Chapter 3: Secret Realm

It took a total of five days to fly from Yiyuan Sect to the Little Netherworld Secret Realm. After arriving at the place, everyone waited for another two days before the entrance to the secret realm was opened.

During this period, Wen Xi never saw Wu Lingling again, but she did see the other disciples of the Demonic Sound Sect. There were about a hundred disciples, and almost all of them had the same musical instrument, and there were few duplicates, which really opened Wen Xi’s eyes.

On the other side, Ji Yun was probably also affected by her behavior that day. It was not until the last moment when they were about to enter the secret realm that he mustered up the courage to move to Wen Xi and handed her a map.

Wen Xi held the map in her hand, thinking about her junior brother’s straight look just now, and felt that the treatment that day was indeed feasible.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Wen Xi called out to him, “Wait.”

Ji Yun stopped and looked at Wen Xi in confusion and nervousness. When he saw the other party’s familiar action of taking something out of the storage bag, his eyes widened suddenly and a trace of sweat slid down his forehead.

“Master, Senior Sister?” Ji Yun suppressed the urge to retreat.

Wen Xi didn’t notice Ji Yun’s strange expression and handed him a paper crane. “The message talisman can be activated when you encounter a crisis. I can find you when I receive the message.”

Ji Yun relaxed and took the paper crane. “Thank you very much, Senior Sister.”

Wen Xi nodded and flew towards the entrance of the secret realm on her sword.

The moment she stepped into the entrance, Wen Xi vaguely remembered that she seemed to have forgotten something.

Before she could think about it, the weightlessness and darkness brought by the transmission channel immediately made her regain her composure and focus on herself.

After about three seconds, there was light in front of her eyes again, and the surrounding spiritual energy was obviously much richer than before.

Wen Xi knew that she had entered the secret realm, but the place she was teleported to was not very good.

Wen Xi’s body fell rapidly, and the sword she had stepped on when she came in had long disappeared.

Below her was a lake. Although the surface of the lake looked calm, she could vaguely sense the huge crisis lurking beneath the lake.

Wen Xi’s body was still falling vertically. Seeing that there was only less than ten meters between her and the lake surface, Wen Xi made a quick decision and quickly took out an iron sword from the storage bag.

At the same time, a giant emerald snake suddenly emerged from the lake, opening its bloody mouth and heading straight for her.

Wen Xi held the sword in her right hand and swung it; the sword light swept across the giant snake, slightly slowing down the monster’s movements. Then she turned to avoid the giant snake’s mouth, and at the moment of passing by, she kicked the snake’s face with her right foot and landed on the shore with the force.

The giant snake, perhaps because of restrictions or other reasons, stopped chasing after her when it saw her moving away from the water. It raised its upper body and stared at Wen Xi from afar.

“Hiss—”

The big snake spit out its tongue twice at Wen Xi.

Wen Xi clenched the sword in her hand, tensed her body, and kept herself alert.

Seeing this, the big snake suddenly became anxious: “Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss–“

Wen Xi glanced at the surrounding environment with her peripheral vision and quickly analyzed the situation in her mind.

This is a demon snake at the peak of the Foundation Building stage. The demon beast has a unique physical advantage and is more difficult to deal with than ordinary cultivators of the same level.

However, it’s not that Wen Xi can’t win; it’s just that it will waste a lot of time. And with her current body, she is not suitable for high-intensity combat.

Therefore, to be honest, Wen Xi actually didn’t want to get involved at this moment.

The snake seemed to have the same attitude, and Wen Xi did not sense any danger from it.

After figuring it out, Wen Xi took a tentative step back, but the big snake did not move.

So Wen Xi took another step back, and this time the big snake reacted.

Suddenly, its tail hidden under the water swung, splashing a huge splash of water and flying towards Wen Xi’s head.

Wen Xi avoided it reflexively.

No one was splashed.

The big snake tilted its huge head and hissed twice in displeasure.

When Wen Xi first picked up Wen Xue, it was not strong enough and had not taken the Huayan Pill, so it kept making noises. Over time, Wen Xi slowly learned to interpret what the monster wanted to say through its expression.

Wen Xi carefully observed the other creature’s expression and guessed, “Are you seeking revenge?”

“Hiss!”

The big snake turned its head, revealing the half of its face that was kicked by Wen Xi.

Wen Xi continued, “Because I stepped on your face?”

“Hiss—”

The big snake rolled its eyes twice.

Wen Xi saw a sense of grievance in the snake’s eyes.

This monster looks big, but its mentality is like that of a child. Wen Xi let down her guard.

“Sorry, I thought you were going to hurt me, so I tried to protect myself,” Wen Xi explained.

The big snake didn’t know whether it understood or not, and there was still some dissatisfaction in its eyes. It shouted at Wen Xi twice and then dove into the lake. In a moment, the emerald green snake head emerged from the other side and spit water all over Wen Xi.

This is a very vengeful snake.

Wen Xi made the comment expressionlessly.

Fortunately, this snake was a clean creature, and the water sprinkled on its body did not smell bad.

Wen Xi just frowned slightly, then cast a spell to dry the water stains on her body and cleaned herself with the Cleansing Dust Technique.

After doing all this, she temporarily gave up the idea of leaving, found a random place to sit down, took out the map, and began to study it.

Before Ji Yun entered the secret realm, he had given her a map. Before she set off, her master also gave her a map, but it was not as detailed as Ji Yun’s, and only roughly marked a few locations.

After comparing, Wen Xi decisively chose the map given by Ji Yun.

