The biggest change was at the entrance just outside the Sword Cultivation Lineage’s domain.
When the Curse Power erupted, the original massive pit expanded in an instant. The Curse Power swept outward, and if the members of the Sword Cultivation Lineage hadn’t been standing guard outside, that single blast would have wiped out nearly all the Low-tier Cultivators.
The deep pit had also grown several times larger from that blast.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, isn’t this a bit much?" someone cried out.
"It is a little over the top. If we hadn’t retreated so quickly just now, would we have been absorbed, or infected directly by the Curse Power?" others added.
"I’m gonna back up a bit more. I heard the disciples on a nearby peak were ordered to evacuate. I’m going to follow their lead."
"I’m going with you. There’s no way I’m going in there now. At this level, isn’t it just a suicide mission?"
The members of the Sword Cultivation Lineage were equally shocked. The prestigious Sword Cultivator elders stared at the deep pit one by one, every single one of them with a deep frown.
This Secret Realm had indeed exceeded their expectations.
"It seems this place is truly not so simple. Disperse the outsiders. Have some people stand guard here. We’ll split our forces and send half our number in to investigate," said a white-haired Sword Cultivator.
As he spoke, the white-haired Sword Cultivator led three others and charged into the Secret Realm’s entrance.
The others took up guard positions at a distance.
Jian Shisan stood high in the sky, able to do nothing but sigh.
There was only one Daoist among them. They were going in to die.
He could feel a terrifying presence below. Once it broke free from the earth, the only thing he could do was flee with the Saintess and the others.
Jian Shisan possessed an invincible heart and the courage to challenge anything.
But he wasn’t a fool. The being was far more powerful than he was at his peak, so of course he wouldn’t face it head-on.
Unless his junior sister was leading the charge.
Anywhere Yue Xi was, as long as Yue Xi didn’t retreat, he wouldn’t retreat either, nor would he feel the slightest bit of fear.
He would give it his all.
The entrance had opened up significantly now, but Jian Shisan still couldn’t enter. Or rather, no one at Tier Eight or above could enter.
The terrifying presence inside was repelling them.
Unless someone was stronger than it, or its equal in power.
Any obviously powerful expert would be repelled. It was a self-preservation mechanism.
————
Liu Yiyi, holding up her Holy Light while carrying Yiruo on her back, said, "I can’t hold on. My Holy Light is about to give out. We’re done for if this keeps up. Especially since the curse just grew stronger. I have no idea what this place will turn into in the end.
The two of us are too weak. We’re going to die here at this rate.
But what’s up with you? Aren’t you a Sword Cultivator? How did you end up developing Sword Intent?"
That’s right. Sword Intent was now surging around Zhong Yiyang’s body.
A Sword Cultivator, yet he had developed Sword Intent at a time like this.
His master was going to beat him to death for this.
"I don’t know. It just happened in the heat of the moment. I don’t get it either," Zhong Yiyang said helplessly.
"Did you learn a Sword Skill?" Liu Yiyi asked.
"Haven’t I mentioned it to Sister Liu? Fellow Daoist Po Xiao taught me an incredibly powerful Sword Skill. He said it could lead directly to the Great Dao," said Zhong Yiyang.
Liu Yiyi was left speechless.
’Taught by Po Xiao?’
’And it leads directly to the Great Dao?’
To them, Po Xiao’s assessments were never what they seemed.
If Po Xiao said something was "average," it was usually anything but.
If Po Xiao offered a bit of praise, the thing was incredible. And if he said it was "very good," then it was practically heaven-defying.
So what kind of Cultivation Technique was this Sword Skill that Po Xiao claimed could lead directly to the Great Dao?
’Did Zhong Yiyang get that lucky?’
She recalled that Po Xiao had never taught them anything, aside from a few minor Nightmare tricks he’d shown Mo Yan.
Liu Yiyi said, "Did you step in dog shit or something?"
Zhong Yiyang was rendered speechless.
Still, Zhong Yiyang’s Sword Intent provided them with a buffer, allowing them to hang on.
————
After countless hardships, Su Qi finally reached the base of the mountain peak.
To her surprise, she discovered an entrance at the base of the peak. A thick wave of Curse Power was pouring out of it, as if this was the source of all the Curse Power below.
Without any hesitation, Su Qi walked straight inside.
When she entered, she found the space to be astonishingly vast—a whole new world unto itself.
Su Qi headed straight toward the area where the Curse Power was densest.
She could feel it. She was close, very close now.
The Misfortune Coin alone was no longer enough to resist the Curse Power.
Fortunately, the mark on her body was glowing continuously, seemingly also capable of resisting the Curse Power.
’That makes sense,’ she thought. ’Qin Qianning studies curses, after all.’
The mark had appeared because of her, so it was bound to have some related resistance.
Before long, Su Qi saw them: three massive stone steles.
Beneath the steles was the source of it all. If the steles were to break, that thing would burst forth from the earth, and no one would be able to stop it.
That terrifying Curse Power could devour almost anything.
However, the middle stele emitted a faint glow, as if it were still active, while the other two were pitch-black.
Curious, Su Qi started to walk over for a closer look, but after just two steps, she heard a familiar voice. "Senior Sister, don’t touch it! It’s very dangerous."
Su Qi was surprised. The voice had come from nearby.
When she looked, she saw it was Qing Lian, struggling to support herself with her spear.
"Qing Lian? What are you doing here?" Su Qi asked. "Where are the others?"
Qing Lian immediately replied, "We were separated when we came in. I found our Holy Sister, but she said she wanted to go into the stele to take a look. She gave me a talisman and told me to leave, but I wanted to wait for her to come out, so I’ve been staying here."
As she spoke, Qing Lian was once again buried by the cursed aura.
She was completely shrouded in darkness; no wonder Su Qi hadn’t seen her at first.
Then, Qing Lian cleared it away again with her spear.
Su Qi looked at the glowing middle stele. "The Holy Sister went into the second stele?"
Qing Lian nodded. "Yes. I wanted to go in, too, but I couldn’t get through. I couldn’t enter the others, either.
Senior Sister, you don’t have a Rune from the Holy Sister. It’s very dangerous."
Su Qi smiled. "It’s alright. You go on ahead. I’ll go bring her out."
With that, Su Qi walked toward the middle stele.
Qing Lian couldn’t convince her and could only stand and watch.
Going up there would just mean holding Su Qi back, and she wasn’t about to do that.
When Su Qi reached the middle stele, she touched it, wanting to see if she could enter.
But she found that the stele was rejecting her—rejecting everyone.
It was as if it were already full inside; there was no way in.
Then, Su Qi turned her attention to the first stele.
As she walked over and touched this stele, she felt it: she could enter. The stele wasn’t rejecting her.
A moment later, Su Qi passed right through the stone.
Qing Lian, watching from the side, felt rather helpless. ’As expected,’ she thought, ’both of my Senior Sisters are special.’
She had just tried so many times herself but couldn’t get in at all.
But she didn’t dwell on it, deciding only to wait right where she was for them to come out.
She was just that stubborn.
She could never bring herself to flee alone. Perhaps she could still be of some help.