Chapter 2921: Chapter 2921
Ye Liuyun turned to Qiong Qi and asked, "Will the person controlling the formation notice the loophole you created? And once we get out, could it be sealed off?"
The An family’s expeditionary force had already returned, and they undoubtedly had a considerable number of powerful experts. If they got trapped inside, the situation would become extremely dangerous.
Qiong Qi wasn’t entirely sure how to answer Ye Liuyun’s questions. After a moment of thought, he replied, "Here’s what we’ll do—once you go in, I’ll follow and seal this loophole, then find another spot nearby to wait for you. Give me a map, and I’ll hide somewhere close to your location."
"After you succeed, signal me, and I’ll open a new exit for you. That way, the An family won’t be able to use the same gap to ambush you from the outside!"
"Good plan. I appreciate your help!" Ye Liuyun nodded. "I’ll go in first to scout things out and come right back."
As he spoke, he had one of his clones don an invisibility cloak to keep watch for Qiong Qi. Meanwhile, he slipped into the secret realm, using his divine sense and golden pupils to survey the area.
His divine sense detected nothing unusual, but with his golden pupils, he spotted several elders concealed in the shadows. They were hidden within fixed formation disks, shielding them from spiritual detection.
Within the range of his golden pupils, Ye Liuyun quickly identified three elders. Judging by their distribution, the number of guards inside the secret realm was undoubtedly far greater than the twelve stationed outside.
Their positions formed a defensive perimeter around the realm, ensuring that even if someone breached the outer formation, they wouldn’t be able to slip past unnoticed. The spacing between the elders was precise—close enough for their divine senses to overlap, leaving no gaps for intruders to exploit.
Ye Liuyun immediately retreated, signaling Qiong Qi to seal the breach. Then, he waited in place while sending a covert message to Tang Xinyao, urging her and her group to hurry over. He discreetly relayed the locations of the An family elders outside the secret realm, as well as his own position.
However, he deliberately withheld information about the inner guards. He needed Tang Xinyao’s group to serve as a distraction—if they knew the full extent of the defenses, they might hesitate to enter.
Under the watchful eyes of Ye Liuyun and his two clones, Tang Xinyao and her five companions arrived and regrouped with them.
Only after they had gathered did Ye Liuyun summon Leiming, cradling her in his arms, and instructed Qiong Qi to open another breach. The moment they were ready, he led them inside.
As soon as they entered the secret realm, Ye Liuyun led the group forward for a while, allowing the Qiong Qi and his clone to follow behind. The clone used its golden pupils to help the Qiong Qi observe the elders within the realm, moving along the edges toward the position where Ye Liuyun planned to retreat.
The elders of the An family’s secret realm paid little attention to the perimeter, focusing only on martial artists attempting to breach their defensive lines. As a result, the clone and the Qiong Qi traveled safely without being detected.
At the same time, the second clone sent a mental message to Ye Liuyun: *"The An family has sent experts with some disciples to block the entrance you just passed through."*
*"As expected,"* Ye Liuyun realized. *"The overseer of this secret realm can detect intruders."* It was clear that their every move within the realm was being monitored.
The clone and the Qiong Qi didn’t linger in one spot but kept moving along the realm’s edge, making the An family believe they were merely exploring the perimeter—eventually, they would enter the guarded defensive zone.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun and Tang Xinyao’s group scouted the area before slipping past the detection range of two elders, entering the encirclement.
However, since they displayed relatively low cultivation levels, the An family elders didn’t intervene directly. Instead, they summoned some disciples for training.
*"A bunch of little whelps at the sixth or seventh level of the Dominator Realm actually dared to barge into our An family’s secret realm!"* The elders mocked them through mental messages.
They didn’t even bother calling upon the elite disciples, merely gathering a few ordinary inner sect members for practice.
With the elders providing location updates, the An family disciples quickly intercepted Tang Xinyao’s group. Ye Liuyun, however, fought while retreating, using the chaos to slip away alone.
Tang Xinyao and the others regrouped, eliminating the inner sect disciples before cautiously advancing toward the center of the secret realm.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun, following the route An Ran had revealed, donned his invisibility cloak and headed straight for the location of the Golden Source Liquid.
When some An family elders discovered that all the dispatched inner sect disciples had been wiped out, they flew into a rage.
*"A handful of sixth or seventh-level Dominator Realm cultivators, and you—over twenty inner sect disciples at the eighth or ninth level—couldn’t even finish them off? Useless trash! The family wasted so many resources raising you!"*
"We’ll go!" Several elite inner sect disciples immediately volunteered.
"All of you! If you can’t win, then die in there—useless trash aren’t worth keeping alive anyway!" In a fit of rage, the An family elder ordered every disciple, both inner and outer sect, to swarm into the secret realm and engage Tang Xinyao and the others in battle.
Tang Xinyao and her five companions stayed together, drawing the full attention of the An family disciples. Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun took advantage of the distraction and smoothly made his way to the location of the Golden Source Liquid.
However, the area was guarded by An family experts—more than a dozen in total, including two elders at the first level of the Unity Realm and one at the third level.
Using his golden pupils, Ye Liuyun examined their dantians and noted how dense and refined their true essence was. Almost immediately, the guards sensed they were being observed and grew wary.
But Ye Liuyun was too far away, and despite scanning the area with their divine sense, they found no trace of him.
He then inspected the Golden Source Liquid itself. Its color and energy closely resembled that of the Hidden Dragon Pool he had encountered before, but the quantity here was several times greater.
Just then, a distress message from Tang Xinyao reached him.
"All the An family disciples are hunting us down—we can’t hold them off any longer! If this keeps up, we’ll all die here!" Her panicked voice crackled through the communication talisman.
Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun directed her to rendezvous with him.
"Head straight for the location I’m sending you—at full speed! The An family elders are already closing in on you. If you delay, you won’t escape!" He knew that once he made his move, the An family elders would act immediately. This wasn’t an empty threat—just a calculated prediction.
Tang Xinyao quickly relayed the warning to the others. "Tang Xiaofeng says the An family elders are coming for us. We need to retreat now, or we won’t make it out alive. Follow me!"
With that, she led the group toward the designated meeting point.
"Where is he, anyway? While we’re fighting for our lives, where’s he hiding? I thought he was supposed to be strong?" one of the male disciples grumbled, blaming Ye Liuyun.
"He got separated in the fight and has been pursued by An family disciples ever since! This isn’t the time for blame—we’ll sort it out once we regroup." Tang Xinyao defended him briefly before urging them onward, cutting through the chaos toward Ye Liuyun’s location.
