Murong Yuan escorted Zhi Xuan outside the secret realm.

He hurriedly gave a couple of instructions before preparing to re-enter the secret realm. “Little girl, stay put and don’t run around!”

Right now, he had only one thought in his mind. Rescue them immediately!

Upon seeing Murong Yuan’s anxious and worried face, Zhi Xuan fell silent for a moment, before pointing in a direction. “Senior, they should be over there.”

Murong Yuan’s spirits lifted. “Thank you!”

Having a specific location would save him so much time.

Watching the rapidly closing portal, Zhi Xuan sighed softly. “Suddenly, I’m a bit reluctant to see you die...”

Turning hazy, she completely vanished moments later.

***

Inside the secret realm.

With a grim look on his face, Yang Ying glanced at the spatial fissures scattered throughout the secret realm. “Be careful! Whatever you do, don’t touch these things, or you’ll die!”

Even Murong Yan became slightly pale. “What... How did these things even come about...?”

After hearing the monsters’ roars, they didn’t dare linger outside and immediately returned to the cave, regrouping with Shen Xuan to await Gu Han’s return.

Yet not long after, the secret realm underwent an anomaly, forcing everyone to flee the cave and come outside.

Shen Xuan looked worried. “Forget everything else. We have to get out of here immediately.”

Suddenly, a spatial fissure appeared to Shen Xuan’s left.

Yang Ying’s face changed at once. ”Watch out!”

Murong Yan’s eyes instantly went bloodshot. “Senior Brother, dodge!”

Murong Chong and the others were horrified. “Young Master!”

Shen Xuan knew immediately what was happening. This is bad!

Despite his speed, he couldn’t react in time. Instinctively, he raised his left hand to block. In his panic, he forgot that he was still holding Yang Lin. The spatial fissure swiftly passed over Yang Lin’s lower half, cleanly severing both his legs. The cuts were as smooth as a mirror.

Even under restriction, unable to perceive the outside world, the excruciating pain still forced a miserable scream from him. Using Yang Lin as a buffer, Shen Xuan flashed, narrowly dodging the fissure.

Murong Yan let out a long sigh of relief. “Senior Brother, nice thinking!”

Murong Chong and the others were full of admiration. “Young Master, that was brilliant! Truly brilliant!”

Shen Xuan was speechless. Would they believe me if I said I didn’t do it on purpose?

Still, all was well that ended well. If it weren’t for this meat shield, he would’ve died.

Shen Xuan subconsciously glanced at the pitiful Yang Lin. They can grow back, right? I’m pretty sure they can! After all, the recovery ability of the Green Wood Spirit Physique is terrifying.

Yang Ying, who had been monitoring the surroundings, suddenly frowned. “Hmm? Someone’s coming!”

Following his gaze, everyone spotted three figures within the red mist.

Murong Yan’s face lit up with joy. “Brother Gu, it must be him! Who are the other two—”

Just then, her smile froze. As the three approached, everyone could see their appearances clearly. They were Chu Kuang, Yuan Gang, and Meng Xing. Gu Han was nowhere to be seen. in sight.

Chu Kuang and the other two also spotted Murong Yan and the group. “You?”

Upon seeing the limbless, miserable Yang Lin in Shen Xuan’s hand, Yuan Gang frowned. “Is that Yang Lin?”

Yang Lin wasn’t dead, but he was likely in a state worse than death.

Meng Xing was shocked and furious. “How dare you! If you want to kill him, then kill him! Why do something so cruel?!”

In truth, he wasn’t all that concerned about Yang Lin. It just occurred to him that if he hadn’t escaped, his fate wouldn’t be much better than Yang Lin’s. The thought stirred a strange sense of solidarity.

Murong Yan turned hostile. “That’s none of your damn business! He’s a prisoner, I’ll do whatever I want with him! Meng Xing, our previous accounts aren’t settled yet!”

Yuan Gang’s face darkened. “Murong Yan, do you realize you are deliberately provoking conflict between the Yuqing Sect and the Yang family?!”

