He'd rather run than be turned into a cannon fodder for the broken engagement.

boom---

Leng Huan immediately activated the Explosion Talisman and the Blazing Sun Talisman, pulled the female cultivator back ten feet, affixed defensive talismans to herself, and took out her short sword to prepare for battle. The two male cultivators were unable to dodge in time and were injured by the sudden burst of her talismans. The flames scorched their robes, instantly ruining their magic robes.

"Bah! I see you're really asking for trouble!" The man in blue, having accidentally burned the back of his hand, was instantly enraged. He thrust his longsword forward and charged again. Leng Huan could only rely on her fighting experience to cope. Fortunately, she was at the same level as her opponent and could still exchange blows.

She blocked the blue-clad man's attack with her sword, ignoring the trembling and numbness in her hands, and channeled her spiritual power to unleash a burst of spiritual energy at the black-clad man approaching from the side.

Just as she had forced the black-clad cultivator back, the blue-clad cultivator slashed at her with his sword. In the midst of the tension, she relied entirely on her own reflexes and used her movement technique to dodge to the side!

She inwardly groaned. Her disadvantage lay in not having practiced swordsmanship and wielding only a short sword. If she had sword techniques, she could at least have engaged in close combat and stalled for time. Leng Huan gritted her teeth, crushed another talisman, and forced the two back, gaining a moment to catch her breath.

"Hmph! You still have a chance to hand over the jade slip and withdraw from the trial voluntarily, otherwise don't blame us for being impolite..."

"Bah! You're the ones who bully the weak and fear the strong!" The female cultivator raised her eyebrows. Seeing that Leng Huan was in dire straits, she took out a long sword to support him instead of trying to escape.

Even so, the two could only barely cope. "Clang!" Leng Huan blocked the attack with her sword, and the two clashed with the black-clad man's sword. The two were very close, and sparks flew as the metal clashed, which were reflected in her eyes.

Holding his sword with both hands, Leng Huan immediately flipped his sword to deflect the attack, then raised his sword to block the blue-clad man's slash. "Sizzle!" A tooth-grinding metallic scraping sound rang out. Leng Huan channeled most of his spiritual power to strike the man with a palm, using the momentum to retreat several feet and gain a moment to catch his breath.

Before long, Leng Huan was being given special attention, and her spiritual energy was being depleted too quickly. She knew that if things continued like this, they would all be eliminated. Leng Huan would rather risk getting injured than give up!

"Hey, I'd love to throw...throw your sister!" She clutched a few more talismans in her hand, ready to risk injury to make these two robbers pay the price. Before she could finish her curse, a familiar voice suddenly rang in her ears: "Take this!"

Before anyone could react, a loud "boom" rang out. The two cultivators barely managed to glance back at the people who had suddenly appeared before being blown several meters away by the blast. They then crashed to the ground with two loud "bangs," spitting out blood after a long while.

Fu Xun arrived slowly, politely cupping his hands to the two cultivators and saying, "I already called out, but unfortunately you two didn't dodge in time." This way, it wouldn't be considered a sneak attack; this was a classic case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Leng Huan mentally counted a "6".

They tried to rob him but ended up being robbed themselves.

"You! You..." The two cultivators were so angry they almost vomited blood. Reluctantly, they prepared to trigger the jade slip to exit, but Leng Huan hurriedly shouted, "Wait! Shouldn't you two hand over what you've obtained!"

She wasn't going to stand on ceremony. As she spoke, she walked over and extended her hand. Knowing that there might be important figures watching them outside the secret realm, the two cultivators had no choice but to hand over all the resources they had obtained, as they couldn't escape. The jade slip had array patterns that recorded the items they had acquired from the secret realm. Once the jade slip left its owner, the points would be reset to zero and belong to the acquirer.

-

"Brother Huan, are you alright?" Fu Xun had been searching for her all along and finally received her message seven miles away. He rushed over just in time to save the day. However, he was somewhat surprised that she could hold off two cultivators of the same level all by herself.

"Fortunately, you arrived just in time." Leng Huan shook his head, swallowed a pill to restore his spiritual power, and put away the supplies and short sword he had been given. When the female cultivator saw that they knew each other, she offered not to take any resources and hoped to team up with Leng Huan.

"Alright then." Having witnessed her previous performance, Leng Huan agreed. After all, they would be more competitive if they banded together. Seeing that she had already agreed, Fu Xun didn't say anything more.

Thus, the three of them temporarily formed a team and began to explore the secret realm. Fu Xun had recently encountered the barrier of the late stage of Qi Refining in his cultivation. He had practiced sword techniques and was much stronger than Leng Huan in a real fight.

With his foundation destroyed and his cultivation level plummeted, Fu Xun's ability to recover to his current level after such a short period of time is already a result of his hard work.

As the daylight faded, the perilous day was finally coming to an end. The secret realm was fraught with danger at night, and everyone needed to find a place to rest.

"Brother Huan, let's find a safe place to spend the night." Seeing that Leng Huan and the other had finished collecting the spiritual herbs, Fu Xun looked at the last ray of light falling over the mountains; it was getting dark.

