Chapter 78 - 53: What’s There to Fear?

Li Shuang frowned.

As the Supreme Forget Emotion Technique circulated, an immense wave of malice radiated from Ye Zhaozhao at that moment. Lili’s crisp voice chimed in Li Shuang’s mind.

"Sister Li Shuang, she stinks so much," Lili said, sounding a bit aggrieved. Every time she encountered Ye Zhaozhao, her little nose suffered immensely.

Feeling a pang of sympathy, Li Shuang mentally comforted the Little Sword Spirit. "Block your sense of smell for now. I’ll leave right away."

Lili obediently agreed.

Li Shuang cast an indifferent glance at Ye Zhaozhao. "It is best if there are no more ’coincidences’ between us. Junior Sister Ye, Junior Brothers, we will part ways here."

With that, Li Shuang turned and walked away.

Ye Zhaozhao’s expression turned slightly cold. She had paid a heavy price for this trip into the Secret Realm. First, she tracked Li Shuang’s location, and then she traded for the ability to temporarily unseal her Spiritual Power. To prevent Li Shuang from escaping, the system had even interfered with the teleportation array, deliberately placing the four of them near her target.

The system was never a benevolent entity. She had demanded so much from it; if she could end Li Shuang here and seize all of her aptitudes and luck, repaying the debt would naturally be easy. But if she failed to achieve her goal this time, given the system’s nature, she would likely face a fate worse than death. Therefore, during this journey into the Langya Secret Realm, she had to kill Li Shuang!

"Senior Sister Li!" Ye Zhaozhao flashed a sweet smile. "Don’t act out of spite at a time like this. Everyone knows that Third Senior Brother has great luck in the Secret Realm. If you follow us and we find anything good, we can split it equally among ourselves. Wouldn’t that be nice?"

A trace of resentment hid in the depths of Ye Zhaozhao’s eyes. Her gaze slithered over Li Shuang like a venomous snake that had cornered its prey. She couldn’t let Li Shuang get away. Her Cultivation would only be restored for a mere ten breaths of time. If Li Shuang ventured deep into the inner region, where dangers lurked at every turn, and encountered a crisis that forced Ye Zhaozhao to unseal her Cultivation prematurely to save herself, how would she kill Li Shuang?

Upon entering the Secret Realm this time, she needed to kill Li Shuang, but she also had to find a way to harvest vast resources. If her haul wasn’t bountiful enough, Master Lingxu would not be pleased. Thus, she still needed to rely on Chang Le’an’s luck to secure enough treasures. Throwing the other two Lingxu Peak disciples into the mix would only increase their overall yield, especially since those two would eventually hand everything over anyway.

Ye Zhaozhao had her scheme perfectly calculated. She wanted the resources, and she wanted Li Shuang’s life. The best approach was to keep Li Shuang within her line of sight at all times. Once they were about to leave the outer region, she would find an opening and strike decisively! That would be the best of both worlds.

"There is no need," Li Shuang replied impassively. She glanced at the other two Lingxu Peak disciples and added calmly, "There haven’t been any demon beasts in this forest. I suspect a Great Demon has appeared here. We shouldn’t stay in this place for long."

She had given them a warning. Whether these people chose to listen or not was none of her concern. Ignoring Ye Zhaozhao completely, Li Shuang turned and walked away.

Ye Zhaozhao frowned and stepped forward to stop her, but Chang Le’an’s sarcastic voice rang out beside her.

"Zhaozhao, why do you care about her? It’s not like you don’t know her naturally jealous temperament. During the last Langya Secret Realm trial, I took first place while her results were mediocre. She’s probably still jealous of me in her heart. How could she possibly swallow her pride now to leech off my luck? Let’s just gather our own harvest. As for her, let her fend for herself."

Chang Le’an sneered, his eyes full of disdain as he watched Li Shuang’s retreating figure. Li Shuang heard his words, but she didn’t pause her steps for even a second. She had said what needed to be said. If Chang Le’an was determined to court death, it was no longer her problem.

Ye Zhaozhao sighed and said with a wronged expression, "Third Senior Brother, I just thought that since we are fellow disciples after all, I should go out of my way to invite her."

"You’re just too kind! From now on, don’t even bother with people like her." Chang Le’an’s face flushed with excitement. "I have a feeling that there might be a great serendipity in this forest! Come, follow me!"

Chang Le’an took large strides deeper into the woods.

Ye Zhaozhao’s eyes flickered. She shot a glance in Li Shuang’s direction, suppressing the urge to chase after her immediately. Gathering resources was equally important. Since Chang Le’an felt there was a great opportunity in this forest, she would check it out first. Once she got her hands on the treasures, there would still be time to hunt down Li Shuang.

The two disciples, however, remembered Li Shuang’s warning and hesitated.

"Brother Chang. Senior Sister Li makes a valid point. For a forest this large to lack even a single beast’s roar is truly bizarre. Could there... really be a Great Demon emerging here?"

Chang Le’an knitted his brows, his expression instantly turning ugly. "Are you questioning me?"

The disciple stiffened. "No, I just thought..."

"Do you even know what top-tier luck is?" Chang Le’an said with absolute arrogance. "If it weren’t for me, do you think the four of us would have been teleported so close to each other? That was the effect of my luck! So what if there are no demon beasts? There’s nothing strange about it. With my fortune, let alone not encountering a demon beast for a little while, it would be perfectly normal even if we didn’t see one for three months. You two just need to shut your mouths and follow me closely!"

Chang Le’an spoke with overwhelming confidence. The two disciples exchanged a glance and ultimately chose to believe him.

"Third Senior Brother, where do we go from here?" Ye Zhaozhao asked softly, her eyes gleaming.

If she hadn’t known in advance that the system had cheated to teleport the four of them together, she might have actually been bluffed by Chang Le’an’s grand speech. However, even though that specific instance wasn’t his doing, his reputation for astonishing luck shouldn’t be entirely baseless.

"We’ll just walk straight ahead," Chang Le’an said without hesitation. "Once we harvest a mountain of treasures, won’t that Li Shuang be filled with endless regret when she sees it?"

Chang Le’an couldn’t wait to slap Li Shuang in the face with his success.

Ye Zhaozhao nodded obediently. "Then we will follow Third Senior Brother’s lead."

Her trust made Chang Le’an puff his chest out even further as he marched straight ahead.

Along the way, he casually swiped at the surrounding vegetation with his treasure sword, showing absolutely no intention of concealing his tracks. With him making such a racket, would it really not attract any demon beasts? The remaining two disciples were plagued by fear and trepidation, but they had no choice but to follow.

Chang Le’an swaggered about as he searched for resources.

Suddenly, a fierce gale swept through the previously quiet forest. RUSTLE, RUSTLE. The leaves rustled wildly, and it felt as though the entire forest had jolted.

"Brother Chang!" The two disciples turned pale with fright.

"What are you afraid of?!" Chang Le’an barked severely.

The wind quickly died down, and the world returned to a state of tranquility.

Chang Le’an raised an eyebrow and turned back to them. "See? It was just a gust of wind. You guys are too..."

As he turned his head, he suddenly saw looks of absolute terror plastered across the others’ faces.