At the edge of the cliff, a spirit-absorbing ant as usual flew at the forefront.
Heading downward toward the cliff base.
Lin Shiming and Lin Xianzhi were also riding their Flying Swords, cautiously following behind.
Below the cliff was a dark river.
In the middle of the cliff, a twisted peach tree grew out from the rock face.
The tree was not large, just about the size of an ordinary mundane peach tree.
However, its roots were exceptionally thick, firmly embedded into the cliff’s rocks.
On the tree, there were several crystal-clear green peaches.
But these peaches were very large, even bigger by a third than the Spirit Fruits from the late Second Rank Spirit Peach Tree in the Lin Family’s Peach Blossom Forest.
Not to mention that these peaches were obviously unripe, if they matured, they would likely grow another third larger.
Both Lin Shiming and Lin Xianzhi were overjoyed, particularly when they felt the enormous spiritual power of the peaches, a kind of power they had only experienced with the Water Spirit Coconuts on the Lin Family’s Shuangmu Island.
"A Third Rank Spirit Peach Tree!" Lin Shiming couldn’t help but break into an ecstatic smile.
The spirit-absorbing ant continued to fly forward, shimmering with starry brilliance, but out of nowhere, a grey mantis on the tree fiercely slashed at the ant.
This grey mantis was a mid-Third Rank Demonic Beast.
Its color was similar to the stones, hiding next to them motionless, making it extremely deceptive!
Snap!
The mantis’s sickle-like limbs struck the ant’s hard shell, sending the ant flying.
However, it was not a one-shot kill; after ingesting the wind-fire star sand, the ant’s carapace had undergone transformation. Now, an ordinary Third Rank Magic Artifact could not kill it.
The impact did leave the spirit-absorbing ant somewhat listless, but it quickly recovered.
And Lin Shiming’s Zilai Sword also fiercely flew out.
Especially since the sword had been tempered by Lin Shiming using the Sword Imbuement Technique, its Sword Qi crisscrossed, its blade light rampaging.
As the blade light spread over, the gray mantis was bisected.
"This Sword Imbuement Technique is truly remarkable!" Lin Xianzhi also couldn’t help but express his admiration.
This made Lin Shiming suddenly pause, wanting to caution Lin Xianzhi about the dangers of the sword technique, but remembering that the system notification had not yet had a chance to appear, he held back.
Upon entering this Secret Realm, he had an inexplicable feeling of being watched.
This feeling was baseless, but for Cultivators, there were times when they could not ignore their instincts.
Especially considering the Qingxuan Sect’s high-level design, he must be extremely cautious!
Lin Shiming collected the gray mantis’s corpse and took out the Nurturing Spirit Liquid, carefully transplanting the entire Third Rank Spirit Peach Tree and sealing it within a Jade Box.
"Shiming, this…" Lin Xianzhi began, somewhat worriedly.
After leaving the Secret Realm, there would be a search of their Storage Bags, having come to the Qingxuan Sect’s Secret Realm.
Gathering Spirit Fruits was one thing, but transplanting the entire Spirit Peach Tree was another.
"Seventh Great-Uncle, it’s fine. If we don’t take it, the Demon Cultivators will!" Lin Shiming explained as he uprooted the plant, an act that those Demon Cultivators and Cultivators from the Corpse Refining Sect would definitely not refrain from doing.
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
If he didn’t transplant it, those Demon Cultivators would eventually do it anyway, especially the Cultivators from the Corpse Refining Sect, who were obsessed with excavating ancient corpses and were highly skilled in the Earth Escape Skill. Even within a cliffside like this one, they would eventually uncover it.
Lin Shiming just looked at the Jade Box with many damaged roots, sighing inwardly with regret, fearing that the Spirit Plant had suffered substantial harm.
It also left him feeling helpless; his identity as a Spirit Plant Master had remained at the late Second Rank stage.
And at this moment, it was not suitable for a lengthy transplantation; he had no choice but to act like a Loose Cultivator and force the transplanted tree away.
"By the way, Shiming, why were we following the Qian Family earlier?" Lin Xianzhi spoke up again with his doubts.
It was not appropriate to ask in front of so many people outside, but now that it was just the two of them, it was the best time to inquire; otherwise, once they entered the miniature world and Chen Daoyuan started recruiting them to control the War Treasure Ship together, there would be no opportunity to ask.
"The Nurturing Spirit Milk plotted by the Qian Family was obtained from within this Secret Realm, and with a high probability, it’s in that miniature world!" Lin Shiming said, based on the system’s hints, making the most reasonable speculation.
This small Secret Realm had been under Qingxuan Sect’s control for quite some time. If there were any treasures within a Profound Grade Secret Realm, the Qingxuan Sect would have already cleared it out, just like how the Lin Family’s Yellow Grade Secret Realm had a wood sprite transplanted out of it; one could imagine the situation.
On the contrary, the miniature world had only merged with this Secret Realm once!
And the Qian Family, an old and prominent clan in Yunzhou with backers in the Qingxuan Sect, had likely participated in the last exploration of the Secret Realm, which was entirely possible.
And Lin Xianzhi suddenly understood and nodded.
"No wonder the Qian Family’s few Cultivators were moving in circles, seemingly searching for people, but changing directions erratically, and not meeting up with other Cultivators. Instead, they seemed more like they were checking if anyone was following them!"
Moreover, generally speaking, the dangers within a Profound Grade Secret Realm were not too much for these Cultivators. In this Secret Realm, aside from encountering Demon Cultivators, most Cultivators would naturally want to scour it at least once.
Of course, it’s highly likely that there wouldn’t be any precious treasures left, as the Qingxuan Sect wouldn’t leave anything like Heavenly Spirit Fruit, Taiqing Purple Jade Fruit, or Zi Xuan Precious Jade in this small Secret Realm.
The Qian Family’s actions were naturally quite suspicious.
"Let’s wait a couple of days before we approach them again. Right now, they are extremely cautious!" Lin Xianzhi suggested.
Lin Shiming agreed, but as he looked down at the dark river below, he suddenly felt the urge to explore it.
Lakes and dark rivers within a Secret Realm were indeed places where treasures converged.
Moreover, they currently lacked a specific objective, so it was a good opportunity to explore thoroughly.