Shi Qinxin reheated the cooled demon beast meat, her gaze unconsciously drifting towards the stone.
"..."
Her heart was filled with unspoken emotions.
"Junior Sister, are you really going to use that kind of filthy thing to refine pills...?"
Usually, she didn't find those demon beasts disgusting when refining Aphrodisiac Pills, but after what just happened, Shi Qinxin now ranked Long Han below her most hated scumbags.
"Third Senior Sister, he's from the Dragon Clan. Compared to high-rank demonic beasts, his effect will definitely be better." Tian Ning didn't care; why not use readily available materials?
Shi Qinxin swallowed, admiring her junior sister's efficiency.
If the pill is successfully refined, given the Dragon Clan's effect, it might trigger a small beast tide...
After eating the demon beast meat, the two rested. Tian Ning read a storybook, while Shi Qinxin, feeling restless, took out her dusty sword from her dimensional pouch, examining it for a long time before putting it away.
The two completely ignored the strange sounds coming from behind the stone.
The next day, Long Han changed into a brand-new set of clothes, his face restored to its original appearance, except for a certain sense of exhaustion that suggested extreme physical depletion...
Who knows if this bottle is some kind of magical artifact? Its capacity doesn't seem very large, yet it hasn't been filled after several attempts... He was about to collapse!
"Here you go!"
He held up the bottle, trying to stuff it into Tian Ning's embrace!
Shi Qinxin quickly took out a handkerchief to take it, as if it were some kind of filth. She vigorously wiped it with over ten handkerchiefs, until the bottle shone cleanly, yet she was still dissatisfied.
Long Han's temples throbbed; he was about to be angered to death: "If you dislike it so much, give it back!"
Shi Qinxin ignored him, wrapping the bottle in another handkerchief before giving it to Tian Ning.
Tian Ning put the bottle into her dimensional pouch, planning to refine an upgraded version of the Aphrodisiac Pill when she had time.
She tossed a recording stone towards Long Han: "Alright, let's part ways. Go do whatever you need to do."
They still needed to find the Blazing Flame Fruit; having this unstable factor around was too troublesome.
Long Han looked at Tian Ning in surprise. He knew their purpose for this trip and thought Tian Ning would again use a recording stone as a condition for him to help them snatch the Blazing Flame Fruit. Unexpectedly, she let him go so easily.
Surely... she just wanted to humiliate me, right?
"..."
Tian Ning and Shi Qinxin didn't bother with what Long Han was thinking. Calculating the time, if they hurried, by noon, when the sun was at its hottest, the Blazing Flame Fruit should be ripe.
As soon as the two took a step, the ground trembled violently.
"What's going on?"
Shi Qinxin grabbed Tian Ning, feeling the entire secret realm shaking. A bad feeling welled up in her heart.
The secret realm, which had been lush and green, peaceful and harmonious, was now undergoing a sudden change. Thick dark clouds gathered overhead, as if a major event was about to happen. Even more unsettling was the appearance of large red lines on the ground, seemingly converging together?
Long Han keenly sensed something and frowned.
"Something's wrong... There's a presence above that of a high-rank demonic beast."
Shi Qinxin was surprised: "How is that possible? The elders from the Celestial Mechanism Pavilion clearly calculated that this secret realm was safe..."
"Human, don't question the Dragon Clan's perception! The demonic beasts here are wrong!"
Tian Ning didn't doubt Long Han's words, because the little sparrow on her head was anxiously pecking at her twice with its beak.
"Third Senior Sister, please let go of me for a moment." Tian Ning said.
After Shi Qinxin released her, Tian Ning took a sword from her storage pouch, stood on it, and used sword flight to rise to a certain height, looking down...
Long Han was surprised: "What is her cultivation level? She can even perform sword flight?"
Generally, sword cultivators need to be at least at the Foundation Establishment stage, but how long has Tian Ning been in the Cultivation World since coming from the Mortal Realm? Tian Ning possessed a treasure that concealed her cultivation base; Long Han couldn't discern her realm. It couldn't be the sword... a sword spirit?
This thought was extinguished as quickly as it arose. Sword spirits are incredibly precious; even the Dragon King wouldn't be so extravagant.
