Chapter 2 The Next Day
The snow had stopped by early morning. The ground was covered in snow, half a person's height deep. Many people were shoveling snow, clearing the main roads. Children were building snowmen and having snowball fights, creating a lively and peaceful scene.
Ling Luoyi and Mu Anning checked out of their inn and headed out of the city. The city gates were also covered in snow, with no footprints yet, suggesting no one had left the city. After leaving the sight of the city guards, Ling Luoyi and Mu Anning flew to a secluded area and used the Star Compass again.
After the Star Compass flashed five times, the star points appeared. Just like yesterday, the thin lines connecting the star points indicated that these two entrances led to the same secret realm.
Looking at the star points, Mu Anning said, "Your Highness, according to what you said last night, we still need to find the whereabouts of two abandoned lands. I wonder if these two abandoned lands have also merged together?"
However, Ling Luoyi, looking at the star points, said, "Not two, but one."
Mu Anning was startled and asked, "Your Highness, what do you mean?"
"I have a rough idea of where the secret realm of one of the abandoned lands is."
"Your Highness, if you know, why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I just remembered."
"..."
Seeing Mu Anning's cold expression momentarily crack, Ling Luoyi felt a bit awkward. She hadn't intentionally withheld the information; she had only just figured it out herself.
Last night, Ling Luoyi had a drink and, while lying in bed, accidentally saw the bandages wrapped around her arm. A wave of sadness washed over her as she recalled her life. Everything seemed normal until she remembered the reason she had gone to the Ancient Xuan Continent.
Ling Luoyi had been teleported directly to the Ancient Xuan Continent after encountering a teleportation array in a secret realm. She had never considered why it was the Ancient Xuan Continent, but now she finally understood.
Complete teleportation arrays were paired in sets of two. While repetitions were possible, only complete teleportation arrays could be activated, regardless of how many times they were repeated. The fact that Ling Luoyi could be teleported directly from the secret realm to the Ancient Xuan Continent meant that these two teleportation arrays were intact. But why would there be a teleportation array in the secret realm of the Ancient Ling Continent that connected to the Ancient Xuan Continent?
Combining this with the information she currently possessed, Ling Luoyi suspected that the secret realm was also one of the abandoned lands from the Ancient Xuan Continent that had fallen into the Ancient Ling Continent and whose whereabouts were unknown. However, she couldn't rule out other possibilities.
"If that's the case, Your Highness, let's go and see. If it is indeed an abandoned land, the fragments of the Heavenly Star Cauldron might be inside. If not, we will have merely eliminated a wrong answer."
"Mm." Ling Luoyi nodded in agreement and then murmured softly, "I hope I'm not mistaken."
Regardless of whether Ling Luoyi was mistaken or not, the secret realm in the Ancient Ling Continent needed to be investigated.
"Commander Mu, let's first search the abandoned land we confirmed, and then look for them one by one in the secret realms."
"Yes."
Initially, because Ling Luoyi was alone with her five contracted beasts and was in a race against time, she could only eliminate impossible locations. But now, it was different. Even if Wen Ting'an didn't send people to search, she had a team. The Shura and Demonic tribes helped her by clearing the outside world, so they only needed to search the secret realms.
As for whether the Shura and Demonic tribes would get there first?
Heh, even if they did, the shortest route from the human realm back to the demon realm had to pass through the demon realm. Moreover, a large number of demon soldiers were guarding the Gate of Demons, waiting for them to return with the Heavenly Star Cauldron fragments. As for other routes, they would have to pass through the other four realms. The Immortal and Divine realms knew about this. They couldn't interfere in the affairs of the human realm, but they had sent people to wait at the realm gates.
Even so, Ling Luoyi and the Domain Lord still hoped they could obtain at least one fragment of the Heavenly Star Cauldron, at least so they wouldn't have to live in constant fear.
Ling Luoyi took Mu Anning back to the edge of the continent, but not within the territory of the Tianwu Kingdom.
When Ling Luoyi left the Falling Sunset Forest and parted ways with Wen Zonglin, she didn't enter the mid-tier kingdom area outside the continent. Instead, she planned to gradually make her way to the Ancient Ling Academy.
While passing through Kangyan Kingdom, the most powerful of the lower-tier kingdoms, it happened to be the day of the Royal Academy's trial. Ling Luoyi accidentally entered the forest they used for trials, leading to a conflict. Although nothing significant happened at the time, several disciples later accidentally triggered a man-made beast tide, which affected her. While evading, Ling Luoyi inadvertently stepped on something. Her vision blurred, and when she could see clearly again, she had entered a secret realm.
After spending two months in the secret realm, searching for an exit, she accidentally triggered a teleportation array and was teleported to the Ancient Xuan Continent.
It was the same forest, but this time her companion was Mu Anning, whereas before it had been Guan Yue.
Ling Luoyi and Mu Anning landed at the place where they had entered the secret realm. Seeing that there was nothing out of the ordinary, Mu Anning felt confused but did not voice her questions.
Because the situation had been urgent at the time, Ling Luoyi herself didn't know what she had stepped on. She activated the Star Compass, and at the center, there was a star point.
Seeing this, Ling Luoyi smiled, "It seems it really is here."
Mu Anning walked around the area marked by the star point but remained in the same spot. She couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, how do we get in?"
"How would I know?"
"Your Highness, haven't you been in before?" Mu Anning frowned.
"It was thirteen years ago. Besides, there was a beast tide then. How could I remember what I stepped on?"
"..."
"Let's search around here. The entrance to the secret realm is here, so the key should be nearby."
Ling Luoyi activated her Divine Spirit Eye, examining the surroundings for anything unusual. She had cultivated her Divine Spirit Eye to the point where it could see through illusions. Under the Divine Spirit Eye, the flow of all energy was clearly visible.
Ling Luoyi saw a door made of spiritual energy. A thin line extended from the door, connecting to a small stone not far away. The small stone also emitted a faint spiritual energy, intertwined with it.
"Found it."
Ling Luoyi retracted her Divine Spirit Eye, picked up the stone, and placed it at the spot marked by the star point. A white light then illuminated the ground.
Seeing this, Ling Luoyi and Mu Anning exchanged glances. Mu Anning walked in first. After putting away the Star Compass, Ling Luoyi also entered. As their figures disappeared, the white light vanished, and the stone on the ground also disappeared, returning to where Ling Luoyi had picked it up. Everything seemed as if nothing had happened.
Inside the secret realm, Ling Luoyi and Mu Anning frowned as they looked at the place, which was no different from the outside world.
"Your Highness, this should be one of the abandoned lands of the Ancient Xuan Continent."
Upon hearing this, Ling Luoyi nodded. She had felt that something was amiss when she first entered, but at the time, she knew nothing and couldn't explain it. Now, she understood.
Although this place was not much different from the outside world, with mountains being mountains and rivers being rivers, from some places, it looked like a scrambled puzzle that had been reassembled.
For example, the forest in the distance. Even though the trees in the forest were of various types and changed with the location, there shouldn't be such a distinct boundary where one type of tree ended and another began. There were no traces of other people entering, so they couldn't have been planted by humans.
The rocks in the mountain cliffs in the distance also had clear dividing lines.
There were many such anomalies visible to the naked eye, not to mention that this secret realm was quite large.
Therefore, this should be one of the abandoned lands.