"Let's go!" Leng Huan looked at the female cultivator accompanying him and asked, "Fellow Daoist Lin, didn't you say there was a suitable cave before?"

The female cultivator, named Lin Miaoyan, nodded and said, "Come with me..."

The group used their agility to travel quickly, covering four or five miles before crossing a valley and finally arriving at a rocky mountain, where they found a cave in an excellent location.

"Flap flap flap..." It was already completely dark when they went inside, which startled a swarm of blood bats, which flew out of the cave in a flurry. The female cultivator exclaimed in fright, "Oh! I didn't notice these things during the day."

Upon discovering that they were bats, not ghosts or anything, Leng Huan let out a scream that caught in her throat. Holding the spirit lamp, she examined the cave ceiling and was surprised to find that the cave was long and deep, with some stones emitting a faint blue light embedded in the dark stone walls. She asked in surprise, "Hey, what are these stones?"

"Huan-ge, try putting the light away." Fu Xun walked over and patted her shoulder. Leng Huan obediently put away the light, and in the next instant, the cave was lit up with scattered lights!

"Wow, these are all special stones!" Lin Miaoyan exclaimed in surprise, stepping forward to touch them. "Look, they feel icy cold to the touch. I wonder if there are any more inside..."

"What is this?" Leng Huan had no idea what this thing was.

Fu Xun took out a piece with his sword and examined it. He frowned slightly and said uncertainly, "It seems to be a high-purity star sand ore, a high-grade material that can improve the quality of weapon forging."

Huh? Leng Huan and Lin Miaoyan stared dumbfounded at the entire cave of ore, then their eyes lit up with excitement. They were rich!

Fu Xun was still wondering, didn't the Immortal Sect know? There were just too many; it was rare to see a complete star sand vein outside.

In fact, he didn't know that there were several such trial grounds and secret realms in the immortal sects. This secret realm hadn't been open for a long time. The secret realm was vast and boundless, and only a few thousand people entered. The amount of resources was unlimited. Moreover, the trial grounds had been open for thousands or hundreds of years. The immortal sects only cleaned up large and high-level demonic beasts periodically, and didn't care about anything else. So, they could only say that they were lucky with this star sand mine.

Leng Huan didn't think much of him; her eyes were only on the points. By the time Fu Xun came to his senses, he saw that she and Lin Miaoyan had already started mining like pangolins.

"..."

The stars hang low in the night sky.

Outside the cave, the roars of nocturnal beasts could be heard from time to time, while inside the cave, a bustling and energetic atmosphere prevailed.

The group stayed up all night, digging half a cave and reaping a bountiful harvest. While others were still scheming and struggling to hunt monsters and find medicinal herbs, they had already found a different way to accumulate enough points.

Leng Huan picked and chose, collecting a pile of high-quality ores. "The spiritual energy here is abundant; it's too dangerous outside. Why don't we cultivate here?" She wiped away her sweat and plopped down on the ground to rest. Mining was exhausting!

Fu Xun took out a water bag and handed it to her. He then sat down to meditate and regulate his breathing. He had thought this trial would be very difficult, but it turned out to be so easy. If they really wanted to dig this cave, it would take ten days or half a month.

What she said about cultivating while digging seems like a viable option.

But since this is a trial to eliminate people, the Misty Immortal Sect certainly won't let anyone lie down so easily.

Around noon, the blood bats whose nest they had taken the night before returned. Seeing that they still wouldn't leave, the little ones got angry, and then the three of them fought a great battle against the blood bats.

"Snapped---"

"puff---"

"Bang bang bang!"

Fearing being bitten and poisoned, Leng Huan put on a defensive shield and dared not blow up the cave. They didn't dare use explosive talismans and could only use fire attacks. She learned on her own and used the sword in the same way as Fu Xun, slashing, chopping, and stabbing. Unexpectedly, this also improved her wrist strength and accuracy!

There were just too many bats. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, only a third of the bats remained. After a brief standoff, the rest, seeing that they were no match for humans, let out a squeak and fled in panic. One flew away, and the rest followed.

Leng Huan took a breath. A group of bats at the early stage of Qi Refining were not easy to defeat. After all the commotion, they were all covered in dust and dirt, and they sat down in a disheveled state to meditate and regulate their breathing to recover their spiritual power.

-

仙宗

"Huh?" Jiang Ruoyu suddenly put down his crossed legs and sat up straight, staring at Ling Jing with a sharp glint in his eyes. "This kid's got some good luck!"

Sun Zhixian stroked his white beard: "Hmm, I didn't expect that this secret realm, which hasn't been opened for so long, would actually have such a small star sand mine. These young people have taken a shortcut..."

"Hey! Old Jiang, isn't this your apprentice?" Mu Lianqing glanced at him teasingly. "You've got good luck, but taking shortcuts won't be so easy... Old Jiang, didn't you say that the star sand ore in the Refining Peak is scarce and you're reluctant to use it? Well, here it is. Add some more to my robes later, and give me a top-grade magic robe..."

Jiang Ruoyu ignored her and stared at Leng Huan's reflection in the mirror. He thought to himself that since this kid had found the Star Sand Mine and passed the Heavenly Ladder, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take him as a disciple. He nodded to himself.

However, the trials will not be so smooth.