A life of leisure is worse than a life of flowers and splendour

Su Yichen finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Du Shuangshuang awake. He had previously assumed she was cultivating, so he hadn't disturbed her. But when he noticed something was amiss with her expression, he realized something might be amiss. Normally, a person cultivating normally would have a peaceful and calm expression, but Du Shuangshuang's brows were furrowed, as if she were in great pain.

He observed Du Shuangshuang carefully, noting her mood swings: one moment she seemed sad, the next filled with anger, the next, nervous and uneasy. Later, she even began to cry, curling up in a ball, clutching her chest, sobbing uncontrollably. She kept mumbling "why?", but no matter how hard Su Yichen called, he couldn't wake her. This left Su Yichen deeply worried and confused.

He really wanted to ask Du Shuangshuang what had happened, but at this moment, both of them suddenly felt a strong suction force, exactly the same feeling as when they entered the secret realm.

Soon, everyone who had entered the secret realm and was still alive felt the suction force, and they were transported out of the secret realm and returned to their original location. This sudden change caught everyone off guard. They had thought they had time to explore more secrets and treasures, but now they were forced to end their adventure prematurely. Some were even attacked by monsters or enemies, but were lucky enough to escape because they were sent out by the secret realm closing.

Outside, elders from various sects were waiting at the exit of the secret realm. Everyone who had left the secret realm was here. Upon leaving the secret realm, Du Shuangshuang removed the curtain. Before she even landed, she was dragged along by a force and brought to a crowd of Daoist disciples. She nervously searched for her second uncle, fearing she would lose him.

Uncle Du had emerged earlier than Du Shuangshuang. When he didn't see his niece, his heart was in his throat. He kept his eyes fixed on the entrance to the secret realm, even after she emerged, terrified he'd missed her. He recognized Du Shuangshuang the moment she emerged, and his heart finally settled. He went to look for her the moment she landed.

"Shuang'er, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Uncle, I'm fine. Are you okay?" Du Shuangshuang was surprised to hear the voice of her uncle.

"Second uncle is fine, what's wrong with you? You don't look well, why are you crying?"

"I, well, nothing happened." Du Shuangshuang didn't know where to start. Should she tell her uncle about her dream? Du Shuangshuang wasn't sure if she could tell anyone about this, so she decided to wait until she got to the sect to find out more about the situation.

Seeing that Second Uncle was already in the middle stage of foundation building, it seemed that the opportunity was not bad. I would give the Five Elements Spirit Fish to Second Uncle to help him improve his cultivation. When I came back, I saw from a distance that Su Yichen was taken away by the Kunlun Sect. Everyone landed safely.

Then, people came one after another and took them aboard the spirit boat. After waiting for half an hour, no one else came out of the secret realm, and everyone boarded their own spirit boat.

"There were a total of 43 Taoist disciples who entered the secret realm this time, of whom died, with a mortality rate of up to %! It lasted for fifteen months." Master Mingxin said loudly, his voice spreading throughout the venue. This number only excluded those from the Demon Sect.

Upon hearing this number, many people's faces showed shock and grief. Although they knew that there would be casualties in every secret realm journey, such a high death rate still made them difficult to accept. This time, the deaths were likely caused by the clash between the Taoists and the demons.

"During this trip to the secret realm, our Dao Sect suffered heavy losses. I hope all disciples will learn from this lesson, cultivate diligently, and strive to break through realms as soon as possible to bring honor to the sect," said another elder, his gaze sweeping across the room before settling on the Dao Sect disciples. He didn't give a specific casualty rate, but Du Shuangshuang glanced over and saw that less than half of the Dao Sect's disciples had perished, but the team had indeed shrunk significantly.

"We will follow the elders' instructions!" Everyone responded in unison, their voices resounding through the sky.

As the spirit boats of each sect lifted off and departed, the journey into the secret realm finally came to a close. For those disciples who emerged alive, it would be an unforgettable experience, while for those who unfortunately perished, their names would be forever etched in the history of their sects.

The spiritual boat was very large, with three floors of rooms. The outer deck was also very large, with many people standing on it. After Du Shuangshuang got on, she and her second uncle wanted to find the Du family. After asking around, they found out that the people from the camp had boarded the boat in advance and were staying in the cabin, not allowed to come out. Those of them who had entered the secret realm needed to hand in their belongings before they could go in to find them.

Although he had met several direct disciples before, especially Senior Sister Lingling, with whom he could be considered a life-or-death relationship, he still wasn't as close as those direct disciples, and he didn't want to get too close. He didn't want to be conspicuous; making a fortune in silence was the most important thing. Du Shuangshuang and Second Uncle Du found a corner to hide.

Du Shuangshuang glanced at the people from her sect who had emerged from the secret realm. Less than 60% of the original number had returned. The newcomers, in particular, had only a dozen or so, a devastating loss. Some were still pale, while others looked agitated. Most of them had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining.

Senior Sister Lingling and Senior Brother Tong Zhan were both there. One of the direct disciples I had met before, Du Beibei from Fuyao Peak, was missing. Liu Anan looked very sad; it seemed he hadn't come out. Gu Changyuan was not there. Senior Sister Lingling's uncle looked a little pale, probably injured and still meditating to recover. Liu Dongyang from Jianfeng was also missing. There were other direct disciples as well, but he didn't recognize them.

