"Since that is the case, let us enter."
Chu Lingwei stood before the desert, gazing at the appearing spiritual vortex and said, "Most likely, the entrance to this secret realm is here."
"I will enter first."
Long Ziqian jumped directly into the spiritual vortex, his figure disappearing before Chu Lingwei's eyes.
Chu Lingwei inwardly cried out that it was not good, and quickly brought Huan Mao and the others to jump in.
Upon entering the vortex, Chu Lingwei felt as if she had entered a teleportation array. Her entire body continuously sank downwards. After a quarter of an hour, the sky brightened, and she found herself in a dense forest.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, you were right. That spiritual vortex just now was the entrance."
Long Ziqian appeared before Chu Lingwei soundlessly, a smile on his lips. "It's just, there seems to be nothing here."
"Young Master Long, you must not act on your own in the future." Chu Lingwei glanced at Long Ziqian. His reckless behavior made her very annoyed. Indeed, children were difficult to manage, even a big child.
"I apologize. I definitely won't next time." Hearing this address, Long Ziqian knew Chu Lingwei was genuinely angry and apologized repeatedly. "I was worried Fellow Daoist Chu wouldn't agree to me coming, so I wanted to go ahead."
"Hmph, Weiwei hates people like you the most." Feng Ming let out a soft snort. Acting first and reporting later, Long Ziqian was truly too much.
"I'm sorry. I definitely won't next time." Long Ziqian really wanted to reach out and pinch Feng Ming's pouting little face, but he didn't have the courage. Feng Ming could make him suffer immensely with just one breath of Netherworld Fire.
Chu Lingwei ignored their conversation and took out a spirit tool for finding people, infusing it with spiritual energy to help her search for her mother's aura.
The spirit tool spun around them, then suddenly stopped and flew towards the direction directly in front of them.
It really is here.
Seeing the spirit tool had found something, Chu Lingwei's heart rejoiced. Her parents were indeed here.
The group followed the spirit tool for hundreds of miles, stopping on a high mountain. The spirit tool became motionless again.
"Could they be here?" Long Ziqian's eyes sharpened as he surveyed their surroundings.
"The aura disappeared at this spot." Chu Lingwei retrieved the spirit tool and began to examine the anomalies here with them.
"How could it disappear so inexplicably?"
After searching for a day without finding any traces here, Long Ziqian found it unbelievable.
Chu Lingwei was equally puzzled. Her spirit tool would not suddenly malfunction. This meant her parents must have appeared here.
"Have you noticed that there isn't even a single spirit beast here?"
This was a secret realm. Hundreds of people had come here from the South Sea Reef. They could not have left without a single trace.
Chu Lingwei and the others had been in here for over a day and had not encountered a single cultivator.
"This place feels like dead matter." Long Ziqian summoned his spirit tool, warily scanning the surroundings.
"Indeed."
Chu Lingwei nodded. Even though the spiritual energy was abundant, she felt no trace of life.
"What do we do now?" Long Ziqian looked at Chu Lingwei. They had searched everywhere but found nothing. Within a hundred-mile radius, there was no living creature.
"We wait until night."
Since they found nothing during the day, they could only wait.
Huan Mao quickly set up a concealment barrier, and the group sat inside, holding their breath, waiting for nightfall.
As the sky grew darker, the surroundings seemed to vanish into the darkness. The silence was profound.
Chu Lingwei closed her eyes, not using her divine sense, but relying solely on her hearing to perceive the surroundings.
Suddenly, she felt as if countless pairs of eyes were staring intently at her, causing her to immediately open her eyes.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, this place is completely different from during the day." Long Ziqian had already stood up because a powerful aura was heading their way.
"Yes."
The place was lifeless during the day, but at night, it seemed to come alive. Chu Lingwei sensed the aura of a high-level spirit beast here.
"Let's go out and take a look."
As Chu Lingwei stepped out of the barrier, a powerful aura was within reach, and then, a massive surge of spiritual energy struck towards her.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, be careful."
Seeing this, Long Ziqian thrust his Spirit Gathering Spear towards the attacker.
"Young Master Long."
Chu Lingwei had already raised her Ice Jade Frost Sword. Upon seeing that the person before her was a cultivator, she saw the person stop their attack and move towards Long Ziqian.
"Song Qianshan?"
"It is I. I didn't expect Young Master Long to recognize me." Song Qianshan stopped his movement, looked at the unfamiliar woman standing beside Long Ziqian, and nodded to her.
Chu Lingwei had disguised herself upon leaving. She was now just an ordinary cultivator at the Melting Heaven Realm.
"Why are you here?" Long Ziqian did not introduce Chu Lingwei's true identity. He walked closer to Song Qianshan, examining him from head to toe. "Your cultivation has improved so quickly?"
After only ten years of separation, Song Qianshan was on the verge of breaking through to the Heaven-Piercing Realm and entering the Supreme Realm.
Many people took a hundred years to advance from the Heaven-Piercing Realm to the Supreme Realm, but he had only used a few decades.
Hearing this, Song Qianshan laughed heartily. "After separating from you and Fellow Daoist Chu back then, I returned to my sect and cultivated diligently. Then, I encountered some fortunate opportunities and was lucky enough to achieve some success."
Chu Lingwei pursed her lips, her suspicion of Song Qianshan's appearance growing. Earlier, she had clearly sensed the aura of a high-level spirit beast, yet Song Qianshan appeared before her.
However, she could not detect any issues with the Song Qianshan before her.
"Congratulations."
Long Ziqian cupped his hands, congratulating Song Qianshan.
Upon encountering an old acquaintance, Song Qianshan was in good spirits and waved his hand. "Young Master Long is too kind."
"Fellow Daoist Song, what exactly is this place?" Seeing that Chu Lingwei had remained silent, Long Ziqian asked.
"I do not know either." Song Qianshan shook his head and explained why he had come here. "Several months ago, a secret realm suddenly appeared here, and cultivators from the South Sea Reef all rushed to it. I entered here with them at that time."
"Did you encounter any other cultivators?"
Months ago, there must have been quite a number of cultivators who entered.
"Strangely enough, since a month ago, I haven't seen a single cultivator." Song Qianshan sighed softly, then a smile appeared on his face. "I never expected to meet you here."
"I also just arrived at the South Sea Reef and heard about this secret realm appearing, so I came to investigate." Long Ziqian was half-believing Song Qianshan's words. "It's just that after we entered, it was so lifeless during the day..."
"Haha."
Before Long Ziqian could finish, Song Qianshan burst into laughter. "That's because you haven't truly entered the secret realm. This is the real secret realm."
Chu Lingwei and Long Ziqian exchanged glances. They had been staying in the same place, so how could it not be the same area?
"Fellow Daoist Song, what do you mean by that?" Long Ziqian was now eager for an answer.
"There is a formation here. When night falls, this formation will automatically disappear." Song Qianshan countered, "Didn't you notice?"