Shi Qinxin was equally surprised. She knew her junior sister was only at the Ninth Stage of Qi Refinement.
Tian Ning returned, she put away her sword, her tone more serious than ever: "Third Senior Sister, crush the jade token! We must leave here immediately!"
"What's wrong?"
Their journey together made Shi Qinxin immediately take out the jade token without hesitation.
"This secret realm is truly wrong. If we don't leave, everyone here will likely die." Tian Ning took Shi Qinxin's jade token and crushed it along with her own.
However, one second, two seconds, three seconds... they remained in place.
Shi Qinxin: "What's going on? The jade token is ineffective?"
Tian Ning looked at Long Han.
Long Han shrugged: "I'm Wenren Yang's contract beast; I don't have a jade token."
Those old fellows wouldn't waste a spot giving him a jade token.
As they spoke, a burst of fireworks like exploding firecrackers appeared in the southeastern sky. Shi Qinxin recognized it: "It's the Dan Ding Sect's assembly signal."
The location wasn't far from them; it was very likely Helian Boda's group.
"Let's go take a look. We need to find a way out of the secret realm."
Tian Ning and Shi Qinxin hurried in that direction, Long Han, seemingly lost in thought, followed behind them.
Upon arriving, it was as they had guessed: Helian Boda had released the signal. Besides the Dan Ding Sect disciples, other sects' disciples had also discovered the secret realm's anomaly and gathered here.
"Since the sky in this secret realm suddenly changed, the spirit plants we dig up from the ground wither instantly!"
"Yes! What's going on? Even the spirit fruits picked from the trees are the same!"
"Senior Brother Helian, the Dan Ding Sect has always understood spirit plants. Do you think there's a problem with the soil?"
...
A group of disciples surrounded the Dan Ding Sect members, chattering away.
Tian Ning saw Wenren Yang in the crowd. He also spotted her and Long Han from afar.
"Sixth Sister... Long Han, didn't you say you had something to do in the secret realm? Why are you with Sixth Sister and the others?" Wenren Yang walked over and asked.
Something to do?
He intended to use this opportunity to kill!
Long Han, feeling guilty, didn't directly answer: "Xiaoyang, see if crushing your jade token can get us out of the secret realm."
"Why crush the jade token?"
Wenren Yang didn't understand. It was only the second day, and there were so many treasures in the secret realm. Why leave so early? Moreover, he hadn't found the Beauty-Nourishing Flower his sister wanted.
Tian Ning headed straight for the center of the crowd to find Helian Boda.
At only fifteen years old, she wasn't tall, especially among the male cultivators. However, no one expected her strength to be so extraordinary; she pushed aside the people gathered in front of Helian Boda in one go, stating concisely: "Senior Brother Helian, there's danger in the secret realm. My senior sister and I crushed our jade tokens, but we can't teleport out!"
The disciples who had been troubled by the inability to harvest the spirit plants, which was like having spirit stones in front of them but being unable to take them, immediately fell silent.
"Is that true?"
Helian Boda, who had finally gotten rid of the crowd and hadn't even caught his breath, was startled by Tian Ning's words! How could the teleportation jade tokens malfunction?
"Junior Sister, don't scare people. How could the teleportation jade tokens malfunction?"
"The elders of various sects are guarding outside. If there's a real problem with the secret realm, the elders will definitely notice something wrong!"
"Yeah, you need to provide evidence. If you're so capable, take out your jade token and crush it to prove it!"
Several disciples didn't believe Tian Ning's words and retorted.
Shi Qinxin protected Tian Ning: "My junior sister and I definitely crushed our jade tokens before discovering that we couldn't get out. You've got no jade tokens, so how can we prove it?!"
Tian Ning didn't care whether they believed her or not. She was waiting for Helian Boda to make a decision.
Among all the disciples who came to the secret realm, Helian Boda was the most prestigious. His character was responsible; he would surely realize the seriousness of the situation!
As expected, Helian Boda immediately found a disciple to test it.
He clearly stated that he would give the disciple sufficient compensation regardless of the outcome. The disciple said nothing more and crushed his jade token in front of everyone.
