Gu Junshi did not miss this remark of his. She did not deliberately intend to hide her actions. Whether he truly suspected something or intended to confirm something with her, she had no intention of responding to his probing.
Of course, if he could find evidence through his own judgment to confront her, she would not deny it.
At this moment, bathed in the blue light cast by the sky, they were about to be teleported to the second realm. A cacophony of footsteps reached their ears.
Someone was coming.
Gu Junshi looked back. From the rear, rushing towards them were Ru Lan and Gu Ruo, a pair of senior and junior sisters. Following them was Yan Tianjiao, his gaze dark and sinister. Finally, Lu Ziyin, carrying someone, arrived. They all hurried to catch up.
The person Lu Ziyin held in his arms was Fang Rui. Her delicate head rested against Lu Ziyin's chest, her waterfall-black hair spread across his arms. Her dress fluttered, and her eyes were closed, clearly indicating she was unconscious.
"The exit is here!"
Ru Lan's eyes widened as she stared intently at the azure glow that had emerged from the cracked ice ground and engulfed Liu Jiangfusheng's figure.
Everyone saw Liu Jiangfusheng. He had dark hair and red lips, fair skin and ink-black eyes, and his immortal robes fluttered. His calm, unruffled gaze swept over them, but his eyes reflected nothing. The next second, he vanished before their eyes.
He had successfully entered the second realm!
Gu Ruo tugged at Ru Lan's sleeve, "Senior Sister, hurry, the exit seems to be disappearing."
The brilliant blue curtain of light appeared to be gradually weakening. She had just seen the god-like young man disappear into the blue light. If the blue light vanished, they might not find the exit.
At this moment, a streak of crimson light flashed past. Yan Tianjiao had already plunged into the "blue light" and instantly disappeared.
Ru Lan had no time to think and rushed in after him.
Lu Ziyin's speed was not slow. He thought to himself that he had underestimated this Heavenly Spiritual Root; he was actually the first to find the exit.
If they had delayed any longer, they might have been trapped here.
Once the exit to the first realm was opened, if those who followed could not catch up and the exit completely sealed, there would be no second chance to open it.
Bathed in a dazzling yet soothing blue light, they could not help but close their eyes and were teleported to the second realm of Illusion Peak—Wood Peak.
A vast, primeval forest stretched as far as the eye could see, with towering trees.
Liu Jiangfusheng went from the extremely cold ice peak to a temperate, humid forest. He calmly surveyed his surroundings. High-soaring ancient trees and exotic plants were everywhere, their branches interlacing, their lush leaves forming a canopy of emerald clouds that completely obscured the sky above.
This environment was clearly more troublesome than the ice peak.
This was due to the extremely limited visibility and the complex terrain.
Even though nothing had been discovered yet, the sense of crisis, as if surrounded on all sides, constantly stimulated his mind.
In the mortal world, to obtain more food to improve his diet, he had ventured into high mountains and forests. At that time, he lived in constant fear of various dangerous wild beasts lurking somewhere. But compared to the dense, thorny forests full of lurking dangers back then, this ancient, wild forest was the true hunting ground.
He would not naively believe that this forest was a place of peace and tranquility. Even setting aside the ferocious and aggressive demonic beasts they had encountered, the numerous disease-spreading insects in this humid forest, and the unidentifiable thorny purple-red vines crawling on the plants, none of them were benign.
But where was the clue to pass the trial?
Along the way, Liu Jiangfusheng and the treasure-seeking rat had encountered poisonous king bees, tree spirits disguised as trees, mountain spirits that turned into stones, and various greedy, carnivorous poisonous flowers and plants. However, they had avoided them all thanks to the treasure-seeking rat's natural senses. After all, the sensitivity of rare beasts was much higher than that of humans, especially since this "rare beast" concealed Gu Junshi, who had an encyclopedic knowledge within.
She could help him scout for impending dangers in advance, but if unavoidable dangers arose, Liu Jiangfusheng would have to resolve them himself.
His sword speed increased, his strikes decisive and sharp. His ability to handle crises also improved significantly. With this "minor competition," he was like a dry sponge, rapidly and eagerly absorbing a wealth of experience, making his growth rate beyond ordinary imagination.
After expending countless energy and time, he still found no clues.
On Illusion Peak, they did not experience the passage of days and nights, nor did they have a sense of time passing. Everything seemed to exist in a constant state.