Murong Yan brandished her hammer. “Yuan Gang! Don’t you dare put on airs in front of me—”

She was interrupted by the intensified tremors. With a string of light echoes, the spatial fissures multiplied rapidly.

Shen Xuan was greatly distraught. “This is bad! This secret realm probably can’t hold on much longer!”

Murong Yan also lost her desire to argue. “Brother Gu still hasn’t come out yet!”

Shen Xuan was extremely anxious. “Ah! What is he even doing in there!”

Right at that moment, Chu Kuang, who had been silent, asked, “You’re talking about Gu Han, right?”

Meng Xing sneered. “Hehe. You don’t need to wait for him. He won’t return. If I’m not mistaken, he should be completely annihilated by now!”

Murong Yan flew into a rage. “Bullshit! How dare you curse Brother Gu to death, I’ll smash you to death!”

Throwing all caution to the wind, she charged at Meng Xing, swinging her hammer.

Meng Xing went pale. “Crazy bitch! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

One careless move, and a spatial fissure could take their lives. On top of that, he was badly injured and couldn’t contend with Murong Yan.

Suddenly, Murong Yuan shouted angrily, “Stop!”

He descended from the sky, landing in front of the group.

Everyone was stunned.

“Old Ancestor?”

“Supreme Elder?”

With Zhi Xuan’s guidance, it didn’t take him long to pick up the group’s trail and track them here.

He glared at Murong Yan. “How reckless! At a life-and-death moment, and you still think about fighting—hmm?”

As he spoke, he frowned. “Why are there so few people left?”

Since time was limited, he had only heard the gist from Zhi Xuan and didn’t know the specifics.

Murong Yan glared fiercely at Meng Xing. “Old Ancestor, it’s this bastard—”

She didn’t get to finish before the entire secret realm trembled violently once more. Under a tremendous force, the unstable ground heaved into mounds, rapidly growing into small hills.

At the same time, endless red mist spilled out from the spatial fissures. Its concentration quickly multiplied several times compared to before.

Murong Yuan’s expression changed drastically. “This is terrible! What on earth happened? The secret realm is actually collapsing!”

Yuan Gang’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean!?”

Chu Kuang explained grimly, “The space is unstable. When a secret realm loses its integrity, it rapidly collapses into nothingness. If you can’t escape, you’ll be crushed to death inside.”

All the colors left Yuan Gang’s face. “What?! Then we—”

Chu Kuang’s gaze turned profound. “Don’t worry. This is actually a good thing for us. As the secret realm collapses, the exit will actually get closer to us.”

As if to confirm his words, the small hills grew taller and taller, and ravines crisscrossed the ground. The exit that was originally over ten li away gradually appeared before the group, drawing closer as time passed.

Murong Yuan immediately took out the jade talisman. “Hurry! Get out first! Whatever needs to be said, we’ll say it outside!”

Murong Yan grew frantic. “Old Ancestor, Brother Gu is still inside!”

Murong Yuan was stunned. “What?!”

In his earlier panic, he hadn’t looked carefully. Now, sweeping his gaze, he realized Gu Han was indeed absent. “Did he get into an accident?”

“He went inside to look for liquid treasure!”

Murong Yuan trembled with anger. “How reckless! Absolutely reckless! That damn kid, how can he have the balls?! Is he really not afraid of death?!”

In just a short while, the exit was now right before their eyes.

Murong Yuan didn’t hesitate, instantly opening the exit. “Hurry! All of you, get out first, we’ll settle this later!”

With a sweep of his sleeve, he tossed Murong Yan and the others out of the secret realm.

Chu Kuang and the other two exchanged glances before running after them. “Let’s go!”

The moment the three left, Murong Yuan closed the portal once more. He actually stayed behind! After all, not only did he admire Gu Han, he also wouldn’t stand by and let such an outstanding junior get trapped inside. He was a reasonable man, able to clearly separate gratitude from grievances. Since he owed Gu Han several favors before, he certainly couldn’t bring himself to abandon him now.

