Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 224: Secret Realm [2]

Fang Hao and Mu Fenghua followed the crowd and plunged headlong into the colorful, constantly rotating light gate.

As soon as they entered, it felt like being stuffed into a high-speed rotating drum. Everywhere around them were twisted, multicolored rays of light; the world spun, and their bodies were being torn and pushed by a powerful spatial force, completely beyond their control!

He subconsciously tried to grab Mu Fenghua beside him, but just as he reached out, a stronger turbulent current swept in, and the two were instantly separated!

"Damn it! Random teleportation!" Fang Hao cursed inwardly. This was one of the most annoying aspects of the Secret Realm; teammates could be separated the moment they arrived.

He hurriedly circulated his Spiritual Qi to protect his body, and his black tortoise spirit shield was also subconsciously activated to shield him.

This teleportation process was even more uncomfortable than when entering the heaven-reaching pagoda; it felt as if his internal organs were about to be thrown out.

He didn’t know how much time had passed—perhaps just an instant, perhaps a long time—when he felt his feet touch solid ground, and that spinning sensation vanished abruptly.

Thump!

He fell onto a layer of soft, thick, decaying leaves that smelled of rot. The sound of babbling water reached his ears, along with the calls of unknown birds and beasts.

Fang Hao lay on the ground, catching his breath for several moments before struggling to sit up.

He hurriedly checked himself; fortunately, aside from being a bit dizzy and having consumed some Spiritual Qi, he was uninjured.

He immediately activated his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes and Divine Sense, scanning his surroundings vigilantly.

This was an extremely primitive and dense tropical rainforest.

Towering ancient trees blocked out the sky, their trunks covered in various vines and ferns. The ground was piled thick with fallen leaves, and the air was hot, humid, and filled with a pungent stench of decaying vegetation and soil.

The Spiritual Qi was shockingly dense, even thicker than in the Heavenly Capital, but it seemed to be mixed with a trace of a savage, violent aura; it had to be refined slightly before it could be absorbed into the body.

"Mu Fenghua is gone." Fang Hao frowned. He tried to sense the communication talisman Mu Fenghua had left for him (exchanged before entering the Secret Realm), but the distance was too great, the connection was weak, and the direction kept changing—evidently, she was also moving, or had been teleported very far away.

He took out the "star evolution plate," injected Spiritual Qi, and the needle in the center of the compass spun around a few times before pointing in a certain direction. At the same time, a blurry, simplified map composed of light points appeared in his mind; the point representing himself and the point representing the exit of the Secret Realm (approximate location) were very far apart.

As for others, including Mu Fenghua, there were no markers.

"It seems this compass can only locate myself and the general direction of the exit; it cannot find people." Fang Hao was somewhat disappointed, but soon let it go.

Being able to locate the exit was already a great advantage; at least he wouldn’t be completely lost in the Secret Realm.

He put away the compass, stood up, and brushed the dead leaves off his body.

The primary task now was to determine his location, then explore this Secret Realm, search for Opportunity, and at the same time... guard against the Sun Family and the dangers that might exist within the Secret Realm itself.

This place looked vibrant, but that often meant it was fraught with danger.

He didn’t dare to fly on his sword; in this kind of primeval forest, flying would make him a living target, and who knew what kind of monsters it might attract.

He cast his Shadowless Evasion Technique, blending his figure into the surrounding environment, and moved silently through the forest, his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes constantly observing his surroundings.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, he hadn’t encountered any danger, but he had discovered quite a few Spiritual Plants that were rare in the outside world.

There was a cluster of "Bloodline Grass," an auxiliary ingredient for refining healing Medicinal Pills; and a few "Ghost Face Mushrooms," which, although poisonous, could be used as Materials for certain poisonous pills if handled correctly.

Adhering to the principle of "a thief never leaves empty-handed," Fang Hao carefully harvested some of them, all of which were of considerable age.

Just as he bent down to dig up a "Earth Spirit Mushroom" hidden at the base of a large tree, his ears suddenly twitched!

His Clear Spring Spirit Eyes caught a faint fluctuation of Spiritual Qi and... a stench coming from the bushes on his left!

"Something is there!" Fang Hao felt a chill in his heart. He immediately stopped, held his breath, pushed his Shadowless Evasion Technique to the limit, and pressed his body against the back of a large tree.

Rustle... rustle... A slight friction sound arose.

The bushes were pushed aside, and a giant frog with an ink-green body, covered in bumps, with an enormous mouth and eyes like two small lanterns, hopped out.

