"This isn't a secret realm, it's a veritable slaughterhouse."

Wan Lei clicked his tongue. Along the way, they had seen nearly a thousand corpses.

"Why do you look so surprised?"

Fang Xiaoyu turned to look at Wan Lei.

"Shouldn't I be surprised?"

"Secret realms inherently have a very high mortality rate. Every thousand years when a secret realm opens, it attracts countless cultivators to seek adventure, but less than half manage to leave alive. Every secret realm contains dangers beyond your imagination; some can silently invade your mind. In short, many times, you won't even know how you died."

"That serious? No, I always thought places of immortal inheritance would be like the Myriad Prodigy Rankings, where a group of people compete, and those who perform well get the inheritance while those who don't are eliminated. I didn't expect the casualty rate to be so high."

"Your understanding is utterly preposterous. Compared to secret realms, the Myriad Prodigy Rankings are like a bunch of kids playing house. Firstly, the Myriad Prodigy Rankings have many rule restrictions and also limitations on participants; only Core Formation cultivators under fifty years old are allowed. This sets both the upper and lower limits, making it a very fair competition. But secret realms are different. They don't care about your cultivation level, whether you're at Tribulation Transcension or Initial Force Realm, anyone can participate, and everyone is treated equally upon arrival. If you have skill and luck, you live and can even obtain secret arts and divine abilities. If you lack skill and luck, you die, without mercy."

"Well, these six immortals clearly don't care about the lives of people in the Thunder Wind Realm."

"Heh, naive."

The little yellow dog sneered.

"Kid, this is the cultivation world, where might makes right. They're kindly leaving behind inheritance treasures; are they not allowed to choose suitable people? How they choose is up to them. The casualty rate of secret realms is common knowledge, and they aren't forcing anyone to enter. It's all voluntary; if you die, you have no one to blame but yourself."

"I understand the logic, but killing so many people feels like it goes against heavenly principles. I always thought they were good people, kindly leaving inheritances for the Thunder Wind Realm, kindly helping..."

"And do you expect them to kindly ensure not a single person in the Thunder Wind Realm dies? What a joke! Besides, when did I ever say they were good people? The six of them—never mind the Ghost Immortal, he's the most ruthless. In the Ghost Realm, he once wiped out tens of billions of people. Excluding the Ghost Immortal, the other five are known as the Evil Five. The prefix 'Evil' indicates their style, and the word 'Hero' signifies they act entirely based on their mood, following their whims. People like that, do you expect them to be saints? They once said that one elite is worth more than a hundred commoners. If killing a hundred people could create one strong individual, they would gladly do it."

The little yellow dog paused before continuing, "To give a simple example, they once visited a middle-spirit plane, similar in size to the Thunder Wind Realm. I'll just state the outcome directly to save words. They needed to save an Ice Phoenix, but that Ice Phoenix had swallowed the Heart of the Universe. If the Ice Phoenix left, that universe would be destroyed, and billions of lives would perish. If the Ice Phoenix died, that universe could live. However, their mission was to save the Ice Phoenix; if the Ice Phoenix died, they would also die. Kid, guess what they chose in the end?"

"...Based on your description of their conduct, they must have saved the Ice Phoenix and destroyed the universe."

"Correct. A universe comparable in size to the Thunder Wind Realm was destroyed."

"It's not their fault. If I were in their shoes, I would also choose to live and not concern myself with strangers in a universe. It's me... my mindset isn't right."

Wan Lei sighed.

"So, stay vigilant. This place is very dangerous, and you still have to brave all six secret realms. Even a nine-death, one-life chance would be considered good odds. The only fortunate thing is that this is the Wood Immortal's secret realm."

"What about the Wood Immortal's secret realm?"

"The Wood Immortal is female."

"Ah?"

"She's the kindest, gentlest, and most delicate among the team, the moral compass of the group. Without her, the others would likely have become true demons long ago."

"...Good heavens, the kindest and gentlest one still killed so many people?"

"This number of people isn't much for the entire Thunder Wind Realm; it doesn't harm its foundation. Kid, believe it or not, if they were told that destroying the Thunder Wind Realm would make you a saint, they would obliterate this realm without hesitation."

"Forget it, forget it, don't think about it. It's frightening."

Wan Lei waved his hands repeatedly. The little yellow dog fell silent, its eyes rolling around. *Phew, after scaring him, his mindset has finally shifted. I wonder how angry those guys would be if they knew I'd ruined their reputation...*

Wan Lei activated his Thunder Guard, shielding himself, Lei Yu, and Fang Xiaoyu within it, as the little yellow dog had said the malevolent spirits here feared lightning.

They walked for a long time. Along the way, trees attacked them several times, but they were all repelled.

"Ahead... I think I hear voices."

"I hear them too. Let's go see."

The two crept forward cautiously. Before long, they saw five cultivators gathered together.

"Big brother, ten brothers are already dead. We can't go on, let's leave."

"Yeah, big brother. This place is too terrifying. Something pops out unexpectedly and kills people. We don't want to die like this, brothers."

"No, we've come this far. Are you willing to turn back now? Wouldn't our brothers have died in vain?"

The leader said angrily.

"Five Core Formation cultivators," Fang Xiaoyu whispered.

"Mm, let's go ask them and gather some information."

...

"Holy crap, what is that!"

As the five were intensely discussing whether to retreat, a sharp-eyed cultivator suddenly saw Wan Lei and the other approaching. Of course, in his eyes, they appeared as strange, robot-like creatures. However, he lacked the concept of robots in his understanding.

"It's tree spirits, attack!"

The leader yelled, brandishing his saber and charging towards Wan Lei and the other. The rest followed.

"..." Wan Lei.

Wan Lei flung out several bolts of lightning, which entered the bodies of the five cultivators. They were immediately struck down, their entire bodies paralyzed, unable to stand.

"Hey, we're all here to explore, why attack each other on sight?"

Wan Lei squatted beside the leader and tapped his forehead.

"You... are cultivators?"

The leader's eyes widened.

"Nonsense. If we weren't cultivators, you'd all be dead by now. Why did you think we were tree spirits?"

"Sorry about that. We're just too jumpy. Anything that doesn't look human, we assume it's a tree spirit."

"Oh, I see. I need to ask you about two people."

"Go ahead."

"Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu."

"Run, they really are tree spirits!"

The leader's face changed drastically, and he scrambled to flee.