"Junior Brother, are you wondering why there are so many rogue cultivators?"
Tian Rujin, standing beside Yang Hong, noticed Yang Hong's confusion and spoke up.
"Yes, it's very different from what I expected."
"Indeed. Three thousand six hundred years ago, only Foundation Establishment cultivators were allowed to enter.
However, three thousand six hundred years ago, the spiritual energy in the Hongdong Secret Realm began to strengthen, and the strength of the demonic beasts inside grew significantly. They also became extremely bloodthirsty.
This necessitated some blood food to fill their bellies, buying time for those who came later.
Therefore, around three thousand years ago, some restrictions were lifted."
Tian Rujin seemed to be in good spirits and began to explain to Yang Hong.
This made Yang Hong even more worried.
"Junior Brother, do you see the Golden Core stage Martial Uncles behind us?"
"I do."
"They are the main force entering the secret realm this time. We Foundation Establishment realm minnows are just here to put on a show and fool those gullible rogue cultivators.
Once we enter, we will circle around the outside of the secret realm and wait in the designated area for the realm's teleportation."
"Isn't this a tourist trip?"
After hearing Tian Rujin's explanation, Yang Hong blurted out.
"Heh heh~ We are indeed going on a trip."
Tian Rujin chuckled, and the other nine people around him also smiled happily.
They had learned from their Senior Martial Uncles and Grand-Martial Uncles from previous years how lucrative this trip would be in terms of spirit stones.
This was a safe and profitable task.
"Alright, we are going on a trip then."
Seeing how happy they were and not worried at all, Yang Hong could only sigh helplessly.
As the secret realm's teleportation array activated, his unease grew, as if something bad was about to happen.
The unease made him unable to settle down; the waiting time felt like years.
No—
It felt like seconds were passing like years.
Yang Hong worried that Song Yuzhi and the others might have already been eaten by demonic beasts.
...
On the other side of the island in the lake, ten women, whose beauty was hard to conceal even with specialized disguises, were holding hands and preparing to step into the teleportation array.
"Sisters, hold on tight! You must hold on!"
Song Yuzhi shouted.
They had already felt countless covetous glances along the way.
If the ten of them were to separate, they would likely be devoured alive.
"Big Sister, don't worry, we're holding on tight."
The other nine responded in unison, but subconsciously tightened their grip on the sisters' hands.
Although their faces were a little pale, they still stepped resolutely into the teleportation array.
They wanted to stay by Yang Hong's side, and to do that, they had to prove their worth.
Without value, they had no other path but abandonment.
This trip to the secret realm was an opportunity for them to prove their worth.
A flash of white light, and the ten women disappeared from the island in the lake together.
...
Time quickly passed to sunrise the next day.
"Junior Brother, let's go. It's our turn."
Yang Hong, who had endured a day of torment, looked a little haggard.
He was still lost in thought when Tian Rujin called him.
He didn't know why.
But Yang Hong knew that something very bad had happened.
That palpitation in his chest intensified with the activation of the teleportation array on the island in the lake.
In a daze, Yang Hong and the ten of them, including Tian Rujin, walked into the teleportation array.
Due to his distraction, he didn't notice that Tian Rujin had already let go of his hand with a sinister smile.
When a white light flashed, and he found himself in an unfamiliar valley, Yang Hong realized something was wrong.
"Holy crap! These bastards really wanted me to die here.
The逍遥阁 (Xiāo Yáo Gé) sect is definitely one to avoid!
Song Yu, that old fox, must have a hidden agenda in accepting me as a disciple."
Upon realizing what had happened, and seeing the empty surroundings, Yang Hong began to curse loudly.
No matter how foolish he was, he knew that
he had been abandoned by Tian Rujin and the other scoundrels.
Perhaps from the beginning, all ten of them, and even the entire 逍遥阁 (Xiāo Yáo Gé) sect, had intended to abandon him.
"Heh heh~ Without those scoundrels watching me, it's actually a good thing.
It'll make my grand robbery plan even easier."
After a few curses, Yang Hong became happy again. He reached into his robes and took out a book that was two fingers thick,
then unfolded it.
A massive map, two zhang wide, appeared.
"Heh heh, luckily I knew beforehand that we were going to enter the Hongdong Secret Realm, so I started preparing long ago."
This map was stolen from a disciple of a sect.
Because of this, several small gangs in the Imperial City were exterminated by enraged cultivators.
Oh, right, there were three copies of the map. Song Yuzhi and Jia Yuanchun each had one.
"This valley seems to be here..."
Yang Hong walked around the valley with the map and quickly pinpointed his location.
"This is the Red Viper Valley, and I'm right in the center of the valley.
Heh heh~ My luck, it really is..."
Yang Hong wasn't sure if his luck was good or bad.
The Red Viper was a type of snake with moderate venom but a large body.
Adults would generally reach three zhang in length, and they were skilled in coiling and crushing.
Furthermore, adult Red Vipers were Tier 3 demonic beasts, equivalent in strength to cultivators in the Fusion realm.
The most dangerous thing was that they were pack animals, meaning Yang Hong had fallen into a snake's nest.
And right into the center of it.
"Fortunately, Red Vipers look dangerous, but their venom isn't strong. If it's about brute force, I'm not afraid of these demonic beasts."
Having confirmed his location, Yang Hong put away the map and began to explore.
He didn't head outwards but searched within the valley.
According to the information he had, Red Viper Valley was the third most dangerous area on the outskirts of the Hongdong Secret Realm.
Since it was a dangerous area, there must be treasures.
"Spirit Sensing Technique~ Spirit Sensing Technique~"
As he moved forward, Yang Hong continuously used the Spirit Sensing Technique. Although he couldn't identify the names or effects of the items, any item of good quality was worth collecting.
Considering he would be staying in this secret realm for three months, Yang Hong did not collect any Grade 1 spiritual items.
He only collected items of Grade 2 or above.
Following the trail of high-quality items, Yang Hong found himself walking along a path.
A path pressed out by the bodies of giant snakes.
"Huh~ This cave is so wide. This must be the nest of the Red Vipers."
In just half an hour, Yang Hong found his target.
During his exploration, he had already discovered that all the vipers in this valley were gone.
According to his speculation, the opening of the secret realm and the entry of humans had disturbed the vipers here, and they had gone out to forage.
With such an opportunity, why wouldn't he raid their nest?
Yang Hong temporarily stopped searching for spiritual items, cast the Lightness Technique and Wind Riding Technique on himself, and flew into the cave without touching the ground.
Without stopping, Yang Hong rushed towards the bottom of the snake den.
This snake den was unexpectedly large. At Yang Hong's current speed, which was at least twice the speed of sound, it still took a quarter of an hour to fly through the long snake den tunnel.
"There's a fruit tree here too."
The bottom of the snake den was a massive cavern, over ten zhang high and two to three hundred zhang wide.
In the center of the cavern stood a fruit tree that was entirely fiery red.
The trunk was red, as were the branches and leaves.
Even the fruits on the tree were red.
If it weren't for the varying shades of red, Yang Hong would have mistaken it for a flower.
"Spirit Sensing Technique."
This technique looked extraordinary, so Yang Hong immediately cast Spirit Sensing Technique on it.
"Holy crap!"
Sensing the information transmitted back, Yang Hong cursed loudly.