The difficulty of the second realm seemed to have increased. Unlike the first realm, where demonic beasts actively delivered clues, here they had to find it themselves in this forest.
The pent-up frustration Liu Jiangfusheng initially felt was released through repeated vigilance and battles. His emotions, caused by Gu Yi, gradually subsided.
He wandered around the forest for a long time and found that the forest seemed endless. He stopped wasting his energy by continuing forward.
He gently stroked the treasure-seeking rat's head, and his cold voice echoed in the silent forest, "You say, if I set this entire realm on fire, will the clues appear?"
The treasure-seeking rat naturally could not answer him, but a laugh came from beside him, "If you set it on fire, not only will this realm burn, but we might all burn to death as well."
It was Lu Ziyin.
He did not know when he had started following them.
In fact, Liu Jiangfusheng had always known someone was behind him, so he was speaking to him.
Liu Jiangfusheng knew his shortcomings. His understanding of the cultivation world was too superficial. Although his cultivation progressed fast, he lacked knowledge, preventing him from applying it flexibly. Given this, why not cooperate with others?
"Fellow Daoist Lu."
His sleeves fluttered, and his posture was like a supple spring willow. Although he was not a descendant of a noble family, anyone who saw him could not help but praise, "There is no one in this world who does not know his beauty."
A man growing to this extent was truly admirable.
Lu Ziyin still held the unconscious Fang Rui. While his appearance seemed frivolous and dissolute, the subtle glint in his eyes revealed his true nature. "Fellow Daoist Liu Jiang, you are truly heartless. You don't care at all about the safety of such a beautiful and delicate senior sister. What a waste of her devoted affection."
Since his appearance, Liu Jiangfusheng's gaze had not once rested on the person in his arms.
Recalling how he had left alone in the first realm, like Ru Lan would turn back to find her junior sister Gu Ruo, he had shown no intention of looking back for his senior sister. This was truly a cold-hearted person.
Liu Jiangfusheng seemed indifferent to the condemnation in his words. He said, "If there is danger, she can use her token to escape."
His implication was that as long as the person was alive, it was fine. If they still wanted to win, they should bear the risk of adventure.
Although he and Fang Rui were fellow disciples, his regard for her was merely that of ordinary fellow disciples. He had no intention of taking on her risks. Even if they entered the same peak, he remembered that everyone was an opponent, and he had to strive for the highest ranking.
He always remembered his promise to Ah Yi.
If he achieved a good result in the "Rookie Ranking," he would request the sect leader to lift the "Soul Locking Curse" from her. He also wanted to establish an independent cave dwelling and gradually establish himself in the Great Evolution Sect so that he could be with Ah Yi without reservation.
He had understood long ago that the weak had no right to speak. Only by standing higher than everyone else could he obtain what he desired.
He also wanted to extend Ah Yi's life. Even if she couldn't cultivate, he wanted her to stay by his side for a long, long time.
Therefore, he needed to obtain the qualifications to enter the Dragon Island Secret Realm.
He had inadvertently overheard Elder Jiu Li discussing with the elite disciples that the Dragon Island Secret Realm contained countless treasures, including a divine medicine that could extend life.
That divine medicine, he was determined to obtain.
Lu Ziyin seemed to have understood Liu Jiangfusheng's attitude towards Fang Rui. Was he now meddling unnecessarily?
As for why Fang Rui remained unconscious, it was because she had encountered a two-headed bifurcation cat demon beast in the ice peak. It was difficult for her to win with her strength, but her family background was affluent, and she possessed many magical treasures and talismans. She could barely hold on until she defeated the demon beast. However, in the process, she inevitably sustained serious injuries. Coincidentally, Lu Ziyin was looking for Gu Ruo, so he met her.
He had always been tender towards beauties. Furthermore, he wished to befriend the Heavenly Spiritual Root Liu Jiangfusheng, so he brought her along, intending to use her as a stepping stone to converse with Liu Jiangfusheng.
However, upon seeing Liu Jiangfusheng choose to leave alone, he had a premonition that his plan might have gone awry.
As expected, this person did not care about the senior sister who was wholeheartedly devoted to him. His demeanor of trampling on someone's devoted affection was no less than Yan Tianjiao's gloomy disposition.
However… he suddenly remembered that Liu Jiangfusheng seemed to be already married, and his partner was a mortal with a废体质 (feì tǐzhì - waste physique/crippled constitution).
