The Secret Realm

The mountain forest on a snowy night was an expanse of endless, boundless black, where only the biting chill of willow-catkin snowflakes brushing across the cheek could be felt. Circulating his cultivation method to ward off the cold, threads of blood-red light quietly appeared in Xu Yuan's eyes, bringing the surrounding dark woods into sharp focus. Rushing along at high speed, the freezing wind whistled in his ears. As far as his vision reached, Ran Qingmo's graceful figure moved through the pitch-black trees as effortlessly as someone taking a leisurely stroll. She deliberately kept to a pace he could match. Compared to Ran Qingmo's ethereal, immortal air, Xu Yuan's manner of travel was anything but otherworldly; he looked more like one of those arm-flailing ninjas sprinting through the woods from his past life. Roughly two hours later, the forest ended. A frozen river appeared before them, and Ran Qingmo settled down beside this river valley. Xu Yuan halted a few meters behind her and instinctively glanced back. Tianyan was still there, trailing about three meters behind him. Her golden-glowing pupils stood out distinctly in the surrounding darkness of the snowy night, though she was rather short. Xu Yuan flicked his blood-gleaming gaze downward. She was still barefoot. The slightly oversized palace gown trailed across the snow, leaving a continuous ripple along the drifts as she walked. Barefoot on such a bitterly cold, snowy night—she clearly didn't mind the chill at all. High cultivation truly meant one could do whatever one pleased. Ran Qingmo continued leading the way, so Xu Yuan withdrew his gaze. This silence persisted for about fifteen minutes before someone among the three finally spoke. It was not Xu Yuan, but Ran Qingmo, who walked at the very front. Her voice was faint: "Tianyan, why... did you come?" As she spoke, she stopped and quietly looked back toward the little girl bringing up the rear. In the darkness, the wind and snow were heavy, yet the air was suddenly hushed. Xu Yuan stopped as well. He figured that since Ran Qingmo and Tianyan were old acquaintances, there was no reason to go on without uttering a single word. Tianyan indeed responded to Ran Qingmo's question. Her golden eyes, striking in the dark, cast a calm look at Ran Qingmo, but then she looked away and resumed staring at Xu Yuan. Great. Here was a girl of even fewer words than Ran Qingmo. *From now on, I'll just call you Little Ice Block.* Of course, if a fight broke out, Xu Yuan would much prefer she become a dead ice block. Ran Qingmo's serene eyes flickered slightly. She glanced sideways at Xu Yuan and carefully transmitted her voice: "Xu Yuan, why is she here?" Xu Yuan sighed and shrugged. "Don't know. Old Man Luo said it's because I slipped out of her deductions, so she came knocking. She's probably been tailing us for a while already." After a pause, he added a reminder: "And don't bother with voice transmissions. Tianyan can hear them all." Ran Qingmo glanced at Tianyan again. Tianyan looked back at Ran Qingmo. Ran Qingmo was the first to look away. After a brief pause, she asked in a low voice: "Is it dangerous with her following us?" Xu Yuan shrugged. "Not sure. Most likely, yes. I disrupted the future she foresaw. She wouldn't go through all the trouble of finding me just to take a look at my face." The Great Yan empire was vast; tracking down a single person across such a sprawling land was exceptionally difficult. Hearing this, Ran Qingmo drew her sword and gripped it in her hand, fixing her eyes on Tianyan. Waves of Source Qi rippled out from her body. "I'll hold her off. You escape with Mr. Luo?" This time, Ran Qingmo did not transmit her voice. She plotted right out in the open, making no effort to conceal it. Seeing this, Xu Yuan immediately glanced at Tianyan. The little girl still showed no reaction, remaining a detached bystander. Xu Yuan shook his head. "Old Man Luo said she might be Second-rank..." "Against an Origin Realm opponent, I might still be able to get away," Ran Qingmo said softly. Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. There was a massive chasm between a Second-rank Origin Realm and a Third-rank Grandmaster, where countless geniuses were trapped for a lifetime. The difference in combat power was bound to be immense. Back above the Jingjiang Xu Manor, when that mysterious Origin Realm expert attacked, Zhou Chen and Si Ziyu had their qi knocked right out of them in an instant. Yet Xu Yuan actually believed Ran Qingmo could escape from an Origin Realm expert. Both Old Man Luo and Xu Changge thought very highly of her, effectively placing her among those invincible within their own cultivation rank. Being invincible at one's rank might not allow someone to leap ranks in combat like they could at lower cultivation levels, but escaping was certainly within reach. However, even if the Tianyan before them were merely Second-rank, she could never be an ordinary Second-rank. The legacy cultivation method of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's master was no laughing matter. Thinking up to this point, Xu Yuan cast a glance at Tianyan and continued: "She might be Second-rank, but she could also be First-rank." Hearing that, Ran Qingmo fell silent. After a long pause, she suddenly asked: "Um... Xu Yuan, is your brother still