Gnashing his teeth, he flew straight toward the depths. “Kid, once I find you, I’ll teach you a proper lesson!”

Moments later, he suddenly stopped and noticed something wrong again. All around, the red mist seemed drawn by something, constantly converging toward the distance. It became extremely thin in no time. At the same time, an extremely fine black line slowly spread from afar. Wherever it passed, everything turned to dust.

Murong Yuan went white. “It’s over! No one can save you now!”

***

Naturally, Gu Han was oblivious to what happened outside.

Within the patch of darkness, Chongming withdrew the five-colored divine light and waved a single wing. “Kid, step back!”

Gu Han instantly felt the sensation of solid ground beneath his feet. “Hmm? Where am I?”

He could hardly see the ground, but its firmness was unlike anything he’d known. Since everything in the secret realm had been destroyed, this definitely wasn’t the original place.

Chongming was indifferent. “This place is the God-Slaying Formation.”

God-Slaying Formation? Gu Han’s heart skipped a beat as he took another look at the blood cocoon. As the hundred-zhang giant struggled more violently, ten cracks appeared across the blood cocoon, each a zhang wide. The giant’s bluish-gray skin could vaguely be seen through them.

Gu Han was completely shocked. “Is this a god?”

Chongming was extremely disdainful. “Bullshit! It’s just a lowly divine servant, nothing more. This kind of thing disgusts me even more than those so-called gods!”

Gu Han was somewhat puzzled. “Then why didn’t you stop it earlier?”

He could sense that before absorbing the red mist, the giant wasn’t nearly this powerful.

Chongming shook its head. “If I stopped it, that divine power would scatter with the collapse of the secret realm. Of course, I don’t care, but Little Yun would... Better not make things difficult for him.”

By now, Gu Han had heard the chicken mention this name more than once. “Who is Little Yun?”

Chongming suddenly sighed. “He is—”

Suddenly, a tearing sound came from the blood cocoon as a several dozen zhang long rip appeared. A bluish-gray, muscular arm, brimming with explosive power, came into Gu Han’s view. In that instant, a heavy pressure descended upon his heart.

His expression turned grave. “Master Rooster, shouldn’t we do something?”

“Wait a bit longer.”

“What for?”

Chongming declared proudly, “For him to come out so I can finish him off!”

Gu Han hesitated for a long moment, then finally asked the question that had been weighing on his heart, “Master Rooster, can you... really do it?”

Chongming flew into a rage as it glared fiercely at Gu Han. “What?! Kid, nothing annoys me more in life than people saying I can’t do it!”

Right at that moment, several more tearing sounds echoed. Four massive arms ripped the cocoon apart, and a giant emerged.

He coldly swept his gaze over Gu Han and Chongming. “Ants! How dare you hinder my god’s revival. Death is your sentence!”

With his words, a domineering aura poured out, as heavy as a mountain and as vast as the sea.

Shit! This is bad! Gu Han was alarmed. He couldn’t withstand this pressure at all. Meanwhile, Chongming didn’t budge at all. With a casual wave, it swept away the pressure completely.

The chicken swelled with incomparable pride and confidence. “Kid, I’ll let you witness my true power today!”

As it spoke, an even more powerful aura suddenly erupted from it. Its two golden claws swung fiercely as it shot into the sky. Its long beak was like a sharp sword, charging ferociously toward the giant.

It even had time to look back. “Remember, my prestige must not be tarnished!”

Gu Han watched in bedazzlement and sincerely praised, “Master Rooster, you truly are the most divine and majestic rooster under the heavens!”

Chongming laughed heartily. “Kid, I’m starting to like you more and more—ah!”

Halfway through its sentence, it was struck by one of the giant’s arms. With a pained cry, it plummeted down at an even faster speed, crashing heavily onto the ground. Chongming rolled dozens of times before stopping right in front of Gu Han again, completely motionless.

Gu Han’s heart gave a fierce jolt. Now, he suddenly understood why Chongming had told him to pray for his own good luck...