But he did not believe that Liu Jiangfusheng had deep feelings for that mortal wife. Although outsiders spoke of his deep and unwavering love, anyone who had interacted with Liu Jiangfusheng would know that his eyes were cold, and his heart was cold.
He could not imagine what such a person would be like when falling in love.
"Since it's not for your senior sister, then Fellow Daoist Liu Jiang must have brought me out with words to respond to what I proposed earlier?"
He had previously proposed a five-person cooperation, which ultimately went nowhere. Now, there seemed to be some glimmer of hope.
Seeing that the other party was indeed smart enough and had seen through his intentions, Liu Jiangfusheng said calmly, "I already know what the clue to passing the trial is hidden in, but I need someone to help me find it."
Lu Ziyin knew that he only needed this one cooperation, and what happened next would proceed as usual when he spoke so frankly about the cooperation.
Liu Jiangfusheng would provide the item in which the clue was hidden, and he would help him find it.
This person was not as purely proud and arrogant as he had thought; at least he was much more adaptable than Yan Tianjiao, that black swan.
Why not?
Cooperating with intelligent people yielded twice the results with half the effort.
"Fellow Daoist Liu Jiang, why don't you tell me where the clue to passing the trial is hidden?"
Liu Jiangfusheng said, "The clue to passing the trial is hidden within the tree."
Lu Ziyin chuckled and shook his head, "Fellow Daoist Liu Jiang, this is meaningless. Since we are cooperating, why keep things half-hidden?"
Liu Jiangfusheng continued, "And in Wood Peak, trees are the most abundant. But what we are looking for should be a mutated demonic tree."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ziyin pondered for a moment and then understood his meaning.
"There are quite a few mutated demonic trees, but in this humid forest… I see, it's the Purple Vine Demon Face."
"You've seen it?"
Lu Ziyin had naturally not seen it, but… "I've seen the illustrations."
Now it was time to test the knowledge accumulated from his daily observations.
Lu Ziyin said, "The Purple Vine Demon Face is covered with purple vines, has no leaves, and its trunk is dark brown like a demonic, evil face."
"In what environment does it generally grow?"
"In damp, dark places. I encountered one when I came just now."
Thus, led by Lu Ziyin, they walked towards the more watery and darker areas. The deeper they went, the more they felt the surrounding air becoming damp and cold. The light grew dim, and the ground beneath the damp fallen leaves was often slippery and soft mud and rotten wood underfoot.
Finally, behind clusters of vines, they saw the Purple Vine Demon Face they were looking for.
It was almost exactly as Lu Ziyin had described, with the only surprise being.
This Purple Vine Demon Face was incredibly huge.
If this was the clue they were looking for to pass the trial, this was truly… deadly.
Just as the two of them were weighing and estimating their chances of confronting this Purple Vine Demon Face head-on, they did not expect that other people were also following the clues.
This person was Yan Tianjiao, the most troublesome and difficult to deal with.
Lu Ziyin narrowed his eyes upon seeing Yan Tianjiao. The three of them stood on three sides, forming a triangular standoff.
Yan Tianjiao glanced coldly at the two of them before looking away. His proud, gloomy expression paused when it inadvertently fell upon the treasure-seeking rat.
He stared at it for a moment, then suddenly said to Liu Jiangfusheng, "Give it to me, and I'll give you this Purple Vine Demon Face."
This forest had more than one Purple Vine Demon Face. They all knew this, but the people present were all proud and self-assured. There was no reason for them to give up what they had found.
But now Yan Tianjiao was acting out of character, making this request, which greatly surprised Lu Ziyin.
Liu Jiangfusheng's eyes suddenly darkened.
He sneered and said, "Haven't woken up yet?"
Lu Ziyin chuckled.
He thought Liu Jiangfusheng was quite aloof, but it turned out his mouth was also quite poisonous.
Yan Tianjiao heard this, and his beautiful, blood-red eyes narrowed dangerously, "The outcome of the last minor competition is still unclear. It seems you are eager…"
Squeak~
At this moment, the treasure-seeking rat's soft tail stood up, and it let out an angry squeak towards him.
Yan Tianjiao's gaze was drawn to it, and he seemed momentarily dazed.
No one knew that Yan Tianjiao had a secret hobby: he had no resistance to fluffy, cute creatures.
But at the same time, he was very discerning.
Most demonic beasts carried a certain turbid aura that he disliked.