There are countless geniuses in the world of cultivation, but only my junior sister Sha Diao

Why are you suddenly so startled?

The others were all injured and were already in a bad mood, but he scared them so much that they immediately started yelling.

Yi Ling pointed weakly to a spot not far away, "Look... what's that?"

Li Tingyun turned her head impatiently, "What else could it be—"

The words stopped abruptly.

Amidst the soil stirred up by Gu Xia's sword energy, several mangled skeletons were visible, as if they had been buried here for countless years and were finally seeing the light of day.

The two bodies fell very close to each other, one of which was a skeleton curled up with only one hand bone tightly gripping its head, as if it had experienced something unbearable in its life.

"..."

If this had happened not long ago, they might not have been able to guess what had happened, but now...

Yu Heng glanced at the horrifying bloody hole in Xu Xingmu's chest.

Gu Lanyi's gaze swept unnaturally over Bai Song, pretending not to see the resentful and accusing look in her junior brother's eyes.

The others also had shifty, uncertain gazes.

Clearly, they understand now.

After all, there is no true empathy in this world; you can only understand something by experiencing it yourself.

Those corpses may have been fellow disciples or close friends who stood shoulder to shoulder with each other in life. After entering the illusion, their minds were affected, which ultimately led to their regrettable end.

Unseen by them, countless other cultivators have perished here.

Just then, Gu Xia walked out carrying a sword, with Jiang Chaoxu beside her.

Seeing that the two were unharmed, what else did the other disciples not understand?

They were lucky, in a way, because they were only lost inside for a short time before Gu Xia decisively cleaved through the core of the illusion.

This prevented any truly irreparable casualties from occurring.

As for the injuries on his body?

As long as I'm alive, what's a little injury?

More than being injured, they said they couldn't accept the accidental killing of their own people.

Just thinking about that scene would shatter my Dao heart, wouldn't it?

Upon seeing Gu Xia, everyone's gratitude was genuine for the first time. "We really owe it all to you, Gu Xia."

They almost, almost never got out.

Looking at the giant trees behind them that Gu Xia had shaved off most of with his sword, some sword cultivators even wanted to be more direct and just level them all.

Gu Xia: "No need." She shattered the core of the illusion with a single sword strike, so this place is just an ordinary dense forest now.

She immediately noticed the wound on Xu Xingmu's chest.

When Gu Xia's gaze swept over, for some reason, Yu Heng, who was standing next to her, subconsciously shrank his neck.

There was nothing he could do; he didn't want to feel guilty.

But Gu Xia's expression looked really scary.

Oh no, is he going to be the first disciple to be killed by Gu Xia?

He needs to! He's still young, he doesn't want to die.

Fortunately, Gu Xia also knew that this was not something they could control. After all, if she hadn't reacted quickly, it was uncertain whether her fourth senior brother would still be standing in front of everyone right now.

Jiang Chaoxu casually handed over a new bottle of pills, his face filled with relief.

Fortunately, he encountered his junior sister; otherwise, if he had run into Yu Heng, the situation might have been very different.

When the group of disciples gathered together to reconcile the accounts, they discovered that the illusion had taken advantage of their eagerness to kill Qu Yimian, causing them to fight each other and thus injuring one another.

Through this experience, they finally gained a more genuine understanding of the word "unknown".

However, just as they became more vigilant and were about to leave, Gu Xia suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She keenly sensed that there seemed to be many covetous eyes lurking in the shadows around her.

*

The next second, several figures appeared, their massive bodies emerging from all directions, causing the ground to tremble.

"It's a monster!"

Ye Sui'an's gaze darkened slightly, and he quietly clutched the talisman in his hand. "No, that's not an ordinary demonic beast, that's—"

"Demon King."

Everyone looked confused.

What? ? ?

It's common knowledge that there are monsters in secret realms, but what's abnormal now is that these are all at the level of demon kings or higher.

Grass.

What's the meaning of you monsters setting up dens everywhere?

"After all this time, new prey has finally come knocking on our door."

The demon king, who was leading the group, spoke with great excitement, a ferocious smile spreading across his face.

They were not natives of this secret realm. Since they accidentally stumbled into this place while following that group of cultivators, they had not seen the outside world for many years.

Trapped in this godforsaken place day after day, they tried every possible means but couldn't find a trace of an exit.

However, compared to those unfortunate humans, their adaptability was a great help.

In the world of demons and beasts, it is a world of survival of the fittest. The demon kings, who survived the bloodshed, compete to hunt down the weak and vulnerable cultivators by stepping over the corpses of their own kind.

Danger lurks everywhere in the secret realm. These demon kings like to lie in wait not far from that ancient tree grove, waiting for cultivators to escape before catching them off guard, so they can enjoy the expressions of those people, whether they are in despair or collapse.

After all, it's so boring here, we have to find some fun.

However, it has been a long time since the last time a cultivator accidentally entered, and no outsiders have come in since.

Oh no, that's not quite right either.

The demon kings suddenly remembered the woman who had come in not long ago, who was full of demonic energy. Although she had stayed in the secret realm for so many years, each of them could dominate a region if released.

But based on their instincts as demonic beasts...

That female cultivator, whose background is unknown, exudes a dangerous aura; they'd better not provoke her for now.

However, the newcomers in front of us are different.

The demon kings took a closer look and quickly made an assessment of this group of battle-damaged disciples in their minds.

To put it simply, it can be summed up in four words: very easy to bully.

They all looked quite young, with youthful faces. Especially compared to a group of demon kings who had lived for countless years, the disciples' bewildered expressions, clearly not understanding the situation, made them seem utterly harmless.

The demon kings were immediately delighted. Most of them maintained a half-original, half-human form, and a cruel glint flashed in their beastly eyes.

"Hey, kids."

One of the demon kings looked at them with great interest, his tone clearly malicious, "How does it feel to almost kill your own companion?"

There was silence all around.

He paced back and forth in silence, wandering around the center of the open space. “But speaking of which, this is the first time in all these years that I have seen a cultivator not only emerge unscathed from inside, but also forcefully break through.”

"Your new cultivators this year are quite impressive."

A group of disciples: "..."

"Uh." Xu Xingmu's head was throbbing. She subconsciously turned to look at Jiang Chaoxu beside her, hesitating, "If I heard correctly, he was praising us... right?"

Jiang Chaoxu: "Be confident, Second Senior Brother, you heard me right."

It's no wonder Xu Xingmu was full of questions. In fact, although the other disciples didn't show it on their faces, they had almost the same thoughts in their hearts.

"No way, are you monsters crazy?"

……