She was currently at Bi Xin Lake, which is in the southern direction of the secret realm, and the Little Nether Flame she was looking for is in the center of the secret realm.

In this way, they just needed to head north from now on. Wen Xi simply and roughly planned the route.

After completing her study, Wen Xi put away the map and meditated with her eyes closed, waiting for the Snake Heart Water Lotus in the center of the lake to mature.

When she was falling before, she saw the Snake Heart Water Lotus in the center of the lake that was about to mature. Originally, Wen Xi thought that the Snake Heart Water Lotus would be of little use to her. This big snake was not a bad creature by nature, and it would be difficult for her to steal its things.

Now Wen Xi’s thoughts changed. Although she didn’t need it, she could take it back and give it to Wen Xue to play with.

The Snake Heart Water Lotus is a water-attributed spiritual plant, which is extremely beneficial to cultivators with water spiritual roots. Wen Xue is an ice-attributed rabbit, so the Snake Heart Water Lotus is naturally beneficial to her as well.

In addition, the reason why the Snake Heart Water Lotus is named after the snake heart is that if it absorbs snake venom as nutrients during its larval stage, it may mutate.

After the mutation of the Snake Heart Water Lotus matures, it has the effect of detoxification when eaten, and it is an important spiritual plant for refining detoxification pills. The stronger the snake venom it absorbs, the higher the grade of the mutation of the Snake Heart Water Lotus.

Although the Snake Heart Water Lotus in the lake has not yet bloomed, judging from the dark black patterns on the flower bud, it is at least a fourth-level spiritual plant.

Level 4 spiritual plant!

Wen Xi realized something was wrong.

Level 4 spiritual plants are good things for Jindan cultivators. Wen Xi doesn’t think that there is no monster in such a huge secret realm that can compete with this snake. At worst, they can attack together.

The strange thing is that from the time she fell until now, except for the snake in the lake, Wen Xi didn’t see any other monsters around.

Wen Xi’s eyes flickered.

A cultivator is fighting for their life against the will of heaven. Now that she has made up her mind, there is no way she will back down halfway. However, she does need to be more cautious.

Two days later, the Snake Heart Water Lotus blossomed, and the fragrance spread everywhere.

Wen Xi suddenly opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on the lotus in the center of the lake.

The moment she noticed the big snake in the water moving unusually, Wen Xi immediately seized the opportunity to attack. The sword moved and turned into an arrow that flew out.

After picking the Snake Heart Water Lotus, Wen Xi did not want to fight and immediately ran in the direction she had set before. She used three speed runners and one teleport runner to barely get rid of the big snake’s pursuit.

The process went so smoothly that it was suspicious, but Wen Xi couldn’t find out where exactly the mistake had gone wrong, so she could only put it aside for the time being.

When Wen Xi was fighting with the giant snake before, her chest was hit by the tip of its tail, causing some internal injuries. When she was escaping later, her internal spiritual energy was almost exhausted.

Now that they were out of danger, the first thing she needed to do was to find a safe place to heal her wounds.

Wen Xi had not yet formed her elixir, and the range that her spiritual sense could scan was limited, so she simply chose a relatively safe giant tree nearby, set up a simple defensive formation around her, and began to meditate to heal her wounds.

True Man Yuxuan loved his disciple very much, and the elixirs and talismans he gave her were all of the best quality.

She casually swallowed a third-grade top-quality rejuvenation pill and two second-grade top-quality recovery pills. In a short while, most of the spiritual power she had previously consumed was restored.

The rich fragrance of the elixir made a snake that followed secretly drool and couldn’t help sticking out its tongue.

“What’s that sound?” Wen Xi opened her eyes and looked alert.

After knowing that it was accidentally exposed, a snake in the dark suddenly stiffened and dared not move.

The voice sounded familiar; it was—

“The snake in the lake?”

Its identity was exposed, and the green snake closed its eyes in despair. Then it made up its mind, aimed at Wen Xi’s fingers, and pounced on them with its finger-length snake body.

However, Wen Xi’s reaction was faster than its own. With a slight flick of her finger, she pinched the green snake that was about to launch a sneak attack between her fingers and took a look at it in front of her eyes.

It wasn’t obvious in the snake’s original form before, but now that it has shrunk, the fact that its head is big has been clearly exposed.

The snake’s body is emerald green, but there are two red scales on both sides of its head, like little ears. Together with its two black snake eyes that keep moving, it looks silly and stupid.

Wen Xi originally thought that she had gotten rid of the other creature, but now she realized that this guy clearly did it on purpose.

“Why are you following me?” The little snake’s behavior reminded her of Wen Xue at home, and a hint of tenderness appeared in her eyes.

The little snake lifted its tail and pointed at the storage bag on her waist with the tip of its tail: “Hiss.”

After that, it wrapped its body around Wen Xi’s fingers again and tilted its head, looking as if it was dependent on her.

“You want me to return your things?” Wen Xi asked.

The little snake shook its head and wrapped its body tighter.

But it felt that this way of communicating was inconvenient, so it rolled its eyes, bared its teeth, and pointed at Wen Xi’s finger.

“You don’t want the things, but you want to sign a contract with me?”

Cultivators can make contracts with monsters, but most monsters are arrogant and rarely will they voluntarily make contracts with humans, especially those that have developed spiritual intelligence.

The little snake nodded, looking impatient.

Wen Xi didn’t look happy. It wasn’t because she disliked the little fellow’s low rank; it was just—

“You and I are not compatible…”

“Help!”

Before Wen Xi finished speaking, she heard a cry for help from afar. Without caring about anything else, she immediately flew towards the source of the sound with the little snake.