The array energy enveloping the glowing orbs suddenly stagnated, followed immediately by a large tear ripping open.
At the same time, the glowing orbs that were originally bound by the array seemed to possess a sentience of their own, scrambling over each other to dart out of the massive hole. They began flying wildly throughout the entire grand hall!
Strike now! While the array's energy is repairing itself, grab as many as you can! Li Xie's expression turned fierce as he darted out first, closing in on the two most dazzling treasures.
The others quickly followed suit, engaging in a frantic game of cat and mouse with these ancient treasures that had long since developed their own spirits.
Yuan Shu swept her gaze across the grand hall and quietly took a few steps back, leaning against the wall behind her. Along the way, she casually snatched a few glowing orbs that fluttered past her face and stuffed them into her Divine Tree space.
No one noticed.
Perhaps even if they had noticed, no one would bother demanding the items from her right now. Once this expedition to the secret realm was over, His Highness the First Prince would naturally have ways to make her cough them up!
While snatching the glowing treasure orbs dancing in front of her, Yuan Shu edged along the wall, silently approaching the azure cloud relief in the center of the grand hall.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she quickly moved one hand, forming a small hand seal in front of her, and suddenly thrust it toward the azure cloud relief.
A serene red light immediately lit up on the relief.
With almost no hesitation, Yuan Shu ducked her head and darted inside!
Your Highness, that woman from Azure Cloud Peak entered the relief! This relief is actually a barrier entrance! A sudden exclamation from a Demon Guard drew the attention of Li Xie, who was in the heat of struggling with two glowing treasure orbs.
However, he only caught sight of the azure gleam left behind as Yuan Shu stepped into the relief.
To think there was a barrier entrance upon the relief?
Could it be that the true treasures of the secret realm were hidden inside?
Li Xie's heart tightened. He wanted nothing more than to chase after her, but how could he just watch helplessly as the precious dark element cultivation method and the Demon Spirit Tome in front of him flew away?
Yuan Shu was merely at the lowly Qi Condensation realm. Even if she really obtained some treasure, once he freed up his hands, he could definitely make her obediently hand it over.
He still needed to secure the Demon Spirit Tome first!
Steeling his resolve, Li Xie's attacks grew increasingly ferocious. Under his assault, the glowing orb surrounding the Demon Spirit Tome gradually began to dim.
Even the dark element cultivation method on the side was showing signs of exhaustion under the siege of the other Demon Guards.
Clearly, capturing them was only a matter of time!
...
Meanwhile, within the alternate space inside the relief.
The moment Yuan Shu stepped into the alternate space, she was forcefully filled with a mouthful of Primal Chaos Qi!
The worldly spiritual energy was so soothing to every pore of her body that she could not help but let out a low moan.
Inside her body, the Divine Acacia Tree let out fierce, popping sounds.
It was like a beggar who had been starving for a century suddenly having a feast of delicacies thrust in front of him, trembling uncontrollably, overwhelmed with uncontrollable excitement!
Primal Chaos Qi, the origin spiritual energy of heaven and earth, could only form in this kind of ancient secret realm that had survived for thousands of years without being ruined by anyone!
When Yuan Shu learned that this secret realm was an ancient one, she had already set her sights on it.
That was why she had taken the initiative to help Li Xie find this secret realm and lead his people inside.
The Divine Acacia Tree was directly tied to her cultivation speed, and this Primal Chaos Qi could directly impact the grade of the Divine Acacia Tree!
Due to her rebirth, her current Divine Acacia Tree had reverted to the foundational Spirit Plant stage. In the future, even after she gathered all five supreme spirit root tree foundations, it would at most provide her with triple the cultivation speed.
But if it could absorb the Primal Chaos Qi and advance to the Profound Plant stage, her cultivation speed could reach six times the normal rate!
This meant that the cultivation and spiritual energy that took others six months to achieve would only take her one month to complete!
Furthermore, this effect would be permanent!
It was hard for her not to be tempted!
Therefore, even if it meant risking her life dealing with a tiger, she had to come to this secret realm!
Time was of the essence. As soon as Yuan Shu absorbed the first mouthful of Primal Chaos Qi, she immediately sat down cross-legged and began to continuously absorb the Primal Chaos Qi for the Divine Acacia Tree.
In the quiet, ink-blue space, the only sound was the faint rustling of Yuan Shu constantly changing her cultivation hand seals.
There were no other sounds.
...
Azure Profound Hall.
Li Xie finally pocketed the dark element cultivation method and the Demon Spirit Tome.
The Demon Guards had a bountiful harvest, with everyone clutching several treasures in their hands.
As immortal energy dissipated, the torn section of the array's energy finally slowly restored itself.
At the same time, all the remaining uncaptured glowing orbs in the grand hall were completely sucked back into the array, making it impossible to snatch them anymore.
Although the Demon Guards felt it was a pity, they quickly cheered up when they thought of the treasures they had harvested this time.
Compared to the treasures recalled by the array, what they had obtained clearly accounted for the vast majority!
Moreover, the two largest glowing orbs had been taken by His Highness the First Prince.
Such a merit, even if they went back and told their clansmen, would be absolutely unparalleled!
It was truly His Highness who possessed a discerning eye, actually managing to scout out such an opportunity in this Death Demon Forest!
He had quietly led them here to accomplish something monumental!
Your Highness, the items have all been gathered and are inside this spirit ring!
Li Xie glanced at it and handed the ring to the commander of the Demon Guards. Keep it safe. Those who exerted themselves today will be rewarded according to their merits once this matter is concluded!
