying to hide its enormous bulk behind Lin Jiu, letting out pitiful whimpering sounds.
Lin Jiu suddenly had the odd feeling that Wei Liang was some terrifying monster, and she was the only life-saving straw Doulong had left to cling to for survival. But she wanted a fierce guard dog, not a whimpering pet!
Still… if this guy was so scared of Wei Liang, maybe she could use that to her advantage—perhaps even take it to explore the Huang Chuan Secret Realm?
“How strong is it now?” She asked.
“Early-stage Soul Transformation,” Wei Liang replied.
Lin Jiu felt a bit disappointed. It seemed she would have to erase its mind to reduce its power to the late Nascent Soul stage.
“You’re thinking of taking it to the Secret Realm?” Wei Liang seemed to see through her thoughts and let out a small chuckle, “There’s no need. With me around, you don’t have to worry about such things.”
By this point, Lin Jiu was too lazy to beat around the bush with him. “What if the Huang Chuan sets up a restriction in the secret realm to limit the cultivation level of those who enter?” she asked directly.
Wei Liang’s expression didn’t change; he leaned casually against the bed, a faint, amused smile playing on his lips. “There’s no restriction I can’t break.”
For a moment, Lin Jiu found herself momentarily dazed. Wei Liang reclined lazily on the bed, his wide-sleeved robe loosely draping around him, exuding an air of cold elegance mixed with a noble charm that reminded Lin Jiu of ancient scholars. His looks were flawless, but what truly set him apart was his nonchalant demeanor and the sense of confidence of someone who had everything under control. A man like him was truly one of a kind.
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Wei Liang’s robe brushed the bed as his heavy presence leaned in closer, “Time to go,” he murmured, his tone low and teasing. “Afterwards, I’ll make sure to collect everything you owe—interest included.”
Lin Jiu shivered. “What about Doulong?” She asked, seeking a distraction as she took a half-step back toward the frightened beast.
Wei Liang stepped forward and pressed his hand on Doulong’s large head. Doulong shivered under his touch and quickly retracted its horn—a display of total submission. In an instant, its massive form shrank quickly to the size of a small puppy, which he picked up by the scruff of its neck and tossed into Lin Jiu’s arms. “If you like it, take it with us.”
“…” Lin Jiu blinked, holding the small creature covered with scars, dirt, and dried blood. ‘So dirty and smelly!’
Noticing her reluctance, Wei Liang thoughtfully took her to the Baiyao Peak, where he tossed Doulong into the sect’s most expensive medicinal bath. When it emerged, the external wounds had healed, and patches of fuzz began to grow where it had been balding, making it look like a puppy with ugly fur.
Now it was no longer dirty or stinky, Lin Jiu was finally satisfied. Before leaving the peak, she collected some Jumping Bees spirit herbs for Doulong and had Wei Liang store them in his spatial pouch.1
There was an odd feeling, almost as if they were a couple preparing to travel with their pet.
…
The Huang Chuan Secret Realm was located in the Dayu Region, which lay in the southwest of the Tianyuan Continent, thousands of miles from Qianqi Pass. After the devils broke through the pass, they swarmed into Yunshui Plain, leaving the western lands nearly devoid of devil activity. As a result, the fortifications along the border with Dayu Region were comparatively lax, with only a few Golden Core cultivators lounging about, bored, leaning on their swords atop the fortress.
Wei Liang took Lin Jiu across the border walls without alerting anyone. As they crossed the dividing mountain range, the air suddenly became hot and humid. The jungle beneath was riddled with hidden swamps, concealed under layers of decaying leaves. Occasionally, when the sun shone at just the right angle, the flat, innocuous ground would briefly shimmer with ripples, hinting at the cold and murderous intent lurking beneath the swamp.
Several thousand miles in, Wei Liang slowed his pace and swiftly concealed their aura. From a distance, Lin Jiu could see about twenty areas in the swamp that appeared oddly distorted—at first glance, they resembled shimmering heat mirages, with the air warping slightly under the sun. But with the thick, dark clouds looming overhead and the oppressive humidity, there was no reason for such a mirage to occur. It was clear these were the barriers surrounding the Huang Chuan Secret Realm, which the 23 Great Sword Immortals of the Wang family were in the process of breaking.
Wei Liang quickly set sight on one of those spots. As they landed, an elderly-looking man in a brown robe was just flying away on his sword. Wei Liang remained silent, patiently waiting for the man to depart before leisurely taking Lin Jiu to the location he had just left.
The barrier at this spot had already been lifted, leaving a small portal in the ground, around thirty centimeters wide, from which ethereal-looking iridescent light emanated. Gazing into it gave the illusion that the earth beneath them was a beautiful, opalescent eggshell, with its thin crust covering all the wonders beneath.
Wei Liang gave the portal a casual glance and said, “I’ll go killing some people. You stay here and wait for me.”
He then pulled out a mushroom-shaped artifact from his spatial pouch and placed it over Lin Jiu’s head. In an instant, her vision blurred, and when it cleared, Wei Liang’s already tall figure seemed to shoot up into the sky, his face disappearing from sight. Even craning her neck as far as she could, she could only see his waist.
Terrified, Lin Jiu looked down at herself—she had turned into an ugly gray mushroom! Even Doulong had also shrunk into a small mushroom sprout, trembling beneath her mushroom cap.
Wei Liang crouched down and flicked the mushroom cap, murmuring to himself, “Such an ugly mushroom should be safe.”
Mushroom Lin Jiu: ‘No, Bro, do you have any common sense? It’s the brightly colored mushrooms that are poisonous!’
Of course, her silent scream did not reach Wei Liang. He sheathed his sword and instantly disappeared into the depths of the dense jungle.
He soon caught up to the brown-robed elderly man who had just flown off. This person, named Wang Huazang, was ranked first among the Wang family’s twenty-three Great Sword Immortals. On the family tree, he was the thirteenth uncle of Wang Minglang, the current clan head. After breaking the barrier he was in charge of, Wang Huazang was hurrying to help others with their tasks.
There were a total of twenty-four barriers surrounding the Huang Chuan Secret Realm, and once they were all broken, the entrance would be revealed.
Wei Liang wasn’t in a hurry, keeping a fair distance as he followed Wang Huazang from one barrier to the next. With each barrier broken, the great sword immortals stationed there would join the others, speeding up the process exponentially. Soon, only two spots remained: one handled by Wang Weizhi and the other by Wang Minglang.
Though Wang Weizhi was a prodigy, he was the youngest, after all. His cultivation had barely entered the realm of the Soul Transformation stage and his sword intent was still on the level of a sword immortal, which greatly slowed him down. As for the clan head Wang Minglang, he was deliberately conserving his strength for the challenges ahead in the secret realm.
The Wang family’s Great Sword Immortals split into two groups—one went to assist Wang Minglang, and the other headed for Wang Weizhi.
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