Su Qi appeared by a lakeside when she entered.
The moment she arrived, she felt an ominous presence, but it seemed unable to touch her.
Su Qi stared at her hands in surprise. She had a good idea why.
The Misfortune Coin.
The misfortune it carried was far more potent than the ominous presence here. As someone already afflicted by misfortune, she couldn’t possibly be affected by a curse of this level.
Before she came, she had already heard that Curse Power was emanating from this place. Those with insufficient Cultivation were likely to be affected by the curse’s ominous influence.
"Xiaomo, can you sense anything nearby?" Here, Su Qi’s own senses were severely restricted.
Xiao Xiaomo immediately replied, "I can sense a little, but there’s a lot of interference. If I’m not mistaken, the interference must be the Curse Power you mentioned.
By the way, Jiu Xi, I heard it’s very dangerous in here. You should leave as soon as you can."
Su Qi asked, "Was that what the boss in your group said again?"
Xiao Xiaomo answered, "Yeah, he’s usually never wrong. I also heard that the Sword Cultivation Lineage might be affected.
But it seems the nearby mountain peaks are on standby. Oh, and I heard Senior Holy Land Jian Shisan is here too."
Su Qi had been a little worried, but as long as her senior uncle was around, her husband should be fine.
Now, she just needed to figure out how to get back alive.
Su Qi asked, "By the way, could you help me ask him how to resolve the problem here? He can name any price in Spirit Stones."
Xiao Xiaomo: "Okay, I’ll ask."
Perception No. 1 Room
Xiao Xiaomo said to Chen Yi, "See if you can contact Brother Zuo. Tell him Holy Land Jiu Xi wants to make an offer for him to share the solution to this Secret Realm."
Soon, Jiang Zuo received Chen Yi’s message.
Normal signals were useless here.
Jiang Zuo had Duan Qiao, while Su Qi was using the perception room’s contact method (which had recently been upgraded).
"Rejected." Jiang Zuo replied to Chen Yi directly, without any hesitation.
The answer surprised Xiao Xiaomo and the others for a moment, but then they understood.
’Boss Po Xiao has his eyes on the Saintess, after all. Jiu Xi’s name doesn’t carry enough weight.’
But the reason Jiang Zuo rejected Jiu Xi wasn’t that her name didn’t carry enough weight.
On the contrary, in the entire world, no one’s name carried more weight than Jiu Xi’s.
Jiang Zuo would never refuse any of Su Qi’s requests.
But the premise was that Su Qi had to *ask* him to do it, not *hire* him to do it.
’Hire him for a price in Spirit Stones?’
’In her dreams.’
’Unless she offered to have dinner with me.’
’But Su Qi would never offer that kind of reward. If she did, it would mean she knew his identity.’
’And at that point, it wouldn’t be dinner together. It would be a treacherous banquet.’
Of course, Jiang Zuo wouldn’t let anything happen to Su Qi here. He had come in, so her safety was his responsibility to protect.
More importantly, he didn’t know what the right course of action was either.
When he came here in his past life, the Secret Realm had already merged with the mortal world. It didn’t have all these strange things.
Back then, there was only the Master of Curses and endless Curse Power.
————
Su Qi, having been rejected, wasn’t particularly bothered.
She just wanted to give it a try. If it didn’t work, so be it. She could rely on herself.
Right now, her priority was to find her senior and junior sisters.
Once her senior sister was with her, many things would be much easier to solve.
Jingyue was the Saintess, after all, and she was full of ideas. Su Qi felt that although her senior sister was a bit eccentric...
...she inspired a sense of trust and security.
As long as Jingyue was around, no matter the problem, there would always be a way. Even if there wasn’t, she wouldn’t let people fall into despair.
Sister Jingyue was just that kind of wonderful enigma.
Just then, Xiao Xiaomo said, "Jiu Xi, I feel the interference nearby getting stronger. The Curse Power has probably intensified. You’d better be careful."
Jiu Xi: "Okay, give me the location. I’ll go take a look. My senior sister probably headed to where the curse is strongest."