This giant frog was the size of a calf, and its aura was clearly High Grade Tier 2 (equivalent to Late Foundation Establishment Stage to Peak). Its tongue hung out, dripping with foul-smelling mucus, and its protruding eyes scanned the surroundings vigilantly, finally resting on the "Earth Spirit Mushroom" that Fang Hao had dug halfway.

"Ink Poison Arrow Frog?" Fang Hao recognized this Demon Beast.

This creature’s attack power wasn’t particularly strong, but its tongue shot out at extreme speed and was highly poisonous; furthermore, the bumps on its skin could spray venom, making it quite troublesome.

It seemed it had been attracted by the Spiritual Qi of the Spiritual Plant.

Fang Hao didn’t want to create extra trouble and was preparing to wait for it to leave before digging up the rest of the "Earth Spirit Mushroom."

However, the Ink Poison Arrow Frog seemed very interested in guarding this Spiritual Plant; it actually lay down beside it, opened its large mouth, and was about to swallow the "Earth Spirit Mushroom" along with the surrounding soil!

"Damn, stealing my stuff?" Fang Hao’s eyes turned cold.

This "Earth Spirit Mushroom" was of considerable age and was useful to him.

He no longer hid. The moment the Ink Poison Arrow Frog lowered its head to swallow, he activated his Divine Spirit Steps. His figure flashed out from behind the tree like a ghost, and at the same time, he joined his fingers on his right hand, condensing a point of black light with his Star Shattering Finger, silently striking at the frog’s relatively vulnerable side neck!

The arrow frog reacted extremely quickly. Sensing danger, it suddenly turned its head, opened its large mouth, and a stream of ink-green venom shot out like an arrow, aiming straight for Fang Hao’s face! It was fast and vicious!

Fang Hao didn’t dodge or evade. The black tortoise spirit shield (which had been partially repaired) that he was already holding in his left hand flashed with black light, transforming into a small shield phantom to block in front of him!

Hiss! The venom hit the shield phantom, making a corrosive sound, but it was firmly blocked.

And Fang Hao’s Star Shattering Finger, in that split second, precisely struck the arrow frog’s side neck!

Puchi! The black light pierced through its body! The arrow frog’s body stiffened violently, and it let out a hoarse scream as ink-green blood sprayed from the wound.

It still wanted to struggle, but Fang Hao didn’t give it a chance. The yitian sword instantly appeared in his hand, and with a flash of sword light, he stabbed into its open mouth, piercing through its skull!

The arrow frog twitched twice and died on the ground.

Clean and efficient! Fang Hao was very satisfied with his strength.

After his Breakthrough to the Late Golden Core Stage, dealing with this kind of Tier 2 Demon Beast was almost effortless.

He skillfully dug out the Yao core and removed the venom sac (this was also a Material for refining poison); as for the skin and meat, they weren’t very valuable, so he didn’t take them.

Only then did he dig out the remaining "Earth Spirit Mushroom" completely and put it away.

Just as he was about to leave, his heart suddenly stirred, and his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes swept over the bush from which the arrow frog had emerged.

Had he just caught a glimpse of some unusual fluorescent light inside?

He walked over and pushed aside the dense bushes.

He saw a few palm-sized, dull-colored, dirt-covered broken stones scattered on the ground behind the bushes.

The stones themselves were nothing special, but in the middle of them, pressed down, was a small black fragment that was neither metal nor wood, with irregular edges and engraved with blurry, twisted runes!

The faint fluorescent light was emitted from this fragment; one wouldn’t be able to discover it without looking carefully.

"What... is this?" Fang Hao picked up the fragment.

It felt cold and heavy in his hand, and the material was unknown.

The runes on it were extremely ancient and complex; he couldn’t understand them at all.

But when he probed with his Divine Sense, he vaguely felt that inside the fragment, there seemed to be a Seal containing an extremely weak, but high-ranking, energy fluctuation that shared the same source as the savage aura of this Secret Realm!

"Could it be... a fragment of an artifact left over from the ancient times of this Secret Realm?" Fang Hao’s eyes lit up.

Anything that could be noticed by the Clear Spring Spirit Eyes definitely wasn’t simple!

He carefully put the fragment away, preparing to study it when he had time later.

Just after putting the fragment away, his ears twitched again!

This time, it wasn’t a Demon Beast, but... human voices!

They came from the dense forest not far to the front right, and there were faint sounds of fighting and the explosions of Spells!

People! And they were fighting!

Fang Hao’s eyes narrowed. He immediately restrained his aura, activated his Shadowless Evasion Technique again, and like a civet cat, crept silently toward the direction the sounds were coming from.

In a place like this, running into others wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

But it was necessary to go and check the situation to understand the distribution of forces and the level of danger in the Secret Realm.

What if it were acquaintances in danger... or, the people from the Sun Family?