While Murong was resting,
Ye Wangchuan finally arrived with his puppet and Li Luo in tow.
Murong was puzzled, wondering where they had gone earlier.
At that moment,
Ye Wangchuan approached, first removing the Immortal-Binding Rope from Murong and storing it away.
Then, using his spatial ring, he collected the chopped wood and the wooden cabin.
Afterward, Ye Wangchuan spoke.
"Farewell."
"Huh? Wh-what?"
Murong was utterly confused by his words.
But Ye Wangchuan didn’t elaborate. Instead, he simply turned and left.
After all, from Ye Wangchuan’s perspective,
Murong’s only value had been to hinder Luo Nangui.
Now that Luo Nangui was dead, Murong was no longer useful.
Standing there, Murong watched Ye Wangchuan walk away, still baffled.
"Well, whatever. I should hurry back to the Murong camp and find Luo Nangui."
As she spoke, Murong tried to summon the location stone from her spatial ring with a thought.
But then she realized—
Ye Wangchuan hadn’t returned her spatial ring…
……
……
"Hmm… a top-tier dual cultivation technique?"
On the road,
Ye Wangchuan casually flipped through the top-tier dual cultivation manual his puppet had handed him.
[Top-Tier Dual Cultivation Technique]
[This technique is exclusively for use between a male human and a female human. Shapeshifted demons, artificial puppets, zombies, animals, and all other non-humans are unable to use it.]
[Effects: Strengthens the body, soothes the mind, increases cultivation, prolongs life, nourishes yin and yang, heals dao injuries, relieves fatigue, replenishes spiritual energy, purifies the soul, enhances talent, extends duration, increases firmness, hydrates the body, and more…]
After reading, Ye Wangchuan’s lips twitched.
What kind of nonsense is this? So many effects…
Should I give it a try?
With that thought, Ye Wangchuan glanced at Li Luo beside him and said,
"Want to try it out?"
"Absolutely not!"
Li Luo firmly refused.
Ye Wangchuan shrugged, unbothered.
Finding a dual cultivation partner was no big deal for him—he could easily find plenty.
Like that old loli who kept pestering him to join in.
Since Li Luo wasn’t interested, he’d just find someone else after leaving this place.
Ye Wangchuan stored the manual away and was about to head to the next forest with Li Luo to continue chopping wood.
But just then—
Boom!
A pillar of light shot into the sky from the center of the secret realm.
"Oh? The exit’s opening now?"
Ye Wangchuan immediately recognized the light as the exit of the secret realm.
At this moment, exactly one month had passed since the secret realm first opened.
Without hesitation, Ye Wangchuan grabbed Li Luo and the puppet, rushing toward the exit.
The exit of the secret realm was usually time-limited.
If they missed it, Ye Wangchuan and Li Luo would be stuck in this realm for a thousand years.
And that was definitely not something he wanted.
……
……
At the edge of the secret realm,
"Damn you! Damn you!"
Su Fugui wielded a sword, hacking away at the corpse of the Night Raven.
The Night Raven’s body was covered in a purple hue, clearly poisoned by Su Fugui.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Su Fugui began looting the Night Raven’s body for manuals, pills, and money.
As he looted, he cursed incessantly.
"You’ve been chasing me for so long, damn you!"
"Lucky I used my enhancement points to boost myself to the mid-stage of the second realm, or I wouldn’t have been able to kill this bastard!"
While cursing, Su Fugui suddenly noticed the pillar of light rising from the center of the secret realm.
Pointing at it, he asked his bodyguard,
"What’s that?"
"Sir, that’s the exit of the secret realm. It’s time-limited. We need to hurry!"
"Oh crap!"
……
Meanwhile,
By a secluded lakeside,
Liu Han took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
"Finally, I’ve broken through to the early stage of the first realm!"
Liu Han exclaimed with joy.
For most people, it took three years of cultivation to reach the early stage of the first realm.
But Liu Han had stumbled upon a lake brimming with incredibly dense spiritual energy!
By cultivating by the lake and soaking in its waters,
He had achieved the early stage of the first realm in just three weeks!
The early stage of the first realm!
Surely, among his peers, he was the third genius to reach this level!
This lake was truly miraculous!
"Ah, Brother Liu Han! Congratulations on breaking through! Here, have some fruit."
As Liu Han celebrated, a young girl approached, carrying a plate of fruit.
Her name was Tang Rourou, a member of the Tang Family.
Unfortunately, she had no cultivation base.
The Tang Family had sent her in simply to see if she could pick up any scraps.
A few days ago, Tang Rourou had been surrounded by a pack of wild wolves.
If not for Liu Han risking his life to save her, she would have ended up as wolf food.
Grateful, Tang Rourou had been helping Liu Han with small tasks ever since.
"Rourou, thank you."
Liu Han didn’t stand on ceremony, patting Tang Rourou’s head before digging into the fruit.
Just then, he noticed the beam of light rising from the center of the secret realm.
"Oh no! Rourou, we need to go! The exit’s opened!"
Grabbing Tang Rourou’s hand, Liu Han began sprinting toward the light.
……
……
At the center of the secret realm,
A rift suddenly appeared in the air.
The rift was fifty meters tall and two hundred meters wide.
This was the exit of the secret realm.
At first, a few people who were nearby arrived.
Some chose to leave immediately, while others decided to block the exit and demand tolls.
The blockers were quickly surrounded and beaten by a mob.
Most people didn’t want tolls to be a thing, so anyone who tried to block the exit was immediately attacked.
But just then—
"Hmph, a bunch of ants! Who gave you permission to block the path?"
Splat!
A deep voice echoed, and everyone within a hundred meters of the exit was instantly reduced to bloody mist!
The crowd gasped, retreating in fear.
The next moment, a man wrapped in filthy bandages descended.
The aura he exuded shocked everyone present.
"The early stage of the fourth realm! He’s at the early stage of the fourth realm!"
"What? How is that possible?"
"This secret realm only allows entry for those at the third realm or below. Even if someone at the late stage of the third realm entered, it would take a full year of core condensation to break through to the fourth realm! How did he do it in just a month?!"
As the crowd buzzed with speculation,
The bandaged man suddenly laughed.
"Keh keh keh! You fools are so short-sighted. Want to condense a core quickly? Just dig out someone else’s core and shove it into your own dantian! Keh keh keh!!!"
The bandaged man’s words sent a wave of terror through the crowd.
"A demonic cultivator! He’s a demonic cultivator!"
"He must have practiced some kind of demonic art to eliminate dantian rejection and absorb others’ cores! How horrifying!"
"I recognize him! His name is Guo Duan! After being bullied by a sect, he waited until the elders were gone and slaughtered all the disciples!"
Faced with a fourth-realm cultivator, no one dared to step forward.
Once someone crossed a major realm, numbers no longer mattered.
No one could stop Guo Duan from blocking the exit now!