Some were happy, others worried, and many gathered in groups of three or four to chat. After listening for a while, Du Shuangshuang also learned that Gu Changyuan was seriously injured. Fortunately, Senior Brother Tong Zhan arrived in time to save him. However, his injuries were very serious. When he left the secret realm, he was covered in blood. He was carried to the cabin and treated by Master Haoze and Master Lingxiao. It was said that he almost died at the time, but was saved by the Black Water Blood Lotus.

After everyone boarded the Spirit Boat, several layers of protective shields quickly rose from the outside. The Spirit Boat began to slowly rise into the air. From a distance, the temporary camp and market town disappeared, leaving only nine large Spirit Boats slowly rising into the air.

After the Spirit Boat took off, everyone lined up, with Du Shuangshuang following suit. My journey to the secret realm had yielded quite a few rewards, but after the dream I'd experienced before, I couldn't be happy at all. After returning to the Spirit Boat, I received a message from Su Yichen, reminding me not to tell anyone about my gains in the secret realm. Generally, once you reach a certain number of points, you can choose to keep whatever's left. If possible, try to keep the Guyuan Tea, and don't tell anyone about the things you've kept.

Seeing his reminder, Du Shuangshuang felt a little warm in her heart, but the sadness left in her heart by the dream could not be erased. Du Shuangshuang only replied with a "hmm" and didn't want to say a word.

But at this moment, someone came to talk to her. A little girl dressed in elegant clothes walked up to Du Shuangshuang and asked, "Which peak are you from? Why aren't you wearing a disciple uniform?"

Du Shuangshuang's outer disciple had one uniform damaged due to injury, leaving him with only one. He hadn't worn it since then, fearing he wouldn't be able to explain himself if this last one got damaged. When he came out, he only had a disciple ID card to confirm his identity. Fortunately, it was Master Xuancheng who came to meet him, recognized him, and took him in.

Seeing that the newcomer wasn't wearing a disciple's uniform, and not knowing who she was, he didn't say anything. In order to feel more comfortable in Liangyi Valley, he put on five or six sets of robes. Fortunately, outsiders couldn't see them, but it was inconvenient with so many people outside, so he just kept wearing them. Anyway, no one could tell, and the outermost one looked relatively simple, so Du Shuangshuang didn't pay much attention to it.

"I'm a newcomer." Du Shuangshuang said lightly.

Seeing that Du Shuangshuang seemed to be ignoring her, the girl immediately became unhappy and reached out to push Du Shuangshuang. "You are just an outer sect disciple, why are you showing off in front of me? Humph, take out the treasures you got from the secret realm and let me choose. Otherwise, this day will not end."

Du Shuangshuang dodged, looking at her like she was stupid. It was true that there were all kinds of birds in the forest. Couldn't she see that her cultivation was higher than hers? How dare she do that? Did she feel like she looked like a soft persimmon and wanted to squeeze it?

The people in front and behind could also be seen, but they were all wearing outer disciple uniforms, obviously they were all outer disciples, but there were newcomers and old ones.

"What are you looking at? Take out everything you got this time, otherwise I will make you suffer! I am the granddaughter of the master of Asking Dao Peak. You are filial to me. When I enter the sect, I will be able to take care of you." The girl said bluntly when she saw that they were all outer disciples.

Du Shuangshuang was not afraid of this person at all. She was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Anyone who came out of this place had a higher cultivation level than her. Wasn't she afraid of being beaten to death?

Du Shuangshuang wasn't afraid of this person, but she was afraid that he had someone behind him. He dared to ask for things so blatantly from his subordinates, so he must have someone with backing. He definitely wouldn't give anything to him, but Du Shuangshuang didn't want to offend him too much either. After all, he didn't have any backing. If he beat the younger ones and the older ones came after him, he would probably have a hard time staying in the sect.

Seeing Senior Sister Lingling at the front of the line, Du Shuangshuang prepared to pull out Zhang Hupi without hesitation. If that didn't work, they could always ask for help. Du Shuangshuang was familiar with this matter. "Senior Sister Lingling, I told you that everything you obtain in the secret realm belongs to you. You don't need to give it to anyone except those who are to be handed over to the sect. If that doesn't work, I'll ask Uncle Chu Yue. It just so happens that Uncle Chu Yue helped me build a formation plate last time, and he said I can ask him if I need anything."

Without waiting for Du Shuangshuang to speak, the girl's eyes widened, and she didn't care about anything else, fearing that if Du Shuangshuang really asked, she would be in trouble. She had originally thought that she was just a small outer sect disciple, young and inexperienced, and that if she scared her, she would obediently take out the things. She didn't expect Du Shuangshuang to act according to the routine. She had seen her hiding in the corner with the man next to her, and it was obvious that she didn't know many people and was timid. She didn't expect that she had misjudged her.

It seems that sometimes you can't be too low-key, otherwise you will be easily treated as a soft persimmon!

"Hey, come on, I was just kidding."

Are you kidding? Du Shuangshuang didn't seem like it. She seemed to be really afraid of making things worse. It seemed that her backers were not so strong after all.

"Really?"

"Of course, please line up quickly. They are all very busy. Don't cause them any trouble. It's not fun at all. I'm going to help up front." Then he left.