around?" "..." Xu Yuan rolled his eyes, turned his head directly to Tianyan, and asked, "Hey, Tianyan, is Xu Changge around?" "..." Tianyan stared quietly at him. "Heh, guess not." Xu Yuan chuckled, then turned back to Ran Qingmo and asked, "Back when you saved her, was she always this quiet?" Ran Qingmo recalled briefly and nodded. "Mm, pretty much." Xu Yuan gave her a strange look. "Ran Qingmo, to run into a girl with this kind of personality in a perilous place like Jiuyuan Gorge and dare to keep her with you... didn't you find that strange at all?" Ran Qingmo paused in silence, tilted her head, and asked, "Mm? What's strange?" "..." Xu Yuan went silent. He looked at Ran Qingmo, then looked at Tianyan. Different faces, identical expressions—truly two people from the same mold. He was suddenly curious about how Ran Qingmo traveling with Tianyan through Jiuyuan Gorge had looked back then. Two ice blocks, one big and one small, probably unable to squeeze out a single sentence in half a day. Reining in his thoughts, Xu Yuan said, "Yeah, nothing strange at all. By the way, how much farther to the entrance of the secret realm?" Ran Qingmo hesitated slightly upon hearing this. "Are you taking her with us?" "If I could beat her, naturally I wouldn't." "We're already here." With that, Ran Qingmo pointed forward with a slender finger. Xu Yuan looked in the direction she indicated, but the snowy night in the mountains was pitch-black. Even with Source Qi focused into his eyes, his current cultivation only allowed him to see roughly a hundred meters around him. Advancing a bit further, Xu Yuan came to a slight halt. In the dark night, goose-feather snowflakes fell steadily from the sky. Before them lay a lake beneath a waterfall, ringed by withered trees. The waterfall had frozen solid, and the entire twenty-zhang-wide lake was iced over. Right in the center of the frozen lake a hundred meters away lay a two-zhang-long giant tiger with fleshy wings on its back. Even with the three of them approaching within a hundred meters, this beast, resembling a Qiongqi, showed no signs of movement whatsoever. Moving a bit closer, Xu Yuan understood why. The reason it was so quiet was that an icicle had pierced straight through its head. Spiderweb-like fractures spread outward across the thick ice beneath its body. Xu Yuan recognized the beast's species from its features. A cloud-winged tiger. It looked terrifying, but it was practically just for show, far weaker than the white blaze bird from earlier. Of course, saying the cloud-winged tiger wasn't strong was only true for cultivators; to ordinary mountain folk, this was a Mountain Lord that treated humans as cattle. No wonder the mountain villages throughout the Guanyin Mountain Range were deserted. Counting the white blaze bird they ate tonight and the blood-tusk boar from the day before yesterday, that already made three formidable demonic beasts. The other ferocious beasts lurking throughout the mountains were bound to be countless. The Guanyin Mountain Range was practically a nest of beasts. Reining in his thoughts, Xu Yuan swept his gaze around the surroundings. Seeing no entrance behind the frozen waterfall, he turned to ask: "Is the entrance at the bottom of the lake?" "Mm." "How do we get in?" Xu Yuan asked. The moment the words left his mouth, he caught Ran Qingmo drawing her black sword out of the corner of his eye, slashing downward toward the frozen lake. A sword gleam flared, slicing a streak of blue light through the snowy mountain night. A second of stillness passed before the wind pressure swept through, scattering the snow accumulated over the night into a fairyland of swirling white. Severing the water with a single stroke, the sword cleanly split the entire lake. Before the displaced water on either side could surge back toward the center, a chilling sword intent spread downward, freezing the exposed walls. A miniature ice gorge formed of lake water appeared before Xu Yuan's eyes. Ran Qingmo looked back and said softly, "Let's go. The entrance is at the lake bed." Tearing his amazed gaze away, Xu Yuan walked to the edge and peered down, frowning slightly. Though the lake was only twenty zhang across, its depths were pitch-black. "Need me to carry you?" Ran Qingmo asked as she walked over to him. Xu Yuan shook his head. "No need." This drop was at least a hundred meters, but who would be foolish enough to leap straight down? *Whoosh—* Wind rustled her robes, and Ran Qingmo jumped down without another word. "..." Xu Yuan clicked his tongue, glanced back at Tianyan, and said, "Tianyan, if you aren't going to kill me, I'm heading into the secret realm." "..." Tianyan stared at him, light shifting within her golden pupils, still saying nothing. Xu Yuan sighed. Circulating his cultivation method, he leapt down, kicking off the ice walls on either side to control his descent before landing safely on the lake bed. The moment he touched down, an entrance of dark purple light immediately drew his attention. The portal of light rested among the sand and stones at the bottom of the lake, its luminescence shifting as it emitted faint pulses of Source Qi. "This is it?" Xu Yuan asked, walking up to Ran Qingmo. "Mm." Ran Qingmo nodded. "The entrance to the Sword Sect secret realm my master took me to looked just like this." Xu Yuan pondered for a