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

Yan Jian'an gave Chu Chenmu a suspicious look.

Chu Chenmu reached out and touched his nose, then looked down and around, seemingly searching for some treasure. His gaze was intense, as if he wanted to bore ten or eight holes through this ordinary path.

"The Mirage Sea is a very special kind of secret realm. Usually, these realms are completely isolated from the outside world and arise out of thin air, with no connection between their internal and external environments. But—"

Yan Jian'an drew out his words again until the person who had been pacing around like a hamster turned his gaze back to him before continuing to speak, his voice now tinged with amusement.

"Only this so-called Mirage Sea Illusion, as the name suggests, is like a mirage, a secret realm formed by a combination of real space and real events that once existed in the outside world."

"Such secret realms are usually formed when extremely strong obsessions or resentment gather here and do not dissipate. Over time, this affects the stability of the space and creates a secret realm."

"The rest of the people and things in the secret realm are all illusions. No matter what we do, we will not change the real history. But we enter in our true form. Once we perish here, we will truly die."

"The conditions for passing the test... are generally to change the true outcome of the matter and fulfill the wishes of the person who is obsessed."

Chu Chenmu listened attentively the whole time, "But we still don't know what the person obsessed with this secret realm is seeking."

Yan Jian'an nodded. But now that they had found this path, it was more reassuring to follow it than to wander aimlessly in the wilderness. He had a feeling that sooner or later he would truly get involved in the heart of the matter.

When the two were resting, Chu Chenmu sat cross-legged and pretended to doze off, asking the system in his mind, whose presence was becoming increasingly insignificant.

【Xiaoyuan, do you know about this mirage?】

Xiao Yuan spoke softly, devoid of emotion. For some reason, her voice had become deep and resonant, unlike the boyish voice he'd heard when he first transmigrated into the book. It was as if she had grown from a child into an adult: "I don't know either. This plot has nothing to do with you; you don't need to worry about it."

Chu Chenmu was full of questions. He was already in the secret realm, and it had nothing to do with him. Why shouldn't he worry about it now? Should he wait until he was trapped and died in the secret realm before worrying about it?

If you can't help him, just say so. Anyway, he already knew Xiaoyuan was useless; he was just trying his luck.

Why has your voice changed? Does your system keep improving?

【It has nothing to do with you.】 The little circle had no physical form. In Chu Chenmu's sea of ​​consciousness, it floated in mid-air like a wisp of white mist, emitting a soft light that made Chu Chenmu's sea of ​​consciousness appear cold and white.

???

Chu Chenmu was furious. He rarely showed any concern for it, only to be met with indifference.

Perhaps realizing her tone wasn't quite right, Xiaoyuan quickly added, "My voice is just a system setting, host, please don't take it to heart."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chenmu was startled.

He was just showing ordinary concern for Xiaoyuan, casually mentioning that her voice had changed. At most, he was just a little curious. How could he be "overthinking"?

Xiao Yuan's current unusual behavior is something he should really be worried about.

Chu Chenmu casually said a few words without showing any emotion, changing the subject and pretending that he didn't care at all, but he kept it to himself, wondering why Xiao Yuan reacted so strongly when he mentioned the change in his voice.

After resting for a while, the two continued walking along the road.

Chu Chenmu would leave marks along the way, but now it has been seven days and he still has no news of Luo Suichen and the others.

He was extremely anxious, but he knew he couldn't rush things. The only thing that comforted him was that the path beneath his feet was getting wider and wider, and now it was wide enough for three or four people to walk side by side. He hoped that he was heading in the right direction and could find the source of the secret realm soon, break through the secret realm, and that even if he didn't encounter them, their danger would be reduced.

As night fell, all was quiet. The two walked side by side on the road. It was dark around them, with only the pale moonlight shining down to provide a meager illumination.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from afar, like the hooting of an owl, extremely piercing and chilling.

Having never heard such a sound in the past few days, the two exchanged a glance and stopped in their tracks, searching for a place to hide.

Chu Chenmu noticed a pile of rubble by the roadside and quietly hid behind it, cautiously observing the surroundings. After a while, about eight or nine tall, twisted figures approached from a distance. They resembled humans, but had blue faces and fangs, their faces covered with strange black patterns. Their eyes were a deep red, without pupils or whites, a chaotic blur, making them extremely eerie.

They had humanoid bodies and long bone spurs on the backs of their hands, which were probably their weapons.

Its mouth occasionally opened and closed, emitting mournful cries; the sounds we had just heard were the noises made by those creatures talking.

As they drew closer, Yan Jian'an could see the black mist floating around them.

Yan Jian'an's eyes instantly turned cold. He pulled Chu Chenmu's hand and carefully wrote down a single character—

magic.

Chu Chenmu suppressed the itch in his palms and carefully examined Yan Jian'an's handwriting.

Somewhat embarrassed, he hadn't written many words since he transmigrated into the original owner's body.

So—what did Yan Jian'an gesture with his hand?

The script here is different from the one in his previous life. He felt an itch in his palms. It seemed that Yan Jian'an had scribbled something on it for a while, crooked and messy, and he couldn't recognize it because there were too many strokes in the characters.

But seeing Yan Jian'an's serious expression, he knew something serious had happened. He gave Yan Jian'an a questioning look, and Yan Jian'an shook his head and made a shushing gesture.

Just then, a demon discovered their hiding place. He walked straight toward them, the bone spikes on the back of his hand gleaming coldly, and stopped a few feet away from them, emitting a sharp whistle.

Hearing the noise, the other demons gathered around, forming a semi-circle around them.

It was discovered!

Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Yan Jian'an spoke in a deep voice: "Demon, a pure demon."

Chu Chenmu had never seen this strange thing before. Looking at the eight demons surrounding him, he asked with a grim expression, "Can we defeat them?"

Yan Jian'an quickly scanned the other side. The higher the level of a demon, the more its form resembled a pure human. The one on the other side could only be barely discerned as human, so he estimated that its cultivation level was probably not high.

It is said that the number of main lines on the faces of ancient demons corresponds to their current cultivation level; one line is equivalent to the Qi Refining stage, and three lines are equivalent to the Golden Core stage.

If that's true, then even if the two of them can't defeat the seven Golden Core cultivators and one Nascent Soul cultivator on the other side, escaping won't be a problem.

But he didn't know if it was true or not.

He dared not take the risk, shouting, "Run!"