Everyone's eyes were on the disciple, but they waited for a long time, and nothing happened.
Now someone couldn't sit still, immediately taking out their jade token and crushing it. The result was that they still stood in place... they really couldn't get out!
"This is impossible!"
"Why? Why can't we get out?!"
More and more disciples fell into panic, but no matter how many jade tokens they crushed, the cruel reality remained.
"Everyone, don't panic! The elders outside will definitely find a way!" Facing the scene where the disciples were at a loss and about to lose control, Helian Boda promptly spoke to stabilize everyone's emotions.
Knowing the situation, Tian Ning had to pour cold water on him: "Senior Brother Helian, someone deceived the Celestial Mechanism Pavilion's calculations; the elders probably haven't discovered the anomaly yet. We only have one chance. Everyone must do their best to find the formation eye within the secret realm and destroy it, otherwise, if the Bloodthirsty Formation activates, the secret realm will inevitably suffer a massacre, and all living beings will die here!"
"What are you talking about...?" Qiu Xiu beside her couldn't believe it.
"What Bloodthirsty Formation?"
Tian Ning pointed to the large red lines on the ground, "This is the formation laid by the Bloodthirsty Formation. Everyone can see it by sword flight to high altitudes. These red lines form a character—'Bloodthirsty', and they spread throughout the entire secret realm."
Tian Ning paused, then spoke again, her tone more serious than ever: "This is a carefully planned deception, the purpose of which is to lure us, these sacrifices, here. Once the time comes, we will all become the nourishment for the formation eye!"
Who wanted the lives of so many sect disciples?
What exactly did those people want to nourish...
Tian Ning's words were too shocking. No one expected that they would encounter this kind of thing in a supposedly absolutely safe spirit plant secret realm!?
"How do you know about the Bloodthirsty Formation? I remember you're clearly a disciple of the Wanjian Sect!" The speaker clearly didn't believe her.
Everything had been fine, and then suddenly someone told them that everyone was about to die; of course, they wouldn't easily believe it, thinking that a sword cultivator like Tian Ning shouldn't know about formations.
But at this moment, no one paid attention to him. The disciples from the Fu Immortal Sect who knew formations had already taken out their magical artifacts and gone up to take a look. Others also went to look, some nervously staying in place, awaiting the results.
Due to the gradual decline of the formation lineage, the Six Great Sects didn't even have a dedicated formation sect. Therefore, formations were exceptionally rare in the Eastern Continent. However, most disciples of the Fu Immortal Sect learned formations, and everyone waited for the Fu Immortal Sect disciples to speak.
"From above, it is indeed the character 'Bloodthirsty', and it is indeed a formation... but I'm not proficient in formations and have never heard of the Bloodthirsty Formation." The first Fu Immortal Sect disciple to come down said.
The other Fu Immortal Sect disciples gave the same answer.
To be able to set up such a large-scale formation within the secret realm and use the lives of so many disciples as sacrifices far exceeded advanced formations. Perhaps only the elders would know.
"Could it be that the junior sister from the Wanjian Sect was mistaken...?" a disciple weakly said.
Everyone hoped it was a misunderstanding. It was a matter of everyone's lives; it was no small matter!
"It's the Bloodthirsty Formation, no mistake."
A male voice shattered everyone's hope.
"Can you be trusted?"
Before anyone else could question, the Fu Immortal Sect members came forward to strongly support the man who had spoken.
"This is our Senior Brother Bo!"
"Haven't you heard of Bo Yong'an's name? Senior Brother Bo is a newly promoted dual-cultivation genius of formations and talismans from the last Six Sects Grand Competition!"
The Fu Immortal Sect disciple's confident manner silenced the doubters.
As one of the two people who knew about the Bloodthirsty Formation, Bo Yong'an recounted what he knew: "I saw this Bloodthirsty Formation while reading books in the Sect Scripture Depository... This is an ancient formation created by demonic cultivators a thousand years ago. It caused the deaths of countless seniors, but it should have been lost long ago. Even the Fu Immortal Sect's Scripture Depository only has a few extremely simple records."
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