"Splash!"
Someone slipped and fell into a puddle, getting covered in mud and water.
"Be careful, get up quickly."
Qi Manyao pulled his arm, trying her best to help him up, but heard a ripping sound. The skin on the person's wrist was torn off by her.
"Ah!!!"
Qi Manyao screamed in fright, holding the piece of skin covered in sores and the exposed raw flesh in her hand. She felt her stomach churn with nausea.
The purple rain continued to fall, and even those with spiritual energy found it difficult to resist its corrosive, sulfuric-acid-like nature.
Wan Liuchuan walked over, took out a pill, and handed it to the person. He looked at him coldly,
"Take it. If you fall again, no one will help you up."
"Thank you, leader."
After the person took the pill, Wan Liuchuan sighed heavily and looked north. Jian Xunhuan's team, like a persistent parasite, trailed far behind.
Wan Liuchuan gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to fight Jian Xunhuan, and then turned to walk forward.
They had been in this cursed place for over three months, the longest duration they had ever spent in a secret realm.
The Wood Immortal Secret Realm lasted only seven or eight days, and the Golden Immortal Secret Realm, a mere day or two. They easily found treasures, completed missions, and obtained rewards. But this damned Water Immortal Secret Realm, not only were the missions difficult, but they had been working until now without gaining anything. Instead, they had to carry these burdens, consuming so much spiritual stones and pills.
They might even lose their lives here.
Everyone was making a losing trade, only hoping that the rewards they received after completing the mission could compensate for these losses.
But more people had given up on the rewards altogether, only hoping to return alive.
Secret realms?
Never again.
The team continued to move forward at an unhurried pace.
Suddenly, Wan Liuchuan stopped, took out his communication jade slip, and checked it. After only two breaths, he continued to walk forward as if nothing had happened.
However, their team, which had been heading due south, had unknowingly deviated and was now heading southwest.
Jian Xunhuan noticed this half a month later. A red light flashed in his eyes, and he continued to follow Wan Liuchuan's team.
Another half a month later, they finally saw a large expanse of connected tents ahead.
These tents covered an area of several miles, clearly a large tribe, possibly tens of thousands of people.
Roars of sacred beasts could occasionally be heard from within, exerting immense pressure.
Several figures flew out of the camp.
Seeing Wan Lei, Wan Liuchuan breathed a heavy sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face. He directed his people to rush towards them quickly.
"Wan Liuchuan!"
Liu Yuxin shouted with a smile, flying over at extreme speed and throwing herself into his arms.
"Sob sob... you're finally here. I haven't seen you for so long, sob sob..."
"Alright, alright, stop crying. I'm here now, safe and sound. Did you miss me?"
Wan Liuchuan dotingly rubbed Liu Yuxin's small head, messing up her hair.
"Miss you, my foot! Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu are always bullying me. They're so mean. Go beat them up for me."
"They've been mean for more than a day or two. Are the two great bullies of the Central Domain not famous for nothing?"
Wan Liuchuan laughed.
Qi Manyao lowered her head and walked towards Wan Lei, Fang Xiaoyu, and Tian Suanzi, the young Taoist nun. She looked up at them, then lowered her head again, her face filled with grievance and disappointment.
"What's wrong? You always look so pitiful. Who bullied you this time?"
Fang Xiaoyu held Qi Manyao's hand, her big eyes looking at her with concern.
"No, I... I'm too useless. I can't do anything right, and now I've given away all my spiritual stones and pills."
Hearing this, Wan Liuchuan sighed and looked at Wan Lei, pointing at Qi Manyao.
"Educate her properly. With her personality, she'll be tricked to death without even knowing it."
"She's always been like this. If she changed, she wouldn't be herself. Let's not talk about this. Let's handle the main business first."
Wan Lei looked at Wan Liuchuan, his expression solemn, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready."
Upon hearing this, Wan Liuchuan nodded, turned, and looked at Jian Xunhuan, who was three miles behind, and shouted loudly,
"Hey, aren't you looking for Wan Lei to buy his head? He's here now, so why are you dawdling and not coming over?"
Jian Xunhuan took a few steps forward, and that chilling voice came from his throat again,
"Then ask Wan Lei if he's willing to sell."
As Jian Xunhuan spoke, he took out a red sphere. Blood energy swirled within the sphere, and just a glance revealed it to be some kind of evil object refined through sacrifice.
Wan Lei looked at him indifferently, saying nothing.
Jian Xunhuan's lie was too clumsy for anyone to believe. Wan Lei simply watched his performance.
Not only did Wan Lei not believe it, but Wan Liuchuan and Qi Manyao also knew that Jian Xunhuan had ulterior motives.
Even Jian Xunhuan himself knew that such words wouldn't fool anyone, but he only needed to know that by following Wan Liuchuan, he could find Wan Lei.
That was just an excuse, and no one believed it.
The real show was about to begin.
The red sphere in Jian Xunhuan's hand was thrown thousands of meters into the sky and then exploded with a bang. Red blood energy spread out, attracting attention in the dark sky.
Soon, from the east, a winding giant snake appeared. The snake was at least several dozen miles long, thousands of feet in length. Its head was as large as a mountain peak, and its blood-red eyes greedily gazed at the sacred beast herd of the Dengyan tribe. Its gaping maw dripped with saliva from its four ferocious fangs.
The snake was entirely black, each scale as large as several square meters. People stood all over its back, and by rough count, there were twenty to thirty thousand of them.
One person stood on the snake's head, looking down at Wan Lei coldly. This person was a full丈 tall, twice the height of an ordinary person, extremely strong, with a long beard that reached his navel.
Wan Lei glanced at this person and immediately recognized him. This was a rogue cultivator from the Central Domain, a Great Ascension stage expert, known for his beast-taming path... the Mad Demon Lord.
And that snake was his most prized Yuan Shen stage demonic beast, the Qi Er Sky Python.
Misfortune did not come singly, as enemies also appeared from the west.
It was a huge warship, thousands of meters long and hundreds of meters wide, made of dark yellow wood. The prow was carved with a giant beast's head.
Dense numbers of warriors, about twenty thousand, stood on the hull, looking down menacingly.
The person leading them, dressed in magnificent robes, had a commanding presence. He was the Great Ascension stage expert from the starry sky,
The Starry Sky rogue cultivator, Lord Li Yu Xing.