I have a high-risk profession in the cultivation world.

"How dare you! Go back!" Chu Chenmu's voice trembled, his heart softening completely. He was afraid that Mo Qiluo would really shift her interest to Luo Suichen, so he didn't even glance at the boy standing next to him. He kept his voice very low and icy cold.

Finally hearing a word other than "get lost" from Chu Chenmu's mouth, Mo Qiluo looked at Chu Chenmu, who suddenly became nervous, with great interest.

Luo Suichen turned his head and exchanged a longing look with Chu Chenmu, which only Chu Chenmu could see, before speaking stiffly, "Master, I also want to live."

Oh, so they're master and apprentice. How interesting.

She was interested in both of them, so she decided to take them both.

Mo Qiluo seemed to have thought of something amusing. Holding up the ball of demonic energy in her hand, she leisurely asked Luo Suichen, "Are you sincere?"

Luo Suichen nodded without hesitation.

Mo Qiluo then channeled the demonic energy into Luo Suichen's wound, her eyes turning bloodthirsty. She then placed her hand on Luo Suichen's wound, torturing it wantonly. Luo Suichen immediately knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the earth, trembling with pain.

He couldn't help but frown and let out a muffled groan.

Chu Chenmu clenched his fists tightly behind his back.

He remembered it. If he survives treating his young apprentice this way, he will definitely seek revenge.

"Since you're so sincere, then suffer here. If you're still alive when I return, then your life will still be yours." Mo Qiluo smiled and admired Luo Suichen's miserable state for a moment before turning and leaving.

The demonic energy seeped into Luo Suichen's body through his wounds, like ants swarming around the scent of camphor, running around aimlessly. Wherever it passed, the demonic energy clashed with the spiritual energy, turning Luo Suichen's body into a battlefield.

Finally, a surge of demonic energy rushed to the long-dormant demonic vein, activating the demonic vein that caused Luo Suichen extreme pain and hatred.

Luo Suichen noticed the changes within his body. Enduring the excruciating pain, he calmly guided the remaining demonic energy into his demonic veins.

I can't quite describe how I feel.

In my past life I was confused and ignorant; in this life I am forced into this situation.

In this life, by a twist of fate, he ended up getting entangled with demons once again.

Uncontrollably, his mind replayed Chu Chenmu's actions when he learned that he had a demonic vein in his body in his previous life. He masochistically speculated on how Chu Chenmu would react if it were him now.

He made a rough guess, but quickly stopped his thoughts. He dared not imagine the final outcome—even now, he did not know what a terrible sin it was to possess a demonic lineage in the eyes of Chu Chenmu, who was a savior of the world and a paragon of virtue.

Mo Qiluo had already left with her people, leaving only twenty or thirty men in black to guard them in the square.

Chu Chenmu struggled to move to Luo Suichen's side, wanting to help him up, but he was powerless. He could only kneel down beside him, letting his trembling body lean against him.

Although he couldn't share Luo Suichen's pain, he did his best to tell his little apprentice that he was always there for him.

Just then, a gust of wind came from the direction of the Abyss of Annihilation, and in an instant, dark clouds covered the area. Chu Chenmu looked in that direction, but no light could penetrate, and darkness spread rapidly around him.

The darkness devoured the light at an extremely fast speed, sweeping across the square within a few breaths. Chu Chenmu only felt that when he was shrouded in darkness, some spatial fluctuations seemed to occur around him before he lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the Echo Valley square.

He was by a river, surrounded by plants he had never seen before, which grew exceptionally tall. The spirit-locking talisman attached to him was gone. He tried it and found that he could circulate his spiritual power again, so he used his spiritual power to break free of the ropes and untie himself.

Taking out a handful of pills from his storage ring and swallowing them, Chu Chenmu leaned weakly against a tree, pondering his current situation.

Where is he?

If he wasn't mistaken, it was the spatial fluctuation from earlier that tore apart the spirit-locking talisman.

He must have entered a secret realm.

I've never heard of any secret realm entrance that moves, and over such a large area.

Before Chu Chenmu could figure it out, he suddenly heard a commotion around him.

There was a rustling sound in the grass, and he cautiously gripped the Lingtian Sword and stepped forward to investigate.

A second-tier badger. Through the badger's plump body, Chu Chenmu saw a pair of legs sticking out.

He quickly killed him, revealing the scene behind him.

A person was lying on the ground, bound, and was probably a fellow cultivator from Echo Valley, still unconscious.

Chu Chenmu stepped forward and turned the person over, his eyes widening in surprise. It was Yan Jian'an.

A broken fox mask lay forlornly on the ground not far from him. Chu Chenmu didn't notice it, but hurriedly checked Yan Jian'an's breath and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the man was still alive.

Then they quickly untied him and fed him a few pills.

Yan Jian'an also came in... Chu Chenmu's mind raced. It seemed that his situation was not accidental. Could it be that as long as one is shrouded in darkness, one will be sucked into this secret realm?

Fortunately, meeting someone I knew in this unfamiliar place was a comfort.

I just don't know how my three disciples are doing now, and I don't know... whether the demonic energy in that fool Luo Suichen's body has been completely cleared, and what his current state is.

He stayed by Yan Jian'an's side, trying to send telepathic messages to others, but the telepathic paper cranes couldn't locate him. This secret realm seemed to have more restrictions on spatial attributes; even telepathic communication was prohibited.

However, Chu Chenmu sensed that the spiritual energy was the most abundant among all the secret realms, large and small, in the original owner's memory. He was already a Nascent Soul cultivator, but just by sitting cross-legged here, without even circulating his cultivation technique, he could feel the gushing spiritual energy continuously squeezing into his body from his pores, without even needing to deliberately guide or purify it.

If everything weren't still unknown, Chu Chenmu would have liked to seclude himself in this beautiful place for a few years to cultivate and escape the endless events and tasks he would have to face sooner or later.

Yan Jian'an was still unconscious, so Chu Chenmu did not act rashly. He set up a defensive barrier around Yan Jian'an, explored the distance briefly, and then returned to guard the area. He did not encounter anyone else, so Chu Chenmu made a mark on a tree, hoping that Luo Suichen or one of the others would see it and come looking for him.

Chu Chenmu would go to different places to make marks every day, but unfortunately, apart from the obvious improvement in their injuries, there was no progress after several days.

Chu Chenmu had observed the surrounding environment. He hadn't looked closely on the first day. The plants around him weren't ones he'd never seen before. These trees and grasses were similar to those in Echo Valley outside, but they had grown taller and thicker due to the nourishment of spiritual energy, and had even mutated, which was why he hadn't recognized them.

Although he had no intention of doing so, the original owner's keen senses over the years still made Chu Chenmu subconsciously want to collect some spiritual plants and herbs along the way.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Thank you to [~墨琛~] and [愿浅落开心] for the gifts!