Xiao Xiaomo: "..."
’Is the Saintess really that reckless?’
’Or maybe that’s just what you call guts.’
’Without that kind of guts, how could she have caught Boss Po Xiao’s attention?’
Xiao Xiaomo wondered if she should mention Po Xiao and reveal some of the things he had done to help them.
’But the Secret Realm is too dangerous right now. I’ll save that information for later.’
After getting the coordinates, Su Qi headed toward the area with the densest Curse Power.
————
After rejecting Su Qi, Jiang Zuo continued on his way up.
Just as he was about to ascend further, he suddenly sensed significant energy fluctuations ahead.
After rounding a bend, Jiang Zuo saw a sizeable platform ahead. On it were several people surrounding a little girl.
If not for the Protective Treasure on the girl, she might have already met with disaster.
Jiang Zuo glanced at the people and saw they had been corrupted by Curse Power.
They were already beginning to be assimilated by it.
What surprised Jiang Zuo was that there was no Curse Power in the vicinity. ’How did these guys get hit?’
But he didn’t plan to ask, as he wouldn’t get any answers from them now.
Jiang Zuo then planned to head straight up.
But just as he passed the large platform, Jiang Zuo suddenly heard the little girl cry out, "Don’t come any closer! My senior sister is nearby!"
Hearing this, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.
He had heard that voice before. He turned to take a look.
’Candidacy Saintess Xiaoxiao?’ Jiang Zuo was a bit surprised. ’She’s not with Sister Jingyue?’
’That means their group is in great danger.’
But Jiang Zuo didn’t overthink it and simply threw two Fireballs over.
The Fire Elemental Minions burned for their master, offering him their all as they charged.
The elemental fireballs slammed into the men, and Jiang Zuo successfully drew their aggro.
They quickly gave up on Xiaoxiao and charged at Jiang Zuo instead.
Jiang Zuo watched them, making no big moves. Instead, he took out the Curse Bead and the Purification Bead, then activated the pair.
The Curse Bead and Purification Bead rotated around Jiang Zuo as black smoke began to rise from the corrupted men.
Then, Jiang Zuo took out the Cursed Stone, and the black smoke was rapidly absorbed into it.
Freed from the control of the Curse Qi, the men all collapsed to the ground, their status unknown.
Afterward, Jiang Zuo brought out the Battle Spirit Stele and had it provide him with Spiritual Qi.
Now he had three items revolving around him, but thankfully, the Mist was thick enough that these people couldn’t see what they were.
Jiang Zuo had dealt with the men in a single move, leaving Xiaoxiao completely stunned.
For a moment, she even forgot to thank him.
Jiang Zuo turned and began to walk away. But just as he turned, he spoke, "Bring that child with you."
Chen An and Chen Yu, who had just arrived behind him, were taken aback.
They looked at each other.
Chen Yu said, "He’s not talking to us, is he?"
Chen An replied, "He has to be. Let’s follow him. He seems to be a true senior. He dealt with those men in the blink of an eye. Sticking close to a powerful figure is what’s important now."
Chen An then walked over to Xiaoxiao and said, "I am Chen An of the Sword Cultivation Lineage, and this is my junior sister, Chen Yu. Are you alright, Little Fairy?"
Xiaoxiao finally snapped out of her daze. "Oh, I... I’m fine. I’m a Candi— a junior disciple from the Yue Lian Holy Land. I just got separated from my senior sister."
The Holy Sister had taught her not to casually reveal her status as a Candidacy Saintess.
"So you’re a Holy Land Disciple. A pleasure to meet you. But we should hurry and catch up," Chen An said.
Xiaoxiao nodded and then said, "Thank you for saving me. When I see the Holy Sister later, I’ll be sure to tell her."
Chen An and Chen Yu were both stunned. ’The Holy Sister?’
’The Saintess Yue Lian?’
Saintess Yue Lian was no ordinary disciple. Not even core disciples could compare to her. In the entire Holy Land, she was arguably the single most important disciple.
And someone who could come here with the Saintess was definitely no ordinary disciple either.