Capturing these sentient treasures was not easy; during the capture process, they would resist and attack.
This place was also their home turf, bolstered by the array's energy.
Even for him, capturing that dark element cultivation method and the Demon Spirit Tome had consumed quite a bit of time.
Not to mention the others—several Demon Guards were even heavily injured by those treasures.
Fortunately, they had taken two life-saving pills, which stabilized their lives!
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Li Xie waved his hand, instructing his trusted Demon Guard commander to lead the men to continue searching other areas, while he himself walked over to the relief.
Li Xie cared about the glowing treasure orbs in the secret realm, but he also cared about the treasure that Yuan Shu had her eyes on!
For some reason, he had a lingering feeling.
Yuan Shu hadn't just pointed the way for him based on blind luck.
The reason she wanted to enter the secret realm was likely because she had her own motives!
This barrier entrance in the relief was probably the answer!
This was an entrance to a minor world that even he hadn't received any news about. How did she know about it?
And what exactly was inside?
He attempted to open the barrier entrance on the relief, but as he poured his spiritual energy into it, the relief showed no reaction at all, let alone reveal an entrance.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, he remembered the divine soul mark he had left on Yuan Shu's wrist.
Although separated by the minor world's barrier, he couldn't directly control that divine soul mark.
However, as long as Yuan Shu left the relief, he would definitely be able to sense it!
A mere Qi Condensation cultivator like her wouldn't be able to withstand the chaotic energy collisions of such a minor world for very long.
He would wait right here and see how long she could last!
...
Cultivation knows no time.
By the time the Primal Chaos Qi accumulated over many years in this ancient secret realm had been swept completely clean by the Divine Acacia Tree, three days had already passed.
Yuan Shu faintly sensed the minor world's rejection of her.
After confirming that there was no more Primal Chaos Qi for the Divine Acacia Tree to absorb, Yuan Shu slowly opened her eyes.
Half a day ago, just as she had anticipated, the Divine Acacia Tree had successfully advanced from a Spirit Plant to a Profound Plant.
This meant that as long as she gathered the five supreme spirit roots and successfully established her foundation, her strength would advance by leaps and bounds!
Her painstaking efforts to pretend and play along with Li Xie just to follow him into this ancient secret realm hadn't been in vain.
Calculating the time, the demons should have left by now, right?
Yuan Shu touched her chin, feeling it was about time to leave.
She stood up, stretched lazily, and quietly walked to the exit, carefully casting an opening hand seal toward the relief sculpture inside the space.
She had acquired this hand seal along with the Divine Tree of Joyous Union.
It had a miraculous effect on many divine-tier spiritual objects.
Relying on this trick, she had casually excavated many ancient secret realms in her past life, allowing the Divine Tree of Joyous Union to level up rapidly.
Dealing with the entrance to a small secret realm world left behind by an ancient mighty figure was naturally a piece of cake.
Yuan Shu quietly sent out a wisp of divine sense, carefully observing the hall outside the relief sculpture.
Just as she had expected, there was no one outside!
Those noisy demons had long since disappeared.
Yuan Shu felt a surge of joy in her heart.
Did this mean that Li Xie couldn't wait any longer and had left with his demon subordinates first?
That would be wonderful, saving her the trouble of dealing with that guy!
Yuan Shu's divine sense swept around, and seeing no one, she breathed a slight sigh of relief and prepared to withdraw it.
Just as she retracted it a little, it was suddenly grabbed by someone!
Hiss!
The intense pain made Yuan Shu bare her teeth. Probing with her divine sense, she met Li Xie's cold, staring gaze.
Finally willing to come out?
He smiled. His face, originally resolute and rugged, now inexplicably carried a sinister and crazed flavor, making one's heart tremble in fear.
Yuan Shu's eyes suddenly widened, staring at Li Xie in disbelief. You haven't left yet?
Wasn't I waiting for you?
Li Xie sneered and released his divine sense, entangling the wisp of divine sense Yuan Shu had sent out, making it impossible for her to escape.
Yuan Shu's expression changed slightly. This guy's strength was too great; with her divine sense trapped, she couldn't pull it back at all!
Yuan Shu hadn't expected this guy to be so obsessed with her. Three days had passed, and he still hadn't run away?
Wasn't he afraid that the Falling Immortal Sect would discover his tracks and bring people to corner him here?
He was a demon. If his identity was exposed, the consequence would be being hunted down by the orthodox immortal sects!
But now her divine sense was trapped, and she couldn't break free.
What should she do?
Don't even think about cutting off your divine sense. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind blocking you here for another ten days or half a month.
Yuan Shu, ...
Bullying her because her strength wasn't great and she couldn't stay in the small world for a long time, right?
Come out!
Li Xie shouted coldly, his sharp gaze sweeping toward Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu's heart skipped a beat, and a plan suddenly came to mind. Ahem, since you're waiting for me here, you must be very curious about what I did behind this relief, or rather, what treasures are hidden behind it, right?
How about you come in?
Li Xie's gaze narrowed slightly. What did you say?
I said, how about you come in? Yuan Shu repeated.
Li Xie hadn't expected Yuan Shu to take the initiative to say this.
He did want to see what was behind this relief.
However, he thought Yuan Shu wouldn't tell him so easily!
He looked at Yuan Shu with some doubt and suspicion.
Seeing him stand there motionless for a long time, Yuan Shu frowned.
She simply flicked her finger, sending out a streak of spiritual energy to slightly enlarge the opening she used to send her divine sense out to investigate.
Now, you can come in, right?