moment. "Is there anything to watch out for before entering?" Though he had entered countless secret realms in the game *Cangyuan*, this was his first time doing so in reality. Ran Qingmo shook her head. "Nothing. Just step right in." Xu Yuan considered this, searching his memories once more for information regarding this secret realm. About half a minute later, Xu Yuan moved to take Ran Qingmo's hand. If they didn't hold hands, the portal would randomly scatter people to different locations within the secret realm. Yet before Xu Yuan could take a single step, he felt someone take hold of his hand. It wasn't Ran Qingmo, because the hand was tiny. Looking sideways, he saw that Tianyan had jumped down at some point. She had appeared beside him without a sound and was holding onto his hand. Xu Yuan tried to pull his hand free, but couldn't. Applying a bit more strength, he ended up swinging Tianyan's petite body through the air in a full arc above the lake bed. Landing lightly back on her feet, Tianyan looked at him with the exact same expression as before. Xu Yuan looked at her as though looking at a madwoman, though his heart sank slightly. He had originally intended to use the teleportation mechanism to shake her off, but she seemed to already know about the secret realm entrance's quirks! Just as the thought crossed his mind, A cold gleam flashed without warning through the pitch-black lake bed! Ran Qingmo drew her sword. At a speed Xu Yuan could not track, her blade slashed down toward Tianyan's slender arm. In that split second, "Halt." A soft, childish murmur echoed across the quiet lake bed. Instantly, As if time had frozen, the black sword locked into place just a foot away from Tianyan, unable to advance even an inch. Gripping the hilt, Ran Qingmo's brow furrowed slightly. A second of silence passed, Threads of cold blue light flickered along the blade's edge, and the sword suspended in midair began to quiver. Tianyan's expression remained tranquil as she parted her small lips: "Seal." The cold blue gleam on the blade vanished instantly. Witnessing Tianyan's bizarre methods, Xu Yuan called out without hesitation: "Ran Qingmo!" "..." Ran Qingmo did not turn around, keeping her eyes fixed on Tianyan. From that brief probe, she had discerned a few things. Xu Yuan let out a breath and said softly: "Ran Qingmo, if she wants to hold on, let her. If there were real danger, Old Man Luo would have intervened already. He should know a thing or two about the Heaven-Deducing Art." That old man was probably peeping on them right now anyway. As long as the mental imprint hadn't been undone, he was still half on his side. Ran Qingmo hesitated for a moment before sheathing her sword. Tianyan subsequently lowered her eyes. Xu Yuan offered a faint smile. Holding Tianyan's hand, he extended his other hand toward Ran Qingmo: "Let's go." Ran Qingmo looked at Xu Yuan's outstretched hand with slight hesitation, but placed her hand in his nonetheless. Perhaps because of her cultivation method, her hand was very cold, but her snow-white skin was smooth and delicate. "Normal secret realms have teleportation platforms inside. The platform here is destroyed, so the arrival point is uncertain. If we don't hold onto each other, we'll be sent to different places." After a brief pause, Xu Yuan still offered an explanation. With that, he took Ran Qingmo and Tianyan and leapt into the dark purple portal of light. *** Inside the secret realm, the sky was an azure blue, without the slightest trace of the bitter cold and snow-choked mountains outside. Birds sang amidst fragrant flowers, the foliage grew lush, and a gentle breeze rippled across the meadow, sending rolling waves of green cascading through the grass. Xu Yuan slowly woke up, immediately rising to his feet on high alert as he surveyed his surroundings. This was an endless, grassy plain. At the far end of the plain stood a towering mountain, where magnificent jade pavilions could faintly be seen nestled among the summit's clouds. Xu Yuan frowned and looked around, only to see an unfamiliar young maiden dressed in a light-red palace gown, quietly squatting beside him with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her face was devoid of powder or rouge, pure and lovely. Her golden, ethereal eyes were as deep as mirror-clear ponds. Flat-chested, she revealed a pair of snow-white, jade-like bare feet beneath the gown, all ten toes pale and crystalline. No, she wasn't a stranger. This was Tianyan! Xu Yuan's expression shifted, and he took half a step back. "You're Tianyan?" "*Giggle—*" Seeing Xu Yuan react this way upon waking, the maiden let out a clear, bell-like laugh. Her lovely golden eyes curved into crescent moons as she slowly stood up, brushing off the bits of grass clinging to her palace gown, and leaned in close to Xu Yuan: "Take a guess? Guess right, and I'll tell you. "Ah~ never mind, you already guessed right. I am Tianyan." Xu Yuan glared at the woman. "Where is Ran Qingmo?" The maiden Tianyan tapped her chin with a slender jade finger and tilted her head: "Probably teleported somewhere else." Xu Yuan's brow furrowed. Tianyan giggled like an impish sprite, her golden eyes gleaming bewitchingly in the sunlight: "Don't look at me like that. I'm being serious. For now, there's no need to kill you, and no need to kill Ran Qingmo either."