"You’re back? So soon?"

Jiang Xu was a little surprised.

’He probably didn’t make it into the core area. Otherwise, forget coming back—it’s doubtful he’d even be alive. In any case, my business with the Spirit Insects is finished. Time to go find Elder Qin.’

And so, Jiang Xu set off.

...

Ye Yu was an Inner Sect Disciple of Purple Flower Palace.

Her features were delicate and refined, her skin like jade. She wore a simple Magic Robe, and her slender figure, hinted at beneath the loose garment, was quite alluring.

Ye Yu had come to the Secret Realm this time to find a suitable dao companion, hoping to wipe the arrogant smirk off a certain fellow disciple’s face.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t met anyone suitable so far.

They either lusted after her looks, clearly with no intention of taking responsibility.

Or their Cultivation was inferior to hers, and they just wanted to leech off her.

In a fit of anger, she had left the encampment of Purple Flower Palace and the other two of the Three Sects, deciding to search for a dao companion on her own.

But after more than a week of wandering, she still hadn’t found anyone. For some unknown reason, she was also constantly on edge and inexplicably irritable, which only made her more frustrated.

One day, Ye Yu was trying her luck in the forest as usual.

’Huh? Is that someone over there?’

Ye Yu’s eyes lit up. From the back, he seemed quite promising.

So she flew over.

"Hey, Fellow Daoist... Ah!!!"

From a distance, Ye Yu hadn’t noticed.

But as she drew closer, she realized something was wrong.

That person had... killed someone!

And was in the process of destroying the body!

She had stumbled upon a murder scene!

Ye Yu froze in shock. She immediately wanted to turn and flee, but whether from fear or something else, she failed two or three times to summon her Magical Artifact, so panicked that beads of sweat began to form on her brow.

She watched as the man approached, a murderous glint in his eyes. He clearly intended to silence her permanently.

"Don’t, don’t, please don’t kill me! I’ll do anything!"

As she spoke, Ye Yu’s loose Magic Robe slid gracefully to the ground, revealing jade-like, silky-smooth skin and firm curves to the man before her.

To prove she was harmless, she even tossed her Magical Artifact to the ground along with her robe.

The man’s breathing suddenly grew heavy, his eyes widening. He looked like a ravenous wolf lusting after its prey.

Tears welled in Ye Yu’s eyes, her heart filled with regret.

’If only I hadn’t left the encampment. If I hadn’t come out, I wouldn’t be about to lose my virtue to this evil... ’

SWISH—!

A Magical Artifact sliced across Ye Yu’s neck. A beautiful head flew into the air, its eyes wide with disbelief as it landed on the ground.

Jiang Xu glanced between them and sighed in lament.

’What a pity. Two beautiful Female Cultivators, both beheaded by me. Two in one minute... Sigh. But who told them to carelessly approach that Evil Array and turn into monsters?’

Jiang Xu genuinely felt it was a pity.

Just moments before, he had personally witnessed a Female Cultivator covered in a black membrane lure a male cultivator to this secluded spot. Then, as the man was undressing, she killed him instantly and devoured him in a few bites.

When Jiang Xu came down to attack it, the creature had tried to seduce him too. But after seeing it devour a person, how could he possibly feel any lust?

He just hadn’t expected that after killing one monster, another would show up.

And this one’s acting was quite good. If Jiang Xu hadn’t been able to use his Spiritual Eye Technique to see the black membrane on its body, he might have actually believed it was just an ordinary Female Cultivator passing by. The monster’s acting was so convincing, it might have even believed its own performance.

’I wonder how many people these two monsters had deceived with that routine.’

After completely destroying the two monsters’ corpses, Jiang Xu’s expression grew serious.

’I’ve only traveled a short distance and already encountered two monsters. This is just the tip of the iceberg; the situation is clearly not optimistic.’

’The number of monsters has likely reached double digits by now. That’s a terrifying number, because to everyone else but me, they operate from the shadows and can kill with ease.’

’I’m also worried about what’s happening inside the Secret Realm... There’s that Evil Array outside, but what about inside? Could there be one there too?’

The best course of action now was to find Qin Muxian first.

Along the way, Jiang Xu didn’t encounter any more monsters wrapped in black membranes. He found Zong Ziqi again.

"Where’s Elder Qin?" Jiang Xu got straight to the point the moment he saw Zong Ziqi.

"Haha, I heard you’ve been looking for me, young friend. What’s the matter? Now that you’re back, tell me, what did you need me for?" A kind laugh rang out as Qin Muxian finally appeared.

Hearing this, Jiang Xu was about to speak, but he habitually swept the area with his Spiritual Eye Technique and...

"!!!"

Heavens!

The hair on Jiang Xu’s neck stood on end. He was utterly horrified!

Before his eyes, the man’s body was wreathed in black energy, just like the monsters he had seen earlier!

Qin Muxian, a Foundation Establishment Elder, had he actually become a monster?!

The words Jiang Xu was about to say caught in his throat, and he was unable to speak for a long moment.

"What is it?" Qin Muxian asked, a little displeased that Jiang Xu hadn’t answered.

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I was just concerned for your safety," Jiang Xu said, hastily changing the subject to cover his shock.

"Haha, I’m glad you were thinking of me, young friend. Don’t worry, I am perfectly safe. Though we haven’t entered the core area yet, we’ve begun our attempts on it. We should see results very soon."

As Jiang Xu listened to Qin Muxian, he continued to observe with his Spiritual Eye Technique and noticed something strange.

Although black energy swirled around Qin Muxian, it hadn’t formed the distinctive black membrane that was the hallmark of the monsters. The black energy also didn’t seem to have penetrated his body.

Did this mean Qin Muxian hadn’t truly turned into a monster yet?

But Jiang Xu had never seen a monster at the Foundation Establishment Realm, so he couldn’t be sure if Qin Muxian was real or a fake.

’If he is a fake, then I’ll be fine; knowing the truth about him, I can definitely find ways to avoid being alone with him in remote places. But Ziqi would be in danger!’

But if Qin Muxian was still a real person, why was there so much black energy around him?

Could merely attempting to breach the core area cause this?

"Elder Qin, did you encounter any danger in the Secret Realm? I think Brother Zong and I are both very curious," Jiang Xu began to probe indirectly.

"Haha, the trip has been exceptionally smooth!"

Apparently, Qin Muxian was in a very good mood, because he could now see hope of entering the core area.

"That Independent Practitioner Array Master’s skills are truly formidable. He’s basically been taking the lead. Even our own Array Master admits he’s not his equal."