Chapter 82 - 57: Mishap

Langya Secret Realm.

On a vast plain.

An impassive man emotionlessly sheathed his sword. Before him, a Fox Demon vanished on the spot, its eyes filled with resentment.

"Demon Clan..." The man’s brow furrowed slightly.

"Brother Yan, I owe you one! If it weren’t for you, I would have been the one forced out," a disciple from the Cangyuan Sect said, still shaken.

Yan Fan nodded. "Be careful. I’m afraid the Demon Clan has infiltrated the Langya Secret Realm this time. If you run into disciples from the other Six Sects, remind the weaker ones not to leave the outer region."

If they stay in the outer region, they can still teleport away even if they encounter the Demon Clan.

But once they leave the outer region and are hunted by these members of the Demon Clan, they will truly die!

"The Demon Clan has infiltrated?! I understand! I’ll tell the others right away." The disciple hastily agreed.

Yan Fan nodded and left immediately, a cold light glinting in the depths of his eyes.

’The Demon Clan...’

’This time, the casualties among the Six Sects will probably be beyond imagination.’

The Demon Clan wouldn’t send weaklings. Even at the same Foundation Establishment Stage of cultivation, the Demon Clan has the advantage of their bloodline. Human Clan Cultivators don’t hold an edge at this stage.

Most disciples will be no match for these Demon Clan geniuses!

’However...’

Yan Fan narrowed his eyes.

’If it’s that Li Shuang, she should be able to win, right?’

For the first time, a flicker of fighting spirit appeared in his eyes.

「Ten years ago.」

He had thought he was a genius in a league of his own.

But the Sword Sect had Li Shuang!

A Top-grade Ice Spirit Root. Her Spiritual Power Cultivation and Sword Dao Understanding both advanced by leaps and bounds.

Outsiders often speculated about who was the number one genius of the younger generation: him or Li Shuang.

But no one knew.

He and Li Shuang had once clashed in a Secret Realm.

That time...

Li Shuang had won.

He had been incredibly frustrated, thinking the news would quickly spread throughout the Six Sects, and Li Shuang would rightfully become the number one genius.

But he waited in dread for days, only to discover that no one in the entire Six Sects knew he had lost to Li Shuang.

Li Shuang... She hadn’t said a word about it.

Yan Fan recalled Li Shuang’s indifferent gaze from that day, and his eyes couldn’t help but waver.

’Or perhaps...’

’Beating me was something so insignificant to her that it wasn’t even worth mentioning.’

’She never gave it a second thought, so naturally, she wouldn’t use it as something to boast about.’

Later.

Li Shuang then fell silent for ten years.

In those ten years, however, he had advanced by leaps and bounds.

He entered the Divinity Transformation Stage and even condensed a Sword Domain.

And Li Shuang?

It was said she was still stuck in the same place.

Everyone said it.

Now, there was finally no doubt about who held the title of number one genius.

They were all celebrating his firm hold on the throne of the number one genius.

But whenever Yan Fan thought of that terrifyingly powerful woman, he just couldn’t believe it.

’How could a sword so sharp suddenly fall silent for ten years?’

Recently.

He’d vaguely heard that Li Shuang had undergone Scattering and Rebuilding, rushing to the Peak of Qi Refining in a short time. She had even achieved a feat of Qi Refining beats Foundation Establishment to secure a spot in the Secret Realm.

Even though Li Shuang’s cultivation was now only at the Qi Refining level...

Yan Fan had a gut feeling.

She would still be his greatest opponent.

’Li Shuang!’

’I will wait for you to reach the Divinity Transformation Stage, and then, we will fight again!’

「In a mountain forest.」

Jiang Yunge wiped the blood from her face, her expression turning grim.

’The Demon Clan, it was actually the Demon Clan!’

She and that member of the Demon Clan had fought until both were grievously injured. She was in bad shape now, but her opponent wasn’t any better off.

Even she had ended up like this.

If it were other disciples, they would likely meet a grim fate if they were caught alone.

’I have to! I have to tell the other disciples that the Demon Clan has entered the Langya Secret Realm as soon as possible!’

Jiang Yunge briefly regulated her breathing, then went to find disciples from the other sects.

Guiyi Sect.

Thousand Mechanism Sect.

Bright Light Sect.

Jueyi Sect.

Disciples from the Six Sects began to encounter the Demon Clan one after another.

Some were forced out, while others managed to turn the tables and kill their attackers.

On the very first day the Secret Realm opened, the once relatively peaceful outer region had shockingly become a battlefield.

「Outside the Secret Realm.」

The Six Sects had all fallen somewhat silent.

Normally, almost no disciples would be eliminated in the first few days.

But this time...

Not long after the Secret Realm opened, disciples from the Six Sects were already being forced out one by one.

These disciples brought news of the Demon Clan’s infiltration.

The upper echelons of the various sects all looked grim for a moment.

The ones inside the Secret Realm were the geniuses of the younger generation from the Six Sects!

If they only stayed in the outer region, they could naturally return using their Tokens and would not be in any mortal danger.

But this also meant that they had lost the chance to obtain greater opportunities!

They knew their own people best.

The true geniuses of the Six Sects were mostly prideful. Even knowing that the Demon Clan had infiltrated, they would still venture into the inner and core regions.

At that point...

It would no longer be a matter of just getting injured—they could truly fall!

But the Secret Realm was already open, and for these three months, no outsiders could enter.

They could only watch anxiously from the outside, unable to do anything!

Lin Qingling looked even more worried. She also had two disciples inside. She knew Li Shuang and Liu Juncheng; they would most likely enter the inner region.

’The situation is so complicated this time. I hope nothing happens to them.’

"Sect Leader, are you not worried?" Lin Qingling couldn’t help but ask when she saw Meng Yifei’s calm expression.

Meng Yifei said slowly, "True experts do not fear any trial."

Lin Qingling shot to her feet, a cold sneer on her lips. "So, these disciples are all insignificant to you? As long as a true expert can be forged, it doesn’t matter if some of them die?"

Meng Yifei looked at her but did not speak.

Furious, Lin Qingling stormed off.

Master Lingxu’s eyes flickered. "Sect Leader, Peak Master Lin has always been like this. Don’t take it to heart."

Meng Yifei did not reply either.

He just slowly closed his eyes, and the hand clenched into a fist inside his sleeve gradually relaxed.

The Demon Clan, the Demon Clan, and the Human Clan.

This world was in its most chaotic era in a thousand years.

Such an era was fraught with crisis, but only in such an era could peerless experts truly emerge.

Whether or not the Sword Sect would have a place in the world of the future all depended on how far these young disciples could go.

While the outside world worried about these geniuses...

Inside the Langya Secret Realm, a worried Yan Xiao walked over to Li Shuang’s side. "Senior Sister Li, who knows how many from the Demon Clan have entered this time. I’m afraid the other disciples will suffer heavy losses."

Li Shuang nodded. "Let’s go. We should try to inform the other disciples. Those with lower cultivation should do their best to travel in groups. The disciples of the Six Sects should also set aside their sectarian views. No matter which sect they belong to, they must join forces against the enemy to preserve the strength of the Human Clan to the greatest extent possible."

Yan Xiao agreed and obediently followed behind Li Shuang.

His expression was a little too cheerful.

Li Shuang couldn’t help but glance back at him. "I thought everyone on Lingxu Peak saw me as a monster, yet you don’t seem to be afraid of me."