BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!

Instantly!

Right where his opponent stood.

Dozens of lightning bolts erupted!

The man was completely engulfed, transformed into a blinding pillar of lightning!

Under the Small Thunder Talisman’s powerful paralyzing and exorcising effects.

He couldn’t even let out a scream before he was burned to a crisp.

To prevent any surprises, Jiang Xu walked over and hacked the body into countless pieces, delivering a few extra blows for good measure before burying the remains.

He casually removed the man’s Storage Bag and began to grumble:

"What is the deal with these Demons? If I kill them before they transform, they just keep their human appearance. If it weren’t for that, I would’ve just killed him back at the encampment instead of having to lure him out here."

That’s right.

Jiang Xu wasn’t trying to kill people for their treasures.

He was trying to kill Demons for their treasures.

Over the past few days, he had used this method to take out quite a few Demons.

He had already cleared out basically all the Demons in his own encampment using various methods.

For some reason, however, these Demons didn’t revert to their monstrous forms after death. Instead, they maintained whatever form they were in when they died.

If they died in human form, they stayed human. If they died as a monster, they stayed a monster.

This meant Jiang Xu couldn’t just secretly kill them and be done with it, as that would cause a panic in the encampment.

Left with no choice, Jiang Xu could only lure these guys out and set a trap to finish them off easily.

’But this is as much as I can do. I definitely can’t do anything about the Demons within the other Sects or among the Loose Cultivators.’

Jiang Xu returned to the encampment. After activating his Spiritual Eye Technique, he scanned the several hundred people around him and only relaxed once he confirmed there were no more Demons.

As his mood lightened, Jiang Xu suddenly felt like he had forgotten something.

After coming here and getting such a scare from Qin Muxian, he had completely forgotten that besides Zong Ziqi, there were also Ding Shiping, Shan Lanlan, and Yan Chunyu around.

’I can’t believe I forgot about my unfinished business. How could I?’

Jiang Xu hurriedly began asking around the encampment for the whereabouts of those three.

The first person he found news of was Ding Shiping.

You could say that guy was like a dog who can’t be taught not to... *cough, cough*... I mean, a leopard can’t change its spots. Even here, he was as talkative as ever, constantly bothering people and earning a foul reputation.

When Jiang Xu asked someone for his location, the person would first have a flash of recognition, followed by a look of disdain.

Because of this, it took Jiang Xu half a day to find Ding Shiping’s cabin. Standing outside the simple wooden hut, Jiang Xu knocked on the door.

"Brother Ding, are you in? It’s Jiang Xu."

Ding Shiping quickly threw the door open.

They hadn’t seen each other in days, and Ding Shiping was visibly thrilled to see Jiang Xu. Strangely, though, he didn’t say a word.

"Huh? Junior Brother Jiang? What are you doing here?" Shan Lanlan popped out from behind Ding Shiping, looking very surprised.

"Senior Sister Shan, you’re here too?"

Jiang Xu was surprised by the coincidence, but it worked out perfectly. Now he wouldn’t have to go looking for Shan Lanlan separately.

All three of them went inside. Shan Lanlan asked curiously,

"Junior Brother Jiang, I remember you didn’t sign up to enter the Secret Realm this time, did you?"

"Ugh, there was a small accident. Now that I’m here, I can’t leave," Jiang Xu said helplessly.

Just then, Jiang Xu noticed that while Ding Shiping seemed happy to see him, he still hadn’t said a word. He asked,

"Brother Ding, what’s wrong?"

Ding Shiping didn’t speak. Shan Lanlan quickly chimed in from the side,

"He’s practicing Silent Meditation until we enter the Secret Realm. Right now he’s forcing himself not to talk, so don’t make him break his vow. I’ll just talk for him."

Ding Shiping nodded.

"I see." Jiang Xu was secretly pleased. "By the way, what about Senior Sister Yan? Isn’t she with you?"

"Chairman Yan..." Both Shan Lanlan’s and Ding Shiping’s expressions turned grim. "She’s still inside the Secret Realm. She hasn’t come back."

"What?"

Jiang Xu was stunned.

’Weren’t there only three Golden Core Ancestors in the Secret Realm right now?’

"How could that be? Have you seen Senior Sister Yan since you got here?"

"We did."

"That’s great! Is she all right?"

"She’s fine."

"Right, why did Senior Sister Yan suddenly have us return to the Sect back then? And why did this Secret Realm emerge right after we got back?"

In response to Jiang Xu’s questions, Shan Lanlan and Ding Shiping glanced at each other.

"It seems you’ve realized something is off. Well, since you were sort of involved, I might as well tell you the whole story."

Shan Lanlan then proceeded to tell Jiang Xu the entire story.

Jiang Xu was stunned. He never knew Yan Chunyu had such a background.

In fact, Yan Chunyu’s departure from the Sect had been specially arranged. The Sect had even posted several other missions as a smokescreen.

The missions she accepted were just a cover for the Sect’s true, primary mission; she was never meant to complete them.

Her real mission was to come to the Endless Forest and assist the Profound Origin Sect’s Array Master in opening the Secret Realm.

The reason Yan Chunyu could help open the Secret Realm is that she carries the blood of its original master—the Ancient Cultivation Clan, the Yan Family.

Using the Yan Family bloodline as a key, they were finally able to tear an opening in the Restriction surrounding the Secret Realm.

Hearing this, Jiang Xu finally understood why things had changed so abruptly back then.

He was also amazed by the Profound Origin Sect’s methods.

’How did they know Yan Chunyu was a descendant of the Secret Realm’s master?’

The more Jiang Xu thought about it, the more terrified he became.

It was entirely possible this entire affair with Yan Chunyu had been planned long in advance. Perhaps she was recruited into the Sect specifically because of her identity. Or, perhaps they discovered her unique background after she joined and deliberately granted her high status and privileges to win her loyalty, so that she would willingly help the Sect in the end.

"Actually, after opening the Secret Realm, Chairman Yan received quite a few benefits herself. Her strength advanced by leaps and bounds, and her Cultivation soared all the way to the Qi Cultivation Great Perfection Realm," Shan Lanlan added.

"I remember Senior Sister Yan was only at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer. Skipping three whole levels like that... that’s incredible..."

"It is. In fact, if it weren’t for the major bottleneck between Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment, she could have advanced even further. If we didn’t still need her help right now, preventing her from going into seclusion, she could probably take a Foundation Establishment Pill and be one hundred percent guaranteed to reach Foundation Establishment," Shan Lanlan said with absolute certainty.

Jiang Xu was about to ask something else when a deep, aged voice boomed from outside the hut:

"All personnel, hear this order! On behalf of the two Supreme Elders of the Profound Origin Sect and the Purple Flower Palace, I command you to enter the Secret Realm at once! There are to be no delays!"

The voice had barely faded when a moment of silence fell over the encampment, immediately followed by wave after wave of cheers.

After waiting for so long, the day they could finally enter the Secret Realm had arrived.